Our daughter spent several years thriving at Japhet School. She earned nearly straight A's,…read morecherished her classmates, and fully embraced the community. We believed we were in the right place -- until her mental health began to decline and the school failed to act. In January 2025, her grades dropped noticeably, and her pediatrician, counselor, and prior neuropsychologist all recommended accommodations to support her suspected autism and rapidly progressing anxiety. These recommendations were brought directly to the Head of School and her teacher -- and were met with delay, deflection, and silence. Despite presenting medical documentation, past accommodations, and a collaborative proposal, no meaningful steps were taken -- not even acknowledgment. For months our daughter struggled through 5+ hours of homework per night, experienced escalating distress, and began exhibiting severe trichotillomania. We asked for urgent follow-up, confirmed her suffering, and even laid out specific accommodations recommended by her care team. The school's response? Vague reassurances, inaction, significant delays, and ultimately -- a statement that they were not resourced to help and we therefore were forced to withdraw her with 7 weeks left in the academic year. Her final days at Japhet were devastating for her and me as her parent. Staff completely ignored our emails. Her friends were never told she was leaving. She was sent home with hours of homework knowing it would never be graded and despite confirmed withdrawal due to mental health. There was no closure. No sense of RELIABILITY, HUMILITY, or RESPECT not for her as a learner, nor for us as a family. Japhet often speaks of its 18 character qualities -- initiative, courage, gratitude, justice, respect, reliability, joy, humility, peace, and more. But in our experience, these values were words on a wall, not principles in practice. When our child needed understanding, flexibility, and human connection, zero compassion was shown despite the fact that she was unraveling inside their very own walls. We share this to caution other families of neurodivergent children, especially those with autism +/- PDA profiles. If your child requires flexibility, emotional safety, accommodations or genuine partnership -- be prepared. Our experience was marked by neglect, poor communication, and a striking lack of sensitivity. Japhet may not leave students behind academically -- but emotionally, we were left entirely alone.

I looked at multiple preschools before enrolling my son at Japhet. It wasn't a hard choice once the…read moreadmissions director gave me a tour and informed me about their character building program and showed me projects that kids had done in previous years. My son used to go to a Montessori for two years prior so I was wondering if he would be able to transition well and to my delight, he is thriving and loves his teachers and loves going to school. The school has a unique community feel that makes everyone feel included, informed and well connected. I am so glad I found japhet! If you are looking for Schools in this area (anywhere in pre k to grade 8) I highly, highly recommend that you visit Japhet and see for yourself!

My daughter has been attending the prechool for over two years now. The teachers and the director…read moreare nice and very caring. I know she is in good hands and she is learning so much. Every few days she mentions some scientific facts and when I aks her " how do you know that?", she says "oh, I learned that in school". :) I highly recommend Schoolhouse Montessori.

Great school , great staff, my son is super happy with his school and he is leatning a lot .i…read morehighly recommend

We had the best experience at MCA for my 4 year old kid Sahana kowsik. She has developed…read moretremendously as this is her 1st preschool after daycare and 1 year of break at home due to pandemic, we would be thankful to Ms. Smita and Ms. Waafa for showing her and other children all love and the care they needed. All the staffs are so loving and caring special mention to Ms. Smita,Ms. Waafa,Ms.Aari,Ms.Thomas, Ms.Nancy,Ms.Chris,Ms.Reni,Ms. Allyson. We had to relocate to sandiego 2 days ago but my kid keeps saying about her classroom friends and teachers 24×7 and says wants to go back to MCA after she comes from school she would enact and play her classroom scenarios with her soft toys as her friends, herself and me as Ms.Smita and Ms.Waafa. She loves her classmates and Ms.Smita and Ms.Waafa as they do so. Even I am so addicted to talk and play with my kid about her classroom. The best thing happened in her life is being a MCA student, I wish I had known about this place earlier and enrolled her from toddler program itself as they're in practice for more than 15yrs. We had to relocate otherwise she would be still going to Ms.Smita's classroom at MCA. My kid loves the place and the gift letters given to her from her friends and school. Ms.Smita has so much positivity and ever smiling face which influences the kids that even I take her as an example on this is how I need to be with my kid. Their education methodology is the best around Detroit as my kid was attending couple of daycares around until she was 3, I can compare her learning and behavioral development after going to MCA. Most importantly teaching is based on montessori methodology through activities taught to kids with love and care. She's eating even rice by herself now thanks to Ms. Smita,Ms. Waafa and Ms. Nancy. Thanks to Ms. Aari for teaching spanish and engaging the kids with the exercise song and dance moves. My kid perfectly teaches us that since beginning. She recently started full-time just for 3 weeks before our move and enjoyed time with Ms. Chris arts and crafts classes. Overall MCA is the best thing happened to my kid and us in Detroit and Ms.Smita's classroom is the only thing we miss now. Lots of love to you MCA, Ms. Smita,Ms. Waafa and all the classroom friends(its a big list to write their names) from Sahana, I am hopeful that she will always remember all of you as this is her 1st school experience. Thanks to Ms. Thomas and MCA office for giving Sahana an opportunity(enrollment) to be a MCA student.

