1/13/2022
First to Review…read moreBeing raised in the Montessori school program myself I was excited to have my child begin for with the school. They promote learning, independence, and community---but I quickly learned that although the teachers are wonderful, the administration ultimately made our family's experience a nightmare. The "headmaster" of the school is an outright narcissist, and literally was incapable of having conversations around her policies--even when the safety of the children was involved. We learned the school had multiple outstanding safety violations (including nails sticking out of the fence, rocks on the playground instead of grass, and no running hot water!). Whenever we would have questions or concerns (like why is my child outside wet on a cold day when they have a change of clothes?), or (its 80 degrees out--why are the children dressed in their coats?), or about a policy that says 20 degrees is an acceptable temperature to keep the kids outside in (without letting them back in if they say they are cold), she was completely unwilling to discuss anything. She would always resort to "maybe this isn't the place for you" and basically threaten to kick our child out. If things didn't come home with her repeatedly and we inquired, she would say "maybe your child (2 years old) should keep better track of their things! Eventually the school was investigated by CPS after the kids almost got frostbite standing outside on a day with a windchill of 12 degrees. DON'T TAKE YOUR KIDS HERE , no matter how much you need childcare or what good thing's you've heard. The administration will tell you wonderful things to take your money ($1500 a month plus $10 per minute late at pick up, cost of "pizza days" and school supplies + much much more), raise tuition over and over with no explanation, and then do nothing to ensure the health and safety of your kids. The teachers are contracted and can't leave without paying literally thousands of dollars to the school, and parents are bound by contacts (even thought turnover is still very high) that say if anything happens to your kids, you hold Our World "harmless". And if you don't sign it, you can't attend--period. Most parents are afraid to even speak up about the neglect, for fear of losing childcare. In the end we had no choice but to leave--it just wasn't safe. There are better programs out there. Keep looking.
And be warned about the tuition and the financial scheming. You pay for a full year of care, but once you account for the days the school takes off ( "teacher conferences", teacher planning days, holiday time off (that is always turned into a 4 day weekend), Fall break, December break, winter break, spring break, and all the "fun days" sprinkled in (yes you pay additional cost to have your kids still attend when the school is technically closed for breaks (about $55 dollars per day), your kids are only in care for about 8 months out of the year. $1500 monthly is the tuition full time but it appears to rise yearly. There are hidden fees too like $50 for school supplies, fields trips, "pizza" days, mud suits, rain suits, snow pants, and parents are "encouraged" to buy the classroom toys and equipment from a catalogue as well. They are shamed in emails if they do not. You can expect to pay well over another mortgage to attend this school. We payed close to $18-20k per year if not more before we left (and that price continues to rise).