I want to be as fair as possible, so I'll divide my rating over 5 stars, with one for: Teachers,…read moreProgram, Behavior Management, Director, and Owner.
Teachers: +1 star. Our son was in the poppy room, and the teachers, especially Miss Alexa, were wonderful. They were everything we look for in teachers; kind, warm, nurturing, supportive, and understanding.
Program: +1 star. Having our son join at 2-years-old was wonderful because he was in that "I can do it" stage. It gave him the sense of independence children that age crave. We loved seeing the pictures of him cutting fruit and setting the table. We saw an increase in his desire to do these skills at home, which we were more than happy to accommodate. Had we had our now 5-year-old son there, who never had even remotely concerning behavior, I believe we would have had an incredible experience. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
Behavior Management/The Director/The Owner: No star. Our 2-year-old son has struggled with biting. While that is normal and developmentally appropriate, it's been a serious challenge. He's been at Children's Courtyard since he was an infant. When the biting started a little before he turned 2, they couldn't have been more kind, supportive and understanding. We never doubted for one moment that he was loved and welcomed there. With that being said, there were 2 or 3 days where he had significantly rough days (biting 3 kids before nap time), where we agreed he needed to be picked up and try again the next day. When I saw the Peak Montessori's booth at Morgan Hill Music in the Park, I was curious if maybe the change in setting, where he would be at individual work stations with less crowding and fighting over items, would be the change he needed. We regrettably, took him out of Children's Courtyard, where they told us we would be welcome back anytime, and moved him to Peak Montessori. We had 4 wonderful weeks then, the biting returned. Probably not coincidentally, this happened when my brother-in-law was going through life-threatening health issues and my husband was gone for days at a time, which I shared with Amanda. Over those traumatic 2-weeks on the home front, I was now dealing with Montessori's response to the behavior.
The director, Amanda, asked for a meeting to go over a plan of how we were going to work together to support my son through this. I arrived and found that I was not only meeting with Amanda, but another woman who did not work at that site. I was completely blind-sided and further blown away when Amanda spent the next 60 minutes going on and on about ratios and how they couldn't manage the level of support he needed. The other woman tried to reassure me and say that this is "normal" behavior and Amanda corrected her that no, this was not normal. They then showed me the support plan that said if he bit one time, he would be sent home for the rest of the day. The next time he bit, he would be sent home for the day and not allowed to come back the following day. They showed me the line where I needed to sign, and I regrettably did, desperate to get out of there, counting down the seconds until I could go to my car and cry, which I did, uncontrollably. My son bit again, once, and was sent home.
My husband and I met with Amanda and the owner, Colleen. We said that not only was it too hard having unreliable childcare that sent him home and didn't allow him back the next day, but that this consequence seemed like a reward for biting to our son, who then got to spend the day alone with one of us. We also shared the concern that keeping him at home removed the opportunities to work on this behavior. To their credit, they agreed, and said they would not send him home, but they would give us 3 weeks to see if the behavior improved. Amanda then started sending daily, lengthy emails detailing every single thing he did. Not just if he bit, but how when he was in line he pushed the child in front of him, he yanked a toy away, he threw a toy. It listed so many minor, isolated, and completely normal 2-year-old behaviors. They didn't say 1 kind thing about him. It was crushing. I finally broke and told them I couldn't take what felt like deliberate, emotional abuse anymore. I told them it felt like Montessori was no longer a place where he was accepted, and I wasn't willing to take the risk that he may begin to internalize that perception of himself. I asked the owner to honor the clause in their contract that says "With all aggressive behavior, the school may determine that the aggressive child may no longer be a fit for the school and enrollment may be terminated without notice" and agree to terminate enrollment immediately, with that day being his last day. They declined and charged us the full 3-weeks remaining in the month. We had him back at Children's Courtyard before the week was out and took the massive financial blow of 3 weeks of paying for 2 daycares for the sake of our son's and our well-being.
