Guidepost MontessoriReviews of guidepostmontessori.com

Director at the Green Hills location in Nashville, TN is extremely rude and condescending. The staff is not helpful and all has bad attitudes.

Parents: do not even consider this school as an option for your child. A teacher locked my 4 year old daughter in a bathroom while she was upset. She held the door shut and said "YOU CAN COME OUT WHEN YOU'RE DONE CRYING." The "school" did not tell us about this incident and attempted to cover it up. After 1 conversation with the head of school, the full story came out. It was abuse of a student, and it was admitted to by the school. Yet they still attempted to cover it up. Placing a student in seclusion is illegal in the state of Florida. But more importantly for you- a parent searching for a good school- it's explicitly against the Montessori principles that supposedly guide this expensive daycare. My oldest daughter was a student for 18 months, it started off well. Then her teacher quit. Then more teachers quit. Then even more teachers quit. She was left in a classroom with a revolving door of offensively under qualified "Assistant Guides". Calling them babysitters would be a compliment to them, but an insult to babysitters. It became clear that her initial good experience at Guidepost was not due to Guidepost- but due to Miss Gina- her original teacher. Guidepost does not exist to serve your children. It exists to make money. That's fine- as long as you are providing the product that you claim to. But Guidepost does not. They use the Montessori principles as marketing material. It's a bait and switch. A very expensive bait and switch. There were many other issues during our time at Guidepost, and for the sake of respecting your time I'll make a brief list. 1. During pickup there was a creepy guy circling the parking lot. I watched him do this 6 times, then circle back a further 2 more times. I notified the school and they laughed it off. I then called JSO. The man was a registered sex offender. When I presented that information to the school they laughed it off again. This is important because Guidepost is NOT a secure building. They put no effort into keeping the building, or your children, secure. They look for the cheap and easy way out of everything. Even after this incident they did not put any effort into creating a more secure environment* *When I say "not secure" I don't mean "not Fort Knox" I mean that the side doors are open, unlocked and flapping around all day. 2. The front door has a lock mechanism that unlocks via code. Any logical adult would think that this code should remain secure, and only be issued to parents or guardians for drop off or pick up. Not Guidepost. When they issue a new code they simply print out about 100 copies on small paper. They then place those codes in a basket outside the front door. The same front door that's unlocked via the code. It's so beyond mindless and completely renders the code useless as any person can come grab one, and enter your child's school as they please. 3. Another student broke my daughter's glasses. This is not an issue- kids will be kids and things break. The issue is that the school did not tell us. If you're checking out Guidepost you'll see that they pride themselves on "transparency of classroom" however this is another marketing lie designed to get your money. The school attempted to cover up the reason why my daughter came home with broken glasses, and once again did not follow their own policies nor live up to their own principals. 4. Guidepost is NOT an accreditied Montessori institution. A simple google search will uncover that Guidepost is using the term "Montessori" to market themselves. They have no relationship nor credentials from the American Montessori Society. On the surface that's fine, I don't really care about "Montessori" per se. However, it shows how deeply flawed and duplicitous this organization is. For the sake of your time I'll cut it right there and implore you to NOT SEND YOUR CHILDREN HERE. I'm a very patient and forgiving man- but I also have a line. Guidepost crossed that line. They are a hypocritical organization that does not care about the education or emotional well being of your children.

I am writing to express my profound dismay and utter disappointment regarding the race discrimination that I have experienced at Guidepost Montessori School in Hollywood, FL. It is with a heavy heart that I find myself compelled to address this matter, as it goes against the very principles of equality, respect, and inclusivity that any educational institution should uphold. It has become painfully evident that a culture of racial insensitivity and bias exists within the school’s environment. I have witnessed instances where students of diverse backgrounds have been subjected to unfair treatment and derogatory remarks solely based on their race. This behavior is not only unacceptable but deeply distressing, as it undermines the values that should form the foundation of any educational setting. As parents and caregivers, we entrust our children to Guidepost Montessori School in Hollywood FL with the expectation that they will receive a safe and nurturing environment that fosters their growth, both academically and emotionally. It is devastating to realize that the very institution we have placed our trust in has failed to provide this essential environment for all students, regardless of their race or ethnicity. Please understand that my frustration and disappointment stem from a genuine concern for the well-being and emotional development of all the students attending Guidepost Montessori School in Hollywood, FL.

