By Iryna Drozdovska
Inside the First 90 Days: What Actually Determines a Montessori School’s Success
What Shapes Your School in the First 3 Months — and Why It Matters More Than You Think
Recently, we celebrated 10 years since opening our very first NYC school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Reflecting on that time, I ask myself: what advice would I give my younger self?
There’s a quiet belief in Montessori that success is something you grow slowly. Over the years. Through refinement, patience, and a lot of experience. I used to believe that too. Then I started opening schools across different countries—and more recently, supporting new launches, including our franchise in London. And what I’ve learned is this: the first 90 days don’t just influence your school. They define it.
Not because everything has to be perfect from day one. But because everything becomes a pattern. And patterns, whether you notice them or not, become culture.
There’s a quiet belief in Montessori that success is something you grow slowly. Over the years. Through refinement, patience, and a lot of experience. I used to believe that too. Then I started opening schools across different countries—and more recently, supporting new launches, including our franchise in London. And what I’ve learned is this: the first 90 days don’t just influence your school. They define it.
Not because everything has to be perfect from day one. But because everything becomes a pattern. And patterns, whether you notice them or not, become culture.
Onboarding Is Your First Product
In the first 90 days, parents are deciding something beneath all the polite questions. They're deciding: Can I trust you? Do you actually see my child? And once that emotional conclusion is made, it's surprisingly hard to reverse. When we launched our Toronto location, a small misalignment in communication created visible anxiety. We adjusted — clearer structure, warmer tone — and within days, the whole atmosphere shifted. Not because the information changed, but because the feeling changed.
For parents, onboarding is their first real emotional experience of your school. Break it into three intentional moments: a warm welcome, a clear overview, and a simple next step. That sequence reduces overwhelm more than any FAQ ever could. Clarity, it turns out, is calming.
Your Tone of Voice is also important. It shapes perception faster than any system or policy. "Your child had difficulty adjusting today" — accurate, but destabilizing. Compare: "Today was a big day. We were right there with them." Same situation. Very different outcome. One breeds concern. The other breeds trust.
For parents, onboarding is their first real emotional experience of your school. Break it into three intentional moments: a warm welcome, a clear overview, and a simple next step. That sequence reduces overwhelm more than any FAQ ever could. Clarity, it turns out, is calming.
Your Tone of Voice is also important. It shapes perception faster than any system or policy. "Your child had difficulty adjusting today" — accurate, but destabilizing. Compare: "Today was a big day. We were right there with them." Same situation. Very different outcome. One breeds concern. The other breeds trust.
Operations & Communications: Both Are Emotional
Unclear drop-offs create stress. Slow responses create doubt. Processes are about predictability, not perfection. From day one, parents need to know: how communication works, who they speak to, and what a typical day looks like. If parents ever have to guess and ask the same question multiple times, something is missing.
And underneath every beautiful opening — licenses, insurance, health and safety protocols, enrollment contracts, emergency procedures. Documentation is almost always underestimated. A missing protocol surfaces exactly when you least need it to. Before you open, have these in place: your parents handbook, daily schedules, communication framework, incidents and accidents protocol, and health and safety procedures — not as legal formalities, but as the backbone of a school that runs with confidence.
Still, you can't completely avoid complaints. But these very first complaints are the most valuable data you will ever get. Trust isn't built when everything goes right — it's built when something goes wrong and you show up fully. Respond quickly. Listen completely. Apologise. Act visibly. An early concern handled well creates more loyalty than a flawless first month ever could.
And underneath every beautiful opening — licenses, insurance, health and safety protocols, enrollment contracts, emergency procedures. Documentation is almost always underestimated. A missing protocol surfaces exactly when you least need it to. Before you open, have these in place: your parents handbook, daily schedules, communication framework, incidents and accidents protocol, and health and safety procedures — not as legal formalities, but as the backbone of a school that runs with confidence.
Still, you can't completely avoid complaints. But these very first complaints are the most valuable data you will ever get. Trust isn't built when everything goes right — it's built when something goes wrong and you show up fully. Respond quickly. Listen completely. Apologise. Act visibly. An early concern handled well creates more loyalty than a flawless first month ever could.
Leading Intentionally
You may believe that in great schools, community happens naturally. The truth is, community has to be designed — through small, intentional moments. A short conversation after drop-off. An opportunity for parents to speak, not just listen. A school leader visible and open for conversations. And – thoughtful curriculum nights, fun holidays, and relevant educational events. Once parents start spending quality time with each other and your team, they stop being just clients and start becoming a community.
Regarding the budget — keep in mind that the first three months will almost always cost more than projected. Not because of poor planning, but because real schools have real needs that only become visible once children are in the space. Build a contingency buffer of no less than 20% above your initial estimate. And map out your cash flow before you open, not after the first gap appears. Because how you allocate resources tells your team what you actually value.
Regarding the budget — keep in mind that the first three months will almost always cost more than projected. Not because of poor planning, but because real schools have real needs that only become visible once children are in the space. Build a contingency buffer of no less than 20% above your initial estimate. And map out your cash flow before you open, not after the first gap appears. Because how you allocate resources tells your team what you actually value.
A Final Word
In essence, success in the first 90 days is about alignment — between what you say and what parents feel, between your values and your daily actions, between your systems and real human needs. Every message, every morning, every response communicates something deeper: Can you trust us? The answer is never given once. It's built, day by day, again and again.
Design those days carefully. Because in Montessori, as in life, the first step is never just the beginning. It's the direction.
Design those days carefully. Because in Montessori, as in life, the first step is never just the beginning. It's the direction.
Iryna Drozdovska is Founder & CEO of Hopscotch Montessori, an international network of Montessori schools, and Founder of Hopscotch Hub, an educational platform for Montessori leaders and teachers. She has spent two decades building Montessori schools across four countries and preparing Montessori leaders who think like founders, builders, and visionaries.