Acepire Montessori Academy vs. Creative Minds Montessori: Two Frisco Montessori Schools, Compared

Two Montessori schools, one neighborhood

You may have come to this page because the name Acepire Montessori arrived in your mailbox, in a neighborhood flyer, or in a search after a friend mentioned it, and you wanted to know what is behind it. That is a good instinct, and it is the whole reason this guide exists. Acepire Montessori Academy sits at 2828 Stonebrook Pkwy, Frisco, TX 75034, near the Legacy Drive and Stonebrook Parkway corner. Creative Minds Montessori is at 5115 Warren Parkway, behind Dua Trattoria at Legacy Drive and Warren Parkway, also 75034. They are a few minutes apart down Legacy, close enough to tour both in one morning.

Both call themselves Montessori, and both mean it in the classic sense: mixed-age classrooms, uninterrupted work periods, guided choice of work, the teacher as a guide rather than a lecturer. Acepire's own programs page says exactly that, and so does ours. So this is not a Montessori-versus-something-else comparison. It is a comparison of two schools that share a method and differ in nearly everything else: age, size, age range, hours and services, what the state's record says about them, and what the two schools choose to tell you before you walk in.

At a glance

Sources: each school's website and Texas HHS record, September 17, 2026; Google ratings and review counts as of the same date. Details change — confirm on your tour.

What kind of school each one is

Acepire Montessori Academy: a new full-service Montessori with long hours and a wide age range

Acepire's website is short, and what it says is straightforward. The school believes each child "needs a secure, caring, and stimulating environment," and names three things it thinks make one: the teacher acting as a guide, the child's curiosity directing the learning, and respect for all things and all people. Its programs page describes multi-age groupings, uninterrupted blocks of work time, and guided choice of work, and calls those the hallmarks of the Montessori method. That is a correct description of Montessori, and we would sign it ourselves.

The program pages fill in the shape of the day. The Infant program follows each family's individual care plan and lists music, story time, tummy time, baby yoga and sign language, with daily reports to parents. The Toddler program lists language development, fine and gross motor work, manipulative and STEM time, and music and movement, with regular teacher assessments shared with parents. The Primary program page is the most developed: it sets out goals of a positive attitude toward school, self-confidence, concentration, curiosity, initiative and persistence, and inner security and order, and lists the curriculum as practical life, sensorial, language, mathematics, cultural subjects, art, and music and movement, with "additional extra curricular activities, i.e. Robotics, Dance, STEM Classes, Soccer" promised on top. Anyone who has read a Montessori teacher-training manual will recognize the goals list; it is the classic one, and it is a good one.

What sets Acepire apart from us is everything around the classroom. The state record lists drop-in care, part-time care, before-school and after-school care, school-age care, and transportation to and from school. The website advertises enrollment from six weeks to twelve years, an after-school program with homework time, STEM and robotics, crafts, computers and a gymnasium, and a summer camp with weekly themes. A family with a first-grader and a toddler can use one campus, and a family with an unpredictable schedule can use three days a week. The Google listing's current post adds "Certified Montessori Teachers" and "3 & 5-Day Programs" and a fall special of $1,000 off ($500 off each of the first two months on a five-day program).

The school is also new, and it is honest about that: the website invites you to tour a "brand new, beautiful state-of-the-art facility" with "Great Grand Opening Specials." The state's first inspection of the operation was in June 2023 and the Full Permit was issued in January 2024. Reviews on the Google listing, some ten years old, make clear that the building housed a school called Ivy Kids and then one called Sunny Hill before Acepire, and one 2024 reviewer describes the change of ownership from a parent's side. A new owner inheriting a building, a listing and some families is a normal way for a school to begin; it just means the school's own track record is about three years long, and the Google star count is not all theirs.

Two things on the state record deserve credit up front. Acepire holds Texas Rising Star certification at four out of four stars, the state's highest quality rating, which is earned through on-site assessment and which we do not hold. And the school files self-reported incidents with the state, three of them in three years; a school that reports on itself is a school that tells the state the truth, and we say the same about our own three.

Creative Minds Montessori: one school, one philosophy, ten-plus years of the same faces

Creative Minds is a single independent school in the Legacy and Warren corridor that serves children from six weeks through kindergarten entry and then hands them on to Frisco ISD or a private elementary. Everything about it is built around the Montessori method. Walk in mid-morning and the first thing you notice is the quiet hum of concentration: one child building the pink tower, another tracing sandpaper letters, a third carrying a tray of golden beads to a mat. The guide is not at the front of the room; she is kneeling next to one child, presenting one lesson, and the rest of the room is working on things they chose. Rooms are mixed-age on purpose, so a three-year-old watches a five-year-old read and a five-year-old learns patience by helping a three-year-old pour.

