We initially chose Gateway because of it's location a half a block from our house, but we are so…read morelucky we did. This school is amazing! Our daughter is learning to read. She's having a blast with her friends. She is learning about oceans. She's learning geography -- last week she came home with a hand-drawn map of Australia, with all the territories labelled. I can't stress to you how capable and loving the teachers are. Tuition's reasonable, too. Check it out!

My 3 year old attended for two months before we pulled him out due to Gateway's incompetence. They…read morefrequently lost his lunch or extra clothing which was sent with him to school. Shall I tell you the story of how they sent a bag of feces home in his backpack? Worst of all, they allowed him to wander out the door with another family. If not for the attention and care of the other parents, he could have easily wandered from the parking lot into the street. Because it is mid-semester, our son must now wait several months on waiting lists of more reputable schools so hopefully he can attend in the fall. Terrible experience, and hard to explain to a toddler why he can't go back to play with his friends! If you value your child's safety and happiness, do not send them to Gateway Montessori!

Mountain Shadows International Montessori School is a phenomenal place for children to learn and…read moregrow. Head of School Lauren F, Assistant Head of School Jeff, and the entire teaching team are exceptional--caring, professional, and deeply committed to the Montessori philosophy. My son is in his fourth year at MSIMS and my daughter in her second, and both absolutely thrive here. It is also the only fully accredited AMI Montessori school in Colorado, offering a level of quality education you won't find anywhere else. I cannot recommend this school enough.

My daughter attended the school in 2020-2022 and our experience was far from positive. When we…read moretoured and applied in 2020, the school sounded fantastic. Unfortunately between the time we applied and the time we started, the seemingly wonderful head of school left and the board selected someone with no educational experience to replace them. A year later the other, fantastic, member of the original 2-person admin team left. My daughter started in YCC at 18mo. Several times my daughter came home with injuries (head injuries, bite marks) and no incident report or communication from the school. In 2022 we moved into one of the primary classrooms. My daughter initially had an ok experience in primary. But again we found out about several incidents from her that should have warranted an incident report, but never did. This culminated in her telling us that one child had hit and shoved her 3-4 times inn the course of a week. We of course brought this up and the teacher kept trying to tell us this was "normal behavior". We disagreed, and attempted to raise this with the head of school, who ignored us for weeks. In this time we had interactions with several other parents, where upon telling them of the issue we'd get responses like "oh, was it [kid]? My kiddo was getting hit by them too." One other parent told us their kid shook with anxiety about going to school and had to be kept home for a month as a result of bullying by this same kid. It became clear that the kid in question had bullied almost every other kid in the classroom, and the school had done nothing about it. Finally, we got a meeting with the head of school. He started by gaslighting us, telling us we were "complainers" and that he felt "nothing he could do would ever make us happy" - as if enforcing the school's own policies on bullying were too much to ask. We quickly ended the meeting after agreeing that the school would refund us the tuition we had paid for the two-month summer session we wouldn't be attending. The school refused to issue a refund until after the summer session, and then sent us ~$200. Half-day tuition at the school is ~$2,000/month. The refund is laughable and, in my opinion, an intentional fraud. In summary our experience was of an incompetent administration, classrooms that could not provide a safe learning environment for our child, a sudden termination of services and a wholly inadequate refund from a disingenuous head of school.

An amazing educational experience for both of my kids!!! I love the Montessori method, and the…read moreteachers here truly care about the children and are encouraging and supportive! The environment feels like family. I wish they went beyond kindergarten! The interior and exterior spaces are purposeful! Kids have the opportunity to use different size strider bikes on the outdoor track...bringing home More than just academic skills!!

