We are beyond grateful to have found Desert Montessori Academy in Palmdale. As parents, it means everything to us to have a school where our son is allowed to be a child--to grow, learn, and develop at his own pace rather than being pushed to meet arbitrary "standards." The environment at DMA is nurturing, respectful, and truly centered around the individual needs of each student. We've seen our son flourish not just academically, but emotionally and socially, in ways we never expected. The educators here clearly care deeply and treat each child as a whole person, not just a number or a test score. If you're looking for a school that honors the natural curiosity and uniqueness of children, we cannot recommend Desert Montessori Academy enough. read more

I absolutely love Desert Montessori Academy. My daughter has been attending for just under two years, and the growth I've seen in her has been incredible--especially socially. She's really opened up and become so much more confident. She adores her teachers, and I genuinely trust and appreciate them as well. Every day, the kids engage in hands-on, imaginative activities, which I think is so important. The small playground is a great bonus, too. Overall, the environment is warm, welcoming, and truly trustworthy. I'll definitely be enrolling my second child when the time comes. Thank you, DMA! read more

Desert Montessori Academy - Preschools Near Me - Lancaster, California

This school is most definitely a hidden gem in the AV. My kiddo has been at the school since it reopened in 2021 and I can't say enough about how special this school is. The communication from the staff is fantastic - i enjoy not only the general school updates but also the daily insights from the teachers. They really take the time to get to know each student. They take great care to let the child be a child and allow them to play and express their interests while learning valuable life skills and academics. But, what i love most is the school community they are growing by teaching the students how to take care of each other. I feel so grateful my kiddo has had DMA as the place where she began her learning. read more

Desert Montessori Academy - Working on those buckling skills. - Preschools Near Me - Lancaster, California

After there was a change in administration, I felt that the values of DMA were no longer there. I saw a lot of mistreatment with the staff from administration and a high turn around of teachers/aides. It didn't sit well with me. The breaking point was when my daughter contracted hand-foot-mouth disease from another student and parents were not made aware of it. We ultimately got blamed by admin for it and in the midst of collecting necessary paperwork to transfer to a different school, Nancy yelled at me and then began yelling at Lucinda to "take care of it" all in front of my 3 year old. I'm happy to have left prior to the pandemic but I definitely miss what the prior administration built. Just not the best school as far as how parents and staff are treated. read more

When I began looking for a pre-school I went to several that had good curriculums but when I visited DMA I felt like I was being accepted into a family. My daughter has learned so many lessons about how to interact with kids in larger groups from all different family cultures. As an only child I wanted her to have a broad experience and she got that. I also liked how the teachers worked until they found the best way to encourage her to learn. Lucinda was very patient with her and got her to interact with other kids in a productive way. When the pandemic hit we continued with Zoom school as best as we could with a four year old and she was excited for our Zoom sessions. Now that DMA has secured a new building my daughter is very excited to go back to in person learning. I am grateful that Lucinda will again be her teacher. My daughter learned a lot from her. read more

Our family moved to the Antelope Valley in October of 2013, hoping to find a good pre-school for our daughter. After several months of searching, we were referred to DMA by a parent with a child in the school. During the walk-through I was beyond impressed at how peaceful the children all seemed & how many multi-sensory learning tools were available. We decided this was the place for our curious, outgoing child & have no regrets. She has been intellectually stimulated from day one. She has thrived since we enrolled her, she loves coming to school & has made friends quickly. There is no bullying here, the children are guided to being peaceful and loving with one another. The teachers & director are committed to the children being in a safe, happy, secure environment. They are vigilent, sticking to the promise of a low student/teacher ratio, while allowing the children to be independent. The staff is very easy to communicate with & genuinely values parent involvement. read more

Desert Montessori Academy - Sign out front - Preschools Near Me - Lancaster, California

