I toured nearly every daycare in St. Augustine as well as all the Montessori options in Jacksonville and St. John's before choosing Guidepost Montessori at Baymeadows, and I couldn't be happier with that decision. From my very first call, Ms. Tomeka, the head of school, was incredible and made me feel confident about enrolling my daughter. She began in the Nido classroom and has since transitioned to the toddler room, where all of her guides have been nothing short of amazing. Our daughter is genuinely excited to go to school each day, most mornings she runs right into the classroom! The guides and school leadership are warm, communicative, and always quick to answer any questions we have. We've seen our daughter grow, learn, and thrive so much, and we truly have Guidepost to thank for that read more

We moved to the JAX area about 2 years ago. It took us some time to find an actual Montessori school that lived up to the Montessori name. We experienced schools in the area called "Montessori" and are nothing but the opposite. Ms Tomeka had done a fantastic job with this school. All the staff are well trained and educated in Montessori methods. We've seen our little one grow and become more independent that we could have imagined at such a young age. Not to mention the amount of love and care from the teachers towards the kids and us as parents. I highly recommend this school. read more

I have had two children attend this school now and i absolutely love guidepost montessori. My younger son started earlier than my daughter as i really think kids benefit from this program the younger they are. All my kids teachers have been phenomenal and I don't trust anyone with my kids. They are caring and really want your child to succeed. It's amazing how the kids are really able to become independent thinkers & thrive in this montessori curriculum. Many schools will claim to be montessori but really just have the materials without the training. I say this because I had to enroll in other schools while space opened up here & i was really able to notice the difference. I would recommend this school 100%. read more

I absolutely love this school for my little one. she has learned so much and made so many friends. she never cries at drop off, which lets me know that she feels loved and safe where she is . I would recommend this to anyone read more

1st time mom here, my baby goes to Nido class and she's in love with her guide Ms Carolina! Every time she sees her she shows a big smile andI feel super comfortable and confident leaving my baby there!! I know she's learning and being loved by all her guides! read more

This school is a Montessori SHAM, it is terrible! Upon having my toddler son start 4-5 months ago they were very nice with helping with letting me apply for financial aid as their prices are similar to CA prices for private Montessori. Having a semi new teacher in their class and not fully trained assistants (in training) their children's house was not managed well. My son has been in Montessori since 18 months old. Maybe their infant program is good (not sure) but so far from what I have seen their children's house needs work with AMS OR AMI trained teachers not simply MACTE... and staff who can manage their own stress and not use words like nervous, anxious or huff and puff, or eye roll, in front of parents or to students themselves. My son has experienced and been involved with more hitting and physical altercation with himself and other kids older and his age here and come home with too many to count incident reports with "here say" statements from assistants listening to other kids or not fully seeing what happened to say what did happen. It also has to do with classroom size and space per child and self management from other kids and my son when it comes to working on materials.. My son has regressed, he used to be fully potty trained prior to coming here now he makes more mistakes at home and is not listening as well.The other Kids even have no respect and come and touch me (a parent)...and are too much in my face and speaking and grabbing upon pick up every day in his class. They have had the students watch a Disney movie in class, have kids bring toys from home to "share", wear Disney on their light up shoes and or clothing, and be little gossipers/whiners... This is NOT MONTESSORI AT ALL. Dr. Maria Montessori would be rolling in her grave to think parents are paying for their kids to be exposed to things public school or regular daycare kids are... Now Guidepost HAS all the materials and look of Montessori but this location from my experience is all for show... some lessons here and there but mostly play time and stress management from the staff... I have been in Montessori myself till middle school age, and my son in CA from infancy-- in non corporate schools, that are a chain like this. I pray not all Guideposts are like this one!!! I am letting their head quarters know of the lack of real Montessori teachings and instead just gentle care.-- no real reformation for actions or separating if there is a pattern. This place reminds me of southern charm but with the back hand of instead of cussing its a "bless your heart" type of situation... Please go to another Montessori school if you can with your child don't waste your money here!!! Every time I had a concern it was put back on me or blamed on a situation or single person or emotion not a bigger picture fix! Beware, it is not a firm or even normal amount of of control the teachers or reassurance the staff SHOULD BRING PARENTS AND STUDENTS... It doesn't not seem regulated for actual lessen plans and not every child is getting their needs met as they should it seems. Please get new management and staff training required for all of these people representing Montessori! Its a shame and very sad. I have pulled my son out for many of these reasons now besides financial waste. read more