If you are a parent who likes to be involved in your child's education, this is not the place for…read moreyou. When asked for feedback -- any feedback -- on my child's school activities, I was told, "no news is good news". When I requested once again for a two-minute stand-up conversation once a week when picking up my child, I was told that if they did it for me, they had to do it for every parent. Is that such a bad thing? As a parent paying a significant amount to send a child to a private montessori, I didn't feel it an unreasonable request for a teacher to talk to me and tell me about my child's day. When dropping my child off or picking her up, I was rarely acknowledged by the staff (not even a, "Hi"). The month that I volunteered to read with the children one day a week, the two owners never greeted me, acknowledged me, or thanked me at the end for my time. Thankfully another teacher at the school recognized that I had no idea what my volunteer duties were, and showed me what I was to do. At the end of the year, I couldn't wait for school to be over. Needless to say, we won't be returning.This was by far the worst scholastic experience...ever! I would never, ever recommend Blue Mountain.

My child has been going here for a couple months. The teachers are all great and the director,…read moreTaylor, is very helpful and friendly. The facility is kept clean and everyone there seems to truly care about the children.

My son enjoys the school/daycare. They were very helpful to work with my split custody situation…read more They have a ton of fun activities planned.

Our older son (now 14) graduated from BVWS last year, having been here since his early years…read more Looking back, we're amazed at how the school shaped him -- not just academically, but as a whole person. He left with a strong foundation in math, science, and writing, but also with creativity, confidence, and a deep sense of compassion. The combination of academics, arts, music, and hands-on learning really gave him a well-rounded education that will serve him for life. Our younger son is now in middle school at BVWS, and he is thriving. Middle school can be a tough transition, but the small class sizes and dedicated teachers make such a difference. He feels seen, supported, and challenged in ways that bring out his best. The curriculum balances academic rigor with opportunities for growth through orchestra, theater, outdoor education, and practical projects -- things that keep him engaged and excited about learning. What stands out most is the sense of community. BVWS feels like an extended family where teachers, parents, and students truly know and support one another. It's a nurturing, values-based environment that helps children grow into capable, compassionate young people. We're grateful to have found a school that educates the head, heart, and hands -- and we would highly recommend BVWS to any family looking for something more meaningful than a traditional school experience.

This is not a review disparaging BVWS. It is about the lack of transparency and consideration my…read morefamily and I were given through the application and enrollment process. My daughter is no stranger to BVWS: she attended in early childhood and has spent a couple of summers there and loved it. When I reached out to the admissions director, (s)he expressed that my daughter would be welcome back and that there was space for her, so I submitted an application and she did a 3-day shadowing. To my surprise, my daughter's application was rejected. I spent several months trying to get a clear answer as to why, unsuccessfully. The following is a summary of events post-shadowing. My husband and I met with the teacher who discussed my daughter's shadowing experience and stated multiple times that (s)he "saw no red flags". I then asked questions about the founder's philosophy including topics that touched upon racism and how they have evolved, as my husband and I come from diverse backgrounds. The teacher answered them with openness and transparency, which further solidified my decision to send my daughter there. A week later, I receive an email, "after careful consideration...we do not feel that (student) is a good fit for our program." I requested a meeting to better understand the decision and sent numerous follow-up emails over the next 2 months to which I received no response, or the admissions director was sick, out of town, or catching up on work. Upon finally setting a meeting, I mentioned that I had emailed the teacher to get more specific feedback regarding my daughter's experience and if (s)he could be encouraged to respond. The response from the admissions director: "to be clear, I will be talking you through the application process...but not discussing re-opening the process". I thanked them and wrote, to "make sure I'm understanding correctly - you will not ask (teacher) to give me information about my daughter, nor will you speak about her experience at BVWS," to which I received no reply. On the call, the admissions director explained that the enrollment process was a collaborative, complicated and nuanced process. It included not just the teacher's opinion, but also input from ALL the Grade teachers, consideration on the age and maturity of the class, and the fact that the teacher is new to Waldorf teaching. If that were the case, then the shadowing, which caused disruption for everyone involved, was pointless and in fact, no new student could join. My insistence on following up was to have an opportunity for an open and transparent discussion regarding my daughter's application. If the teacher had told me during our debrief that (s)he felt the class dynamic with my daughter was not right, I would have respected the opinion. Funny that while my daughter attended BVWS there had never been any concerns raised. I can only deduce from the lack of response and transparency that this decision had less to do with my daughter and more about the questions I raised during our meeting with the teacher. In my last email after our final call, I expressed my hope that this experience be shared with the faculty and board as a learning experience and that I would always be open to dialogue. Since I never received a reply, I assume this issue had been swept under the rug. Though I know no big change will come of this, this experience will serve as a lesson when my daughter is older so that she may learn to advocate for herself with awareness and discernment. BVWS states they support DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) and boasts that it cultivates a welcoming, inclusive community. A few qualities of inclusive leadership include fairness and respect, collaboration, empowerment and growth, and emotional and cultural intelligence, none of which I received. It is a shame that fear and avoidance of tough questions will now directly impact a 7-year-old's education. DEI has become very trendy in the past few years but simply taking a training without putting the principles into practice is not enough. Let's do better for our children and set the examples we want to teach them, not just have empty words on a website. That is when you muster the courage to step forward, not back.

