December 2019 by Amber K.
Our two children had drastically different experiences here. For my older child, this was a great school (5 stars). For my younger child, it was not (0 stars). Depending on your kid, this may or may not be the right place. First, the basics: MVLA Montessori is well-run, safe, clean, and enriching. I've never seen the teachers discipline the kids inappropriately or do anything unprofessional. All the teachers seem well-qualified and calm. (My daughter especially loved Ms. Michelle.) The classrooms are pleasant and the outdoor space is adequate. No red flags. Second, the administration: This could be positive or negative depending on what you're looking for. Miss Linda and Miss Louanne, the directors, run a tight ship. They have a lot of rules: no parents allowed in the classroom ever; no hanging out on the playground before or after pickup; no chatting in the parking lot; no toys from home; etc. They also have a strict schedule: dropoff is 8:30-9:00 AM only, and if you are a minute late, you may have to wait outside the classroom for 15-20 minutes. Miss Linda and Miss Louanne forbid email communication from parents directly to teachers. They require that all communications go through them, and they sign each email with both of their names. Opportunities to talk to teachers are very limited - usually only 30 seconds through the crack of a door at dropoff or pickup. Otherwise, you must schedule a special meeting with the teacher and the directors after school hours. There is an open house in the fall, but it's focused on showcasing the school rather than on intimate parent-teacher conversations. Third, the activities: The materials are typical for a Montessori school (number blocks, beads to count, water to pour, etc.), but overall the kids do not have as much freedom as at some other Montessori schools. Most of the day is spent doing mandatory activities (circle time, worksheets, identical craft projects, etc.) There is not much free play; kids have only one outdoor recess of ~20 minutes all morning. This was fine for my daughter, who's less active and who could happily do crafts all day. It did not work for my son, who is energetic and independent. Miss Linda and Miss Louanne organize seasonal events throughout the year, including a Halloween party, a Christmas song-and-dance show, and a graduation ceremony. The events are carefully orchestrated to be consistent and tidy (e.g., the kids all wear the same outfit at the dance and recite the same thing at graduation). The overall effect is predictably adorable, but it doesn't allow for much creativity. The same can be said of the avalanche of craft projects that come home weekly (many of which seem to have little involvement from the child him/herself.) Fourth, the classroom organization: This ended up being a deal-breaker for us. When my daughter started in 2015, MVLA had age-cohort classrooms (2s, 3s, 4s, and 5s). This worked well for her, especially the 5s' kindergarten room, which she loved. My son started in 2017 when he turned two, and his first year was OK. But in 2018 at the start of his second year, MVLA (without discussing with parents) eliminated the 2's classroom and switched to a mixed-ages model, combining 3s, 4s, and 5s in each room. Mixed-age classrooms can be great when young kids learn from older ones and older kids develop responsibility for younger ones. But that dynamic works best in a less structured environment. MVLA is very structured, and the result of this change was to expect all the kids to act like pre-kindergartners. My 36-month-old, suddenly the youngest in the school, did not fit into a pre-K classroom where he had to trace alphabet worksheets and paste maps of the continents. He just wanted to play and run. Finally, communication. I was not happy with the lack of communication about my son. Apparently he had not been doing well in his 3-to-5-year-old classroom for months before the teachers finally contacted us. They said the other kids had all "normalized" to the classroom and he had not. We tried
