Montessori Country Day

Our daughter has been in this school since she was an infant and is now two. They are amazing in every way. When she started, she refused to take a bottle instead of nursing. She couldn't sleep without being held. They loving coached her (as an infant!) to develop those skill and start doing more. The children drink from cups, sit in real chairs, use their words (or sign language) to express their needs, and learn to be responsible for cleaning their materials and bodies. The potty training system is amazing, and makes it almost effortless. She already has many more school skills then I would have thought possible at this age. Their parent education classes have helped me learn about brain development and positive discipline, which have made a huge difference in alleviating her two-year old struggles with frustration, anger, and independence. We have a lot of friends who send their children here, and everyone is very pleased.

My child didn't attend the school, but I was not happy with my tour. I arrived 20 min earlier; and I am glad I did. I was staying upstairs for 25 min, 15 min and a baby in the downstairs class is crying out so hard, he made my heart ache, I went down because my child wanted to move more, and I see the child laying down on the floor and a teacher is feeding another child with no help to the crying SOOOO HARD baby/CHILD. They asked me to go up, and I did! And when the tour person came she said he wanted a diaper change. I didn't comment, I will never leave my child crying 20 min because he wanted a diaper change. I gave 2 stars just because I didn't attend.

I was a student at this school from 1989-1993 (K-3, before we moved out of state). I attended the Oakdale campus for kindergarten, and the Rosedale campus for grades 1-3. I have many fond memories, especially of the teachers at Rosedale. They allowed us to learn at our own pace, and gave us extra challenges when we requested them. They also taught us to manage our time and assignments for the week. They taught me some valuable household skills as well! (Fridays were cleaning days.) I remember loving the regular trips to the library and the gymnastics studio, and the monthly trip to the Natural History Museum - I remember looking at mummies, and petting hissing cockroaches while the museum leader held a baby crocodile. I must have read every book in the school's own library - the teachers were always encouraging me to read, though sometimes they had to remind me that I had to practice my spelling and math as well! I even remember asking for homework, which I had heard about from kids at other schools. (We did not have either homework or grades.) The lead teacher therefore came up with a homework book of math problems for me. We learned Spanish, botany, geography - they basically introduced us to all the different areas of learning, and encouraged our curiosity. The teachers were very kind and loving. Even today I can remember all their names and faces, and I'm 23. (They were Mrs. Kirkiedee, Ms. Reid, Yolanda Barker, and Miss Marie-Nelly.) I even invited one of them to my seventh birthday party, I loved her so much. When I moved out of state, the founder of the school, Miss Marge, gave me a pinata in the shape of a triceratops because she knew I loved dinosaurs. I also enjoyed attending year-round. This school made sure my early experiences of school were exciting and pleasant, setting a pattern of loving school that has continued to this day. When I have children, I will be sending them to Montessori. I greatly love this school.

After going and looking at all of these schools, there’s only so many questions to be asked and only so much information to review. At the end of the day, we had to go by which school had a good ‘feeling’. Did the kids seem happy? Did the teachers seem positive and sane? As much as the program or approach or schedule matters, I am pretty sure that small kids are soaking up the environment and culture as much as information or social skills. Point is, we are very happy with this school. I’ve had my 4yr old there since he was 2, and my younger son (2yrs) has been there for a year. (Rosedale house). My kids are happy going there and the Montessori approach works well with how we, ourselves, teach our kids. They get good outdoor time. The Montessori method gives a clear development path. The ‘culture’ of the teachers and kids is kind and not threatening. I think they’re the best out there. That’s not to say perfect. Here are the warts as far as I can see them: • I’ve seen better schedules. They say they’re on the HISD time off schedule….which is true, but in addition to HISD days off they’ve got a bunch of additional days they’re closed, which has burnt up a chunk of our days off from work. • They’re not cheap. Although I wouldn’t go so far as to say they overcharge. It may be that you get what you pay for….but… ouch. • I have seen some turnover in the teachers. I saw an earlier review to that effect and I concur– although I don’t know what normal turnover is for this kind of job (I would last approximately 4.8 hours). However, I would balance that statement with noting that the new teachers they have hired are all as fantastic and positive as the previous ones, which frankly, more important to me than the continuity that my boys would ideally experience. Hope that helps.