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    Lesley Ellis School

    5.0 (3 reviews)

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    Wild Rose Montessori School

    Wild Rose Montessori School

    5.0(2 reviews)
    1.1 miNorth Cambridge

    We joined Wild Rose, a Wildflower offspring, at the early stage and grew together over the years…read more WR started with 9 kids and now has over 40, with about half in primary and the rest in elementary. The teachers are kind and experienced, helping kids learn more about social values instead of test taking. Kids are given autonomy and expected to contribute to the school system by shopping for food, cooking, cleaning up the classroom, setting up projects, etc. We experienced some growing pains but overall was well worth it. Parents are expected to be involved but this has been reduced to about once a month instead of per week. The low teacher to kid ratio ensures more attention and opportunity to aid the kids in their weaker areas. The school is looking to grow into middle school (grade 5+) and is actively looking for children aged 9-11 for the next academic year. It is well worth taking a tour to see if it is the right fit for your family!

    My 5yo son attends Wild Rose. The things that I think make it special are:…read more - it's deliberately a small, one-classroom, shopfront school. So it's a very close-knit group and the teachers have a lot of autonomy and passion for making the best school they can. - it's true to the Montessori tradition without falling into dogma -- observation and experimentation are important elements. The school cooperates with researchers at the MIT Media Lab that are studying new methods and materials. - it's a mixed-age classroom. This creates so many wonderful opportunities for younger children to learn from older children and for older children to practice being leaders and teachers.

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    Wild Rose Montessori School
    Wild Rose Montessori School
    Wild Rose Montessori School

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    Cambridge Montessori School

    Cambridge Montessori School

    3.4(7 reviews)
    1.2 mi

    Cambridge Montessori School embraced both of my children and placed them at the center of the…read morelearning experience. They love going to this school and their CMS experience has taught them to love learning. My second grader interacts with adults gracefully and articulately because of the skills and confidence this schooling experience has given her. CMS has an excellent arts, music, and drama offering and the teachers encourage academic excellence. I would recommend CMS to any parent looking for a school that supports a curriculum that encourages independence and confidence in addition to accelerated learning.

    The school culture is rigid and judgmental, with a culture of pathologizing normal toddler…read morebehavior. Some of the things that made us withdraw our 3yo mid-year: Despite a stated open-door policy, parents were actively discouraged from involvement in or visiting the classroom. In March, a formal school memo forbade parents from speaking to each other at drop-off/pickup, asked parents to drop their children off at the front door instead of at the classroom door, and instructed parents not to carry their children or their children's belongings. The memo specifically suggested that any discipline problems at home were caused by not following the same rigid "expectations" as the school. When our son was afraid to use the toilet at school, the teacher forced him to sit on the toilet for 45 min while he cried in frustration. He was criticized for not doing work exactly the way the teachers wanted (e.g. sorting puzzle in the "right" order). In a parent conference, we were told our son was "too literal" because asked where rain came from, he said "From the sky," not "From clouds." He was already reading and adding at 3, but we were told this, along with his shyness, were signs of a possible psychological problem. We were bullied to take him for autism screening, even after a specialist and our pediatrician said he was likely fine. Administration, up to the head of school, either ignored problems or blamed us. When we sent a formal letter detailing our complaints, the school offered us a partial tuition refund if we signed a nondisparagement agreement. We refused. We've since learned other families had similar experiences. If you click on Yelp's "non-recommended reviews"--which are weeded out by algorithm--you'll see that other families have made similar complaints.

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    Cambridge Montessori School
    Cambridge Montessori School - Cambridge Montessori School 2018 Open House

    Cambridge Montessori School 2018 Open House

    Cambridge Montessori School

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    Gentle Dragon Preschool

    Gentle Dragon Preschool

    5.0(7 reviews)
    0.7 mi

    My son is in his 2nd year at Gentle Dragon and I'm so impressed with how much he has grown both…read morementally, emotionally, and socially. We visited several preschools locally and nothing even comes close in terms of quality of care as well as transparency of what happens in class. I believe this is due to several factors: - Joelle, their teacher, is deeply caring, very experienced, and highly skilled - Not only is it a parent co-op but it seems that the type of parents it draws also care deeply about the development and well being of the kids. This shows in our monthly meetings, in the activities and offerings that are created for the kids regularly, as well as the sense of team work and camaraderie among the parents and Joelle, all in the spirit of making it the best place possible for our children. - Lastly, the level of misbehavior, conflict between children, etc is negligible. A vast majority of the time the class feels pleasant, harmonius, and is such a joy to be in. I look forward to the 1 or 2 times a month I get to be a parent helper. Its often the highlight of my week. I also attribute this to Joelle and all the parents, helping the kids build great socio-emotional skills and a deep sense of safety and security. If you are looking for preschool for your child and you want the best for them, I dont think you need to look further.

    Gentle Dragon is such a special place! We feel so lucky to have found this hidden gem of a…read morepreschool. GD is a cooperative preschool, meaning that the parents actively participate in running the school, from helping in the classroom twice a month to serving as board members. It really has a "village" feeling, where everyone gets to know one another and supports one another. There are just 13 kids ages 3-5 in one mixed-age classroom led by preK teacher extraordinaire Joelle. She is one of those magical individuals who is simply amazing with kids. She has decades of experience and was the director of another preK program before deciding she wanted to get back to the classroom and the kids. She runs a truly family and child-centric program and accepts every child (and person!) for who they are, meeting them where they are and helping them grow. Our daughter had a lot of trouble separating from me even for activities like gymnastics or swimming, so I was expecting a pretty tough transition to preschool. But it was so smooth! Joelle lets incoming children and parents visit as often as they want during the school day to get to know her and the classroom, AND she does home visits for every single student before September rolls around, so our child was already super comfortable by the time she started. There have been some teary partings, but Joelle has really helped us work through her separation anxiety, and our daughter absolutely LOVES school. The day to day at GD is exactly what we were looking for: plenty of free play, sensory and art play, focus on social/emotional learning, and above all a truly nurturing environment and warm community. The hours are 8:30-1pm with an option of extended day to 2pm for a limited number of kids. Because the program is only half day, it unfortunately isn't a workable option for some families. Most families in the program have one parent who is either stay-at-home, working part-time or flexible hours, or studying. But if you are able to make it work, GD is a really wonderful school and community to be a part of!

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    Gentle Dragon Preschool
    Gentle Dragon Preschool - Our bright and homelike classroom!

    Our bright and homelike classroom!

    Gentle Dragon Preschool - Climbing structure for big body play anytime!

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    Climbing structure for big body play anytime!

    Lesley Ellis School - elementaryschools - Updated July 2026

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