Montessori School of Fremont

My son has been with them for the last seven years. It's a good school with great teachers.

Well! I don't know what to say, called this 2 weeks ago, told them I have a kid and I want to put him here since this day care is close, the lady ask how old is my son, after she found he is 3 months to 5 years old,  she told me they had a waiting list , and she will have some one to call me back, and I wait and wait and wait for 2 weeks, there is no one call me, then I call the again, they told me they only take kids between 3 and 4 years old otherwise they expect kids to be in similar Montessori school before!

The thing piss me off is if they don't want me kid to be in, just call me back and let me know , they should let me know if advance so that I don't have to wait for them, to me it looks like they care profits more than kid!!!!

Choosing a school for your chid is a very personal decision and not every child will not thrive in a Montessori environment.  This was the case for us, and I can honestly say I did MY part to make it a positive situation for all.  The school and administration did NOT and would not meet us half way. I&#39;m writing this review after a fair amount of time at a new pre-school. We enrolled my 3yo daughter Sept 2021.  It was a COVID environment so we weren&#39;t allowed to enter inside the school for a full tour.  However, we liked what we saw in terms of the facility.  My daughter was assigned to Ms. A&#39;s classroom.  It was Ms. A&#39;s first year as a Montessori teacher at the school.  On her first day, my daughter was crying of course, and the teacher very physically picked her up and took her in as she was crying and calling out to me.  I&#39;m still traumatized by this.  We were not allowed to enter the building, see her classroom, anything.  My expectation as a parent during these unique times, is to fill in the gaps with communication.  But her teacher never shared anything with us.  It was pulling teeth just to find out if she napped.  All the while I would see other teachers talking with parents at pickup about how their child ate, slept, what they did, etc.  They also brought home crafts and projects.  When I brought up my observations to the school director, Ms. L, her response was &#34;setup a Zoom parent/teacher conference with her.&#34;  So we did. During the conference, all Ms. A did was read some slides about the Montessori method and what we can expect our child to do during the day.  It was very difficult to get any information out of her. At the 3mo mark, we met with with school director to ask if we could switch teachers. Our daughter was still not thriving and she had a friend in another classroom with a great teacher.  It was a challenge to get her to school everyday and it was clear she didn&#39;t enjoy it.  When I asked what things she did at school, she always answered &#34;nothing&#34;.  They refused change teachers so we stuck it out.  At 6mo, there was no improvement and we felt we gave it a fair chance so we asked once again if we could just try to change teachers.  Again Ms. L refused and said it&#39;s against school policy.  They invited us to do a 30min observation (outside of the classroom) to address any concerns so we did.  The observation only confirmed what we feared.  The classroom was quiet, with very little energy.  The teachers were not engaged and circle time did not include everyone.  One child walked past us 15x in and out of the classroom filling a watering can to pour water outside.  Other kids were running a muck, and our daughter sat quietly at a desk by herself with 0 engagement from the teachers. At 9mo in June, the Summer program begin and Ms. A went on maternity leave.  Our daughter was assigned to Ms. I and her demeanor changed instantly.  She was really excited to go to school!  She brought home fun crafts and projects and talked very fondly of Ms.  We decided to re-enroll in hopes that our daughter would stay with Ms. I.  However, we were informed that Ms. A would be back in the Fall and our child would again be in her classroom.  I setup a conference with the school director again and asked to switch teachers after attending and observing a full school year.  Once again she refused and stated the school policy was for the child to stay with the same teacher throughout their time at the school.  That was our last straw and we decided to pull her out.  There was no way we would put our daughter thru another year with Ms. A.  For a full school year, all she brought home were watercolor swashes and poke work (a way of cutting by using a needle and poking along a line to create a shape).  We met with her teacher several times to discuss activities with letters/numbers and writing skills, and her answer was always &#34;when your daughter is ready, she will let me know when she wants to put pen to paper&#34;.   My daughter started a new pre-school this past Sept. She&#39;s been there for 3 mo and is THRIVING.  She LOVES it!  She talks about her teachers and friends. She has learned sight words, is writing letters and words, and her art &amp; crafts and coloring are delightful.  These are all things she was deprived of at the Montessori School of Fremont. During her first month, the director at her school told us that our daughter needed to &#34;de-Montessori&#34; (her words) because she would just get up and walk way from the group during circle time or an assembly.   This review is extremely long, but I feel very strongly about sharing our terrible experience.  In talking with other parents with the same teacher, they share similar opinions and feedback. While I believe there are some good teachers here, our experience was horrible and my only regret was not taking my daughter out sooner.  There are always exceptions to the rule and the school did not consider working with us at all to resolve the issues.

Photo of Montessori School of Fremont - Fremont, CA, United States. She would walk like this at 3yo because her teacher told kids to walk with their hands behind their back and not touch one another. What?!

My two children (a 5-year boy and a 4-year girl) have flourished dramatically in the past two years at MSF (+ one year at MCH before the pandemic). At the moment of graduation, I would like to share my favorite points of MSF with future students and families. 1. MSF provides authentic Montessori education. I love to see my children acquire practical life skills at the beginning, then explore academic realms. With an individualized and flexible curriculum, my son happily enjoyed the kindergarten program being a preschooler. 2. At the same time, they are strong supporters of working parents, i.e., MSF also functions as a good childcare facility that includes potty training and extended childcare hours. 3. All the teachers and office staff my family is involved in are professional, attentive, and kind. Especially Ms.Jhoana and Ms.Lulette have a significant positive impact on my children. 4. A large lawn playground with big old trees is noteworthy. I&#39;ve never seen such a spacious, cozy playground around this area. 5. My children are very active, sometimes too much. But they acquired self-control skills thanks to the child-centered, logical, and caring guidance of Ms.Jhoana and Ms.Lulette. I&#39;m grateful for the professional and warm support from MSF to my family. I am confident that your child will grow to be an accomplished and kind individual at MSF.

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