Escuela Del Sol Montessori in Albuquerque

Posted: June 26, 2026

My child has gone to Escuela all the way from toddler to elementary and I would not recommend to any other families past primary. My child is extremely behind academically, in relation to reading especially. It has required us getting an outside tutor in order to catch our child up to grade level expectations. Teachers seem overwhelmed with behavioral issues to even begin to address the amount of children behind (my assumption). There is constant staff turnover, leadership changes, and hiring of unprofessional adults. It costs $16,000+ to attend this school and there are dead roaches everywhere when I am on campus. The campus itself is run down, the elementary playground looks awful, the classroom materials are broken/worn, and the childrens bathrooms are quite unsanitary. My final note is that Escuela touts its inclusivity, diversity, and overall woke-ness when in reality there is very little done to support this. There is very little diversity on campus, very little resources offered, and is all about image. Save your time and money and look elsewhere.

Posted: June 12, 2026

My child has been attending this school his whole pre elementary and elementary journey.
While I love the commitment to individualized learning and social growth, this school fails to provide the academic needs of the student. My child has had to receive tutoring weekly in order to catch up.
The school also gives lots of lip-service to being a part of the community but in reality, it's all about their bottom line. Lots of underpaid teachers and overpaid admin here.
At every event admin will talk about how "the school is on stolen land" referring to white colonization (which I agree with) but fails to provide any special services to native communities. It's virtue signaling at its best.

Posted: June 12, 2026

Posted: January 21, 2026

I toured several day cares and preschools around Albuquerque, and Escuela del Sol's toddler classrooms were simply the best classrooms I could find for my toddler and I recommend the school to all of my friends. When you visit the classrooms, you see that the classrooms are beautiful and the children are very engaged with their work. In addition to activities in the classroom, the children have 45 minutes of outdoor play time a day and they walk around the beautiful campus and visit the chickens and the gardens and the surrounding community. The kids also have access to music class, cooking class, and Spanish class once a week. The kids share a hot lunch every single day. They serve themselves, they clean after themselves, they arrange flowers at the center of the table before eating. The kids learn to put on their own shoes and their jackets and they are supported in their potty training journey. The guides are caring and warm and do a great job of communicating with the parents. There are two guides per classroom. One of the guides speaks Spanish, which I really appreciate. Overall, I highly recommend Escuela del Sol to all parents who are looking for a great school for their little ones.

Posted: January 21, 2026

Posted: February 21, 2025

My two children have been going to this school since they were very little in the "toddler room." From the moment we started there, I have been very pleased. The teachers and staff are extremely kind and very skilled. They truly care about my children and have been helpful in staying in contact with me and aiding us in any way possible. Their education and socialization has been greatly enhanced by going here. I am very blessed and grateful for this education for my children.

Posted: February 21, 2025

Posted: August 25, 2023

My son has attended EDS for six years, now in Junior High and the only Montessori at this level in the state. The care and attention to his growth academically and socially/emotionally have been even more than I hoped for. While hes always had a strong academic spark, he struggled for years with anxiety and catching up on social/emotional skills to his peers. EDS environment has consistently given him the ideal balance of loving support and academic freedom, made possible by incredibly gifted teachers who do the extraordinary every day.

Watching him gradually integrate his academic progress, self knowledge, friendships, and faculty relationships has been the best gift I could have hoped for as he starts his 8th year. At 13, hes a confident learner with well-developed passions and clear ideas for his independent projects. He dives into daily group work with self awareness and joy. He can self-advocate and learn from his mistakes with resilience. He has deep friendships here that feel like theyll transcend life beyond EDS and we as parents are deeply connected to the other families in the Junior High. Our K-8 experience at EDS has just gotten better and better, and now were enjoying the very best part.

EDS is a true Montessori deeply committed to putting all the needs of the child first in every way possible. This is not how education is typically done in the US, so it often requires the parents getting educated along the way but what a gift. Things are possible in this setting that are not possible in most schools.

