Hampton Roads International Montessori School

Posted: June 2, 2025

We had a terrific Kindergarten year. The guides are incredibly supportive and nurturing—our child now loves to learn and is thriving in the arts, sciences, and humanities. The school is inclusive and welcomes families from all backgrounds. They also do a wonderful job accommodating children with special needs to ensure they can thrive. While we’ve had a very positive experience overall, there is room to grow in how the school communicates with families to ensure clarity and consistency.

Posted: June 2, 2025

Posted: June 2, 2025

Posted: June 2, 2025

Posted: June 2, 2025

Posted: June 2, 2025

Posted: June 2, 2025

Posted: June 2, 2025

Posted: March 12, 2025

I can't say enough great things about this school. The program, as well as the people involved in the day to day of this program make it one in a million. The staff truely care about each and every child in the program they care about their education as well as their emotional well-being.

Posted: March 12, 2025

Posted: March 12, 2025

Posted: March 12, 2025

Posted: March 12, 2025

Posted: March 12, 2025

Posted: March 12, 2025

Posted: March 12, 2025

Posted: October 30, 2023

My son is thriving there. The teachers are highly skilled. My son does really well with the Montessori method and I'm not sure if he'd do as well in a traditional learning environment.

Posted: October 30, 2023

Posted: October 30, 2023

Posted: October 30, 2023

Posted: October 30, 2023

Posted: October 30, 2023

Posted: October 30, 2023

Posted: October 30, 2023

Posted: February 24, 2020

A new head of school was hired before the start of the 2018 school year. She has come in and made changes that That focus on putting as many bodies in the building as possible to the detriment of the staff and other students. she is discriminatory in her treatment of special needs children and authoritarian and her communication with parents and staff. things are so bad that at the end of her first school year there several guides approached the board with complaints and subsequently all resigned. Another guide has just quit mid year or similar reasons. My own child is special needs and all of our attempts to get extra help for him this year served only to annoy the head of school resulting in her expelling our two three and a half year olds. There are great teachers there but I don't know how much longer those that remain will stay.

Posted: February 24, 2020

Posted: February 24, 2020

See comments above, this was an amazing school for many decades and will very shortly be run into the ground with the current head of school at the helm.

Posted: February 24, 2020

My son was diagnosed with autism last year. We provided his diagnosis directly to the head of school as soon as we received it and the 2018-19 school year. When our twins were moved into the children's house they were placed with a guide with over 20 years experience. She was never told of his diagnosis until we met with her at the first parent-teacher conference at the end of the fall. My autistic son had been having trouble in her class and had been many communications between us her and the head of school, we were flabbergasted to learn that the head of school deliberately without this information from his guide. It resulted in him having none of his special needs addressed for the first three months of school. despite the fact that he and a couple of other children were struggling in the class, keep in mind these are three yr olds, the head of school crammed five more children into the classroom at mid year resulting in a class size of 25 3-6 yr olds with one guide and one assistant. Not only was my son's diagnosis withheld from his teacher resulting in what could only be described as a negligence of his special needs for the first half of the year, neither his needs nor the needs of his guides nor the needs of the other students were taken into account when the head of school decided to cram five more children in an already over full classroom. after the break my son was so miserable that he told me he was sick every day and cried in the drop-off line. He did this for weeks when we finally brought it to the attention of the head of school asking for help and saying that no three-year-old should feel this way about their preschool experience, she responded by expelling him and his brother. We are in touch with several other special needs families at the school, as far as we can tell no one else's kids have been kicked out of school, and no one else's parents have been quite as vocal about their child's needs as we have been. I think there's a correlation between our advocacy for our special needs son and the fact that he was kicked out. having said that Montessori as a philosophy should be the number one best choice for special needs children because the guides are highly skilled and highly trained at teaching each child at their own pace. The fact that we had this experience with our autistic son at a Montessori School should speak with volumes !

Posted: February 24, 2020

Posted: February 24, 2020

We met some wonderful families. I have deep respect for the skill and care that the guides exemplify day in and day out with the children.

Posted: October 13, 2014

I cannot imagine a better school for our child. Every morning is greeted with, "Can I go to school today? " Amazing staff, teachers, parents, and experience. We are very happy with how our child has progressed and look forward to what is to come in the future.

Posted: July 24, 2014

Both of my children are thriving at HRIMS. The Montessori method allows each child to work at their own pace, so very bright children are not held back, and children are allowed to master skills instead of being prematurely pushed along to keep up with the class. Time, usually spent on preparing for standardized tests in public schools, is instead spent on learning and discovery using a holistic approach. The classroom atmosphere is calm and happy. I have one child in Children's House and another child will start Lower Elementary this fall. The school's director welcomes parental involvement and addresses family's individual and unique needs. She is truly dedicated to our school family.