I am writing this review as a parent who has been part of the Montessori Five Canyons community since 2023. My oldest child started here at age 3 and is proudly graduating Kindergarten this year, while my second child started at 18 months in 2025 and is now thriving at age 3 and will be staying here for another three years. We specifically sought out this school because it is a true Montessori-accredited school. Many places use the "Montessori" name, but obtaining and maintaining actual accreditation requires an immense amount of time, money, and resources. While this makes tuition slightly higher than that of a standard daycare, you are paying for a high-quality educational environment, not just babysitting. My children have thrived here emotionally and academically. I trust Ms. Martha and her team implicitly. I cannot recommend this school enough to parents who want a traditional, high-standard Montessori education. If you are considering enrolling and want a real, honest conversation from a long-term parent, please feel free to DM me. It is disheartening to see "hit piece" reviews that don't reflect the daily reality of the happy, engaged children I see every time I am on campus. Many of these complaints sound like a misunderstanding of the Montessori philosophy. During the initial tours, the Director, Ms. Martha, is incredibly transparent about how the school runs. If you look closely at the complaints, most people actually admit they like the teachers and the Director, Ms. Martha. It seems the real issues stem from financial disagreements or a lack of understanding of the Montessori method. As a business owner myself, I know that an organization cannot simply "turn off" its own reviews. If Google restricts reviews, it is because they have identified that the school is being targeted by unauthentic or coordinated "smear" reviews. To me, that speaks volumes about the validity of the recent negativity. read more

Ms. Martha is amazing!! She remembers all the kids and parents. Ms. Krystina is so sweet to the kids. Ms. Karen has made the biggest difference in my daughter's life. She wants to be just like Ms. Karen! My child loves to go here!! read more

Reviews are now hidden from Google maps for this place, so I'm duplicating my earlier review here: This is honestly the worst experience we had ever. Young parents, avoid at all cost. Instead, find a clean and bright place with lots of natural light. You won't be able to walk away from this place without some serious losses. The rate with which children are getting sick is unbelievable. Very dishonest business practices: 1) keep the place extremely dirty and unsanitary 2) assemble very large classes 3) children get sick all the time 4) when parents decide enough is enough they face hefty penalties. To give you a concrete example, our child caught multiple infections such as pink eye infection, hand, foot, and mouth disease in a very short period of time. We ended up paying $10k to Five Canyons for just a few weeks of school before this whole thing was finally over. read more

Caring staff. Good life skills. Individual learning for a child. Good ratio teacher child.

Avoid Montessori Five Canyon - Serious Concerns First of all, Montessori Five Canyon has blocked all new Google reviews, raising major transparency concerns. This is deeply concerning and goes against common business ethics. To be fair, the teachers themselves are excellent--dedicated and passionate about early childhood education. However, management decisions, including high student-to-teacher ratios and cost-cutting measures, make it nearly impossible for these educators to operate effectively. My child attended for a year, and after moving to the toddler class, issues escalated, which always attributable to the following core issues: 1. Drastic cost-saving by management regardless of high price paid by parents. 2. Post-3 PM chaos--They said teacher:student ratio is sufficient but in many parts of the class, there are mixed-age groups with only a facilitator and no main teachers. 3. Minimal reporting--No daily logs, news, pictures/videos of my own kid to demonstrate progress, all are protected behind the "privacy" reason. But end of year report also missed a lot of apparent progress. Again, a sign of teachers being overwhelmed. All these leads to a single issue: neglect. My child repeatedly said he was pushed with no intervention (I assume this was because teachers were stretched too thin), dirty diapers left hanging on one of my kid's foot (while already using clean diapers... so my kid went home with TWO diapers on his pants), missing water bottles, skin irritation from rushed changes, and constant distress during pickup time. These problems vanished after switching to smaller daycares. Reading the latest few comments below, I am deeply saddened how it resonates with my experience and validates my observation about M5C management. I also personally witnessed Ms. Meher disciplining a child by isolating them angrily outside in the frontyard --is this even Montessori? To the incredible teachers like Ms. Martha and Ms. Marlene, I sincerely hope you consider starting a small home daycare. You guys really have so much to offer, and many children would thrive under your care--without the dysfunction of M5C's management. Parents, please stay away from this school. read more

As fellow parents and neighbors who have enrolled our children at this facility, we are appalled by the ongoing misconduct and neglect by upper management, particularly Meher, and the teachers they continue to employ despite serious complaints being raised. Licensing authorities have confirmed violations, and court subpoenas were issued to several parents to testify. When I attended, I was horrified to witness videos documenting the abuse of children. This case bears striking similarities to another documented case of child abuse, which you can read about here: https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Child-Abuse.pdf. For more information, please refer to the facility's license number: #013416606, available at this link. https://www.ccld.dss.ca.gov/carefacilitysearch/FacDetail/013416606 read more

