Apple Montessori Schools & Camps – Wayne, Wayne | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

I had called Montessori seeking childcare for my son who is turning 3. I told them all about how he has a speech delay and is starting an intensive speech therapy program and would need abbreviated days. They told me their program includes a unique, language-based program, that has worked well with other speech delayed children they had at their school This made me feel comfortable and that my son would benefit there, and so I scheduled a tour. I toured the Wayne, NJ school location with Assistant Director, Samantha Broeckel. All was going great! The school is very nice and they have top of the line cleaning equipment, wide open play areas, etc. Then, at the end of the tour, I told Samantha that my son had a religious exemption for vaccinations and if that would pose a problem. She said it would not and went on with the rest of the tour. However, her tone had physically changed after that. I read people well. I left there KNOWING his religious exemption would be a problem. Luckily for Montessori, they have an application process in play. This allows them to use another excuse to not accept your child. I submitted my sons application anyway, in hopes that it was just my mind playing tricks on me. Low and behold, Samantha Broeckel called me earlier to say that they wouldn’t be able to accept my son based on his speech delay. What a change of story! At first they told me their program would accommodate someone like him well…and now, not so much. During the entire beginning of the tour, Samantha was explaining how the way they mix age groups would benefit my son to see and hear the older kids speaking, and how the phonetics programs they implement in the classroom would benefit my son (which, by the way, are just simple flash cards with the letter and a picture of a word that goes with that letter…not really unique at all). I wonder what changed? They used his speech delay as an excuse to not accept him based on the fact that he has a religious exemption for vaccinations. Would’ve been better off stating that there wasn’t an open spot for him. For such a “prestigious” school (and I say that lightly)…that was a really stupid move. They’re obviously a one-track minded and discriminatory school, and I really dodged a bullet here.

We enrolled our son in pre school half days this year. We were attracted to Apple’s diverse learning program, especially their out-of-classroom experiences. We were unaware that half time students would be exempt from such things like field trips. It is not listed in their handbook or on any contract we signed. Our son did not want to go full days because he is only 4 and said he wasn’t ready yet. We really wanted our son to go on the field trips with his friends so we went up the chain of command to try and find a way for our son to go. we even offered to take him ourselves and pay for him but we were told by a Ms. Wykoff that if we brought him ourselves he would not be allowed to participate with the other students. It ultimately came down to the school excluding our son from things like field trips as a way to put pressure on us to go full time which would almost double the tuition which would benefit the school, not my child. Individually, I really liked the teachers and teacher aids. I would not recommend this school.