Community Montessori School

My 3.5 year old started at CMS last Spring. We have had a wonderful experience at CMS. She has come out of her shell and really enjoys coming to school. She hugs her teachers goodbye when I pick her up and that shows me that she feels loved and comfortable at this school. The teachers here put so much effort into the Virtues project. My daughter comes home and can discuss concepts like trustworthiness, tact and responsibility. The teachers at this school truly value showing these kids how to behave and interact with empathy, love and respect. The expectations are clear and that makes it easy to participate in your child’s education. There is regular parental involvement and the communication from Janet is consistent as she sends out plenty of reminders so that us parents can also be successful participants. It is an adorable «one room schoolhouse» type of environment. This allows the younger kids to learn with older students as role models while the older students have the opportunity to be a leader and feel that responsibility. Overall, we are happy to have our daughter learning in an environment that is safe and provides a variety of work that she finds to be interesting and challenging.

My wife and I work full time and we needed a school for our three year old starting Aug. of 2014. After seven months of enrollment at the CMS, I am delighted to say our child is getting a first class education that surprises us everyday! There are four experienced teachers that have been with the school for multiple years. The school has so many great learning areas that get changed monthly. There is a large yard with a playground, play areas and gardens. The school has early morning and late afternoon care, where my daughter continues learning while my wife and I are still working. My wife and I have been treated with nothing but professionalism by the staff, and even given some parenting suggestions (that have worked every time) when a teacher picks up on something from one of us. This is a great school. We look forward to seeing what our daughter learns next year!

My granddaughter has attended Community Montessori for the past 2 years and is entering her third and final year at this school. My daughter is a single parent and Janet Wheeler and her staff (Jocelyn, Helen and Carol) have truly been our extended family. Academically, the staff is robust in introducing a solid foundation in reading and mathematics while interspersing geography, culture and music. There is an emphasis on virtues and civility at this school that is priceless. My granddaughter has a ‘larger than life’ type of personality. It takes a special group of people who truly care, as they do at this school, to be able to direct her energy into productive activities without breaking her spirit. This group of teachers has been able to work effectively with her in that capacity, shaping and polishing without diminishing who she is. There is a large backyard which is ideal for play time and the school has a colorful and friendly layout. Janet will often have various professionals visit the school to enrich the program with their special talents. Janet and her staff put a great deal of thought into this program and it is obvious how positively that is reflected in my granddaughter’s outlook, behavior/​demeanor and intellect. When my single-​parent daughter struggled with work schedule challenges in providing care for my granddaughter this summer, Janet e-​mail blasted the entire group of parents at Montessori reaching out for help. Other Montessori parents came quickly to support my daughter’s needs by filling in at various hours of the day to cover the schedule gaps. There is an unbelievable sense of community here — which is why the school is so aptly named. The best thing about the entire experience, however; is the way my granddaughter feels about the school. She feels loved and cared about. She looks forward to school every day. She has never said, even once, that she didn’t want to go to school for the day. Every time I have ever asked her about school, she says she loves it. There’s the proof. This school and its staff has provided a stability and lifelong foundation for my granddaughter to continue to thrive educationally and philosophically long after she graduates this coming spring.

I’ve read the few negative reviews regarding Community Montessori that have surfaced recently, which prompted me to add my two cents on the subject. First, it should be noted that the vast majority of parents with whom I’ve interacted are extremely satisfied with the school and recommend it to each and every friend they know. This school produces results, period. Furthermore, the results are visible not only in each child’s academic progress, but also in his/​her behavior and in the virtues instilled by the school.
Regarding behavioral and/​or developmental issues, the school makes a point of speaking with parents regarding what the teachers observe in their daily interactions with our children rather than ignoring the reality and letting the child’s progress suffer as a result. I understand that, as a parent, it is often uncomfortable to hear negative feedback regarding one’s child. I personally struggled with this before embracing my role in identifying and correcting the noted issues. However, now more than ever, I am glad that I was open to hearing this feedback and that I chose to support the school both at home and in the classroom. The results with our son have been better than I ever could have imagined. Thus, I can personally attest to the fact that not every student who ends up excelling in this program is without roadblocks along the way. It’s reasonable for parents to assert that the customer is always right. However, when dealing with professionals such as doctors and teachers, I for one would prefer for them to be honest with me and not just cater to my ego at the expense of my child.
The issue for virtually every parent with whom I’ve spoken is never whether Community Montessori is the best place for our children to begin their formal education, but where to send our children once they graduate. Ms. Janet and crew have instilled a level of knowledge and curiosity that puts the children worlds ahead of their peers at comparable schools. Just ask the staff what percentage of children read chapter books and have been exposed to things like fractions and multiplication by the end of kindergarten. You will be shocked at how high the figure truly is. My son attended Community Montessori for roughly 3 years, recently graduating, and I had the opportunity to witness these incredible results year after year. The culmination is that each kindergartener at the school completes a project, researches and writes a report, and makes a presentation upon graduation, which is truly something to behold. Community Montessori is a relatively small and undiscovered gem of a school with no desire to cherry pick the best students. Instead, this school is committed to accepting children of all backgrounds and consistently producing academically precocious students who go on to be overrepresented in gifted programs across the valley.

