Keystone Montessori, Phoenix | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

We sacrificed a lot in order to make it through the VERY expensive tuition years here. A sacrifice that we felt was well worth it at the time. Fast forward a few years and withdrawing our kids from Keystone Montessori was one of the best decisions that we could have made for the well-being of our family.

What Keystone Montessori calls “fundraising” is a truly vulgar thing to witness. Their newsletter publicly posts what category each family fits under in terms of monetary donations (their way of passive aggressively shaming the families that can’t donate as much). The entire year is one attempt after another of asking for more money, and then making targeted efforts to continue to shame and pressure families.

During one of the more heated debates of the last year, they held an unannounced board meeting where an extremely important policy was being voted on (this is just ONE instance that I KNOW of, and I expect there were more). They voted PRIOR to any parental input, and then implemented their policy at the 11th hour. They sent out mendacious letters stating that the “focus is on providing the best high-quality reading instruction to all students each day” while simultaneously withholding education completely from select students (i.e. your child will sit outside with “no access to direct instruction” while they wait for you to pick them up) and refusing to offer any alternative educational options. Tyrannical leadership on full display.

If you are not in line with the narrative and political leanings of the school’s administration, you will be wasting your time expressing concerns or offering suggestions or solutions. They do not care. I know this from my personal experience with them, and through communication with many other Keystone parents who endured the same mistreatment. Montessori is about critical thinking and independence within an inclusive and respectful community. It’s unfortunate that Keystone Montessori’s current administration does not model this for their own students.

The current head of the school is not a capable leader, and she and the school board members have effectively ruined Keystone Montessori. They have routinely disregarded the physical, mental, emotional, social, environmental, and spiritual health of their students in favor of politics, power, control, and financial gain.

Keystone Montessori is in a swift downward spiral that will not cease until they clean house.

We have been part of the Keystone Montessori School community since August 2017. My children are currently in upper elementary and the adolescent classrooms. We have been very happy and absolutely love our school. My children are happy and thriving in school. There has always been a great sense of family and community at Keystone that is not easy to find. I feel confident that the guides and staff have the childrens’ best interests in mind in all decisions they make. One of my children has an IEP and they have done so much to help him through their Special Education department. They truly want him to succeed. I have great confidence and trust in what they do. If anyone is searching for quality education that is not in a traditional classroom setting, I urge them to look into our school. It is a peaceful and pleasant environment where children don’t merely learn the standard, reading, writing, math, science, etc. They learn life skills, etiquette, manners, and how to be a part of something bigger than just themselves.