My son attended M5C for over 2 years - from 20 months to 4 years old. Pros: The experienced teachers at the school are capable, knowledgeable, and do care about the students. Ms. Krystina (who is no longer with the school), Ms. Martha (the head teacher), and Ms. Apple have stood out to us as caring and experienced teachers who care about the students. Cons: Unfortunately, due to a greedy administration, the classrooms are understaffed and suffer from turnover and new teachers often. Ms. Meher (who does not work at the school on a daily basis) and her family take over half the school's revenue ($1M+) each year, while paying the teachers a pittance and keeping them understaffed. Beyond that, we were holiday parents who helped to collect cash gifts from the other parents to give to the teachers for the Christmas holiday. The cash from all the classrooms was given to Ms. Meher to be matched by the school and distributed to the teachers. We later discovered that our teacher received less than half the money she was supposed to receive. Despite multiple emails and conversations with Ms. Meher, we were unable to find out if, and how, the money collected was distributed to the teachers. Our son was very bright when it came to language and started reading early. After 1 year in his class, his teacher did not know he could read, and we received a progress report at the end of the year with N/A on all language and reading-related skills. There is both verbal and physical bullying behavior at the school between the kids, that the teachers don't have time and staff to manage. Our son reported (and we personally witnessed) verbal bullying from other children. We have personally witnessed repeated physical altercations between other students during pick up and drop off. We have heard from other parents whose children faced verbal and physical bullying. There are no toys in the classrooms. There are no race cars, costumes for dress up, Legos, or building blocks. There are no animal figurines to be used for open-ended play, no open-ended art supplies that the kids can use as they wish. Imaginative play is so crucial at this young age and critical for child development. Neutral: If you tour the school, you will notice that the desks are all separated, and there are little to no large/group tables. The children are expected to work independently, or in pairs, with little to no group work. This includes during snack/lunch time - the kids do not eat together, but separately at their own desks. For our extroverted son, this was a struggle, and not a great fit. I truly wish the teachers were given the time, resources, and training to help this school thrive. read more

I am delighted to share this little story that made a tremendous impression on me. I would also like you to share it with other parents. My twins have been going to Montessori school at five canyons since they were 2 years of age. Now they are almost 5. I could go on and on about how clean the school is and how all Covid isolation protocols are strictly followed. I can speak to how kind and sweet teachers are and how organized Mitchell is in running the school. All of these things are wonderful, but I'm here to tell you a story that will lift you up. The concept of Montessori teaching is sometimes hard to see as children don't bring homework home. Here is an unbelievable observation that will impresses anyone who is reading it. I took my children to a Polish preschool offered only on Saturday. I want them to be more exposed to languages. The preschool is purely play based. It was time for kids to play outside. To my disbelief all kids picked activities like kitchen items or cars , but not my twins. My twins picked blocks first plastic than wooden and started building. Building towers than counting blocks. I've noticed how other children were looking at them wondering where they get the ideas. Well here we go! It is Montessori teaching that is teaching our children abstract thinking and analyzing. I was so happy and delighted. I felt at peace. Kudos to Montessori teachers at five canyons. Parents do not have any doubt ! Your kids are leaning! Thank you again Montessori School at five canyons. read more

TLDR: Great head teachers, but NOT a fit for a slow to warm up/sensitive kid due to student teacher ratio/class size. Attending for 1 year, between 2023 and 2024. My son started at M5C in the smallest age group (18 to 24 months) and initially he was doing really well, we did part-time until 3 pm. We're happy with the set up and we had no issues other than there was no communication about how my son was doing other than asking the teachers at drop off. We started noticing a difference when he was moved to the toddler class (after 2 years old), where there were 21-23ish kids with 3 teachers. We love the teachers at M5C, especially Ms. Martha, Ms. Marlene and also the warm admin, Ms Nikki. However, I think the student-teacher ratio is way too high. At this time, my son also started to attend full time until 5 pm, and around 4 pm the children would be in "outdoor" play and mixed with much bigger kids and rotating teachers (some of the teachers leave at 3). My son was visibly overwhelmed, he was always crying at pick up and the teachers would say that this was because he saw other kids being picked up. To be fair, that might be true but in his current low ratio preschool, he is always the last one being picked up and there is 0 crying. I also get the sense that the the ratio were too high because : 1. They mixed up my son's clothes - there were times when I couldn't find his clothes or he went home with other kids' clothes 2. We had a couple incidents involving diapers - I was quite concerned when he came home with his dirty diaper still hanging inside his pants (and he's wearing a clean diaper). How come nobody noticed this? My complaint was handled appropriately though. 3. I mentioned this before, but there is very little update on what my son was doing on a day to day basis, where other schools often send pictures and daily activity logs to parents. They mentioned that they do keep a log of diapers/toileting, but we have to ask due to privacy. Why not put all these in the Brightwheel app for each kid? 4. My son was already very verbal and sometimes said so and so pushed me, I did not trust a 2 year old 100% of course, and I am aware that these are behaviorally normal for the age group. However, I do wonder how they handle/correct behavior with such a large group? We eventually moved away from the area so we got my son in a new preschool with a lower ratio. I learned from this experience that student teacher ratio is VERY important, especially if you have a slow to warm up or sensitive kid. We wanted to love this place so much, but honestly the experience wasn't what we thought it would be. I think the teachers and admin tried their best though, but there were just too many kids, so this is feedback for the management. read more

