Mountain Shadows International Montessori School is a phenomenal place for children to learn and…read moregrow. Head of School Lauren F, Assistant Head of School Jeff, and the entire teaching team are exceptional--caring, professional, and deeply committed to the Montessori philosophy. My son is in his fourth year at MSIMS and my daughter in her second, and both absolutely thrive here. It is also the only fully accredited AMI Montessori school in Colorado, offering a level of quality education you won't find anywhere else. I cannot recommend this school enough.

My daughter attended the school in 2020-2022 and our experience was far from positive. When we…read moretoured and applied in 2020, the school sounded fantastic. Unfortunately between the time we applied and the time we started, the seemingly wonderful head of school left and the board selected someone with no educational experience to replace them. A year later the other, fantastic, member of the original 2-person admin team left. My daughter started in YCC at 18mo. Several times my daughter came home with injuries (head injuries, bite marks) and no incident report or communication from the school. In 2022 we moved into one of the primary classrooms. My daughter initially had an ok experience in primary. But again we found out about several incidents from her that should have warranted an incident report, but never did. This culminated in her telling us that one child had hit and shoved her 3-4 times inn the course of a week. We of course brought this up and the teacher kept trying to tell us this was "normal behavior". We disagreed, and attempted to raise this with the head of school, who ignored us for weeks. In this time we had interactions with several other parents, where upon telling them of the issue we'd get responses like "oh, was it [kid]? My kiddo was getting hit by them too." One other parent told us their kid shook with anxiety about going to school and had to be kept home for a month as a result of bullying by this same kid. It became clear that the kid in question had bullied almost every other kid in the classroom, and the school had done nothing about it. Finally, we got a meeting with the head of school. He started by gaslighting us, telling us we were "complainers" and that he felt "nothing he could do would ever make us happy" - as if enforcing the school's own policies on bullying were too much to ask. We quickly ended the meeting after agreeing that the school would refund us the tuition we had paid for the two-month summer session we wouldn't be attending. The school refused to issue a refund until after the summer session, and then sent us ~$200. Half-day tuition at the school is ~$2,000/month. The refund is laughable and, in my opinion, an intentional fraud. In summary our experience was of an incompetent administration, classrooms that could not provide a safe learning environment for our child, a sudden termination of services and a wholly inadequate refund from a disingenuous head of school.

We are in our 7th year at BCD - my daughter is in 6th grade, and my son is in 7th. We are thrilled…read morewith our kids' academic performance, and how BCD drives excellence and global awareness, as well as community involvement, inclusion, and kindness. My kids enjoy the variety of music, art, science, innovation, and explore classes, as well as special projects like Model UN and outdoor education trips. BCD does an incredible job facilitating communication with parents, and I am so thankful that my kids have the opportunity to attend this school.

My son started in January and the difference in his demeanor is remarkable. No more tears and drop…read moreoff. He's connected with both the lead and assistant teachers. He enjoys all the Friday assemblies. and I've enjoyed a closer sense community.

Of 5 preschools that my kids have been through, this is definitely the worst. There appears to be…read moreno modern early childhood education in action, no conflict resolution taught, preschoolers are sent home or isolated within the school for saying unkind words and pushing verbal boundaries... I won't go into specifics to protect my and other kids' privacy, but message me if this is raising red flags for you... I would never let my kid set foot there again. Very rigid. Should have looked more into the approach of the director (who we never even met until there was a "problem"). Note that most of the positive reviews are quite old when it was under different leadership. Two stars just for the beautiful setting and farm animals, which really drew us in (but turned out to be superficial and far less important than how children are treated - obviously).

We have felt moved to share our experience at BWK because it has truly changed our life. Our son…read morehas attended since he was 2.5yrs old (he is 6 years old now) and our youngest has just started at 2 Years old. We feel very grateful to have been introduced to waldorf by chance. We live just down the road and discovered it by driving past the quaint adobe school building and huge , peaceful, tree covered play yard with goats and chickens roaming about. From an outside perspective , it looked like an extension of home; and it has proven to be just that. The teachers are people of integrity, authentic, kind, and nurturing . They hold the kids so beautifully and create days full of wonder and beauty. It becomes obviously quickly that the priority at BWK is To nurture the children from a young age to be confident, curious, gentle, and intentional beings. There is a huge emphasis on social emotional learning and development and the entire faculty support the children and families to create a joyous environment where all are treated with respect and kindness. Now that we have been a part of the school for four years, with kids in two different classrooms , we can attest that it truly feels like the "village" that we have lost in this society. Recommend sending your child at any age if you are seeking a welcoming and safe school, with a strong and connected community of parents and faculty

Pay attention to the number of complaints/founded reports of child abuse made on the Colorado…read moreShines website and the frequent inability to pass inspections here: https://www.coloradoshines.com/program_details?id=001o000000JBEGGAA5 And save yourself from being in a situation where you are the next one calling and making a report for something that has happened to your child. Don't be surprised if this review is met with a defensive, minimizing, or manipulative reply - my personal experience predicts this will be the case. I have seen the director Michael on Facebook telling parents not to pay attention to the Colorado Shines website to me that should be a Red Flag they not only have something to hide but are actively working to hide it. For a school that has been around since 1970 you would think they could pass an inspection by now without manipulation or paying someone - see photos.

