I don't know about the other teachers, but if you get Miss Tess, please for the sake of your child's emotional well being, don't go here. My baby had been looking forward to school for a whole year. She went skipping in first day. Came out all quite and downcast. Second day she came out crying. Was told "she'll come home crying for the next couple weeks, it's normal, they all do that". - No - I know my child. A happy healthy confident social 4 year old, looking so forward to school. It's not like her to come out all downcast, stressed, upset, not say a word to me, just hug, and cry. We read the signs, changed schools, not a single day of tears. She comes out all happy and bouncy. Please avoid Miss Tess. I don't wanna hurt any business, but for the sake of our children, as a parent, I had to leave this review. No child deserves Miss Tess. Please. read more

I am an alumni of Fresno Montessori school and now my son attends and I absolutely love it! I see All the negative reviews on here specifically towards one individual that is no longer here. This may be so and it is now in the past, but the staff here at FMS are extremely welcoming and communicative. My son and I attended the mommy and me class with Miss Deidra and now he is in the transition preschool class with Miss Suma and he loves it! I already can tell how he is learning so much more in just the two months he has been in her class. I encourage everyone reading this to not be discouraged by the other reviews on here. read more

For those commenting on Jan's customer servie, I hear you, she may not come off bubbly and upbeat...especially for someone working with little ones. But, I thank God for her! Ive seen her helping out in the playground, and she's awesome with kids. I care more about how she is with my kid than with me. She's hired amazing educators. I love my son's teacher Ms. Summa. We can't say enough about how much she's helped both our son and us. My son has been at this school going on 3 years and it's been a great experience. My daughter will go there too. read more

This is a fantastic school. We are on our second year and second child enrolled here and I have only had positive experiences. They follow the Montessori method, care about your child, and prepare them for future schooling. This school in particular has fantastic teachers, the hug the kids when they see them and truly care. The school itself is extremely well-kept and clean. I came here after being unimpressed at a different preschool (it felt like day care) and make the 20 minute drive because I feel it is extremely worth it. Teacher Jan owns the school. She is older and may not come off as overly friendly. But she loves the kids and keeps the school running well. Go check it out and you will be impressed! read more

Great school. My daughter is going into her second year of preschool there and we've been nothing but pleased with her teachers and the quality of education. The teachers are all very experienced and clearly care for the overall well-being of their students. They attempted to accommodate any and all requests we had. There have been a few administrative hiccups, but that's a small price to pay for the experience that my daughter is getting! read more

This school has some awesome teachers but this lady who answers the phones and give your kid schedule and timing is very rude, racist and unfair her name is Jan. She favors certain people. Even though we all pay the same money. Her behavior is the only reason I couldn't stand being there. Unfortunately there is no administrative services it's only her u have to deal with. read more

