Can anyone with experience with the Montessori School of Hong Kong on Caine Rd. (and Arbutnot) give me some feedback? I just met someone whose child attends the school and the mom cannot say enough good things about it. Her child is extremely bright, much more advanced than my son who is the same age. On the other hand, the few reviews about the school that I could find have not been good. Thanks!
Montessori School of Hong Kong
- Thread starter uberbon
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Montessori School of Hong
Hi,
I can only agree with that. Go and have a look yourself. Many things change over time. Go, have a look, ask the questions that are on your mind and you will get the answers you are looking for. If upi don't take the chance to make yourself your own picture, you miss a great option of education.
Cheers,
HKSupermom
Hi,
I can only agree with that. Go and have a look yourself. Many things change over time. Go, have a look, ask the questions that are on your mind and you will get the answers you are looking for. If upi don't take the chance to make yourself your own picture, you miss a great option of education.
Cheers,
HKSupermom
Montissori School of HK on Caine Rd.
I'm about to pull my daughter out of the Montissori School of HK (previously on #2 Caine Rd.) The school's owners want only payments and no contact with the children or the parents. They made little to no investment in the school itself to upgrade materials, toys or facility to the point where the school had to close down.
A week ago the school had to close because of water leakage. I found out later that a part of the ceiling in the school fell through! They had no choice but to look for a new location. The new location turned out to be another dilapidated, decrepit, crappy building, with the minimal of repair, upgrades and cleaniless required to even open its doors for business!
There was no formal announcement made by the mythical management or apology letter from a principle or someone representing the school. Just a phone call from The Teach, who is also the bill collector, the face and voice of the "management" and executer, who notified all parents that suddenly the school has a new location!
When the new location opened for school, we were told that only the children can go in but not the parents. Basically, the parents were not allowed to see the inside conditions until it is made "ready for parental visits.
My husband contacted the HK Education Bureau to complaint about the whole situation and found that the school had not even registered or notified the Bureau of their move and they opened its doors even before inspection!
I'm furious about this whole situation and hope that no other family, for a lack of better options in HK, choose The Montissori School of HK to send their children.
I'm about to pull my daughter out of the Montissori School of HK (previously on #2 Caine Rd.) The school's owners want only payments and no contact with the children or the parents. They made little to no investment in the school itself to upgrade materials, toys or facility to the point where the school had to close down.
A week ago the school had to close because of water leakage. I found out later that a part of the ceiling in the school fell through! They had no choice but to look for a new location. The new location turned out to be another dilapidated, decrepit, crappy building, with the minimal of repair, upgrades and cleaniless required to even open its doors for business!
There was no formal announcement made by the mythical management or apology letter from a principle or someone representing the school. Just a phone call from The Teach, who is also the bill collector, the face and voice of the "management" and executer, who notified all parents that suddenly the school has a new location!
When the new location opened for school, we were told that only the children can go in but not the parents. Basically, the parents were not allowed to see the inside conditions until it is made "ready for parental visits.
My husband contacted the HK Education Bureau to complaint about the whole situation and found that the school had not even registered or notified the Bureau of their move and they opened its doors even before inspection!
I'm furious about this whole situation and hope that no other family, for a lack of better options in HK, choose The Montissori School of HK to send their children.
I urge any parent who current attend or previously attended The Montissori School of HK (on #2 Caine Rd) and have a complaint or inquiry about this school and its happenings to Ms. Doris: 3107-2166 (direct line). Ms. Doris is the person responsible for looking after this particular school and its coercion to governmental rules and regulations.
Many queries about this school
My freind send me the article on SCMP because she heard me complaining about this school in the past few months. I just came across this link as I tried to find the website of this school to check whether the address was updated due to curiosity.
My kid was studying in this school for 1+ year long time ago. It was about time for me to deal with the deposit.
I can say that the teaching staff at that time were all right. But the attitude is strange. The staff would step down other schools and emphasized a lot that their school is the only affiliated school of the American Montessori Society. Actually, you know there are many schools employing the Montessori system. Nobody care whether it is belonged to American Montessori Society if the teachers are qualified Montessori teachers. BUt on Seaching the AMS website , I couldn't find the name of the school under the section -member. Maybe I missed that.
There are a few questions in my mind :
(1)Who is the Prinicipal? I suppose every school should have a principal.
(2)Who is the responsible person of the school? When I called to the school, the Staff didn't answer anything and just ask me to write to the GPO box. Manner was rude. Could she be a teacher or just a telephone operator?
(3) anybody act or write on behalf of their Adminstration Office? There wasn't any name on the letter all the time.
(4) Can't find the school address on the Business Registration if you go to search for it.
Really a mystery! Could the staff answering the phone in school also deals with all the adminstration stuffs as well?
Let us know if you know the answers
If you write to GPO box , they never reply to you. So if you write , better to both the GPO box and to the school address. The best is by hand.
