Mantra Montessori

My son has been going to Mantra Montessori since August 2014, when he turned 2, and I have been very happy with the experience. They take children from 2 — 5 years of age and are open from 7am — 6pm. They have 3 classrooms, one for 2-​year-​olds, one for 3-​year-​olds, and one for 4 and up, and a good size back yard where they have play structures, sand box, vegetable planter boxes and many outdoor activity toys.
** School Size: Unlike some large commercial preschools, where there are 30 – 40 children with 4 – 5 teachers in one age group, Mantra Montessori’s classes are smaller with 5 – 10 children per age group. Because of smaller class sizes, the teachers are able to give personalized attention to each child.
** Communication: Mantra Montessori is excellent at providing feedback to parents. I am always well informed with what my son is working on at school, what he excels at, and what he is improving on. The director and teachers are always available when I have questions or concerns and they are eager to help in any way.
** School Program: Every month, there is a different topic, such as animal habitats, geography, outer space, native American culture, etc. The children read books on the topic and make art pieces related to it. These activities are designed to spark the children’s interest in each topic and help them explore and think for themselves. In music class the children learn songs and dance to them, and in PE class they get to do outdoor activities and work on physical coordination. The children learn not only ABCs and numbers, but also practical skills and manners.
** Events: The school has special events on Valentines Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, graduation day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Parents/​grandparents are invited to watch singing and dancing performance and to have fun with the children. I did not miss any and loved every one of the events. My son, of course, had fun having me at school and getting treats.
** Summer Camp: I was very impressed with the summer camp. My son had lots of fun during summer, while learning a lot. It was a 10-​week program and there was a different theme every week, such as dinosaurs, rain forest, farm animals, and all about me. Every Friday was a fun day; water day (playing with water stations in swim suit), pop corn day, cotton candy day, and petting zoo day. Yes, they brought a petting zoo to school, and the children had lots of fun with bunnies, ducklings, goats, and other farm animals!
** Director and Teachers: They are all loving, caring, and hard working. My son loves them all and I cannot be happier. Thank you!
Mantra Montessori is a great school to entrust my son with. It offers a loving and safe environment for him to learn and explore. My son grew a lot in the past year and we look forward to another great year!

Great preschool, friendly staff. our second year at the the school.

My daughter Inesa going to this school and she really loves the teachers and kids there. We also had great impression when we first went to check out this place. Shortly after we enrolled and it’s been almost 6 months, we love the progress Inesa is making in her classes. We definitely would tell parents to check it out. It’s a great place for your kids!!:-)

Mantra Montessori is the school for your child if you want a loving and intellectually stimulating environment both at the same time. I am so glad my 3.5 year old son is attending Mantra. He is thriving and it’s such a pleasure to see him grow not only academically but also emotionally and socially. They are very good with teaching social graces and also help with potty training.
Ms. Stephanie and all the teachers there have successfully created a warm atmosphere, one that is very conducive for learning. Another feather in their cap is the Summer Camp. It had weekly themes and my son learnt a lot. In the end, the fact that he loves going to school says it all.

Our boys started at this school a year ago when they first opened after not handling public preschool well (still crying when I left them after a year at their other school). The first day at Mantra and not a single peep when I left, it was like a night and day change, they were so much more comfortable.
At first there were a few kinks you could tell the school and staff were trying to work out, lots of teacher changes but soon things settled down (and our boys didn’t seem to notice).
I will say that I absolutely love the teachers. They are all so caring and loving to our children and I feel they’re in such good hands when I drop them off every day.
Not only have our twins progressed leaps and bounds in the speech delay they’ve struggled with, they’ve learned so much in this past year. Aside from the general things like counting and learning to write, they’ve picked up such good habits at home like clearing the table when they’re done eating, helping me fold clothes (and actually folding them) and be willing to take part in helping get whatever task done.
We’re moving soon and will be making a bit longer of a drive out of the way to continue to send the boys here, they’ve really thrived in this environment thanks to the many opportunities presented to learn in different ways and the genuine and loving teachers.

Mantra Montessori was not the right place for our son. In my opinion it does not follow the Montessori philosophy and is unsuitable for energetic, imaginative and confident children. There were several reasons we withdrew of our son, I only regret we did not do it sooner.
We enrolled our son at its opening 9 months ago. At first he seemed happy but very soon there was a revolving door of new teachers (temporary or hired/​fired or resigned) and his behavior became more challenging, testing each new teacher, playing too roughly for some of the children and clearly exhibiting frustration and boredom. At home we were doing everything we could to curb this behavior (which is certainly not out of the ordinary for a 3 year old boy).
It appears the director is the disciplinarian, not the teachers, and her methods of dealing with this type of behavior were limited to isolating our son, sticking him on a time out chair, lecturing him about how he «must OBEY» (a phrase that I’ve never seen in any Montessori material) and more frequently sending him home. A new phrase he brought home was «shame on you» — certainly nothing we have ever uttered. Other disciplinary methods were recommended to us that would not be out of place in the 1950s, are unethical in my opinion, and are in no way related to the Montessori method.
I don’t expect schools to address my child’s behavior for me but I do expect preschool teachers to have the skills, knowledge and empathy required to be able to manage it and help the child and parents. This is not the case at Mantra.
It soon became apparent that our son had been labelled and all incidents were deemed his fault, we never got to hear the full story and there was certainly no attempt to work with our family, as stated on their website. I acknowledge his behavior is challenging, as are many normal 3 year olds, but I believe he was victimized. Funnily enough the other children loved him despite his often rough play or misdirected reactions.
The director seems to want very tight control over everything and strikes me as someone who is used to being «obeyed» without question. The teachers appear intimidated by her and we witnessed a teacher on the receiving end of the director’s wrath during the Christmas party.
The outside space is nice, however if there is dew on the grass or it’s slightly cold the children are not allowed outside — I asked why and was told that the floor would get dirty, it was too much work to change clothes if the kids got wet and they would catch cold (I can’t believe anyone, let alone a supposedly educated teacher, still thinks you can get sick from being outside — a cold is a VIRUS and they are more likely to spread it by spending time in the classroom, which is overheated). I believe children should be outside as much as possible, there are no excuses in this climate and I think this is one cause of my son’s frustration.
The usual Montessori materials are around the school but whenever I visited the children looked bored and lacked energy. Apart from when the children are in the music class there doesn’t seem to be much joy or fun in the school.
The lack of professionalism in this school is breathtaking. We are very disappointed with the way our family was treated at this school and feel let down after we supported their shaky start and tried hard to make it work. Needless to say I cannot recommend this school.