Layered over that structure is what the school calls the Waldorf touch: a weekly music class, process art with natural materials, rhythm and storytelling, and a deliberate reverence for beauty and nature in the rooms. Montessori builds the disciplined, capable mind; the artistic thread keeps the imagination glowing. Our Curriculum page lays out the five Montessori areas and what each looks like at each age.

The people are the second thing. Both infant teachers have been with the school since it opened its doors more than ten years ago, which in an industry where caregivers often change every few months means the same two warm faces greet families at drop-off year after year. Ratios meet or exceed Texas Health and Human Services licensing for every age, with the youngest rooms kept smallest, and because the school is small, the Director personally approves every move from one room to the next.

The third thing is a set of daily-life choices that are easy to verify. Food is treated as curriculum: organic milk and organic vegetables, no added raw sugar, minimal salt and fat, a vegetarian option every day, fresh fruit and milk with every lunch, and a nut-free building. Children under two have no screen time at all, and older children never more than one supplemental, education-aligned hour, never at meals or rest. Every classroom has a camera, and parents can log in and watch any time during the day. Our Our School page covers the rest.

Curriculum and daily life, compared

Because both schools are Montessori, the curriculum table below has fewer sharp contrasts than our other comparisons. The differences are in what surrounds the Montessori work: the age range, the enrichment, the food and screen policies, and how much of the day you can see.

A few honest notes. Acepire's list of extras is longer than ours, and if robotics, soccer and a gymnasium are what your seven-year-old needs after school, we cannot offer them at all. On the other side, Acepire's website is thin where a shopping parent most wants detail: there is no staff page, no menu, no hours, no tuition, no description of naps, discipline or screens. None of that means the answers are bad. It means you will have to get them on the tour, and we have put the questions to ask in the list near the end of this page.

Food, hours, and the shape of a day

Hours. Acepire's permitted hours on the state record are 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM, half an hour later in the evening than Creative Minds' 7:00 to 5:30. Acepire's website does not list hours, so confirm them. Creative Minds' full-day programs cap at ten hours of care, and the school asks for a 9:00 arrival so children get the uninterrupted work period that Montessori depends on.

Food. Both schools provide meals and snacks, per the state records. Acepire's website says nothing about what is served, where it is cooked, or how allergies are handled, so ask to see next week's menu. Creative Minds has lunch catered by KidzCaters on a four-week rotation, with organic milk and organic vegetables, no added raw sugar, a vegetarian option every day, and a nut-free building; the menu is on our Nutrition page.

Flexibility and transportation. This is Acepire's clearest advantage. The state record lists drop-in, part-time, before-school and after-school care, and the school advertises three-day and five-day programs and transportation to and from school. Creative Minds is a full-day preschool with no transportation. We do offer ways to protect a spot during extended breaks (half tuition for infants, a hold-spot fee for older children) and two $50-per-year vacation credits, but if you need two days a week or a bus to Frisco ISD, Acepire is the one to ask.

Safety, security, and seeing your child's day

This is where the two schools' public information differs most, so read the table and then the state records below it together.

What the state's records show, side by side

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission publishes every licensed center's compliance history in its public Child Care Search. We read both schools' pages on September 17, 2026 and put them in one table. Acepire's history is about three years long because the operation is that old; ours covers the full five years. Read ours as critically as theirs; the links go to the primary source.

The Acepire deficiencies deserve to be read in full rather than as a count, because the count hides what matters. Eleven of the twenty are the kind of paperwork and maintenance items every center accumulates: a missing health statement and personnel affidavit and an unwritten physical-activity policy at the opening inspection in June 2023, another missing health statement that December, hand-washing after diapering (one item for children, one for staff), a gas-inspection report and drill logs not on file in July 2024, a loose garden border, an infant feeding schedule out of date, and worn playground surfacing in September 2025. All were corrected within days.

