Klein-Spring Montessori School

My twins have been going to Klein Spring Montessori School for over a year. I did not have any experience with daycare, as I grew up with a stay-at-home mom. I toured many daycares and initially chose a different school. However, my son would come home crying, telling me he did not want to go, so I knew I needed to look for another option. I started touring again, and from the very beginning Sandy, Teresa, and Mr. Mark were so welcoming. Sandy, the owner of the school, told me that I would know when I found a good place for my kids, a place where I could leave them with peace of mind. That sounded hard to find, but I did find it. My twins love the school, and I do too. They have learned so much in every area of their development. The teachers are caring and compassionate, and the owners are very hands-on, working closely with Teresa, the director, who is always willing to help and listen with a smile. I usually do not write reviews, but I wanted to help another working mom or dad who is making what is probably one of the most important decisions for their children and their family.

We love KSMS. My son is almost three and has been going for a year now. He’s made so many friends and loves his teachers. The ratio of kids to teachers is incredible. He gets so much individual attention. His vocabulary has advanced exponentially since he started there. He loves telling us about what he’s learning when he comes home.

Where to start… I’m giving this daycare two stars, and most of that is due to Ms. Nansi, who is a wonderful teacher and truly cares about her students—she’s probably too good to be working at a place like this. The owner, Mark, is pleasant enough, though you’ll mostly deal with his wife, Sandy, who handles the administrative side. Unfortunately, that’s where things begin to fall apart. My boy/girl twins attended this Montessori for almost a year. For most of that time, everything seemed fine—occasional notes about my kids not wanting to eat lunch or having tantrums, which is totally normal for toddlers. Nothing out of the ordinary or concerning was ever mentioned. Then, about 11 months in, I began noticing that my son was always in the office at pickup, rather than with his class. It became clear that the staff struggled with redirection—a basic and essential part of Montessori guidance. At that point, I started questioning whether this was truly a Montessori environment at all. The philosophy seemed more like a label used to attract parents than a practiced method. The teachers, while kind in some cases, did not appear properly trained or educated in Montessori principles. For timeline reference: on October 7th, Sandy reached out requesting a parent meeting, which we scheduled for October 9th. During the meeting, she apologized for the staff’s failure to communicate that my son had been exhibiting “disruptive behaviors” for nearly 11 months. How is something like that not communicated sooner? That alone speaks to serious communication issues. We discussed next steps, including having my son evaluated through the school district for possible autism support. We also talked about the constant teacher turnover and how my son’s new teacher, Ms. Katie, did not seem to connect well with him—she had been cold and dismissive toward my kids from the start. Despite Montessori emphasizing development-based advancement, my son had been moved up before he was ready, and when we requested he move back to Ms. Nansi’s class (where he had thrived), they said the class was too full. Adding to the frustration, Sandy became unprofessional when she brought up my personal life. After briefly mentioning to her that my children’s father and I are divorced, she made unsolicited comments about how “two homes” or “parents dating new people” can negatively impact children—completely untrue and inappropriate. Neither of us have introduced anyone new to our kids, so her assumptions were both offensive and out of line. After the meeting, instead of working on the plan we discussed, I started receiving daily texts from Sandy about minor issues with my son. Within nine days—by October 16th—I was told that their “environment could no longer serve him.” The sudden escalation made no sense. If these issues were serious, why weren’t they brought up months earlier when intervention could’ve helped? It felt like they had already decided to remove my children. To make matters worse, a few days after we left, I noticed new children had joined the class, which makes me believe they pushed my kids out to make room for new enrollments. This experience left a bad taste in my mouth. Between the poor communication, lack of Montessori authenticity, unprofessional behavior, and questionable motives, I can’t in good conscience recommend this school. On the plus side, Mark did agree to give us back the rest of our payment for the month of October and supply fee that we had just paid on Oct. 1st. Which I feel like was the least they could do since we now had to scramble to find alternative care on such short notice. We did initially ask to stay until Oct. 31st. But based on my son being in the office on an almost daily basis, I was severely worried about the unjust treatment he might face so I pulled them both immediately.

I’ve had two kids at KSMS and it’s been nothing but great. The staff is consistent (something that’s not always true in preschools or early childhood education) and you can see how happy the kids are. At one point, my oldest left the school because we tried a different Montessori closer to my old job, and as soon as we could, we came back! All of the upper staff: Sandy, Teresa, Blanca, and Mark are wonderful. And I cannot say enough good things about the toddler teachers & primary teachers. I know everyone thinks they have the smartest kids in the world, but some of the things that my four year-old knows just blows my mind and it’s all things to KleinSpring.

Small school BIG IMPACT!! This has been the best experience! We have been to a few of the schools in the area (Trinity Klein, , school in the pines, spell well) and this has been the BEST experience! I would recommend this school time and time again!