Sunset Montessori Preschool

I posted a review in April of this year, then noticed today that my review had been taken down. So I am repeating it here.
Our daughter spent three magical years at Sunset Montessori in Hollywood, and also visited the Studio City location many times, including for summer sessions. We were most impressed with both schools and could not be happier with the level of early education our daughter received there. I come from a «Montessori» family, so application of the Montessori method was important to me. My sisters and I all attended a fantastic Montessori school in the Midwest and my mother completed the Montessori teacher training in the 1970’s. When my husband and I started looking for Montessori preschools for our daughter, we found a good number of schools in the Los Angeles area that used the Montessori name, but were not true to the Montessori methods. Sunset Montessori was a welcome exception. Even my «strict construction» mother gave Sunset Montessori a glowing review, and called the newly built Studio City location the most beautiful Montessori classroom she had ever seen. As an added bonus, the Hollywood location, which is the location we chose for our daughter, offers the most amazing «performance» program imaginable. Even two-​year olds are able to study beginning ballet, gymnastics, keyboards and music lessons and to show off their accomplishments in four, full-​scale performances each year. We credit Sunset Montessori’s fantastic performing arts program with giving our daughter a love of dance and music and more self-​confidence than we ever thought possible. Academically, our daughter thrived as well, in part because Sunset Montessori did such a terrific job of implementing Method, which allows the children to develop the ability to focus and work independently. The quiet but busy workroom was something we noticed the first time we walked in to Sunset Montessori. Even with 20 children present, the classroom was never loud or chaotic. The children all went about there work happily and at their own speed and pace. After Sunset Montessori, our daughter was accepted into an elementary school that has a very strong academic drive. Because of her summer birthday, she is the youngest student in her class (in some cases by as much as a year). Even so, her years at Sunset Montessori more than prepared her for the classwork in Kindergarten and first grade. She also has terrific social skills and continues to engage everyone in her classroom in play, never excluding anyone who wants to join in — which was most definitely a skill that was encouraged at Sunset Montessori. I have read the one poor review that is posted here and can only say that it is so far removed from our experience that I believe it cannot possibly be true. I am sorry that this person decided to vent whatever frustrations he or she had in this way, because that review could affect another child’s ability to experience this wonderful learning environment. Based on the date on which this post was made, I wonder whether this person was the parent of the troubled little girl we knew our last year at Sunset Montessori. Unfortunately, there are some behavioral problems that no school can possibly be expected to deal with long-​term, particularly if those involve a child who is acting out in violence to those around her. We do remember a little girl who would hit, kick and bite the teachers and was most clearly suffering from some emotional problems at home. Even this child, who spent the last year of our daughter’s preschool experience at Sunset Montessori with us, was never mistreated or even treated disrespectfully by any of the teachers in our presence — and we were encouraged to be present quite a lot! In fact I remember being impressed with how well the teachers handled this little girl, even as she was behaving violently toward them. I know that I would never have had the patience that these instructors had. For someone to report in a two-​sentence review that their child was mistreated in the way described is just absurd. Fortunately for the person who posted the negative review, they were able to find a school that fit their daughter — and best of luck to them. For us, and for the dozens and dozens of other students our daughter went to preschool with, Sunset Montessori was that school. If you are fortunate to apply while places are still available, it might be you as well.

Our daughter loves this place as much as our son did. I accidentally put 4 instead of 5 stars!

Our daughter recently graduated from Sunset Montessori in Studio City and is heading into kindergarten in just a few weeks. Thanks to her experience at Sunset Montessori she is reading on a 1^st grade level, has a love for art, music, ballet and more, and excels at self-​directed projects. As a parent I feel that one of the most important lessons our daughter will ever learn is how to master her own emotions and I feel as though the gentle structure at Sunset Montessori has helped provide the framework for this. She adores each and every teacher at this charming, bright, calm and peaceful school and has, throughout this summer, wistfully told us that she misses school, misses her teachers. Each teacher brings something a little different into the mix… very important because not every child (or family) will connect with every teacher. One of the things I have enjoyed watching is our daughter grow from being one of the «little» kids to being one of the older children, and therefore a role-​model for the younger children. I repeatedly witness how caring and patient she is with younger children. Our daughter has learned so many great things it’s impossible to detail them all, I only wish that we weren’t leaving and that they offered an elementary school curriculum. Just writing this review makes me sad that we won’t be returning… We love and thank all the staff at Sunset Montessori for 2−½ wonderful years and for helping to shape the rest of our daughter’s life and educational experience! Oh, and we’ve met many other amazing kids and their parents, an added bonus.