I can't say enough how about this wonderful this place is and how much we enjoyed our time there! Parents and students were so special and such a United group. It was a great experience and I cherish our memories here as we have now moved out of state. My son grew as a little person and it gave him a wonderful foundation and love of learning. read more

I'm so glad we found this school. My son is finishing his second year here and he has really blossomed. The teachers are wonderful and really nurturing. I didn't know much about Montessori before we came, but now I wish my son could do Montessori forever. The science supports how kids learn better this way and enjoy doing it. My son is going to be in kindergarten next year and we wouldn't go anywhere else. read more

My daughter is in her third year at DMA, and I cannot say enough good things about the school and the instructors. I was not thrilled to move to the Antelope Valley in 2009 for a variety of reasons, but the schools were of a definite concern. (My husband is in aerospace and until he retires, this is where we will live.) I work in the higher education publishing industry, and I know when you develop a course, ask the experts. So, I marched myself over to the local college to ask the advice of the instructors in early child education and child development. DMA was the only school that was suggested to me as a solid option. That was before our daughter was born, so I knew she would be going to DMA from the beginning! The school is in an older neighborhood of Lancaster, but the small house environment is perfect. The school has been designed as a preschool and an elementary class and is light and airy with plenty of room for all of the children. This small school has been a wonderful choice for our daughter. Montessori encourages creativity and choice for learners -- in fact -- all of the project based learning research and the recent trends toward it are NOT recent in the Montessori curriculum. All Montessori learning is multi-modal and project based. Students learn to connect information through theme based learning throughout their math, reading and writing learning. The students have choice of what projects they choose to work with to learn their math on a given day, but the students do have to go through all of their work. We all want to give our children the best education possible. I encourage you to ask the experts when choosing a school. The Desert Montessori Academy offers the best curriculum for early childhood learning development, and the elementary school program does correlate with the state standards. I could not be more pleased. AND, when I do need to keep our daughter in aftercare, she is excited to stay which gives me comfort when I have to work a long day. She loves it there; she's reading at a first grade level in kindergarten, and her addition and subtraction skills are advanced for her age. read more

You are lucky if you are able to get your child into this school! Exceptional environment, wonderful teachers, smart kids.

I have had my children here for four years. This school is a loving environment with an amazing 1 to 8 teacher to student ratio! They are committed to the Montessori method; my kids have thrived here! read more

Great school! My daughter loves this school and my wife and I are very pleased with how much she learns each week. The director of the school is very sweet and passionate about teaching, especially the one Montessori style of teaching. I highly recommend this academy to anyone living in the AV. read more

I now have my youngest enrolled at this school and it is exceptional. My son attended until the 3rd grade and his current school is continually impressed with the skills he learned at Desert Montessori. My daughter has ADHD and struggles to pay attention to anything for an extended period of time but the Montessori method allows her to learn and flourish. This school is worth every penny. read more

Desert Montessori Academy is one of the best Montessori education providers in this area. My daughter loves the school program, teachers and friends so much. She is a very curious and outgoing girl, so the Desert Montessori is a perfect school for her. The teachers are all professional and dedicated. The parents are also very sophisticated and diligent to their children's education. As a part of Desert Montessori family, I highly recommend this school to anyone who is seeking a wonderful Montessori education in Antelope Valley. read more

The process of Gentrification. My son attended Desert Montessori for 2 1/2 years (he will be 3 in December). The second youngest in a class of 24, 2-5 years olds. The school and I have had a total of 3 meetings in the past, in which We learned from each other and moved forward to find solutions that were best for my son ...until recently. In the past 60 days the school has went under new administration, and 4 days into the new school year I was told from the new office administrator that my son was being terrible and to come pick him up. (Voicemail documented) 30 days later I was given a packet for the county regional center and asked to get my son assessed and told he can no longer return to Montessori until he had been assessed. Before the new ownership I could see the happiness roll throughout my son. I was raised to believe you stand for something or fall for anything, and I believe this school has fallen. The new staff lacks experience, love, organization, passion, and more importantly CULTURE. read more

