We sent our son here starting during the slight “lull” of the pandemic (Summer ‘20) and we were repeatedly impressed by the professionalism and warm, caring nature of the teachers and staff. From day 1 you feel like family, as if your child has been there their whole life. They helped us to feel safe and comfortable sending our son during such trying times and we really can’t thank them enough. Joy runs a well-oiled machine - organized, clean, great communication. The teachers are all highly trained and our son has developed so much since beginning. He’s not yet 3 but he’s already coming home and telling us what they did at school, using new words and phrases. They’ve also done a great job of helping the parents to feel involved and included in the classroom virtually, which is no easy feat.

Guidepost Columbus Square has been the perfect place for our toddler to return to a normal daycare routine. The teachers are warm, patient, and loving and work very much as a team. After 9 months at home, my child transitioned remarkably smoothly, behaving from day one as if hed always belonged there.The facilities are airy, spacious, with plenty of natural light and their COVID procedure is consistently followed and easy for drop off/pick up.

I could not be happier with my decision to enrol my 3 year-old at Guidepost, even if it requires a 25-min walk each way to drop off and pick up! First of all, this is a true Mandarin immersion program and my child’s language ability has grown significantly in the short time he has been there. Secondly, the teachers are all caring and wonderful, the classroom environment is warm and inviting and I love how quick and organized the management is with responding and keeping parents updated. Finally, even with current circumstances they’ve tried to foster a feeling of community amongst the parents. Thank you Guidepost!

There’s so many positives about Guidepost Montessori but I’ll share just a few for families considering this school.The school administrators are very committed to providing an excellent, safe environment for the students and families. Not only are they accommodating to the unique needs of our family, Joy & Disha have both gone above and beyond to help my children acclimate to their new school. Communication is a strong point for this school, and you can always count on weekly emails that help foster a sense of community and provide information on key updates at the school. The school also organizes activities and events throughout the year that allow parents to zoom into the classroom.There may be misconceptions with the Montessori learning method and initially, we were not certain how our children would adjust. The school graciously allowed us to do a test run for both of our children. We can confidently say that the Montessori approach strikes a perfect balance between discovery, focused work time, and group play. On any given school day, my toddler will be quietly concentrated on an activity in the morning, happily learning about land formations (shes only 3!) before lunch, and jumping into dance sequences and building puzzles with classmates by the afternoon. My children are learning something new every day!This school, with very few exceptions, is always open. Additionally, hours are extremely friendly for working parents and/or busy families. They offer multiple programs (English, Mandarin immersion, 1/2 and full day) and extended day activities. Be mindful that classroom sizes vary depending on the age of your child, and the older Children’s House classes have more students and a larger student:teacher ratio.Saving the best for last. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the guides at Guidepost Montessori. My children have 100% hit the jackpot with their respective classroom guides. They are nurturing, supportive, patient and everything you hope for in someone that plays such a vital role in your child’s development. What’s important to know is that while your child is assigned to a classroom, he/she will most certainly interact with the other classroom guides in some capacity. This exposure is so invaluable. Every guide I’ve met or spoken to has, unprompted, shared a unique insight about my child(ren) with me. Through their observation, its allowed me to discover something new about my childs temperament, character, preferences or development. How wonderful is that?

Our 2-year old has been in the 2s and 3s program at Guidepost for the last 4 months and she loves it. Joy and Disha do a wonderful job of cultivating the Montessori experience, and the teachers are wonderful. As a parent who myself attended Montessori school growing up, we love seeing our daughter learning the same way, and seeing her progress and development on a daily basis. We would highly recommend Guidepost for any that are considering it.

Wonderful school. We couldnt be happier with our childs progress within the first few months of attending. The teachers and directors are very experienced, dedicated and caring. The facility is bright, clean and modern and they offer tailored instruction within a small, calm class setting.

Wonderful teachers with a fantastic staff who communicate via email and/or phone if they need to inform parents about anything. Were enjoying the opportunity to join the classrooms virtually for family events, such as Lunar New Year. Huge windows for well-lit classrooms and a large roof deck for kids to play outdoors.

We originally looked into this school purely based on the fact that it offered Mandarin Chinese, but we are so grateful that we found such a loving and warm community of amazing families, exceptional teachers and guides, and great administrators. We actually didnt know much about Montessori schools and had an incorrect preconceived notion that it was not as structured, but obviously we were completely wrong. From the first visit, we were completely blown away when we witnessed a classroom full of happy, calm, and engaged toddlers focused on difficult tasks, helping one another, working together, being independent all while supported by great teachers. Yet the children were still children: they go outside to explore nearby parks and farmers market, they get to play in a connected outdoor terrace with toys and large building blocks and a garden; they work together to build imaginative boats and trains and planes and forts where everyone has a seat or place; they have soccer and dance and yoga and lots of music and arts and crafts! The school amenities are large and bright and clean, with room for each childs cubby and place for scooters and strollers! Another huge perk is unlike other schools with many school closures and holidays, Guidepost has the most amazing schedule weve seen as they are closed for only a handful of days all year long! Of note: we joined the school long before the pandemic shutdown. Throughout the shutdown, the communication and family support through virtual learning and family assistance were exceptional. After reopening the school staff really went above and beyond to make everyone feel safe and worked with the families for any specific needs to accommodate the COVID-19 life. We are really very happy and have already made plans to send our next child.

