Montessori Pointe Claire

We have reached the end of our 8 year journey at Montessori Pointe-Claire, and it has been such a positive experience. Not only are the building and the playground beautiful, but the staff and teachers exceeded all expectations. My children all loved their time spent there, and we were always confident that they were getting the care and guidance that they needed. Camille in particular was such a constant and nurturing presence. We could not have asked for a better teacher to wrap up our final years of daycare! If you are considering Montessori Pointe-Claire, it is worth it to go and visit!

My daughter attended Montessori camp this summer as her first camp since finishing daycare. She had an absolutely wonderful time. The teachers were amazing (Mme Herla and Mme Riley were spectacular) and they did so many different activities every week based on different themes. Every day when I picked her up she was playing with her friends and was excited to show me all the many different crafts and activities she did that day. Themes included a cooking week (learning how to back yummy zucchini bread), space week and treasure week. Every day there was optional swimming lessions at the local pool which resulted in my daughter accelerating in her swimming skills. They also had yoga classes and sportsball. I would highly recommend this program to any child.

(Update: 1 year later, my daughter is top of her class and most advanced linguistically. I stand by my review.) Having worked extensively with children with special needs (intellectual & physical), & holding a Master's degree in education, I have a thorough understanding of the standard our government upholds for the conduct of early childhood education centres. Despite my personal expertise and qualifications, I respect feedback from other educators. Unfortunately, the feedback I received about my toddler after only THREE days at Montessori Pointe Claire took an immense toll. Having convinced me to move my child here, promising a smaller classroom size & more focused attention, this daycare was nothing short of disappointing. Let me explain why. I was 6 months pregnant when I enrolled my daughter here. My daughter is behind on some of her milestones & has been evaluated by qualified professionals who assured us that these delays are a result of being isolated during the pandemic (NOT special needs). My husband & I explained the delays to the daycare director before we signed up. THREE days in, after a substitute teacher kept "expressing concerns", I asked to get more information so we can help our daughter adapt to the daycare's program. This led to an off-putting & entirely unnecessary conversation during which we were told our child is "on the extreme end" because she doesn't follow structured play or directions. While her teacher approached the situation with kindness & courtesy, he was repeatedly interrupted by management who insisted that our daughter does not act "like normal kids." Despite our explanations, we were told that the environment our daughter grew up in is irrelevant, that she has a specific "personality type" & that the daycare may not be the right fit for her because there are 25+ kids in her class. When we signed up, we were told there would be 16. The director explained that this had all changed "in just a week". We chose to remove our daughter from the daycare immediately, because our instincts, education, & expertise (both her dad and I being MA-Eds) would not allow us to ignore the red flags we witnessed. Even (ESPECIALLY) if she did have an intellectual or learning disability (she does not), the approach used here was unprofessional, discourteous, & immoral. A child with special needs should not be described as "on the extreme side of things." Moreover, nobody at the daycare is qualified or legally permitted to make such claims to parents - they can only guide parents towards additional resources, after extensive analysis (not THREE days). I held off writing this review because I wanted to ensure that I wasn't being too subjective. I enrolled my daughter at a new daycare, saw her doctor again, & signed her up to speech therapy. I spoke to other early childhood educators, psychologists, & lawyers - it's a good thing I happen to be a very well connected person, because all of these people reassured me that the way we were treated here was absolutely unacceptable. Those who are qualified (including the speech therapist) also reassured me that while my daughter faces some delays, they are not "extreme" in any capacity. Her new daycare (director & teachers) could not understand why I was voicing such severe concerns & reassured me that the judgements passed at Montessori Pointe Claire were out of place & misguided. I also contacted the Maria Montessori foundation, who told me that this daycare is NOT accredited and has no relationship to them. They were appalled by what happened here. This situation caused me incredible stress and fear while getting ready to welcome a second child to my family. It was completely unnecessary and thoughtless. We did get a half-apology when we decided to withdraw, which makes no difference because the damage is done. I'm glad my background and connections weren't known in this case, because I got to see a side I probably wouldn't have seen otherwise. I only hope that this information (& the tone deaf response below) can be of service to other parents.

Hey, I went here sometime back and I’m now I’m High School BHS and I’m in enriched and I think that everyone should go here because I have great memories that I still remember.