My freind send me the article on SCMP because she heard me complaining about this school in the past few months. I just came across this link as I tried to find the website of this school to check whether the address was updated due to curiosity.
My kid was studying in this school for 1+ year long time ago. It was about time for me to deal with the deposit.
I can say that the teaching staff at that time were all right. But the attitude is strange. The staff would step down other schools and emphasized a lot that their school is the only affiliated school of the American Montessori Society. Actually, you know there are many schools employing the Montessori system. Nobody care whether it is belonged to American Montessori Society if the teachers are qualified Montessori teachers. BUt on Seaching the AMS website , I couldn't find the name of the school under the section -member. Maybe I missed that.
There are a few questions in my mind :
(1)Who is the Prinicipal? I suppose every school should have a principal.
(2)Who is the responsible person of the school? When I called to the school, the Staff didn't answer anything and just ask me to write to the GPO box. Manner was rude. Could she be a teacher or just a telephone operator?
(3) anybody act or write on behalf of their Adminstration Office? There wasn't any name on the letter all the time.
(4) Can't find the school address on the Business Registration if you go to search for it.
Really a mystery! Could the staff answering the phone in school also deals with all the adminstration stuffs as well?
Let us know if you know the answers
If you write to GPO box , they never reply to you. So if you write , better to both the GPO box and to the school address. The best is by hand.
JORDANSPARENTS
New member
We cannot agree with your comments more
We agree totally with all the comments here about this school. We too have now withdrawn our son from this school as we are so disappointed as well as disillusioned at how a school purporting to be teaching the "right ways" to bring up our children can on the other hand be so blatantly dishonest and deceitful about it's operations. We had no idea when we first encountered this school about the very numerous bad reports on countless forums in Hong Kong, that have been posted about the school , it's past and present staff and poor "customer relations". Had we known earlier then we would perhaps have never chosen this school in the first place.
However in fairness, during the period that our son has attended, he has learnt a lot and his experiences have only been positive in my view. Yes the school certainly has a lot to learn in how to better manage and operate as a reputable and honest establishment, but I think that the legal points aside, there has been some good teaching skills from Monika and others that can be seen in the positive developments that our son has shown when he has returned home. It is therefore a huge disappointment that because of short sighted management, lack of investment into the school facilities and poor attitudes towards naturally concerned parents, that this school may perhaps close down as there will soon be no more children left to attend.
We agree totally with all the comments here about this school. We too have now withdrawn our son from this school as we are so disappointed as well as disillusioned at how a school purporting to be teaching the "right ways" to bring up our children can on the other hand be so blatantly dishonest and deceitful about it's operations. We had no idea when we first encountered this school about the very numerous bad reports on countless forums in Hong Kong, that have been posted about the school , it's past and present staff and poor "customer relations". Had we known earlier then we would perhaps have never chosen this school in the first place.
However in fairness, during the period that our son has attended, he has learnt a lot and his experiences have only been positive in my view. Yes the school certainly has a lot to learn in how to better manage and operate as a reputable and honest establishment, but I think that the legal points aside, there has been some good teaching skills from Monika and others that can be seen in the positive developments that our son has shown when he has returned home. It is therefore a huge disappointment that because of short sighted management, lack of investment into the school facilities and poor attitudes towards naturally concerned parents, that this school may perhaps close down as there will soon be no more children left to attend.
Montessori Move
Hi there,
I just saw the latest entries and again I need to say, that you are asking the wrong people. In such a forum anyone unqualified and desperate for attention can answer your questions.
I am a parent of that particular school and went through several ups and downs. I left the school once and returned after 6 month. Yes, finding quality education in Hong Kong is difficult and I decided this school was the best for my child.
I have seen the new premises. It is clean, it is save and the children like it very much. The rooms are bright abd the bathrooms are completely new.
My child adapted very fast and loves going there. Therefore I feel I need to defend the school in his name.
The school has never bad mouthed any other school, but encouraged us to go and have a look and make our choice. I made a choice and so did you. And that is all you have to do now. Do you want to continue with the education given or not. That is the question and nothing else. One thing I have learned by checking out other schools is that: A school is only as good as its teachers and the teachers at this Montessori School are good. We will stay.
Some more questions for you who are busy trying to answer MSUNs questions:
1. Why did you send you child to the school, if you did not like it? You always had the choice to leave.
2. What is your motive to badmouth the efforts of a school that is determined to provide good education?
3. Why don't you just go and ask your questions? There is a parent hotline, so if you are a parent you knpw where to call. That's what I did.
4. Good luck finding another school that is so involved!
Cheers!
Hi there,
I just saw the latest entries and again I need to say, that you are asking the wrong people. In such a forum anyone unqualified and desperate for attention can answer your questions.
I am a parent of that particular school and went through several ups and downs. I left the school once and returned after 6 month. Yes, finding quality education in Hong Kong is difficult and I decided this school was the best for my child.
