| Category : | Activities, Advanced Study, Daycare, Home Daycare, Montessori, Online School |
| Publish date : | December 3, 2024 |
| Address | 55 Yeomans Rd, Toronto, ON M3H 3J7, Canada |
| Social Links : | |
| Phone No | 416-784-5071 |
| Website | http://www.mjds.ca |
| CCMA Status | Accredited |
At Lakeside Montessori School we offer an authentic Montessori Toddler program 18 months to approximately 3 years of age and a Casa program approximately 3 years of age to 6 years of age along with French music yoga and physical education. Full and half day programs as well as part time programs are available in both the Toddler and Casa classrooms. We offer both before and after school care as well as a Summer Camp program. In addition all children are provided with healthy catered lunches and morning and afternoon snacks.For young children there is something special about tasks which an adult considers ordinary – washing dishes sewing polishing shoes et. They are exciting to children because they allow them to imitate adults. Imitation is one of the strongest urges during childrens early years. In this area of the classroom children perfect their coordination and become absorbed in activity. They learn to pay attention to details as they follow a regular sequence of actions and gradually lengthen their span of concentration.
We decided to take our daughter to Lakeside Montessori mostly because of the facility – it is very nice! However, the attitude we see there is not what we expect from people who are in charge of small children: our daughter bumped her head twice in less than 5 months since she started here and we were not impressed with how it was all presented to us. The first time we noticed a rather large bruise on her forehead (which didn’t look too bad, but was visible enough to see it as soon as you looked at her); there was no accident report and, as a matter of fact, nobody was able to tell us what had happened when we asked about it. The second time we did get a report, but the bruise on her forehead was really big (big and blue/purple enough that we took her to the emergency to make sure that everything was ok); what happened? “Oh, you know… kids run all the time and fall down, cry a bit and then they’re ok. We put some ice and she was fine” this had happened in the morning, soon after we have dropped her off and we found out at pick-up time around 4PM. I consider this not acceptable.
My experience are Lakeside Montessori School has been extremely positive. My son loves coming here each day, his teachers are extremely attentive and I am notified about anything that has happened to him in written form. In general, the staff is welcoming, the school is modern and bright and most importantly, my son is content when i
I pick him up each day.
This school looks great: brand new building, bright, airy and impeccably clean classrooms. But this is this only thing I could say is great about this school. Our experience with the staff though turned out to be far from what we initially thought it would be: while the teachers do act very nicely towards the children, there doesn’t seem to be any warmth whatsoever in their interactions – it almost feels like there is no pleasure in what they do. Accidents are treated very casually and it rarely happens that our son has no bruises at all; since we started taking him here he had bruises on his face, forehead, arms, back, legs… thankfully, nothing serious yet, but when we ask about what happened the answers we get (if we get any) are very vague and we’re constantly being explained that his is absolutely normal when kids are small: they run fall, stand up and run again. I have even witnessed how one of the teachers was trying to convince a parent that her son’s eyelid was only dirty, not bruised (?)
When my wife and I checked out Lakeside Montessori we were immediately wowed by the modern design of the school. During our tour we found Carolyn, the school’s director, to be aloof and robotic in her responses to our questions. We didn’t think much of this at the time, and ultimately decided to register based on our initial impression of the school, but as the saying goes, looks can be deceiving. Total monthly payment was about $1,000/month.
The nice facade started falling apart during my daughter’s very first week of school. There was no friendliness or warmth at Lakeside. Most parents and staff, including Carolyn, wouldn’t look at us or even say hello. We expected a bit of transition period for the first month or so, but our daughter really wasn’t herself. She dreaded morning drop offs, and at pickups I noticed there was a sad, almost depressed look to her face and in the way she carried herself. This behaviour persisted and continued until the end of her three months at Lakeside.
Things quickly got worse. At the six week mark my daughter got a terrible case of diaper rash. When we spoke with the teacher about the issue she implied she came to school that way, and that staff always ensured children received regular diaper changes. We decided not to pursue this issue further because after voicing our complaints, and our expectations around diaper care and overall hygiene, the teacher promised this would not happen again. Three short weeks later we were shocked when we came home to find our daughter had another extreme case of diaper rash. We again brought this to the teacher’s attention and requested a meeting with Carolyn. When we met Carolyn the first thing that came out of her mouth was not an apology or a promise to fix things, but rather the question of whether we wanted to leave the school.
Although taken aback, we responded we didn’t want to withdraw our daughter from the school, but that we had serious concerns with the level of diaper care our daughter was receiving. The conversation ended with Carolyn telling us she would talk with staff about this issue – again with no apology. She didn’t even have the courtesy afterwards to follow up and ask how our child was doing or to let us know the problem was fixed.
The real kicker came during my daughter’s last week at Lakeside when she was bit by another child. At pick up the teacher told us there was a “minor” incident today in class where another child bit our daughter on the arm which left a “small mark”. The teacher then handed us an incident form that she asked us to sign which we quickly did in order to comfort our distressed child. Upon further inspection at home we saw the bite left more than just a small mark. The other child bit my daughter so hard through the thick fleece sweater she was wearing that it left a full impression of their upper and lower teeth on her arm.
The next day we pulled up my daughter’s sleeve and showed the teacher the full extent of the injury. We demanded the incident form be revised to reflect the true nature of the injury, and that she follow up on the situation with the parents of the biter. We told her it was obvious the three staff in the room were not paying proper attention if one child had the opportunity to bite another so hard to leave full teeth marks. We also told her we wanted the biter to be kept well away from our daughter for her remaining time at school. We believe Lakeside should have called us immediately given the seriousness of the injury and the shock of the attack. We also found it odd that we were directing Lakeside staff on appropriate follow up actions, and again there was never any follow up from Carolyn. Although her skin wasn’t broken, our daughter complained about pain from the bite three days afterward.
The lack of leadership, incompetent staff, and poor standards of care is what ultimately made us leave Lakeside. We believe that Carolyn’s main motivation is financial gain rather than any true love or passion for educating children, and that people need to be careful about trusting their kids to Lakeside.
Lakeside Montessori has provided my children with wonderful academic and social experiences. My four year old has been at Lakeside since she was 18 months and I plan on leaving her there for an extra year as I find the staff to be engaging and committed to her success. Aside from the regular interivew sessions, they provide me with weekly feedback and they also take into account my thoughts on her her care. In addition, when not at school my 4 year old tells me how much she loves her teachers. This has further added to my belief that Lakeside is an excellent place for her.
My 2 year old also attends and her teacher and the supporting teachers have been wonderful. They show interest in her development and are able to work with her energy level. They, too, provide regular feedback and listen to my feedback. Most importantly, my child enjoys going to school.
Lastly, the facility is clean, bright and modern with lots of resources which further enhances the wonderful care and support my children receive in the classroom.
Both my children attended Lakeside from the Toddler Program to 3 years in the Casa Program. My children had wonderful, positive experiences with their peers and their teachers at the school.
Both of my boys went to grade 1 with great confidence and a love for learning.
I felt safe leaving my children in the care of Lakeside and would highly recommend the school.