Rogers Park Montessori School

Honestly, I've been really happy with how clean and calm RPMS feels compared to other places we've toured in Andersonville. The building on Balmoral is always spotless, and you can tell they take the 'peaceful' Montessori vibe seriously even when it comes to hygiene. We haven't dealt with nearly as many recurring classroom bugs as our friends in bigger public schools, which is a huge relief. My only minor gripe is that sometimes the communication on specific illness outbreaks in the toddler rooms could be a bit faster, but they generally have their act together with sick policies. It’s a very solid, healthy environment for the kids.

Honestly, one of the main reasons we chose RPMS was the building itself—it was actually designed with wellness in mind, and you can really tell. The air quality feels much better than those old, drafty Chicago public schools, and the cafe keeps things super clean and follows strict food safety rules. They follow the Montessori way even with health, so they're pretty big on the kids learning independence with hand-washing and keeping their areas tidy. Communication is decent if something is going around, though I wish the sick-kid policy was a little more strictly enforced by some of the other parents; sometimes it feels like kids are back in the classroom a day too early. Overall though, the environment is bright and doesn't have that 'school gym' smell, which is a huge win.