Excellent Montessori School

I came to pick up my daughter and noticed she was restrained in a chair on the floor and had to wait for the teacher to release her like a dog. The teacher said they were just "reading". By themselves, at the age of 1-2, on the floor, with no teacher interaction.

When the director showed me their cameras, every camera in the facility was working, BUT the one camera in my daughter’s classroom. She said she forgot about that camera not working. She then said, "cameras only hold recordings up to 5 days anyway." When she initially said 2 weeks. It hadn't even been 5 days.

Soon after, I attended a birthday party for a child in my daughters’ class. The mother said she also caught the staff restraining her son to a chair. She said it was done because her son is busy. So, it seems to be a common thing for toddlers who are busy to be strapped into chairs.

This should not come as a surprise to parents, this practice does not follow Montessori, and a lot of parents consider this practice to be abusive. Parents should know how long our children are restrained and we should be informed that this school does have cameras, but they apparently only seem to work when it is convenient for the school.

The next day, my daughter cried intensely at school. She NEVER did this before. She also now repeatedly says "I'm sorry" over and over again while crying uncontrollably when she feels she's done something wrong. She does this for small things like when she doesn't want to take her medicine. Soon after, a teacher greeted me by saying "People should teach their children to be kind. There are people who hurt children!” She then went on to describe her frustration with my daughter not listening to her with so much anger while looking at my daughter- a 2 year old- as if she wanted to meet her out in the parking lot after school.

No educator with proper training and education would mention violence in the same sentence as a child. They are understaffed and some of the staff have adopted abusive practices out of frustration. If you follow gentle, attachment parenting, this is not the school for you.