Ross Montessori School

Ross Montessori provides excellent results--in addition to great test scores, the school has inspired my child's love of learning and self-motivation. In the crowded public school in a neighboring town, he was bored, hated & dreaded school. Now he can't wait to get to school and start his day, and comes home thrilled about science, math, reading, etc. The teachers engage with the parents, are concerned about the success of each child, and work with parents to resolve issues. The Principal is dedicated and interactive with parents. The parents are involved. The only downside is the need for a better building.
--Submitted by a parent

Ross Montessori continues to grow, providing an excellent environment for self motivated students, using Montessori methods. The teachers are passionate and dedicated, meeting the needs of their diverse student demographic with excellent results. Parent participation is strong providing a safe community for students Pre-K to 8th grade. The principal and staff are dedicated and make tremendous efforts to improve the efficiency of the school for their students' academic success.
--Submitted by a parent

This school is only in it's 5 year and is growing and planning a new and permanent campus and has consistently scored higher than average on state tests. It's future goals include all aspects of a child's educational as well as developmental needs. My children are way beyond happy there as well as thriving academically.
--Submitted by a parent

Ross is making great strides every year as still a very new school. A school is only as good as its teachers, and the pre-k, kindergarten, lower and upper elementary school teachers are awesome. Their reading test scores are going through the roof for the lower elementary grades(preliminary results for 2009 show 19% advanced in reading in third grade, with only 2 children scoring partially proficient and 1 scoring unsatisfactory--all the rest were proficient!). It still has issues to work out in the upper grades, but I have faith that all these wrinkles will be resolved. I understand that progress is being made on a permanent building so that is good news as well.
--Submitted by a parent

Quality leadership is lacking, training seems lacking, and morale seems low. I'll be surprised if this school is still around in 5 years without a significant change in both board and administration.
--Submitted by a parent

This school has some very dedicated parents and staff, yet in general the teachers seem overwhelmed with the Montessori method and test scores and the leadership lacks integrity and excellence to help this get sorted out.
--Submitted by a parent

Be sure you are 100% invested in the Montessori method and are willing to sacrifice any special needs counseling in the process. The teachers each have their unique style; none of which met the needs of my son. You may call it growing pains, but I felt it was inattention to the needs of my child while rationalizing rather than putting forth any effort.
--Submitted by a parent

This school offers strong Montessori teaching, but is still going through the growing pains of a new charter school (It has just completed its second year). Due to the chaos associated with this Montessori program over the previous six years (it started as an alternative track in the local elementary school before separating to become a state-sponsored Charter School) there has been high teacher turnover and general student displacement. Much of this appears to be calming down. The school is in the process of finding a permanent home by Fall 2009. Having had two children attend the school, the K and Lower El (Grades 1-3)were a wonderful experience. However, I felt that my child experienced no intellectual challenges in two years of the Upper El(Grades 4-6). The school is trying to add services specific to the older students (Grades 7-?) starting Fall 2007. Outdoor Ed is the highlight extracurricular activity.
--Submitted by a parent