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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have two friends who sent their kids there and both have negative things to say about it. [/quote]

Expand please.[/quote]

Both of them felt that their kids were unprepared and behind when they moved to a private. Also some complaints about facilities and class size. [/quote]

The class sizes are traditional Montessori class sizes -  about 22-25 per class with 2 teachers.  As for being prepared, I guess each kid is different.  I am aware of more than one instance where a child left after primary to go to their local public only to come back for elementary because they were bored elsewhere.  The school does place kids in many private, a number going to Burgundy, though many also opting for their neighborhood schools .  That being the case, while I think the academics are very strong, I imagine it is very tough to go from an environment where kids do work on rugs, couches or under desks where they install lights to make nooks to having to sit still at a desk -- so that would make sense.  The facilities were just renovated but PE does require they go to another gym for the older kids so that's a minus.

It's a very open community, so ask to go do an observation and while you are there, just grab a parent (there will be many around) and ask their views. Good luck! [/quote]

Are parent volunteering hours mandatory? about how many hours? I see the tuition is higher than most Montessori schools and in June there's a donation required. Even though it's a donation, there's a differentiation between levels of donation, so I believe there's a level of pressure? There's no other discounts in tuition, so the average is about $1700 per month. How do ppl afford this? Especially if there are two or more kids? How is this a special school when kids are taught the "basics" (academics) and how is this different than a magnet school in which a magnet school is open to how a child learns, not necessary sitting at desks? Thanks! [/quote]

Volunteer hours are mandatory- we have 2 kids enrolled and it's 25 hours total (I think one kid is less), which is really easy to fill when you consider a day field trip hits about 5 hrs.  There are lots of opportunities to do things outside of the school too - hours for collating book orders or craft prep at home, washing the class hand towels one weekend, etc.

There is no required donation - not sure what you are seeing.  There is an annual giving drive like most schools, but it is not required and not high sales like some other schools.

The cost of tuition is the cost.  It's cheaper than most private schools in the area and I don't think it's materially more than other Montessori schools.  It's worth it to us.  I can't respond to the question of how people afford this - we do comfortabley, the school has financial aid, and in the end it's up to each family when choosing public or private to decide what is their comfortable spend.  I don't think that issue is specific to this or any school, really.[/quote]

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