This place is a scam. Consider yourself warned. You should stay away. * HIGH PRICE * So-So Curriculum * Lots of holidays * Lots of extra fees * Parents are MANDATED to work weekends (see below) * Parents have to bring snacks * I signed up my kid @ this school and they made me sign a 1-year contract. Little did I know... in order to stop going, there is a ONE MONTH PENALTY. The director said that this is "industry standard"... bull crap! I wanted to pull my kid out after 4 months due to being very unhappy with them -- and they came after me relentlessly for a ONE MONTH CHARGE as get out of jail fee. I tried to reason with them and challenged the rule, but the owner or director threatened collection and reporting to credit bureau if I don't pay. Their attitude turned 360 (as compared to when you were enrolling, of course). In the end, after nearly 2 months of back and forth, and sending letters after letters... I paid. To me, it was still better than dealing ever again with this pirate ship. WHAT A SCAM!!! Basically, once you sign up, you are committing to ONE FULL YEAR. Please review also their EXTENSIVE holidays and "teacher work days". Now... on why I wanted to pull out my kid: 1) Curriculum is so-so. Kids are often spread out and "encouraged to do their own thing" (i.e. the teachers aren't doing much). 2) Parents have to WORK at this place -- they call it "Parents Work Party".. As a parent, I'd like to be involved but helping out should not be mandated as (a) I work full time, and (b) I pay A LOT of money to being my child here. For these "work parties", you are OBLIGATED OR FINED to work for 2 weekends to help school paint, clean, move rocks, pull weeds, etc. Again, what is tuition for? I have enough work at home already!!! What a joke. Oh yeah, in case you're wondering, these are laborious chores, not to be disguised with having fun as they call these "parent work parties". 3) Parents have to take turns and provide snacks for the entire class. Again, why then the high tuition? And yes, some parents do bring junk. 4) Anything and everything you request would cost EXTRA. 5) Office is unprofessional and unorganized. There is no formal invoicing. "Invoices" are done on a "pulled out piece of scratch paper" and owner will "sign to verify" the piece of paper is from the office. This place is only good at one thing---- Signing you up and taking your money. I guarantee you -- everything is downhill after that. All the 5-star reviews are a joke on this "business". Oh yeah, that's your tuition at work too... they're obviously paying someone to scrub the bad reviews. Just so you're aware, there is NO MISDIRECTING here. This review IS intended for Montessori School at Five Canyon aka MS5. Whatever. Update 10-2018: Recently, a parent contacted me and indicated to me that he was able to get 50% off the penalty after threatening to take them to small claims court. Hopefully this will help someone out. read more

TL;DR Great teachers. Terrible, greedy administrators We sent our daughter to 5 canyons just before she was 2 because it was one of the few schools in the area that would accept her. Despite the high tuition and extra fees, we were fine with it because our daughter did very well there. Fast forward to COVID times. The school understandably shut down and they resorted to online sessions. For our daughter, that meant 15 mins of circle time in the morning. The school still expected the tuition to be paid in full. We talked to all our friends and none were asked to continue paying. Parents would organize fundraisers to support teacher. We brought this up with the administrators via email. No response. No a call, text, or even acknowledgement that our concerns were received and being discussed. A week or so later, the send a generic email out to everyone. Pay 90% if you haven't lost your job, 75% if one parent lost their job, or 50% if both parents lost their jobs. WHAT?!? How in the world does this make any sense? I need to watch my own daughter and teach them but pay you for 15 mins of Zoom ( which our daughter couldn't even sit through ). After lots of discussion, we decided to withdraw our daughter. There is/was no end in sight and we had no idea when we would feel comfortable sending our daughter back to school. We let the school know but not surprisingly, they wanted 1 months tuition to withdraw. We emailed them our concerns about this withdrawal "fee" and crickets again. No email, phone call, acknowledgment, absolutely nothing. Two weeks passed and we pinged them again before they finally responded. Only saying our contract has the fee. This school that could no longer uphold their end of the contract to educate and care for our daughter wants to continue to be paid. They want you to hold up your end but they are exempt from theirs. Even our gym emailed us immediately after the shelter in place was ordered to say that our membership dues would be suspended. The administrators at this school only care about money and nothing else. The teachers are underpaid and overworked. They want every single dollar from you in the middle of a pandemic, imagine what would happen if something happened to your child. We are sympathetic to the situation. This pandemic is not something we could have expected or experienced before. There's many ways to handle things but this school just flat out failed. Our family was affected as well but we didn't charge our clients for services we could not perform. The school couldn't even reassure us that the funds were going to the teachers. For all we know, they received government assistance and continued to charge parents. Stay away! There are plenty of schools around that are better (and cheaper) with staff that actually care about your child rather than the money you send to the school. read more

