Description: MacDonald Montessori School is a unique non-profit early childhood program located in the culturally vibrant West 7th area of St. Paul. Our urban location also brings us into close relation with the Mississippi River and many other environmental inspirations.
At MacDonald Montessori, parents, teachers and children are all partners of a learning community with strong emphasis placed on each child’s unique abilities in thinking, reasoning, questioning and experimenting in life.
All three protagonists, the teachers, the children and the parents come from many varied cultural and educational backgrounds but together they form one community that sees all children as powerful and competent individuals deserving of an exceptional environment and many varied and complex materials.
Where possible, ChildcareCenter provides inspection reports as a service to families. This information is deemed reliable, but is not guaranteed. We encourage families to contact the daycare provider directly with any questions or concerns, as the provider may have already addressed some or all issues. Reports can also be verified with your local daycare licensing office.
| Report Date | Report Type | Report Status |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-10-19 | Licensing Review | - See Violation(s) |
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Violation Category: Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.41, subdivision 1, paragraph (b). - Staff Training Violation Description: The program did not comply with Individual Child Care Program Plan requirements. |
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Provider Response: (Contact the State Licensing Office for more information.) Correction Documentation Submitted and Approved |
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| 2021-06-21 | Licensing Review | In Compliance |
| 2020-10-09 | Health and Safety Technical Assistance Review | In Compliance |
| 2019-05-24 | Correction Order | |
| 2019-01-11 | Correction Order | |
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We were at MMS for 3.5 years and I would sum up our experience with one word: regret. I regret not trusting other parents' stories about bad experiences. I regret feeling overconfident that we could avoid interactions with the director. I regret convincing myself that leadership didn't impact direct care of my child. I regret allowing shiny, pretty things like wooden toys and big windows to cause me to downplay things that were harder to see but mattered more to my child's well-being, namely big classes, constant transitions, and relative lack of professional backgrounds in early childhood education. Most of all, I regret paying tens of thousands of dollars to someone who I should have known - based on the stories of other parents and based on our experiences with her authoritarian decision-making - could not be trusted to have our child's best interests at heart.
We wanted to believe that MMS's beautiful philosophy was true, but when our child was struggling (and I would argue struggling based on decisions the staff made that ignored our input, contradicting their claim of involving parents as partners), the staff did not take a child-centered approach. Instead, they blamed our parenting and they labeled our child. I was told I need to discipline more (several other moms I know have been told the same thing - it appears to be Beth Macdonald's answer for many situations). Fast forward to enrolling at a different school: same child, same parents, different school, and different results. Our child's challenging behaviors vanished literally overnight in a school that prioritizes consistency and true individualization of care for each child.
We underestimated how much influence this director would have on the classroom experience, but over time it became clear that even the nicest teachers were not well-trained in anything besides Reggio Emilia. The teachers seemed to lack basic understandings of the biology of child development, attachment theory, and positive behavior guidance. Reggio Emilia is lovely, but it doesn't give teachers all the tools they need to work effectively with small children.
When children travel through 7 classrooms and 20+ different teachers in 3.5 years as ours did at MMS, there is no chance to develop deep relationships or classroom rhythms. It's a setup for stress. I should have known better, but you never think the bad stories are as bad as you hear until they happen to you. When we left, multiple people who had either also left or had looked at MMS and decided against it shared stories that started with, "I didn't want to tell you because you seemed to be having a good experience, but ..." The bad experiences were scarily consistent, showing us that there was nothing we could have done to deal more effectively with the school. You can't reason with a dictator.
Our child and our family are healthier after leaving MMS. However leaving behind our community of friends was gut-wrenching. I wish we had decided against MMS from the start and had never met Beth Macdonald. Beautiful art projects, field trips, and even the friends we made were not were not worth the guilt I carry for risking my child's care on a leader who had a well-established reputation for being difficult (to put it diplomatically).
Nonprofit tax data is public information so you can look online to find that Beth pays herself $128,000 per year (MUCH more than directors of comparable organizations). That means that even if you are one of the lucky families to avoid dealing with her, about $1,000/year of your money goes directly to her. We feel grateful to now be investing in a different school that is worthy of our child and our money and has never given us a reason to question the quality of our children's care.
Great teachers, horrible owner. We had our daughter here for 3 months and really liked it. She ended up being hospitalized for a month because she wasn't eating well. When we informed the daycare that she may need a feeding tube, we were coldly told (by email) that we weren't welcome back. The owner refused to meet with us or even speak with us over the phone. I have never been treated worse in my life. This place seems caring on the surface. Just make sure your kid doesn't get sick - they will drop you in a heartbeat.