A Prospective Parent's Story- None of the teachers there are trained for or have any experience with modifications and accommodations for kids who may need it.

I was so excited when I found this school as I love the pedagogy and methods behind a montessori classroom. I'm a licensed early childhood/elementary school teacher myself so when choosing a school for my son I look for very specific qualities. My son just turned two and we wanted him to be around same age peers in a more structured, school-like environment. With covid going on it's been very difficult to get him social interactions regularly, and I am home with him full time so we thought seeking a school would be appropriate and highly beneficial for him. We also have noticed a few behaviors (sensory seeking) that just made us believe being around peers could be very good for him. He has no formal diagnosis of any sort. I was completely honest and forthcoming with the admissions lady at milwaukee montessori school. I thoroughly explained our situation, why we were looking to enroll him, and our sons behaviors we have seen at home.

Throughout the admission process we were given zero indication that he wouldn't be accepted. We went through the application process. The first step was to come in for a parent tour. We completed that and thought we would move forward. The next part was to bring our son for a tour. This was really quite pointless because none of us are allowed into any classrooms so we just walk down a hallway and can look through the window. After the second tour with my son present I was able to ask more questions about the school. What I found out was absolutely appalling to me. I asked if they would make any type of accommodations for him to get used to going to school there and leaving us (we anticipate this being a pretty traumatic event for him, as I would think it'd be that way for any toddler going somewhere with out a parent for the first time). I asked about him having his security stuffed animal in the beginning which would eventually phase out. I was told no. I was then asking about children with other needs and how the school addresses IEP's (individualized education plans) and the woman told me "they don't do that." She also went on to explain that none of the teachers there are trained for or have any experience with modifications and accommodations for kids who may need it. So basically, if your child doesn't fit into this perfect little student mold they want, they will do NOTHING to try and help your child succeed.

In addition to these things, when walking through the hallway and peering into the toddler classrooms (toddler rooms are all we saw so I can't speak to any of the older grades) it was a very eerie setting to see from 18 month-3 year olds. It was a very cold environment where these toddlers seemed to be very robotic. It was not at all the scene I would picture when seeing 9-12 happy 1.5-3 year olds. This place seemed to completely lack the core things you want in a school for such young, vulnerable kids! There was no evidence of compassion, joy, fun, empathy, excitement like I was expecting to witness on our tours. Instead, the adjectives I would use to describe what I saw would be sad, dreary, quiet, and somber. The environment did not give me any good feelings about sending my child there and certainly not once we were able to ask one on one questions with the admissions lady.

We were very straightforward with our concerns about our son starting school (any school not just here as we figure the transition may be challenging for him) and asked her if our concerns would be any reason for them to reject his admission. She straight up lied to us and said "no, absolutely not. He's here now and doing just fine." It also very much seemed like once I had questions for her (such as asking about children with IEP's) the tone changed immediately. It felt like I was now being labeled as a "problem parent that's too involved" and that gave me the impression that was not something they were interested in working with. I'm so passionate about letting others know our experience here becauSe please please please do your research, check the school out with a very discerning eye, and ask questions before signing your child up for this place. As an educator myself, I cannot believe a school would operate under these principles. I was appalled and would never send any child of mine to Milwaukee Montessori School. We made the decision that we would absolutely NOT be sending any of our children to this school but we were rejected admission anyway. The reasons stated for our rejection were that they can not accommodate our sons needs and my concerns were too much.

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