Keystone Montessori

Keystone Montessori is exactly the experience I hoped for. Not only is it AMI certified, the teachers are so compassionate and supportive of the children. Right now the children are really loving their gardens and eating the fruits of their labors. I know the children are getting the attention they need to be a productive humans in society.

This is a fun place to learn where our daughter has excelled. The staff are attentive, the environment is accommodating, and the community is strong.

We have been part of the Keystone Montessori School community since August 2017. My children are currently in upper elementary and the adolescent classrooms. We have been very happy and absolutely love our school. My children are happy and thriving in school. There has always been a great sense of family and community at Keystone that is not easy to find. I feel confident that the guides and staff have the childrens’ best interests in mind in all decisions they make. One of my children has an IEP and they have done so much to help him through their Special Education department. They truly want him to succeed. I have great confidence and trust in what they do. If anyone is searching for quality education that is not in a traditional classroom setting, I urge them to look into our school. It is a peaceful and pleasant environment where children don’t merely learn the standard, reading, writing, math, science, etc. They learn life skills, etiquette, manners, and how to be a part of something bigger than just themselves.

My daughter has been at Keystone for seven years. This school fosters independence, social learning, and most of all, encourages the flame of the love of learning. So often in traditional school settings the rigid nature of the curriculum and the over-focus on "points" kills children's intrinsic motivation to learn, so that when they get to college the light in their eyes has gone out and they care only about grades. I'm so happy that this wonderful school exists, and that it goes through the upper levels. Montessori is not just for preschool--it's for all ages. We are also very grateful for how Keystone got us through the pandemic--attentive, flexible, distance learning, and excellent safety protocols. Thank you, Keystone, for keeping policies in place that allowed students to come back in person quickly, and stay safe while learning in person. I will be forever grateful.

We have been in this school for 8 years, and bought a home to relocate our family to this neighborhood, in an effort to create a long-term and stable life for our children. So when I tell you that this used to be a wonderful school (and that many of the teachers themselves are still wonderful), then I mean it with all my heart. The focus was on education and maximizing children's natural desire to learn in a fun, social, and very engaging environment. Unfortunately, a new board has taken over the school recently, and decided that being political is the most important part of "education". They have forced masks on all the students, without choice of opting out, irrespective of the fact that almost no other schools nearby do so. The futility of this effort, the arrogance of "saving the world" all on their own, while enforcing policies that place bags on 3-year-old's faces, and withholding a wholesome educational environment from them was disgusting to many of us parents. But what made it really terrible, was that they implemented their policy just after the school year started, with no input or debate via open forums from the parents that comprise this community. Various attempts at influencing this policy, via emails to the administration and appeals to the board, were all met with no success. So our children were now locked into this school, exactly at a time when families were flocking from here and the waiting lists to other schools were getting longer and longer. They showed us that what we thought does not matter. Only force and coercion matter. Soon afterward, they decided to add insult to injury. When hosting their fall fund-raiser, which is typically a very crowded outdoor event of all kids and families on the school grass field, they decided not to require masks. So as the children choke on their own CO2 and are reprimanded throughout the day for trying to take mask breaks, these hypocrites open up their campus without masks when it's time to rake in the cash. This is my honest experience with this school, and I am pained to write it because the campus is very charming with a central courtyard and large field. Additionally, most of the teaching staff really is wonderful. They care about the children, follow the Montessori method, and are very engaging with the families for whose children they care. They alone deserve a 5-star review, and have been the inspiration to our own family to donate thousands of dollars to this school in support of the community there. However, the political poison from the top rains down upon all, and completely ruins what could be a wonderful learning experience for the children.

We sacrificed a lot in order to make it through the VERY expensive tuition years here. A sacrifice that we felt was well worth it at the time. Fast forward a few years and withdrawing our kids from Keystone Montessori was one of the best decisions that we could have made for the well-being of our family. What Keystone Montessori calls "fundraising" is a truly vulgar thing to witness. Their newsletter publicly posts what category each family fits under in terms of monetary donations (their way of passive aggressively shaming the families that can't donate as much). The entire year is one attempt after another of asking for more money, and then making targeted efforts to continue to shame and pressure families. During one of the more heated debates of the last year, they held an unannounced board meeting where an extremely important policy was being voted on (this is just ONE instance that I KNOW of, and I expect there were more). They voted PRIOR to any parental input, and then implemented their policy at the 11th hour. They sent out mendacious letters stating that the "focus is on providing the best high-quality reading instruction to all students each day" while simultaneously withholding education completely from select students (i.e. your child will sit outside with "no access to direct instruction" while they wait for you to pick them up) and refusing to offer any alternative educational options. Tyrannical leadership on full display. If you are not in line with the narrative and political leanings of the school's administration, you will be wasting your time expressing concerns or offering suggestions or solutions. They do not care. I know this from my personal experience with them, and through communication with many other Keystone parents who endured the same mistreatment. Montessori is about critical thinking and independence within an inclusive and respectful community. It's unfortunate that Keystone Montessori's current administration does not model this for their own students. The current head of the school is not a capable leader, and she and the school board members have effectively ruined Keystone Montessori. They have routinely disregarded the physical, mental, emotional, social, environmental, and spiritual health of their students in favor of politics, power, control, and financial gain. Keystone Montessori is in a swift downward spiral that will not cease until they clean house.

We have three children that attended Keystone. The oldest two attended since 2013. We had to move out of state, otherwise our kids would still be there. I also should include that two of our kids had IEPs. We have absolutely loved our time here. Keystone’s culture and staff is so welcoming. Our kids loved their teacher and staff support. Special thank you to Ms Eve, Ms Bethany, Ms Sara, Ms Katia, Ms Amie, Ms Stephanie and Ms Imelda. You are truly the best of the best! Thank you keystone for the years of educating, caring and keeping our children safe. We miss all you tremendously!