Christian or Montessori School in Tarpon Springs area/East Lake Rd.

M.:
Hi! My name is D. and I have a son who is 4, so I recently went thru this search. I am putting him in a Christian school that includes homeschooling part-time. But, that school is way down Keene Road in Clearwater. May be a bit of a ride for you. Plus, I think they are full for this upcoming year. Now, I believe the closest Montessori School is in Palm Harbor on Nebraska Avenue. I don't think that would be far. It's the Palm Harbor Montessori Academy. We looked into that one, too. Absolutely LOVED it but just couldn't do the over $7,000 a year for part-time. I don't know what your situation is but if it sounds good to you, you should definitely check them out.

Lots of luck!
D.

M.,
Hi, I have two boys, 3 1/2 and 5 1/2. I did try the Palm Harbor Montessori and my oldest son went for 2 half days and it just wasn't a good match for him...it was too independent, he needed more structure. I had pre-paid over $3000; of which, they totally refused to return ANY money at all. I met with the owner and was told that under NO circumstances is any money returned; which was a bad idea for them because i know alot of people, I grew up here. I went to the Greek School on Keystone, it's lovely, although the kids will have about 20 minutes a day of religious instruction, but the faculty is really good. The Christian school across the street was really "homey" feeling, I liked it alot. I ended up putting both my sons in the Genesis school just off of 54 because it's a "real" traditional school and it has grades all the way up until college prep. Anyway, that's my 2 cents...good luck! Welcome...
D.

Hi M.,
I live in Tarpon Springs. My daughter currently is enrolled and St. Ignatius Early Childhood Center in Tarpon Springs
http://www.stignatiusecc.org/main-index.php
I have all wonderful things to say about it. Very warm and loving with christian values.
We are looking into another school that is in the Tarpon area but closer to East Lake Rd. St. Nicholas Christian School. They offer the VPK program. What I have seen I love it. I just posted a blog to see if anyone had feedback on it.
http://www.stnicholasparochialschool.org/

M.,
I am a Director of a Christian Preschool in Holiday. I would choose Christian if my child was going to attend the school if she was not going to attend Kindergarten. If you have to choose a different school for Kindergarten and you can have her in a Montessori School that would be better for her. When I went to school for childhood development (30 years ago) we were told in class over and over that the Montessori Method was an excellent curriculm.

E. W.

when my son was going to be 2 years old i tried Montessori the one on 56 and Gibson. i didn't like their daycare there was a bunch of kids in one classroom and not much toys for kids of his age to play. it was not good match for him. too independent for him and my son who never went to daycare before needed some one on one care and toys with musics to help him adjust. so end up paying a lot of money for nothing cause they would refund me the money. i've worked for them too( at the elementary school). i like their method but it may not be the right one for your child. what you could do is go there with your child. tell them about your him and ask questions. but i would definitely prefer Christian's school. i like their method which is academical, structural ad most of all religious. with the world going crazy we need God to reside in the innocent mind of the kids so the future world will be a better place for them to live. Good luck!