Amherst Montessori School

"Our family was nothing less than thrilled with our AMS experience!! Our daughter (just over 4 y.o. at the time) transitioned seamlessly into the Children's House Program after an experience at another pre-school with which we weren't quite as pleased. The space/building is a tremendous learning environment and the staff are somehow even better...truly caring, wholesome, engaged, and invested. Thank you Montessori Family!!!"

"My family is so lucky to have our daughter in the Infant Program at Amherst Montessori. As a first time parent, I felt ready for childcare, but I was apprehensive about leaving her and found it difficult emotionally. AMS made this emotional adjustment for me and my daughter as easy as possible. Amherst Montessori School was not only supportive, but also treated me and my family with such kindness. They answered all of our questions, were informative about the structure of the program and who would be involved in our child’s daily life, and attentive to our potential concerns. After the interview process I had a gut feeling that AMS would be a community that would help our child grow and also nurture her development as a whole person. I felt I had been given a gift in that I could trust the AMS community and myself in knowing that she would be safe and would benefit from the socialization with engaged teachers and peers. Once we were accepted, my husband and I were thrilled to learn she had a spot in the program and are even more thrilled to be a part of the program. The infant room is warm, safe, and open. The teachers, Linda and Kristie, are gentle, attentive, and invested in the children. Our daughter has learned so much from the other children and her teachers. She loves school and actually waves us out the door when she arrives in her classroom each morning. It gives us such peace to know that she is the same happy girl when we pick her up as she is when we drop her off. We are so grateful for our time at AMS and look forward to spending more years in the AMS community."

"My family loves this school! My daughter started in the Young Toddler program at 18 months, and she had never been in a daycare situation before. I was nervous about the transition, but the teachers were so caring and warm that she was immediately comfortable and happy. The staff is friendly and responsive, and the classrooms are bright and welcoming. Even in the younger classrooms, the toys and activities are chosen with care to be fun and engaging while clearly providing the basis for both physical and mental skills. Since then, my daughter has transitioned to the Toddler and now the Casa classrooms, and the positive effects of her Montessori experience are extremely evident. She is polite, engaged, focused, and independent in ways that are beyond what you would expect of a child her age. Strangers stop me to comment on how clear and advanced her speech is, and her grandparents and other distant relatives comment on her independence and skill every time they visit. My daughter looks forward to school every day, and when I pick her up she is always smiling. That is the most important thing to me, and the reason we will always be a Montessori family--my daughter is not only thriving, but is gaining a love of learning and a high self-esteem from a school environment that supports her in every way. Truly, I cannot recommend this school enough."

"We love this school. Our daughter has been going here for ~3 years. The teachers are amazing. It is a great early childhood education. Our daughter comes home happy from school each day and looks forward to school each morning. She is excited to learn. Also, it provides a great foundation for math and science. Just today our 5-year-old daughter said she wanted get a job where she could do scientific research projects! That must have come from school because we have never mentioned anything like that at home (even though I am a scientist :)"

"Amherst Montessori School is a wonderful community of people and a fantastic learning environment for children. We did have a rough Spring due to an unforeseen loss of a staff member. As the incoming President of the Board of Trustees, I can report that we have recovered from this difficult time and are a stronger and more connected community. The Board is a conscious group who operates from a place of awareness and compassion. I have been a parent at AMS for going on three years and have watched my two children develop in to kind, loving, curious little people, with an absolute love for learning. Parenting is a tough job, and I feel so grateful that the staff at Amherst Montessori School are helping us to raise our children. Aside from witnessing my children develop in to extremely happy people, I have also watched them excel academically. I believe this is in large part due to the nurturing environment of the classroom, which allows them to actively learn as opposed to contending with emotional unease. The Guides and Assistants at AMS are an incredibly conscious, mindful group of people and truly understand how to help children develop their minds and spirits."