I accidentally ended up getting to know Guidepost while I was passing by. I frequently thank so much for getting to know the school before actually enrolling my son in any other school. I definitely couldnt have chosen any better. I am happy with my son development, joy, the structure, guides and the head of school.

We are so happy with our decision to enroll our 3-year-old to Guidepost Montessori at Columbus Square.The teachers, guides, and directors are all caring, dedicated, and experienced. The level of care and Montessori instruction has exceeded our expectations.The classroom environment is bright with natural light. Space is organized in a way that encourages learning and invites children to linger. If you walk into the classroom you will notice that the children are smiling, calm, and focus on different developmental tasks, helping one another, working together, being independent all while supported by great teachers.We are being updated with our child’s progress by getting bi-weekly photos and emails from our headteacher so we feel 100% hands-on on his activities/progress at school.Even with the current circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, the school has tried to foster a feeling of community amongst the parents with virtual coffee meetings, festivals, storytime, music concert, and birthday celebrations! The staff really go above and beyond to make everyone feel safe and adjust to any specific needs to accommodate the COVID-19 life.Guidepost has become our second home and we highly recommend it.

Switched over from another Montessori Program on the Upper West side and could not have been happier with our experience. This is a true Montessori program but also a very transparent and open school which is a breath of fresh air compared to what we have been used to. Their Covid-19 response was fair and kind hearted which come to show what type of organization this is, not focused solely on revenue, but on the well being of their community. Its a new school in the neighborhood so you wont find too many reviews, but its a true gift for us to have found it. Our teacher Charity is absolutely the BEST!!

We enrolled during COVID (August) and were super impressed by the amount of effort and thought the school put into COVID-time options and programming. They’re very vigilant about health regulations.The team is professional, caring and attentive - from the wonderful Head of school through the teachers and assistants - and feels like a all-hands-on-deck environment. Very good extended-day activities as well.Most importantly the kids loved their teachers to the point where I found myself negotiating pick up time w my daughter (she wanted us to come as late as possible!)

We love Guidepost Montessori at Columbus Square. Our daughter has blossomed in a nurturing environment. The level of care and Montessori instruction has exceeded our expectations.We were especially impressed with our daughters head teacher, Michelle Laytner. She combines a scientific understanding of early childhood development with a natural ability to guide and comfort her students. We cant count the number of times our daughter attributed her own progress to Miss Michelle. Under her tutelage, our daughter began speaking in complete sentences and completing tasks with multiple steps.On another note, during Covid-19 lockdowns, Guidepost proactively kept in touch with all parents, provided flexibility in terms of payment and offered creative virtual solutions and classes. Since resuming in-person learning, their campus is immaculately clean and beautiful. They have gone above and beyond to ensure our kids learn and develop in a safe environment.We cannot say enough great things about this school and highly recommend it.

In times of crisis true leadership shines. And that is what Guidepost has done. We faced a lot of issues at a prior Montessori institution in the UWS for terrible handling of pandemic problems (from the financial to the educational to basic empathy) and decided to switch to Guidepost. Our 2 year old has been going there since mid August and were all delighted with the choice. Their approach to Covid is very reasonable and made us feel quite comfortable (from the financial terms to the safety of the community), also they are extremely flexible and willing to work to address families needs (again, not to be taken for granted these days). Their space is beautiful, brand new, with a dedicated entrance, top quality Montessori materials in each classroom and most importantly a large beautiful private terrace that they use twice a day for children to run around, climb on wooden blocks, learn to tend to garden etc. The quality of the teachers weve been exposed to so far is also impressive. Guidepost is part of a large network of Montessori schools and they do benefit from that infrastructure, particularly when it comes to apps to facilitate administrative tasks (have not had to write a single check or print a single form) and also keep in touch with parents (with daily pictures and explanations of each activity and materials used). Guidepost Columbus Square has been in the UWS for a little over a year and that is likely the reason for the few reviews. Our experience so far has been terrific and cannot recommend them enough to families who are looking for high quality Montessori programs in the UWS in a beautiful setting, coupled with a leadership that has been exemplary when it comes to handling the tricky pandemic-related issues.

I would like to recommend this Amazing place for every parent.Guide Montessori at Columbus square is considered a second home for our daughter who joined last year when she was just 2 years old, the staff is extremely friendly, very patient, they practice Montissorri method of teaching, the environment is very worm, safe and friendly, its our second year already and still our daughter and us love this place,The staff is very responsible, they take all the required safety measures from social distancing to facial masks, temperature checking, no parents allowed in - just drop off or pick up by door side.The teachers are very helpful whenever there is any issue that needs an attention.Its important to mention that my daughter didnt speak English at 1st but in one month with the help of the amazing teachers she became very fluent and comfortable with English language and communication.She learnt alot of skills, kindness and good behaviorsIf you are searching for a day care, dont hasitate! This is THE RIGHT PLACE.RespectfullyIsis - Juleens mom

Our 3 YO attended Guidepost for a year before starting UPK. Although it took him a little while to come out of his shell, by the time he left he had developed multiple new interests and had even learned to read phonetically! Ms. Viveka is a natural with the kids & really puts her whole self into nurturing them. We couldnt have asked for a better teacher! Both the director (Joy) & assistant director (Disha) are very responsive & flexible.

My daughter has been going to Guidepost since January 2019 and we are very happy so far. She is in the mandarin immersion track and seems to enjoy it very much. They have beautiful montessori equipped classrooms, a nice outside space with a little garden and they do offer financial aid. Everyone there is very nice. We toured several montessori school uws and Guidepost has by far the best facilities.