The Whole Earth Montessori School

We moved to the Seattle area in the summer of 2015. My 10 year old daughter had previously attended a Montessori school in the early childhood program. We loved the style of learning, the individual attention, the adorable yet very effective learning tools that make Montessori so fantastic. We looked into a few elementary Montessori schools in the area, and completely fell in love with Whole Earth.
It is a beautiful setting, backing up to a forest, with a natural stream running through. The upper elementary teacher, Kathy, is amazing with the kids. She has the incredible gift of allowing all the kids to work at their own pace, and on their own or partnered projects, while checking in with them when needed. What a gift it is for children to be able to learn through their own discovery, rather than being ‘taught’.
We are so happy to have found Whole Earth, and are really looking forward to being a part of the expansion through middle school.

We moved from South Florida in the summer of 2014 with great hopes for the Pacific Northwest. We have not been disappointed! Whole Earth Montessori School was a central factor in where we ended up. When we walked onto the campus, among the other four possible schools we considered, we knew immediately WEM was our match. Our twins were diagnosed with dyslexia in March of 2014 thanks to the direction of the lower elementary teacher. I had struggled since the children were four to discover what they each struggled so much from. After testing at Kinderminds and collaboration with WEM, our children are getting the exact, personal education they need to be their most successful. The staff is receptive to collaborating with us and tutors as well as Dr. Elizabeth Smith, our incredible doctor at Kinderminds. I can not put into words the relief and peace knowing my wonderful children are in an educational institution that models and teaches respect for self, community, and environment as well accommodating their educational needs. The WEM families are kind and loving in addition to the staff. As a former public educator, I rate this school five stars! I could go on and on with the small details of the staff and school’s dedication to learning, but will encourage you to come in and try us out! You are welcome at WEM.

This school is the heart and essence of Montessori. My daughter has been part of this amazing community for the last 7 years and my son just started in early childhood.
For my 4^th grader, Her love of learning, confidence in the world, and her respect of self, others and the environment around her are only a few of the amazing gifts she has received. She is still in love with learning and challenging her self daily.
For my son, he is loving his class, his teachers and making new friends. He is quickly learning how to be part of a community and his love of learning is growing. He is well cared for and the teachers continuously watch out his well being.
The teachers are connected, tuned in and always watching out for the best interest of each student.
From day one I have felt nothing but gratitude and appreciation for what the school, staff and leadership provide. Academically she is excelling, and their approach of educating the «whole child» has allowed her access to a well rounded education.
The school is also working to build a thriving parent community including a Parent Advocacy Group, out of school meet ups and parents night out. I feel a true sense of community being built and friendships being formed.
Overall, I know this is a learning campus that exceeds the qualifications of their American Montessori Society accreditation status.

This is the first time I have written a review of any kind. However, I felt it was important to let others know that WEM is not what they say. I enrolled my four year old in WEM at the start of the school year. I fell for their idealism, and their talk about caring for the whole child. Unfortunately, this is not the case. They only care about the money. If your child, for any reason, does not conform, they choose not to deal with them. They choose to ask them to leave. Once this happens, the administration becomes very hard to deal with. They are unresponsive and difficult.
I am happy to say that my child is now in a facility that allows him to be himself. He does not have any of the «behavioral problems» that WEM described. I have learned through this experience that many of the traits we try to stomp out of our children are traits that we revere as adults; stubbornness, self thought, and creativity.
If your child exhibits any of these traits, think twice about enrolling them in WEM.

WORST. SCHOOL. EVER.
The administration is impossible to deal with and they are focused on money rather than the kids. But the worst part of our experience was that they released my child from after school care to go home with another child and her father without my knowledge or consent. What happened to my child in that home was horrible and my kid is still in therapy trying to recover from it. Avoid this «school» at all costs!

I really regret that I had to write this but it seems this administration is forcing me to write this. This administration does not know customer care at all. It’s main goal seems to be extracting as much as money possible from us. Let me explain why it is.
I went to their open house and let us talk to all the teachers. And during all the conversation they lead us to believe that we can choose a class we want. We went to this school based on a recommendation for a particular teacher and as we kept repeatedly asking that they confirmed that this is possible and since we are one of first to enroll (In February as I can remember) they «said» that it is not a problem at all. what we couldn’t do was to get a written document stating the fact.
Then somewhere in July they sent class allocation and guess what? Our daughter is not in the class we hoped her to be. And then I started a mail thread with this administration. They said that they couldn’t place her and she is on the waiting list. As there were mails back and forth, suddenly director jumps in and tried to use scare tactics to keep us in schools. (Forgot to mention that when we told them we are leaving, suddenly (magically?) there was a spot available in the class, and because of the mailing thread and back and forth correspondences, and also because of the scare tactics they are using we had lost our confidence in the school and actually we were afraid of sending our daughter there anymore.
And now they are charging two months charge ($ 1500) since we left the school. When it comes to money they sure to know how to keep promises. That was my really ugly experience with them!

My son is 3 ½ and started school here this year. We moved from Portland and scheduled a tour with Dianna the Friday before school started. My husband is a teacher and was incredibly impressed with the teachings of Montessori when we toured. At this point, we had toured most, if not all, daycare programs and preschools in the area and we knew what else was out there. Whole Earth Montessori exceeded our expectations.
Our son was in a traditional daycare program in Portland and it just wasn’t a good fit for him. There was a high turnover rate for teachers and staff and there seemed to be a lot of chaos. He was not thriving and the turnover of his teachers was tough on him.
Whole Earth has been such a positive experience for him and for us. He is in Ms. Sonali and Ms. Jennifer’s class and we could not be happier with his teachers. They are devoted, nurturing teachers that enrich our son’s life. We love the structure and enrichment that this school provides.

I enrolled my 3 year old amazingly ahead of his milestones (1 full year of preschool in India prior to coming to US) only to have him get frustrated and fall behind. Each time I went, he was in a timeout. Both the teachers (This was Ms. sonali’s class) were new to early childhood education and I would definitely not want any one Else’s child to go through this experience. One would never imagine this level of callousness to teacher selection given the size and infrastructure of the school.