I cannot say enough great things about this school! My child is a kindergartener this year and he…read moreis already developing into a wonderful young person and I accredit this to MLA. His manners are wonderful, he is reading, spelling, and wants to learn more. He looks forward to school every day. His class is small and the kids and families are close. The education is exceptional and the expectations are high.

Impressive exhibits! Well worth the time to meander through. Wide variety of works on display.read more

I attended KCAI between 1965 and 1966 and was planning to major in Industrial Design. Having taken…read more4 year of art classes in high school in Shreveport Louisiana I had been lucky enough to have gotten a good foundation in art early with dedicated teachers. While in Louisiana I had some newspaper articles written about my art while there. When I first arrived at the Art Institute in 1965, I move into the then new dormitory with a excellent cafeteria and dinning area that impressed me. However, dorm life was a disappointment since I had to share the room with a roommate that had no intentions of finishing the semester and I had one these guys for my first two semesters. Both boys (they never grew up) were always having friends over (who also were quitting) so they were drinking and partying in the room at all hours of the night. I was forced to go downstairs and study in the dinning area to get my work done. I was disappointed in the Art Institute, first in my Foundation Training in that from what art work I saw that my instructors had done reminded me of my first year in high school art. However, I had never liked English or History in high School but I love attending both of these classes taught by Roy Culver (English) and John Burke (History) . My second year I started my major Industrial Design thinking about being a car designer or at least product designer. Again, I was disappointed in the teaching and had a strong feeling that my teacher who was also the Dean John Lotus really had no experience teaching Industrial Design. I also noticed that there were many manufacturing companies in Kansas City at the time that were probably using Industrial Designers but we were never exposed to these companies and those companies more than likely never knew there was a Industrial Design department at the Art Institute. The final straw and the reason I dropped out of the Art Institute was a story told to our Industrial Design class mid term of my second semester. I was already wondering what I was doing at the Art Institute when one morning Dean Lotus came into the classroom with a big smile on his face and told us that he had received a phone call from one of his best students that had graduated the year before and that the student had gotten a great job. After a long story about how great the student had been while a student at the Art Institute our Dean told us that this student had gotten a job in Minnesota with a big manufacture called Church they manufactured toilet seats. I said nothing and finished the class then walked to the Resistor Office and resigned. I was drafted into the Army 90 days later and later sent to Vietnam. I did get the job as an Technical Illustrator and stationed in Saigon where I not only helped put out a magazine there (GRUNT Magazine) that turned out to be quit popular and even today issues are for sale on the internet and even some colleges have it in their archives. I was assigned to a photo unit and we sometimes made ID photos for American construction contractors and after talking to them I decided to change employment directions. When I left Vietnam I when back to LSU in Louisiana and got a degree in Engineering and 4 months after graduation I got a job with a oil company working in New Guinea, I never stopped from that point working in Thailand, Sumatra, Vietnam, Bahrain, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Nigeria. Frist I will say that my early art education taught me to think outside the box that had been an asset in my professional life enabling to solve engineering problems that were though impossible before. I went on to being a Project Manager on my last $6billion project in Nigeria before retiring in Thailand where I am writing this review at 76.

Well, if you want the facts about St. Teresa's, look right below my review to Colleen's, who gave a…read morereally great review of STA. I'll share a personal story with you. Nan Bone, current president of STA, was kind enough to let our company teach both ACT and HSPT classes on campus at STA. I loved working with the girls, who range from sassy and smart to quiet and thoughtful. As a single-sex-educated guy myself, and a brother to three sisters, I love to see these young women thrive in an environment where they aren't battling for male approval as they learn more about themselves. My second cousin, Sr. Mary Grace Heiner, taught here in the 1960s and when I discovered that fact, and her name on the ground floor of Donnelly Hall, I took a pencil rubbing of it and sent one to my Dad and kept one for myself. A Heiner was once again teaching at STA. The campus itself is gorgeous, and set within a beautiful and historic neighborhood near Loose Park. I've said this in another review, but when your school looks lovely and old, or even dignified and new, you will inspire, subconciously via architecture, your students to strive to achieve to match the tradition within those walls. When you construct schools to look like jails or DMVs, can you blame kids who are bored or skip class? There's a great story about how the trees got to STA also. The Mother Superior contracted with a gentleman who brought them from...Swope Park. It was only later discovered by the city and while that gentleman received his reprimand, you can imagine that those trees were not removed. And today, they decorate the already lovely STA campus. If you have a smart or serious or fun-loving or artistic or quiet girl - or just one you think needs her own space to develop - consider STA.

