There's nothing more comforting than your child WANTING to be somewhere you are not. From day 1 my daughter really enjoyed coming to PEM. The teachers, Ms.Maduka, Ms. Sharon, and Ms.Andrea in particular were a very important part in her development. The curriculum here is spot on and really enhances what your kid enjoys doing while also teaching them many other important subjects and ways to learn. If you are looking for a school that takes absolute care and dedication of your kid then look no further. I highly recommend this school to all. You will not be disappointed. read more

My daughter spent nearly two years at Pacific Explorer Montessori, and I'm so grateful for the experience. From the very beginning, Mrs. Maduka created a warm and supportive environment where my daughter has truly thrived. She absolutely loves all her teachers, including Ms. Andrea, who introduced her to Spanish in such a fun and engaging way, and Ms. Sheron, who has also played a big role in her learning journey. My daughter has become more independent, confident, and curious, and has developed strong language, reading, and math skills. We've always felt at ease and fully recommend this school to any family looking for a supportive and enriching early education environment. read more

PEM has been a fantastic choice for my daughter. The caring staff, child-centered approach, and good teacher-student ratio have created a nurturing and stimulating environment. She loves going to school, she is excited to go to school every morning, and I've seen significant growth in her confidence and social skills. It's a place where education and character development go hand in hand. Overall, this preschool has exceeded my expectations. read more

Pacific Explorer Montessori - Preschools Near Me - Torrance, California

My daughters time here was wonderful. The teachers were caring, supportive and helpful in teaching her age appropriate lessons. I felt comfortable dropping her off in the morning, which is a great feeling for a first time mom. read more

Pacific Explorer Montessori - Halloween parade - Preschools Near Me - Torrance, California

Pacific Explorer Montessori was a part of our family for over 8 years. We sent both kids there and both of them enjoyed their times there. Mrs Maduka and the teachers taught our kids basic reading and math skills that prepared them for kindergarten and elementary school. My son went to kindergarten already reading. Their hours are convenient for working parents. We have nothing but good things to say about pacific explorer. We loved the teachers and Would recommend the school to anyone. read more

We started Pacific Explorers in the start of the pandemic in 2020. My child only went for a few months before I had to pull her due to how bad it was getting with Covid. I brought her back a year later and has since just graduated. I have the deepest appreciation to the staff for caring for my child through everything. Ms. Maduka has always been super supportive and communicative if there were any concerns or issues that arose, which I really appreciated and respected. Her staff has always been the kindest and nurturing. I could not write a review without recognizing her amazing past staff: Ms. Gina, Ms. Prescilla, and Ms. Linda. Her current staff, Ms. Shayron, who has been there before our beginning, is the best. Ms. Mindi is also sweet and kind. We will dearly miss this school which has played such a huge part in my child's early development. Thank you Pacific Explorers Montessori. read more

PEM is truly a hidden gem! Mrs. Maduka and Mr. D take pride in investing in their students. Both my girls attended PEM and thrived. Their staff is attentive, and LOVING...which is so hard to find. They are communicative with parents and focus on helping their students excel. My girls are able to write their names, count past 20, know their shapes, and can identify colors in Spanish all before pre-school. I've always been nervous about leaving my children "daycare" because of the horror stories and my past experiences with other daycares, but every drop off I felt comfortable and assured that my children were going to be tended to with love and respect. Thank you Pacific Explorer Montessori!!! read more

Pacific explorer Montessori is a great school. Ms. Maduka & Mr. Dee really made a big difference in the early life of my 3 kids. My children spent 4 to 5 years at this school. The staff is so caring and involved. When my children moved on to kindergarten I was able to see the academic difference. The facility is clean and well maintained. I would strongly recommend PEM for parents that want to find a great preschool and give your kids a great start. read more

Highly recommend Pacific Explorer Montessori School. The staff is caring and professional. Our daughter graduated this year & has happy memories playing on the swings, playing with her friends, & learning. read more

This place is nothing alike Montessori teaching methods . Director is very Rude actually incompetent: all she said to my Child was "No" unbelievable she is not even self aware. of course children is going to touch the toys. even adults are in the process of Learning read more

