Background:
- First-time mom working full-time
- 6.5-month-old daughter who began in the infant program at 5 months
I highly recommend Bella Montessori for any family looking for a bright, clean, engaging facility; a motivated, passionate, and genuine teaching staff; an open and honest administrative approach to business; and a place where an infant can be safe, happy, and stimulated!
KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE
Ms. Agnes, one of my daughter's primary caregivers throughout the day, is not only a compassionate and sincere human being - a fact which shines through her interactions both with me and with the children - but is also a bastion of both knowledge and experience. She has consistently impressed us with her arsenal of tips and techniques as well as her dedication to applying them as needed for our daughter's development.
For example, our daughter refuses to take a bottle and hates being transferred to a crib for naps. As first-time parents, we had only Google search results to help us until we asked Ms. Agnes. She diligently worked through a series of techniques and approaches to try to find one that showed promise, discussing each of them with us as she went and what sorts of results she was seeing throughout the day.
Ms. Agnes will regularly provide her opinions and impressions when asked. She is never pushy and at no time has ever suggested she knows best for our daughter. Rather, she supports us fully and eagerly supplements our own learnings as parents when asked.
(See Partnership below for more examples.).
COMPASSION & PERSONAL INVESTMENT
Ms. Kate, another one of my daughter's primary caregivers, is a model example of compassion and investment. She exudes this in her interactions both with my daughter and with me. She goes out of her way to tell me stories about my daughter during pick-up, emphasizing skills she is learning or personality traits that are developing; she takes pictures and videos throughout the day to capture as many important moments as she can; and she gets visibly and sincerely excited about my daughter's development. She is so compassionate to me, a working mom who is devastated every day to be leaving my daughter behind, and her sincerity makes a hard thing so much easier.
PARTNERSHIP
I consider my daughter's caregivers my partners in helping her to be as successful as possible and I am so fortunate that the teachers at Bella feel the same way. When my daughter is learning new skills, we coordinate between us to emphasize and promote her learning; when my daughter has a rough night, we exchange notes to help best get her through it; when I as a first-time parent ask for help, they provide opinions and experience and then collaborate with me to implement whatever I decide. The teachers are eager partners to the parents.
ADMINISTRATION
I am consistently impressed by the administration's openness, honesty, and investment in the families. Before my daughter even began the program, we were invited to together visit the infant rooms to start getting comfortable with them. During the first week, the administrative staff quickly and patiently answered my worried emails and calls.
One of the finest examples of the administration's skill and dedication, I think, is the way they responded to an issue that was detected during a site visit. The school is required by law to notify parents of these issues but Bella went above and beyond to promote transparency - in addition to being notified via email immediately, the administration answered a large number of questions from me openly and honestly and without a hint of defensiveness. Many of my questions revolving around their plans to avoid the issue reoccurring had clearly already been discussed at length and I was provided with full visibility into the changes they would be making. I have watched those changes getting implemented as promised.
HAPPY BABY!
At the end of the day, I want my daughter to first, be safe; second, to be happy; and third, to be enriched. She is all of these things, thanks to Bella. read more
