Omni Montessori School

We had our child there for almost three years in the primary classroom. While we were there, the head of the school changed bringing a HUGE improvement in the school. He is a great head of the school and great teacher. The teachers however are the same. Very prepared on the method, but less on handling diversity and sometimes way too invasive on private matters. This has been pretty difficult for our child. Also, I have witnessed some quite unprofessional behaviors of teachers, who think of learning disabilities in normal children because they don't behave as expected. Glad it was not with us, however. Hopefully the head of the school will change that as well. The parent involvement is for sure a lot. Unfortunately, it is pretty difficult to get connected with people.
—Submitted by a parent

I attended Omni Montessori for 4 years. I enjoyed it, academically, but socially it is not the best place to grow up. Omni is very obsessed with labels. In the Upper Elementary and Adolescent programs, students judge others easily based on clothes, parents, etc. My parents divorced while I was still a student, and they lost many friends because of it. Parents at Omni are shallow, rude, and narcissistic. I had to deal with rude adults many times as a child. Also, Omni plays favorite families. A family that helps the school very much (financially, of course) yet has a child with strong behavioral problems is totally ignored, creating an unfortunate environment for other students. I am overall disappointed at the fake-ness of the parents and the students. Also, the quality of the teachers has greatly deteriorated in the past five years. I wouldn't really recommend this school to anyone unless they were looking at Primary. Montessori was originally intended for early education. NOT high school. If your child is a preschooler that would benefit from an alternative teaching style, this may be the place for them. An older student? Less so.
—Submitted by a student

As of the 2010-2011 school year, Omni does offer an outstanding afterschool program. Our family has been at Omni for 10 years and it is an outstanding environment for children age 3 through 9th grade. I hope they add a high school program soon!
—Submitted by a parent

My daughter has attended Omni Montessori for 4 years. She loves her school and so do we! The academics are great. By the time she 5 was multiplying and dividing, She was also reading very well and writing in cursive. She is in first grade now and loves being in a new classroom with 2nd and 3rd graders. IT is a TRUE montessori environment so she gets to choose her work and move around the classroom, they work a lot in small groups so she really learns how to work well with others. She has incredible focus and concentration. If you are searching for an AMI certified Montessori program - this is the school for you.
—Submitted by a parent

Excellent school, dedicated loving teachers, outstanding academics. Lack of afterschool care make very difficult for working parents.
—Submitted by a parent

Omni is an extraordinary school. Passionate teachers, caring community, superior academics, unique life experiences for the students. Our family has been at Omni for ten wonderful years. I can't imagine a better place for my children.
—Submitted by a parent

I love this school. The teachers are passionate about teaching and the parents are dedicated. I wish they had after-school care. The lack of this care makes it difficult for wroking families to remain in Omni.
—Submitted by a parent

We didn't even get to experience the school. My 2 3/4 years old daughter was not excepted. She wouldn't sit still on a stool for 20 min. and keep her hand in her lap. These are the instructions we received from the teacher before the interview: 'Don't touch anything. Keep hands in lap while listening.'
—Submitted by a parent

I am very impressed with this school. My daughter is 7 and this is her first year at Montessori. Usually children begin at 3-4 years old. I told the staff about her learning and attention problems and they were very willing to work with her and help her develop good learning styles. Her teacher is patient and understands kids all develop at a different pace. They focus on the childrens' strenghts and help to develop their weaknesses. Wonderful supportive environment but kids must learn to work independtly with supervised guidance.
—Submitted by a parent

Our experience with this school has been excellent. We have a 3 year old who started this year, and a 7 year old in his second year. The system is very different from other CMS schools. Kids need to be able to work in a less structured environment where they must learn to be self-directed and responsible for the work they do. This is a great life skill, but does not come easily to every child. The advantage is that kids develop core skills in the context of their own special interests. They choose their own work, and the topics they want to explore. We have found the teachers to be very perceptive about the strengths and capabilities of both our kids. The school wants each kid to excel, and they have high expectations of the children. We think the schoold is terrific.
—Submitted by a parent

Our experience with our AMI school has been very poor. His confidence in himself has undermined in nearly every way by his teacher/head of school. This woman seems to be pathologic in her zeal to diagnose not only our son with various learning dysfunctions/disorders/processing and sensory delays but several other students in her classroom. According to her expertise, our son has gross motor skill developmental delays (he is a star basketball player on his team, a great baseball player, ice hockey, tennis and has coach references stating this diagnosis is absurd. The teacher calls conferences monthly that last an average of 2 hours per session. Yet, we are told our son is improving steadily. When told we must go back to work/family she continues to expound on her latest reading insights into childrens develpment delay issues. Why can a child not just be a child and learn at their own pace.
—Submitted by a parent