Apple Montessori Schools

I'm was there for the experience and eventually my CDA. 
I am an upright, professional person that just couldn't take the way I was treated at this particular school. 
I really appreciate my time there and what I learned.
I left the school graciously and I am not at all disgruntled 
I experienced so many negative things in the little time that I worked there. The harassment and bullying from fellow a "teacher" really negatively impacted my quality of life.

This particular Apple Montessori lacks professionalism and common courtesy among the staff and especially the director(s).
When you bring up an issue it is dismissed or ignored. I had an issue with a child that clearly had special needs. I brought the child to the director, the director hardly acknowledged me, brushed past me and continued to eat lunch in the office. I do not exaggerate.

I had an issue with a another employee where every time we interacted she was disrespectful, crass, rude, and just plain mean. 
This person had an issue with several people at the school but still remained there. I contacted human resources and received no response in regards to the issue. I spoke time and time again with the director(s) to no avail. I even spoke to the director(s)'s boss, she listened, did not follow-up and the harassment/bullying continued.

There are great teachers here but there are particular ones that shouldn't even be working with children.

I was told that there would be a solid training program but its only 15 minutes a week and it's during your 15 minute break.

When you contact Human Resources they do not return calls.

You’ll see a lot of good reviews around the same time on here. They had a review contest with a prize. I worked at Apple for a long time and wanted to warn people considering this “career.” What they say and what actually happens are very different. Those at the very top are the root of the issue. Great leaders inspire, motivate, mentor and empower people. They genuinely thank them for good and hard work and make them feel important. That is not what happened there.

There, people are underappreciated, overlooked or looked down on, replaceable. It was the opposite of empowering. We were micromanaged and belittled. We came into this job because we wanted to make a difference. We put so much into it every day because we care so much about those kids. They forget this is what it’s about. Not just making money. They have enough. The egos are tough to take. 

We were encouraged to talk behind others backs and point fingers (and rewarded for it) and people who had been there for years knew they would never have their backs if it came down to it. I have seen too many good people cry. I got so tired of feeling bad about myself, without really knowing what I did to deserve it. It so hard to go through and hard to watch your friends go through it too. I stayed because I loved the kids and the people I worked with but now I am so much happier at another school. 

This is a business I get that. Its a job. But it meant so much more than that to us. Wish it did to them too.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Enjoyed working with coworkers and students. There were some coworkers that were hands on and helpful by providing support and advice. The kids were so fun to be around and be silly with. It truly is rewarding seeing kids hit milestones and a privilege watching them grow. The curriculum is great and very hands on and the kids are so smart, if you need help you can ask them to teach you how to do it. It really builds their confidence and also helps you gain more knowledge in using the materials. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
There were many stressful moments overall. The pay didn’t match the amount of work that was expected of us.  A lot of people who were there for a while still were getting paid the same or just a little more as new hires.  There was also conflict between coworkers that affected the workplace. It was unprofessional. Trainings for repetitive for a while but they improved in the last few years with the curriculum and opportunity for accreditation. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
I’ve met a lot of people throughout the years who were nice and not so nice. It is common in any workplace. There were people I’ve met who have been really supportive and kind who have turned into good friends.

They don’t care about their workers. They kick you out for no reason and if you try to confront them and make your rights to be respected you will get fire for sure. They pretend to be nice people but when they don’t want you to work there anymore, they will cut your hours and even obligate you to sing a termination contract because they won’t pay the unemployment. They don’t appreciate their good workers, if they have to choose between give a rise and kick you out, they will kick you out and get a new person who doesn’t know anything about the job but they will save money with them. I can be here all day talking about all the nasty things that the administration at Apple can do but it won’t fit in this box. The directors can’t do much without asking the regional director and then when the regional director doesn’t want to do the things that she is supposed to, she will blame HR and HR will blame you, they always blame each other for things that they don’t want to do  and on top of that even if they are the ones who treated you badly you will always be the bad person. Overall if you can avoid working here do it, save yourself time and patience because they will make your days at Apple miserable.

Work-life balance
The school is very modern. But the office personnel lack sincerity. Some of the teachers too. Teachers and assistants are so underpaid and they make millions a month. They want you to do so much work for so little pay. It’s sad, the true meaning of Montessori is not there at all.