My daughter, who was 2 years old at the time, attended the school last fall for a few months and then we decided to pull her out. Our experience was not the best. I guess it's partially my fault because I was so set on sending her to a Montessori that I didn't do that much research before deciding to send her here. I tried really hard to make things to work here but in the end I'm glad we pulled her out early. Here are the CONS: 1. High Prices- Rates are ridiculously higher than other schools by double 2. Poor caretaking- they were not taking very good care of my child- everyday we'd pick her up and she would be dirty or wet or both, sleeves wet, sand and twigs in her shoes, there were a couple of times she had poop (cat poop) on her the bottom of her shoes 3. Poor communication- There was very little to none communication on how or what my child was doing on a daily basis. Because of COVID protocols, parents were not allowed into the school and some days, I didn't get to see her teacher so I wasn't able to check in. When I was finally able to check in with the teacher, Ms. Martha (a month and half in), she told me that my daughter had been slapping people in the face (you would think that warrants an immediate phone call). We decided to schedule weekly phone calls to check in which was great, but somehow the phone calls had stopped after a holiday. 4. Forced to do volunteer work and bring snacks monthly- They make parents go to "Parent Work Parties" where you're forced to clean the school for them (otherwise you lose out on your $200 deposit). Not only that, they have a rotating snack schedule where you're mandated to bring the class snack each month (the other schools I've now researched all provide snacks). 5. Poor Administrative staff- Just as the other reviews stated, Michelle, the administrator wasn't the most pleasant person to interact with. My mom had a really negative interaction with her when she had dropped off and picked up my daughter. PROS: 1. The Head Teacher- Ms. Martha seemed like a really genuinely sweet, caring teacher (my daughter still talks about her to this day "Where's Ms. Martha?"), but I believe there were just too many kids for the teachers to handle. 2. Location- the school is tucked away in a quaint little neighborhood. My mom and I would take walks around the neighborhood before picking my daughter up To sum up, if you're considering this school, make sure you do your research, and that you're OK with paying the high price and doing the volunteer work. In my opinion, there are much better schools than this one. read more

This review is long overdue, where do I began! My daughter had an AMAZING experience at M5C. She started at 18.5 months and continued until she was 3. We moved and that's the only reason we left. The care that she received from all of the teachers and staff was PHENOMENAL! The school didn't only help her learn and grow, it taught her life skills, how to be kind to others, how to be independent and most importantly, love. We always felt our child was safe, cared for and loved. She was always happy to go to school and she would always sing songs she had learned that day on the drive home. She constantly talked about her Teachers and actually called one her "Mommy" :-)! I'm glad she built a bond so strong with one of her teachers, she felt that type of love for her. Before Covid the school offered a lot of school wide events for families to get to know one another and educational session for parents. During Covid they were very creative in keeping those events and sessions available for the families; not in person, but in ways that were fun for all and not all via Zoom. M5C is a true Montessori School, that follows all of the Montessori practices. Meher, the Director and Founder does outstanding work to make sure the teachers have the trainings they need and the school has the resources available, to keep the school running smoothly. Michelle the Business Manager is great! She keeps everyone posted on important matters taking place at the school and always available to answer any questions you may have. I had a lot :-)! In all, my daughter had a really great experience, we were very happy and she learned a lot. Not every school is going to be the best fit for every family, but this was the BEST school for us. We'll miss you all and you'll hold a special place in our hearts ! read more

I would say I have no regret to bring my daughter into M5C. It has been six months and my 4 years old daughter has transformed into a curious kid. She started questioning the things around her and also developed her interested in drawing. At first, I have doubts about Montessori education since my daughter was a bit shy, but I was relieved after a talk with the principal Ms. Meher. She explained to me what my child needed was to develop and encourage her curiosity in order to push her boundary and it proved to be all working. The teachers at M5C are also very patients and nice, my daughter was in Ms. Apple's class in the summer and Ms. Margarita's class in fall. They took good care of her and also take the time to update me about her development and answers all my questions. The classrooms are set up nicely colorful with interesting things to attract children's attention. read more

Haven't thought about this place in awhile but it came up in conversation today. We ended up walking away and they kept our original deposit. If you are considering this school, be aware, ask questions. Here was my family's experience. We toured in October of a year past (prior to COVID) and requested a waitlist spot for April-ish when he would have a milestone, with the understanding that the exact enrollment date will be hashed out when we get closer to the date because we don't know exactly when another child in his level would be ready to move up to the next class and there be room for our son. We put down the deposit. March of next year rolls around, I was informed that the start date is X. I asked to start a week later because my partner was starting a new job and it was a hardship to take time off that particular week for our child's phasing in process. We were told no, that is the date we needed to start paying. Ok, fine, we will pay and start our child a week later. Then I was told that May is the last month of the regular school year, and since we're starting in April, are we going to enroll in summer session. I said yes of course. Then I was told summer session has to be 100% pre-paid, it's not a monthly thing. OMG. This is thousands of dollars upfront and we're still in March.... I was starting to become really uneasy about the whole thing. But wait, there's more!!! Summer session is only available to children who will be returning in fall, so to sign up for summer session, I would need to put down a month's deposit for the following school year, and to un-enroll, I would need to pay a month's penalty. At this point, my son had never even set foot in the school, we had no idea if he would like it, and they were trying to squeeze almost half a year worth of tuition (partial April, May, June, July, Aug, Sep, +another month's worth to quit) out of us! The whole thing felt so dishonest and scummy. We ended up just walking away. read more

