Victory Montessori School

I enrolled my daughter at the San Marino Montessori last year and I can't say enough great things about it! First off, the office staff was so helpful and friendly when I was signing her up. And the teachers are just as friendly! My daughter's teacher made her feel at home in the classroom right away when she was new. I was also so impressed with the extensive array of after school programs and extra curriculars the school offers! My daughter absolutely loved the ballet class after school. And I love the fact that she is learning Spanish and the basics of the computer at such a young age. I could go on and on. This school is great!! I would highly recommend it! more

My son has been going to the Victory Montessori School at San Marino for two years. Although there is no incident till last week, I have been observing problems with the school, especially lately. The school used to give its students freedom in activities. Now, that is disappearing. The students have to do what is proscribed to them, something that Maria Montessori was adamantly against. When my son refused to participate in one of the games, the teacher physically forced him. The reason I was given was that otherwise other kids would refuse to play and things would get out of control. He used to love going to the school. Now, he is against it. Although I am still trying to figure out what is going on, I would recommend those parents who plan to send their children there for the fall semester to be cautious. more

We love the Montessori philosophy and the teachers are nice. Parents seem to love going on the field trips and the kids seem to like them too. All in all a good school. more

I highly recommend this school to any parent who wants their child to be given personal attention. Pros: Yoga, Ballet, Art, Sports more

I have been to San Marino Montessori school observing the classes a lot and the environment there is truly fostering learning. We did a lot of research before signing up and I am glad we decided to sign up with this school. more

The administration of the montessori school is great! The teachers are so knowledgeable about everything. The best thing about this school for us is the performing arts. The shows they put on, you?d think it was a professional production ? no wonder my kids love it here. There are so many extra curricular activities to keep them busy. They have instrument lessons included in the tuition, with the dance and general music. I am nurse by profession and I always worry about not giving enough time to my kids but the school takes care of them. Everyone here goes out of their way to help. more

My job doesn?t have a ?home-base? and I get transferred to a new place every 2-3 years. I am never very sure about choosing a school, because I never know much about my new city. I met with the office for a tour and I knew this was the place for us. My daughter?s attended this school for the last 6 months and is really happy here. She has made so many new friends. Compared to her earlier school, her test scores are much higher now. San Marino has a strong program and has so many extra activities for the students from in-house to their after school activities to field trips. more

This is great. I was really worried about the negative reviews. I don?t really believe everything online, but it can get to you after a while. \r \r It?s nice to see that the school is having its parents post about their experiences. We?ve enjoyed our time here too. We?re leaving for Arizona in a few weeks, but we?ve loved our time here. more

I agree with the previous review - avoid this school! I sent my 2-year-old son here for 6 weeks, and they were 6 of the most stressful weeks of my life.\r \r First of all, San Marino Montessori is not a ""true"" Montessori school. Look around at the other Montessori options in town, do your research on Montessori education, and you'll see. In the 2-year old room, everything is tightly scheduled, the children are talked at (not talked with), the teachers are cold and uncaring (my wife saw a teacher yelling at a young girl for crying on the first day of school!), and a grand total of 15 minutes is alloted to ""Montessori time"" where the children get to explore the Montessori materials. If you want Montessori education for your child, you won't find it here.\r \r The school has incredibly high teacher turnover. In the 6 weeks my son was enrolled, 10 different teachers went in and out of that classroom, some of whom were quite open about the fact that they didn't want to be working with 2-year olds. Some teachers didn't know the kids' names, others barely spoke English. \r \r Worst of all, when we complained about problems to the school, first we were ignored, and if we did manager to get hold of the administrators, they just paid us lip service about making changes, but never actually changed anything. When we pressed our complaints, they just kicked us out! No advance notice, so we had nowhere to send our son the next day. They even refused to return the up-front fees that we paid them (security deposit, a year's worth of material fees, etc., adding up to over $1,500!). We had to take them to small claims court to get our money back. (We won in court, by the way.)\r \r If you want more info, you can read all about it (and find my contact info) on my blog, Rattling The Kettle (now allowed to put URL here - you can google it) Pros: Nothing Cons: Everything more

My toddler has been attending this school for 7 months. We initially chose it because it was close to our house and seemed nice enough. We soon found out, however, that this school is far from ""nice"". First, we noticed that his classroom has a revolving door of teachers, most of whom never even bother to introduce themselves to us. Next, we noticed that the legal student/teacher ratio of 8:1 was not always been followed. Instead, several times I felt compelled to stay and help because there were only two young teachers watching over 20 little kids! I wanted to discuss these issues with the principal. I left her a message, but she never returned my call. When I went into the administrative offices, the owner of the school was incredibly rude and defensive. On the high turn-over, she actually said to me, ""So what do you want me to do about it?"" I was so shocked by the owner's rudeness and seeming disinterest in parental concerns that I decided to take my son out of the school. When I tried to do this, though, I was told that I had not paid for ""tuition insurance"", so I would be liable for the full year's tuition of about $7000--even though it was only the second week of school! Now, I am stuck at this terrible, unfriendly school for 10 more months while my poor son suffers through countless low-paid teachers in his overcrowded classroom. Please, do yourself a favor and AVOID THIS SCHOOL! It's been a terrible, terrible experience. more