Spring Valley Montessori on Mass. Ave

[Anonymous]

I saw the below comments from another thread - seeking pre-school in Au/Tenletown. We just moved to Spring Valley (right behind AU law), and have been thinking to enroll my 3 years old son to this school. But I'm having second thought, now. I'd like to see if there's more knowledge about this school, positive, or negative out there from families.

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My personal experience is that Spring Valley Montessori on Mass. Ave is not an idea school, well, for parents. Let me explain: my child was there, and liked it; most teachers were quite nice. The problem is the principal/director. She's very defensive, and can be abrassive if as a parent, you have a question about an event, or an incident that occurred at her school. She smiles when talking to you, but her words are cold, and attitude lays on the surface.

Also, we just paid second half tuition in December for this semester, as per her instruction. But barely two weeks later received a letter saying that if you want to continue securing a spot for your child for the next semester, you must pay a non-refundable fee of $750 by mid January 2008. I spoke to other parents in the same school, and found out many are disgusted by this "shake-down" method. I fully understand that a school needs to fill up its spots, and wants parents to committ early. But come on, a non-refundable fee of $750? Compare with other schools, Spring Valley Montessori takes more days off, longer holiday breaks. Plus, they have this late opening, meaning one or two hours delay policy for snow, and RAIN! They certainly have very few attendancy for "late opening" since their regular program is only from 9am to 12 noon, extended stay program lasts until 1pm. So most parents don't want to bother to send their children on these days. Luckily, I do have a full time nanny at home, so it's ok to keep my child at home while I go to work. I can only imagine how difficult it would be for the parents who are not prepared for such days.

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FWIW, I visited Spring Valley Montessori shortly before it opened and chose not to apply because I found the director to be very cold and not particularly responsive to my concerns I have also seen the children at Turtle Park on many occasions, and I have not been impressed with the quality of teacher supervision.

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I met someone who's child was at Spring Valley and the school did not pick up on a learning disability that St. Columba's later (the next school year) saw immediately....