Gave the school a call to inquire about new student enrollment . Front desk wasn't to open to answering my questions. Phone conversation was very concerning, lots of red flags. Very rude front desk or who ever answers the phone needs more training. as a parent who will be enrolling their kid for the first time!! Very disappointed read more

My wife and I intended to enroll our 5 year old son into the Montessori at Five Canyons school in Castro Valley to begin in Sept of 2020. With COVID related transition to online education, his extroverted nature and need for further social-emotional development, my wife's new job, and my extremely busy work schedule, we thought this would provide a good balance for all despite the significant monthly tuition costs. We paid the burdensome upfront fees in mid-summer with the understanding that the charge would be applied to school fees in Sept at the start of the new school year. In mid August, my wife's father-in-law fell gravely ill from cancer and we were frantically trying to figure out logistics of travel to the east coast and how to handle the start of the school year. We tried repeatedly to contact the school and no responses were provided. My wife ended up leaving her job and opted to drive cross country with the kids to take care of her father. I joined my family on the east coast a couple weeks later: we left several more voicemails/emails for the school in that time to see if/how we may be able to handle the the Sept start and to figure out how we may handle enrollment and associated tuition considering our unclear timeline to return. Approximately 1 week after the start of the school session and after our further prodding, we finally got curt responses without empathy stating that we cannot be refunded or credited the tuition and instead we may be able to work out some pro-rated amount for October and that they told us that they would be on break so they were not obliged to respond to our messages in August. We were extremely disappointed and frustrated and decided to not continue enrollment as we did not know when we would be able to return to our home and honestly the curtness, lack of empathy, and unrepentant tone in not responding to what we felt were urgent questions at a stressful time for our family. The lost tuition payment was extremely hard for us but I did not want to support this organization any further: if someone could have responded to our messages to let us know we would have been unable to get a refund or credit, we could have made alternate arrangements. My father-in-law ended up passing away and we remained on the east coast for ~8 weeks to be with family and help settle his affairs. I encourage any family considering the Montessori at Five Canyons school to be careful as they are not upfront with tuition fees and policies. Despite their creed, I feel they are more cognizant of of their bottom-line than the children or families themselves. COVID has made hardships for all in 2020 and the Montessori at Five Canyons school made it that much worse for ours. read more

We started going to Montessori at Five Canyons at the beginning of summer 2017. Our daughter was 20 months old. And the growth she had was absolutely amazing. They helped her blossom in so many ways. She loved going to school every day and loved her teachers!! We absolutely loved all the staff as well!! Mrs. Martha is an absolutely amazing person and teacher!!! We also loved her other two teachers Mrs. Nancy and Mrs. Sarah!! Unfortunately life happens and my husband got an amazing job offer out of state so we decided to move. Taking our daughter out of this school was the hardest part of moving. We had read the policy and understood it that we would loose our deposit for leaving early. And we were ok with that. We gave our thirty day notice and expected to have to pay the full month following as we gave it mid month. But they prorated the days of the next month so we only paid the thirty days. Everything was smooth on that part. I was a little worried due to some of the reviews on here. But I believe as long as you understand the policy money isn't an issue. I highly recommend bringing your kids here!!! The atmosphere is amazing!!! It's amazing watching your kid grow everyday!! read more

Please save yourself the trouble! The teachers here are very kind and do a great job with the children, however, the director cares about nothing but money. My child has been there for at least 9months and she has never interacted with her in a positive manner. Meher is extremely hard to schedule too see. I had been asking for an accounting bill for almost two weeks for my foster child. They agreed to work with a payment agency, however, it had been nothing but chaos(no communication from Michelle), which in the end, only hurt the child. At the end of the year, they handed us a pretty large bill instead of the reimbursement that Michelle and Meher and I had been speaking about due to an extra month we had paid. When asking questions and attempting to sort things out, Meher repeatedly stated that she did not care about this nor did she care to handle it, and told me to speak to Michelle. I work in the childcare field and I have NEVER treated any of my families in this manner, nor have I ever been treated that way. Meher's attitude and behaviors toward this situation genuinely saddens me. I had never seen her speak to anyone else in that mannThey have repeatedly commented on how much of a favor they did for us and how they did not have to do it. We appreciate them so much( that we made 100 cupcakes for the last day of school special class treats), but that does not give them the right to treat us any differently than anyone else. Please find a school that genuinely cares about your child and not only the check that your writing every month! Update Two months later: Mehar and Michelle have completely refused to assist with the situation. They have taken $1440 from a low income child, causing her to miss out on summer camps and opportunities, with no explanation. Every time we attempt to get an explanation we become "angry, rude, or aggressive" which is never the case. You can find much better!!! read more