From the owner: At Children's Academy, we provide Montessori academic programs for Toddler, Preprimary and…read moreIntermediate with Day Care. We have two campus locations; MCA & OCA. In addition, we offer a 10 week summer program.

Not a real Montessori school, demonstrates blatant disregard for student well-being. Your money…read morewon't go towards your child's education here. We withdrew after 7 weeks. Where to start... When my older son was so riddled with anxiety one day he refused to get out of the car at drop-off I knew I had to spend some time in the classrooms to see first-hand what was going on. Up until this point we had heard stories from the kids, were suspicious of the lack of work being done, and had already had a meeting with the headmaster over a separate safety issue that was going on at school. What I found when I visited the classrooms was virtually no academic work being done, the core components of a Montessori program not being delivered, and a hazardously frigid cold building. HAZARDOUS SCHOOL BUILDING. At $17k+ tuition, you'd think a school would have basic necessities like heat. I've attached a photo of the thermostat from inside my 2nd graders classroom on the day we pulled him out of this place. 52 degrees in the 3rd week of October. I was told it was "too early" to turn on the heat. See attached violation from the City of Pontiac building department for no heat and not maintaining a temperature of 68 degrees. This citation was a week after we left. Let that sink in that another week went by before they corrected the issue of freezing cold classrooms. FALSE CLAIMS TO BE A MONTESSORI PROGRAM. This school claims to be "fully accredited" and we were told (in writing) that they were a member of AMS (The American Montessori Society), yet when I verified their membership status (see attached letter from AMS) I found out they haven't even been members since 2020. NO INDIVIDUALIZED OR CHILD LED LEARNING (i.e. not Montessori). Kids had same lessons assigned. The Upper Elementary and Middle School are grouped together under the same lead teacher (we were not told this when we signed up). Montessori should have a 3 year age range, not 5. I observed my 4th grader and my 7th grader working on the same materials, and that work was way below even the 4th grade level. The teacher (Ms. Carey) admitted to giving my 7th grader the wrong math and science work for the previous 7 weeks. Ms. Carey admitted that our kids at 7 weeks into the program did not have the materials or the adult support to work on anything beyond what was setup for the classroom for the start of the school year. CHAOTIC STRESSFUL ENVIRONMENT. A Montessori learning environment is supposed to provide a peaceful and quiet environment where students can work uninterrupted for long periods of time. This environment was so chaotic and full of constant interruptions (including flying sharp objects being thrown across the room and other safety issues) that my kids were nervous wrecks. My older son's friend was hit in the face with a pair of scissors that someone threw. DOCUMENTED LEARNING LOSS. In the 7 weeks we attended this school, my kids went from having great grades and high scores on their academic testing from the end of the previous school year in Math, to failing the math placement tests for the school they attended last year. We now are paying for weekly private tutoring to get caught up. This is all well documented.

No academic for earlier years , treated as a daycare , huge waste of time and money!!!! every…read moretime I asked my son what he learnt that day , he would say nothing I was just allowed to play with dolls!!!!!!!!

Fabulous swim program! The teachers are knowledgeable and fun, and your kids spend the entire time…read morein the water swimming instead of sitting on the wall waiting for their turn to practice a skill. My kids have grown SO much (and so quickly!) in their swim skills and confidence as a result! Pricing is very reasonable as well!

The instructor was great. She was patient with my child but firm enough to keep him focused and on…read moretask which is not always easy (he has ASD). My child always looks forward to his lessons! I have seen a huge improvement in his confidence level in the water and his swimming skills after just a few lessons. I am very pleased with the program!