Dobson-Montessori School

This is SUCH a wonderful school and I am so proud to boast that my son goes here. Nothing beats a learning environment where you are surrounded by an orchard, a vegetable garden, and animals. The children are grouped in classrooms with 1st-3rd graders all in one room, 4th-6th in another and 7th-9th graders in their own room as well. This allows the children to learn from the older children and for the older ones to be able to mentor the younger ones. If you ever drop by you will notice how well behaved these kids are. Compare this school to the failing public school across the street and you will see a HUGE difference. The teachers here are incredible and really go out of their way for these kids with fun projects, monthly field trips and an in-depth study each month on various topics. I can't comment on this school enough. If your child isn't enrolled here, he/she is really missing out on an incredible opportunity to learn, grow and have a valuable education.
--Submitted by a parent

I took a tour of Dobson Montessori today and the teachers were warm and friendly, the students were all actively engaged and seemed to be excited about learning, and the grounds were beautiful with flowers blooming and vegetables growing. My son enjoyed petting the goats. I can't wait for him to start in the fall.
--Submitted by a parent

Hard working, dedicated teachers create a caring atmosphere in which terrific learning takes place. Innovative project-based activities, collaborative work, and great after-school activities add up to a great education for our child, who has attended since kindergarten.
--Submitted by a parent

Truly dedicated to teaching and raising good caring citizens. Our son is an only child so the various opportunities found at a montessori to work with younger and older kids is a great fit.
--Submitted by a parent

My child attended the pre-school and will go to the kindergarten next year. The teachers and director worked tirelessly with my child and me to address our concerns and meet our individual needs. The staff works with parents and doesn't give up on kids. I feel my child is absolutely in the right place and is benfitting hugely from the instruction received here.
--Submitted by a parent

My daughter loves this school, she loves the hands on projects and the mix of ages in the classrooms. I am always able to talk to a teacher anytime, without an appointment. The campus is small and that gives the parents a chance to interact with all the teachers from all of the grades and the principal is always available to answer questions. Likewise, the younger students can also interact with the older students and the other teachers. The student teacher ratio is also great because the students are able to get individual attention. my daughter can't wait for school to start back up after a break.
--Submitted by a parent

Dobson gives my son not only a solid academic basis but also skills and knowledge that a child needs to live better. My son was previously in a public school (one of the Kyrene elementary schools) and I was a volunteer parent teacher there. The public school was run very well and the teachers were hard working, but they seemed to have a lot of pressure to do well on the standardized tests. They didn t have time to care about actual learning or personal growth of a child. At Dobson, academic work is individualized and integrated into interesting projects that are done in the afternoons. My son is always excited to do his projects. The school has great elective classes, Spanish classes, good P.E., and a field trip every month. There are also a lot of events led by the older students in which they can learn to be responsible and how to work together with peers. Dobson gives my son good balance of academics and whole person education.
--Submitted by a parent

This school is a scam. They call themselves a Montessori school but the kids spend half the day sitting down at a desk doing monotonous math and written work, unable to participate in other activities such as show-and-tell until they were done. We were told they 'didn't teach to the test' but every night my children had homework from a book with the title 'Standardized Test Prep'. My children went to a TRUE Montessori school prior to this and they absolutely loved school and learning. Within a week at Dobson Montessori they were grumpy, irritable, bored, and declared that they hated school and hated learning. My children's individual needs were never addressed correctly. If you want a true Montessori experience for your child this is NOT the school for them.
--Submitted by a parent

as a former student now in college I can look back and attribute almost all of my academic success to this school. They enforce such a strong desire on their students to learn, compete, and appreciate life. In my opinion results show more than claims. Of my classmates from the jr. high program just about everyone of them graduated within the top 30 from their high school most of them ended up at extremely prestiges private schools such as Upenn, Boston, Tulane, Stanford, NYU, and many others on academic scholarship. Nothing but praise for the experience and one that i wouldn't trade for anything.
--Submitted by a student

My daughter has been at this school since pre-school, she is now in the 6th grade. her state scores just came back, and she has scored in the top 1% of the nation. They teach children to love to love to learn. They teach children to be mentors for others. They teach children to love them selves and achive greatness. This is the most AWESOME school. I wish the rest of the worlds educators could learn and apply this schools methods.
--Submitted by a parent