Hope Montessori Day Care Academy

My child was enrolled here at Hope Montessori Academy half-​time for a month with the intent of transitioning him to full-​time at the end of July. We decided to pull him for several reasons.
1. He was often dirty after coming home. Most days, no one bothered to clean his face after lunch, which bugs me to no end. I’ve had experience with multiple daycares and a dirty-​faced kid is often a sign of neglect in other parts of the school. Not sure who is at fault — the teachers, or the director who doesn’t hold them accountable. A clean, happy kid is what I expect when I pick him up, and this expectation was often not met.
2. The staff knew that he still needed help potty training, but one of his teachers we talked to seemed to not mind — she said just bring in extra underwear and shorts. However, we were asked by the director and his other teachers on several occasions why he hadn’t been potty-​trained and why he was still having accidents. Clearly, the teachers don’t communicate amongst each other their expectations for my child.
3. Depending on the day, your kid may not have the same teacher. This is to be expected sometimes, but not as frequently as it did while we were enrolled there. This is confusing for any child and makes it difficult for your child to build trust with their teachers, not to mention build trust with you as the parent.
4. I felt that, since we were half time, we got half time treatment, even knowing that our kid was going to be full time by the end of July. As discerning parents, you should know that not all kids are afforded the same level of care and treatment based on how much you’re being billed for their services.
5. My kid was setup to fail on more than one occasion by teachers (and directors) whose judgment should be called into question. Example: my child (2 years old) had a fascination with a bird in one of the classrooms. If you’re half time, you have to pick them up by 12:30 PM — no big deal. However, when I went there to pick him up he had been removed from his normal class and was the only kid in the same classroom as the bird. This made him very excitable. He happened to have an accident at the same time, so the teachers were trying to change him. Being that he was in an excitable state, he was running around and wouldn’t let anyone pick him up. They finally gave up and told me to take him home as is, with a dirty diaper on. Clearly, the teachers and director used very poor judgment when removing him from his classroom to take him into this room. Further, they refused to change him — going back to the often-​dirty face cited above, this was no real surprise.
Just a little background: my kid was at a «traditional» daycare for several months before. As an example, our teachers told us that he was the only kid they’ve ever seen that never, ever hit another kid. Overall, they felt his behavior was pretty typical for a two-​year old. I thought that this school could help elevate my child, but I was wrong. To be clear, I’m not blaming the Montessori system, which I believe is good for children and a great child development system. However, Hope’s neglectful and misguided implementation of the system leaves a lot to be desired.
If you send your kid there, buyer beware. Hope may have a gleaming exterior, but it serves as a shield to its true, dystopic nature.

I still remember my daughter’s first day at Hope. She was 15 months then and wow. time sure does fly. She is now ready to move on to elementary school this fall. We could have not found a better place for our daughter. Under Ms. PAM WORLEY’s amazing leadership, her team of commendable, dedicated montessori teachers work wonders with the kids. I could go on and on about every single teacher at hope that has made such a positive impact on my daughter… a special mention to Ms. SASCHA and Ms. SYDNEY… you guys rock!!!
I thank everyone at Hope Montessori Academy, LSL as my daughter steps out of Hope as a confident smart kid ready to face the challenges ahead. I strongly recommend Hope LSL.