Ferndale Montessori Center

My family has had a great experience at Ferndale Montessori Center! My first child started there over ten years ago and we have been involved ever since. Many of the staff who taught my son are still at the center. The teachers were caring and insightful to my three children. I have referred many families from around the metro area to this amazing school. This is one solid school and it is a gem of Ferndale!

Awesome! My daughter started in the toddler room where she spent her mornings with an amazingly patient staff. She spent 3 years in the Primary classrooms where she gained a love for learning. Her teachers were enthusiastic and caring. Her last year, completed in 2012, was her kindergarten year. We are grateful for her time at Ferndale Montessori where she developed a most important life skill, independence. A by-product of that is confidence beyond her age. Now, in 2nd grade, she is a high performer in math and reading. Her teachers rely on her as a leader and a mentor in her class. We had two friends who joined our daughter at Ferndale Montessori and each continued on with younger siblings. We recommend this school to anyone who asks.

Today, my son was "kicked out" of Ferndale Montessori, without any warning or time to address his needs. We are kind and reasonable parents and our contract was broken by the school, right when our three-year-old son needs help the most with language and social skills. The director took him out of the toddler program and placed him in preprimary this fall. He was the youngest in his class and he struggled to meet their expectations. Instead of working with us to help our son improve, the school chose to abandon our family, break the heart of a little boy who wants to see his friends again, and break our contract suddenly, without any time to find a new school for our son. We trusted the women who worked there, whole-heartedly, and they did not grace us with open and timely communication, whatsoever. I loved our time at Ferndale Montessori and am a proactive and intelligent mother, so don't think this review was written by an irresponsible or unmotivated person. I am grieving for the way they treated our little family today.

Our children have thrived at FMC, despite being two very different personalities and very different learners. Their individual interests and skills were respected, challenged, and raised to new levels. They gained confidence as independent people, they learned social skills far beyond what is typically expected of children this age (conflict resolution, it's ok to say no, no forced sharing yielding genuine desire to invite others to play along), and they became self-directed and self-moderated classroom participants. Most importantly, they both love/loved going to school every day. It's a peaceful, fun place to learn, and the staff is genuinely caring about each entire family. The low turnover rate for staff is important and impressive, as well. My older child is now in 1st grade at a local public school and building on the foundation FMC helped provide. Academics were not my primary concern when looking for a preschool, but FMC prepared her very, very well. I will miss this place when our younger child moves on, but I will always be grateful for our time here and for the things I've learned from the teachers (yes, even the parents grow and learn at FMC).