Monarch Montessori has been around for just under two years, and has been one of several options for parents to take their children during the day. The Monarch Montessori program touts several things in regards to best looking after your Stapleton child. One thing they boast is the convenient location.
Monarch Montessori is correct in at least one perspective. For example, if you were to take a direct route from Stapleton to Monarch, from most places it would be less than 2.5 miles. Unfortunately, there is nothing close to a straight line path to Monarch, and the closest distance using roads is about 16 miles. “When we first heard where it was at we were excited,” says Stapleton parent and former Monarch client Dee Bowman. “Then, when we started having to drive there every day, we realized it was much farther than expected. We eventually had to pull our child out because of the extra cost of gas.”
Other parents have experienced the same frustration. “There is a day care facility fairly close to my office down town,” says Fred Lima. “It was farther for me to drive to Monarch, then downtown than it was to just bring my kid to the other one.” Monarch loses about 50% of all Stapleton families within the first three months once parents get tired of the drive. “Some days, I thought about just dropping them off in Sterling,” says Lima.
Monarch Principal Jennifer Grossman appreciates the challenges in getting to her school, but believes things are changing. “We feel strongly that short distance helicopter travel is going to become more common. Whether it is individual owners, or cab-type companies flying the short distances, pretty soon kids will arrive here in a helicopter, which is probably just a two minute ride from anywhere in Stapleton,” says Grossman. Until then, current Stapleton Monarch customers can expect the usual 20 minute drive to a place that appears to be so much closer.
]]>