Southampton Montessori School

We moved from New England in the summer of 2020. One my wife's new colleagues suggested SHMS in lieu of our ability to go tour schools due to Covid. We signed our 2 year old daughter up believing that we could move when everything opens up. She is now in Kindergarten at SMHS and our son, who wasn't born at the time, is now there as well and we couldn't be happier. caveat - Neither of our children are disabled or have major behavioral problems. Things of note - 1. We are paying almost $1000 less PER MONTH than we did in New England. Now that we've been here for a while, there are cheaper options for sure, but it felt like a MONSTER discount when we got here. 2. For additional fees, they offer soccer, ballet, spanish, and piano lessons during the school day. 3. There are schoolwide events - Fall festival, spring rodeo, Halloween, Christmas programs, etc. 4. They do offer kindergarten. It is small, 2-4 kids per older classroom, 3-4 classrooms, who combine together for "socials," field trips, and lessons together. 5. Siblings often cannot be in the same classroom so that they do not distract each other and can develop their own identity. 6. I have only seen 4 of the classrooms, 3 younger and 1 older, but every single teacher I have met cared a great deal for my children and helped them through potty training, teething, tantrums, learning to read, learning to do math, working out problems with other children, etc. 7. They have a FANTASTIC summer program which includes a pool! Older children get to swim, there are lifeguards. 8. One downside, other schools we have seen provide digital pictures or video of your child on a daily basis. This school does not have an app or (at the time of this review) even a website. It definitely feels like a word of mouth restaurant. 9. There are multiple parent-teacher conferences throughout the year. There aren't grades (before kindergarten) but they do give you written feedback on behavior, learning milestones, etc.

Please DO NOT EVER send your kids to this school if your child is:- In mild autism spectrum;- Has divorced parents;- Has speech delay due to speaking multiple languages;- Can get a little frustrated because teachers cannot understand him;- Does not fit in their definition of a "good" child;Because they are not capable of handling any situations outside their "normal" ones. My son got kicked out of the school after the first incident without me (parent with executive parental rights) being notified. And when I asked them why I wasn't told they said that they have too many children to keep track of.

We had our teenage son with us. He's a teenager, he has longish hair, not his natural color, and his clothes are a bit large. He's a teenager. As she looked him over, she said, "Obviously not one of ours. We would have taught you how to dress and cut your hair." I could not believe that someone would do that. But, the lack of reaction by the staff led us to believe it's not uncommon. After reading some of the comments here and on other review sites, I see that it's not that uncommon for guests as well.Needless to say, we cut our visit short. We will not return and we will be telling everyone we know to steer as far away from her as possible. If you are a current family, you may be okay with this behavior, but it's really not something that should be 'in the air' around children, let alone voiced directly to one. In front of his parents no less.There is no legal recourse for someone insulting your child in their place of business. Well, there is, but it's a big hassle. So, all I can do is warn others that this woman and the people who look up to her have serious character issues. There are many good schools out there that are not just tax havens for a person who cares about nothing beyond herself. I would encourage you to keep looking.

The teacher did not recognize some obvious signs in our child's learning and communication abilities. We moved our child into public school and the teacher there recognized dyslexia, dysgraphia (trouble with writing) and some language concerns after being there for a couple months. The teacher at Southampton didn't recognize some very obvious signs and didn't bother to communicate with us during the parent/teacher conferences about these concerns.. in retrospect, this obviously speaks volumes now, because the teacher always said our child was doing great (?) when it was clear our child was more behind than other peers and was struggling to learn. Our child is progressing very well now and getting the accommodations but my husband and I were just so baffled that this school didn't recognize obvious signs. They failed to recognize the learning differences and special needs and I expected far better for the tuition provided here; it's a shame for southampton montesssori that a public school was more equip to recognize and stay on top of things for our child and help us throughout. We had a better experience with the toddler class. But the teacher our child had after transitioning out of the toddler class was a different story. After placing our other children at other schools, my husband and I regret this decision, there are better schools to research in the area who I feel genuinely care about the child as a whole (social, academic, well-being), and going the extra step if something feels off. I'd also highly recommend to speak with other parents who had children here. I would say this school really depends on what teacher you get.

Honestly, if I could go back I would not have put my daughter at this school. I followed the hype and enlisted her on the long waiting list. I thought surely this means the school is great.. Our daughter spent 3 years at Southampton at the age of 2-5. She is a bright child, but academically she was behind when we moved her to kindergarten at another school. She was struggling with her recognizing and writing letters and numbers. It may be the Montessori concept but I think it is the school in particular. I feel the teachers are not as involved with ensuring children spend time on preparing them for kindergarten and first grade. Obviously children will gravitate to what they like to do and that is fine for a young child. But I expect the teachers to redirect them at times and I did not see that in our years at Southampton. I am so glad our daughter began kindergarten elsewhere, she has been learning so much in the last few months there. I hope my review helps others parents.