Golden Montessori is a nice little pre-school in Gresham. I was impressed by the amount of personal…read moreattention paid to the kids and it was obvious to me that "Teacher Mary" loved kids and interacted well with them. The kids in return were attentive and clearly seemed to be having a good time there. I am a big fan of the Montessori method. I certainly wish my parents had sent me to one. Instead, I got to see what it has done for my little neice and I am both delighted and charmed.

My son attended this school a little more than 2 months and during that time he learned a lot of…read moretext book information. he learned the days of the week, months of the year. they sang daily songs, did daily activities. Here is why my rating is so low. when i signed up for this school I was misinformed about it being a Montessori school. I saw the teacher interact with the kids and be nice or playful with them during the small window of parent pick up. I believe these people are good people, they are just old school and set in their ways. the woman has a long history in the education system and feels that she knows everything and if you want to try and talk to her she will get defensive and rude and talk over you. no matter how many kids are around watching the scene. they have more kids than they can take care of and teach. a couple weeks ago I picked up my son and found this little boy with his pants down, exposing his penis, instead of getting up to help this boy who couldnt do it on his own, she encouraged him to do it on his own. she was too LAZY to stand up. I wrote them a letter about my concern because at home we build our son up and talk to him about independence while also explaining that our privates are only for us and we dont show them to our friends. they were very rude back to me after I wrote the letter. they got defensive and gave me every excuse in the book about why it happened. today I went in just to sit in on the class. I figured maybe I was over reacting and once I sat in on their MONTESSORI class I would feel better because I would see how nurturing they are and how they acknowledge each childs feelings and needs.. I was so wrong! what I saw today was so sad. teacher Mary sat on the floor of the kitchen area and made kids count eggs, she included them even if they were doing something else. she would say "get me that basket, pick up those toys" my favorite was when one of the little girls took something from another. the teacher sighed very loudly and said " did you just take that from her? you need to stop, thats so rude" thats how that situation was handled and so many others. she talked over top of the kids while some kids sat in a different area not even noticed. on the other side of the room was bill doing a teacher guided writing activity. there was an extreme lack of respect for the kids. more of a "my way of highway" attitude. this one boy wasnt listening and he got loud and said "you need to write you a's NOW" I had heard enough at that point I started writing a list to myself so I could go home and talk to my husband about my concerns so we could make our next move. teacher Mary stood up and said " you have more complaints???" I told her I had a few and before she ever let me talk she started accusing me or things and being horrible. she was talking over me in front of the whole class, she told me i just needed to get out and I was being disrespectful. I complained, how am I suppose to talk to you guys about anything when there clearly isnt an open door policy" at that point I was crying and she just kept telling me to take my kid and leave.. teacher Bill took me into the other room to try and have a conversation with me. explained that they dont have the money and they are trying to do their best (which I believe is true) but they just have too many kids and are too old to have 8-10 kids in there and be able to teach them using the MONTESSORI way. i explained my concerns about talking over children and he had an excuse for everything. I put my child into preschool so he could have the same respect from his teachers and peers that he gets at home and there is no way those teachers are going to belittle me in front of children and claim to give those kiddos respect. he explained over and over that they arent perfect and i just kept talking about consistency, they are a normal structured teacher led preschool. DONT LET THE NAME FOOL YOU. honestly even if I wasnt looking for MONTESSORI I wouldnt recommend taking your child there! terrible experience. my son told me weeks ago he wanted to change schools because the teachers were sometimes mean. they dont understand what it means to respect kids and acknowledge feelings because for whatever reason they think they know it all and are too old school to change their ways.. save yourself the time and money and your little child the heartache and find yourself a different preschool home! Good luck!

We are sending all of our children to Morningstar. The school is an excellent mix of children from…read moremany cultural and economic backgrounds. The Montessori method that is taught is traditional Montessori and the guide is incredible.

MetroKids is one of the Joyful Noise centers. In my opinion, this center is second to none! I have…read morebeen in centers where money was more of a priority than the children. You won't see that at MetroKids! Everything is done with the children's best interests in mind. Because Joyful Noise pays higher than average wages and provides a positive work environment, teacher turnover rate is a lot lower than you'll find else in early childhood. Joyful Noise focuses on providing children with positive reinforcements and redirections. Children are taught the social skills they need for life, and are given tools to manage their strong emotions and peer conflicts. I highly recommend looking into ANY of the four Joyful Noise centers!