The other nine are the ones a parent should ask about, and we quote the state's own words so you are not relying on our paraphrase. A complaint investigation closed on October 5, 2023 found that on August 16, 2023 "there was 1 teacher with 13 up to 16 children (ages 2-3 years old)" from 9:00 to 11:30 AM; that "a child was unattended, and caregiver was not at a physical proximity that allowed visual and/or auditory awareness of the child"; that "a staff member have completed the attendance roster as to make appear there was a second staff present"; and that "the school failed to notify a parent immediately that a child was left unsupervised." The school's response, recorded by the state: the teachers involved were no longer employed, remaining staff were trained, and administrators began walking the classrooms to confirm headcounts. A month later, on November 9, 2023, the school itself reported a second incident in which a child was again found unattended; the staff involved were removed and training given. A complaint investigation closed May 1, 2025 found a third unattended child, that "the operation did not report this incident to licensing," and "concerns that a caregiver hit a child on the leg"; the caregiver no longer works there, staff were retrained on prohibited punishment, and the school adopted the front-and-back-of-the-line name-to-face procedure described in the safety table above. On September 23, 2025 the school reported that "a caregiver yanked a child arm roughly to get the child to come closer to her"; that caregiver also no longer works there. Since then the record shows a clean 604-of-604 inspection in December 2025, a complaint investigation in February 2026 that found nothing, and a clean monitoring visit in June 2026.

How to weigh that. In the school's favor: no child was recorded injured in any of these events; every finding was corrected and verified by the state; the school removed the adults involved each time rather than defending them; two of the three incidents the school reported itself; there are no penalties and no enforcement actions; and the state awarded the school its top Texas Rising Star rating, which is assessed on site. Against it: the same category of failure, a child out of an adult's sight, was found three times in about twenty months, a roster was recorded falsely in 2023, and in 2025 an incident that should have gone to the state did not until an investigation found it. A parent can reasonably conclude that the school has fixed these things, and the 2026 record supports that. A parent can also reasonably want to hear, in the director's own words, what changed and how the school knows it worked. We would ask.

Our own record is the one we want you to read hardest. Twenty-six deficiencies across 3,942 standards is more than Acepire's, and most of them are paperwork we should have had in order and many of which we reported ourselves. Each finding was verified corrected by the state. The three self-reported incidents on our record are incidents we reported to the state ourselves, because we would rather have a mark on the page than a secret in the building. Zero injuries in five years and 5 and 7 staff departures in the last two years are the numbers we are proudest of. The details are on our state page linked above, and we would rather you read them there than take our summary.

Cost and fees: what each school publishes

Neither school prints monthly tuition, which is normal in Frisco and frustrating for a shopping parent. Here is exactly what each does say, so you know what to ask.

Acepire Montessori Academy invites you to "contact us today for a quote." Its current published promotion, on both the website and the Google listing, is a limited-time fall special of $1,000 off: $500 off month one and $500 off month two, for infant, toddler and preschool programs, on a five-day schedule per the Google post. The school offers three-day and five-day programs. Registration, supply, camera and activity fees are not listed; ask whether robotics, dance, STEM and soccer are included or billed separately, and whether the discount changes the rate after month two.

Creative Minds Montessori bills monthly by age. Published fees: a one-time $150 registration fee per child, a $150 supply fee twice a year (March and September), and a $25-per-child monthly camera fee. Published credits: a sibling discount, $150 off tuition for each referred family who stays 90 days, and a current new-family welcome of $100 off tuition for the first ten months. Meals, snacks, the music class and all materials are included. Monthly rates by age come from the Director, and we will give you a written all-in number on the tour. Details are on our Admissions page.

Two practical tips. First, ask both schools for a written, all-in annual number for your child's age, including every fee and every extra, so a "$1,000 off" and a "$100 a month for ten months" can be compared like for like: they are the same size, spread differently. Second, ask what happens to your spot and your money during a two-week vacation, a maternity leave, or a job change; the answers differ more between schools than the headline rate does. Our guide to what childcare really costs covers FSAs and the child-care tax credit, which apply at both schools.

What parents say

Acepire Montessori Academy

Start with the number and its footnote. The Google listing for Acepire Montessori Academy of Frisco shows 4.4 stars across 91 reviews (as read on September 17, 2026). The listing is older than the school: it carries reviews from the two previous operators at the address, some of them ten years old and naming Ivy Kids, so the 91 is a blended count. Filtered to the Acepire years, the positive reviews are warm and specific in the way real ones are. Parents name teachers in the infant and toddler rooms, describe a nearly-one-year-old who is "always happy when we drop her off," a preschooler who "has seen so much growth" in a year, and a daughter who "ran to her teachers everyday"; Google's own summary tags 24 reviews for a nurturing environment and several for potty training, patient teachers and kindergarten readiness. Reviewers praise the cleanliness of the new building and name the director. The owner replies to most reviews, positive and negative, at length.

