Cancel

    Open app

    Search

    Lakes Area Montessori Center

    3.7 (3 reviews)

    Lakes Area Montessori Center Photos

    You might also consider

    Recommended Reviews - Lakes Area Montessori Center

    Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
    Yelp app icon
    Browse more easily on the app
    Review Feed Illustration

    11 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Jeff P.
    3
    55
    34

    12 years ago

    Just an avg Montessori poorly managed .. I checked it out recently and was not impressed.

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    You might also consider

    Verify this business for free

    People searched for Montessori Schools 734 times last month within 20 miles of this business.

    Verify this business

    Bloomfield-Maples Montessori

    Bloomfield-Maples Montessori

    4.0(4 reviews)
    4.1 mi

    I, not sure why I'm listed in CaliforniaThis is the best Montessori around! I am a retired teacher…read moreinterested in the best preschool experience possible for my grandsons. After visiting several Montessori schools in various cities around, this proved to be the best! The staff is wonderful: caring, kind, knowledgeable. Every teacher knows every child. The school environment is welcoming, loving and inspires exploration in the children. Our 5 year old grandson attended before Kindergarten and now our 3 year old grandson attends. The 2 year old will begin the Fall. The boys love it there. The school also welcomes observation at any time! I am shocked at the negative review! Behavior issues are dealt with in a knowledgeable, caring, firm way. Also, it behooves the teachers to inform the parents of any concerns. If the parents can't deal with it, that's their issue. I'm not sure why this site is listing me in California. I live in Farmington Hills, Mi. Tried to edit it, but it wouldn't allow it. I love this school and everyone in it!

    I would give them 0 stars if that was an option! This is the worst possible environment to begin…read moreyour child's education. To give you a little background about us. My husband and I are both engineers and we both emigrated from India more than 15 years ago and are settled in US. We don't have any family in Michigan and are both working professionals in high stress jobs. Our only son started at Bloomfield Maples Montessori in January and was out of there by end of May. In March, the school scheduled a parent-teacher conference and told us that our son is having behavioral issues (totally laughable because they consider my son, who is a toddler, walking away from another toddler when he took his toy, a behavioral issue - I guess they would have a problem with Gandhi too for being a pacifist. I think it is great that my toddler has the common sense to walk away from a potentially dangerous situation of fighting another toddler over a toy). They also made a suggestion that we take our son to speech therapy but offered no data or evidence (they sent blank notes home everyday)and basically hid behind vague statements like "I cant put my finger on what the problem is" and "I am not an expert so I cant say". Well, are working parents of an only child and we expect the teacher to be more of an expert than us and be able to pin point what the issue is before we take him to expensive, time consuming and unnecessary (I say activities like speech therapy. My husband and I talked about it and decided that a healthy (his pediatrician didn't find any issues with his speech) 2.5 year old doesn't need speech therapy and that he will be fine in a few months, as studies indicate that boys (especially first born and multi-lingual) don't really start their speech until 3 years old, When we didn't take him to speech therapy, the teacher pulled me aside and told me that they will expel him out of school for non-compliance. REALLY EXPEL HIM! We were completely blindsided as we were never told that this was a requirement for re-enrollment, as they already accepted our re-enrollment fee. I was asking for meeting minutes from our parent teacher conference which they sent almost 6 weeks later. GUESS WHAT! Those meeting minutes were so poorly written they had multiple typos including both the words in "Speech Therapy" (spelled as "speach thearpy"). Other typos include the words "motor" (spelled as "moter") and "opinion" (spelled as "oppinion"). This is the quality of their teachers. I wish there was a way to post the picture of that note here on yelp. I graded it with red pen and gave them an "F" and returned a color copy of it to them so they know exactly how I feel about their sub-standard teachers. I was so livid that I told them that all their teachers need to get "spelling therapy" and if they were to kick a kid out for non-compliance of something, at least get that something spelled correctly. I do agree with them on one thing - that school is not for my son. In conclusion, the school believes in their hypocrisy of "we'll kick your child out for poor performance, even though we are poor performers ourselves"! They are quick to get paid and are definitely don't tell you they are sub-par when they position themselves during admissions. In addition to the above, there were multiple documented instances of neglect during the time that leads to me to believe that they categorically discriminated against my son. I thought about not writing anything on yelp for a couple of months now, but for some reason, I always come back to my philosophy that "if parents are bad, only their children will be affected. However, if teachers (or schools) are bad, it would affect generations of children". I could not bring myself to walk away from this without taking action that informs future parents. If you have standards for education for your children, just avoid them completely.

