Santa Monica Montessori School

Terrible at responding and communicating, which is challenging for any parent but especially a busy one who has no time to spare. It’s also critical, in my opinion, for a place that is responsible for a young child to be available and responsive. There is only one email address and one main phone line for the whole school. There is no option to email or call the director or anyone senior directly. All inquiries, whether you are a prospective student, current student, or in need of help, get dumped in the same place that they cannot seem to organize or address. Throughout our year at the school, I had multiple frustrations as the school failed to answer my basic questions for more information. I had to remember to ask the questions in person during drop off, otherwise I wouldn’t get an answer. I even experienced these issues when I was considering sending my daughter to the school, but was so grateful they had a spot open that I chose to ignore it. The peak of the issues came during shelter in place, when all the parents were left wondering if the school would offer virtual lessons at all. Three weeks in, with no word, and then we finally got a sloppy system of inconsistent lessons. The school stopped offering even those virtual lessons two weeks early. But of course, tuition stayed the same. All my inquiries related to Covid relief went on answered. I called three times, and emailed three times, to no avail. As a parent, you often have questions related to your child’s. It is absolutely unacceptable for a place to not provide the means to address your questions, communicate effectively, or respond. If you want any certainty, do not go here.