Reviews of Roots & Wings Montessori School (Kindergarten)

Mihal Freinquel

I'm writing this review as a concerned parent, in hopes of saving other parents some time and trouble. My son has been attending Roots & Wings Montessori for 1.5 years, and we just pulled him out. He's leaving for various reasons (including very low teacher morale and high turnover), but mostly because we just realized it's not actually Montessori. During my son's time there, only one teacher was actually AMI certified Montessori, and she is now gone. They're bringing in another Montessori trained teacher in fall 2017, but still, that only equals one. I've spoken to several teachers off-the-record who informed me that what they do there isn't actually Montessori - in fact, the new toddler lead just graduated college and has no toddler experience at all, let alone Montessori. (Update, since I left the school 3 months ago, they've lost 3 more toddler teachers - one of whom was very kind and left after being berated by Anjum, the co-director, over email). The director's background isn't Montessori either, or young education at all. She's very curt, and relentlessly lets parents know how hard her job is, how she doesn't pay herself, and how complicated it is to run a school. When I voiced concern about the lack of Montessori teachers, she stated: "It is nearly impossible for a small school like ours to afford an AMI trained toddler teacher as their salary expectations are higher than the primary head teacher...should you ever decide to run a school of your own, you will develop a new appreciation for how hard it actually is." Of course, no school is perfect, but this school has a lot of odd things that just add up. When my son first joined, I asked if I could come observe and they said no, even though the parent handbook says we can. Parents always get hit for random fees, as opposed to other schools where they're all spelled out in advance of joining. They offer gymnastics for the toddlers, but I haven't seen the gymnastic teacher there in months, so the regular teachers just do it themselves, and nobody let the parents know. Also, I had prepaid two of the months, and when we left before arriving at those months, the director refused to refund me for even one of them. I've spoken to several parents to also feel icked out by the environment, but either work nearby, live nearby, or their kids will age out soon, and they don't have the wherewithal do change schools. (Update: After I posted this review, Anjum sent an email out to all the parents telling them to post positive reviews here). We all want what's best for our kids, and this is not the very best - it's below mediocre. The only thing that redeems this school is that several of the teachers are very warm to the kids and have good intentions. (But Anjum treats them quite poorly, which is hard to watch). But it doesn't make up for everything else: Save your money and your time. ________ In response to Anjum's comment below - I'm sorry to see that my comment has been called derogatory, but I can't say I'm surprised. She's right that I was very upset that I didn't get my refund. She takes two months' deposit, and then applies the deposit to the first two months in the following school year - but since I left before my deposit could be applied, I told her she could keep one of the months, but requested the other one back. This is not a post to be vindictive, but to let you parents know that if you want a real Montessori school with low teacher turnover, where the teachers feel respected and the parents and kids do too, they exist! I've found one and am very happy.

Anu Shah

very unprofessional. small place. military culture for little one. too many restrictions. things inside school (ceramic etc) not safe for kid. I would give 0 out of 10. too much business oriented. not a relaxed environment. not recommended.

Pratik Chaturvedi

My daughter attended this school since she was 2.5 years old until she started Kindergarten. She had a great time. The teachers and the staff are great and they make the kids feel at home. Apart from Montessori learning, the school engages kids in lot of other activities including Yoga, Gymnastics, Piano lessons etc. The fees is quite reasonable as well. School also provides healthy breakfast, hot lunch and snacks including vegetarian options. Our daughter learnt a lot here, made many good friends and was well prepared for kindergarten by the time she graduated. It has been a wonderful experience altogether.

Janardhan Lavakumar

Excellent school. Our child went to Roots and Wings for 18 months, and really blossomed there.

Roots Wings

Dear Parents, I am the Founder and Co-Director of Roots & Wings Montessori School, an astronomer at the University of Washington, by profession. My resume along with the Montessori courses I have taken is present on our website, and handed to every parent who joins the school. We also have the policy of complete transparency and we hand resumes of all lead teachers to the parents. We hire AMI trained Montessori teachers for our primary classroom for children aged 3-6 years, and those of you who are familiar with the Montessori approach, understand that this is the highest form of internationally acclaimed Montessori training. The toddler program is new in Montessori, and hence there are not very many AMI trained toddler teachers around. Being a small school, we typically hire either AMS trained Montessori teachers for our toddler program or train hired toddler teachers via the North American Montessori Center. Update: We have hired a Montessori AMI trained lead toddler teacher, and have also financed two more toddler teachers for course work at the North American Montessori Center. Our school provides group extra-curricular activities such as yoga, gymnastics, and music classes at no additional cost to parents. These teachers are sub-contracted by the school; they are not school employees and we cannot guarantee their presence every week as they typically have other primary jobs. Unlike other schools, these classes are provided completely free of charge, and are just additional services that we arrange for our children. The real reason behind Ms. Mihal Freinquel's derogatory review is actually the loss of a non-refundable deposit. Along with the standard contract that can be broken with a 30 day notice, we also offer a loyalty contract to parents. The very essence of the loyalty program is to lower the monthly tuition by $100 for parents who stay for 12 months of the academic year. However, it is clearly specified in the contract that should you break the loyalty contract prematurely, then you would essentially lose your non-refundable deposit, which covers the last two months of the academic year. Ms. Mihal Freinquel broke the loyalty contract after enjoying $100 off her monthly tuition for several months, and then threatened us several times through written emails that unless we return her non-refundable deposit, she would post negative reviews. In response to Ms. Mihal Freinquel's comments, I have always gone far beyond the norm to help my teachers financially through thick and thin, and have always treated them with the utmost respect. When there are problems to be solved, I invite teachers for dinner and talk about the issues over a meal in a democratic fashion. Our primary teachers have worked in the school for 2-3 years, and I know I can count on their continued loyalty.