    Montessori Academy of Farmington Hills

    Montessori Academy of Farmington Hills

    3.9(11 reviews)
    6.5 mi

    When we were looking for a safe, engaging place for our oldest to go a few years ago, reading…read morereviews from other parents currently enrolled helped so much. Hoping this review will help someone in the same position feel confident in their choice to have their child (children) attend Montessori Academy of Farmington Hills. Our oldest has been attending Montessori Academy of Farmington Hills for three years and counting. Ms. Suman and the entire staff work tirelessly each and every day to make sure the students and their families have a good experience. They are helpful, supportive, caring and sensitive to the needs of each child. As a parent, I've watched my child grow (emotionally and physically) in his abilities and been able to witness his confidence soar. The transition (as any significant routine change can be) was tough at first (probably more on me than him :) ) as it was the first daycare/school he attended outside our home and Ms. Suman and his teachers worked closely with him (and helped me as a parent, which I'll always be grateful for) to build trust, understanding and make sure he felt secure. Now, he looks forward to drop off each morning and can't wait to see his teachers and play and learn with all of his friends, classmates and peers. The Montessori Academy of Farmington Hills has a wonderful playground for outdoor time (one of the first things you'll notice as you drive up and enter the parking lot), Ms. Suman and her staff keep it well maintained, along with the interior/exterior of the building and are always updating with the latest equipment and enhancements. They offer fieldtrips for students and lots of fun activities for holidays and special occasions, including an end of the school year program for each class. One note that's worth mentioning is that they follow the Montessori method of learning with the freedom to make choices and progress at the child's own comfort level. It's a true school environment starting at 3 years, not a daycare or childcare center (Ms. Suman and the teachers are happy to give updates and send pictures, you'll just need to ask if there's something specific you'd like to see or know more about during the day to day routine). You'll be more than pleasantly surprised with how much your child (children) will learn. If you have a child under three, they will still learn at an exceptional rate (Montessori Academy take babies 3 months and up) as well, just in a separate building with separate infant/baby/young toddler staff. My youngest is in the infant/baby room and we feel at ease knowing he is surrounded by such a wonderful, patient support system and receiving nurturing, dependable care. The teachers and staff truly are wonderful, many have been with the school for years and years. Their experience shines through (and helped accelerate our potty training journey, among many, many other milestones) and so many of them feel like an extension of our family. The tuition costs are more than fair for everything they offer, I can't imagine you can find anywhere else with such an expansive offering. Choose Montessori Academy of Farmington Hills and you'll choose really, really well!

    I toured several Montessori schools and daycares for my two year-old to attend. Montessori Academy…read moreof Farmington won both my Husband and I over. My son has learned so much since attending, his teacher Qamar ABBASI is so professional, passionate, patient and a great communicator. All the staff are so amazing. I'm very happy knowing that my son is in great hands and learning in a safe environment. I highly recommend this school. From Mrs. Cato

    The Montessori School Rochester

    The Montessori School Rochester

    3.0(4 reviews)
    15.6 mi

    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!!!!!!!!

    Photos
    The Montessori School Rochester

    See all

    Teddy Bears Playhouse

    Teddy Bears Playhouse

    4.0(4 reviews)
    0.5 mi

    Teddy Bears Playhouse is a home away from home for my children. All 3 of my kids attend here and…read morehave been so loved and cared for. I can't say enough about this school. The Mother Goose teaching method has really helped my kids flourish and be prepared for Junior Kindergarten. Most of all from the Director to the teachers each one cares for my kids like they are their own. Shot out to Mrs. George who is able to teach and work with different dynamics. My daughter beats to her own drum and Mrs. George didn't try to change that about her. She let her shine when she needed to and be apart of the class when she needed to. Love everything about TBPH!

    We recently moved to the area and after having a negative experience in another local daycare, we…read moretoured and started at the new Teddybear Playhouse on the traffic circle/round about. I'm not sure why the previous post states that staffers are not allowed to talk to parents because I can't shut up and probably spend about 10 minutes each morning talking to both my kids teachers and find myself running late for work. Twice I have odd work hours and stopped in to see my kids on my lunch, spending at least 30 minutes there and find the whole staff to be very friendly and know me and my husband by name. My kids are greeted each morning with a smile. I love this place and feel confident that my children are getting care in a loving and nurturing environment! It may not have all the bells and whistles, but I am most concerned about the relationships and care they are giving. My daughter is well taken care of in the infant room, rocked to sleep at each nap, and given a lot of attention. She is feed exactly how I have asked and her diapers are always changed. I always see the care givers in this room on the floor playing and talking with the babies, they do not just manage the babies, but interact with them. My son comes home happy each day and tells me all about the fun stuff they did in his preK class. I love all the special projects they bring in for his class and tons of art projects. He is a smart kid and comes home each day with something new he has learned. I know at the facility is newer and many of the caregivers have been there since it opened, but when I toured the other, older one, down the street, some staff had been there for 8-15 years. Before moving, we were with a home daycare for 5 years and I was used to my kids being in a very small group setting with a ton of individual care. I was nervous about coming to a center, but I am so happy with this facility and look forward to being here for years to come.

    Lakes Area Montessori Center - montessori - Updated August 2026

    Loading...
    Loading...
    Loading...