I am so glad we found this school for my kid. The staff here is extremely friendly. They helped my toddler very patiently to get used to the school routine. The teacher Miss. Krystina is amazing, she makes time to talk to us, tell us how our kid is doing and also answer any questions we might have. My 22 months has started counting, identifying all the alphabets in just 2 months of going here. The principal Michelle is very helpful with paperwork and also answering any questions in general. The school is taking measures to keep everyone safe, all the teachers and most of the students here wear mask all the time. I highly recommend this school for anyone looking for a disciplined, respectful Montessori for your kid. read more

The front desk is extremely rude. I was interested in summer and fall programs for my son and they told me that they wont be running a tour till July-August and their waitlists are so long that we don't stand a chance. Maybe its easier to get into Harvard. I am ok with a place being full but don't make it sound like a personal rejection and don't say things like you can tour in July-august for summer program. read more

I have to start this review by saying we're a house full of education snobs who are unfairly critical. :oP My in-laws were masterful teachers who opened a nationally ranked inner-city charter school and my husband took on their mastery and made it his own with a 10-year teaching career backed by Quantum Learning. We know great educators when we see them. After searching high and low for the right preschool for our youngest son, we were blessed to have found this gem of a school. Prior to visiting, my knowledge of the Montessori philosophy was very limited and incredibly inaccurate. My understanding was a child was able to do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. How far from the truth that was! It didn't take long to realize how neurologically appropriate the Montessori method is to promote learning and development in little minds. Our son has been attending M5C for two years and I cannot speak highly enough about the way these teachers care for their students, engage them in individualized curriculum, and feed their minds and souls with goodness. Their learning is tailored to their academic level and interest, but also includes lessons on self-efficacy, responsibility, ownership, kindness, forgiveness, and patience. Have you heard of any other school that teaches all of that?! Our son is medically complicated, quite emotionally needy, and had 30% of his brain surgically removed as an infant due to intractable seizures. He is now 5 1/2 years old, he's been reading kindergarten books for almost a year, he does kindergarten level addition and subtraction, and though difficult to believe, he comes home with completed multiplication problems that he does independently using a Montessori board. Standard public school curriculum doesn't introduce multiplication until the 3rd grade... yet here is our 5-year old... His social skills were just emerging when he started attending and have improved tremendously due to teachers' lessons on inclusion, compromise, and empathy. Their teacher to student ratios beat any other preschool I've ever visited, 1-3 teachers in a class of 20 children. Teachers are seen constantly circling the classroom to individually check in with students, assess their needs, and provide guidance during their "works." Is it expensive? Yes. I sometimes cringe when writing the monthly check. The tuition schedule appears complicated, but if you see it as yearly tuition divided into 10 payments, it makes sense. Every time I think about how much I'm paying for "just preschool," I stop and remember how enriched my son's life is because of this school and its teachers. You just can't put a price on those first five fundamentally important years of life. Montessori at Five Canyons is our son's home away from home where he is safe, nurtured, and adored. Thank you M5C for instilling a love for lifelong learning in our boy and having a positive and everlasting impact on his life. Our lives wouldn't be the same without you. read more

We are coming up on my son's one year anniversary at M5C. He started when he was 18 months old. He is now potty trained, eats neatly with a fork, cleans up his own messes and toys, and can count. He has his little buddies at school, loves the sandbox, and has the ability to focus on individual projects. We are beyond pleased with his development, and credit a ton of it to the people and environment at M5C. The teachers here are kind, patient angels. Thanks to the workshops and educational resources the school offers, I am learning how to be the same. I really appreciate the effort the school makes to give parents the opportunity to learn Montessori-based techniques for interacting with our kids. These learning opportunities have made me a better parent. We have not had the negative interactions some reviewers below report. Meher and Michelle handle the administrative side of things. They are kind and polite every time I have seen them. As for some of the other things mentioned in the reviews, parents bring snack once a month for the classroom, and there are optional work parties or other volunteer opportunities throughout the year. If you don't want to work or volunteer, you don't have to, but you forfeit a $200 deposit for the year. All of this is spelled out in the enrollment documents. The policies for payment are straightforward, and you read them multiple times during enrollment. We haven't had any surprises. Thank you, M5C, for being a safe, pleasant, calm place for my little guy to play, learn and grow! read more

Great teachers, a challenging curriculum, enticing classroom environment make for a wonderful start to education

