Chestnut Montessori School

Grace and Courtesy is one of the foundations of the Montessori Method--a foundation that the Founding Director does not practice herself.Her methods are guided by her unyielding prioritization of profit, her maltreatment of teachers, and micromanagement of student matters. When decisions are made at the Founding Director's level, student educational matters are dealt purely as profit matters.The Founding Director's practices led to a recent exodus of long time students and has caused an unfortunate revolving door teacher model which is sustained by her ab initio teacher training program--the school selects from the new teacher pool, only to have the toxic culture eventually drive them away.The teachers our kids had here from 2018-2022 were all wonderful and they'll all have a special place in our hearts. Most left for greener pastures. But it's the cracks in the system here that we started noticing starting our second year in. It's only a matter of time until the Founding Director's greedy business practices and her toxic grip on the school will start affecting your child here. And then it will reach a point where one more transgression from the Director, one sign of cultural corrosion, one last straw, will cause you to break. That's what happened to us. After witnessing one last undeniable and significant breach in Grace and Courtesy from Founding Director, we pulled our last child out before the school year started. We had to forfeit two months deposit, $4,200.We consider ourselves fortunate to be able to willfully forfeit that, but it wasn't easy. We just simply couldn't take it any more.
Jan 16th, 2023

Sep 24th, 2022

tldr visit other Montessori school if you like Montessori education before making your decision. This may not be good place for it My kid went to other Montessori school before and had a good experience. So we wanted to try again for summer break (we sign up late and the previous one was full). The staff here hardly responded to my inquiry during the time. There was occasion of staff shortage (granted it was difficult during pandemic but other places do much better). The school supplies in classroom is also far less than other places. so make sure you tour it and compare to others
Sep 10th, 2022

Wonderful school with fantastic staff. Children are happy and learn a lot in a loving Montessori environment. All around great experience.
Apr 15th, 2022

My daughter is thriving at this school. She loves her teachers and classmates and is excited to go to school everyday. We are so pleased with the progress shes making academically, socially and emotionally. Also, we have had peace of mind this year with their strict Covid protocols.
Apr 11th, 2022