The teachers and directors are wonderful and incredibly kind. We are very grateful for this school and highly recommend it!!

Great school, wonderful environment, excellent teachers . My child learned a lot. Gagan Saluja read more

Their environment for the kiddos is stellar. Honestly, I know the "montessori way" is to make it feel as homelike as possible, but these guys went above and beyond. Amazing and caring staff read more

My son started Cadence when he was about 3 months old and they have been so amazing to him for almost 2 years. He has developmental delays and they have been such a reliable space for him and have adapted to his needs to grow along with him. I am so grateful for his teacher and the whole team for accepting and caring for him so wonderfully! read more

I have been working for Cadence Academy Montessori for several years. The thing that I like most about working there is that we are like a family. Ms. Sharnet and Ms. Lorraine have an open door policy. If we need to talk they will listen. My coworkers are also very caring. We all work well together to help each other in any way we can. We are not only there for each other but we all enjoy what we do. We stride everyday to help our children learn to be kind to each other and to help them learn academically at their age level. We value our parents input and we are always there to answer any questions that may arise. read more

Looking for low quality childcare for your children? Then this is your school! Dirty, infested in bugs, and not Montessori at all!!!! Rude new director with no people skills whatsoever! None of the staff members have proper Montessori training. read more

As a grandmother, who recently obtain guardianship of my grandson, it was important to me to find a preschool that would meet his social, emotional and educational needs. I FOUND everything I was looking for at Cadence Montessori Academy. Management is beautiful and the staff is like family. My grandson loves to go to school. Wonderful lifetime memories are being create at Cadence Montessori Academ. I am a grateful grandmother . read more

Smaller Scholars was truly amazing - everyone just felt like family and there were so many tears due to us having to leave due to a move. Ms Darling, her staff and my son's teachers (Ms. Julie & Ms. Nidhi) were so extremely passionate, kind and professional. My husband and I appreciate all of them and their deep dedication to such an amazing academy! read more

My son has been going here since he was 2 months old, he is now 16 months. We love it! He is excited when we arrive and is always in a good mood when we pick him up. The teachers and staff are kind and well organized. I wasn't specifically looking for a Montessori school when trying to find a daycare for my son to attend, but I am really happy with the educational approach and classroom environment at Smaller Scholars. My son is always doing a variety of activities to develop his fine motor, gross motor, language, and living skills. He gets to play outside each day and helps with the vegetable garden. His class picked a radish from the garden and tried it during snack time. Before he could walk, he would go for a buggy ride around the school with some of his classmates each day. This school has been a really good fit for us and I certainly recommend it! read more

My daughter attends Smaller Scholars Montessori in Gilbert. I have been amazed at her development these past 6 months. Her vocabulary has grown immensely, watching her focus on little tasks to completion has been amazing, and she wants to contribute to our family chores such as sweeping, or bringing her dishes to the sink, or washing the dishes. Her teachers love on her while she is there and I really appreciate getting photos of her nearly daily. I thought parent-teacher conferences were silly for a two-year-old, but Miss Ellie provided so much insight. She shared areas our daughter needed to develop more and how they were working on those areas in class. This is am amazing place that I adore! I highly recommend you check it out for your little one. read more

This is our first year with Smaller Scholars Montessori in Gilbert and we are in love with this school. The classrooms are clean, neat, and organized. The teachers and administration have excellent communication with the parents and are available and approachable. We receive daily reports that include photos of our child. It is a very hands on environment which is perfect for our very active little girl. I have been amazed to see all her energy, that is usually spent at home running around, channeled into focus on the work in front of her at school. Her coordination and concentration have noticeably increased as well. The teachers in each classroom are certified in Montessori education and can really pin point what each child needs to develop. It is an impressive school that I highly recommend! read more

I really really loved this school. We took our son here this summer and unfortunately due to finances and unforeseen circumstances we had to withdraw. But just since June he's made SO much progress with his speech and social skills. Idk what they're doing but it's made such a positive difference in him. Another positive was that they were always so sweet and flexible with me and my crazy schedule that varied week to week. We're so so sad to say goodbye but we will hopefully return one day. Thank you Smaller Scholars we love you guys! read more

