The Good Shepherd Catholic Montessori

This review is the one I wish I read before I put my children in this school.

First, the good: the school grounds are great and the teachers do a nice job of using it to the advantage of students for recess, gym, and learning about nature. Many of the teachers care deeply about their students and Montessori principles. My kids made close connections with other students.

And now, what I wish I had known: The school is weighted in its leadership to a conservative, religious set of views. There are signs around the school that are political and it is my impression that parents who are unmarried, divorced, or in the LGBQT community do not feel welcome. There is a reason the tuition is so much less than comparable schools. Many teachers at the school do not have teaching licenses. Compared to other Montessori schools in Cincinnati, fewer have advanced degrees as well. For our family, and others, the final straw that convinced us to withdraw our children was the school's handling of COVID safety. A small group of parents who dominate the school's policies determined that "personal choice" (with regard to masking, vaccines, and other protocol) would dictate, even though many families at higher risk of infection or illness begged for some reasonable precautions. A board member sent out an email claiming the vaccine is the "mark of the beast," and that masks are part of a secret Muslim plot to institute sharia law. I provide this as a specific example of the discourse that characterizes the leadership.

It was upsetting to move our children from a school where they had friends and teachers they liked. However, the values and practices espoused by the leadership, combined with religion as the school’s driving and primary concern, led us to feel we had no other choice. We lobbied for positive change, but were unsuccessful in the end.