TLDR - was ghosted completely after a visit; didn't feel we were welcome…read more
A bit of a background, we visited this montessori to explore the possibility of enrolling our old child (less than a year old), when eligible in 9 months or so at the earliest. My spouse and I, we are both immigrants with no immediate family here for the support. We both have graduate degrees in STEM and work full-time. This montessori, given its proximity to our home and hours of availability, would have been a great option for my child to enroll. Unfortunately, we felt we were not really welcome here based on our visit and follow-through, or the lack of it.
My wife made the first approach and was strongly encouraged by a staff at the school to arrange a possible visit. For clarification, the visit is a part of the multi-step process of getting admission. This staff mentioned to my spouse that this would be the best time to explore the possibility of enrolling our child. My spouse was very excited for the visit, which had to be scheduled between 9-10 am when they accommodate at most 2 people/families a day.
The visit was alright for the most part. There were few odd moments here and there but we have gotten accustomed to those from our visits to other daycares and such. We were also informed by the staff giving the tour, a different staff from the one who my wife initially contacted, that the admission is really competitive and difficult to get. This sounded slightly different than the prior information from the staff. It was still understandable given how strained childcare and educational services have been in the area. At the end of the visit, we were given a brochure but were informed that they were out of the application form - odd again but not out of the norm. We were told the staff had our email and will send us the application form, and we could also reach out if we had more questions.
My spouse emailed this staff with the questions the very same day. After getting no response for a couple of days, my spouse called the said staff and left a voicemail after receiving no answer. We never heard back and never got that application form. My wife again emailed the following week to no avail. We were ghosted and started wondering if we failed to meet certain standards they had set, unbeknownst to us.This is even more baffling given the fact the staff barely asked us, the parents, anything to know us.
Now, in any other place, this would be an issue with one staff. Here, based on the information available on their website, it sounds like the multi-step admission process goes through certain staffs, not committees. We started asking ourselves what the chances are that if we couldn't hear back after multiple attempts or receive an application form, our application will be adjudged fairly, let alone be accepted.
I am not sure whether I should be happy that the staff showed us how the "educational place" is before we got heavily involved or I should be saddened that an early development school is unwelcoming to many.