Cardinal Montessori School

This has been a horrible experience for us. We had to withdraw our son because of the condition of the school. They are often out of soap and paper towels, and the playground is unsafe. The mulch is not deep enough to provide impact protection, not to mention made of recycled tires (yay for being green, boo for the filth of this choice, especially considering the fact that the kids can't wash without soap). The supervisory staff (not the teachers) often miss important incidents on the playground, like bullying and fights, and new kids are ostracized and not included. My son's education stagnated and fell behind, contrary to the school's stellar reputation (which we relied on to select it). I fear that the reputation this school has, is one based more on the hope that simply because one is paying for private education, that it must be better than public. This is simply not the case here. The teachers are kind, caring and want the best for the children, but it didn't translate to the product. The classrooms are not organized in a traditional Montessori fashion and are cluttered more than you'd expect for that type of environment, and the Montessori sense of community is absent if you are new. We spent half a year there (entering mid-year because we'd moved) and by the last day of school, exactly one family had bothered speaking to us. One. Single. Family. The sense of community that the school claims to have is totally void if you aren't one of them. And the idea that the administrator is out in the hall talking to you about your individual child, was something I never witnessed either. We had precisely one conversation the entire year, over the phone. I don't think he knows my son from a hole in the wall, except for now, as he is terribly worried about his school's reputation as someone has spoken up.

Wonderful school, I love it. My son thinks is the best place in the world.

Cardinal is a great school. Mr. G. and the Cardinal staff are very committed to the students. I love the attention my kids get there.