I love this school for my little one! It feels like an extension of our home instead of feeling…read morelike I was sending her to elementary school early.

Two of our kids have moved through Rockland Montessori Academy for preschool and had excellent…read moreexperiences. The teachers are amazing and so dedicated. The curriculum is fantastic- our kids learned so much! They also get outside everyday and do awesome crafts. The school offers many special classes (our kids' favorite was cooking class, from a real chef!) They really create a community for the families, and have many special traditions and events throughout the year. They also offer a great summer camp program that is very well run and convenient. The leadership team is excellent to work with and they run a tight ship. I wish we could stay there forever! But they have given our kids an excellent social and academic foundation for their elementary years.

I had a funeral for my uncle today at St Clements in Medford. The priest was giving the host to the…read morefamily that was morning the loss of their father at the bench that they were sitting. My cousin took it but didn't want it, he was not in his right mind mourning his father. So he but it in his pocket. The priest went back to him after finishing giving the host to everyone and asked if he took it and he said no. The priest said he wanted it back. My cousin took it out of his pocket and gave it back to him. This was so embarrassing to him and Francis Hui Pham insulting him in front of everyone in church. This is a disgrace to the church to embarress the family this way at their fathers service. I will not recommend anybody to go to this church for a funeral service. There are plenty of Regular Catholic churches in Medford to go to. I have never seen this happen to anyone. When someone receives a host they walk away with it and they have no idea if they took it. I recommend this priest to reach out to this the family and apologize. I'll be waiting!!

Awesome parish the priest are very welcoming. They have lots of humor and they are all Italians…read more Great place to start your Sunday.

When we were considering Lesley Ellis for preschool, we asked around on the playground, and just…read moreabout every parent we talked to told us, "It's excellent! The only negative is the cost." That matched our experience perfectly. The tuition is steep - though financial aid is available! - but everything else was fantastic, and we were consistently impressed with the teachers, curriculum, field trips, awareness of kids as individuals, interaction with administration, and more. My mom worked for decades in early childhood education, and (as an interested and involved grandparent) was also very impressed. They welcomed/encouraged heavy parent involvement, from "come into the classroom to talk about something you're knowledgeable/passionate about" to occasional parent-meetups-over-coffee in the morning and more. But I was never, ever made to feel guilty about not being able to participate heavily, which was the norm once we had our second kid. (Who also went to LES for preschool, once old enough.) We can't speak to their K-8 experience, but for preschool/pre-K/TK they were fantastic.

Lesley Ellis is an independent school from pre-school to grade 6, but expanding soon to 8th. Our…read moredaughter is in her third year there and we have been delighted with the program. The teachers are an outstanding group and attuned to the needs of each individual student. The administration is truly exceptional as they create an environment where parents, children and the school come together to form a nurturing and vibrant community.

This school it great but not always great there some nice teachers but there some bad teacherread more

its is such a good school for children to learn about god and staff are also the best!read more

We joined Wild Rose, a Wildflower offspring, at the early stage and grew together over the years…read more WR started with 9 kids and now has over 40, with about half in primary and the rest in elementary. The teachers are kind and experienced, helping kids learn more about social values instead of test taking. Kids are given autonomy and expected to contribute to the school system by shopping for food, cooking, cleaning up the classroom, setting up projects, etc. We experienced some growing pains but overall was well worth it. Parents are expected to be involved but this has been reduced to about once a month instead of per week. The low teacher to kid ratio ensures more attention and opportunity to aid the kids in their weaker areas. The school is looking to grow into middle school (grade 5+) and is actively looking for children aged 9-11 for the next academic year. It is well worth taking a tour to see if it is the right fit for your family!

My 5yo son attends Wild Rose. The things that I think make it special are:…read more - it's deliberately a small, one-classroom, shopfront school. So it's a very close-knit group and the teachers have a lot of autonomy and passion for making the best school they can. - it's true to the Montessori tradition without falling into dogma -- observation and experimentation are important elements. The school cooperates with researchers at the MIT Media Lab that are studying new methods and materials. - it's a mixed-age classroom. This creates so many wonderful opportunities for younger children to learn from older children and for older children to practice being leaders and teachers.

Went to this school when I was younger. Was bullied by both faculty and students, and the…read moreexperience there was horrid. I would never send my child there. EVER.

I was actually just looking up the schedule for masses, but I saw the review and thought I would…read morepost a brief comment based on my experiences, as some folks seem to place some value on Yelp reviews. I am a graduate of Saint Agnes Elementary School as well as Arlington Catholic High School. I thought the teachers were wonderful. They provided a first rate education, as well as offering insight on how to live as a thoughtful and concerned member of society. The students all seemed to get along as well as young people typically do. Maybe because of the relative small size of the schools but, while I was there, there weren't really any cliques or anything like that. Everyone would talk to everyone else regardless of extra curricular activities, or specialized interests. Based on my experiences, I would certainly recommend both schools.

Cambridge Montessori School embraced both of my children and placed them at the center of the…read morelearning experience. They love going to this school and their CMS experience has taught them to love learning. My second grader interacts with adults gracefully and articulately because of the skills and confidence this schooling experience has given her. CMS has an excellent arts, music, and drama offering and the teachers encourage academic excellence. I would recommend CMS to any parent looking for a school that supports a curriculum that encourages independence and confidence in addition to accelerated learning.

The school culture is rigid and judgmental, with a culture of pathologizing normal toddler…read morebehavior. Some of the things that made us withdraw our 3yo mid-year: Despite a stated open-door policy, parents were actively discouraged from involvement in or visiting the classroom. In March, a formal school memo forbade parents from speaking to each other at drop-off/pickup, asked parents to drop their children off at the front door instead of at the classroom door, and instructed parents not to carry their children or their children's belongings. The memo specifically suggested that any discipline problems at home were caused by not following the same rigid "expectations" as the school. When our son was afraid to use the toilet at school, the teacher forced him to sit on the toilet for 45 min while he cried in frustration. He was criticized for not doing work exactly the way the teachers wanted (e.g. sorting puzzle in the "right" order). In a parent conference, we were told our son was "too literal" because asked where rain came from, he said "From the sky," not "From clouds." He was already reading and adding at 3, but we were told this, along with his shyness, were signs of a possible psychological problem. We were bullied to take him for autism screening, even after a specialist and our pediatrician said he was likely fine. Administration, up to the head of school, either ignored problems or blamed us. When we sent a formal letter detailing our complaints, the school offered us a partial tuition refund if we signed a nondisparagement agreement. We refused. We've since learned other families had similar experiences. If you click on Yelp's "non-recommended reviews"--which are weeded out by algorithm--you'll see that other families have made similar complaints.