REVIEW OF York Montessori School BY parent, James Shen

(5) Student Experience

My child really enjoys every part of his daily life at York Montessori School. In the regular school year, he loves self-directed learning activities as well as group learning led by the teacher. He enjoys outdoor times when he can play with his friends as well as sometimes, simply walking around holding his teacher's hand. Also, from what I've heard from the school and from himself, he seems to enjoy mealtime at school much more than he does at home. Of course, there are days where he might've had a more challenging time, but he always gets the support he needs from teachers and friends to get back to his joyful routine very fast. He has also attended YMS's summer camp, which is more play-focused and a different experience, but very enjoyable as well as he gets to explore different topics every week.

(5) School Leadership

My child has attended two other schools. York Montessori School's leadership and administration team is by far the most engaged and responsible. Every member of leadership/administration not only knows my child's progress in class but also engages me and my wife frequently to ensure we are well-informed and that the school's goal aligns with our family's wishes. At pick-up time, if my child sees one of the admin office doors open, he would walk in to show the admins the drawings that he has. More importantly, the leadership team deals with challenges extremely well, my child when he was in toddler had challenges with being gentle when it comes to interactions with others. The leadership worked with the teachers to effectively communicate with us parents patiently and positively to help my child quickly overcome those hurdles.

(5) Teaching

York Montessori School teaching is very well--structured and organized. They have a very well laid-out plan from toddler to pre-casa to casa that helps a child grow in every aspect, including independence, respect, social interactions etc. There are a high variety of activities my child can engage in on a daily basis. Oftentimes, he would come home and surprise us with what he had learned. Just this month, we bought him a new blanket that has the solar system and all the planets painted. He started naming all the planets. At the same time, I never got the feeling that my child felt any pressure in learning. Pace is well-managed on a personal level and I feel my child has picked up a lot of good habits when it comes to learning, such as focus and being creative.

(5) Academics

It is hard to compare academic programs in a traditional sense for children at such a young age. For my child, I am definitely very happy with how he is progressing in learning numbers and reading ability. What I feel is more important is the school has helped foster my child's independence, self-motivation and curiosity when it comes to learning. When he sees something he is interested in, he would often engage it with focus and creativity. For example, there was a month when he would come home wanting to play with his water paint set because he was interested in learning how different colours mix. He would often spend an hour at a time, sometimes longer to explore different ways of playing with a simple set of water paint, and telling us whenever something interesting happened. As for preparing children for the next steps, from the graduate/alumni parents I've spoken with, children from YMS have no problem excelling at interviews and admissions stages in a few nearby reputable schools.

(5) Extracurriculars

York Montessori School has special themes and corresponding activities every months. All the activities and events are planned ahead and informed to the families via the school's bulletin/newsletter so families can design and engage in similar activities to help reinforce learning and add to the fun at home. When it comes to special occasions, such as children's birthdays or special holidays, schools always organize material and fun extracurricular activities to celebrate as a community.

(5) Students

York Montessori is not a big school compared to other ones in the neighbourhood. They keep a great teacher-student ratio from toddlers all the way to pre-casa and casa levels. One of the most enjoyable and impressive parts about York Montessori School is how the teachers and leadership team manage the relationships between students. They really foster a dynamic where the younger kids observe and learn from older ones and the older ones take that opportunity to not only learn how to care for others but also reinforce their own learning as well. My child is currently in the younger half of his casa class, and naturally, his closest friends are those similar in age. However, there is a very apparent positive dynamic between him and the older friends in his class. Oftentimes, when we take him somewhere interesting during the weekend or he learns something cool (like a new kind of silly face), he would often say, "I can't wait to show so-and-so" being one of the older kids in class. I can feel that he wants to reciprocate the care he has gotten from them.

(5) School Life

My child loves going to York Montessori School in the morning and almost always comes home happy and full of joy. In my personal opinion, aside from the positives I've already commented about, one of the biggest reasons for the great quality of life at school for my kid is how much the school cares for its teachers. The teachers at YMS always look happy and stress-free when they are working. They talk to the kids as if they are friends while ensuring the utmost care. I think it is very impressive what the school has done to keep such a stable, motivated and positive team of teachers. Other than that, other daily aspects such as pick-up, drop-off, after-hours, outdoor time, and meals/snacks are all very well-organized and managed and are never an issue for my child. One thing my wife is always mentioning is how my child has never lost an item (hat, shirt, socks etc.) at YMS, while when he was at other schools, there were always lost items or other kids' items found in his backpack etc. I think it really also goes to show the school's quality and high level of management.

(5) Community

York Montessori School has a great community. Every parent I've interacted with is friendly and understanding. I haven't had any experience nor heard anything about conflicts between parents, which I know might be an issue in some schools because of accidents between children. Although I personally haven't participated, I understand that the school is welcoming toward any parent involvement if it makes sense and is beneficial to all the kids. For example, if a family has a cultural background that they'd like to share with others, the parent is welcome to join the class to showcase fun things under the teachers' guidance. The school also puts in a lot of effort in school events, including holiday concerts, as well as parent-only meet and greets that parents can choose to join if they wish.

(5) School Location

School is definitely more of an island, which is what every parent would hope it would be for a school for kids under six. From a neighbourhood/community sense, the school is definitely situated in a safe and welcoming location. There isn't a lot of traffic around and the location is separated from any major business buildings or plazas so it is very quiet and not distracting for the kids.

(5) Admissions

Since it's a school for children of young age, there is definitely no stress with admissions/applications. The leadership/administration team are very patient and friendly with the entire process. What I would recommend for parents thinking about York Montessori School is to really spend some time thinking about their own values and how they want their child to grow and to be taught, and communicate that with the school. York Montessori School is great at communication and listening to the parents' needs.