Springfield Elementary School

We chose Renaissance Academy (Pre-K–8) hoping a Montessori environment would be a better fit, especially for neurodivergent learners. The school does offer some truly special experiences and field trips (including major trips like a marine biology camp in California).However, with four children enrolled, we experienced ongoing issues with planning, transparency, and communication. Students are often given a weekly workload and expected to complete it with little structure (planners, modeling, check-ins), which felt less like Montessori scaffolding and more like “figure it out.” Trip logistics and fee transparency were also frustrating.Most importantly: families seeking disability supports should proceed carefully. In our experience, our neurodivergent child had a significantly harmful experience, with emotional dysregulation too often met with responses that escalated distress rather than consistent de-escalation and accommodation.It took me nearly two years to write this because after leaving I continued hearing similar concerns from other families, and reviews like this were not available when we were choosing schools.