If I could give a zero, I would. This is my personal and direct experience as a parent who sent their kid to this school. Most of these "5-star reviews" are parents who were encouraged to do so during a raffle. We were encouraged to write the "best" review. *RED FLAG* I am writing my personal review because a great deal of parents (like myself), rely on accurate social media reviews to chose a daycare or school for our children. Since my son started there June 2022, 2 head of schools left, 1 assistant head of school, 3 lead guides (1 later returned after trying to seek a nanny job) and 5 assistant guides (1 got terminated for physically and emotionally harming the children-which I will get into more detail because my son was one of 7 children affected). That is a total of 10 people in a year who have left (not including the person who returned). No consistency for our children. *RED FLAG* During the months of October 2022-March 2023, my son would cry during drop offs and pick ups. We didn't know why, we thought it was normal toddler behavior. We were then notified that our son by the current head of school at the time on 3/2023 that our son experienced abuse by an assistant guide who was first put on administrative leave then terminated a few days later after interviewing staff who corroborated the allegations. Specific examples of witnessed abuse against my son included this person intentionally tripping him when he was running outside, pulling him by his arm and pinning him down in his chair to sit by his shoulders. These were only the witnessed accounts. The current head of school told us that these concerns about abuse were told to prior head of school who left end of 2022 but nothing was followed up. Which breaks my heart as a parent to think all this abuse was ongoing without further investigation. *RED FLAG* We wanted to leave at that moment when they disclosed all the abuse information but the head of school insisted we stay to make things right since that employee was terminated. We agreed only under the contingency that if we saw any emotional distress in our son, we would be leaving the school. He was having serious behavioral issues/changes. He probably didn’t feel safe at that school so we left. I would never recommend this place. Another huge RED FLAG is when there are multiple violations posted on their front door for the public to view. Hope our feedback and experience help other families make an informed decision.

Its been a good experience. But with that being said if you want your child to come home and start arguing with you about rainbows send them to the school.

I went to tour the school and they said there is space available for my daughter. I told them she is autistic and if it is possible for her therapist to visit her at school. They said they will get back to me. They totally ignored me and I haven't heard back from them. So Disappointed, at least they should get back to me if they allow the therapist or not but totally ignoring me means they don't want to deal with disabled kids.

Having worked for this company in a senior capacity, I can attest to the experiences of parents from other reviews. This company places MONEY before children. It capitalizes on strategic marketing and utilizes remote workers to "sell" parents the Guidepost experience. I urge parents to explore other authentic Montessori schools. Here is why: - Children are just numbers. They are all about expanding and filling classrooms as fast as possible. They will not treat your child as an individual. If your child needs an evaluation to receive funding for state intervention therapies, forget it. School guides (teachers) are told to decrease the undesired behavior without any specific special education training or support from a qualified professional... The company will not provide special education assistants. - If you are hoping your child will get a quality Montessori experience, think again. Trained Montessori teachers are required to undergo a year-long post-bachelor's in-depth Montessori training. It is called the "spiritual preparation of the teacher." The training is as much about child development and how to interact with children as it is about the specific teaching content (hundreds of very detailed lessons with specific steps and purposes in order for children to use the materials properly and learn concepts). The company hires daycare and regular education teachers and gives them online training while they are leading classrooms of twenty mixed-aged students, many of whom might have ignored behavioral and/or cognitive concerns. They say their teachers are "qualified by the state and going through Montessori training"... No, your child will not get a quality Montessori experience if the school does not value trained Montessori guides and authentic training. This is also false advertising as the whole Montessori experience rests on the teacher's ability to connect with children in a direct but very respectful way and knowing when and how to plan and present specific lessons in a very specific way at specific times for your child. Providing a Montessori education is not about a bunch of beautiful classroom materials... the children will misuse materials and not meet their potential if they are not presented and guided in a certain way. They would probably be better off with a play-based, creative curriculum than with untrained teachers in a Montessori school. - Teachers barely make livable wages with this organization and are expected to work year-round on federal holidays for 9 hours a day (not paid for the hour lunch). Low teacher morale leads to high turnover and poor quality teaching staff. Most qualified Montessori teachers are not interested in working at Guidepost because of its reputation of being for-profit, low standards of Montessori fidelity, and not caring for its teachers. - Things you want to ask if you do visit a Guidepost school: are your guides fully trained by AMI or AMS (these are the most authentic training organizations by far... if they say they are in a MACTE accredited training program, this does not equal good quality)? What is the tenure of your teachers and assistant teachers? What is the turnover like? Do you have staffing problems? Ask questions about Montessori... is the Head of School AMI or AMS trained? if not, that is a huge red flag that the program quality will not be high because the Head of School will not truly understand what to look for and how to implement the Montessori method... - Don't be fooled by the marketing and nice looking classrooms...

This company has a dangerous set of priorities designed to keep tuition money rolling in by doing and saying whatever they feel will keep their customers (the parents) happy and blissful. Our 3 yo child spent almost an entire year getting socially shunned by most of their classmates, but nobody in the school thought of telling us. We also recently spoke to a former employee who knows about another student in dire need of early intervention therapy, but said that the school did not want to alert the parent because they were afraid of how the parent would react at the suggestion that their child was not developing totally normally. This should be a massive red flag to any parent who wants the best for their child, and is an extremely dangerous and irresponsible way to handle a pivotal time in early child development. A school ought to be the first to raise a flag if they have any concerns so that parents can make informed decisions and seek outside help if needed. Guidepost prefers to ignore the issue and avoid their role. Yuck.