Oneonta Montessori

Lisa V.

We have had two children attend Oneonta from 2 years to 5 years of age and we loved it!! All of the teachers in the early school are amazing – warm, thoughtful, and creative educators who care for the children as family and also inspire curiosity, learning, and kindness. Ms. Audrey, the Assistant Director, is the creative energy behind the curriculum and programming. Each year the overarching themes are different but they always focus on connection with others and empathy.

The kids are engaged in service learning. One year, my daughter’s class (with Ms. Audrey) adopted a cotton-top tamarin at the LA Zoo. Each child was responsible for figuring out how to raise money to contribute to the class adoption. The kids were so engaged that they learned about the Titi (cotton-top tamarin) Festival in Colombia and performed a class dance just like the kids in Colombia do during the festival.

This year, my other daughter’s class (again with Ms. Audrey) adopted goats for a family through Heifer International. As part of their learning, the kids had a goat milk day when they got to taste test various goat milk products. They also made goat-milk soaps.

In addition to service learning, they also learn language – Spanish and Mandarin, which my younger daughter loved! She would come home and teach us new words and new songs in Mandarin.

My daughters have also had Ms. Vanessa, Ms. Esther, and Ms. Melinda… all equally warm and loving and inspiring as educators. When my older daughter struggled with transitioning at the beginning of the year, Ms. Vanessa took her under her wing. Every day, my daughter would seek out Ms. Vanessa and was able to smoothly transition into class with her extra care.

And I would be remiss not to give due credit to Ms. Fiona, the school director. She is open, understanding, and always willing to help. I strongly believe that a school culture is dictated by the director… Ms. Fiona has fostered a wonderful community of learning and warmth, exactly what we desired in a school. Honestly, we would have continued into the older grades at Oneonta except that we had already committed ourselves to a Dual Language Immersion Catholic education because of our bilingual/bicultural home.

Our family has benefitted and so enjoyed being a part of the Oneonta learning community! Our teachers have been so special to us and we will have the finest memories of early learning with Oneonta!

We highly recommend Oneonta to anyone seeking an excellent early learning environment and/or a Montessori-based education for any age.

Name: Ib A.

Love love love this school! We’ve had our daughter in the school for a year. We love Ms Terri and Ms Cindy in the Ladybug class. We’ve seen our daughter blossom both intellectually and socially.

Name: Madeeha B.

After having a horrible experience at Children’s Montessori we sent my daughter here for preschool and she loved it. The teachers are catering loving, welcoming and nurturing. Great school for preschool.

Name: Angela C.

It’s been two years since my family moved away and my kids stopped attending Oneonta, but I feel compelled to leave a review. I am an experienced educator but a newbie in the field of early childhood education, and these days I often find myself realizing what an amazing little school Oneonta was for my children. Both of them had learned so much in pre-K (while having a lot of fun) that by the time they started formal schooling they were so well-prepared and are doing well academically even now. Oneonta offered enriching curriculum and activities, field trips, and great family engagement events, and thinking back, I am so grateful that my children had the opportunity to receive an early childhood education at Oneonta. Ms. Audrey, Ms. Fiona, and the rest of the staff who engaged with my children every day–if you are reading this, Rylan, Ezra and I would like to express our deepest gratitude.

Name: Emily L.

My daughter started at OMS right after she turned 2. BOTH of us were a little nervous at first, but our teachers, Miss Esther, Miss Cindy and Miss Vanessa, helped us through the transition. Now, she is all smiles and high-fives when I drop her off, and that puts me at ease. During those first couple of weeks, I got daily updates from Miss Esther on Class Dojo (an app that connects parents with teachers), and she always answered my questions no matter how late it was, and helped not only my daughter, but also myself, adjust to preschool. 🙂 After the summer session ended, my daughter’s class got a new teacher, Miss Vanessa, who is also wonderful, and has continued the warm, compassionate and thoughtful care of my daughter and her friends/classmates. My daughter still has occasional difficult mornings, but Miss Vanessa and Miss Cindy always have a good attitude about it and give her lots of hugs and reassurance. Miss Vanessa now updates me weekly with photos and with my daughter’s progress on Class Dojo. I love being able to directly communicate with her through this tool.

My daughter has definitely blossomed since she started at OMS. She went from saying a few words to now speaking full sentences and even being able to recite the Pledge of Allegiance by memory, However, it is not all about memorizing. She now knows how to sound out letters and words, and has gained communication skills that help her navigate typical playground politics. I am a big fan of the Montessori philosophy and love seeing her develop self confidence and abilities through self-directed activity, hands-on learning and collaborative play.

The school also provides access to extra-curricular activities such as dance and My Gym, which is extremely convenient for a working parent like myself. Basically, the classes come to the school, and for an extra fee, your child can participate during the school day. That means no additional drop-off or pick-up at another location after school.

I love walking though the classroom each morning to find a gallery of work created by my daughter and her classmates. Our teachers put so much effort and time into not only doing activities with the children, but also decorating the class with the students’ work. I am always impressed. I feel having the work presented in such a way makes my daughter feel proud of what she is learning and creating, and also proud of her class environment.

OMS also celebrates cultural diversity and holidays with lots of special activities and even shows.

Thanks to Miss Cindy and Miss Vanessa for potty training my daughter. I give them full credit for getting her out of diapers just after the age of 2. On one busy morning, my daughter had an accident on the way to school (because I forgot to take her to the bathroom before we left for school. Ugh! My fault.) My daughter needed a full change of clothes, and when we finally arrived in the classroom, Miss Cindy volunteered to take care of her. She is the best!

Finally, Miss Fiona, the school’s director, is a great leader and sets the tone for the rest of the school. She knows each student by name, and although I have not had much one-on-one interaction with her, I know she is a good role model for the teachers and the students.

Name: Linus S.

I was a student from there and I love it but moved to another school after I past second grade at Ms Mary Ann’s class , but I can tell you that if you want your kid to be challenged then this is the best there is