DISCOVERY MONTESSORI

Not for neurodivergent children. We had a terrible experience here with our autistic son who attended for almost two years until it became clear it was a hostile environment and we pulled him from the program. He is a mostly calm, kind child who enjoys long periods of quiet solo play or work. So naturally we thought Montessori would be a good placement for him. Unfortunately they take the quiet, solo part a bit far and children are encouraged to barely acknowledge others and expected to work alone through educational choices, and dysregulation alike. We were encouraged by the school to bring in outside help to support things like choosing work and transitions, as they didn’t have the staff or experience to support a child with higher needs. He has ASD level 1 and is not generally a super needy child. Once he was functioning well and managing disappointment and dysregulation most of the time— we were then told that our team was “not firm enough” with him and doing too much social emotional coaching. And also that our co-regulation strategies— which are evidence-based to support autistic children to find nervous system safety and be available for learning and able to practice the things they’re learning— was wrong and he should instead be forced to independently comply and struggle his way to regulation with no support. This is wildly backwards— I’d say for MOST kids— but especially children with his autism profile. Rather than listening and trying to learn, I received many lectures from Ms. Dee, the school director about how me helping him wasn’t allowing him to self regulate. And then they fired my privately hired team of support specialists (which they had asked us to provide) on an email which they CC’d me on. This is most certainly a violation and I will be filing the appropriate reports and complaints. Anyway— beware. This school is widely known to be ableist in their attitude toward ND children. Though shout out to Ms. Jill and Ms. Casey, who are wonderful teachers.