We have been part of the Montessori Pointe Claire family for over 7 years and sent our 3 kids all the way through. Before we started, we toured many different daycares, and none compared to this beautiful outdoor setting and peaceful off-the-main-road location. It was important to us that our kids really had space to run all day and real grass and play structures to play in the fresh air. Exposure to multiple languages has also been something that we looked for, and our kids got to practice English, French, Spanish and Mandarin (plus more) in a fun and educational way. The extracurricular activities offered are wonderful - so much music exposure, junior science, skating lessons, swimming lessons, yoga, ballet, karate.. we have loved that the kids get to do it all during the day so that we can keep our evenings and weekends more free as a family. Our children have formed so many special bonds with many different teachers, and words are not really enough when it comes to the gratitude we feel for the love that they have received in the time that they have spent at Montessori Pointe Claire. We will always carry this place in our hearts after our youngest moves on to elementary school next year.

This is an amazing day care. Our children have been going for two years now, and we are amazed every day with how much they love it and how engaged & caring the teachers and staff are. This is the second daycare we've been to with our kids and we are very happy to be here. It's great to see the large play area, and all of the games and activities the kids have. They are exposed to five different languages this year with their teachers and it's great to hear a few words of each come out at home, like counting in Spanish just because they can! There is also no shortage of extracurricular activities such as music, art, plays, field trips (e.g., Biodome), karate, and that's just what I can think of from this month. I did notice another reviewer discuss the snack issue (although lunch is provided, parents need to send a snack each day). I'd certainly appreciate a chance to get this on agenda at a future parent committee meeting so we can see if it's still what most parents want.

One of the best owner of school I have ever seen. Her wonderful personality, strong responsibility and sensitivity to all kids, and families' requests, amazing teachers, very friendly staff, amazing food, and very diverse and rich educational and fun activities, beautiful area, and wonderful toys, really made me motivated to keep sending my son ( as a sensitive mom) for around 3 years at Montessori school. He developed a lot in terms of social, independence, and educational aspects.

We recently moved to the area and could not find child care for our child. This place came highly recommended and after one tour it was by far the best child care facility in the area. The staff are always so kind and welcoming and the administration is very accommodating.

7 ans 1/2 de bonheur! Mes 2 cocos ont été à Montessori de février 2015 à aout 2023, et les éducatrices sont incroyables : gentilles, impliquées et compétentes (dans toutes les classes). La garderie était devenue leur 2eme chez eux, ils voulaient même aller jouer dans la grande cour de la garderie la fin de semaine, et c'était difficile de partir le soir! Les enfants sont maintenant bilingue (anglais/Français) et ont eu une belle ouverture sur le monde (initiation à l'espagnol, mandarin,...). Nombreuses activité/ateliers offerts en supplément (karaté, danse, patin, piscine,...) selon la saison. Un gros merci à toute l'équipe.

I had a very disappointing experience with this daycare. My daughter was on the wait list and they called to offer her a spot. I spoke with the owner first and discussed my daughters information, when she would start, etc. but she already know my daughters age range from the wait list. The owner asked if my daughter would be walking by the time she started. I let her know that given that was three months away, I’d have no clue if she would be at that stage yet. The owner let me know they used to require the kids be walking before starting but as long as she was crawling it was fine. I scheduled the tour to be done with the owners daughter and the place is lovely and the staff we met with were lovely as well. After the tour, the daughter asked if my daughter would be walking. We had the same conversation as I had with her mother and she assured me that as long as my daughter was crawling, it would be fine. I went the following week to drop off her paperwork and cheques for my daughter to be registered. I met with the woman in charge of admin and we had the same conversation regarding walking. She let me know the teachers prefer to not have to carry the kids to have their diapers changed and asked if my daughter would be walking. She assured me as well that crawling was fine. Twenty minutes after I leave, the admin calls me to tell me I must have misunderstood the needs and if my daughter won’t be walking in three months, they cannot admit her. I’m not sure how I misunderstood the needs, given that I had the exact same conversation with all three people in charge there and they all gave the same answer. I was told to put my daughter into daycare elsewhere and contact them when she could walk. When I expressed my frustration over their clear lack of communication, I was told the owner would call me to discuss. She never called. Nearly three months later she emailed me out of the blue asking if my daughter still needed a spot for daycare and if I’d like to schedule a tour. She must have realized we had already had an experience because 10 minutes later I received an email saying my child had been removed from their wait list. Putting a child in daycare is already incredibly nerve wracking and knowing how terrible they were with communication, I can’t imagine feeling comfortable bringing my child there. I also could not understand why I would be providing 2 snacks a day myself when I’m paying 70$ a day already. Beautiful location but the admin seems to be completely disorganized with horrible communication.