Abbey Montessori School
Ages: 0-6 years
Hours of operation: 7:15 am to 6:15 pm (M-F)
* Extended care: Morning extended care: 7:00 am to 8:45 am Afternoon extended care: 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Abbey Montessori School
138 North San Pedro Road
San Rafael, CA 94903
Comments
Great School
Posted by ktklap on
We have just graduated our second son from Abbey Montessori. We are thrilled with how well prepared both of our sons are, and have been for Kindergarten. The school has seen them from their infancy through the preschool years and was right on target for each of their developmental stages. They also take the time to truly get to know their students and help guide them to their best selves with dignity and respect.
As an educator and mommy I highly recommend Abbey Montessori both personally and professionally.
Katie
first impression not so good
Posted by emblby on
Take this with a grain of salt, since I never enrolled my child here, but I didn't get the warm fuzzies when I visited. I had a 3 month old baby in my arms and wanted to be able to get a sense of whether it would be a good fit for us. The caretakers in the infant room don't speak any English, so my lack of Spanish made it difficult for us to communicate. I asked if we could have a trial visit, or if I could see the caretakers interact with my child, and the director refused. Having no other way to assess the program, I dropped it from my list.
The facilities are a bit dingy, as reflected by the outside of the school. I'd hoped to be surprised by the interior, but the exterior that you see driving by pretty much echoes the interior feeling. I've talked with two other mothers in the area who had a similar feeling - one of whom visited twice wanting so badly for this conveniently located school to be a good fit. Same deal, just didn't feel it. And of course that's a personal thing - go with your gut, whatever it is.
However, I can say with confidence that there are better Montessori programs in the area.
infant care
Posted by love4vicki on
Hi, there,
Did you find anything yet? We have a 11 month old boy and consider sending him there. Could you please advise?
Many thanks in advance!
Regards,
Haowei
Very pleased with infant and preschool care!
Posted by emgug14 on
We currently have our daughter in the infant room and our son in the preschool and couldn't be more pleased. In the time they have been there, both children have excelled. They both love to go to school and absolutely adore their teachers! I couldn't recommend Abbey Montessori more highly.
In response to the previous poster, the facilties are clean, safe, well maintaned.
Emily
Bummed after tour
Posted by Train17 on
I have to agree with the previous mommy. We toured the school recently and I was very unimpressed. First of all it's freezing in there. The office had a desk clock with a thermometer and it read 57 degrees so I know it wasn't just my imagination. The place was dingy and the toddler room smelled like dirty diapers, as did the infant room. All the children seemed content, but they were very quiet and each seemed to be doing something all alone. There were kids and infants that were outside playing that had gotten their clothes all wet & dirty since everything was wet from the recent rain. No one seemed to care about that - crazy since it was pretty cold outside, as well as inside. It just doesn't seem like a very loving or nurturing place to me. I won't be enrolling my kids there. I might be ok with having my pre-school aged kid there, but I certainly wouldn't be comfortable with leaving my newborn there. I just didn't get a good feel for the place. This is just my opinion though. It seems as though other families are very happy there. You just have to check it out yourself and see hat you think. Good luck!
Great Pre-School and Infant Program
Posted by DP on
We started our son out in the infant program at Abbey Montessori and he now has graduated to the pre-school program. We initially tried sending him to a home day care in the area but then pulled him from it. We felt like it wasn't structured enough for him and we had no idea what was going on when we were not there. After trying Abbey Montessori, we were pleasantly surprised. He took to the infant instructor (Elsie) right away. Yes, there are some Spanish instructors there, but it great and I encouraged them to speak Spanish to my child whenever they wished. Not only that, but every day I was sent home with a detailed schedule of what he ate that day, at what time, how many bottles he had, and at what time, what time he napped and awoke, when he had a bowl movement and when his diapers were changed. It was reassuring to know what was happening in his daily routine when I wasn't there. The infants are separated from the pre-schoolers so you dont have to worry about the older kids around your infant. Almost every day at pick up time I was greeted by one of the two main instructors who answered any additional questions I had. The kids do get dirty playing outside on the playground but they all have cubby holes with baskets of clean clothes for each child. If they get wet, the kids get changed. Yes, the facilities are older but very well organized and clean. I have never arrived to see anything but what the child is currently playing with out. All the kids are instructed to put away their learning toys before they get out another. It is quite remarkable! The morning hours of school consist of each child rotating around individual work stations of their choosing (maps, puzzles, etc) The older children can help teach the younger children which helps their confidence. They eat lunch at 12:00, take naps at 1:00 and then have free play time outside in the afternoon. However, they are free to do whatever they want. If they prefer to stay indoors and work on a project, they dont have to go outside. Its the "follow the child" Montessori teaching way. Yes, it does get a little cold in there because its an older home that has been converted. Just put some warmer clothes on the kids. Not that big of a deal. All in all, we have had a great experience and will be keeping our son in the program until Kindergarten. We love Abbey!
Diana
PS One of the selling points for us and Abbey Montessori was the fact that they are the only Montessori pre-school in the area that takes children 2,3,4 or 5 days a week. All other Montessori schools in the area only offered a 5 days a week option with a 5 days a week bill.