Love this place. Pauline and staff really have a heart for the kids and have an in-depth knowledge…read moreof their profession and have such great ideas for their program. My son has been working for Mrs. Pauline Lee for over 8 years and all I can say is I love the positive influence she has had on his life and needless to say on the kids at the school. The staff is close knit and their love for the students show. I wouldn't hesitate to have my kids in this school.

AMAZING inclusive school! Pauline and staff made us feel so welcome and they're very patient with…read moreour unique differences! I can't shout this from the rooftop enough. If you're looking for a inclusive school, this is it!

SWPCC is a wonderful context for preschoolers and their families. The coop format builds a…read morewonderful community surrounding children with many trusted adults. In the young toddler room (age 1-2) we love the 3 days/week schedule plus the ability to buy or trade days in a flexible manner as necessary!

Today was our first day at a new school. I took a long sigh of relief, I had not realized was…read morebadly over due. We left Southwest Parent-Child Collective this last year. Our feelings, mixed at best. We had many hopes and a great introduction to the school via visits both at the school with fellow parent's, and with our child's teacher. We were excited about the coop's nurturing environment, and cohesive community. While we believe our child's teacher was everything we could hope for and more, the parent environment was not okay. Not at all. In the coop, everyone has a role/job. I was nervous but excited about my role within the school it's community. The job, and the school ended up being a place, where I did not feel comfortable. The key role authority the "Co-Chair" never liked my ideas. The energy i put into ideas, and planning, was shot down, by this woman in charge. She seemed to go out of her way to be "helpful" in doing this. We had signed up for a "coop". Instead we got one person making rules, with no regard for others. The new $5 a minute punitive late fee - BAD news, but the way in which this "Co-Chair" put down another admirable member, behind her back to me, that was it. We were sad to leave the good of the school behind. The environment had become for us, the opposite of what was pitched to us. It seemed one bad apple, but then no one, including the other board members or teachers did anything to change the situation. Maybe we had the wrong idea of the school. I would not recommend Southwest Parent-Child Collective.

Little Nestings ,a nonprofit preschool in West Linn, provides great education, a healthy…read moreenvironment, loving and nurturing atmosphere and dedication. The Reggio Emilio curriculum is extraordinary. This approach is a student-centered educational philosophy based on the idea that children are capable, creative, and intelligent, and that they learn best through self-directed, experiential learning in relationship-driven environments. Little Nestlings is a true asset to the West Linn preschool community.

I have a 4 year old who attends this coop and we absolutely love Miss Emma and all the families at…read morethe school. We only volunteer 2 times per month and there are only 4 general parent meetings throughout the school year. My son also loves his friends. It has been a very positive experience for us :)

Our family cannot in good conscience recommend this school to anyone, regardless of how nice the…read morehome setting or education methods might be. Your kids would be fine here. But for the cost, there are much better options in Portland! We had a terrible experience with this preschool. This business is run by someone who lacks professional ethics to an extreme we've never before encountered. Long story short, Angela Molloy Murphy has no problem using a contract to screw a family out of thousands of dollars, and will refuse to even discuss the possibility of working out a mutually agreeable solution to a problem. If you do decide to go with this school--be warned. Please do not pre-pay any amount more than necessary, and do not trust Angela Molloy Murphy to follow basic codes of decency or fairness in any business interaction! Protect yourself.

Rowanberry School, and Angela Malloy Murphy, were one of the best aspects of my daughters'…read morechildhoods. I should say "are" because we are still close with Angela, her family, and the other families who attended the school. My oldest daughter was welcomed into the school at age 3 and she spent the next three years growing, exploring, challenging and thriving. My second daughter was a part of the community from the day she was born and while she's a very different child from her sister she found the same nurturing educational environment. One of the things I most admire about Angela is her ongoing enthusiasm of early childhood education and the fact that she is always evolving her school based on new information and what are the needs of the children in the classroom at that moment. I went from a somewhat nervous new preschool mom, asking a million questions all the time, to knowing that whatever was going on in Angela's classroom was fun, exciting, and appropriate for the kids. I see that Cedar L, below, questions Angela's ethics; I find this laughable. Angela is one of the most generous, honest and straightforward people I know. In the course of our nine-year relationship I think we've had to have a few conversations where something had to be worked out, as is to be expected when you're doing business with someone, and that's what a preschool is--a business, after all. I don't even remember exactly what those things were due to Angela's they lovely way working through small conflicts and preserving great relationships.