My family looked for over a year for a place to educate our children. I had nearly given up after several preschool interviews, as well as countless in home preschool interviews/ screenings when I came across the Montessori teaching style and thought I'd look for one locally. I am delighted to say we found Desert Montessori Academy and couldn't be happier. The teachers and staff truly invest in the children and their development. Rooted in the Montessori teaching philosophy while incorporating various traditional education aspects, and only using positive discipline, DMA displays every quality and more of a preschool I was looking for. If you are looking for a place where your child/children can grow, develop, thrive, build their social skills- this is the place for your family. We are honored to call ourselves part of the DMA family. read more

This is the Dad speaking, I am writing this review several years after our sons have left the Desert Montessori Academy and after our eldest has graduated from the adolescent program at the Montessori School of Lake Forest, IL. I feel it is more than well deserved and more than overdue to write this review. We started our eldest son as soon as he was potty trained and he graduated from DMA in 2006, shortly before we moved to the Midwest - actually so that he could continue his Montessori education at the Montessori School of Lake Forest. At the time, DMA did not continue through to the 3rd grade, so we made the move across country early. The lessons and methodology at DMA are first rate. I credit Miss Sharla and staff for the caring atmosphere and fostering the love of learning in our sons. There is really no better way to accurately summarize what goes on at DMA other than to say that children are taught to help teach themselves. Our children have grown up in the Montessori environment, learning math, science, english, and latin. The mathematical concepts learned with the bead chains and binomial cube, learning to write cursively, learning to prepare for a meal, learning and reinforcing grace and courtesy are all part of the daily education - every day - day after day. I can tell you now that after years of Montessori education, Montessori children process information differently - and more completely - than children and adults that have not had a Montessori education. They see and feel numbers differently in their noggins. I assume the same is true for language too, but I'm an aerospace engineer so I focus on the Math and Science side. The results after eleven years of a Montessori education, you ask? For our oldest who will be entering Prep School next year as a freshman it means not only knowing Algebra and Geometry, but understanding our place in the world. It means understanding biology and chemistry and also knowing how to be good stewards of the planet. It means knowing how to eat properly. It means knowing how to stand up for yourself, make arguments and provide research to prove your point without hurting others feelings. It means knowing the difference between fact and conjecture. It means knowing how to use the internet properly. It means teaching yourself to speedsolve Rubik's cubes. It means teaching yourself how to do 3D animation. It means learning the art of photography. It means working on a farm and selling produce at the school market. The list goes on and on. The whole child is educated and cultivated in the Montessori environment. How many grading periods have they had? - 0 How many tests (other than standardized tests) - 0 How much homework have they had (6th grade and under) - 0 hours As parents, the great 'Montessori Experiment' as I called it is working out great. Yes, it seems absolutely bizarre not to have tests or homework. I did not grow up that way. I had tests and homework (although none before 7th grade). The Montessori way is better - period. If the child is having a particular difficulty, the teacher spends extra time going over lessons or notifies the parent that more work needs to be done. It's that simple. There's no panic or hurry, just methodology and focus. The child then grows very naturally. We watch other parents with their children who attend non-Montessori schools. We hear the complaints about homework and the fact that they must spend so many hours with their children to get their homework done. And we hear the nagging. We see the parent starting to resent the child all because of homework, which by and large, is needed because the school day is fettered away. Divide the family, weaken the child. Instead, a Montessori classroom simply hums with the sound of purposeful work. The experience for our younger son is the same. What were we worried about before starting our kids in Montessori? 1. Will they learn? 2. It's a cult. 3. How will we know they are learning? 4. Will they be prepared? Answers: 1. Yes, more than you know. 2. No, it's not - it's an educational philosophy based much more in the real world than traditional school. 3. They will tell you. The people that meet your children will tell you. 4. Yes, they will be prepared. If you are reading this because you are interested in Montessori education, but are just plain scared of the 'experiment', here are a couple of resources: 1. montessorimadness.com - the videos are a good start and the book is good too. 2. http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2011/08/02/is-montessori-the-origin-of-google-amazon/ And Dad's - don't be scared. read more

