Montessori School of Oceanside 2

I enrolled my son in this school in June. He was four months old at the time. I had toured another school that had a nicer facility, but liked what seemed to be a «family» vibe given off by this facility. The cheaper tuition should’ve been a dead giveaway. you get what you pay for, people!
Fast forward to two weeks ago– As I was pulling out after picking up my son, I watched an infant crawl OUT of the building, through an open side door, and into a playground – UNATTENDED. About fifteen seconds later, the caregiver came running out – Ms. Mandy, one of the main caregivers in the infant room. I immediately picked up the phone to call and inquire. I asked if an infant just crawled out of the building and she said «No.» I repeated the question, and again, she said no. I repeat myself AGAIN, and she says «No, well did you see one?» I tell her «I just saw you run out there after the baby.» Her response was nonsensical, something to the effect that she was aware of the situation… umm CLEARLY. After being blatantly lied to over something so serious, we were done… after four months of trying to make allowances.
Over the course of our four and a half month term, things went from mediocre to sub-​standard. We immediately encountered issues. Daily sheets were constantly inaccurate; given that these are the only way a parent knows what happened with their child that day, this is a HUGE issue. Multiple times my son was sent home in different clothes, supposedly because he had a poopy accident, or spit up, while no evidence of that could be found, but there were clearly wet waistbands and onesies where he had not been changed soon enough. The infant room is constantly icy cold. I would pick up my son and find any exposed skin way too cold. I inquired about the temp and it was blamed on the old building, but I suspect it’s the preference of one of the caregivers. As a young infant, I never found my son interacting or playing with others, only sitting in a swing or bouncy. I would ask the caregivers to document his playtime activities, which they did – ONCE. He was on the late end of rolling over and I firmly believe it’s because he wasn’t given adequate attention and tummy time when he was in desperate need of that at four months. He actually developed a bald spot on the back of his head after two weeks there. More than once I witnessed caregivers change diapers and move on without washing their hands, which probably explains why my son contracted a horrible stomach virus his very first week there. I would also come in and find other babies’ blankets in my son’s crib. which took them almost two months to label, btw. Just no consistency or care for details across the board.
There are two main caregivers in the infant room – Ms. Maggie and Ms. Mandy. Ms. Maggie is absolutely wonderful. She is genuinely loving and so protective of «her babies.» If I could afford to hire her away as a private nanny, I absolutely would. Ms. Mandy on the other hand, should absolutely NOT be alone with infants. She lied to both myself and my husband on MULTIPLE occasions. We quickly made the director aware of this, and she acknowledged there had been issues with her, but they kept her because she was «loyal.» Anytime I would ask Mandy about my son’s day, she would always stare, completely blank, until I gave her a suggestion.“was he having tummy time?” «oh YES, tummy time» «was he sleeping?» «Oh yes, he was sleeping.» Once my husband picked up the baby and she had written down that our son was sleeping from 4 – 4:30.it was 4:10 when my husband arrived. Incidents like this occurred CONSTANTLY. I picked my son up at 5:15 almost every day. Once on his daily sheet it was recorded that he was last changed at 4:30.by the time we got home at 5:45 he was completely SOAKED. His diaper (Pampers, btw) weighed a TON. It was clear he hadn’t been changed for at least a few hours.
We spoke to the director on three different occasions. Constantly asking that something be done about these discrepancies. The woman would nod her head and say «oh yes yes yes, I’m so sorry. we will fix it,» and sure enough nothing would change. After seeing the infant crawl out unattended (what’s the point of a locked front door if the side door sits wide open), and speaking with the director – who did NOTHING, even after telling her that her teacher blatantly lied, we are DONE. There’s a big sign «now enrolling» out front. I urge you to avoid this place at all cost. I’m honestly SHOCKED that people keep not one, but multiple children in this program, and I’m ashamed it took me so long to see it for what it was.

I left my first review more than two years ago. Since then my son has continued to attend (and love) the school. We’ve since had another baby and enrolled him in January of this year.
After the last two-​and-​a-​half years, I feel confident in saying that the staff genuinely cares for my son and that this has been a good place for him. He’s learning, his social skills are on par with older kids, he gets to play outside everyday, do arts and crafts, and loves reading and singing — we’ve been to a few of the school performances and he’s adorable! (I’m biased…)
We’re happy our kids are here and recommend it to our friends. It’s not the fanciest facility out there. But the turnover with both caregivers and children is very low — the providers in the infant room who took care of my older son are now caring for our baby. Daycare is expensive enough as it is. My kids are well cared for, they’re learning, and they’re happy.

I did a tour of this «school» with my son on Friday, August 15^th.
The place is a dump! The teacher in room 5, whose name I cannot pronounce
often was heard yelling at the little children. The infant room teacher seemed
nice enough but had a strong accent whichever made her difficult to understand.
They provide daycare, meaning TV watching. I saw many many things that were so wrong with this «school» but I value my own time so I not going to go on and on, but
the children dry their hands with toilet paper. This «school» does not even have paper towels. As a loving concerned parent I will NOT send my child to this «school

Our daughter has been attending this school since she was 5 months old. She is now almost 18 months and is advanced beyond her age. We credit the school in helping us teach our daughter. She loves the educational activities and has learned to speak very well for her age. She loves her teachers and looks forward to going to school every morning. In addition to our daughter, our nephew has been attending this same school for the past 3 yrs. He too has shown advanced development for his age. When we saw how well he was doing in school we decided to enroll our daughter in the same school.
I disagree with the person who left the negative comment. I trust my daughter with her teachers and have never witnessed any of the things that person has mentioned. My experience with the director has been nothing but positive. She is very caring towards the kids and parents alike. I would recommend this school.

My son has been going here for almost a year. We are beyond IMPRESSED. The Staff is amazing. They are caring and genuine and we LOVE them and our son loves them. The school has so many events and the staff puts in so much of their time and creativity to make each event amazing. They have done school performances, a science fair, holiday parties and more. My son is 2 almost 3 now, and he went from barely talking to having full on conversations after going to school there. We LOVE it. We trust them and our son loves going there. He asks to go to school on weekends sometimes! We are so thankful. Its so affordable and we get excellent care.
I disagree with that negative comment that was left below. That is so untrue about the staff. I trust them 100%. I see them interact with my son and they are so kind and he loves his teachers so much. It makes me very upset that someone would write such a negative comment about a staff that is the best I have ever seen.

Four kids, all at top of the class

Our son has been attending the Montessori School of Oceanside 2 full-​time for nearly two years and he really enjoys it. The staff members are caring, dedicated, and willing to work with us to promote the best learning and growth experience for him.