Blue Skies Montessori

[dcn]

Hello, I am interested in Blue Skies Montessori School (28th and Holden). It isn’t listed on the West Seattle Blog, and I’m having trouble finding out much about it. Does anyone have any experience or opinions (good or bad?) about it? Thanks.

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[lohoho]

Hi dcn,

We had my son there three years ago. He was 3 at the time and had been to Montessori since he was 2 at a place in Renton. When we enrolled him at Blue Skies, everything appeared to be fine. The owner seemed really nice and the program was pretty good. After a few weeks, my son’s personality changed. He would cry on the way to dropping him off, cry once we arrived and was in an awful mood when we picked him up. My husband and I thought it was just because of the transition, but weeks turned to months and it was getting worse. Then the owner pulled me aside one morning and gave me a lecture about my son and how he was misbehaving and that I should provide more structure and respondsibilities in the home. I was shocked because this was the first I had ever heard this about my son and he was not prone to misbehaving. By this time my son was 4 and I asked him about the place and the owner/teachers. He said that it was not a nice place and that kids were punished a lot and for the smallest things. One example that my son gave was that he had to sit in the closet because he took his shoes off at nap time. The stories seemed too horrible for a 4 year old to make up so I pulled him out immediately and put him at the Cottage School located in Gatewood Elementry. That place is awesome and I highly recommend it. My youngest is at Ages in Stages and we will move him to the Cottage school when he is old enough. I don’t recommend that place at all and urge you to find another place to put your child.

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[Carol PB]

why did you wait so long to ask your son what was happening when you saw there was something wrong? Not trying to judge here, but remember the blog rules.

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[lohoho]

As stated in my post above, we thought he was going through a rough tradition. We had switched Montessories, moved to a new area, etc. When we asked Miss Vanetta about it she was not receptive. We were there for a few months.

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[dcn]

Thanks for the info. They are having an open house today, and I am going to go and talk to other parents. We already interviewed there, and it seemed nice. They have one opening now, but I’d prefer him to enroll in the summer when he can go part-time and can finish out the school year at his current daycare (close to work, not home, and much more expensive). Your words are very concerning, and I will be very cautious about my decision.

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[Tat2d]

I am rather shocked to hear about your child’s experience, Lohoho. All three of my children attended Blue Skies Montessori, and they LOVED it there. My daughter, now 12, always asks to visit the teachers and our family has remained VERY close to everyone that works there. I have never had any issues, nor have my children. I wholeheartedly reccomend Blue Skies to anyone looking for care, and have been doing so since 2001!!

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[dcn]

Hi, I went to the open house yesterday, and met many families whose children all really like it. It’s nice to get some good refs as well as the bad. Probably not all pre-schools are right for every child.

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[mommom]

My child attended BS for over 2 years. The school has its pros and cons but the latter out weighed the good stuff for me. The school has a nice vibe, looks good (educationally and visually) and everyone is friendly. Cuddles and love seemed to be in abundance when we would arrive/drop off. I do strongly agree that they are overly harsh with discipline in the way that they make the child feel embarrassed as they are called out and talked to in an adult’s stern way. I much prefer mediation rather than their methods. I think this is lack of teacher education on the subject and thus a reflection of the director. The director has a dominating vibe. Her sister is also part of the staff. They do have a lovely lead teacher much to their credit — I hope she stays. To comment about the work or learning they do, sit in on class a few days. I found there is a LOT of still time which is hard on 3-5 year olds thus prone to discipline. Some boredom too with repetition. Outside time while mandatory seemed to be limited during rainy days. And in general I found, for lack of better description, laziness. That and there is a major lack of community which I find important. While I don’t mean to me be overly negative or unbalanced about the school, I can’t give it more than a C rating. To end on a positive note, my child does have fond feelings of the school and thus there is some sunshine in there. Good luck.

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