My husband and I enrolled our daughter here when she was 9 months old and she stayed until she was almost 3 years old. My daughter had dealt with some issues of another student biting her quite frequently. We thought the biting was only two to three times... turns out it was 8 by the time we met! My daughter had not done anything wrong and at this point had bitten back once. Once in eight! The biter was supposed to be removed permanently but then got to return to the school after a short break. We were told the student would be returning because "they couldn't exactly expel a student". The handbook did not specify the procedure for a situation similar so we felt the school was trying to figure out what to do to keep both students and have happy parents. My daughter was striving and really enjoyed every day at DMA and aside from the biting incident with the other student she would use her words and communicate with classmates and teachers. Fast forward to the last year at DMA, and it seems there were some miscommunication, incorrect bookkeeping and such. I had two emails in the last year stating that due to our tuition being behind our child would be removed. Turns out it was record keeping in their end as I provided payments for the time frame they stated. Once that was cleared up we were back to things being okay again until another student starting being a bit of a bully towards my daughter. It got so bad my daughter started having nightmares anytime an incident occurred at school with this student. The school suggested we have her doctor check her out, after tests and such we found that the terrors were common but could be coming from the environment she was in prior to the terrors at night. Monitored those for many months and let's just say the school didn't show too much concern. Then there was the summer program July-August was one of the most toughest on a lot of the kids as the main teachers were doing Montesorri training so summer was volunteers with a few new faces on staff. Anytime I dropped off or picked up my child the classroom was a mess, my child had a clothing item that belonged to another student on, and sometimes didn't seem to of had the best nap. I understood the summer was going to be a little laid back but this wasn't what I expected to see. Very unfortunate since I had taken my daughter here since a young age and knew the schools potential. Another thing that really frustrated parents was the fact that the school would be closed for 5 weeks out of the school year, we were not used to that many weeks of closure but due to limited staff during summer/fall training that was the result. The director/principal of many years had decided to retire and the incoming director/principal lacked a degree in Montesorri along with some other things. It's sad to see how quickly the school diminished after that. The new school year was to start September 5th after a two week break from summer, I did not take my daughter back. I was very concerned for all the new school year changes. Such as ratio of teachers vs students along with the age group in each class. I don't agree with ages 2-5 being in a class all day together. That is a big gap of age difference especially for learning. I unenrolled my daughter around mid August. I was disappointed but glad I was able to remove my child before things got worse at the school. I don't know for sure but have heard by a few people now that some of the new staff are "cleaning house" with students and teachers. I do thank all staff involved in the first 2.5 years of my daughters enrollment there as most were great with my daughter and her education. Leaving this school and knowing I had found an amazing replacement made me feel that changing schools was meant to happen, it was just time for my family to go. read more

Our son started at Desert Montessori a year and half ago and our daughter started this fall. They both are doing well there, have met many friends (as have I) and are learning to take care of themselves and about the world around them. I was skeptical about Montessori before I visited because I had heard they don't allow imaginative play, but when I was there I saw how they have a tactile globe where the land feels different than the water (for tactile learners) and how they have a bead, a row of 10 beads, a square of 100 beads and a cube of a 1000 beads to teach point, line, square, and cube as well as the powers of 10. To have math made intuitive and tactile really appealed to me. The kids learn the accurate words for things (the tortoise has a carapace not a shell) as well as have a ceremony for birthdays that shows how the earth orbits around the sun once for every year of their life (and they bring in a picture from each year to help illustrate the journey). The teachers have been really great as well. Miss Sharla is so committed and she has brought in some great people and I know she will continue to do so! I am really grateful to have such a thoughtful place to have our kids learn community. read more

