Montefiore Special Elementary School

Pilsen is a really great school. The teachers are working hard to give the students the best possible education. They care about their students and the community.

My autistic son, with an IEP, recently graduated from Pre-K at Smyth's. We had an excellent experience at this school. I loved. Ms. Young, Ms Molitor and Ms Hall are the best teachers. Ms Muller is amazing with kids. My son loves her. The school offers an excellent Pre-K program .Thespeech therapist, occupational therapist, case manager and staff are all amazing. They all showed how much they really care about the students.

My son graduated two years ago. He had been there since Kindergarten. Fortunately, he was able to have the best teachers the school had to offer BUT new administrator came in and for some reason, an MIT graduate who had been teaching Math for the 6 to 8th graders quit. Why? Who knows. But that got the ball rolling and more of the good teachers left and some others retired. The last 3 years weren't the best for him, there are still two very good teachers there. My other sons tested in and got accepted. I opted for an expensive private school. Orozco is not what it used to be BUT it isn't getting better. The community hopes Ms Carrillo is able to be approved as principal soon so she can bring it back to its glory days. This is an honest review.

Our introduction to the school is from Claudia, who is a factotum for the school, does all the things. She took her time walking us through the school and culture. She spoke from experience as a former parent with 3 children there, including a set of twins. We have a set of twins at the school. It was important to us that the school/teacher(s) understood the nuances with twins in a classroom. The anecdotes from the teachers' observations are fascinating. Only someone with a true child-centered needs approach could observe and make the modifications necessary. As a trivial example, Twin A would follow where Twin B would choose to go play/learn. By allowing modifying and letting Twin B to go first, the twins developed their own sense of space and group of friends.With a small school comes a sense of community, which is a value that we appreciate. I can't say enough great things about the school, the caring teachers, community and sense of belonging.We are more than happy with our decision, we are incredibly thankful to have had 2 spots in the Pre-K age 3 classroom. Classroom sizes are under 20. The pedagogy includes experiential learning. and "Montessori vibe" that fosters independence and curiosity for learning. My son was allowed the space to warm up to being in a classroom environment for the first time to the point that within a few weeks he seemed like a totally different child. There is engagement with the parents and teachers. While the school is Catholic, parent(s) are not expected to be of a certain religion or of one at all. The dual language approach is unique and science backed; it's a natural way to learn and also a sure way to not just give the child a life long skillset, but develops their growing brains.A very real comment: having a school uniform makes it easy for us as parents to get them dressed throughout the school year.

My son went to preschool here and also took part in the after school care program. I truly feel he was taught well and treated with care. I would 100% recommend it to any parent looking for a safe and caring facility to put your kids through school.