There's no rule about reviewing high schools, right? Well - I've spent more time here than at any…read morerestaurant or boutique in town so why not! STA is an all-girl Catholic high school. This review could be enormously long because I have so much to say about this place - so I'll break it down rationally. I know most yelpers are younger, maybe don't have children yet. BUT if you are considering raising kids in the future in Kansas City, it's never to early to consider where you'd likely send them to schools and coming from a graduated student - there's no better source to hear it from. Year it was founded: 1866 (and being 142 years old means it is the OLDEST school west of the Mississippi River - a little fact that's drilled into our heads as freshmen). Size: 530 students (my class was 100). Teachers: STA teachers are a mix of feminists (to teach the young women right now) and liberal artist-types. You get very personalized attention because the school is so small - the student to teacher ratio is 12:1. Personally, I loved my teachers and my adviser (it's like homeroom) and even the secretaries and administration - I had a heart for all of them by the end because the school's too small not to gradually get to know them over the four years. Students: They come from over 65 grade schools. Mine was in Kansas and transferring over to a Missouri school might not sound like a big deal - but MO Catholic grade school cliques run blood deep, haha, seriously! The good thing is, the campus is too small to be exclusive with friendships - we called ourselves a sisterhood and took the title seriously. Academics: Here's probably the most important thing about the school. It's a liberal arts education - I read a crap load of Jane Austen freshman year to make me absolutely sick of feminist literature, but that being said - it's academically intense and comprehensive and everyone is very motivated to want to be academically sound. No one really wanted to be the 'slacker' when I went there - everyone was too concerned with grades and college to not work hard. As I remember - we were all a bunch of little neurotic perfectionists - wearing Birkenstock and red wool sweaters (fun fact about our sweaters: they were flame-retardent, the fibers would melt under a lighter - it's been tried many ties over). My BEST ADVICE: Get your kid or future kid or cousin or whomever is considering STA to get into the honors academic program. This is where you want to be as a student - the administration gives you fuller attention, you take all of the courses that top colleges are looking for, it sets you on a track for success beyond the four years of attendance. It was the best decision of my life to get in the program (thanks to the wisdom of my two older sisters having gone through the school and discovering that sometimes, non-honors students get the shaft in placement and opportunities). AND THE BEST WAY TO DO THIS (and trust me, they don't advertise this information) is to attend their morning math class in eight grade (call and ask about it if you are interested - but this tip is as good as GOLD). Soul The heart of the place is this: girls roll out of bed, no makeup and roll in by the random hour established as the start of an official school day (7:46 was always weird to me). Girls love journalism here - STA has a nationally acclaimed newspaper (The Dart) and girls love soccer here (we've won countless state titles). Girls here may be initially hesitant of the no-boys aloud thing - but after about a day, they figure out it's an opportunity to get to know themselves without the stresses of the opposite sex. I can say honestly, that all girl schools are not for everyone but they are certainly for some, for shy girls who want to get loud (cheesy but true), for girls who are following family tradition (people's grandmother and mothers and aunts have gone here, mine included), for girls wanting a sisterhood instead of Saved By The Bell - it's what I chose and I've never regretted it for one day in my life.

playing basketball there was soo nice but there court is kinda weird but it busted soo yeah I give…read moreit 3 stars !!!!!!!!!!

My son attended Olivia's house from age 6 months to 5 years. He started at Stephens house. My…read moreexperience with the staff was professional and friendly. My son enjoyed his time there and looked forward to attending "school" each day. He made many friends and had the chance to engage in a variety of activities each day. The pre-school level created a foundation for kindergarten. They explored letters and reading. I was very happy with my experiences, I have suggested them to others for child care. They are well liked by the community, call there most likely will be a wait list!