We had a very negative experience with the 3-5 age classroom at this school, run by Ms. Tess Real during the 2018-2019 school year. This teacher seems to have been given the responsibility of teaching this class, based purely on her personal friendship with Ms. Jan, the administrator. Ms. Tess would make an effort to be nice to the children in front of their parents, but inside the classroom, things were a completely different story. Unfortunately, my son only shared some specific and disturbing stories a year after he left the preschool, and moved to Clovis Unified, where he loves his teachers. He said he never mentioned anything in preschool because he thought that all teachers were like Ms. Tess. According to him, she was very unkind and impatient with the children, and would often make them cry. When he would ask her to teach him a lesson, day after day, she would tell him to "just go play" or tell him that she had paperwork to do. In one instance, she became angry, sarcastic, and began mocking him, which terrified him. I wish I had known about such incidents before, so that I could have taken him out of this classroom and protected him. I am also shocked because my son is kind and gentle, and teachers usually love his willingness to learn. Ms. Tess was an older teacher, and clearly lacked the energy, patience, and creativity that 3-5 year-olds need. I felt my son was punished despite her awareness that he had been in a Montessori school in a different state before joining FMS, and we were never explained how she would be running her classroom. Both of my children went to Montessori preschools, but this was a joyless, controlling, and unengaging interpretation of Montessori, designed for the convenience of the adults. If your child was somewhat kindergarten-ready, she was content to let them wander around for a year without teaching them, all while collecting your fees, despite the fact that it went against Montessori philosophy, and made the child miserable. She would fill up the classroom with non-Montessori toys, barely use her Montessori materials, and then claim that your child preferred to play and was not interested in the materials. I deeply regret not listening to my instincts early on, when I sensed that something was amiss. My son became quiet and emotionally withdrawn, and I thought this was due to the fact that we had moved to Fresno from across the country, and that he was trying to cope with the changes. Little did I know that I was sending him into an emotionally damaging environment. She never made parents feel welcome to observe, volunteer, or even attend birthdays. These should have been red flags. Many of the children were acting up, but I now realize that they were stressed, ignored, and possibly mistreated emotionally by Ms. Tess. My son claims that she would say things like "I don't think they (the children) mind that I'm mean". While preparing a handprint during class, without warning, she slammed his painted hand so hard on a piece of ceramic tile, he remembers the pain and shock to this day. When he offered to read a book (he was only 4 or 5), Ms. Tess showed no interest, after which he approached only the assistants. My son said that the assistant teachers were kind, did most of the teaching (I never knew this), and were the only adults he liked in this classroom. There are too many stories to share in this review, including one instance where she made him wait 45 minutes till the end of the school to use the bathroom despite asking repeatedly (restrooms were located outside the classroom), which led to him having an accident, but upon pick-up told me that "he didn't know he needed the restroom at first". The only reason we even signed up for this school was that my children enjoyed the summer camp that the school ran the summer before school started. I only realized later that the camp was fun because it was put together by the school's Spanish teacher, not Ms. Tess, even though she was present. Thankfully my son seems to have bounced back emotionally and is thriving in public school. Ms. Tess should remember that as children grow, they will be able to process their emotions and describe her actions vividly. Ms. Jan has continued to hire this teacher year after year despite complaints from parents like myself, and makes excuses for her behavior. From what I understand, Ms. Tess is also successful at convincing parents to enroll their children in the school's kindergarten classroom, and Ms. Jan's primary concern is profit. They both seem like privileged older women who have no issue with taking advantage of parents. Importantly, despite being a registered non-profit, this school lacks a board of directors, and as far as I know, Ms. Jan is solely in charge of running the school, with no oversight of hiring or quality of teaching. The positive reviews of this school are based either on other classrooms in the school, or teachers who have retired or since left. read more

A friend of mine recommended this school for my 20 month old so I decided to give them a call to schedule a tour. The lady on the phone named Jan was extremely discouraging and rude. She did not seem interested in welcoming me to the school and because of her I have decided to not even attend the tour. When asked if I could speak to someone else, she said there was no one else...which is such a shame. Unfriendly and pretentious. Do not recommend at all!! read more

I do agree with the gruff lady on the phone, and I didn't start my child here until a year later, because of this. But the teachers are WONDERFUL, and the environment is ideal. We have been there 3 years now, and love love LOVE it! I'm so happy we have our daughter here. read more

I called to inquire about the school and if it would fit the needs of my son. The women who answered was very rude, like the other comments, and actually hung up on me without even saying bye. I explained that my son is highly sensitive with minor sensory issues and was wondering if they had any experience with this or could accommodate. She told me, "we are not equipped to deal with this, you should look into a special needs school." This is strange because when I went to visit The Cottage Montessori school in Fresno the director explained that the Montessori education is built around meeting the needs of all children- especially those who are sensitive and have different needs. This Montessori school does not seem to be very professional nor in alignment with the true philosophy of the system. It's unfortunate that they do not have accommodating and warm staff, this alone turns people away. read more