My First Montessori

My son has been going here for two years and I have been very pleased with staff. In addition to his general studies the school also offers music class, spanish, yoga, dance and a fundamentals sports class (some for a small additional fee). The school is reasonably priced and the facility is clean.
My child has good manners which are reinforced at this school. I have referred quite a few of my friends to this school and all have been very pleased.

We are so lucky to find this school and send my little one here. Everyone is very supportive and friendly. This school is owned by a group of parents that makes me feel even more comfortable to send my kid here. They offer tennis, piano lesson and martial art in the same building. How convenient!!! I’ve been recommending this school to all of my friends.

Our son attended here for two years. Here is why we left.:
His classroom was insanely over crowded (26 children per class, two teachers). LePort, which is just a bit more expensive has a ration of 1 to 10 and the school (not Leport) that we transfered to has a ratio of 1 to 7. Fountain Valley Montessori has a current ratio of 1 to 12 and caps class size at 24. Something MFM does not do. The teachers tried hard, but often appeared over whelmed and tired.
Kids are regularly passed between classrooms (and on one occasion, when i arrived to pick up my child it took ten minutes for them to locate him (i had to check four different classrooms)), and there is no good reason why other than understaffing. When our child first started this was less of a problem, but as the school has grown, the staff has not.
They do very little actual montessori work (at least the pre-​k doesn’t). The methods used are not standard Montessori and the majority of classroom instructors do not have any actual experience in Montessori style instruction. As my child got older, the quality of instruction did not keep up.
There is exceedingly poor communication between the administration and parents. A new teacher was introduced into my sons classroom, but we were not told. No letter to parents, no introduction, just a new random face on the playground one day. Teachers leave and no one explains why. Teachers are reassigned classrooms and again, no one tells parents. It is as if the teachers are treated as an oversight, not an actual partner in the child’s education. It is disruptive to the students and again, almost always done with no notice to parents.
The facility itself is not well maintained and clean. I get that little kids are messy in the bathroom, but this is why schools have full time janitors. No such luck at MFM. By the end of the day, the bathroom and sink areas are overfull of used tissues and wet napkins. It is incredibly unsanitary and these conditions exist in EVERY classroom. Even the furniture in the lobby is shabby and frankly filthy. The school needs a good scrubbing top to bottom, but that doesn’t ever seem to happen. The photos posted are dated and not an accurate reflection of the current state of the school.
The one star is for the few good things about this school (not enough for you to send your child there, but they deserve a mention). The PE teacher, Mr. Matt, is wonderful, as are Ms. Jen the art teacher and Ms. Debbie the piano instructor. My child’s teachers, as overwhelmed as they were, were always kind and polite, they were just overworked and under assisted.
If you are looking for a daycare center, then this is a fine place if you can get over the mess… But if you are looking for an actual educational experience then you should look elsewhere.

Our daughter has been at My First Montessori (MFM) for over three years. We like the Montessori approach in general (it seems good for kids who are self-​motivated and inquisitive), and we like the way MFM operates the school, including healthy snacks and lunches, lots of enrichment activities (art, dance, music, gymnastics, etc.), optional language immersion in Spanish or Mandarin Chinese, year-​round operation, use of non-​toxic janitorial products, minimal number of holidays, and a flexible curriculum (MFM is not a strict «AMI» type Montessori school but rather incorporates both traditional Montessori and modern teaching materials). The school exhibits a desire to constantly improve and is open to suggestions from parents, which is something that is important to us. We also like the layout of the school, in particular the large atrium and big classrooms. This gives the school a very open feeling. Our daughter, who entered the school at the age of 13 months and is currently in pre-​k, has excelled socially and academically at MFM and we are strongly considering keeping her there for kindergarten and 1^st grade because of all the things mentioned above.

Jonah’s first day at his new school! What a easy transition! He absolutely loved it! He couldn’t wait to show me all the learning stations when I picked him up today! Miss Maggie and Miss Lisa are so welcoming!

Great school with an excellent curriculum and faculty. My daughter learned at an exceptional rate and loved attending.

My kids have been at this school for over a year now. They love to come to school. My daughter is 2 and my son is 5. They are both very different kids. The teachers have been wonderful in trying to personalize their teaching approach to accommodate my son, who is very easily distracted, bored, and learns by visual and hands on experience.
The school recently started a library/​computer area and is working hard to give access to the children to enrich their learning.
Thanks for everything!

My daughter started here 5 months ago, with 3 kids between the ages of 2 and 11 this is not my first experience with childcare or montessori, the teaches here have been friendly, compassionate and communicate with me every day about the activities, my child’s mood, achievements as well as set backs throughout the day. In 5 short months she has opened up and is communicating wonderfully, she is much further along in potty training than I would have expected and most importantly she is happy. I know she is in a good place and I am happy I chose MFM.
The school is clean and bright, the staff is pleasant and flexible.
If I was to point out any down side it would be the potty area in a few of the rooms seem odd and a little too open, however I think it is a county regulation that they be open and visible and to be quite honest while I think modesty is important I also think the openness reduces any possible mistreatment, and I know that my older kids did not develop personal (self directed) modesty until they were 5 or 6 so the issue is more with me than the kids.
I for one look forward to the years ahead!

I am not sure why the two other people posted negative reviews about this daycare. I have had nothing but a positive experiece and my son has been going there for 5 months now. I toured MANY daycares and my son also attended another daycare in Huntington Beach that I will not name that was horrible — so I feel I can say with 100% confidence that my child is receiving excellent care and I feel entirely safe leaving him with his teachers (he is 1.5 years). They all genuinely care for their students and my son is happy to go there every day. He is happy when I pick him up and he is learning at twice the pace he did at the other school.