Keystone Montessori School

"I currently have two children enrolled at Keystone Montessori and next year a third. I can't say enough about how much we love this school and the strong community that comes along with it. There have been some challenging times over the past few years navigating the pandemic. through it all, the staff at Keystone staff has remained supportive, informative and positive. My children love going to school each day and eager to tell me all they have learned when I pick them up. I truly love this approach to learning and the relationships that have been built along the way."

"Our son has been at Keystone since he was 3 years old. We visited several other Montessori schools in the area and knew immediately after our visit this was where he needed to be. Watching him grow from a toddler into the boy he is now has been amazing, and a huge part of that is because of Keystone. The pandemic was hard on everyone, especially our children. The head of school and entire staff at Keystone kept our school open, thereby giving our children some sort of normalcy in a very chaotic time. When it was considered safe, the school opened back up for parents, including parent teacher conferences, follow the child, parent education nights, guest speakers and classroom observation days. This isn’t just a school for us. It’s a community where we have met so many wonderful people. We are so thankful to be a part of KMS!"

"My family has been at Keystone since 2019. We love this school and the staff more than words can say. My children absolutely love to learn due to the guidance of the teachers at Keystone. My children have wanted to go to school everyday, and are always sad when the summer comes because they love being there. I have had a child in both primary and elementary, and we have been so impressed by both classes. Also, my son’s test scores proved that he has received an excellent education. If you want a true Montessori education (without screens), Keystone is amazing. We have also been impressed with the leadership from the head of school. Through her tough decision making, Keystone was able to remain in person the last two years while other schools were remote. She has always put what is best for the children first. I trust her implicitly with my child’s education and safety."

"I have broken up my review of Keystone Montessori into two posts so that I can share my complete story with you. See Kevin Lozeau for part 2.... I want to start out by saying that the comments made by Momma Memoirs three years ago has a lot of truth to it. My son was in his classroom during that time, and I did see the head administrator/co-founder demonstrate a lack of patience and coldness when interacting with her son. Their head primary teacher at that time also informed me that the administrator was intimidating, verbally aggressive, and created an extremely difficult work environment for her which forced her to leave at the end of that school year. At the time, I thought it was an isolated incident since the head administrator was no longer a teacher in the classroom. Like the other posts here suggest, the teachers and staff are extremely talented and warm with our children. During the first five years at Keystone, my son felt loved, supported, encouraged, and challenged. However, during his sixth, and what turned out to be his last year, his experience and ours felt chaotic, toxic, confusing, and cold. A few weeks before school started the assistant teacher in the elementary classroom quit. This was a surprise to the community. She was a talented TA. She was so talented that the school had been sponsoring her Montessori training for years. She opted to break her contract and repay her debt to the school instead of continuing her career at KMS. Within the first two months of school starting, we had another shocking blow. My son’s elementary teacher and co-founder of Keystone disappeared literally from one day to the next. She was a gifted, warm, talented, and passionate Montessori teacher. The parents and, more importantly, the students were not told why she left and were forbidden to attempt any type of contact with their beloved teacher (whom most knew since they were three years old). Over the years and in particular this last year, the head administrator at KMS has been steadfast in her efforts to stop any attempts by me or other parents for clarification. The head administrator does not allow communication with the classroom teacher whether it be to collaborate with our child’s teacher through direct contact, email, or text (which is explicitly forbidden), or parent involvement of any kind at the school. In hindsight, that lack of transparency should have been a red flag. The head administrator makes it very clear that KMS is her school, and she will run it as she sees fit; moreover, her disregard for compassion and empathy goes against the Montessori philosophy. My son expressed confusion over the sudden loss of two exceptional and caring teachers. He also expressed deep sadness when we were told that the upper elementary (4, 5, & 6th year) would be eliminated at the start of the next school year. But I think the hardest part for him and us was the lack of empathy and compassion for the heartbreak the students and parents were feeling due to these losses. It felt clear to me that the head administrator’s loss and sadness was allowed to be expressed fully (and welcomed) but if a parent attempted to express their confusion over the situation and the hard feelings they produced, she either ignored us or implied that we were uncaring towards her and her colleague.... please see the rest of my post......"

"This is Part 2 from Lourdes23: My son’s comments to me on his last day at Keystone summed it up heartbreakingly well…. The night before his last day we gathered at Keystone one last time to celebrate the 6th year students who would be moving on to middle school. On that night, my son expected the administrator to not only congratulate those who had finished the program at Keystone but also to acknowledge the loss of over half the elementary classroom who were forced to leave due to the circumstances. To my son’s disappoint this acknowledgment never came, nor was any heartfelt goodbyes expressed on their last morning with this administrator. My son expressed to me in the car that afternoon….” She didn’t say anything to me! She was my first teacher; she didn’t say anything to any of us who are not allowed to stay…we were just thrown out like garbage.” We were at Keystone a total of six years and despite my experiences with this administrator we felt blessed to have the quality teachers that taught and loved our son for five of those years. I believe that this administrator and co-founder of Keystone does not have the best interest of the students at heart, and it is reflected in the odd way our teachers have chosen to leave the school leaving our students confused and hurt. For this reason, I would not recommend Keystone to anyone I know. We are thankful to have moved on."