Country Meadows Montessori School, Gurnee | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

We had a terrible experience at this school with the administration. Let me first say my husband and I are big advocates of Montessori learning philosophy and have had wonderful experiences at other schools with two other children. My number one recommendation to you is that, if you send your child to Country Meadows, negotiate the contract before you start. Make sure the school is agreeing to meet your expectations for you child’s education, not just you agreeing to pay for whatever service they provide. My daughter enrolled as a 4 year old and from the beginning she had trouble connecting with her teacher; essentially she was intimidated and didn’t feel welcome in her class. There was a disconnect between our daughter, us as parents and the teacher.

I can accept that there was a bad fit between child and teacher – that’s a normal part of the educational experience. The teacher, to her credit, did work with us but by March my daughter (who since she was 8 weeks old was happy in two different daycare schools) was still crying everyday that she didn’t want to go to school because she was scared of her teacher. At that point I needed to find a more aggressive solution for my child’s well being.

What I cannot accept is the absolute disrespect and lack of care we encountered from the principal and board. To this day, the principal has not called me back to discuss my concerns and my experience. That was eight months ago. I’ve even tried engaging her via third party mediation and she still will not communicate with me and my husband. I am angry, but more than that, I feel betrayed by a school I trusted to be a partner with me, in the education of my child. My daughter suffered significant emotional distress during the seven months she was at Country Meadows. She wouldn’t even talk with us about changing my daughter’s teacher or work with us and the teacher to find solutions. Nothing. She had the secretary return my call and refused to call me back herself.

The school’s only concern was money – I received a righteous letter in the mail telling me I had made the wrong decision for my child. I know they are a non-profit and I had every intention of paying for the full year of tuition, in exchange for a service. I signed a contract, with the understanding that the school was focused on the health, development, and education of my child. Country Meadows Montessori failed to provide the service I contracted them for. They refused to work with me to find a solution to make the situation better for my daughter at the school. This is unethical business practice, but as an educator, I find their behavior to be worse than that; when you are trusted with the well-being of a child, an educational institution is obligated to be motivated by the child’s education and holistic development as the number one priority. If not, they should close their doors.

Wonderful school. Great teachers. Excellent environment.