Desert Montessori Academy

At best, this is an overpriced day care center. In addition to the steep cost of tuition, parents are required to perform duties like doing the school's laundry (I swear I'm not making this up) and contribute several hundred dollars to each of the school's fundraising events, which are mandatory. The teachers leave the children unattended to talk on their cell phones and the administrators are blatant in their favoritism of students who will be returning next year. Don't worry about a waiting list. There are far more children leaving this school than enrolling. The Antelope Valley is a relatively low socioeconomic part of Los Angeles county, so some parents enroll their children here due to fear of violence in public schools, or simply for the bragging rights of sending their children to a Montessori academy. These parents should plan on keeping their children in private schools through high school. Desert Montessori only goes through the 3rd grade, and will leave the children ill-prepared for public school. The Montessori system is based on letting children do their own thing at their own pace, and the teachers are either unwilling or unable to provide assistance to children who may require special attention. The only accreditation required to be a Montessori "teaching associate" are a high school diploma and completion of the short Montessori accreditation course (state accreditation is not required for private schools). We have several friends who are California state accredited instructors and administrators at the elementary, high school, and college levels. All of them warned us that Montessori would probably be a bad choice for our child, with whom they are all acquainted or related. Against their advice, we bought the school's sales pitch, and it proved to be a big mistake. The facility is located in an old house in a residential part of town most people wouldn't want their children in after dark, and the staff frequently arrives late, causing parents to wait until someone shows up to let their children in. Ditto for the end of the day, when teachers are in a hurry to get home and try to rush the parents to pick up their children. In more affluent areas, Montessori academies may be able to attract qualified administrators and instructors. Unfortunately, the staff at this facility is under-qualified to provide quality instruction, and most of them aren't qualified to be good babysitters. Our child's teacher told us she was "overwhelmed" because she had 7 children in her class. If you're set on private school, Desert Christian will provide better structure and education than Desert Montessori, which is the reason Desert Christian's enrollment is significantly higher than Desert Montessori's. We deeply regret the time, money and energy we invested in Desert Montessori. In my opinion, it is more of a cult than a school. Education is always expensive, but we had no idea what a bad investment we were making by enrolling our child here.

Desert Montessori Academy is an excellent school. It is a warm, nurturing environment where my daughter is able to learn things at her own pace. She is way ahead of kids her age who attend public schools in the area.

The school is run in a calm and professional manner. They keep parents very well informed of their child's progress.

I recommend Desert Montessori Academy highly!