South Florida Montessori Academy

As a former middle school and high school teacher myself, I knew that traditional school would not be a fit for my family--I know that many other parents feel the same way but do not know what would be a better option---please consider Montessori and do the research.

I looked everywhere to find a school for my son, and THANK GOODNESS I found this beautiful Montessori school and I happily drive 30 mins each way to ensure that my son (now 5 years old) will have the best possible experience and education.

The staff are highly trained, friendly, empathetic and really, truly care about the children and their well-being.  It is evident that the children are shown great respect and treated as valuable individuals.  The school is VERY clean and organized, and I am so impressed with my experience so far....we began during the 21-22 school year and are now back for the 22-23 school year.  The Head of School, Ms. Martyna, takes great pride in the school and is always finding ways to make it even better...in the year that we have been at the school so far, she has already expanded the size of the playground and added additional windows to the building.   The classrooms are beautiful and have flexible seating arrangements and the very best Montessori materials.

My son has a very strong personality, but his teachers Ms. Mariale and Ms. Nina allow him to be himself without attempting to force him into some "mold"---as a result, he is happier and more confident.  The children are given a well-rounded education and guided towards eventually becoming mature and productive adults one day.....for example, I have attended events at the school where the Elementary aged kids have helped host the events, and it is impressive to see the level of social intelligence that they display for their age (especially compared to the children that I worked with while a Middle/High school teacher in the public schools).

Among other perks, there is a full-time Spanish teacher on staff starting when the children are in Elementary, AND the Head of School is very involved behind the scenes and keeps updated on each individual child's progress on a regular basis by meeting with the teachers.  This school truly provides each child with an individualized approach and the level of attention to every detail is just amazing.

I could say more, but it is not the same as seeing for yourself.  We all want what is best for our kids and I am very blessed to have found this school, so thank you South Florida Montessori Academy for being a wonderful second home for my son, and for providing me the comfort of knowing that my son is in the best possible place!

I was very clear that my son is autistic and went into details of what he can and cannot do, I was urged to proceed with enrollment as they have experience with autistic children. After paying $100 registration I was told they don’t have the space and aren’t able to accommodate him. I made it slide, I called just now to check availability for my 2yr old, and asked if i could use the previous registration and was told no, they literally tried to do the same thing, No confirmation if there is space but urging me to register, now I feel played that knew they didn’t have the space and wasn’t going to accept him but just wanted us to pay registration to tell us this and is trying to do the same again.

Our daughter attended the school year 21-22, the lower elementary teacher was disorganized and didn't seem to have control of the class. The administration and owner responses its the children lol. I laugh because parents blaming children for a teacher lack of organization and standard is wrong. There is an observation period before you enter the school, shouldn't the teacher and the director know if any children will be a problem. It's not one but multiple children the Director/owner had a negative comments. Parents if a teacher can't control a classroom, even the good kids will over socialize.  We spend an additional school supply fee and  field trip fee. I question the $200 school supply fee because I bought supplies for another private Montessori school and it was about $60. When I question there has been no field trips, only the last month of the school year there was one field trip. Now when I was viewing the school, the director was saying the kids go to the park every Friday and their field trip once a month. Now if covid was an issue your shouldn't have charge a school trip fee. Plus when you call the school, no one picks up the phone, not good. Please parents do your research and sometimes it worth driving to a school with a better reputation. Both my husband and I felt that 21-22 school year she would have been better off in public than wasting our money at this school.

As also shared by another reviewer, I had a very similar issue. Note: This was my son's first experience in school and away from us.

We wanted to enroll him in the Toddler classroom. The school management, even knowing that the class was full already, made us going through all the enrollment process. Everything went well in the 4 visits, but they only told us after the last visit that the class was full. All that time was useless.

A couple weeks after that we received an email from the head of the school saying that they accessed my son maturity and he was ready for the 3 year-old class (Primary program). My son is 2 years-old and already in diapers at that time.

We agreed taking him off diapers at home. They also promised all types of support with that in school, specially if we enrolled him in summer camp. We did all that.

Three months later, summer camp starts and my son was already toilet independent at home. On the 3rd day, I repeat, THIRD DAY, after picking him up, the teacher invite us to go inside and on the front desk I already see some paperwork with highlighted dates. She says in 2 minutes that he's not toilet trained and not ready for the class, to come back by the end of the next month. No talk, no explanations, no warnings, no help. 3 days in a row an that's it? Our work, plans, my son's feelings, nothing matters for them.

I inquired the head of school about that. What it would happen if accidents still happens when he's back. Instead of support, she just said that we have to keep him at home until he is ready and it could take 6 months for him to be ready. After I asked more questions (including from their material which mentions that full toilet independency is between 4-6 years old), she started to allege that my son had aggressive behavior (we had asked that to the teacher and she said he was not aggressive to other children).

To avoid further headaches, I asked to withdraw my son from the program. As a courtesy, they released us from all agreements. However, the substantial amount of money we paid was gone.

Unfortunately, any school can call itself as Montessori and use that as an excuse to blame the children for acting like children.

Be aware, because they played us to enroll our son for something that he was not ready.

Had an awful experience at this school. I will share in more detail, but also need to get it out there. They tried to mentally diagnose my child. We spent so much money on specialists having him evaluated and of course he is fine. Currently thriving in his new school. Please only go to this school if your child fits in their box. Any child that is smart, creative and independent thinker will not do well here.

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