The low price and flexibility of hours plus being a Christian school were why we chose this school but there was little to no Christian teaching and way too many students per teacher. My son pooped his pants at school and nobody noticed so when I picked him up he still had poop in his underwear. He was afraid to tell the teacher. He also got pink eye and was sick quite often. read more

My experience with Monarch Christian School was deeply troubling due to an unfortunate incident involving my son and his teacher, Ms. Qunto. It pains me to recount this, but I believe it's essential to share my experience. My son had expressed that Ms. Qunto was verbally and physically abusive towards him. He claimed she would hit him on the back when he didn't finish his food or when he had an unfortunate bout of throwing up, which I initially found hard to believe. His distress was evident when he cried consistently during drop-offs, even after a month in her class. One morning, I personally witnessed a disturbing incident. My son was sobbing, not because of any misbehavior but simply because he didn't want to be in Ms. Qunto's class when I dropped him off. She made him face the wall while he was in tears and for other students to witness it. When he couldn't stop crying, she loudly berated him in front of other children, and shockingly, she even made a threatening move towards him. I intervened at that point to protect my child. The reason she gave for yelling at him loudly to stop crying is because he had some food in his mouth and she didn't want him to choke. But as a healthcare provider myself, simply yelling at a child to make him stop crying to prevent choking is not the solution and I believe she was using that as an excuse. If your child didn't cry or cause any trouble, she might appear to be a kind teacher. However, what toddler doesn't cry from time to time? I witnessed her two-faced nature firsthand. When I confronted her that morning, she put on an apologetic front, but I had witness firsthand how she mistreated my son the moment she thought I had stepped away. My concerns were brought to the school owner's attention. Instead of taking appropriate disciplinary action against Ms. Qunto, she merely had a conversation with her. No consequences were imposed on the teacher, even though there was an eyewitness account of her behavior. Not even a period of probation or put under surveillance. The owner's reasoning was that she had never heard complaints from other parents, and she wouldn't know how to respond to the parents of those students if this teacher was fired. This experience has left a lasting impact on my son, and the school's response to our concerns was unsatisfactory. In addition, the hygiene practice at this school is questionable. My son was getting sick almost every month. He had two incidence of getting a pink eye in less than 6 months of enrollment. At his current school, he has not gotten sick once since he started about 5 months ago. Also, during drop offs at his current school, I can see his teacher's caring approach to soothing him when he cries. It's like day and night compared to our experience at Monarch Butterfly. It is my sincere hope that this review raises awareness about the situation at Monarch Christian School and serves as a warning for parents considering enrolling their children here. No child should endure such treatment, and it's crucial that schools take all allegations of misconduct seriously and act accordingly to ensure the safety and well-being of their students. read more

There are 4 Monarch families still connected after 12 years. Amazing, among this small group of samples (8 kids from 4 families), so far there are 4 National Merit finalists who went into GREAT schools, 3 will be tested later. All these 8 kids still LOVE reading. And continue to LOVE God! read more

I am so thankful for Monarch Christian School! My younger daughter is currently in the pre-K class. When I pick her up, she tells me about all the good things that happened that day with her friends and teachers. This will be a long review... My older daughter is currently in public school, for kindergarten. She was at Monarch for three years. I still remember when she was a toddler and I was in the process of transitioning her from a home daycare to a preschool. I was originally planning to enroll her in a chinese bilingual, Montessori school. I visited a few popular ones in the area, but the Directors left only an okay impression in my mind. The kids were all loud and a bit chaotic, which I would expect at any preschool. Then my friend highly recommended that I visit the Monarch in Los Altos. Her daughter was enrolled at the Milpitas campus. My friend is the type who is very thorough in her research. So I scheduled a tour. When I arrived, I remembered the kids were working individually on their Montessori jobs, and it was quiet. It was so quiet that I wasn't even sure if the kids were having fun. But the longer I stayed, the more I could see that they were focused and engaged, similar to now when my kids play with puzzles at home. Ms. Singh also explained their teaching philosophy and the two levels of learning. The first layer is the actual learning of numbers, the alphabet, etc. The second layer is developing their concentration and learning how to extend their focus. The minute she explained that, I knew my kids needed Monarch. My brother has two sons and decided to enroll his kids in a bilingual Montessori school. Whenever there has been a Christmas or end of the year performance, my parents will attend both schools'. Multiple times now, my parents have commented how impressed they are with the level of learning with the kids at Monarch. Little 5 year olds that can do 4 digit addition and subtraction problems (with carryovers!), multiplication and division problems, remembering the 50 states and capitals.. it's truly impressive. And they learn it in a way where it's fun for them. My older daughter had the option of going to TK (Transitional Kindergarten) last year, but I decided to keep her at Monarch an extra year for their kindergarten class. The free tuition in public school was tempting, but it was a fellow parent who convinced me to stay the extra year. She felt like her older sons never had a solid foundation when they were young. And because of it, they now need to spend more time with their boys on homework, etc. I'm glad I followed her recommendation. Today, my daughter's writing, reading and math skills excel many of her classmates' and it builds confidence too. I am definitely keeping my younger daughter an extra year at Monarch for kindergarten as well. I'm genuinely surprised any parent who has kept their child for a decent amount of time at Monarch would have anything negative to say about this preschool. I read the review commenting about a teacher looking at their iPhone/iPad. I've seen it happen too but honestly, for the amount of learning these kids soak up here, I'm sure you can forgive a teacher if they need to spend a few minutes on their phone to take care of something. To Ms. Singh and all the other teachers at Monarch, thank you for whole heartedly loving, respecting, and teaching all your students! read more