Tucked a few blocks away from Hickory Elementary School and very close to both Victor and Anza Elementary is a GEM of a school in Pacific Explorer Montessori. Our son has been going here for over a year now, after leaving the exorbitantly priced Le Port Montessori Lomita on PCH. While we did like the teachers and training from Le Port, we did not like what it was becoming, which was a very corporate and sometimes 'exclusive' school. by that i mean, it seemingly was wanting to ignore the kids and families in nearby Lomita (precisely where it is located), Carson, Redondo Beach, Torrance and Gardena areas. But enough about that school. We are so very fortunate and happy to have found PEM. It is a nurturing, stable and positive environment for our child. Whenever we have a problem, the teachers work with us to find a solution. We can talk with them at any time, which is such a huge relief. The teachers here are AMS and/or AMI certified. They know what they are doing. We looked into SO many schools in the area. We've seen the glorified playgrounds, the dirty pig pens, the elaborate and sterile corporations, and the sorry excuses for day care that should really NOT be caring for ANYTHING, let alone our precious children. What we found is that PEM is the best choice, by far! if you want a clean, nurturing, productive and certified Montessori school, THIS IS THE ONE. read more

What a fantastic school! And I toured and looked into a dozen Southbay daycare programs for my 18 month old, before (thankfully) ending my search at PEM. Let me start off by saying, that the school is out of the way from work for both me and my husband, but the little extra drive daily is worth it for me as I can speak now from experience. This school is exceptionally clean (and that's such a big deal for me). Most Southbay daycares I toured were run-down, the layouts were not conducive to active children and toddlers running around. Where they slept, where they ate, where the played (all taken into consideration everywhere I looked). Here, the classroom for young toddlers is totally separate from older toddlers...its huge, spacious, safe and everything is new, clean and organized. The floors, the walls, the furniture, the toys (again, everything considered on my end). Don't think me to be stringent, but the safety of my kid is everything! The outdoor playground also has a designated gated play area for younger toddlers that's padded and so on. My favorite is the pint sized and brand new toilets and sinks (because they will potty train at PEM for free!!!) and honestly, that's just half the great things I can think of about the space...hands down though, my peace of mind comes from the wonderful attentive staff and principals, who take care of my boy and everyone else's like their own children. The children are loved and cared for and that's what every parent needs to know when their child is in the care of another. They are well trained here, very understanding and accommodating, and as a parent who is reasonable and appreciative of all the great things this school offers, I try to be the same in return. For all that's offered, PEM is either comparable in price or beats most child daycares in the Southbay (Redondo/Torrance/Manhattan/Hermosa schools). My son started here a little over 3 months ago at 18 months old and he has thrived so much in those 3 months. The best part is, that he's really enthusiastic about going to school each morning and after a long day (7:30am-5pm daily) he actually doesn't want to come home just yet lol. Happy Kid = Happy Mommy. Thanks to a huge part to Pacific Explorer Montessori!!! .....Fast Forward a Year and a half later and my kid's primary teacher left, then more staff turnover took place, attitudes and high browed bullshit started flying out of the mouths of owner/directors/spouses who were more concerned about the financial bottom line and started using my kid as the catalyst for all their issues they were having with their own staff who come to find out get paid a mere $11 an hour to take care of and educate toddlers. Let me ask you if you would do your staff's job for that little? No wonder you can't keep a steady staff. There's no motive or incentive for them, no encouragement and desire to show up daily and perform and outdo themselves in any way as they influence and shape the education and lives of little children. I hung on 4 additional months after my kids teacher left trying to understand what was happening in the world of this school and they had the nerve to give me an expulsion notice for a 2 year old child like he is a maniacal creature with no ability to control himself (so my kid has a speech delay and can't express himself with verbal communication and was already getting weekly therapy that i fought my insurance high and low to get coverage for) but thanks for calling yourselves "educators" and giving up on him when he needs attention and guidance the most. Must be the $11 an hour staff that's not equipped to handle a child with mild special needs. Anyway, there's so much more I can convey in terms of disappointment towards the end, but i waited now another 6.5 month after leaving to write this review, on account that i didn't want to write it from a place of emotion, frustration etc and wanted to critically relay my sentiments after an alternate experience elsewhere and observation and experience with this sort of thing. Nope, they are exactly who they showed themselves to be at the end. The kicker is they didn't even potty train him, always having an excuse for why he wasn't ready and then had further nerve to throw that "he isn't even potty trained yet" in my face as the list of things wrong with him lol. I laugh now, but only at your idiocy PEM. I intentionally left my great former review up, to show people that a fast and serious decline is and can be possible about your child's school. Sadly too! read more

