Edmonds Montessori School

My children loved every moment at Edmond Montessori. I loved that when they started out in public school they were way ahead of the other kids. Our son learns differently and not only did Christi help him find his way she helped us understand and learn to work with his differences. She has always gone above and beyond meeting with us during her time off when we were at our wits end. She has been available to us even after our children had moved on. It is a wonderful thing to know someone cares so much for your kiddos. I wish they could have stayed through higher grades. This was a wonderful investment in my kids’ futures that has paid off again and again as they have moved through elementary.

Both of my kids attended Edmonds Montessori. If it was possible to still have them enrolled in Christi’s class, they would be. The time they spent here was priceless, to us and to them — worth every penny. We pass by there every now and then, and both kids mention how they wish they could go back, even for just a day.
To address another comment, neither of my children got lice while they were there. They did get it in public school though. While it’s not the most fun thing to deal with, it is pretty common. There are so many more things that are actually important to your child’s education.
Why is Montessori so important? Because it will give your child an excellent foundation to build on. Especially if your child is a little different. Times are changing, and public education is struggling to keep up. They expect your child to fit into a box, and Montessori isn’t just outside of the box, it gives your child a box to stand on.
I couldn’t recommend this school more. Your kids will thank you.

I cannot say enough great things about this school. We enrolled our son during a period of huge changes in his life. A move from out of state, followed by the birth of a sister all within his first six weeks of entering preschool for the first time. He was treated with such care and understanding from Ms. Christi and Ms. Esma that our whole family immediately felt at home and comfortable. Although our lives settled down as the school year wore on, we continued to enjoy our experience with this preschool. These teachers obviously love what they do and care greatly about each child as an individual. I was routinely updated in person by Ms. Christi about his progress and sometimes just a funny story about his day at school and always appreciated the personal interest she took in my child.
Just as a note. During the 2012 – 13 school year there were three cases of lice at the school. Each time parents were promptly notified by email.

While I understand Peter’s frustration and position, I have a different perspective. I love this school, and feel that Christi has helped our son in such a massive capacity since he’s been there.
When he started in September, our son was withdrawn socially, wouldn’t participate in class activities, didn’t talk much in school, was resistant to instruction, etc. Now, in April, he’s consistently engaged with the other kids, his vocabulary is thru the roof, sits with the group at circle time, and (for the most part) does what he’s told. I’m early to pick our son up from school every day and watch the class thru the window, and I can say that Christi is great at her job and puts a lot of effort and caring into her work.
As far as being in the business to make money… well obviously. We’re all in our own line of work to make money to support our families. Is she in this JUST to make money? I don’t believe so; not even a little bit. She has gone above and beyond the call of duty with our son and in my opinion she truly cares about these kids and their development. There are several families that live as far away as Everett that go thru a lot of hassle to get their kids to downtown Edmonds to attend this school every day. Seems like a lot of work for a 1 star school.

What started out as a great school has gone downhill. There has been a lot of teacher turnover this year. They are on their fourth teacher in 6 months, so something is definitely wrong. But this is not the biggest problem with Edmonds Montessori.
Two days ago we were emailed by another parent telling us to check our daughter for lice. We did and sure enough she had it. At no small expense we had her and her siblings deloused and our house has been turned upside down — finishing the 25^th load of laundry as I write this.
It turns out the Montessori had known that there was an outbreak for a full week but had not informed any of the parents. We emailed the owner and received no reply. There are now 7 confirmed cases of lice at the school. We got the owner on the phone to express our outrage that she’d kept the information from us and she replied that she had «no obligation to communicate this to the parents, nor any intent to do so». We were shocked and dismayed by this response. We took it upon ourselves to communicate this to the entire school so at a minimum they could have their child checked. In response we received a voice mail from the owner saying we were abusing the class email list and that we should cease.
My take: The owner has no children in the program anymore; her oldest is in college. Her primary motivation is to make money, and your kids and mine are simply a means to an end. We are very disappointed with this egregious lack of common sense.