The Montessori Academy

Our experience at TMA has been great. Our kids are developing as self-driven, confident and compassionate individuals. They enjoy every day at school. Yes, the tuition is quite high. But you get what you pay for. If you can afford tuition and you are willing to be open minded for this non-traditional system, I fully recommend the investment.
--Submitted by a parent

After 1 year in the toddler program and 1 year in the preschool program our daughter was not asked to return. While she was in the toddler program, the principle advised us to send her to a play therapist because she did not listen to the teacher ALL the time and did not respond to "redirection". The school referred their own play therapist who was very expensive and was not covered on our insurance. My husband and I took off work on numerous occasions throughout both years to observe her behavior which did not appear any different from the other children in her class. My daughters pediatrician thought that all of this was ludicrous and said that my daughters behaviors were normal for a 2/3 year old. Also, after talking to numerous other parents at the school, we learned that our child was not the only one that the school referred to see a play therapists. There were many others. We did, however, take her to see a play therapist, one that we chose that was covered under our insurance and also had ECI come and observe her and they both agreed that her behaviors were normal. I second the other reviewer's Pollyanna comment. We do still think that Montessori curric is great.
--Submitted by a parent

I have had children enrolled at TMA since 1999. My oldest son, currently in 9th grade, began as a Toddler and graduated after completing 6th grade. He currently attends one of the most highly regarded private schools in Fort Worth (TVS) and is doing very well. He loved the environment and they style of learning that TMA offers. He still mentions that he wishes all schools could be more like TMA. He transitioned very easily because he was well prepared by his experiences at TMA. My youngest son is entering 4th grade at TMA this year. He has done remarkably well and I expect even more growth from him during the coming years. My experience at TMA has been wonderful. Parents at TMA are highly encouraged to volunteer and be involved in your child's education. There is always an opportunity for learning and exploring new ideas. Children are encouraged to think outside of the box and be creative. Children at TMA want to learn and teachers serve as guides in that learning process. TMA challenges students, asking them to look inward and become all that they can be. TMA is very unique; the education is top notch and the community is amazing.
--Submitted by Lynette Engelke, a parent

Our child attended the toddler class. It was the next best thing to home. I share the school's philosophy and the school environment is pleasant and tries to be earth-friendly. Both teachers were very kind-hearted and patient and understood my child's needs. My child matured a lot during the year. The drawback with sending a very young child to school is he picked up negative behavior from the other children, such as temper tantrums/meltdowns. The school does not have an indoor gym for physical activity so when the weather is not conducive for outdoor play, my son had a lot of unreleased energy when he came home. The school does have a gas well right next to it, so it was a concern of mine. It seems the classes are not full, so it may be very possible to register your child late. On the other hand, if you are not sure if you can commit to a year's tuition, it is better to wait. The school is not flexible to change your contract once you sign it. Overall, a good school.
--Submitted by a parent

Our daughter attended this school for 1 1/2 years (3 to 4 and 1/2). Her first whole year there she really grew in her academics and woke up loving to go to school every single day. We did have some issues with other student's behavior, and were told that it was a "rough" year for behavior in her class. Nonetheless, she still loved it and her teachers very much. But, when her second year started for the 2010-2011 school year, it was a much different story. She was getting hurt all of the time. She was being hurt bad enough that it left marks and bruises. We asked and asked something to be done about the child that was hurting her, but nothing was ever done to stop it. In fact when we insisted that it be stopped, they asked us to leave and not the child that was doing the hurting. Then they acted like we were overreacting, but I know we were not because our child did not want to go to school anymore. In fact she was so scared that she would scream and cry if she could not find us in our own home or if we closed the bathroom door, etc. She had never done this before and whatever was going on at school just freaked her out so bad, we just accepted their offer and sadly left.
--Submitted by a parent

My son has attended preschool at TMA for two years, and he's learned a lot. His language and independence have improved greatly. He has also learned about conflict resolution and how to motivate himself. I gave only three stars because I don't believe that it's necessarily worth the extremely high tuition. This year his class was crowded with 18 students per two teachers. Since they're all 3 - 4 years old, I think the class size was too big. There have been many instances where he was hurt by other children and the teachers weren't aware of it. I've also had a couple of other issues about how discipline was handled. In addition, neither of the teachers in his class this year had previous experience with this age group. They're both great with the children, but with the large class size and limited experience with the age group, I don't feel like the quality of Montessori education this year was as high as it could have been. We've found another Montessori school with more reasonable tuition, so that's where we're putting our son next year. TMA has been wonderful to us, and if tuition were more reasonable, we would give it another year.
--Submitted by a parent

This is a great school in many ways -- classic Montessori principles, and the teachers and admins really work hard. My son went to pre-school here from age 2-3 and he learned a lot. We worked with the teachers to focus on independence, on logic and consequences in discipline, and on helping others. He is a somewhat shy boy, and I think a bigger / busier school would have been wrong for him in that he would have become even more reserved and reticent in social situations. Now he warms up quickly, even in a crowd, and establishes his own space -- I think the school has helped in this. This is an expensive school, but it has been worth the price for us (we've done without whatever we could cut from budget, because we believe the value of the education is worth it). Bottom line -- if you want to give your child a better chance at being an independent & free thinking person, consider Montessori -- and talk with the good folks at TMA.
--Submitted by a parent

Outstanding teachers, outstanding staff, outstanding parents, and above all outstanding kids. Great learning environment for any child.
--Submitted by a parent

My children have attended this school for 3yrs. They have been in the toddler, preschool, and kindergarten program. The environment the teachers provide is outstanding. They guide the children to their potential. Children are placed with a peers that are within a 2-3 yr range. Therefore, the older children teach the younger ones. The younger students learn how to mentor from the older students. The most important thing is the philosophy that education is triangular...it involves the student, teacher, and parent. Without those the triangle loses its integrity.
--Submitted by a parent

We enrolled our 2 yr old daughter this year in the toddler program and we have been very satisfied with her development so far. We love how she has started to show independence and she's always eager to go to school, even over the weekends!!! Being an only child, we can see how the school has taught her to share, respect and collaborate with her classmates and teachers. The educational methodology at TMA is allowing her to develop her leadership and social skills at such a young age and we simply love this. We appreciate the effort that her teachers and staff at TMA put into creating a nurturing environment which we can tell is consistent through all the grades at the school. Equally important is the participation of us as parents to bring the Montessori principles home, which is encouraged by TMA at all times by providing frequent guidance and thorough feedback about our daughter.
--Submitted by a parent