I transferred my twins from South Bay Montessori to Pacific Explorer Montessori. In contrast, I found this place better than South Bay Montessori-- money wise. The directress Ms. Maduka is always at t site, and easy to talk to. The children adores the staff, classmates and the teaching method. The facility is clean, I would highly recommend this school. Singh read more

This place is only getting on star because 1) I can't rate it any less and 2) Miss. Cathy is an excellent teacher. While Miss. Cathy is wonderful, the heart of this school is based on the money coming in the door. My BIGGEST issue with this is place is that they charge a diapering fee of $3.50 PER DAY - OK fine, it's a Montessori, it's a supposed to be a good school, so I'll swallow the diapering fee as long as you change my kids diaper. The first week and a half, this didn't happen. This is when my issues started. We brought it up to Ms. Maduka's husband and was told that they change diapersat 12:30pm, so he doesn't get a diaper change since he's pick up by then because he does half days. If you're going to charge me a diapering fee and not check to see if my child has wet diaper during the day because it isn't "time", I have an issue with that. My kid is SOAKING wet by the time we pick him up, it's 4 hours. If you're not going to change his diaper and tell me I'm the ONLY parent that has had an issue with this ever? Then you're going to charge me a diapering fee when challenged? What on earth am I paying for? My heart broke when I saw my son had rashes all over from the lack of diaper changes. First let me say, I have no issues with spending an extra buck if it means my child get a good start in life. When I visited the school a couple months ago to get a feel for the space, fee schedule and see if there were openings I felt good about my decision and returned a few months later as discussed to get him enrolled. We paid the fees and set up the dates. During the enrollment process Ms. Maduka informed us that the fees had gone up but not to worry since she would honor the fees she initially quoted us. That was very cool of her. I didn't know what the new fees were, but little did I know this would lead to me being treated like a second class citizen by her husband whom she did not ask permission from before offering me the reduced rate. He later threw it in our face and accused me of BEGGING and PLEADING for a lower fee and that he was not happy I wasn't paying full price. Well excuse me. You need to fix you internal communication issues before you give me trouble. I then got accused for having issues with paying JUST $10.50 a week to change my son's diaper (which they didn't do until WE made an issue of it). Yes, I have an issue with it - especially if you're not going to change it. When we challenged Ms. Maduka's husband - we were asked if "we could read" or "use a calculator" - he rolled his eyes at us and consistently tried to speak over us and disrespect us. My husband and I have never been treated spoken to so poorly. It was unacceptable. Pulling my son out of this school was the best decision we made - he will be starting at a school that actually cares more about him then the dollars rolling in (which Ms. Maduka's husband openly admitted he only cared about the money). Save yourself the trouble and go to Golden Kids Preschool instead where they actually care about the kids before your wallet. read more

Like every parent I was very nervous about sending my baby/toddler off to school. I checked out at least 5 schools all in which my daughter couldn't wait to leave during her try out times. Needless to say we checked Young Explorer and I knew right away as did my daughter that this was the school for her. Maduka and Ms. Jean are not just educators but loving and caring mothers. I've met substitute teachers a well and they are all wonderful. They watch the children attentively and always watch out for their best needs. The school is also VERY clean and that was very important to my husband and I because nothing is worse than an unkempt school. It's an equal amount of boys and girls and my daughter is comfortable with this homey atmosphere altogether. We are actually deciding to put her in more days because my daughter has shown so much improvement in her behavior and knowledge in class. read more

