The Redwoods International Montessori House of Children

My son started going to The Redwood International Montessori School when he was a little over 2 years old, and the teachers and staff at the school have been wonderful in helping him make the transition to pre-​school.
We’ve noticed that my son has become much more social around other children, his vocabulary has improved quite a bit, and he seems much happier to be dropped off at school as opposed to daycare. I’ve been impressed by the variety of activities they have at the school, and the variety of subjects the children learn has also been great. My son comes home from school and tells us about music class, soccer, and learning about different places and cultures, so I feel like he’s really enjoying it there. The school also has a great outside space for him to play.
The teachers are great at helping the children learn to become a little more independent at certain tasks. I highly recommend this school.

My son is currently attending this school and this had been a great learning environment for him. He needed the structure that this school offers, as he has a lot of energy and was acting out at my work daycare. Free play did not work for him, so when I saw the structure of TRIMONT, I was pleased and gave it a try. My son has been attending for almost a year and has learned a lot. Annagi is the director of this school and also a teacher. She started this school around 1978 and have met parents who were able to send their kids to Mount Carmel after they attended TRIMONT. The curriculum is your regular Montessori curriculum, where older kids will teach the younger kids, just like an extended family setting. Being an expat and not having family around, this has made a difference for our son.
Annagi has also worked very closely with us when our son was acting out and asked us to apply some tips at home — it worked!
I recommend this school for parents who want to have a structured, but loving environment.

I currently have two children in the school, and I was hesitant to write a review before they leave. But seeing that there is a negative review from someone who didn’t have their child in the school, I thought it best to put some comments down to have a factual, experience-​based review.
The Redwood International Montessori (TRIMONT) is a pre-​school for children from about 2 ½ years of age up to kindergarten. They follow the Montessori philosophy for teaching children, with emphasis on older children teaching younger children, and a strong academic focus.
The hours are remarkably convenient for working parents (7:30−6:00 pm, although I generally try to get the Girls before 5:30). They have an open floor plan and accept children that aren’t potty trained, although they have an additional fee for them.
The academic progress for the Girls has been exceptional. Each month they have a lesson plan where they learn geography, art, music (extra fee), and each child progresses in reading, writing, math, and science according to their development level which is carefully monitored and reported in detail on a semi-​annual basis. My older daughter just turned 5 years old, and she’s so far advanced from the requirements for kindergarten I’m a little concerned that she’ll be twiddling her thumbs for a year.
The teachers (Annagi is the lead teacher and has managed the school for many years) have a very structured approach to the children’s education and discipline. The children receive moderate affection from the teachers and they are not scolded; however, unruly children will have a modified version of the timeout where they are separated from the class until they are asked if they want to join again. They are never ignored, per the unfair review by Meg F.
There are some quirks to the school worth mentioning, but again note that I have given it five stars and my highest recommendation.
–There tends to be turnover for some of the junior teachers, I believe it is because the teachers use TRIMONT for educational experience before they go to a primary school (that would have better salaries). However, Annagi and two other teachers have been there for quite some time, and there is continuity.
–Some things seem odd to a parent, like the birds aren’t named by the students.
–The program is fairly strict, so there are certain house rules regarding footwear and other seemingly unimportant details that the parents are asked to respect. These house rules are not necessarily inconvenient, but they seem curious.
Parent involvement is stellar, there are a lot of children shows and events. After attending these events for two years, we’ve gotten to know several of the parents quite well, and we all agree our children have very fond and positive experiences at TRIMONT.

I visited this school and upon walking in met a 2 year old. To the mother of that girl, if you’re reading this, I’m very sorry.
Your daughter had crusty eyes filled with tears like she had been crying all morning. She was put in the «calming» room where I was told they put the children who are having tantrums. The room has the most annoying children’s music on full blast that the instructor explained was to drown out crying. The room was anything but calming — I wanted to cry being in that room!
Needless to say, she was incredibly unhappy there. I’m not sure why, but upon meeting me she ran towards me and held onto my hand. I tried to get her to play with the other teachers but she apparently had a huge distrust against them. I thought that they would try to calm her down themselves but they were too busy with the other children to do their own job.
Being a mother with some sense of compassion, I let her hold my hand for the whole tour. It was the only way to keep her calm; the teachers showed no compassion! I know that I’m a stranger to your daughter but I couldn’t help seeing her so upset with the teachers. I wondered why they had not called you as she was clearly miserable. I thought the least I could do is let her hang on to me.
Anyway, after this incident I couldn’t pay attention to the tour. Providing a safe environment for children is the the absolute BASIC requirements of a preschool. For a school to allow a complete stranger to console a child is a disgrace.
To the parents of that girl, I wish you and your daughter the best!
To the other prospective parents, please, look elsewhere…

I was hesitant at the beginning to enroll my daughter as there was no waiting list. But, after couple of months, I could not be happier. 5 star.

I have a two and a half year old and she has been going to Redwoods International Montessori since over two months now… and what a brilliant preschool! Ages accepted are 2 – 6 years and they work with you through the potty training as well.
My daughter was a clingy toddler who could never get comfortable with strangers. The teachers at the school worked with me to make her comfortable with the school environment. They actually eased her into school bit by bit and now she absolutely loves it.
Here are other positives:
1. Discipline: Exceptionally disciplined school and they really deal with the kids in a kind and firm and yet not unfair way.
2. Education: They work with the kids to improve their reading, writing, math and other skills. I have seen teachers pay a personal attention to all kids.
3. Projects: They have a special project every day to keep kids busy and entertained. Whether it is making a sock puppet or rainbow painting session, the kids are always learning something new. Fridays are share box days where kids get something from home to share with other kids at school.
4. Play area: The school by itself is a very open and a big school with lots to do. They also have plenty of open space in the back of the school to get some sun (there is shade too for too sunny days) and run around.
5. Experience: The director of the school, Annagi is a wonderful teacher with experience of 32 years. She has a great knack of handling kids and being mother of just one kid, I personally find her advice very handy when it comes to my own child.
I would highly recommend this pre-​school for any parent who is looking for a great school that provides a lot of learning experience.