Sun Grove Montessori School, Fort Pierce | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

Another review about their extremely poor communication practices and how they (don’t) solve issues:

We had enrolled our three kids for this year. Long story short, for the youngest one they repeatedly moved the starting date a couple months at a time, coming up with new reasons every time. We need him in school for health reasons, and we can plan around a start date, but not around a moving start date. The last reason was that they only accept some number of new students per week, so with the previous pushing of the date, he now went to the end of the line for starting.

We talked to them, explaining that this lack of clarity and goal moving was having serious consequences for our family. We are OK with things changing, but we wanted to establish a long term relationship with them: we were ready to volunteer, and put a lot of energy (not to mention, money) into the school, for which we think honest, respectful communication is key. Since they were changing the start date under our feet (again, we are talking months from the initial date to the latest provided), we asked them to please reconsider.

They called us back **cancelling the enrollment for the three kids**! Just like that.

Well, on one hand, I’m glad this attitude came up now, rather than after pouring time, effort, energy and money into them; but obviously we feel this is outrageous, rude, and unacceptable, and we just hope no one has to go through this. Looking at other reviews, seems like we are not alone, though.

I will add one more piece that may be valuable to other parents: our kids were able to attend for a trial day, and we were able to accompany them during the experience. Our kids have been educated in multiple Montessori schools across countries, and we were surprised how loud classrooms were at Sun Grove. They said that normally there is one more teacher, and that they are able to go outside, which reduces the noise in the class; but this and other maybe minor things (e.g. a lot less outside time) were definitely unexpected and a reason for some concern that maybe this school wouldn’t fulfill our expectations based on prior experience—again, our experience is not a single school, but there are definitely fair differences, and I think this is just a matter of expectations.

Sun Grove has been a savior for our children! We feel like we have struck gold! The lives of our children and our family have forever been changed for the better and can’t imagine school any other way! Our frustration with the public school system in Martin County led us in search of something better. Our daughter went to public school up to the 3rd grade and watched a once bright and inquisitive child turn into one who dreaded going to school and seemed dulled by the overload of work and testing. We were fed up. I couldn’t watch our son, who was in preschool, enter kindergarten to be trampled by curriculum and testing. Not to mention, the absurd amount of time spent on computers. Sun Grove came highly recommended from a friend and we haven’t looked back. We immediately felt a sense of warmness and belonging. We knew this would be a place that our children would thrive. We started our son immediately and then transferred our daughter who was in the 3rd grade. Our daughter spent a trial day at Sun Grove. When I picked her up in car line, she was beaming with excitement. She exclaimed “I finally understand multiplication! I think I should write my principal at school and tell her this is how children should learn! It just makes sense.” I almost cried. I was so happy to see that passion for learning finally return. At Sun Grove our children are allowed to be individuals. They understand that every child learns at their own pace and learns differently. They are given responsibilities and are expected to be accountable for themselves. The curriculum is rich and the children have a chance to develop a deep understanding of their subjects. And if you are thinking your child is too old to transfer, don’t! Our 3rd grader has transitioned wonderfully and has flourished! We are making the investment now in our children’s education, because we believe it’s the most powerful investment for their future.