My toddler has been a part of the Smaller Scholars family since he was 10 weeks old. I'm so grateful for the care he has received here and would recommended this school to anybody in the East Valley. I love the focus on kindness and learning through play, stories, art, songs and pretend. The teachers are just wonderful and I feel included in his day through notes and pictures. read more

My son has been attending Smaller Scholars Montessori Academy in Gilbert, Arizona since he was one. My son is now 4 (in three weeks). The confidence, independence, and experiences that the school has helped to instill in my son has been amazing. I love the staff and trust them 100%. The staff has become like family to me and I highly recommend them to other families. read more

They have a friendly director and staff. They greet you and the kiddos by names very day. The teachers are awesome with the children. Its very clean and organized. The children seem to be happy and playing all the time. read more

Loved that they offer varying degrees of Montessori so that our child was able to find the best fit for her while still receiving the type and level of education we were looking for. Our child entered kindergarten ahead of schedule and well prepared as the Smaller Scholars teachers already exposed her to all the work they are doing which has made the transition so much easier. read more

We have been sending our son to Smaller Scholars for 2.5 years now, and we absolutely LOVE this school! Every teacher is so lovely, kind, and passionate about these kids. Our son is learning so much and is becoming a very gentle, kind, considerate, and thoughtful boy...we know it's due in large part to this school. Our son gets so excited to go every day and always has a wonderful day. This school is the BEST! read more

I LOVE Smaller Scholars in Gilbert! Ms. Darling is an amazing Director and runs a fantastic school! I started taking my infant there 3 weeks ago and couldn't be happier. Being a first time mama, it was very hard finding a school I could trust with my colic boy. Smaller Scholars Montessori teachers have gone above and beyond for me and my baby. He has had a hard time taking a bottle and they have been doing everything in their power to help him adjust and learn to take a bottle. They are so loving and comforting. I feel so good taking him there knowing he is in such good care. I also, love that they have a wonderful program where they can send activity updates throughout the day :) I HIGHLY recommend Smaller Scholars to all parents! read more

They are not a true Montessori school. They are Montessori inspired. The director has no direct training or knowledge regarding Montessori. She has learned what she knows from those who are more experienced that are around her. She actually told me that she sells quality education vs the authenticity of Montessori education. My child attended there from 10 months to 2.5 and she was ready to go to Primary their excuse was ratio based. It's NOT an excuse for not moving a child to a primary classroom bc Montessori's authentic primary room is from 2.5-6. Other schools who are more authentic and are geared toward child readiness and NOT age over development HIRE an extra teacher to accommodate those who are ready and not quite 3 yet. When I mentioned this to the two directors their excuse was "corporate won't let us do that." Then cadence education corporation DOES NOT care about child development at all and all they care about is the child's age and getting money from parent to "babysit." NOT impressed and I WILL NOT be recommending this school to anyone. I actually will direct people away from the school. read more

If you're looking for a warm, inviting Montessori school this is not it. Some of the staff members including the director are less than amiable to say the least. They also discourage parent involvement as it will interfere with their "structure". There is also very little to no parent-teacher communication. More than once my child communicated to me that she was getting hurt by another child in the classroom but I didn't take it too seriously because I assumed they had systems in place to handle this kind of behavior. I didn't become involved until one day my child told me this same child hit her and she was clearly emotional about it. I called to try to speak to her teacher but the director intercepted the call and was patronizing the entire time. I dropped the subject not wanting to be "that parent". A few weeks later she was switched classrooms and two more times I picked up my daughter from school and she was hurt. Once she had two giant scratches on her cheek and her teacher either feigned ignorance or really was ignorant. The second time I picked her up and while putting her in her car seat realized she had a busted, bleeding lip. I asked her what happened and she told me a specific child pushed her and she hit her mouth. Again, I called her teacher and she either feigned ignorance or really was unaware of what goes on in her classroom. Either case is unsettling. They boast about having better student-teacher ratios than required by law yet they still have no idea what goes on in the classroom. Tbh, this school and my interactions with the staff have left a really negative impression in my mind. Beware. read more

