Montessori Kingdom of Learning

I am a volunteer mom at Montessori Kingdom of Learning. My son has been their for 9 years and is getting ready to graduate from 8th grade. I can not say enough good things about this school or its staff. My son has become a leader, is a loving, outgoing, confident, mature young man. As for his academics - he has a 4.0 and has a vocabulary and understanding of life way beyond his years. I have read the other reviews; and as for the negative reviews I am dumb founded. From what I have observed, MKL has gone above and beyond to accommodate children with all sorts of needs, with great success. I know what I am talking about , my niece is one of those children. If she was in a public school she would have been put in a special education class; and then who knows what would have become of her. As for the other negative review about their child not being ready for 1st grade, that one ponders me. I know all the children that have moved up from Primary to Elementary and have never seen one child "not ready" for 1st grade. All that I can say is the staff and children are wonderful to be around and I will be volunteering at MKL for years to come.
—Submitted by a parent

July 9th, 2001 we chose the best school and family ever to help us raise our daughter....the Montessori Kingdom of Learning has been our daughter's school for over 12 years now and our son's for over 9 years, and in less than 8 weeks she will be at her 8th grade promotion and moving onto high school. We have been so blessed with amazing teachers, lessons, experiences and memories to last a lifetime. We are so VERY proud of our daughter, and are VERY EXCITED for her and her future as it plays out, but at the same time so VERY SAD to have her moving on from MKL. Love you all and thank you so very much Miss Betsy, Miss Jill, Miss Shahnaz, Miss Suzy, Mr Luke, Miss Tracy, Miss Kristi, Miss Tiffani, Miss Lana and everyone else for everything you have given to us, our children and our family!! We love you dearly!!
—Submitted by a parent

After having a top notch, wonderful experience with oldest son at a different Montessori school, I enrolled my younger son in MLK at 3 years old. What a shock I had when I went to his first parent teacher meeting. The teacher accused my husband and I of hyping our son up on sugar so that he was uncontrollable in the classroom (mind you, he ate lunch in her classroom and it was all natural, no sugar added food. The teacher became more annoyed with our son as time went by. She started sending him to the office, who called me and told me to leave work immediately and come pick him up. When I would get there, he would be crying in her office because he wanted to go be with his friends. It was suggested that I should take him to the doctor to get "evaluated". When I asked what that meant, they just said "in case 'something' is wrong". The teacher and "principal" were uncaring about what was going on. We ended up pulling him out of this school and putting him in a different Montessori school, where he did just fine. I won't say that all staff are bad, but the teacher we had was horrible and we left feeling that unless your child is perfect, he is not wanted as a student there.
—Submitted by a parent

As grandparents we wanted a quality education for our granddaughter and therefore agreed to pay $1200 in admission fees and nearly $800 monthly to send her to MKL for kindergarden. Our children had a attended a montesorri school and we incorrectly assumed they all were held to a high standard of education. While in preschool our granddaughter had always received rave reviews with her development, maturity, and learning ability. MKL also acknowledged she is a very bright child. After researching options her parents choose a different school for her elementary education and were all shocked to discover she had not learned basic skills needed for entrance into first grade. This little 6 yr old is now faced with either repeating kindergarten and/or costly private tutors. If you send your child to MKL he/she may enjoy the laid-back environment, but fail in academic standards. A lot of money for a poor education and wasted time.

My child was not allowed in this school because he is autistic. The woman who answered the phone said they didn't have help for our son. This certainly doesn't sound like the Montessori way to me. Didn't Montessori herself teach disabled children??
—Submitted by a parent

I must totally disagree with the last poster. Montessori Kingdom of Learning does have certified lead teachers in all of the positions. I do know that there has been a change in some personal, with one lead teacher currently working in both lower and upper elementary. However she gives all of the lessons. The aides (both of who have many years of experience in Montessori) do work with the classrooms, but are not presenting the lessons. As both an educator and supervisor for many years in the public school system, I can tell you that the teaching that my son has received for the past 7 years at this school rivals anything I have seen in the state of Arizona. I believe the best academic decision I ever made for my child was to send him to Montessori Kingdom of Learning. Also my son has been in classes with "family" children and it has been my experience that they are treated the same as all others. Each child is looked at as an individua and treated as he/she needs. Also, as an outside observer, parents may not know of other conditions that have bearing on situations. As for the tuition being "outrageous"--my husband and I feel that a good education is priceless.
—Submitted by a parent

As a former customer to this institution, my insight comes from several years of observing the goings on. The parents need to verify certification of the teachers teaching their kids before taking them there and paying the outrageous fees!!! The assistants, last I was there where earning low wages and were the ones doing most of the guiding (except actually one on one teaching). Family comes first, and this IS a family run business therefore the owners kids get away this MANY things. Since leaving, I have spoken with some former employees as we run into each other on the street and I find that they feel the same way!!!. The premise is a good one and given the right motivation children will soar, but if the agenda is one sided the children do suffer and the parents pay for this suffering. Parents please verify, verify, verify!!!
—Submitted by a parent