We absolutely LOVE Guidepost at Baymeadows. Our son started there when he was only 10 months old and hes now 4 1/2 and he has grown into such a wonderful smart inquisitive independent boy. All of his guides have worked on his strengths and helped him build up his weaknesses. The guides are truly the best people in the world! Our infant daughter now attends the same school and we are so happy with her care. We never have to worry about the care our children receive. The guides treat the children like their very own with so much love and compassion. read more

My 2 year old son cried every single day for 4 months straight. He used to love school but never wanted to go here. The teachers nor management ever addressed the issue, despite me asking. I asked for more books in the classroom for him and finally after involving management they gave him books that weren't board books but he had to ask for them from the teacher. He started at a new school since then and is back to loving school. The "security" fence was often broken or left open. I would never get updated about how he was doing, they had a new teacher in the afternoons or he would switch to a different classroom and they wouldn't know anything about his day. read more

I have been sending my 3 year old child here for months. I have only positive things to say. My child has matured and become more independent since being in that school. We love his teachers. The classrooms are well organized. They work with military families and are approved for the military subsidizing some of the cost. They are open pretty much all year long with some closures on major holidays. You can't beat their extended hours for working parents. My son loves going to this school. read more

With decades of experience teaching both public schools and learning centers as an educator and business woman in the process of opening my own learning center. I don't want to give any stars to this school. I was there on an assignment and when I was placed in the toddler classroom to assist the teacher name Mrs. D. She was so welcoming and nice and the manager or director switched me out of the toddler classroom instantly withing the first 5 minutes and then I was asked to go in the preschool classroom and the teacher by the name Ms. L. wasn't too friendly at all I asked her as soon when I walked in after introducing myself if I can assist her with something and she said no just observe the kids and make sure they aren't arguing and or fighting each other. So when I asked are there any lessons she implement in the classroom for the kids she told me no because the learning environment for the kids are "Free Willed " the kids are allowed to do whatever activities they want to do without any distraction. There weren't anything set in place for children to do and as a few kids were doing painting and also stacking blocks my natural instincts as an educator is to maintain eye level with children and be social with the children I was told that teachers and staff are not allowed to give kids encouragement and motivation basically not allowed to give them individual praise or group praise telling the great job or awesome work and keep up the great work while they are working on something or trying their best. It's very strange to me that there weren't any structure and organization in the center and no learning implemented throughout the entire day. Also, during bathroom break, in the staff restroom while trying to use the restroom in private I felt invaded and violated there should not be a surveillance camera in the staff bathroom. Not sure if it was working but that is a violation. Another thing the lead person of the center didn't provide me with a code to the building so I can buzz incoming from lunch break which it was a 30 minute lunch break when I came back on time from my break it took 10 to 15 minutes before I was able to get inside the building. No one wasn't letting me inside the building it was hot outside while I knocked on the door and called and called the school no one was not available to answer the door. A few staff passed by and saw me and didn't even bothered to let me in all the while they had a code to the side fence to get in. Also there were safety health hazards going on on the premises of the school while it took a while to get back inside there were parents outside parked in a blue vehicle next by my vehicle windows down smoking a cigarette I'm not a fan of smoking I was very disgusted about that and I reported that as well and I found out the next day the lead person in charge called the staffing agency and lied on me about I was taking too long in the bathroom taking too long on my lunch break and also lied on me saying I smelled like I was smoking. Lol I have never smoked anything a day of my life. I believe she lied on me because for one I actually had to leave at 1:30pm and she wanted me to stay way longer than what my schedule was and I explained to her every class was in ratio I had to leave because my son is on the spectrum and I had to be back home with him and relieve my mother who recently retired from the police department. So I don't recommend anyone to work with the school. Tomeeca will lie on you. You will not be able to manage the classroom or socialize with children. There need to be a major turn around and dcf should come in and train staff and manager of the school. read more

First off, the school is clean and everyone seems nice. The reason I'm giving them a 1 was based on my experience with the school overall. I went through the entire process to enroll my child for them to say they do not accept vaccination exemptions, their website or even when filling out the form they say they do take exemptions after speaking with the head of school she said they take "DELAYED VACCINATION" meaning you still have to be vaccinated so it makes no sense to say you take an exemption, they need to update their site, and remove any mentions of exemption because it's misleading and FALSE. I paid my deposit had an anticipated start date all to be told, he can't be accepted if the vaccines work then the kids in the school should be protected by it, now the schools that will take his exemption form have no openings for MONTHS. If your child isn't vaccinated don't bother with this school. Save yourself some time. read more