LePort Montessori Huntington Harbor

We first learned about Leport from some dear friends that had wonderful experiences with the company of schools, but we were wary of the cost. We were thrilled when we found out about their parent & child (P&C) program (a 1.5 hour one day/week parent and child class) because it was a low commitment/reasonable cost way to see if Leport Montessori would be the right fit for us and our daughter (who, at the time, was about 14 months old). We consider ourselves so fortunate that we were enrolled in Ms. Zappa's P&C infant class. Her kindness, attentiveness, warmth, brilliance, and graciousness enriched our lives so much.  She has a certain intentionality behind every word she utters, and every action she undertakes...which ultimately makes her an ideal role model for our daughter and even for us as parents as to how we "should" strive to be. Our daughter was immediately drawn to her and receptive to her guidance. We still refer to her by name when we do different things that we learned in our Parent & Child class. It's easy for us to say that Ms. Zappa's amazingness made up a large percentage of the reasoning behind our decision to enroll our daughter in Leport full time. We were only bummed that our daughter was too old for her class at the time we decided to enroll. But even after the class was over, Ms. Zappa was so kind to offer her time and counsel in helping us think about what was best for our daughter, and how to guide her to be independent, confident, and graceful. We will forever be grateful to Ms. Zappa. Another large element of our decision to enroll was their amazing Admissions Director, Ms. Gump. As a fellow mother and parent of a Leport student, she was empathetic, patient, professional, and so kind throughout the whole admissions process. She never made us feel like we were asking too many questions, even though we probably were! She made the process as seamless as possible. And she will always be a friendly face and resource we can turn to at Leport. Our great fortune continued when we enrolled our daughter in Ms. Arzate's class. Ms. Arzate is a special kind of human. Upon meeting her, her peaceful aura, welcoming demeanor, and her excellence in teaching became immediately apparent. And that has only been further affirmed in the last few months in her class. Ms. Arzate has become a co-parent of sorts for us- she really spends the time to discuss and work through the countless questions and journeys we go on as parents. And she does it all with such grace, compassion, and a lack of judgment. Our daughter adores her and her wonderful Assistant Ms. Satiyani. They have become household names in our home, and have been an integral part of our daughter's "toddlerhood." They see and nurture her strengths, and patiently guide her through any of her challenges. Our daughter comes home happy and looks forward to her time at school. Ms. Arzate will always hold a special place, filled with immense gratitude, in our hearts, and in our memories about our daughter's early growth. The whole Leport family has been so kind to us...and after just a few months with Leport, we feel at home and are so grateful to every individual that we have interacted with at Leport. We highly recommend the Huntington Harbor school.

Our daughter has been a "student" at LePort Huntington Harbor for almost 3 years now, starting at 3 months in their infant program. It has been the best decision we could have made for her development, education, and independence. She thrives here daily. Every one of the staff here is devoted to these children and passionate about their work, exercise great patience, and give them so much love and care. The curriculum is designed with the Montessori mindset which creates a loving yet disciplined, open yet structured learning environment where the students advance as they learn grace, courtesy, independence and an innate love for learning. We absolutely love it here. I am thrilled we have found this little treasure of a school, and am impressed with what she is learning and how independent she has grown all before turning 3! As a parent it's a bitter sweet moment when we drop our daughter off every morning as she runs into her class full of learning activities and doesn't even look back. Thank you LePort!

Le Port Montessori offers a very unique program—Spanish Immersion. We already love the Montessori Method of instruction, but having it in Spanish was a dream come true. Mrs. Del Valle and Mrs. Tryon are very dedicated and wonderful teachers. They are both native Spanish speakers from Mexico and Colombia, respectively and license Montessori instructors. Our child is learning so much at this school. We struggled with finding a school that was a good fit, and are extremely pleased with Le Port. The proof that our child loves being at Le Port is best expressed by the request at pick-up time, of having 5 more minutes to interact with friends. This five minutes many times turns into 10 or 15 minutes as all students are engaged and actively learning and no one wants to go home. The children just love being at Le Port. The best outcome of this program is that just within the four months of being in the Spanish Immersion classroom our child is responding in Spanish when spoken to in Spanish. What a tremendous accomplishment and much valued skill in today's international, interconnected and high tech world. Now if only, Le Port offered a Mandarin Immersion program or at least Mandarin classes after school. Children completing multiple language programs will be such invaluable members of this diverse society that is California and the rest of the world. Thank you Le Port for this wonderful experience.

When it comes to education we were adamant that our daughter goes to a real school, with a real classroom and an actual educational environment. LePort is that and so much more. Think amazing teachers that are kind, sweet and gentle and that teach your child everything from basics of life to math and reading. Every activity is centered around learning (even playtime). Children are encouraged to discover the world through their own eyes (and experience)- from simple things like washing their hands to more complex like geography. Our daughter started going there when she was 18 months and we immediately noticed an improvement in her life - from the things she learned to the discipline that she brought home. There is parent involvement - which i like- you can volunteer and help in the classroom and you can participate in the various school-driven activities and events, etc. I believe this is an outstanding school by any standard- (and I have really high ones) :)

As two attorneys that both work extended hours, it was important to us to find a daycare that provided an environment that would be like a second home to our son and also focused on teaching important life skills from a young age. We got very lucky that our son is not a “crier.” Unfortunately that meant that in his first day care he was often ignored while the teachers soothed the babies that made the most noise. As a parent, I can totally understand the desire to soothe a crying baby. But because my son wasn’t a squeaky wheel, he was constantly being ignored, left on a play mat with little adult interaction. And then he started to fall behind on milestones. I started looking elsewhere to take him and found LePort. I expressed my concerns about my son’s current school ignoring him for the sake of the crying babies. I am SO grateful for LePort. I saw an immediate turn around with my son and his milestones after enrolling him at LePort. Within days I could see a difference in how excited he was to go to school and how happy and fulfilled he was when he would come home. Now, several months later, he is excelling in every way and is advanced for his age in many skills and milestones. His teachers are so attentive and he loves his head teacher Ms. Zappa. She has consistently discussed with us ways to make sure that the skills they are teaching him are consistent at school and home. She is always full of good ideas on ways to help our son grow and to address concerns we are having about issues with sleep, eating, or anything else. We seek out and take her advice on many subjects we have encountered with our son. It is sad to admit, but because of our schedules, our son spends more time with his teachers at school than he does at home with us. But we couldn’t be happier with them. They genuinely love our son. Both of us and our son will be truly heartbroken when he has to switch classes eventually and leave Ms. Zappa’s class for the next stage class.