My younger daughter went here for 1 school year. I had limited options bc she wasn't potty trained - but of all the places I toured, I liked this one best. If I could rate the individual teachers, Ms. Marta would be 5 stars. She seems highly competent, caring and warm. Miss Sarah was also consistently friendly. However, there were many things I did not like about the school that ultimately made me feel like we had to make a change. Things got off to a bad start to begin with. We picked an enrollment date and I submitted payment. THEN i learned that I was supposed to phase my daughter in 1 hour at a time. This should have been made clear from the start. I am a working parent - and I don't have time to spend 10 days slowly introducing my child to your site. I understand this is their way -and they want to make it easier on my child - but you need to make that clear. Another thing I found VERY misleading was how they advertised their hours/rates. The hours they had posted - you can't actually send your child there for those rates - the rates include 8-9 hours.(can't remember) Again, for a working parent - this was next to impossible. They also made you commit to a specific schedule. Most preschools are open during a set number of hours - and if you pay for full time tuition - you can drop off and pick up anytime during those open hours. Not here. This just added one more layer of difficulty in working with them. Next, my daughter's only issues with diaper rash were while she attended this school. They made weak attempts to wipe her- and it literally showed. Next, I had to hunt for my child's belongings almost every day. Her lunch bag would be outside but her sweaters and socks could be found anywhere -other kids' cubbies, other classrooms - who knows. I could have over looked all of this - but what I really hated was some of the teachers' attitudes. My daughter's main teacher didn't arrive until 9. So if I dropped my daughter off at 8:30 - she would need to be with another classroom. That assistant teacher would not even acknowledge my child and act exasperated and annoyed that she had more kids to watch. Well - I am paying someone to watch her during these hours - so if you don't like the ratio - you should talk to your boss - not give parents attitude. Ultimately, I don't think the Montessori method was for her. She has been thriving in a play based environment. My only regret in pulling her was how sad my daughter was never to see Ms. Marta again. read more

Expensive Scam on tuition Lots of holidays Very bad attitude both director and the assistant read more

*Edit* They're out to make money, and the lady who runs this school is very stubborn and not compassionate. They expect parents to chip in with labor as part of the annual tuition (even though you pay the school regardless). read more

We sent our older daughter to the Montessori of five canyons for 3 years while we lived in Bay area. We really liked the warmth of the teachers at this school as well different activities this school offers for different age groups. Our daughter loved going to this school and learnt a lot during the three most important years of her childhood. We moved out of bay area just before she was about to go to kindergarten and even now while she is attending one of the best elementary schools here, she still remembers her montessori five canyons school and misses her teachers and her friends. We have a younger son and if we stayed in Bay area, we would have sent him as well to this montessori school. This school will always hold a special place in our heart along with our daughter's childhood memories. read more

I can tell you now I am not fond of a school that allows a child to go the whole day without eating. Let's start there. We understand the whole "the child has their own schedule" but as a person in charge of the care of a child, they need to be sure that child is eating the lunch they are packed. Second, the director is rude. She's basically just a bill collecting computer that acts like she cannot properly communicate with human beings. It is not all negative but it is DEFINITELY not worth the stress, especially when your kid comes home with a full lunch after a whole day. *shaking my head* read more

director is not on the campus all the time. Some staffs/teach have very bad attitude. It's a way over price. Better compare around.

I was looking for a preschool for my 3 year old daughter and I was super excited about finding this school. The playground and site is super clean and everyone was friendly at first. When I was about to sign her up, I spoke with the site director because I needed extra child care for two days a week. The director informed me that I would have to pay for day care for five days a week even though I only needed it for two days. She said that the kids had to have a consistent schedule all 5 days and that it would interfere with the child teacher ratio if my daughter needed to be there an hour earlier two days a week. She said I had to pay for her to be there the extra hours everyday. I told her that I wanted to spend time with my child and not have her in school if I was home. She went on to say that I could pick her up anytime I wanted but would have to pay for 3 extra consistent hours on days when I didn't even need it. I asked her if I could drop her off at 815 if the start time was 830, she said no, 825 is more concise. On their website, it says they work with your schedule, but in reality they have no flexibility, and all they care about is money! I also called alameda licensing to ask about them, and they have so many complaints. You can call and check for yourself! My first impression was totally wrong, and in the end I'm happy I didn't send my daughter to this school! read more

Our daughter started at Montessori when she was 1.5 years old. In 1.5 years at the school, she went from a super shy girl to a super confident and independent girl. Montessori style of teaching was new for us, but after 1.5 years we can see how it helped our daughter not just learn vocabulary, but develop her physical skills. They have music soccer and gymnastic classes during the week and I can tell our daughter loves them because after she comes back home she tries to teach us what she learned in the school :-). School Director, Miss Meher, has many many years of experience in education and she has always been a great guide for us. As a first time parent, I always had questions regarding topics ranging from education, physical activities and potty training. Miss Meher was really patient in helping us and educating us as well. For our daughter, she really loves her school and her teachers. They helped us get her potty trained in less than 2 months, which was awesome. We are really grateful and amazed that in 1.5 years, M5C transformed our shy little daughter in a super independent chatter box. read more

I went to tour this school for my 3 year old and the first look can be deceiving. This is a beautiful school with so much potential but the staff are a turn off. The director is rude and inflexible. I have wanted to like this school because of the location and the fact that it's one of the few montissori schools in Castro Valley. But the director is so intimidating so I'd hate to imagine how she'd treat my child. She was constantly telling kids what not to do on the tour. The secretary is always rushed and cold and this is a big turn off. Most parents I have talked to who interviewed this school feel the same way. read more

