DO NOT TAKE YOUR CHILD/CHILDREN HERE. If your child is currently enrolled, I would seriously…read moreconsider removing them. -- a concerned mom.
Please beware and research other schools before enrolling.
My son attended this school for a couple of months. Before Princeton Montessori, he attended a different school and never had issues. He adjusted well and was happy there. After moving him to Princeton Montessori, everything changed. He cried every morning, didn't want to go, and this continued for months. I thought he was just struggling to adjust. Now, I wonder if something else was going on.
Parents aren't typically allowed inside, which I liked as a safety measure. However, we received very little information about how our son was doing. One morning, I went inside to refill my water, and his teacher told me my son had been having "extreme behavioral problems" for A MONTH. I wondered why I was only hearing about this then.
She said he played "guns" too much and played too many superheroes. My son was THREE years old and didn't even know what a gun was. He had never seen a gun or watched anything involving guns, and he had never played "guns." She explained what he was doing, and I realized he was pretending to shoot Spider-Man webs. I explained this to her.
The next day, the administrator, Tina, told me my son was no longer allowed to play superheroes. I found this unreasonable for a three-year-old.
To be fair, our son was having behavioral issues at that time. We were seeing some of the same behaviors at home. My issue wasn't that the school told me about his behavior. My issue was that these problems didn't begin until he started at this school, and he absolutely hated going there.
When Tina and his teacher told me he was struggling, I did everything I could to help. We took away toys and privileges and tried different things at home.
Then, one day, my son came home with a mark on his arm. I immediately contacted Tina, asked what happened, requested video footage, and requested a parent-teacher conference.
At the conference, I expected to see the footage. When I asked about it, his teacher, Ms. Shireen, told me there was no video. She said, "I don't think teacher would do that, our teachers are highly trained, the footage has been erased." I asked how it could have been erased when I requested it over a week earlier. She said she didn't know and offered no apology or explanation.
I left extremely upset and messaged Tina. I asked whether it was normal for parents not to receive footage when they specifically request it, especially when I had asked about it shortly after the mark appeared. SHE NEVER RESPONDED.
Instead, the owner called me and said she would look for the footage. She later called back and told me it "wasn't available." I asked my son what happened, and he told me it wasn't his teacher. I brought him back to the school.
His teacher continued telling me he was struggling with paying attention, listening, and playing too many superheroes. I believed he was having behavioral difficulties, so we took him to his pediatrician to have him evaluated.
The pediatrician gave us paperwork for both us and the school to complete. This was days after the conference.
During this same period, the school called me THREE DAYS IN A ROW asking me to pick my son up early, despite knowing we were actively trying to get him evaluated and help him.
Our pediatrician explained that Montessori schools can sometimes be a poor fit for certain children because they may be less structured than other educational environments. After Tina repeatedly called asking me to pick him up early, I went to the school and explained that I was going to move him based on what we had been advised.
Tina told me MY SON'S DOCTOR WAS WRONG. She then told me my son needed one-on-one care and that "it's not the school, it's him." She suggested we hire an at-home teacher for one-on-one care.
Our pediatrician was appalled when we told him what she had said.
We ultimately removed our son from Princeton Montessori.
We put him in a different school, and the difference has been incredible. He absolutely LOVES going. He wakes up excited for school. It took him about a week to adjust. I speak with his teachers every morning and afternoon, and 9 out of 10 times I'm told he had a great day, behaved well, paid attention, listened, and learned.
That experience has made me question what was happening at Princeton Montessori. I cannot say exactly why my son struggled there, but the contrast between the two schools has been impossible for me to ignore.
I believe parents deserve transparency when their child comes home with a mark, bruise, or injury and requests are made for information or footage about what happened.
My experience was extremely frustrating. I strongly encourage parents to research this school carefully before enrolling their children.