For a school with great teachers and supposably a good idealogy, I am saddened by their business practices and the attitude of the board during a time of crisis. During the pandemic full tuition fees were charged as normal despite the school being closed and also not providing adequate alternative learning for our kids while they were at home. This became near unaffordable to sustain, especially when one has to find alternative childcare arrangements. The school board did not listen to our concerns with any kind of empathy or understanding. I am very disappointed that things had to be this way.

MSD has been such a gift to our family. Our children are joyful about going to school each day, the teachers are top notch and we feel like the entire staff is part of our family. We love how much time is spent outside, how much freedom (within structure) is given, and how true to the Montessori principles/curriculum MSD is. We are extremely grateful to MSD for helping our children grow to be inquisitive, kind, well rounded individuals whose unique qualities are celebrated! Thanks for being part of our village!

My daughter enjoyed her first grade experience at MSD this past year immensely. When she was remote learning during the 2020 fall semester, MSD teachers went above and beyond to provider her with engaging activities, taped and live lessons, learning apps, and even art and music lessons. I cannot imagine the amount of work it took to prepare this remote learning curriculum on top of their in-class curriculum. Her teachers took the time to give her feedback and went above and beyond to make her feel included in the classroom. When she returned to in-person learning in the spring of 2021, the teachers showed great caring and sensitivity to her needs to help her integrate. We cherish these teachers.I knocked one star off because the school required us to sign a binding contract for the following school year, and their deadline was weeks before we were able to hear if we were admitted to other area schools. As other reviewers have said, they do not let people out of the contract. However, we are not too upset about it because our daughter enjoyed the school so much.

Our three children have thrived in MSDs elementary programs. They feel valued as community members and excited about learning, itching to go to school every day. The cooperative nature of the classroom environments is so refreshing - every child is respected for who they are and they feel no negative pressure to perform. The result is kids who view learning as fun and enjoyable. My eldest just graduated from sixth grade, and I can assure you that not many kids head into 7th grade with such a warm, supportive, and strong foundation, both socially and academically. If your goal is for your child to blossom into the fullest expression of themself in a safe and welcoming environment, then MSD is a true Durham gem.

One of my worst experiences with an educationalInstitution during one of the hardest times in my life (pandemic) as a full-time working single parent.

Wonderful educators but very malicious business practices. When they stopped having classes for Covid and switched to remote learning, they continued to charge full fees. We exchanged 15 hours of educational childcare a week for around 45 minutes of educational videos a week. When we said we would not be paying for this they seemed to okay it and now 7 months later are harassing my family for the remaining tuition. When we mentioned they didn’t fulfill their side of the contract, in this case childcare, they very quickly dropped “ The State passed legislation protecting independent schools from litigation by families as long as the schools were providing content, which we did.” Not even an apology or an admission that the service had changed well beyond what the cost had initially paid for. Not a whole lot we can do except pay the bill and spread the word.

COMPLETE NIGHTMAREForced to pay for an entire year of school that we could not attend. As other recent reviewers have stated, this school has terrible business practices: be very careful before becoming involved. We signed a contract back in February 2020, before the pandemic, for our son to start school there the following year. Like many others, our lives were turned upside down by Covid and we lost nearly all income immediately. We were struggling to keep our home. It was also not safe for our son to do their in-person option due to health issues, and it is a total joke to think their weekly take home packets in any way fulfill their end of the contract for a Montessori education, or justifies the full tuition cost.We had no choice but to withdraw over the summer, before school began. The school not only pursued us with their lawyer for months, during the most difficult time in our family’s life, they showed zero empathy or flexibility in these unprecedented times. They refused to meet with a mediator to help reach a compromise. They received a sizable pandemic relief federal loan to keep their school in business this year, so they had no excuse to treat a family hit with such hardship this way.I’m glad we never actually became a part of this school. They’ve proven to be cold and uncaring if problems arise; poor communication, no flexibility, and clearly greed trumps compassion. The values of community, justice and peace that the school promotes may work for marketing purposes, but in our experience it is not something that they authentically embody. If we want those values for our children to be more than talking points, we have to live them in our choices and words and actions. It’s time to stop supporting and running businesses in ways that create hardship for other people. Fortunately the word is spreading quickly about this school and maybe it will pressure them to re-examine their practices. Too late for our family though—our experience with them has been nothing short of a total nightmare.

BEWARE! This school has a predatory business practice. They do not care that Covid makes it impossible for them perform the services contracted for.