Community Montessori is just that a «community.» To me, communities are a place where different personalities of families and perspectives are integrated into a supportive environment. The teachers and owner here are vested in the wellbeing and success of the children and they are more than willing to go the extra mile to serve the individual needs of each child they teach. I’ve had two different kiddos enrolled at CMS for the past eight years and have also spent time inside the classroom over the years. They do a fabulous job of teaching the academics but they excel at the virtue development portion of the curriculum. My kids have the strongest manners of their friends and by far the best reading comprehension of their peer group. But the children are also taught and trusted early on to identify actions that support a peaceful and loving environment. One of the things that has always impressed me is the school’s high level of expectation for what the kiddos are capable of achieving. From a life-​skills perspective of making beds and contributing in the household to a high standard of cooperation and an expectation of peacefulness, the director holds the children and families accountable. I’ve dropped one of both of my kids off at school daily for over 8 years and while they are there I have a peace of mind that is priceless. Knowing that the diligent watchfulness of the staff is keeping them safe is comforting beyond measure; but also knowing that they are helping my kids cultivate self-​awareness, kindness and a sense of what being in a community means is outstanding. Don’t hesitate to tour the school and see for yourself if it’s a community that would be a good fit for your family.

I have a son and a daughter who have attended Community Montessori School for the last 14 months. It is a one room school house with 4 teachers and less than 30 children. There is a teacher for the outside activities, and 3 that stay inside. The school is clean and orderly. The children eat a home packed lunch outside (weather permitting) provided by the parent. There is an emphasis on proper nutrition and appropriate lessons given on this topic. Parents are expected to donate fresh fruit/​veggies/​juice/​etc, and if your still naps, you will be given school laundry duty approx every 6 weeks. The tuition for the private school is a little higher than other private schools in the area once all the extra fees are factored in. The reason for the low rating is because of the issues my family encountered due to the head teacher authoritative attitude and inflexible demeanor. There are two very good teachers (Jocelyn and Helen) at this school, however the attitude of the boss typically sets the tone and environment of any workplace and that is absolutely the case for this one room school house.
The school is academically strong. My children learned a lot at their time at the school. They often came home talking about their day, their friends, and the new lessons they learned. I also made it a point to reach out to the teachers and ask how the kids were doing frequently. We always received feedback. When there were struggles the teachers were always willing to discuss and provide alternatives. My experience was, as long as we took the advice from the head teacher, then things were ok, but if we did not conform, then it was her way or the highway — there was no flexibility. For example, after a particularly difficult couple of weeks, when my children were struggling with proper behavior, the head teacher thought it best to have my son hold her pocket for the entire afternoon. He had to literally hold her pocket, and could only go where she went, except for bathroom breaks. At this point my son shut down and did not want to engage in learning. I felt the practice of «shamming» a 4 year old into compliance was inappropriate. I would have preferred a more respectful way to discipline him for the behavior. My husband and I discussed many times with the head teacher, and tried to brainstorm different ways to get my children to think about their behavior. I explained that an un-​nurturing attitude would not work with a sensitive 4 year old. The holding onto a teachers pocket, harsh tones, and taking away a school birthday party for typical 3&4 year old behavior only demonstrates shaming, and does not respect their feelings, or their struggles to learn the appropriate behavior. We decided to finish out the school year and look for a new private school for the fall.
Upon advising the school that we would not be attending the summer sessions, or the following year, our children were ignored; and we were talked about, by the head teacher, to other parents behind our back. I had purposely held off on my online review until the last day of school because I was concerned of backlash. Looks like my instincts were right, as our last 30 days at this school has been marred with hostility. I believe this behavior to be petty and unprofessional, which is why my rating is a 1 and not higher. I would not recommend this school based on my experience.

Our son attended this school for the past three years. I can’t say enough good things about Community Montessori School. The group of women who teach here truly feed the intellect, nurture the spirit, and love the child! I am grateful for their service!

If you’ve got a 2– to 6-​year-​old, here’s your school!
The Paradise Valley-​area schoolday includes attentive lessons based on Maria Montessori’s educational philosophy, picnic-​style lunchtimes and a deeply shaded porch and yard for playing and more learning.
My daughter enjoys her days, and we enjoy feeling good about it.