I don't think I appreciated Monarch Christian School as much when my daughter attended, but in retrospect (after 1.5 years of public school, in which she is extremely ahead of her peers academically), I look back at her time at Monarch with great appreciation. My daughter attended Monarch part-time for two years (from 3.5 to 5.5 years old). During that time, she learned to read, write and do basic math. As a result, she was over-prepared when she entered kindergarten at a public school. And now, even in first grade, she excels above her peers. We also absolutely loved the exposure/teachings our daughter got on Christianity. My daughter thrives in a structured environment; she loved doing "jobs" in her classroom. Aside from the fundamentals she learned at Monarch, she also developed a great work ethic and a love for learning, which in my opinion, are the most important life skills to instill in a child, regardless of aptitude. Ms. Singh runs a tight ship (lunchtime at Monarch is impressive - quiet, well-behaved children eating lunch), but she is caring and greets all the children with hugs. I can't end this review without mentioning two things: - the lovely Christmas and end-of-school year shows the students and teachers put on. We loved them and miss those so much! - the uniform! I loved sending my daughter to school in a uniform. So easy. read more

As a transplant family having moved to Northern California in the middle of the school year, the most stressful problem I felt I needed to solve was figuring out where to send my preschool-age twins to school. On the recommendation of a friend, I visited Monarch Christian in Los Altos. When I met Ms. Singh, that was all it took to convince me that Monarch was right for us. She came across as sincere, articulate, experienced and passionate. She explained her educational philosophy and showed me the school's Montessori materials and modest facilities; she did not try to "sell me," rather she addressed me respectfully and engaged me in an intelligent conversation about our situation and what we were looking for. She showed me examples of the very sophisticated writing and mathematics projects all her kindergarteners were capable of completing, and she told me about the importance of caring teachers, of repetition and consistency, of fostering love for learning, and of play. My children have been attending Monarch for 18 months and are about to graduate kindergarten with reading skills that are far and above anything I could have imagined -- and far beyond many of their peers. They are curious, love art, science, music and math, and respect themselves and others. They are happy and comfortable; I would say they almost consider their school a second home. The experience we have had with MCS of Los Altos has been truly a gift that has been wonderful for our children in every way. If we could leave them longer for first grade and up, we would! We'll be sad to leave Monarch Christian - and Ms. Singh. read more

My daughter went from preschool to K. We are so sad that we need to move to different school because they only have up to K. We wish we could have her in there for the entire elementry school. Teachers are loving and caring. Ms. Singh has lots of experiences and cares and understand kids very well. My daughter can read 3rd grade level books and she enjoys reading. She can do 4 digit addition with borrowing and simple multiplication. She learned so much not only academically but socially and spritually. Thanks to the teachers, shy and undisplined preschooler is now a confident kid. read more

It's that time of the year again to tour schools to select the best school for your kids. Last week I toured this school and to my biggest disappointment, the owner/teacher/director Maggie Singh showed little interest in my kid and had the guts to make fun of him. Is she a true Christian? It made me question if she is, or is money/tuition is her true God? Here is my experience at the tour. I asked her whether her school is Montessori accredited. she responded defensively what is Montessori accredited!?! She said she was "trained" in India over 20 years ago, then she moved to US and started working at this school for the previous owner, and then she trained other teachers in the school. The short answer she said is No her school is not Montessori accredited, the teachers in her school are not Montessori licensed, they received her "training" on site. So why is her school tuition as high as that of Montessori-accredited school? And tuition is locked for the entire school year, meaning she retains your deposit if you kid does not complete the full year. AND her school observes weeks of holidays each year with NO proration of tuition. It's ridiculuous! She is greedy and dishonest! Call CA dept of social services CDSS and CCLD child care licensing dept to get more info on this school. No star for this school please!! read more