My child was having behavioral struggles prior to Clay-Platte (CP). We thought sensory was a…read morecomponent & I had her tested for cognitive ability due to complaints that school was boring. She tested high & I thought perhaps she wasn't being challenged combined with overwhelming sensory inputs. She lacked behavioral struggles at home which told me the school environment was the trigger. I'd been looking into CP since she was a baby so I decided to take the leap. I enrolled her in the 6-9 year class. Before term I got a call that the school's 9-12 class teacher had left & they'd be combining classes so that 6-12 year olds were in the same class. I trusted the school wouldn't make that decision without consideration so I was still onboard to give it a shot despite reservations. Behavioral struggles began immediately and I took my child back for more extensive testing. Before completing testing, my child was asked not to return to CPs aftercare program. W/o aftercare I could not keep my child at CP. I moved her to a different school & got the results of her testing. She has inattentive ADHD. She began medication for ADHD & is doing so much better now. Having the dx explains a lot. My child is smart yet struggles to focus on a subject. She knows she can learn something yet cannot direct her attention to learn it. This caused significant frustration. Also, in times where she is receiving undesirable sensory inputs she seeks sensory outlets. The combo of these also led to her eloping the environment causing her stress. I'm writing this review to share some insights for parents who also have neurodivergent (ND) children. I had hoped that I would be met at CP with empathetic minds given the nature of Montessori education & I don't feel that was the case. I felt judgement here & that my child was seen as a problem rather than a child struggling. I didn't get this sense from all the staff, but I shouldn't have gotten this sense from any of the staff. I don't feel like the school was equipped for my child, even as she is now with a dx & medication. It's one thing to have a child led school with child led curriculum, but another thing to effectively lead a child & it starts with how you interact with them, not what you try to teach them. Once when I went to pick up my child she'd found a ladybug. When I got there the lead teacher said, "Here at CP, we don't keep the bugs. You must leave it here." & began the campaign to tell her to put the bug down. I stepped in & said something like cool ladybug, let's go find him a great home. We did & she left without issue. It seems super small, but instead of leading my child, the teacher put herself in a position of authoritative conflict. For ADHD kids who have higher rates of ODD this is not ideal. When I had my child tested, the psychologist sent questionnaires to her lead teacher. Each of the questionnaires is given a bias score. The responses received from the CP lead teacher were flagged for negative bias, indicating that they could be excessively critical or judgmental. Specific to aftercare, a lot of the staff was just kids in the high school class. Once at pickup I was met by the director because my child was refusing to go back into the building & the conversation I had with her wasn't encouraging. She kind of ranted about how this was a business & she was going to have to raise aftercare prices. The conversation lacked the professionalism I would expect & instead of being centered on helping my child it felt more like, "take a look at your child not listening to an adult & hear about how it affects my business." Less important than the educational stewardship of my ND child, I paid Aug & Sep tuition, Aug & Sep aftercare, & a material fee. My child attended the school 8/15-9/23 & aftercare 8/15-9/8. When I asked about a prorated refund I was blown off. I paid for 2 full months of aftercare for 19 days. & I paid for 2 full months of tuition for 30 days. I doubt my child utilized $500 worth of the material fee I paid.

We've had a truly wonderful experience at Clay-Platte Montessori School over the past two years…read more From our very first tour with Lishchkaya (who became Head of School shortly after we started), we felt welcomed and seen. We were drawn to Montessori principles, but what really impressed us was seeing how beautifully those ideas are lived out in the classrooms. Our son was in a Primary classroom with Mark as the lead guide, and we watched him grow so much in his independence, confidence, and curiosity. The teachers and staff are top-notch: patient, caring, and incredibly intentional in how they observe and support each child's development. The access to nature has also been a huge highlight. Whether it's exploring the creek or building outside, our child came home full of stories and wonder from his outdoor experiences. And beyond just academics, he learned real, practical life skills (things like how to care for his space, solve problems, and take initiative), which we know will serve him well long after he's left the classroom. One of the things we appreciated most was how well they got to know our child and us. It's a place where relationships matter, where each child is respected as an individual, and where learning is joyful and meaningful. We couldn't have asked for a better foundation for our son's early education, and we're so grateful to have been part of the CPMS community.

Solid coursework and well equipped classrooms. Will let you know more as I progress.read more