Sumit Mehrotra

Our daughter has been attending Roots and Wings since age of 2 years, and and her progress has been really good at R&Ws all along in last 3 years. She did very well in her early entry assessment for KG at TVA scoring above 90-95 percentile. Staff is caring for kids and really supportive on additional requests such as Ms Amber provided daughter's progress report periodically and at very short adhoc notice when needed. School focus on development skills in all aspects. R&Ws take good care of kid's meals and cleanliness so parents don't have to worry while kids are in school. Overall good environment for kids growth in preschool.

Phyusin Myint

I've never written a review about a childcare place after a week of attending but school and the staff are worth mentioning. Our family had moved a lot in the past due to work and our kiddos have been at various schools in different states. This is our 6th school. We can generally tell when our children are happy and when they are not. And this school, they were happy at day 1. The teachers are like family. They truly care about your children and their development. The Montessori lesson aligns with our family's learning at home. But beyond that...this is a place that is truly dedicated to the learning and health of your kiddos. They are responsive, they care and they communication is amazing. Our daughter is so happy when we pull into the parking lot of the school, and tells us how excited she is for the day. Our son, who is an infant, is smiling and happy when we pick them up. As parents who are involved in our children's early development, and as a PhD researcher with experience working in early childhood education....I am impressed by this site. I highly recommend this school.

Blair Schaeffer-Bisht

We really liked this school. We recently had to move and changing schools was the hardest part because our son really liked the teachers and other students. The school has a really warm feeling and the teachers really care. Our child learned a lot there. It was also really clean. Our child very rarely got sick there.

Charles Augustine

Both of our kids are going to roots and wings for past three years. It is a wonderful place for kids. Teachers are really good. Good in extra curricular activities and academics as well

Gobind Bisht

Great school. Wonderful teachers. We have had our son at this school since 18 months and he has loved it. He has been learning a lot and the teachers are very caring.

NSW B

My daughter was there for 1 year & my son was there 2 years. Both of them left the school to go the kindergarten. They just started the school when my kids joined. I like the school very much. My kids blossomed with Ms. Mary. They were very professional and all the assistant teachers were kind and caring. I hope they continued to the good work !!

Siva Mudanai

Both my children attended this wonderful school, which is very much an authentic Montessori school. Both my children learnt a lot in the primary program, especially my son, who was reading fluently by the time he graduated with literally no additional help from us. My son is now enrolled in a Montessori elementary program, where he is thriving thanks to the strong foundation he received from Roots & Wings Montessori School.

preethi sowjanya

Our son (now 3.5 years) attended Roots and Wings for last couple of years and we loved the care and environment offered to him. Our son had hard time adjusting since he was with nanny at home until 2 years. The first few months were even hard for his toddler class teacher since he would not let her take her break. The teachers are always great, helping us with potty training which went smooth because of them!! He does not eat at all and they took special care to encourage him!. This school does not allow shoes inside the classrooms which makes it more cleaner than other schools! The classrooms are big enough, clean and well lit. They have fun activities/crafts for all events like valentines day, thanksgiving, etc and summer they have talent show one day, cooking day, movie day, camping day, water day etc Anjum (director) is always very responsive to our needs and emails. She is good at bookkeeping too , we dint track our payments(we did bank autopayments) and twice she refunded our payments based on prorated days. we would recommend to our friends anytime!

Alexis Ménard

This is a great school. My daughter went there in Pre-K. during a full academic year. We liked the teachers, the staff and our daughter loved the place. She started there as a non English speaker and we can definitely say that the school and the Montessori method was a great fit for her to get started in U.S.. We also saw great improvements over the year. I recommend warmly the school.

Soledad Ceja

My son has been attending Roots & Wings Montessori since he was 14months. He is now 3years. The school has been a great place for him. He is learning a lot everyday. His vocabulary keeps amazing us and he always brings his art work home and we love displaying on our living room wall. I love seeing his progress at home as he can count from 1-10, he knows all his colors, he can mostly spell his name. He amazes me everyday on how much he is learning. The teachers make the activities fun and my child is always learning. My son has made really good friends which is a blessing, really makes dropoff easy. I am very fortunate to have found this place. I like that they provide healthy meals and snacks. They potty trained him! This was a huge blessing for me. I plan on keeping him at this school until he goes to kindergarten. If my kid is happy, I am happy. If he likes Roots and Wings, I want to keep taking him there. Seeing my son happy is important to me. Thank you teachers and all the children that attend the school!