We had our son and daughter attend Growing Light Montessori while raising our children in Midway, UT. We were hoping for a unique environment with new opportunity for our children. The other preschools in the area were crowded, so we thought this would be a great fit. The ratio was 10:1. Sounds great, right? Instead, we had about five children running the show, and my kids were constantly getting hit, bullied and everything seemed to get overlooked. When we would address it, the excuse was, "that child was just having a bad day," or something ridiculous like that. The situation continued to get worse to the point where we had to leave. It was also creepy to have the teachers parents and mother-laws constantly there. When they were, they seemed to make judgement of others and occasionally threw in snide remarks which weren't always easy to catch, but it was always unpleasant when it was heard. On several occasions, the teachers would discuss other parents with me such as divorces and private information.. Highly unprofessional to say the least.
On the business side of it, they constantly lost our tuition check, were very disorganized and we were always getting hit up with fellow moms selling Amway, "essential oils" and many other items not school-related. On a side note, a few of the kids suffering from Asthma and other respiratory-related issues didn't need to have the essential oil atomizer constantly blowing in the classroom. That was all to make the mother selling the junk, happy.
My children learned very little in the classroom other than to defend themselves. The teachers appear sweet and kind, but it's quite the opposite. Any school in the cities I have lived in would welcome parents into the classroom, but here, it was like breaking down a wall to get in. There was always an excuse to not have us in there.
There are other choices in Midway where the teachers are much kinder and nurturing. If I had it to do all over again, I would've taken the larger classrooms that the other preschools offered, rather than this high-priced school that is absolute chaos. Most importantly, they are FAR from teaching the Montessori philosophy. It's hard to say anything nice about these teachers who constantly parked in the handicapped zone in front of their own school, everyday. read more