The Little Red School House, as Children's House is so lovingly referred to in our family, has been…read morethe only preschool I've sent my children to (once they reached 2 1/2) upon arriving in Boulder, from an inner city environment 4 years ago. My oldest, who is now going into 1st grade, was in need of a lot of stimulation outside of the home when he was little. He was one of those very active, curious kids always seeking out new adventures and interests. The education staff took great care in feeding that curiosity from the first day. Their story book journey curriculum is a tested and proven method (see Ashley Merriman's and Po Bronson's, Nurture Shock) for early childhood education success across all areas of learning, whether it be speech, pre literacy, social awareness, personal development, gross/fine motor etc. My husband and I beamed when our 3 year old son came home with books on sharks for us to read to him from the school and started memorizing facts and reciting them to friends and relatives. It seemed he had met his match. As an elementary age kiddo he has flourished into a very kind, loving, enthusiastic and confident student. I give a lot of credit for that to Elaine, the director at Children's House. Our youngest son will be starting his final year at CHP in the fall. He has developed so much from their care by learning self confidence, self reliance and finding his own voice. He is now looking forward to being a leader for next years students and I know he will continue to thrive in this loving, nurturing environment. A point worth making is that it is a one room school house meaning the children are of mixed ages together throughout their day. I can only speak from my family's experience but it has been wonderful to watch our children flourish as they get older, growing first from silent observer, to active participant and lastly to confident leader. The one room serves as a wonderfully safe and creative environment to explore through play, art, music, and pre literacy story telling. While it is a very active and diverse classroom, each child really does find their own sense of peace and space to grow within it. Children's House Preschool has been a very, very positive experience for my family.

I love this school! I have sent both of my sons there and the lessons (life and curriculum related)…read morethey have learned there have been OUTSTANDING. Not only do I have to drag my 4-year old off the playground every afternoon, he is READING and doing multiplication! There is a reason this school has been in the community for the past 30 years, they are hard-working, committed professionals dedicated to the success of our childrean. Highly recommended.

My son is 4.5 and has been at Boulder Montessori School since he was 18 months old. He has thrived…read moreunder the care of the wonderful teachers at BMS and with the Montessori principles. Our younger son will start at BMS when he reaches 18 months and we are thrilled to have him benefit from all things BMS. Some aspects of BMS which contribute to our satisfaction: 1) tenure of teachers - several teachers & administrators have been with BMS since founding in the 1970s. many others have been with the school for 10-20 years. 2) sense of community - BMS embraces its families as their own. 3) empowering children - Montessori gives children the power to thrive in independence. From serving their own food and clearing their own dishes, to finding a sense of order in how kid's structure their "work", our son finds extreme happiness in managing his own little world.

Harmony is the best. I know my kids learn to be kind loving and compassionate to all of their…read more"friends" (what they call other kids at harmony) and are stimulated with the rich learning environment and fantastic teachers. The pedagogy and climate is excellent. I looked far and wide and Harmony is the best preschool we found. The Harmony community is also fantastic.

From the owner: At Harmony, we believe children grow and develop valuable skills when their classroom experiences…read moreare geared to their natural level of development. We accommodate the uniqueness of young children using a developmentally appropriate curriculum and learning materials for each individual child. At Harmony, we avoid adhering to only one philosophy and instead choose to combine several philosophies, thus creating a special and unique atmosphere for each child's individual growth.

We wouldn't recommend Scuttlebugs. We were at Tiny Minders North and loved it. The transition to…read moreScuttlebugs, who bought it when the original owner retired, was rough. The chef is wonderful and so are the hours, but after all of our favorite caregivers left, we started looking for other options. The turnover was so high, it felt like staff came and went every few weeks. The old guard associated with Tiny Minders all departed over time; new folks coming in also left after short stints. Rooms were not staffed with enough teachers. New staff didn't know my kiddo or introduce themselves to me. I felt I was leaving her with strangers. I'm relieved we left when we did--I've since heard concerning stories. For reference our daughter is 3. I hope they can turn this ship around because I know we all desperately need safe, quality childcare.

Our daughter is doing great in ScuttleBugs' preschool program. We've been with the center since it…read morewas called TinyMinders, and while the transition to new ownership was a bit rocky for a while, the new team seems to have found their footing and emerged as good as ever. The school recruited an amazing preschool teacher who brings solid, professional teaching and a great energy to the room. The addition of the onsite chef has been fantastic both because we no longer have to pack lunches, and the meals are full of quality and variety. Overall, a solid choice for a Boulder daycare that caters to the typical working parent.

This place is amazing! A hidden gem. Sunrise has been a gift for my son during this time in the…read moreworld. Melissa and Nick are incredible people. I love the curriculum and fun they provide.

We are so grateful to have found Sunrise for our daughters. We moved to Boulder for a year on…read moreSabbatical and our 2 and 4 year old attended Sunrise together. Sunrise has a wonderful happy, family vibe that is promoted by Melissa (she is so exceptionally gifted with children!!) and all of the staff. Our daughters came home happy every day excited about what they had learned at school (even my husband and I learned new things about animals, planets, multicultural holidays, etc!!). But most importantly they felt valued, included and generally excited about learning and made many friends. They grew a lot over the year and gained confidence in many areas. Thank you to everyone at Sunrise!