Monarch is such a great school with amazingly experienced and caring teachers. My husband and his siblings actually attended Monarch 26 years ago and loved the school, and the current principle Ms. Singh was their preschool teacher! We were so excited to send our daughter into her capable hands again last year. In Monarch, they are really good at teaching kids useful skills like reading, writing and math in a fun, hands-on way. My daughter enjoyed learning there (so did my husband 26 years ago :) Through years of experience, Ms. Singh simply understand how children learn things and they custom designed their Montessori jobs accordingly. My husband said after leaving Monarch for public elementary school, he already mastered language and math skills that kids only learn in the 5th grade in public school. And most important, learning is fun and enjoyable at Monarch. The teachers are also so loving, gracious and patient. Once, my daughter was stung by a bee outside in the parking lot after I picked her up. Ms. Singh and Ms. Susan just put down the busy work in their hands and helped me apply first aid and comfort my daughter. They are always so patient, never make me feel rushed. I love the kids at Monarch too. They are so sweet and polite, really well-taught. It's so heart-warming to see the older girls giving hugs to my daughter and play with her when she was first adapting to the new school. My daughter was feeling very loved there. read more

I feel so lucky to have found this school and to have sent my 3 children here up through kindergarten. Ms. Singh is a truly gifted teacher with endless patience for her students and really wants to see them succeed and flourish. What is most exceptional about this school is their willingness to teach whatever the child is willing to learn. For one of my children, it was long division, for another, it was dynamic multiplication. They end up learning to read as soon as they are ready for it and all keep journals that give you insights into how they see the world at their age. They've entered school reading at far above their grade levels, and in kindergarten my son learned about sentence structure and the difference between past and past perfect tenses of verbs. It really is kind of miraculous. I had visited other schools when I was shopping around, and while compared to others, it appears bleak and less colorful, I've found (and so have other studies) that children learn and concentrate better in environments with few distractions. My husband went to a Montessori preschool and insisted on the same for our kids. The nice thing about Monarch is that they go beyond to include hard academics as well as the Montessori jobs which fit well with my children's needs and abilities. My kids all have fond memories and have made great friends here and I only wish it went on to teach the higher grades as well. read more

My daughter Penny started here four months ago in the prekindergarten program and in that short time she has learned so much! She just turned four and she is already sounding out words in her books by herself! It has just been an amazing experience. From day one, Ms Singh made sure that Penny felt comfortable and safe and communicated with me every step of the way. She absolutely loves her teachers Ms Quinto and Ms Smiley. I appreciate the Montessori method of teaching as well. It was explained to me by Ms Singh before she started and I love that she is learning so well without being stressed. I also have to mention that the kids there are very sweet. From day one she has made a lot of friends and every time we go they are always excited and giving hugs. Just overall the best preschool experience I can imagine! read more

The best of the best!! Ms Singh and the staff are superb!! I couldn't have asked for a better educational experience for my son! When it comes to breaking down learning in segments and building from the ground up, Monarch is second to none! My child was more well behaved and learned more than I could ever have imagined in a short amount of time! Top notch experience and education that came from the heart!!! With their strong foundation, these students are so well prepared for their educational life!! I love this school! read more

We as a family thank our lucky stars often that we found MCS and Ms. Singh. Anyone reading this review, please know that you will be hard pressed to find a teacher more sincere, kind and skilled than the director Maggie Singh. I sincerely believe that in the foundation years, kids need a teacher who believes in them. Ms. Singh teaches and bonds with every child as if they were her own. High quality of education just makes this the most perfect school I have ever come across. My 2 girls went here. One of them had significant disabilities but Ms Singh and her staff not only managed to keep her in school like regular kids but the compassion and kind atmosphere that was built around her were amazing....she only has positive memories of her time at the school. My other daughter is in K and easily at 2nd grade reading and math level. But here is the icing on the cake, my daughter "loves to work"...its not strenuous for her or overloading her in any way like some other school do. Again, I am just so thankful. Ms. Singh and MCS is a gem and we are very blessed to have them in our lives. read more