Nona Park Montessori School

Raffaella S. _{on Yelp}

Feb 16th, 2023

I would give zero stars but the website doesn't allow me. I've been waiting 7 months to write this review. I didn't want any emotions to get in the way. My son attended this location from May 2021 to July 2022.From the beginning the director didn't want to give me the opportunity to walk my 2 yrs old to his class but suggested instead to drop him off in front of the building where one of the staff members would pick him up. I fought this crazy idea and eventually they let me walk my child for a couple of weeks. From the very beginning the staff was very hostile and there was no communication from the school. I never knew what my child was doing and barely got to talk to the teacher. The only times I had the opportunity to speak with her was when she had to complain about my child being too active and not being able to nap enough. She also suggested to ask the pediatrician about something to give him to calm him down! Beside that, never a word about his academic or social behavior. My son finally turns 3 and I felt we had to see a developmental psychologist to get an evaluation. While waiting for this appointment I ask to talk to the teacher at pickup in order to gather information about his behavior at school. It was an early pick up that day because the teacher called me claiming my child had a fever. I rushed to school leaving my newborn child who was sleeping with a neighbor and as soon as I see my child's face I knew he didn't have a fever. I asked for a thermometer and I had the confirmation my son was okay. I lost it. I asked to talk to the teacher and asked her if she thought my child was too much for her to handle. Then I asked questions about his days at school since my son never told me anything. She said in one year he never participated classes and never socialized! Don't you think that is an important information to share about your child?!? Months later my son had his evaluation and turned out to be on the spectrum. I will always blame this school for not telling me before about what was going on. Every day I would ask how his day went and they would just tell me "great". I could have sought the help he needed one year before. If only they were caring and competent enough. They also refused my request to have a Registered Behavior Technician from the Autism center that treats him to shadow him during school time ( so he could have help with socializing and participating classes) claiming that would have been distracting to other kids. I really wanted to like Montessori for the prestigious name it carries but no! Don't send your child here. I'm glad we found the perfect daycare for him and his baby brother. It's 3 minutes away. Goddard school. The best childcare ever. Staff is great, communication and safety features are the best. My son is happy now, he has the support and the help needed and he's a very happy kid! Do yourself and your kids a favor; Goddard is the right answer!

Karma V. _{on Yelp}

May 3rd, 2022

Touring this school - Pros and Cons.This is not from first-hand experience with the school. I only did the tour and THAT was enough. Like any other proactive parent, I started researching preschools in my area and saw the Lake Nona's Montessori website. After reading about the program and school, I decided to tour their facility. The school is very impressive from the outside and its security system is great. HOWEVER.... the staff seemed unfriendly and the lobby area seemed more like a doctor's office (con #1). I was greeted by a staff member (I think he was the director) and started the tour. He immediately stated that they do not offer VPK (I didn't ask but he assumed that I was looking for that program) and said that VPK was basically free daycare (con #2). The walls of the school were bland, with no pictures, no artwork, no special anything (con #3).PARENTS WITH KIDDOS WITH UNIQUE ABILITIES, PLEASE READ - I asked about how inclusive their school was with kiddos with unique abilities since my son is on the autism spectrum. The staff member looked at my son and said "oh.. I noticed he was autistic since I saw him in the lobby" (con #4). That's when I stopped asking questions and finished the tour.In case you are wondering, my son was calm and collected throughout the whole tour. I knew my son didn't like the school but decided to give it a chance. Should've followed my son's intuition.Will I take my son to this school? No.Is Montessori a good idea? The Montessori way of teaching is not the problem here. The problem was the school and staff.Do I recommend this school? No. Even though I only toured the school, I could see that this is not a school where I see my son (or any kid) being happy.

Annie B. _{on Yelp}

Feb 26th, 2022

We toured the school as we were interested to take our son there and the experience was incredibly subpar. The person giving us the tour never even asked one question about our son and didn't cater the tour to his age at all. Our son is 7 and he spent the bulk of the time talking to us about the rooms with the kids that were not in his age group at all. When I mentioned that, I was just told "well that's the tour." When asking more questions, I would get yes or no answer and no explanation or further detail. After the generic tour, I was handed a sheet of paper with the cost and essentially sent on my way. I've heard nothing but great things about Montessori, however this turned me off from taking my son as we felt like there was no genuine interest in our son.

David L. _{on Yelp}

Oct 29th, 2021

I can't say enough great things about this school. My wife and I have sent our two boys, now ages 4 and 2, to this school for most their lives. The staff is warm and welcoming, and we have gotten to know the school leaders well. The biggest strength of the school is its people: the teachers are proficient and have high expectations for learning, and the administration is responsive -- whenever we have raised a concern they have responded immediately. Our biggest concern in the past has been direct parent communication, but this school year the staff has begun using the communication app more consistently and that has improved the quality and frequency of the feedback we hear. Overall, my wife and I decided to trust this school with the well-being and development of our two boys and it has paid off. They have been beyond safe at Nona Park, and our oldest son was able to name all his letter sounds and letter names before he even turned 2 (shout out to Ms. Vidal!)! Our youngest enjoys learning and loves to go to school. We are thrilled with our time at Nona Park, and I highly recommend it to any new parents in the area looking for a safe and rigorous program for their children.

S D. _{on Yelp}

Sep 24th, 2021

Positives: NPMS follows the Montessori teaching methods well. Both of our kids, ages 2 and 5 at the time, learned a great deal during their year at NPMS, and I was impressed with the curriculum. The toddler program was great and we loved our son's teacher, who has since left the school unfortunately. Drawbacks: high support staff turnover and poor parental communication. A few minor convenience things, like the school does not provide snacks, lunches, milk... anything. The biggest issue I have with NMPS is their lack of interest in supporting children with any form of neurodiversity. While gifted academically, my eldest is neurodivergent and the school is ill-equipped, uninformed and was totally uninterested in making minor classroom accommodations to support his learning. I would expect more from an institution that markets themselves as inclusive and progressive. They do not "approach the whole child" as we have experienced in our previous Montessori