I would strongly encourage parents to do thorough research before considering this school…read more In our experience, leadership has created an environment where concerns raised by parents, students, and even staff members are often dismissed rather than addressed. The director frequently shifts blame instead of taking accountability, creating a culture that feels manipulative and unproductive. Staff turnover appears to be very high, which raises serious concerns about internal leadership and overall stability within the school. When it comes to student progress, there seems to be little willingness to evaluate whether the school's teaching methods or support systems are effective. Instead, concerns about a child not advancing academically are quickly attributed to the child's learning disabilities, rather than examining whether the school is providing the proper resources and accommodations needed for success. What is most concerning is the apparent inconsistency in how bullying situations are handled. In situations where certain families appear to have influence within the school community, concerns can be minimized or ignored altogether. In our case, serious concerns involving bullying were dismissed with the message that "nothing really happened," leaving us feeling unheard and unsupported. A school should be a place where students feel safe, supported, and given every opportunity to succeed. Unfortunately, our experience did not reflect those values.

From the owner: Formerly Minnesota Renaissance School, Montessori Renaissance Academy (MRA) is a private, 501(c)3…read morenonprofit Montessori school located in the north metropolitan suburb of Anoka, MN. For more than 22 years, we have been providing children from 16 months through 8th grade with an alternative to more traditional schools. Our goal is to create a learning environment that meets the needs of each child. We do so by following the philosophy and methods developed by Dr. Maria Montessori throughout the child’s early years and continue to leverage those concepts during the child’s middle school years.

This center is owned by someone who just wants to make money. I know this because she also owns the…read moreZimmerman location. She never invested in replacing broken strollers or toys. The center only received new things from donations brought in from other parents, etc. I also have seen her talking to her staff disrespectfully. Take your child elsewhere is my recommendation.

This center really did a number on my family. When we started our tour we made it very clear that…read moreour son was being diagnosed with autism and that he had never been in daycare before. They claimed to be able to accommodate. After him being there for only 2 weeks they decided he is no longer welcome there. He was kicked out before he was really even given the chance to adjust. The staff lied about their ability to help him and didn't offer him enough time to adjust. The way they talked about him was as if he was a completely different person from the little boy we know and from the interactions we witnessed. Our household lost jobs because of the way this and finding a new center has been impossible. Also the penguin room preschool teacher ALWAYS has the lights off and is telling them to be quiet. My daughter was scared of her and they way she talked to the kids made me uncomfortable. How are kids supposed to learn and play if they can't talk? She got frustrated easily and probably shouldn't be leading a classroom.

I would like to share my experience with EPM, which has been quite mixed. While the school has a…read moresolid reputation, I left disappointed.  Not only in the education my daughter received, but also the overall attitude of the staff and unprofessional communication.   Communication from the staff was often unclear and inconsistent. I found myself acting on their recommendations, only to have them recant those suggestions when it was convenient for them.  It felt like I was being gaslit.  At times, my daughter's provider recommendations were not followed.  They would state my daughter was the only child not napping as an example, but yet there was a room full of children not napping.  They stated my daughter didn't have friends not knowing that we played with kids from class on regular basis and still do to this day.    A particularly memorable incident that encapsulates my experience occurred on Halloween. My daughter was thrilled to wear her light-up princess dress, exuding pride and excitement as she arrived at school. However, the teacher checking in students remarked, "wow, that is distracting," in an annoyed voice, which was incredibly deflating for my daughter.  I think my daughter picked up on that she was not liked by the staff and that impacted her.  The overall lack of smiles or morale didn't seem good in my experience.   Changing a child's daycare/school setting can cause a lot of disruption.  That is the only reason why we stayed as long as we did and tried to make it work.   On a positive note, Soccer Shots, Wee-Move, and Piano teachers/coach were great.

We moved our kids to EP Montessori last summer from an early childhood center, and we and our kids…read morehave been so happy there! The teachers and staff are all very caring, and got to know our kids really well from the start. Our kids (2.5 year-old in Toddler and almost 5 year-old in Casa) had an easy time adjusting. We have a rule follower and an independent spirit, and the approach at EP Montessori has really helped both of them as they develop and learn. Both of our kids participate in activities that come to school (piano, dance, yoga, soccer) and enjoyed them, too!

Great place and our family loves it!! We have had great experiences with everything…read more Emily S

I've deleted my post once before but I won't be taking it down now. The short version is I love the…read morestaff and director at Lighthouse in Zimmerman, but I do not recommend enrolling your child there at this time. There needs to be more care and accountability with the company/owner. I was there for about 5 months and the amount of issues I saw were overwhelming. It hurts my heart to see how the center is neglected and runs on the donations of the parents. Other times I've seen the staff bring in things that they purchased for the center. For example, I asked about 3 strollers in total that broke during my time there. All three were worn by mother nature because the center doesn't have shed to store them. The last one still hasn't been replaced. You can tell the paperwork that is offered to parents is a copy of a copy times 30. I was told we weren't allowed to have the new version printed. I saw the employees break table that is a two by two short table that sits outside the bathroom that has no chairs for the staff to sit at. I repetitively received conflicting information verbally and via emails from the owner, if at all. The whole center needs a remodel inside and nothing has been done. Lastly I'll leave you with this recent event. The director took a well deserved vacation for the week and the owner couldn't get the computer to work for the staff so she left. That's it. She called it quits and had everyone use paper for a week, then had the director clean it up when she got back. I didn't see the owner at all during that week. Until there is new ownership, I will not be back.