Montessori Academy Of Long Beach

We’ve had a mostly good experience with both of my children. One gripe that we have now that didn’t used to be an issue is swapping days without paying extra per the teachers availability. We pay for three days, Monday Wednesday and Friday. My husband is a first responder and works 5 night shifts a week. He leaves before the kids get home from school and gets home after they’ve gone to sleep. So he doesn’t see them 5 days in a row. When he does happen to snag a weekend where we can reconnect as a family and he can feel a bit normal again after mentally and emotionally taking on the other half of humanity that is sometimes horrendous; we would swap a Friday for a Tuesday (per the teachers roster that day) so that we could have that time with him. That was something we really loved about the set up of the school and made a huge difference for us as a family. We’re paying for 3 days, and want to make sure our money is being spent on three days. But now they’ve changed this and yes we can bring our kids on a Tuesday instead but we need to pay the extra. This would mean still paying for Friday now paying for Tuesday as well but not attending Friday. Again, not a bad reflection on the teachers… but until you’ve been in a direct household of law enforcement it’s hard to understand why we might feel so blessed to be able to swap and now we’d like to find enrollment elsewhere with a preschool who is willing to. Just a small thing, and otherwise the teachers and the school really are great and they’ve done so well for my children. Lots of fun activities and holiday parties.

What a horrible school and staff. 2 months ago we had a school tour we brought our toddler here and asked questions. We advised the staff our toddler was delayed and possibly in the spectrum and already receiving at gome services. They were very reassuring and observed my toddler in the classroom play with other children and they said it was ok, and we moved forward and paid $80 for the application fee. Fast forward 1 week before she started here, we told the school of the official diagnosis, they called us back stating they couldn't take my child because of her disability. They prejudged my toddler and assumed the worst, and denied to receive her at this school. It's so disgusting and upsetting for them to discriminate against my child. All because they just want to take an easy monthly fee from parents of toddlers who they don't have to worry about working any harder, God forbid they actually have to put in work for these toddlers. Really makes you wonder about the montessori method how every child learns at their own pace and the work with the children etc. What an ugly establishment with false statements.

Between our kids, we were with Montessori Children's House for six years. The staff are so warm and caring and the kids got an excellent start to their education. I've recommended this school to countless friends - it's a wonderful, positive, encouraging learning environment that allows every child to excel at their own pace.