At best, this is an overpriced day care center. In addition to the steep cost of tuition, parents are required to perform duties like doing the school's laundry (I swear I'm not making this up) and contribute several hundred dollars to each of the school's fundraising events, which are mandatory. The teachers leave the children unattended to talk on their cell phones and the administrators are blatant in their favoritism of students who will be returning next year. Don't worry about a waiting list. There are far more children leaving this school than enrolling. The Antelope Valley is a relatively low socioeconomic part of Los Angeles county, so some parents enroll their children here due to fear of violence in public schools, or simply for the bragging rights of sending their children to a Montessori academy. These parents should plan on keeping their children in private schools through high school. Desert Montessori only goes through the 3rd grade, and will leave the children ill-prepared for public school. The Montessori system is based on letting children do their own thing at their own pace, and the teachers are either unwilling or unable to provide assistance to children who may require special attention. The only accreditation required to be a Montessori "teaching associate" are a high school diploma and completion of the short Montessori accreditation course (state accreditation is not required for private schools). We have several friends who are California state accredited instructors and administrators at the elementary, high school, and college levels. All of them warned us that Montessori would probably be a bad choice for our child, with whom they are all acquainted or related. Against their advice, we bought the school's sales pitch, and it proved to be a big mistake. The facility is located in an old house in a residential part of town most people wouldn't want their children in after dark, and the staff frequently arrives late, causing parents to wait until someone shows up to let their children in. Ditto for the end of the day, when teachers are in a hurry to get home and try to rush the parents to pick up their children. In more affluent areas, Montessori academies may be able to attract qualified administrators and instructors. Unfortunately, the staff at this facility is under-qualified to provide quality instruction, and most of them aren't qualified to be good babysitters. Our child's teacher told us she was "overwhelmed" because she had 7 children in her class. If you're set on private school, Desert Christian will provide better structure and education than Desert Montessori, which is the reason Desert Christian's enrollment is significantly higher than Desert Montessori's. We deeply regret the time, money and energy we invested in Desert Montessori. In my opinion, it is more of a cult than a school. Education is always expensive, but we had no idea what a bad investment we were making by enrolling our child here. read more

I have 2 of my 3 kids at DMA. We have been there for 3 years, and when my youngest is old enough, he will attend, too. DMA is the best school in the Antelope Valley. I am a strong supporter of Montessori learning. I think it inspires creativity and innovative problem solving, as well as leadership traits in children. The 'children's house' classroom follows the Montessori method narrowly. The elementary side blends Montessori and traditional classroom learning. While I would prefer 100% Montessori methods, the Director includes workbooks, math facts and spelling tests in a portion of the kids' days in order to ensure they are well prepared to transfer to public or traditional schools. We live in an area where families are transferred in for 2-3 year assignments, so children/families come in and out of the AV and DMA. She sets kids up for success at their next stop. My child, a first grader, and his classmates are currently working in books that are 2 years ahead of other programs in the area. When you have a 1:8 student/teacher ratio, the extra interaction time propels kids farther along than in any other school here. My other child is reading at 4 years old. Most of the teachers have been there for years, so I appreciate the consistency. I also like the small school size and accessibility of the teachers. The Director gives out her cell phone number, so that any question or concern I have can be nearly immediately addressed. I mentioned to her a week ago that my son didn't know how to tie his shoes. This week, he knows how. Not only do the specific things I want my son to learn get included, but its a priority. Montessori learning is not only about academics. Its about self-help (they call if "care of the person") and care of the environment, as well. Kids there learn Spanish, chess, Japanese jujujtsu, classical art/artists, as well as how to properly pour from a pitcher, tie their shoes, sweep up a mess, and a host of other things. The school relies on the assistance of parents because it is so small, but it is not a requirement. I personally like to be involved because it allows me to help shape my kids' learning. read more