Pay & benefits
Too expensive.

Job security and advancement
You have to work there for the rest of your life pretty much in order to advance or get some certification.

Management
It’s a business., and as such, all they want is the money. The staff is so overwhelmed with the amount of work they do. Staff calls out everyday, you are not happy working there.

Overall
Don’t work here, you will be unhappy and overwhelmed with the amount of work you have to do. The classrooms have way to many children and very few staff. Staff is always new because people keep leaving. Office personnel tell you to control the classroom , well they are nice and comfortable at their desk. It’s hard.  Some teachers are for their own, they don’t help you. Lots of gossiping, way to much. And, they pay you 11-13 and expect you to survive on 1700 monthly check. So, I would try a different job.

The managerial atmosphere of this workplace is highly abusive.  While they often claim to be doing everything in the best interest of the child, the only person who's best interest is consistently served is the management.  Teachers are worked tirelessly, and are frequently shamed for not completing the insurmountable number of tasks assigned to them.  Correction for these "failures" is often done publicly, I personally was reprimanded in front of other staff members, students, and parents.  On the rare occasion that my manager acted even remotely professionally and chose to reprimand me in private it was done as a punitive and vindictive action and had no basis in actually solving the problem at hand.  Any attempts I made to try to work things out were met with either open hostility or completely ignoring my efforts.  The only way to succeed in this company is to abandon any hope of a life outside of it. Every discussion I've had with other former employees has led me to the same conclusion, we are all trying to recover from the abuses suffered here.  I feel sorry for anyone still working with them.

if I could give zero stars I would.  Management  encouraged to talk behind others backs and point fingers to rat one another out to move up or be liked because of youvdidnt suck up to the bosses you weren’t liked at all.  And if you didn’t suck up you were almost always “punished” hours would be cut or you were for sure to get written up over NOTHING. Picture walking into your job everyday not knowing if you were going to be in trouble or not because it literally bases off how management feels that day.   Most of the teachers aren’t even qualified to teach. They say they have their bachelors but most don’t.  The Teachers assistants run the ENTIRE room the teachers do nothing but claim credit. It was extremely has to leave because I generally loved those kids so much. It’s just everyone who works there is always crying or fighting to be on managements good side. To top it all off you get paid next to nothing.

To be very honest I did not have a pleasant experience at Apple Montessori. Management was okay but the staff is beyond unbearable. If you are used to being stress free at work and this is not the place. It is unreasonably fast paced and you are reprimanded for literally everything, it's like you are one of the children. Granted, this kind of treatment is not acted out on everyone. There are some foul things going on amongst the employees at this job. Not to mention this company will play with your hard earned money as if your bills do not exist. The children are really smart and a pleasure to be around, so thats a pro. I learned a lot during my employment at apple, things i'll never forget. I would say I had more bad days then good but when it was good I had not complaints. The hardest part of the Job was coworkers who didn't understand their rank in hierarchy. The best part was to be in the presence of the children.

The main problem here is that the compensation for this position is wildly below competitive rates to the point that it's insulting. The only time I was given a raise was when the state law mandated that the minimum wage went up. For that amount of money, the workload and responsibility is absolutely absurd. Assistants are not given any formal training, but are thrown into a room and barked at for not knowing routines or policies. Assistants do the majority of the work but are not treated as an important member of the community.
The school year was less stressful, but during the summer I was frequently left out of ratio with quite literally dozens of kids. It was not a safe situation and management did not offer any solution to the staffing issues, for months on end, until I eventually just quit.

I was a secretary at the Metuchen school back in 2013. I initially took this job because I love kids and thought the environment would be fun. In theory, it was. The kids were the ONLY enjoyable aspect about working here. Some of the parents were extremely rude and entitled. Management cared absolutely nothing about you and expected you to basically do cartwheels to make these people happy. Despite doing what I considered to be a pretty good job, I always felt like I was going to be fired. I never felt like I had job security here. It was walking on eggshells every day. This company values enrollment and money over genuine care for their staff. The only positive thing I can say is that I truly enjoyed working with the teachers and assistants. And sadly, they were SO underpaid. Please keep looking for other jobs, you will not be appreciated AT ALL by this company. You deserve a better place to work!

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