we are starting our 6th year at clay platte montessori and couldn't be more happy! i now have a…read morechild in upper elementary, lower elementary, AND primary! each classroom is set up with an amazing amount of work to help keep them engaged, learning new things, connecting what they've learned to the world around them, and also teaching them to be respectful by choice, not force. my children all get lots of outdoor time in the gorgeous 10 acres of woodland. the older ones get to go swimming in the summer and go out to learn in the community as needed. they don't bring homework home, as they are able to complete the assignments in the classroom. they aren't using technology all day long, instead they're using books and brains and other humans to learn! i can't wait until we get to the farm school. every teen in the farm school is always so polite and respectful, and their teachers are amazing as well! the staff is always friendly and knowledgeable. they are all guides, and all of them have the safety of EVERY child at the front of every decision they make. sometimes i substitute at the school and it amazes me how wonderful every family and every child is that attends there! the MPTO has really taken off this last year, becoming a 501c3 and working on an updated, nature friendly play area for the 3-6 year old group. i can't even complain about the tuition, for what we're getting, it is worth every penny. P.S. i'm not in CA... i'm in KCMO... profile updates in progress ;)

My child was having behavioral struggles prior to Clay-Platte (CP). We thought sensory was a…read morecomponent & I had her tested for cognitive ability due to complaints that school was boring. She tested high & I thought perhaps she wasn't being challenged combined with overwhelming sensory inputs. She lacked behavioral struggles at home which told me the school environment was the trigger. I'd been looking into CP since she was a baby so I decided to take the leap. I enrolled her in the 6-9 year class. Before term I got a call that the school's 9-12 class teacher had left & they'd be combining classes so that 6-12 year olds were in the same class. I trusted the school wouldn't make that decision without consideration so I was still onboard to give it a shot despite reservations. Behavioral struggles began immediately and I took my child back for more extensive testing. Before completing testing, my child was asked not to return to CPs aftercare program. W/o aftercare I could not keep my child at CP. I moved her to a different school & got the results of her testing. She has inattentive ADHD. She began medication for ADHD & is doing so much better now. Having the dx explains a lot. My child is smart yet struggles to focus on a subject. She knows she can learn something yet cannot direct her attention to learn it. This caused significant frustration. Also, in times where she is receiving undesirable sensory inputs she seeks sensory outlets. The combo of these also led to her eloping the environment causing her stress. I'm writing this review to share some insights for parents who also have neurodivergent (ND) children. I had hoped that I would be met at CP with empathetic minds given the nature of Montessori education & I don't feel that was the case. I felt judgement here & that my child was seen as a problem rather than a child struggling. I didn't get this sense from all the staff, but I shouldn't have gotten this sense from any of the staff. I don't feel like the school was equipped for my child, even as she is now with a dx & medication. It's one thing to have a child led school with child led curriculum, but another thing to effectively lead a child & it starts with how you interact with them, not what you try to teach them. Once when I went to pick up my child she'd found a ladybug. When I got there the lead teacher said, "Here at CP, we don't keep the bugs. You must leave it here." & began the campaign to tell her to put the bug down. I stepped in & said something like cool ladybug, let's go find him a great home. We did & she left without issue. It seems super small, but instead of leading my child, the teacher put herself in a position of authoritative conflict. For ADHD kids who have higher rates of ODD this is not ideal. When I had my child tested, the psychologist sent questionnaires to her lead teacher. Each of the questionnaires is given a bias score. The responses received from the CP lead teacher were flagged for negative bias, indicating that they could be excessively critical or judgmental. Specific to aftercare, a lot of the staff was just kids in the high school class. Once at pickup I was met by the director because my child was refusing to go back into the building & the conversation I had with her wasn't encouraging. She kind of ranted about how this was a business & she was going to have to raise aftercare prices. The conversation lacked the professionalism I would expect & instead of being centered on helping my child it felt more like, "take a look at your child not listening to an adult & hear about how it affects my business." Less important than the educational stewardship of my ND child, I paid Aug & Sep tuition, Aug & Sep aftercare, & a material fee. My child attended the school 8/15-9/23 & aftercare 8/15-9/8. When I asked about a prorated refund I was blown off. I paid for 2 full months of aftercare for 19 days. & I paid for 2 full months of tuition for 30 days. I doubt my child utilized $500 worth of the material fee I paid.