Hudson Country Montessori School 340 Quaker Ridge Road, New Rochelle, NY 10804

"Hudson has been my home for the last eight years of my life. The time I spent here, especially my middle school time, was really precious. In the last three years, I have been given the opportunity to understand how a business works, participate in movie nights & empanada sales, be a part of community service activities, from picking up trash to partaking in the sharing shelf, write papers and giving speeches at CWMUN (Change the World Model United Nations), and discuss world topics in leadership class with Mr. Meyer. During the pandemic, Hudson has managed distance learning remarkably well. Being able to teach us everything through zoom in an understandable way is truly commendable. The teachers have been able to teach the students from 8am to 2:30pm without any problems. Lastly, I would like to thank my two teachers from Middle School, Mrs. Angela Rambukwella and Ms. Yohanna Willheim. It is because of Mrs. Rambuk that I am able to succeed in doing 10th grade math in 8th grade. She gave up her time during the summer and after school, in helping me finish 9th grade in three months and moving me up to tenth which I am very grateful for. Ms. Willheim has been a wonderful teacher in both science and English. She has given some of the greatest topics to do group presentations and personal projects, such as creating a mars calendar and how it would be if we were to colonize mars. A lot of my friends who attend public schools have never heard of being given such creative topics to do research on and that credit goes entirely to Ms. Willheim. Not only that, but if anyone is having any homework difficulties or needs time to talk to her, Ms. Willheim has always been there. I couldn’t ask for better preparation for high school than what Hudson has given me!"

"Our experience at Husdon Country Montessori School New Rochelle Campus spans ten years. Our son started pre-K and will be graduating from the 8th grade in June 2021. HCMS was the best decision we could have made for our child as well as our family. At Hudson, our child found a home away from home. The school has an environment that is nurturing, academically robust, and is very diverse in terms of ethnic makeup.  The HCMS model allows for the teachers and students to develop a personal relationship that transcends the 8am-3pm school day. At an early stage, they’ve identified our son’s strengths and steadily reinforced them over the years. With this individualized approach, they were also able to identify our child’s weaknesses and provide supplemental help as needed.  As a result, we now have a student who is not only academically competitive, but also compassionate, tolerant, and understanding of other races, genders, religions, and ideologies.  We can say unequivocally that HCMS truly played a key role in our child’s overall development.  To say we are proud of the person he’s become is an understatement.  That said, rest assured that the HCMS experience is time well spent."

"I have a 4 year old son, who is ready for school, I choose this school because it was highly recommended. Unfortunately our experience was not a very pleasant one. Staff follow up is poor, and unprofessional. We followed all the requisites and made all the appointments and interviews, which where supposed to be followed up with phone calls from the staff to discuss moving forward with enrollment. Staff did not follow up as they said they would, we called them multiple times and still no follow up. After leaving messages for the director she eventually called us back one week later. Our boy was evaluated by two different teachers on their assessment they incorrectly said he needed OT, and I say incorrectly because shortly after that he had a MD appointment where his doctor said that he had great dexterity and good fine motor skills. We have admitted him to another school and within days he is writing on the same level as the other kids. When I tried to explain to the director she seemed to just dismiss me. It is very unfortunate that they do not seem to give individual attention to ones child. For 25k a year and their competition this school is not a good choice. Unless you are looking to save a few thousand dollars. Fast forward 9 months later. He's been enrolled into a different Montessori school. He's excelling in all subjects he's more independent and makes friends easily. Thank goodness we did not send our boy to that school."

"I have a 18 months old son and we got recommendations from coworkers to Hudson Country Montessori school for summer camp. In the beginning of the toddler summer camp I have asked teacher will I receive any pictures of my son to know how is he doing in school. The teacher told me she will send some picture in the end of the summer camp. So I was very looking forward to the last day of the summer camp. Unfortunately today which is the last day of the summer camp when I picked up my son I didn't receive any report or any pictures. Instead of the reports / pictures. I was introduced to a teacher I have never spoken to and told me the teacher who is in charge of my son's class had to leave earlier. Then she told me that my son being bit by another kid, I asked the name she said they are not allow to tell the students name. It's their policy. They never tell the name. Then she showed me my son's arm with a bit mark which I was shocked as it seemed the kid had his tooth on my son's skin for a long while otherwise the mark wouldn't be so visible. Then I asked the teacher he has a bit mark but you can't tell the student's name. Then the teacher told me it's not bleeding the skin is not break it's only the mark. Again I was shocked. I said this looks really bad which my son has never experienced. Did he cry ? I asked. Then this teacher told me she wasn't there so she doesn't know. Then again I am shocked and think how convenient that the school sent a teacher I have never met and spoken to during this one month summer camp on the top she can't even explain the situation. I was very unhappy then she finally told me when she saw it the teacher was already holding my son and later on put some icepacks on the bitten part. I wish she told me this earlier. Then I held my son thinking for the past two days he started crying when I dropped him before he was very looking forward to go to school everyday until two days ago. I wonder does he get bullying in the school even he does he can't even speak out , he is too young to tell. I also believe he is the youngest kid in the school since we sent him to this summer camp as soon as he turned 18 months. Overall I just wanted to say I think the teacher has responsibilities to watch the kids and this shouldn't have happened to my son. I was thinking to have him come back to the summer camp next year as I really think it was a good environment for my son. However now I am totally disappointed and lost the trust with the teacher here and the school. I also think the way they handled was very bad. I did leave a message and request the teacher who is in charged my son's class give me a call. Let's see. I get a feeling this is the last day of my son in this summer camp school I doubt they even care. It's a pity in the end what we got is the bit arm instead of his summer camp reports or pictures. It amazed me that the teacher let it happened and didn't stop right away."

"I only have positive things to say about this school. They truly care about the children. The staff is friendly, warm and very approachable. Both my kids have benefitted tremendously from the curriculum and from the age range in each classroom, giving them an opportunity to both be an example for and learn from others."