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We will be pulling our children out of Stepping Stones Montessori as soon as we can find a suitable placement. We've attempted to 'believe' in Stepping Stones, but recently we received an independent evaluation on one of our children in reading and found that, despite entering the what would be 2nd grade in public school years, she is actually reading at a below kindergarten level. We communicated our concerns and we were told that she is 'happy', regaining confidence, and essentially made to feel as though we were being too pushy in our expectations of our child. Yet, if she were to transfer to public school she would have to receive pull-out services for reading. I was all for Montessori if they were willing to deal with my child's issue with reading, but instead they placated it to the extent that it has become a detrimental educational environment.
Stepping Stones is the only school in Grand Rapids that attempts to adhere to the true core Montessori philosophy. However, the school leadership (administration) is lacking in its ability to communicate effectively with parents. The teachers are dedicated, the children are outstanding and my child has excelled. However, whenever there has been an administrative issue it has been handled poorly. Also, the community of theis not inclusive and not well organized. It is really the teachers and the kids that make this school. It is by far the best place for preK and Kindergarten but I am hesitant to include my child in the Elementary program based on their mediocre test scores. Also, the location of the school is not the best and does inspire a feeling of safety and security.
This school has a very active group of parent volunteers. However, teacher quality and administrative leadership are poor based on our experiences with a child in the elementary school level. Contrary to their philosophy, individual differences and diversity do not appear to be embraced; caution is suggested to parents of children who have different learning styles.
This school is undoubtedly the one I owe everything to. The curriculum is designed to cover the many aspects of things needed in the world, such as history, grammar, mathematics, music, foreign languages, and even drama. The teachers and kids are some of the most refined, kind, generous, and devoted people I have ever met! They all take time to not only tell you, 'This is how you do it,' but also show you how to accomplish your task. Learning is made fun and even easy! After I was too old to attend here, I transferred a public school and was shocked to see how much of an advantage I had over the other kids--all thanks to this school, Stepping Stones Montessori! I went there for nine years and wish I could do it all over again. Thanks to everyone who helped me so.
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