Fernwood Montessori School

The teachers are absolutely wonderful!! I have 3 kids currently attending, one graduated and I have two little sat home that when the right age will be attending Fernwood as well!

Great teachers and principal, kids are taught kindness in addition to academics. Feels like an emotionally and physically safe environment.

BEWARE-if you live in or near the Bayview area, you likely have heard of or know children who attend Fernwood. It has quite a good reputation in the community. Unfortunately I can say with all sincerity that this has NOT been my family's experience with this school. My child began school here in K3 and struggled through every year that we kept him at the school. We were in regular contact with the teacher and principal throughout the years, however not one recommendation was utilized with any consistency and my family received frequent and very negative complaints about my child-from the time he was three until we left the school when he was six. If your child has any sort of possible special needs or who might need accommodations outside of "traditional Montessori"-this school may become problematic for you. Please be careful in your choice.

Our son has some very minor special needs related to the grief of loosing foster siblings this year. He just started K4 and has a very rigid Montessori teacher unwilling to bend at all to the simple instructions his psychologist has outlined for his success at school. We sat in a meeting with this teacher, the principal, and a family advocate and made informal agreements. Then the teacher refused to follow through because it didn't fit the "one size fits all" Montessori approach. She actually texted me, after the meeting around 8pm at night, to tell me how our need for more praise, a snack that wasn't just a raw unseasoned organic vegetables, and a little heads up before transitions was too far outside the lines of Montessori "science". She then said that praise will destroy our child's intrinsic motivation. Please know that all modern day science and a 30 year study at the Yale Parenting Institute has shown that praise will only increase intrinsic motivation-so don't drink the kool-aid or should I say raw, organic, unseasoned, filtered water! Please beware that if you have a child with special needs you WILL NOT get the help you need at this school without a lot of conflict.