Montessori school in Keller / Ftw/ Heritage trace area (Houston, Fort Worth: renting, HOA)

[Monschool]

Hello I am in the process of looking for a land to build a Montessori school in the Keller / Heritage trace area. There are currently a number of pre schools in that area but not a Montessori schools.

I would like to see what peopople think of this idea and the viability of this business in that area. This is fairly new area that had come in the last 5 to 20 years.

Any thoughts / suggestion would help.

Thx

[milwaukeegirl]

I think it would do great! I don't live up that way, but go to church with many families from that area. They are mid- to upper-middle class and I think a Montessori program would do well up there. There does seem to be a derth of Christian preschools around Tarrant County since many parents want that for their children. You might have found your niche for parents not looking for a religious preschool.

[Monschool]

Thx for the response. Appreciate it

[Monschool]

Any other comments

[lunebloc]

I can tell you that when my husband and I looked at the area, we considered a lack of a close Montessori a 'con'. We currently have our daughter at Montessori Children's House in Ridglea and love it. We'd like to find a similar school where we move. It's hard though since 'Montessori' is not a standard and just about anyone can call themselves a Montessori. You'd need to prove your mettle to prospective parents.

[expatChicagoan]

I live in Heritage, and would never consider a Montessori school for my son. I've never had an experience with them, but just from what I've heard about them, it's not something that I think would work for my family.

[5stones]

I would do your homework, there are quite a few pre-schools in the area. With Primrose, Premiere, Childrens courtyard and all the the church schools it's pretty competetive.
Keller itself has a few with NRH having one right on the Keller boarder as well. plus southlake and colleyville etc...
Where you are looking is Ft Worth not Keller.
With the economy the way it is now starting any new "business" is a gamble.

Barbara Gordon Colleyville is well established Montessori, they might be able to help you out with questions etc...

Montessori schools are tough, either people love them or hate them.

I am with expat, it was not something I considered for my kids. (and I used to teach swimming for one in Houston)

[Mommy24kids]

There is Pinnacle Montessori in Keller, Keller Montessori School, a new on in North Richland Hills, Colleyville Montessori, Barbara Gordon Montessori and The Clariden School.

So the area isn't lacking for Montessori schools. From what I understand the 3 latter schools are the most regarded.

I agree with 5stones. This is a tough market, there are SEVERAL preschools in the area.....some very competitive and highly regarded. Now would be a difficult time to start something new without doing very thorough research.

If you didn't know that the area you are talking about is Fort Worth and not Keller and if you don't know about the schools we listed, you haven't done enough homework.

[justducky]

Hi! Well I would be! But I'm not sure how many other people would be! :-)
The only 3-14 year old Montessori schools are South Fort Worth, Southlake and Colleyville. One thing Non-Mon families don't understand is how most montessori schools they drive by are simply preschools that service children age 3-6 and then they end and many of those schools are not recognized by AMI or authentic in Montessori environment. NRH is trying now to gradually add on so they have expanded to include a 6-9 yr old class. I wish there was an authentic AMI recognized 3-14 yr old Montessori school in the heritage area! If there was one, I would have enrolled. But, everyone else seems to be in love with the local schools and quite satisfied with them. So, I'm not sure what the general response would be from families in the area. Might have a hard time selling to the locals. We moved here in the spring and we drive to Colleyville for BG school. Heritage seemed great so I figured it would be worth the drive to have such a reasonably priced house and just drive the 10 miles to BG in Colleyville. But it takes 1 hour round trip in the morning and 1 hour roundtrip in the afternoon for me! :-) In fact, we are now looking at some houses in Colleyville and are thinking about renting out our heritage house and our realtor is showing us some Colleyville houses this weekend. For us it is 1) distance and 2) crime. There have been several breaking and entering crimes recently during the middle of the day, car thefts, a cat was shot, vandalism at 3 of the neighborhood parks. I've started keeping our alarm on even when I'm home because the B & E's have been happening in the middle of the day, kicking in the front door! Fantastic HOA amenities, but I'm getting concerned about crime. So we are now seriously considering moving to Colleyville area to be closer to kids school so I don't have to drive so far to get kids to what I consider a good school, crime mapping of area is a lot better, and we'll use city parks and pools since we won't have the fancy hoa amenities. :-)

[expatChicagoan]

Originally Posted by justducky

There have been several breaking and entering crimes recently

I don't believe that TWO breaking & entering crimes in the last 30 days in the Heritage neighborhood constitutes "several"... (or even THREE in the past 6 months...)