Wonderland Montessori of Gilbert, Gilbert | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

Terrible school. DO NOT send your kids to this school. This school does not and cannot take care of your child well at all.
Here is my 6 months experience with Wonderland Montessori Academy (WMA).
I sent my son to this school from 08/2018 to 02/2019. At that time, my son was 21 months.
1) When my son was in the 12-24 months class, he was bitten 7 times in a month by another baby. He was 22 month at that time. My husband and I discussed with his class teacher to prevent from getting bitten again, but it happens again and again. After 7th bitten happened, we meet with the dean of the school to discuss this issue. But her standpoint was that it happens all the time because it is baby’s nature. I understand babies can bite other babies, but their teacher should be aware of it and at least try to prevent it, especially when my son was bitten 6 times in a month. I do not understand why the teachers at WMA cannot control babies biting each other when the teacher to student ratio was only 1 to 5~6. It is proof of WMA’s incompetence. Teacher to student ratio does not matter at WMA. WMA doesn’t have the ability to control babies well.
2) My son moved to the upper class after he turned 2. Since 01/2019, WMA told the parents that WMA would do the potty training for all kids in the class (that class was for above 24 months). So, the potty training began from the first school day of 2019. After a few days, I could tell my son was under the stress of WMA’s potty training, apparently. When he had a mistake at home, he seemed angry and was crying. My husband and I still tried to understand that “potty training can be stressful” and it could be quite common phenomenon. We were a little worried about it but we were trying to be understanding of WMA method.
On 2/6/2019, after I dropped off my son at the WMA, I decided to stay and watch the camera of the classroom. At that time, I saw my son was left alone with his pants and underwear down for a while in front of his classmates.. The teacher seemed to have noticed but just ignored my son, who was standing in front of the class without his pants and underwear! A few minutes later, the support teacher noticed his status and helps him cover up his pants and underwear.
The second instance happened after 20 mins. Same situation – after the potty training session, the teacher did not help my son pulling up his pants/underwear, and let him be pant-less and underwear-less in front of the entire classroom! I asked the teacher why teachers did not help him pull his pants up and she said that was a part of the education. I could not believe that was WMA’s answer to us. Teachers should help him how to do it properly instead of ignoring it. Also, my son ran around naked in front of his friends. My husband and I were very upset thinking of how humiliating it is to my son. If WMA teachers really thought that this was a part of the Montessori education, their teachers should have informed us in advance of their approach and that WMA are implementing that style of education before ignoring him.
To further investigate how many times my son were left alone without his pants and underwear in front of entire classroom, we requested to review video clips of other normal days at school. WMA pre-selected and prepared 2 short clips for our viewing, and WMA refused to show any other videos when we requested to see the additional clips. WMA’s reason was “it is too expensive and time-consuming.”
This is how WMA treats their students and parents. I could not believe I paid close to $1,000 every month for my son to be ignored and humiliated in front of the entire classroom. Fortunately, because of this issue, we found a very good place nearby our home, and my son really enjoys the new school. A Huge difference when I pick up my son from the school now, he is happier baby. My son was always in a bad mood and cranky when I used to pick my son up from WMA, now I know why. Moms! Trust your guts and instinct.

Stay clear of this place!! The new leadership in charge is running parents and teachers out at a record pace and the work environment has turned toxic which only leads to bad care for the children.

We’ve had 2 of our boys enrolled in this school for over 4 years and the new head of school removed us from the school within a week due to our 4 year old having a very mild development delay and didn’t work us on providing extra help to our son to thrive in their class room setting.

Her solution to the problem is to remove the problem completely and doesn’t work with the parents to come up with solutions or ideas to help the child.

The corporate leadership also doesn’t respond to e-mails or calls when trying to have a conversation about what is happening in their schools when you fear for your children’s safety.

There are much better schools in the Gilbert area that will nurture your child and won’t discriminate against your child for having a delay or disability.

We love Wonderland. Fantastic teachers and staff who have great pride and care in the curriculum and children. Facilities are all new, with a great play area and train, all the rooms have authentic Montesorri activities/ set up. The teachers are great with sending updates of your little one during the day, especially great for those mamas dealing with separation anxiety ?? but great to see what they’ve been up to with some cute photos but also how they slept/ate. Teachers are great for feedback on children’s development and everyone is just very friendly. There was a fun summer program with a splashpad, and love the monthly parents nights out too! We’ve been there a year now, starting in the infant class, now the toddler classes and extremely happy with our experience.