My child was spanked and had tape put
over her mouth by a teacher at this school. Luckily she told me about it and we were able to put her into a wonderful preschool nearby

My wife and I cannot say enough positive things about this school. After starting at the tender age of 2, our daughter is now in her third year and will be leaving for Kindergarten in the Fall. From day one she has been nurtured, loved and educated at Sunset Montessori. She loves this school and cannot wait to go each day. During weekends and holidays she actually tells us she misses school and looks forward to going back. We could not have asked for a more positive first educational experience for our child. We are currently going through the ordeal of finding a Kindergarten and Sunset Montessori is going to be a tough act to follow. All the teachers have been great and we have been fortunate that she has had the same core teachers working with her since she started. The Director of the school, Liliya, runs a tight ship and there is a reason why all the teachers have been with her for many years and most students don’t leave this school once they start. She has created an incredible environment for all the teachers and the students to grow and thrive.
It’s upsetting to see such a negative review about this school. These are serious accusations and we feel strongly about rising to the school’s defense. All we can say is that there has NEVER been an incident of physical or mental abuse from a teacher at Sunset Montessori that we are aware of that is based in fact. Those of you with toddlers know that children don’t hold back on anything and ours in particular talks, talks, talks and TALKS. If anything even close to this was going on, believe me we would hear about it. You just can’t hide this type of thing from 35+ inquisitive, talkative minds. Like any school, there are sometimes issues with certain students (which our child does not hold back in telling us about!) and I have always respected Liliya and the other teachers who go above and beyond to work with these kids to integrate them into the Sunset Montessori community. You always know who these kids are, as you see the teachers working one on one with these same students when you drop your child off in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon. True, this extra attention does take away from the other students, but this is what makes Sunset Montessori such a unique and positive environment as it really is a community where those who need extra help are given additional support from the teachers as well as mentored by the more mature students. They are not simply cast aside and told to leave the school because they don’t fit in and/​or are «difficult” — notwithstanding physically aggressive behavior from a child that puts the other children and/​or teachers in harms way. Thankfully, although there have been some students at the school working through this, we have never experienced anything that caused us genuine concern for our child’s safety. Unfortunately, there are those children that don’t respond to this type of inclusive environment and continue to by physically and/​or mentally abusive towards there fellow students and teachers and these are the students that end up leaving the school. Although these cases have been rare at Sunset Montessori, they do happen (as they do at any school). Again, the only «physical abuse» is from a child to another child or a teacher and NEVER from a teacher. I think every parent has had an experience with their child not being truthful as a defense and in most cases this is natural and harmless which they grow out of as they mature with the appropriate parenting. However, there are those cases where defensive conduct such as not telling the truth to get attention or deflecting their own behavior can be extremely negative and destructive. Although as a parent it can be a difficult to be objective and acknowledge that your child perhaps needs help, fortunately all the parents that we know personally are in tune enough with their child to separate fact from fiction and take responsibility for support their child (as well as their fellow parents and students) in correcting the root cause of the behavior.
Sunset Montessori is a wonderful school!

Our daughter is now in her third year at this school. Her experience there has helped her grow into a confident, responsible, creative little person with a genuine love of learning. Miss Liliya and her teachers are nurturing but firm in setting expectations about what it means to be a part of a community — for older children to help the younger ones, to participate and share, and to create an environment where each child can focus on their individual tasks and learning.
The physical space is lovely — so light filled and clean and calming. There is a great balance of activities each day, including the opportunity for additional enrichment classes.
In addition to the staff, our daughter is also surrounded by amazing kids from lovely families. We have been very grateful to have such a wonderful, safe and caring environment for her.