Dobson Montessori Schools

Was not impressed with this school. Although the owner there is nice the rest of the crew is not. They were not nice to my child because she had an accident here and there. I said please give it a little time, she is almost there. They were mean to her. They did nothing, they were cheap labor. None of them have training in this type of education. This school is just a daycare… thats it. Nothing special at all. I never see the staff doing ANYTHING! EVER!!! They just hung out gossiping. I would not recommend it at all.

My experience with Dobson Montessori was their preschool program. I was told that this was a Montessori environment and curriculum. I tried to like this school but after 5 months I had to withdraw my son. Here my pros & cons.
PROS:
— Michael, the owner, is a super nice person and my son loved him.
— Michael is on-​site, with his office right next to the classroom.
— The classroom is huge, with plenty of room to be active and stretch
— They had all the appropriate Montessori class materials
— I like the space provided for outdoor environment
— The teachers were pleasant and nice.
— They sang a lot. My child came home with all sorts of adorable songs about colors, shapes etc.
— They were extremely flexible with parent’s schedule.
CONS:
— The teachers spent almost all their time, huddled at a table, chit chatting. There were several kid tables pushed together at one end of the room. When they would do projects this is the area where they would bring the children. I do not exaggerate when I say that 75% of their time was spent sitting together, like ladies having coffee at Starbucks.
— I never, not once, saw a child being given a lesson. I seriously believe that no one in the classroom had any Montessori training whatsoever.
— The children had many, many non-​Montessori toys. My son spent the bulk of his time playing with hot wheels and plastic helicopters. In all 5 months (Mon-​Fri) I saw my son with Montessori materials twice.
— The outdoor environment was non-​existent. For those of you not familiar with Montessori, the outdoor environment should consist of activities such as clothes washing, window washing, painting, sweeping, hammering, yoga or materials brought outside to be done in fresh air. When I say this was non-​existent, I mean there was just an empty patio full of dead leaves — no chairs, tables, etc. They did use this area occasionally to paint a messy craft or eat popsicles.
— Strangest to me was the fact that they had almost no books. Of all the things that bothered me, this really got under my skin. My son, easily, had 25 times the amount of books they had. I used to scour Savers for books for their class — books like Boom Chicka Boom, If You Give A Mouse a Cookie, The Hungry Caterpillar, Olivia etc. I began brining in books every week.
— The playground was old and handmade, with nailed together wood. The wood was buckled and twisted from the heat. The slide was the old fashioned kind they had in the 70’s — all metal. When we did a tour of the facility my son’s leg was scratched by a nail popping out of the wood. In fairness, they were genuinely concerned and apologetic.
If this was listed as a daycare I think I wouldn’t have had a problem with it. But to advertise yourself as Montessori and provide nothing of the sort, is remiss. Then there was the fact that my son didn’t enjoy going to this school. He was bored and cried consistently throughout his time there. :(He is normally an extremely easy going and quiet. When we left they all seem surprised as were very involved parents. I was involved because I was trying to be part of the solution. However, nothing worked.
As a note: I did tour the kindergarten location and it looked wonderful. My son had a year and a half left of preschool and I couldn’t stand the thought of him being there that long, waiting to go to
kinder.

Of the 3 sites — this is the Kindergarten.
My daughter is attending here and I simply love it. She’s five and is repeating kindergarten. She attended kindergarten last year early at the encouragement of her preschool teachers who thought she was bored in their classes. We are having her repeat because she’s a little young for first grade, but this isn’t an issue because the curriculum rolls every two years for that very reason.
In her first year — she learned to read, write, do simple math, know all her sign language letters, and has more Spanish knowledge than I do. this year they will build upon all of that and take her further.
The staff is great and care a lot about the kids. And when issues arise they work with the parents to get them solved both at school and at home.
It’s pricey. But so very worth it.