Our family has really found a home at MSD. Our children have grown socially and academically in this environment that fosters kindness, curiosity and independence. The teachers are incredible! I’m always surprised at conference time how deeply the teachers really know my child and the many facets of their development. The classroom environment is so full of life! All around you can find sparks of creativity and collaboration happening between the children. I’ll never forget my first observation and how shocked I was at the peacefulness of the classroom. I have seen my children grown in language, in reading and writing, and practical life skills, communication and higher math concepts than I never learned in my own elementary education! This school really puts the child in the center of the classroom affording them the opportunity to uniquely build their love of learning. The school is top-notch, the teachers are experienced, the community brings a culture of diversity and inclusion and the student body will knock your socks off.

It is hard to understand why the school has chosen to destroy families like ours who simply trying to survive during a global crisis. Unlike other independent private schools in the area, MSD continues to charge full tuition from families with toddlers and young preschoolers like us. The school has decided to implement the same strategy of virtual learning it uses for school age children. We have contacted the school few times and explained the impracticality of using distance learning for our young who cannot sit still for longer than a few minutes. And since we both hold full time position, its simply is not possible for us to also perform as their preschool/ toddlers teachers and engage in this overwhelming virtual learning. There are not enough hours in the day two work two full time jobs. We could have never thought that our kids’ school can prove to be so cruel and unethical. We chose Montessori school of Durham because we thought it represented our values of justice, community, love for others. What we found is a school with ruthless management and unconscionable conduct of its principal that has shown no mercy for hurting families like us in this crisis. We have contacted the Principal several times to explain our financial challenges as a result of the pandemic crisis. The Principal responded by reminding us we already stated this the week before and proceeded to ask we will not repeat ourselves for the sake of time—I guess her time. It was unbelievable to hear the principal responding with no empathy to our situation. She did not even attempt to hide her disinterest in even listening to us. She did, however, told us that the school will use all legal actions to force us to pay full tuition (over $30k) this July for the next academic year. While it was the Montessori refutation that have drawn us to choose MSD, the school has shown to have none of the Montessori ethics during the crisis. When you need to make a choice over which school should you pay such tuition premium, one should be sure to choose a school that will stands behind its organization’s values and put your family first even in times of crisis. It is precisely during hard times that society should be guided by its principals and ethics. Unfortunately, MSD has failed us miserably during the current crisis. And we pay the price.

My daughter attended this school for 6 years and my son for 3 (so far). They both flourished. And by that I dont just mean that they got high academic test scores (though they did). I mean that they developed a love of active learning. They want to find out how things work by experimentation, and theyre not afraid to fail. I wish my college students had acquired this same characteristic before they got to college.

I am extremely particular about schools and have visited most private schools in the area. We love MCHD. My son has grown leaps and bounds academically and socially during his time at MCHD. We immediately noticed a change in his willingness and ability to start his own projects and his creativity has continued to explode within an environment that allows him to be who he is. He teachers truly know him as a person and they are able to focus on so much more than how he will score on a test at the end of the year.

We have been very happy at MCHD but especially with the focus in developing the whole child. Our children LOVE going to school each day practically running in each morning. We have been very pleased with their academic development but also by how much the love learning at MCHD. And more than the academics they have grown so much from a maturity perspective and how they manage relationships with other children. MCHD is a special place and I am glad we found it.

This school used our sons photo in advertisements after they kicked him out because they couldnt meet his needs. Incidentally, they kicked him out just days after the start of his second year there, despite knowing him well from the year before and his attendance at summer camp, so in my opinion there is really no good reason that they couldnt have figured out that this was a bad fit earlier. We are not the only family who has had a child kicked out after a year or more of attendance, so if your kid has ADHD or anything similar, stay away. I accept that not all schools can take on such students, but I also feel that there is no excuse for the timeline of the experience that we and others have had. And the photos in their ads? Insult to injury. My advice is to look elsewhere.

There is no other place that competes with MCHDs toddler program. They go above and beyond in many ways.1. Orientation and introduction to the school for the children is fantastic. They even meet the kids at their houses so the kids get to know the teachers before leaving their home. 2. The teachers are fantastic, the thought they put into every part of the program is unbelievable. 3. They continue to exceed expectations with communication including in-depth weekly emails and amazing parent education nights which are priceless for new parents learning what a toddler is like. 4. Community - its not fake community, its the type of natural community that you could only hope for. The Montessori experience is only as amazing as the school. If youre thinking of signing up your toddler into a 3 or 5 day program check MCHD out!

I love this school so much I went there myself and so did my best friend. I grew so much their the teachers are so inspiring. Even though I did not go their during the pandemic am sure they did a good job.