I have seen the new premises. It is clean, it is save and the children like it very much. The rooms are bright abd the bathrooms are completely new.
My child adapted very fast and loves going there. Therefore I feel I need to defend the school in his name.
The school has never bad mouthed any other school, but encouraged us to go and have a look and make our choice. I made a choice and so did you. And that is all you have to do now. Do you want to continue with the education given or not. That is the question and nothing else. One thing I have learned by checking out other schools is that: A school is only as good as its teachers and the teachers at this Montessori School are good. We will stay.
Some more questions for you who are busy trying to answer MSUNs questions:
1. Why did you send you child to the school, if you did not like it? You always had the choice to leave.
2. What is your motive to badmouth the efforts of a school that is determined to provide good education?
3. Why don't you just go and ask your questions? There is a parent hotline, so if you are a parent you knpw where to call. That's what I did.
4. Good luck finding another school that is so involved!
Cheers!
Hi there,
I am a new user to this forum. We are moving to HK from US this summer. Searching for HK schools for my two kids (5 1/2 and 3) has been a major challenge! Both of my kids attend a Montessori school in the US now. So I have been researching for Montessori schools in HK. Montessori School of Hong Kong at Pokfulam Road seems to be a good one based on the information on their web site. Is this the same school on everyone is talking about on this discussion thread? Any advice on any other Montessori schools I should look at is much appreciated! (I am looking schools at Pokfulam, The Belcher, Western District, and Sheung Wan). Thanks much!
I am a new user to this forum. We are moving to HK from US this summer. Searching for HK schools for my two kids (5 1/2 and 3) has been a major challenge! Both of my kids attend a Montessori school in the US now. So I have been researching for Montessori schools in HK. Montessori School of Hong Kong at Pokfulam Road seems to be a good one based on the information on their web site. Is this the same school on everyone is talking about on this discussion thread? Any advice on any other Montessori schools I should look at is much appreciated! (I am looking schools at Pokfulam, The Belcher, Western District, and Sheung Wan). Thanks much!
nessacarrie
Registered User
the montessori school on Pokfulam Road is just right down on my flat. the place was a cafe for ages before i was born and the cafed ended the business when i was in secondary school. it's been emptied for more than 10 years i think and now it's the montessori school. yes it is a small place but i dnt know the teaching method. as far as i know they use english, cantonese and mandarin, it is a tri-lingual pre-school. you can also try Woodland Pre-schools, they have 3 montessori schools and 7 traditional schools.
Hi all...
I would like to know the current status of this school (Montessori School of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam Road) as I am considering this school for my son. Is any currently experiencing parents here? Is any improvement in their management as there are so many complaints about their poor management.
The reason why I am still interested in this school is,
1) I am really impressed with their education system and teaching method (got from their website) and this is what I am looking for.
,
2) There are some good comments about their education system in this thread and most of the bad comments are about their poor management only.
I am also interested in knowing about their old students' progress now. Also please advice me some other schools with the same education system.
Thanks in advance.
I would like to know the current status of this school (Montessori School of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam Road) as I am considering this school for my son. Is any currently experiencing parents here? Is any improvement in their management as there are so many complaints about their poor management.
The reason why I am still interested in this school is,
1) I am really impressed with their education system and teaching method (got from their website) and this is what I am looking for.
,
2) There are some good comments about their education system in this thread and most of the bad comments are about their poor management only.
I am also interested in knowing about their old students' progress now. Also please advice me some other schools with the same education system.
Thanks in advance.
thompsonsparent
New member
My son and daughter went to this school since 2009 til few months ago because the whole family had to leave Hong Kong to Shanghai. I accidentally stumbled into this website and felt that it is necessary for me to defend this school among all these negative reviews. For the past two years, the staff and teachers in this school have worked their best for the interest of my children (and I believe to others as well). I admit that the new site in Pokfulam road is much smaller than the old one in Caine Road yet I do not find it a problem at all since the school altered its teacher student ratio to 1:5-8. I have been into the new site before, it is clean and organized. They also have a full time cleaner (which I apologize for forgetting her name all the time but she is always friendly) stationed in the school. My son and daughter progressed very well in the school, they worked with almost all of the Montessori materials, and have established a very solid foundation for English, Mandarin and even a little bit of Cantonese!(We are not locals FYI). They have also maintained very good manners in school. They know how to share, and how to take turns (something highly emphasized in this school). I did hear some negative reviews about the school when it was relocated to Pokfulam Road, mostly were furious parents not happy with the new location rather than the old one in Caine Road. Though it is true that the school lacks certain transparency in the school's management, I feel that it was a right decision to send my children in two years ago. I do not agree with some of the biased comments above, and would suggest that any parents who are interested should visit the school and see for themselves.
Thanks thompsonsparent. I've just sent PM to you. Please do reply.