We absolutely LOVE smaller scholars! I'm so happy knowing that my child is getting the best education and taken care of everyday! He has grown so much in the last 7 months, I am amazed! When we first started there, he wasn't talking and was a little behind. Now he is talking all the time and not only has he caught up but he is even advanced for his age! All the staff there are wonderful and make you feel apart of their family from the moment you take a tour! Ms. Ellie is so kind, patient, caring, loving! We are truly lucky to have found this school! read more

Finding the perfect place for your baby (in our case, our first child) is daunting. We were impressed the moment we walked into Smaller Scholars Montessori from the friendliness of the staff to the cleanliness of the school. As we leave Smaller Scholars (because of a move out of state), we go knowing that our daughter received the best possible care while she attended. We enrolled her at six-months-old, and she's now 16-months. She grew in social interaction, and her willingness and knowledge of everyday tasks continue to thrive. We attribute her growth in part to the caring and attentive teachers at Smaller Scholars. A major plus was the Kids Report that we could check-up on her throughout the day, staff kept phenomenal records of her daily activities, and would recap the day's events at pick up. Going into Smaller Scholars we didn't know much about the difference of Montessori education, but coming out, it is one that we will keep up with and continue to foster. Our time at Smaller Scholars was terrific, and we will miss it. read more

I can't say enough good things about Smaller Scholars!! Every time I walk in to drop my son off or pick him up I am always greeted with a smile from the front staff. The staff is always nice and my son absolutely loves his teachers. I love that the teachers are always engaged in an activity with the children, it helps keep the classroom nice and calm. And I love how clean and updated the facility is. My son has been going here for about six months now and I couldn't be happier with my decision!! read more

I recently enrolled my daughter into Smaller Scholars Montessori. Her previous daycare was okay, but never made me feel like they truly looked at her as an individual. Some times she would come home messy, just little things yes, but things that as a mother bothered me. Not only did I feel like her previous daycare was overworked especially during the pandemic, I also felt like I was not getting the quality I had paid for. So I decided to make a change. I called many other Montessori schools but immediately felt so welcomed by Mrs. Darling just through our short phone call. When I came in to visit it was so welcoming and clean. The children were organized and happy and LEARNING! All the teachers and students just seemed to be happy in this peaceful environment. I received tons of info from Mrs. Darling and never felt pressured to enroll more like I was being welcomed into the Montessori family. I immediately enrolled my daughter. From day one she has loved going! She has made friends. Learned new things every day including good manners. She talks so highly of her teacher Mrs Mary! And those are the things that mean the most to me. You can just tell the staff take care of her as if she was their own child. I'm always updated if anything new happens that I need to be aware of. The staff are very transparent. I really couldn't be more grateful to find such a great place for my daughter especially at the height of a pandemic! And the cost is only slightly higher. But no money can overpower the value of feeling like my daughter is in a safe and loving environment. I appreciate Smaller Scholars Montessori and all their staff for everything they have taught my daughter and myself thus far. And look forward to the years to come knowing I have that peace of mind each and every day I drop her off. read more

My daughter has been attending Smaller Scholars for about 2 months. We knew before we even had our first child that if we ever started a family, we would want them to have a Montessori education so we were beyond elated when we found a location with an infant program. Our daughter has met milestones right on time with the majority being much earlier than expected according to her pediatrician. I contribute a lot of that to the fact that the teachers are so attentive and give her lots of tummy time. The ladies in the infant room all seem extremely kind and patient and I trust that my daughter is in good hands. A big thing for me is the live updates - it's an amazing feeling to be able to see what my daughter is up to during the day so I don't feel left out. I know exactly how much she's eating and even get adorable picture updates. I also like and appreciate that both Ms. Darling and Ms. Gonzalez are so easily approachable and accessible. I truly believe we've made the best decision possible for our daughter and highly recommend this school. read more

Smaller Scholars was the best school I could have chosen for my son. The love the teachers showed him and the way that they ignited his passion for learning is something I will forever be thankful for. The impact they had on him will last a lifetime. read more