After having had the pleasure of teaching in some of the finest preschools for 30 years, I can only…read morebegin to sing the praises of The BellaVita School. Nurturing, kind, loving staff with excellent ideas for their children to take off and blossom. Their staff loves what they do, they love the children, and they certainly teach respecting our earth and one another. If I lived in Colorado, I'd be clamoring for a position there. Luckily I can visit from time to time and know my precious grandson enjoys his weekdays there, encouraged every day to be as fully HIM as he can be. That's just how BellaVita runs. Any child lucky enough to be a part of this organization is reaping the benefits of their lucky stars.

I wanted to write a review a lot sooner than now, but I wanted to make sure that I had the time to…read moregive it the absolutely stellar and comprehensive review it deserves. This school, and it's teachers are, without a doubt, the cream of the crop. My son is 3 1/2 and I couldn't ask for a more amazing place for him to be when he isn't with us. I checked out every preschool imaginable and there is no other place like The Bella Vita School. The children are cherished and treated like the very special individuals that they are. They get to garden, help make meals, learn Spanish, dance, science and herbs, math, reading, art and music. There is a ton of outdoor time(great back yard space with wonderful play structures, slides etc..) and a low student-to-teacher ratio that is so very important to a healthy learning environment for academics, socialization and emotional growth. The curriculum is very special and beautiful and includes friendship studies, job days, journals, and emotion cards to name a few. The vegan snacks and meals that are provided are delicious and the healthiest you will find anywhere. They offer half day and full day programs, which are very flexible and an AMAZING summer camp as well!! We have loved spending time at the monthly family get-togethers and wonderful school events that are put on by the staff. All of the families who send their children there are very down to earth and a real pleasure to be around. Most important, my son is so happy to go to school and is always sad to leave! We can't recommend The Bella Vita School more!!

Our two-year-old has been going to Children's World over the past six months. Mona and Sam are very…read morethoughtful, patient, knowledgable and caring, and we can see how much effort they put into their relationship with each of the kids, as well as the parents. They have created a great environment for kids to grow, learn and play.

Ms. Mona is the best. I am so thankful I was able to get my daughter in this school. The amount she…read morehas grown academically, emotionally and socially in just one year is truly amazing. I have never had to worry once since my girl has started here.. I know she's in good hands.

We LOVE Forest Park so much. Our two girls are now in their second year here and it has exceeded…read moreour expectations. It is a tight knit community and the teachers are amazing. It has been great to watch the girls thrive and come home talking about all the new things they learned that day and proudly showing us their school "works" at the end of the week. It is clear they enjoy the school and are finding learning fun even when it is a difficult subject. Big thanks to the FP teachers for pulling that off and making school a place they are eager to go to everyday.

This school is truly a local gem! Authentic Montessori, beautiful setting, nurturing staff - it…read morehas it all. My child can't wait to go to school each day and has developed a love of learning that is amazing! Reading, geography, math, nature, Spanish, the staff makes sure all the children are engaged and thriving. I would give this school 10 stars if I could!