JONATHAN MONTESSORI SCHOOL

My son is starting his second year at Jonathan Montessori School (JMS). We chose JMS because we believe in the Montessori philosophy and method of education, and believe that JMS delivers on its commitment to this method better than any other (Montessori) school in the area. Our son is learning to love learning, to be independent, responsible, confident, empathetic, curious and a good citizen of our world. He'll need and use these outlooks and skills for the rest of his life, and he'll have them, thanks in large part to JMS.

Our experience with the school has been wonderful! This place is worth every penny. I go to work every day without a worry if my child is in a safe, fun, place.
In the 2 years our child has been at JMS we have watched her become a confident leader in her classroom. She loves doing her and quot;workand quot; in math, reading, music and geography. She talks about helping her younger friends with this work as they're ready. She practices daily life skills, clearing the table after she's done with a snack, cleaning her dishes, folding rags, and pushing the chair in after she is done.... When we looked at Montessori I was worried about the opportunities to learn good social skills. I don't worry about that anymore! She is constantly telling about how she gets along with other kids in the class, or doesn't, and how staff helps manage that. Our child's teacher talks about and quot;social gracesand quot; in the classroom, teaching kids to politely ask for attention from a teacher, or another student, how to treat one another and their classroom with respect. Of course they're still preschoolers, but it's amazing how calm the classroom can be.
Every staff member in our child's classroom is a gem. They are well educated, professional, and truly experts at what they do. They have a lot of experience too. We haven't seen staff and quot;turn overand quot; like we saw in our previous day care. There are two Spanish speaking teachers at the school and their language and culture (as well as others') is often incorporated in the day-to-day experience. You can tell that staff there truly enjoy children and care about each child in the school. The director is an expert on Montessori curriculum. She understands child development and explains how and why your child is learning and acting the way they do.
This year, JMS moved to a new location in Chaska and is planning an addition to that site. We're been really impressed with the and quot;temporaryand quot; space and can't wait to see the addition once it's complete.
Montessori is not day care. This is an education that we believe will lay a foundation for our children's entire school career and JMS is the real thing. It is a non-profit organization -- not a company looking to make a buck -- that exists solely for the good of kids.

Soon after our daughter turned 3-yrs old, we decided to research preschool options for her. We were happy with the Eastern Carver ISD's Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) program, so we strongly considered the school district's preschool options. At the same time, we heard about the Montessori philosophy and decided to look at two local Montessori preschools. We visited one for-profit center and were not impressed. While visiting with the school's director, we watched a preschool student wander out of a classroom w/o being noticed by any teacher. We found this somewhat alarming, even though the facility is locked. The director also left us alone to observe and never returned, but we found her in her office on our way out. We parted ways and never received a follow up call or "thank you" (although we didn't really need any follow up). We then went to visit Jonathan Montessori, where we had a scheduled appointment to meet with the school's director. A noticeable difference was how much time she spent explaining the Montessori philosophy and how Jonathan Montessori is a truly traditional Montessori (as opposed to the center we previously visited). Then we took a brief tour and observed a classroom. While standing at the entrance to the classroom, a few older kids (probably 5-6 yrs old) came to the entrance to greet our daughter. They took her by the hand and showed her the classroom, including the classroom's pet Guinea Pig (named "Popcorn"). The look on our daughter's face after visiting this school made our decision easy. She entered Jonathan Montessori as a timid little 3.5 yr old. Now, she's a confident, engaging 4.5 yr old who is already reading! We love this school and look forward to her attending all the way up through Kindergarten.