Scholar Montessori Academy

Terrific school! I have had a very positive experience with my children at SMA. The Principal and the entire staff were very professional and helpful and went above and beyond in providing a secure and authentic Montessori environment.We spent close to two years and i highly recommend it.

Great school and staff, my daughter thrive here and I couldn’t imagine her in another school.

Our daughter started coming to this campus when she was a toddler. Words cannot express our gratitude to the staff and principal of this school. The teachers are warm, loving and attentive. Mr. Rafi is always available to address any concerns we may have. ( there haven't been any) She is now in the casa classroom and is flourishing both academically and socially. She is becoming more independent each day thanks to the guidance of her teachers. We are so happy we chose Scholar Montessori as our daughters first school.

I would not recommend scholar Montessori. The biggest issue, among many, is communication. I would get forms for things only a few days before the deadline. I changed my sons days he attended via email to the langstaff office (because there isn’t an email for the hwy 7 location separately) and after a couple weeks his teacher questioned the change of dates. The person I spoke with via email did not inform his school of the change! You can tell that the teachers hate their jobs. When I watch them at pick up and drop off, some of the teachers don’t seem friendly, invested or interested. I saw one teacher pretty aggressively shake a child’s shoulders because he hit another child with a toy. I’ve sent in forms to which they confirm received and then later tell me they didn’t receive the form (camp). They don’t apply sunscreen, I was told it’s their policy for the parents to apply a 24hr sunscreen before drop off (doesn’t exist). When I asked for school recommended brands because I couldn’t find any, I was ignored. Also it’s not the norm to have water outside when they go play, after my son told me he doesn’t bring out his water bottle I told his teacher he needs to. The response was telling my son that if he brings it out he has to remember to bring it back upstairs.There is no tracking of any kind, I would pick up my son and ask how he ate and slept and because his teachers were gone by then, they would just shrug their shoulders and say sorry I wasn’t there I can’t tell you.Save yourself the problems and send your child somewhere else.UPDATEAugust 2020- I have been emailing and calling these people since February for my tax receipt and they ignored me. I finally started commenting on Instagram to ask (twice), and they blocked me!! What is the issue with providing me my tax receipt?

Irrespective of the month being short due to holidays (like December or March break) - they always charged for the full month. However, when I switched to another Montessori they were charging only for the days the Montessori was open. Something they should definitely look into.Also, maybe consider a lift in the building as it’s not feasible for the child to go the basement or ground for play, and climb 2 storeys back to the class back and forth. (Highway 7 location).

The staff is warm and friendly even prior to my son attending this school they had remembered his name and took interest in his development. Within 2 weeks my son had learned new skills and his vocabulary expanded.

The teachers are good, but I had a bad experience with the director which completely changed my perspective on the school as a whole. My child was enrolled here for about a year. However a daycare that was opening in our building was soon opening so I didn’t re-enrol him. Due to unforeseen circumstances the childcare facility had to delay there grand opening. Following I called the Scholar location that was closer to our house to see if they had space in their program for my son. They were aware My child was previously from the Hwy 7 location. The Langstaff location confirmed an open spot was available and had me fill out another application.Following, I received a call from the Raffi the Owner. He questioned my integrity for re-enrolling my son to his schools. It was clear that he was obviously upset and offended that I had taken my son out of the program at his school. I explained to him that the Hwy 7 location was too far from home and it was getting costly. And as a single mother it was in my best interest to join the daycare at our building. He followed by stating that “I was only coming back because the grass wasn’t greener on the other side” and he continued to go on and on about how he takes it personally when someone leaves his programs. And made comments about how my son is 3 and should be potty trained already. I was absolutely offended by his comments. I wouldn’t be comfortable sending my son back to this school.