LAMB South Dakota families

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LAMB is an amazing school. There's a reason why they get 700 applicants for 25 pre-K slots.

Are you an admin?

DC goes there. Our biggest complain with the school is the parking. The school is excellent. I wish it went through high school.

I assume you’re at Missouri then? My experience is more mixed. but we are planning on staying.

Mixed experience here too. It's a loving and supportive environment and my kids are happy (so we're staying through the move). However, I think the school has a lot of room for growth in the area of academics. It's pretty easy for students to fall through the cracks, depending on the classroom.

[Anonymous]

We've had experiences at both and have had a range of experiences ranging from "absolutely wonderful" to "supportive and good, but we need to keep an eye on things to make sure DC doesn't fall through the cracks." This has been true at both campuses. Overall though we have had a really positive experience and are definitely staying through the move.

Once thing for prospective parents to keep in mind though at LAMB or at any Montessori school is that you have the same teachers for the three year cycle. If you have great teachers (and we have been lucky enough to have some truly amazing rockstars at LAMB) then you are set for three years of highlights. If you end up with more mediocre teachers (because in any group at any school there will always be some teachers who are better and some who are mediocre, even if only by comparison) then you are stuck working with them for three years. That can be hard if the teachers aren't great (or if they're not a great fit for your kid), and is something people may not be thinking about when they are thinking about Montessori.

We do love the school (and both MO/SD campuses) and feel extremely lucky to be there, but that doesn't meant there isn't also room for growth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've had experiences at both and have had a range of experiences ranging from "absolutely wonderful" to "supportive and good, but we need to keep an eye on things to make sure DC doesn't fall through the cracks." This has been true at both campuses. Overall though we have had a really positive experience and are definitely staying through the move.

Once thing for prospective parents to keep in mind though at LAMB or at any Montessori school is that you have the same teachers for the three year cycle. If you have great teachers (and we have been lucky enough to have some truly amazing rockstars at LAMB) then you are set for three years of highlights. If you end up with more mediocre teachers (because in any group at any school there will always be some teachers who are better and some who are mediocre, even if only by comparison) then you are stuck working with them for three years. That can be hard if the teachers aren't great (or if they're not a great fit for your kid), and is something people may not be thinking about when they are thinking about Montessori.

We do love the school (and both MO/SD campuses) and feel extremely lucky to be there, but that doesn't meant there isn't also room for growth.

Yes, we have been in one of the primary classrooms with a lot of turnover/transitions in teachers, and that has not been the best, although it still has turned out fine. This is another thing to keep in mind - in Montessori, teacher turnover is particularly bad for the classroom and kids. Recently LAMB had a lot of turnover due to the various upheavals, but typically it does not and hopefully won't going forward. I would be very wary of a Montessori with a high turnover rate, however. And in DC, schools have a very hard time retaining teachers in general.