American Montessori Academy South Loop

We are so so happy with AMA South Loop! Our infant daughter has attended since she was 4 months old (currently 9 months). I agonized over the childcare decision, speaking with and visiting all options in the South Loop and several in Hyde Park. While there are many good options, AMA South Loop is great. We have been happy with every aspect of her care. Wonderful communication. She is growing and learning, and clearly loves her teachers. Perhaps most important of all is the total confidence we have in the school and the staff. There is no substitute for the peace of mind that offers. Appreciate you, AMA South Loop!

Given our hectic work schedule and recovery from the COVID pandemic, our family is grateful for the staff here at AMA. The staff at AMA made the transition as smooth as possible for my child and I when it came time for me to return back to work. It has been 7 months and our toddler has flourished with the structure and fundamentals being taught at AMA. Our family thanks you all!

My daughter had a positive experience here with her Teacher's Nancy, Celeste, and Maria.

Our daughter went to SLMS for about 3 months at age of 3 but had to withdraw in the end. My daughter was very shy and sensitive at the time (which is definitely not uncommon for a 3-year-old), she felt alone and strange in the new classroom therefore cried a lot even when we tried to either comfort her outside before going in or drop her and leave right away. We communicated this with her teacher and the principal but none of them really cared. My daughter was left sitting in the corner behind the classroom door crying for hours long and even fell asleep with extreme tiredness, during which her teacher came to her once trying to comfort her but gave up after just a few words. We observed similar scenes for a couple of weeks and there was no sign of improvement, we communicated with her teacher and principal again and they insisted it was their/the Montessori’s way to “let her calm down on her own” and refused to give her additional attention let alone a warm hug. This situation continued for about 3 months and our daughter started to drop weight due to high pressure at school and refused to eat or ate little after coming home. We had to drop her out and needless to say our request for deposit refund was ignored. In my opinion, depending on a 3-year-old to comfort and calm down herself without guidance and/or help is over demanding, if not cruel. I believe in treating kids non-universally and WITH LOVE as they are unique individuals. Every kid is different and they deserve care from the teachers, let alone I pay ~$2000 a month. I happen to know later that the founder of this school is a former employee of a once large corporation, which makes me even clearer about the school’s interest and value, which is less likely to be about our kids but money. After we switched her to another Montessori school in the west loop area, she was treated with care and attention, her teacher and principal in the new school were both well aware what happened in this school and did give extra effort on her, for which I’m forever grateful because it changed my daughter’s personality and made her feel secure and willing to open arms to new environments. Ever since, we didn’t need to worry about her that much and she’s now a, although shy, happy and balanced kid. So parents with sensitive/insecure/introverted kids, please do pay attention to the way this SLMS treats your kids and switch to other schools if things don’t look good.