Reviews of North Star Montessori Elementary (Kindergarten)

Sophie Boyer

I feel very lucky to have participated with my daughter in the infant-toddler program with Ms. Christie at North Star Montessori. She creates a welcoming, engaging environment, where her students learn how to be independent, creative, and resourceful. My daughter loved peeling the eggs for her classmates, and still asks to help at home with the task, even years later! The skills that my daughter learned in the class have made a long term impact on her independence and thoughtful actions towards others. My only regret is that we weren't able to continue as my daughter aged out!

MEAGHAN YEOMAN

Ms Christie is incredibly patient and warm and made me feel confident and capable to teach Montessori skills at home. My child participated in the infant toddler classes until he was 3 and we loved every minute. The school feels inclusive and a great value for a Montessori program.

Anna Makarova

Great community and great school. My son has been there for three years and he loves it. It feels like home to him. Now at his seven, he already knows multiplication, division, fractions, probabilities, permutations and so much more. I am very impressed with his academic progress and I never have to do any home work with him. The kids simple learn how to love learning at this school. What can be more important than that?

Diana W.

Christie is a gem and a true infant/toddler whisperer! I came to Christie's class as a new mom with little knowledge of babies and I left every class re-energized with tools to nurture my son's development. As tired as I was some days, I never wanted to miss a class since my son showed so much progression! My son has now started in the toddler class and Christie has been amazing at guiding him and bringing focus which is not an easy task for a toddler. I can see his development weekly and value the interaction he gets with other children in class. I can't recommend North Star enough, the professional guidance and parent community for my family are priceless!

Amanda Downs

The infant toddler program at North Star has been nothing short of amazing for both my daughter and myself. Ms Christie has created such an inclusive and welcoming space that gave us both the opportunity to learn from other parents and kids in a prepared environment. It was so helpful to reference the lessons in class when we were doing activities a home and to practice the social norms and independence of work and snack time with other children. Being able to ask the every day parenting question to someone you trust to have knowledgeable answers was also invaluable as a parent. After two years in the IT program daughter skipped away into her first Montessori preschool class with excitement and I absolutely credit this to Christie’s program and the smooth transition it facilitated.

Michelle Dignon

Fully deserving of a solid 5 star rating… My daughter attended the North Star toddler class and her confidence, independence and cognitive abilities flourished under Christie’s guidance. She is now in North Star’s CASA program, which has continued to exceed our expectations of what a preschool environment can do for young children’s social and intellectual development. Her teachers are true experts in early education. My son attended the infant class and is now in the toddler class. He has a very different personality to my daughter and has shown similar, positive development, with Christie guiding him in the best way for his natural strengths and personality. Sometimes this means NOT interacting with him, to ensure he develops his personal growth and independence to his full potential. Their educational materials (which he calls ‘toys’) means that he can’t wait to “go to school” and we plan for him to continue his education at North Star as well. I feel so fortunate to have discovered North Star Montessori and have our kids participating in their programs.

Y. M.

I would highly recommend taking the parent-infant and parent-toddler classes at North Star Montessori with Ms. Christie - 5/5 stars from this family! Both of my sons participated in the classes and got so much out of it. Ms. Christie runs the program and is extremely knowledgeable, approachable, and so amazing with the kids and parents. She educates the parents on how to reach a child's full potential through various independent and group activities, giving them a sense of accomplishment and confidence that can carry beyond class time. I learned so much about infant and toddler development that I would have never learned from a non-Montessori program and my children gained independence at such a young age that I wouldn't think was possible. Can't say enough about these programs!

Olga Krelin

This is our 6th year at North Star and I can not imagine a better environment for learning and developing self worth and confidence for young children. Once kids learn to learn (which is what Montessori system excels at teaching) there is no stopping them. During the school shut down in the last semester of 2019/2020 academic year I could really see the amazing skills that my 2nd grader had developed. My child was able to seamlessly transition to online learning, had amazing discipline when it came to joining online classes on time and was able to manage and complete his workload with fairly minimal involvement from us. Now think about it.... I've heard so much during this time about how people were delaying first year of university so they wouldn't have to do it online... This experience gave me confidence that my kids will be ready and able to learn and adapt to our ever changing world. North Star truly teaches kids how to learn and not just consume bits of knowledge served by teachers. Kids are able to go deeper and research the subjects that interest them. This way of learning is more comparable to post secondary learning than the traditional elementary school, so they will be ready for anything they choose to do in the future.

Whitney Starkey

My daughter has been part of Ms. Christie’s Infant/Toddler program since she was 3 months, she’s now just over 2 years old and it’s still the highlight of our week - for both my daughter and myself. Ms. Christie has developed a wonderful program where parents can witness firsthand their child grow developmentally before their eyes. She has a warm and gentle, yet very effective approach to help guide your child through activities that encourage independence, imagination, and strategic thinking and provides advice and suggestions on how to continue the development at home. We look forward to continuing in this program and starting the preschool program North Star Montessori offers, in the Fall.

Keyvan kayzad

The fee policy for infant toddler classes are very firm and unfair . I have never seen an institute for small kids (toddlers) with such a strict policy. Each session is about $40 dollars and if you miss it , it is not transferable and not fully returnable . My son did have a hard time and refused to attend classes all of the sudden due to lack of participation and children interactions. We wanted to have a break in between terms as we have fully prepaid the next term. Unfortunately neither the admin nor the class teacher understood our situation and refused to return our money. It’s not that’s we chose to not attend the classes as voluntary act . toddlers are not adults to reason with.