My 2 children have been attending MKL for 21/2 years and we are very happy here. They are getting such an amazing education and have such a thorough understanding of what they are being taught. There are so many "montessori" schools out there but if they are not AMI certified you really cannot be sure what you are getting. MKL teaches Montessori they way it's intended to be taught and therefore the results are astounding. My kids are learning to be confident, independent, empathic, and the have a profound joy for learning that most kids unfortunately lose once they enter public school (in my humble opinion). We are very happy here and love the small, family like setting. Whenever there's been any issue it has been taken care of immediately and now that email communication has started I feel like I'm getting information about school events & issues much better than before which was probably my only compliant previously.
—Submitted by a parent

My child has attended this school for many years(5+). He has earned a very complete education at this institution due to the dedication and hard work of the caring people who strive everyday to assist him. I have noticed that there is a core of parents who work very hard to support and enhance the environment of the school. They work tirelessly with the staff to offer greater opportunities for the success of the children. I am so proud of the community of the school. The management guides the school with a loving interest for children's exploration. I have always known the staff to be responsive, caring, and up to date in their educational philosophy. We would never think of leaving this school and would reccomend it to all parents who wish to take an active role in their child's education.
—Submitted by a parent

I totally disagree with the comments in one of the previous reviews (2 back). My son has been going to this school for 6 years, and I feel it is one of the best schools in the state. I have NEVER had any problems with communications. In fact, my son's teacher has called us at home to make us aware of situations, and has even left her own cell number for us to use to reach her. In regards to the materials, I know for a fact that the school updates the Montessori equipment as necessary, since they have generously donated their "used" equipment to my school. Unfortunately when parents choose something different for their child, they feel they need to justify the change by being negative about the former school.
—Submitted by a parent

Excuse me. Montessori Kingdom is perfection. These silly reviews are from parents who don't have an understanding of what Montessori really is. Communication is actually excellent... I have never had a problem with this. The staff may not respond right away... but that is probably because they feel tending to your childs needs is more important at the time... but it does not go ignorned. The problem lies when parents try to have a cafeteria Montessori school... you can't choose what you want Montessori to be. Especially in an AMI certified school. My children have attended for several years and I have volunteered on several occasions and I love what I see. This is a great community and a great place to send the children. It is an older environment... and the materials so use which indicates the children are using it repetitively.
—Submitted by a parent

Have an issue with this school? Prepare to be ignored. We've tried phone, email and written notes: when we finally get in touch there's a list of excuses as to why they were too busy to so much as acknowledge they received our communications. If you're happy dropping off your child, not knowing anything about their day and you don't care if little issues that crop up get resolved before they become big issues, this is a decent school. However, most of the good of this school comes from their well prepared Montessori style environment. They don't keep their apparatus in like-new condition as Montessori recommends, but they do have everything well laid out and available to the children.
—Submitted by a parent

Our son has attended MKL since he was 3 moths old. At the beginning, my wife and i were very satisfied with the school, and saw great strides in our son. However over the past year, there has been a decline in the school. Our son seems to be more of a 'pay check' and less of a student. there is very limitied communication between the school and the parents, and most of the staff seem unqualified for their positins. Since we have made notification that our son will no longer be attending the school, some of the staff have become very rude.
—Submitted by a parent

We have been going to MKL for 2 1/2 years and we love it!!!! My daughter loves her teachers, her classmates, Miss Lana and Miss Betsy! She has learned so much. She is 4 and is starting to read and add.
—Submitted by a parent

Everyone at the scoop cares about the children from the teachers to the support staff. Feel like I am leaving my child with family.
—Submitted by a parent

My two girls have only been going there for about 6 mos but we absolutely love it. It's such a loving and nuturing environment and they are learning in exactly the way that makes the most sense for their particular stage of development. I feel so comfortable there and hope to have my girls continue there through 8th grade.
—Submitted by a parent

I wish I had gone to MKL.....What a fantastic environment! My son is now in 4th grade; he has gone there since he was in kindergarten. Over the summer he actually was upset that he was not in school. He has also told me many times how much he loves it here. MKL is so much more than just a school, it is a family. All the children are treated with respect. The staff is caring, loving and nurturing. As for the education, well there is no comparison. When you hear that the schools in your district are rated excellent....excellent to what? Arizona has the worst schools in the nation and that is one of the reasons we chose to send our son to a private school. Montessori teaching is so far above any other way of learning. All the children from infants through the 8th grade are amazing.
—Submitted by a parent

I am extremely happy with the quality of education at MKL. The teachers and owners are filled with love and compassion. I love that my son attends this school.
—Submitted by a parent

I have been very happy with the quality of education here. My son has been at this school since he was an infant and is now 4. I am impressed with the montessori method teaching the skills of independent learning. Much better than learning by rote. I have seen myself how a class of 3-5 year olds can be seeking out their own work without becoming a chaotic mess. It's amazing to see and has taught me alot as a parent. The kids seem to treat each other well and the environment is close-knit. If a have a 'complaint', it's that there isn't alot of opportunities for parents to come see their children during the day. Other preschools invite patents in periodically for special events during the school day (picnics, field trips, etc...) but that is rare here.
—Submitted by a parent

The teachers are AMI certified
—Submitted by a parent