I wanted to share with the local community that I have significant concerns about Mapleside Elementary Montessori on Locke Street in Hamilton (until very recently Lyonsgate Elementary Montessori), which I understand is changing hands, and name, this coming school year.
My children attended the school for basically the entire elementary program, from 1st to 6th grade, while it was still Lyonsgate Montessori. Both found their final three years, run by the lead teacher at the school, to be very difficult.
Our Children’s Experience
My children have different personalities and learning styles, but both independently described similar difficulties during their final years in the elementary program.
Both told us that they became very anxious about making mistakes, asking for clarification, or missing deadlines. At home, we observed increased anxiety surrounding schoolwork and the possibility of getting something wrong.
They also expressed frustration that they perceived some students as receiving more favorable treatment than others. One of the students they identified was the teacher’s own child.
Both children separately described witnessing classroom interactions involving other students that they found upsetting. They spoke about these incidents at home and appeared distressed by what they had observed.
I want to distinguish between what I personally witnessed and what my children reported. I was not present for their classroom interactions. However, I heard their accounts directly over an extended period, observed their anxiety and behavior outside school, and participated in repeated efforts to address their concerns.
Our email records document meetings and correspondence concerning our children in January 2021, September 2022, October 2022, and February 2023. Our experience was that circumstances sometimes improved temporarily after concerns were raised, but the same difficulties later returned.
In February 2023, we attempted to escalate our concerns beyond the classroom teacher and requested a meeting with school management. We were told that a meeting would not take place without the teacher present. Because the concerns involved that teacher, we did not view this as providing an independent avenue for discussing the issue.
We considered withdrawing our youngest child a year before she completed the program. We ultimately did not do so because we were unable to find a suitable alternative placement at that time. In her last year of school, our youngest was often late or absent, in part because of teacher-related anxiety.
Lyonsgate Elementary Montessori Becomes Mapleside Montessori
I have heard that this teacher is now assuming full ownership of the school, as reflected in the name change to Mapleside Montessori. I am concerned that combining classroom leadership and ownership may leave parents with fewer clearly independent avenues for addressing concerns. In my view, having the same person occupy both roles can make it more difficult for parents to seek an independent review of concerns.
I do not enjoy calling out local institutions in public, especially one run by people in my own neighborhood. But I feel a duty to protect other children from potentially negative environments.
I invite parents to do their own research before sending their child to the school, and I’m happy to respond with more detail in private for anyone this is relevant to. This has nothing to do with Lyonsgate Casa on Aberdeen, which remains under the original ownership.
Interestingly, the old Lyonsgate Elementary Montessori web page still seems to be online, at the time of this posting, even though the school building branding has been updated.
What Other Steps Have I Taken?
I reached out to express my concerns to Montessori Canada, which provides accreditation to Montessori schools in Canada, including, I believe, Mapleside Montessori on Locke. I have not heard back from them, and I am not sure this type of issue is one that they get involved in. They seem to be more concerned with providing accreditation than in overseeing the dynamics of individual teachers.
I recently shared my concerns with the local neighborhood Facebook group but the post was taken down within half an hour because the issue was too sticky for the moderators to want to be involved.
In this post, I am sharing my family’s own firsthand experience with the school, such as observing increased anxiety in my children during their time there, or my attempts to address these issues with the school administration. Since speaking publicly, several others have contacted me privately and described experiences that they felt were similar. I am not independently verifying or publishing their specific allegations.
People to whom this is directly relevant to may contact me privately about my family’s experience. I will limit any response to matters I personally observed, communications in which I participated, and records I retain.
Montessori Elementary Schools In Hamilton
There are unfortunately not too many options for Montessori Schools in Hamilton, with the options becoming more scarce the older a child gets.
Thus, there are several Montessori Kindergartens and Preschools. There are only a few elementary schools, including Dundas Valley Montessori (DVMS) in Dundas, and Mapleside Montessori in Kirkendall, on Locke street. Hillfield Strathalan may also have a Montessori program for the first few years of elementary, but it is also probably the most costly. I strongly recommend you speak to multiple parents who have attended a given school as part of your research.
For middle school, there is only one Montessori school, Strata, which is part of DVMS. Our children continued there after their time at Lyonsgate (now Mapleside) and although it’s not perfect, have had a much better experience overall.