Posted: August 25, 2023

Posted: September 20, 2022

As a parent of two former students I cannot recommend this school if you are looking to have your children educated in any traditional academic areas. While the school claimed to place a greater emphasis on social skills, they failed to provide my kids with any academics with one failing to progress and the other digressing in all academic areas - making their transition to other schools that much harder.

We were told everything we wanted to hear to enroll our kids and pay the hefty tuition; but our money, and our kids' time, were both thoroughly wasted.

Posted: September 20, 2022

Posted: December 2, 2021

My son attended EDS for first grade and it was a poor fit for him. His skills in reading and math significantly regressed. He was above the 50th percentile in both reading and math at the end of kindergarten, and below the 10th percentile when he rejoined public school in second grade. After a few months of intervention, he is now above the 75th percentile in both (95th in math, 77th in reading).

My big concern at EDS was the lack of guidance provided to students. I am all about self-directed learning. It did not concern me that my kid wanted to do the baking soda volcano every day. (He literally chose this activity more than 50 times during the school year). What did concern me was that he was never guided into doing more- "What happens when you double the baking soda? What about we write a report on volcanoes? Look, here's a video on what really causes a volcano to explode." I also found it odd that kids his age were not routinely expected to practice reading and writing. In kindergarten, they had a writing prompt daily. In first grade, his mid-year report on tigers was dictated by him- and written by the teacher! He was capable of more.

In the second semester, when I pushed for more rigor , I was told that my son was "resistant to instuction" and had problematic behaviors of disruptiveness/sulking when he didn't get to do what he wanted. This was highly concerning to me until I found out that more than half the boys in his class were also having regular conferences with this teacher for behavior issues.

We're back in a great public school now. My son is thriving with the increased expectations and structure. There have been no behavioral incidents-not even a name on the board. In fact, his teacher has identified him as a classroom leader both socially and academically. He loves school and now thinks of himself as a smart kid and good student, whereas at EDS, he was convinced that he "made the teacher frustrated all the time," that he just couldn't read and that math was too hard. I think self-directed learning works for most kids- my son was previously successful at an independent outdoor preschool. But I don't think self-directed is the same thing as letting kids do whatever they want. Most young kids still need someone regularly channeling their passions- guiding them to connect and deepen their interests in a way that both broadens their subject area knowledge and improves their core academic skill-sets. We didn't find this guidance at EDS.

Posted: December 2, 2021

Posted: March 5, 2021

I sent three kids through this school, toddler and primary. I loved the focus on independent learning, and the teachers are almost universally wonderful. So why am I leaving a not-great review?
Theres a pretty high teacher turnover rate; departures are often abrupt and announced too late to prepare your child for the fact that their beloved teacher is disappearing forever. As this standard red flag indicates, the administration can be kind of toxic, playing favorites and promoting people based on personal preference rather than ability. Theres one toddler community teacher who is pretty awful, but shes obviously preferred; the best teacher in the school, who apparently isnt, was moved around to a different classroom where she was second-in-command rather than primary guide. If you try to ask about this, you get strange authoritarian messages back from the director or associate director. Staff speak derisively about parents they dont like; they praise parents who actively support the administration. Its incredibly unprofessional and off-putting.
The school is closed too often, and they also dont really know what to do with kids who dont respond to the self-directed model. I was told my middle child was delayed and needed special services because she would just wander around the classroom unless an adult made suggestions about what to do; shes in the gifted program at her new, more traditionally structured school. If she actually *had* needed special ed, thatd be one thing, but I found it bizarre that they couldnt question their standard approach or minorly adjust for a student, particularly as we were paying out the nose in tuition!
In short, Ive decided to move my youngest in response to a last straw-type power move by the directors. Well be sorry to go, as Montessori methods prioritize the social skills that are so necessary to success and happiness in adult life, but its the right choice.

