Montessori School of Downtown SilverLake Campus

My daughter is advancing at rates I didn't think were possible. Putting her there for Pre-K was the best decision we ever made
Jan 2nd, 2022

We came to MSODT after a negative experience at another local Montessori school. My son has attended this school from 2.5 to 5 years old. Now that he attends public school at Silvercrest, he continues in After School care. My daughter now attends MSODT on the infant side (School of Infants). First, the school is very organized and communicative. They send newsletters and emails when necessary. If you have a child on the infant side, they'll also communicate through the Tadpoles phone application. It is super easy to communicate with staff, like Ms. Sue for infants, or Ms. Leslie/Ms. Tamara for the rest of the school. They also hold regular parent-teacher conferences. If there was any incident or injury, I always received a phone call and/or written report. The Admissions Director, Jazz Chandio, is extremely personable, friendly and helpful. You often find him all over the campus, helping where needed. He also holds Open Houses on the weekends, so you can check out the campus for yourself. Second, they are in the process of Montessori accreditation. I am assuming that if you're reading this review, you are looking into a Montessori-based education for your child. You may be aware that any institution can call themselves a Montessori, but the gold standard is an accredited Montessori. Even without this accreditation, MSODT's curriculum is excellent and it is clear that they are preparing children to tackle topics beyond the standard curriculum. I also love that they address the "whole child", in building character and teaching kindness. Third, they offer all sorts of ancillary activities at an additional cost. We love it because it develops our children, but takes no additional time-commitment on our end since it occurs during school hours. For example, Soccer Shots, Monart, Little Medical School, STEM, Bricks for Kidz, dance and others. Fourth, the food options are simple, healthy and my kids like it. I know it's a small thing, but we had an issue with the terrible food at the previous school, so we were happy that the menu was decent here and includes vegetables and fresh fruit. Also, on celebration days (not many), they are not serving junk to my kids. Fifth, there are rules. Haha...obviously every childcare facility has rules and procedures. Many times, when I see people complaining about MSODT, it's because of the stringent rules and they way they are applied. For example, birthdays: if you bring invites to school for distribution, there needs to be enough for the class. Some people don't like that and think they should be able to invite who they want. Okay great, then just distribute them outside of school! They also prefer that you don't give individual gifts to teachers, but instead, show appreciation to the staff by bringing something that can be shared. This is not a rule per se, but just a general practice. It takes a village to care for our children, so I understand the approach. Generally speaking, the rules at MSODT are put in place to maintain order and ensure fair treatment. We've had no issues with them. Just educate yourself by reading the handbook and nothing will "catch you by surprise". Sixth, we've connected with other parents. They make it easy and give you lots of opportunities to connect with other parents during events (muffins with mom, donuts with dad, International Festival, open house, orientation, after school activities, etc). We created a WhatsApp group where we chat and share. It's great to be able to connect and I didn't have that opportunity at the previous school. Seventh, my kids love it. Both my kids, especially my 5 yo son, have made friendships at MSODT that started in the School of Infants. Every day that I pick up my kids from school they say bye to older and younger kids, all the staff, even the cleaning staff knows them by name. It is so sweet to see how much they've connected. Last but not least, I always encourage those seeking child care, to visit the DFPS Childcare Licensing site to review each facility being considered. There you can find a 5-year summary of all inspections and the findings/deficiencies found. No facility is perfect, but this gives you another perspective and can help guide you to ask questions and understand the actions they're taking to resolve any issues.
Feb 27th, 2020

Parents don't send you kids here, the school is filled with mold, and the ac continues to break down because the owners are to cheap to fix it. The cafeteria is filled with mold especially near the back windows. The owners are racist and put money before the children and staff. Please consider other child care options.
Aug 8th, 2019

My daughter has been attending here for the past 6 months and is flourishing. They are attentive and have low turnover so my daughter is growing up with familiar faces. They have a good curriculum and the rooms are designed to be inspiring. Any issues I have experienced have been rectified promptly. Looking forward to many more years of growth and development for my little one.
Mar 9th, 2019

My kids went there for one year and I hated it the teachers were so rude in this one teacher named Ms.Rana I think and she hit my daughter and my oldest saw her hit her and she completely denied that she hit her and I know my daughters they will not lie on something like that because they know I am crazy about them and I knew it was real because my daughter came screaming saying the Ms.Rana hit her and when we told the person at the front desk she called the teacher and I was like why is my daughter even in that class she is in kindergarten and at the time Ms. Rana taught 1st grade by the way don't bring your kids there it is so bad and there was this one teacher in that my oldest daughter said his name is Mr.Clements he is so mean and ugly please don't bring your kids there stay away please for your own safety But there is two nice teachers there named and.Tomossi and Ms.birdie my daughters loved them
Mar 12th, 2019