Montessori Preschool in Riverside, CA

Sierra Preschool & After School has used a Montessori-inspired approach in Riverside since 2004, at 11077 Whitford Avenue in the La Sierra neighborhood, under California License Nos. 334818112 & 334818113. Children work with purposeful, hands-on materials at their own pace while teachers guide and observe rather than lecture — the core of what Dr. Maria Montessori described, adapted for a full-day, working-parent schedule.

One honest distinction first, because Riverside parents comparing schools deserve it: we are Montessori-inspired, not an AMI- or AMS-accredited Montessori school. We blend Montessori principles with an enriched, theme-based curriculum that also includes STEAM, Spanish-English dual language, music, and outdoor learning. If you need a strictly accredited Montessori program, ask us and we will tell you plainly where we differ.

What that looks like day to day: classrooms are arranged as activity stations rather than rows of desks; children choose their work and stay with it for uninterrupted stretches; materials are self-correcting, so a child discovers the mistake instead of being told. Practical-life work — pouring, sorting, buttoning, cleaning up after yourself — sits alongside language, math, and sensorial materials.

Mixed-age grouping is the part parents notice most. Younger children learn by watching older ones work, and older children consolidate what they know by explaining it. It is the reason a three-year-old in a mixed room often picks up routines faster than one in a single-age class, and it is why our teachers can keep a child on a material for as long as it is still teaching them something.

The Montessori philosophy is why our teachers stay hands-off in a specific way: intrinsic motivation lasts, and a child who finished a puzzle because they wanted to finish it behaves differently at five than one who finished it for a sticker. We pair that with below-state-maximum ratios so a guide can actually observe each child rather than manage a crowd.

Our Montessori-inspired program runs across every age group — Toddler (18–30 months), Junior Pre-K (3–4), Pre-K (4–5), Transitional Kindergarten (5–6) — with Before & After School care up to age 12. Tuition starts at $175 per week and includes meals cooked on-site and every enrichment class, with a one-time $100 registration fee. We accept CCAP / Alternative Payment vouchers. Call (951) 689-9492 or book a tour to see a work period in progress — it is the only way to judge a Montessori classroom honestly.