Posted: March 5, 2021

Posted: April 1, 2012

My son has attended EDS for one year. I do think it is too expensive and I do not feel that I understand the excessive tuituion cost. However, the school is excellent and has been a great fit for my son who was struggling socially but academically solid. He has surpassed my expections for lessons and I have been impressed by what he has learned. I feel he is doing lessons above his grade level (he's in in kindergarten and starting multiplication and has brought home maps of all the continents with all the contries labeled, for instance) and he really understands the concepts. The teachers are amazing, and I have learned parenting skills from them in the short visits I make to the school. (I wish I could be that calm and collected all the time.) I have never seen any signs of bullying, not caring or inattention in ANY form so disagree with the parent who had that experience. My main complaint is the expense which includes not only the tuition and fees, but the lunch menu at Robyn's kitchen, before/after care and holiday programs. Also, it seems the administration is a little disorganized.

Posted: August 27, 2011

I have 2 girls at Escuela and have been with the school for 8 years. I am constantly amazed by the incredible dedication of the teachers, staff, and community of families at Escuela. My children are developing a deep love of learning, conceptual thinking, and creative problem-solving skills. They look for questions, not just correct answers. The environment is collaborative rather than competitive, building their confidence and self-esteem. They absolutely love their school and can't wait to do lessons and projects. I believe they will truly be prepared to meet the unforeseen challenges of the future with curiosity, enthusiasm and success, because of their start at Escuela.

Posted: January 6, 2011

Escuela was a great fit for our family. My child attended for the primary years and loved every moment of it. His teachers were gracious, caring, well-educated and very experienced (with almost 20 years teaching at EDS). We looked at other schools, including Montessori programs, and found Escuela to be the best

Posted: December 23, 2010

Unfortunately, this school has great potential that is not being met. We had children here several years ago. We loved the primary, and the multicultural focus. We also loved that the children went at their own pace, and our children flew through materials. But, there was a complete lack of ability to discipline the boys in elementary. The principal really seemed focused on the "at risk" (or learning challenged) children, not the "regular" children. Our child ended up being traumatized after a year in elementary from bullied (verbally and physically) and begged us not to go back. We were actually sad, since we really think the teachers are good-hearted and mean well, and we believe that, if instituted properly, Montessori is a tremendous method of education.

Posted: April 7, 2010

My two boys, ages 3 and 4, both started in the toddler program and are now in the primary program at EDS. They love and respect their teachers (they are not in the same classroom), and so do we. Our friends are always impressed with how well-educated and capable our kids are already. We love the Montessori method, but beyond that, the teachers use the Positive Discipline method with great success. There are also lots of parent workshops, and my husband and I both attended the one on Positive Discipline, which was taught by one of our sons' teacher. It was amazing. Our sons have a balanced group of friends (male and female, ranging from ages 3-6) from their classes. The school is incredibly diverse. I estimate that greater than 50% of kids in the primary program are minority students. Couldn't be more pleased.

Posted: April 6, 2010

Teachers are overwhelmed and do not pay attention to the children - the ratios are way to high. Play is not allowed at all and children are taught and expected to be little adults. Most of the kids are bullies and physically threaten and hurt each other. The teachers do little to prevent this from happening and the school does not take safety seriously. Academically the school is lacking and completely not flexible and not-Montessori like at all. They do not meet children where they are and will not change there methods. I am so disappointed and sad for my child that we exposed them to this environment. I would not wish this school on anyone.

#	Name	Type	City	State	Overall Rating	Distance
1	Northeast Heights	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Albuquerque	NM		6.5 mi
2	Blossom Ridge at Anderson Hills	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Albuquerque	NM		6.5 mi

#	Name	City	State	Distance
1	Albuquerque	Albuquerque	NM	0.6 mi
2	Taylor Ranch	Albuquerque	NM	4.9 mi
3	Ventana Ranch	Albuquerque	NM	8.4 mi
4	Rio Rancho	Rio Rancho	NM	9.6 mi

Escuela Del Sol Montessori

Albuquerque, NM 87102

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Escuela Del Sol Montessori

Albuquerque, NM 87102

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