It's a shame that I have to write this negative review of this school. I know all the teachers are great and we will miss them. The problem with this school is the owner/director. She lies, cheats, and tries to intimidate the parents to get more money...it's all about money! We were penalized for withdrawing from the school, even though we followed the parents handbook by giving a 30 day notice. Then the director sent us harassment letters about our son. I don't know where she learned her way of treating people (treating people like idiots to be exact) but it won't work in the long run..... read more

This review is after a long tour and long meeting with the director. The campus is located in the quiet suburbs of Castro Valley Five Canyons neighborhood. I love the quiet location. The parking can be challenging if there is a school function because it's in a narrow court street. The facility is really nice and clean. I looked for any long term staining or smells from neglect but couldn't find any (Cleanliness is really important to me!). There are small animals such as fish or a bird or a turtle in each classroom. The animals were well cared for and their cages and tanks were clean (I have lots of animal pets so I look for any neglect in that too). The children were all happy and independently learning. My husband and I were really impressed (husband is a public school teacher). The outdoor play area is really cute and there is even a vegetable garden where children compost and tend to the garden. Here are some of the more remarkable things we saw that day we visited: 1) A two year old finished her snack of fruits walked her dish over to the sink to rinse her plate and put it on the drying rack. She then walked over to select her learning activity and sat down to play/learn with it.... She's 2 years old! 2) A 4 year old boy was sitting by himself practicing pouring liquids through a funnel. He spilled some water so he walked over to get a mop to clean up the mess. He then put the mop back and continued with his pouring.... All this without being told to do so by a teacher. 3) The kindergarten class was practicing writing sentences. The students were not bothered by our presence nor were they distracted. They continued to do their activities. I won't lie, it's a pricey preschool compared to some other popular places in Castro Valley. We visited another highly rated preschool and they were also very excellent but they were what you expect from a more traditional public school. I think the kids from the other school will be well prepared for kindergarten but Montessori at Five Canyons was just too amazing to pass up and is worth the extra money. The Montessori Five Canyons has more to it than just a preschool because it requires parent participation and material fees but that is normal for other Montessori schools too. We immediately enrolled our son into this program. Montessori isn't for everyone and I think that it depends on the family and on the child. Montessori encourages independence and learning how to function at school, home, and in their community. read more

We had a wonderful experience with this school. Our daughter attended for two years, one pre-school year and then kindergarten. We are so proud of how much she has leaned, how well she is doing, academically and personally, and so happy with the contributions that her teachers have made to help form who she is. The teachers are well trained, the school is a safe and welcoming place, and my daughter loved her time there. It is pricy, but for us, it was money well spent. read more

So I thought it was about time I write an update to my last post. I have two daughters who attend this school - one has attended for four years (now in K) and one who has attended for 2 years (now in Pre-K). In addition to learning an immense amount, my girls are happy and feel welcome and safe in their school. The teachers are kind and gentle. The children eat healthy snacks and are given tools to learn independence and self-care. The school hosts an annual informational meeting, sends a periodic newsletter about students and teachers, and I am invited to observe my children in their classroom and have a formal meeting with the teacher to discuss my child's progress twice a year. I can honestly say this school is the best and I could not have picked a better place for my girls. I wish they could stay here through high school! read more

Our daughter attended the Montessori at Five Canyons for three years, and she's just now finishing Kindergarten there. It has been a great experience for all of us, and we are really going to miss the staff and the other parents there. This school has a real strong sense of community, and the teachers are caring, skilled and knowledgeable. Our daughter got a really solid start toward first grade, and we are very happy with the results. My wife and I both work full time, so our little girl spends all day there, five days a week -- she has benefited tremendously from this experience, and our big concern now is whether a public school atmosphere will be able to keep up the momentum. If we had to do it all over again, we'd do it at Montessori at Five Canyons. If you are already familiar with the Montessori approach to education, I would tell you that this school is "top drawer". read more

Just wanted to check in again to say our girl- now 4- is still thriving at M5C. She comes home with solid academic knowledge as well as a strong socio-emotional education. I can just tell she is discovering so much about being a compassionate human being. AND she knows so many academic things and feels so positive about learning. Again, we are thrilled with the role model of her lead teacher and the ways in which she is loved, cared for, and treated with respect. Every morning when I drop her off for a full day I feel confident that she is in such safe and expert hands. Join the community! read more

We love Montessori at Five Canyons! We have two daughters who attend and they both love it. They love their teachers and friends and have learned so much in their time at the school. My 3 year old is beginning to take a great interest in her letters and reading. My youngest has grown leaps and bounds in her language since being there. I love that the school is clean, as it has helped my children stay on the healthier side. We also love that our girls have made so many great friendships! When we have had concerns about our daughters, we have brought them up respectfully and they have been addressed and the staff worked with us. At this point, there are other schools that are closer and more convenient for us, but our girls will stay at Five Canyons because we love it so much. I also love that the school does special events for the kids - they have a "Grandparent's Luncheon", a visit from Santa Claus, a school potluck, etc. It definitely has a family feel. I was usure about the Montessori Schooling before sending out girls to Five Canyons, but now I love and support it completely! We have had and particularly love Ms. Martha, Ms. Magdalena, Ms. Stephanie and Ms. Sara!!! read more