My son started in this school when he was 2 years and 6 months old and has turned 4 years this month. He likes this school very much and doesn't likes to miss out school even for a day. His learning ability has improved a lot and shows keen interest in learning things and socializes now with other kids very easily and we are very happy with his learning curve.. Teachers are very caring and helpful and provides feedback regularly. They have good collection of books and various activities which keep the children engage and learn new things. This facility is not overcrowded and gives ample space for kids to run around freely. Montessori teaching is an added advantage for this school. Mr Dee and Madhuka were very helpful and caring and so are the other staff. This school is a hidden gem in Torrance location. read more

My child attended Pacific Montessori for year and a half. During her stay here, she have thrived tremendously in every way. I will definitely and have recommended Pacific Monterey to all that have asked. Especialy to those who was impressed with my child's language and social skills. read more

The owners are extremely caring. Low teacher-student ratio so the kids get a lot of attention and supervision. They learn quite a bit through experimentation and hands- on activities. My children did very well here and were happy and encouraged to learn and discover the world around them. I would definitely recommend this great school! read more

I would prefer this school to all of the parents if you are looking forward your kids to be taken care well, with love and care. Our daughter started at Young Explorer Montessori at 2 and half years, she is now 4 years old. The entire staff has been wonderful. Every morning my wife drops our daughter at the school, and there is a tad bit of disappointment because she is excited to be there and tells my wife to go "bye bye". Our daughter has made many friends, and learned many things while at school. She now sets her own plate, wipes her hands, and picks up her dishes... all of learned while at this school. In the evening when we are leaving, all the teachers take time to say goodbye as we leave. The staff also makes sure to keep us appraised of any situations, from simple things such as bumping her head (as little kids will do) to if she develops a fever. The staff is quick to notify us, and follow up in call. We appreciate all they do. read more

The philosophies of Maria Montessori are beautifully exemplified in this fabulous school. This school is full of love, warmth, kindness, learning, structure, and confidence building. I have absolutely adored sending my son to this school. He has blossomed here, and grown as a whole person. We will definitely be sending out next child here shortly. read more

My 4 year old daughter attends PEM and she LOVES, LOVES, LOVES the teachers & the staff. Best of all facility is very very clean, teachers are very professional and they really do care for each and everyone of the kids that attends this school. I highly recommend this MONTESSORI school. It's definitely an A+ and you will NOT be disappointed. Your child will learn so much and you will definitely see changes in a matter of weeks. read more

I would like to add an update to my previous review. My daughter started Kindergarten at another school a couple months ago. She made honor role and got all 4s on her report card and will be going to advanced 1st grade next year. I would like to thank Young Explorer Montessori school and Ms. Jean for this accomplishment. My daughter learned so much in Preschool, which helped her make honor role in Kindergarten. read more

Young Explorer Montessori is the new preschool in town. The owner(s) are caring and nurturing educators, dedicated to Montessori practices and dedicated to giving children the skills necessary to enter school with an advantage. read more

My daughter still talk about her fond memories with teacher Maduka. A passionate and dedicated teacher who exposed them to self learning and created a fun environment for them to thrive in. My daughter is doing quite well in her studies. She has a natural curiosity and love of learning, not just to do well on tests, or get an A in class, but because she is genuinely interested and find learning fun and exciting. I'm so glad that I chose a strong foundation for her. I'm ever so grateful to teacher Maduka! for her loving, nurturing, and truly inspirational teaching skills. read more

It is the best school ever I could find for my daughter. The way the teachers care the kids is excellent. After few weeks of joining this school, my daughter learned the communication and social skills very well. She loves to go to school everyday. I can see the happiness in her face when she talking about the teachers and her friends at school. The teachers are very kind and affectionate to each kids in this school. The hygiene and cleanliness is the best quality I ever noticed each day when I go to school with my daughter. The teachers and other employees are very professional in the way of their teaching and taking care of the kids. I love Young Explorer Montessori school, and suggest each parents to send their kids to a well cared, loving school atmosphere there. read more