Why do you want Montessori? Is there something about the philosophy that makes you think it’s a good fit? I was also interested in Montessori because I had a vague sense it was somehow “better”. At the time I looked in my NoVa area I only found schools with lots of time off and short hours. One had a website that clearly said “we believe the best place for young children is with a parent or loving care giver” as an explanation of their hours.

If you think that brush off to working families who aren’t wealthy makes you roll your eyes, there is a “preschool” where I live where the parents don’t drop kids off. You pay preschool prices to play with your kid in their space 2-3 hours 2-3 days a week.

My son's montessori is 7:30-6, though the classroom portion is only 9-12. The rest is before/after care. They exist! If you post where you are, people can probably help you with recommendations of schools to look into.

Several Montessori charters and traditional public in D.C.—all have normal hours for working parents. It’s just your area.

It’s not a Montessori thing. It’s a that school thing. My Montessori is 8 am to 6 pm but does have a spring break.

My DD is and infant in daycare and I WOH full time, so I hear you. But I think some schools, whether they be Montessori schools or not, serve populations that don't want or need full-time care and are not going to pay for full-time care. There's nothing wrong with that. You just have to look for schools that serve your needs.

I am in NoVA and our Montessori school has great hours and has camps during winter and spring break. They are closed a total of two weeks throughout the year, have one teacher work day a semester, and national holidays off. It isn't bad at all. When we were in Boston, they had horrible hours, terrible vacations, and you definitely needed a nanny. I think those are the type of schools that engineer everything to only serve a certain class.

Depends on the school. My kids were in different Montessori schools in different cities. The first (not in the DMV) was VERY working parent friendly. The second (a private Montessori in DC) was significantly less so, to the point that I regularly considered pulling my child out because I found the calendar, and the overall parent community, so unfriendly to working parents.

Honestly, I don't think it has anything to do with Montessori. I think it is a private PreK thing. They just assume parents are using the expeirence for education/socialization, rather than becuase they have jobs that need doing.

Sent all of mine, and we both work full-time. They had extended care. They were closed a ton though - maybe 8 weeks a year? We each get a ton of vacation at work and had grandparents come in for the weeks we couldn't make it work.

We were interested in our local Montessori school but it turns out they are closed multiple weeks a year and most parents of the younger kids pick up midday. How in the world does that work for parents who work? It seems designed only for children who have either a stay at home parent or nanny at home. Am I missing something? I don’t see how two working parents can make it work unless you can afford to pay for both private preschool and a nanny. Couldn’t they make it more working parent friendly with their hours? Or do they only want a certain kind of family?