The critical reviews are more than a scattering, and we will not brush them aside, because the state's own record gives them weight. Sorted by lowest rating on September 17, 2026, we counted twelve one-star and one two-star review among the 91; we re-read the substantive critical reviews on September 22, 2026. They were posted between about 2016 and this month, and roughly four of the thirteen are clearly about the earlier schools (one, from about ten years ago, describes walking into Ivy Kids eight months pregnant, getting a stare and a waiting-list answer at the front desk, and never being offered a tour). The Acepire-era ones fall into three threads. The first is supervision: a grandfather wrote in 2024 that staff "lost track of my 2 year old granddaughter and left her by herself in a room for over 5 minutes," that "there is video evidence," and that when the family confronted the director she "blamed the employees"; he adds that in the previous year, under the prior owners and staff, "we had no incidents or concerns." That is consistent with the unattended-child findings the state made in 2023 and again in 2025, and it is the single most important thing to ask about on a tour. The second thread is how the school parts ways with families whose children it finds hard to handle. Three reviews from the last five months, one of them a grandmother's, describe children withdrawn or asked to leave after short enrollments, one "not even here for a month." The grandmother writes that the family enrolled on an assurance that the child's "social and emotional needs would be understood and accommodated," found instead "a clear lack of patience, understanding, and appropriate support from staff," and at pick-up was met by staff who were "rude and unwelcoming" and told to gather the child's belongings "in a manner that felt abrupt and inconsiderate"; her review ends by asking for "improvements in communication, staff training, and overall compassion toward children who may need additional support." The owner's public replies to two of the three describe "multiple incidents involving hitting other children, screaming, refusing to transition inside from the playground," constant communication about "ongoing behavioral concerns," and the school's responsibility for "a safe and balanced environment for all students." The third thread is the ownership transition and the front office, both from 2024. A parent whose child attended under all three operators calls Acepire's management "by far the worst of the 3," says the new owners made "huge changes without notifying parents," held one meet-and-greet several weeks in with no written summary for parents who could not attend, and were "too busy" to talk "even when they were just sitting in the office"; the same review alleges that the former management once gave parents a tuition discount for posting good reviews, a claim we cannot verify and which, if true, is one more reason to read the blended 91 with care. Another parent, who "love[s] how clean the day care is" and says "the teachers took good care of my daughter," complains that the school's billing app deducted money after a cash payment, that an emailed refund request went unanswered, and that the receptionist "doesn't respond proper at all." Two more recent one-star reviews, one from this month, give no details beyond "irresponsible" and "bad management." And one reviewer who had criticized the director returned to say that after a conversation "I stand corrected," that she had been treated "with courtesy, kindness and also consideration," and that she had regained confidence in keeping her daughter at Acepire.

Individual reviews are unverified, and we cannot verify these; the owner disputes some of them in public replies, and one reviewer withdrew her own criticism. What we can say is what the pattern looks like from the outside, as of September 22, 2026: a school whose classrooms parents genuinely like, including some of the parents who left unhappy; that struggled with supervision and staffing in its first two years and was cited for it; that removes staff quickly when something goes wrong; that draws a firm line with children whose behavior it finds unsafe, and whose families sometimes feel that line was drawn without the patience or the conversation they were promised at enrollment; and whose front office and billing drew complaints in the year after the ownership change. Whether that adds up to the right school for your child depends a great deal on your child, and, if your child may need extra social or emotional support, on asking directly, before you enroll, what the school will and will not do.

Creative Minds Montessori

Creative Minds Montessori holds a 4.7-star rating across 44 Google reviews, all of them about this school under this ownership. It is a smaller school, so the count is smaller; the score is what we are proud of, and so is the state's record of 5 and 7 staff departures in the last two years, because the reviews are mostly about people who are still here. The Google reviews quoted on our Testimonials page cluster around the infant teachers who have been here since the school opened, the calm of the classrooms, the food, the cameras, and children who come home and set the table without being asked. We are not going to pretend we have no critical reviews; read all 44 on Google and ask us about any of them on the tour. We would rather answer than spin.

One thing we say to every family who tours us after touring another Montessori school: the word on the sign is the beginning of the comparison, not the end of it. Two rooms with the same pink tower can feel completely different depending on who is in them and how long they have been there. Watch the adults.

Which school fits which family

And a third possibility that is more common than either school likes to admit: some children are simply happier in one room than another, and you will know within ten minutes of watching them in it. Bring your child to both tours if you possibly can. Creative Minds offers a Discovery Day before enrollment for exactly this reason; ask Acepire whether your child can spend part of a morning in the room they would join.

Ten questions to ask on both tours

These are the questions that separate a good tour from a brochure read aloud. Ask every one of them at both schools, in the same words, and compare the answers side by side.

1. "What is the exact ratio and group size in the room my child would start in, today?" Not the licensing maximum, the actual number this month. The state found one adult with up to sixteen two-year-olds at Acepire in 2023; ask how the school makes sure that cannot recur.
2. "How do you count children at every transition, and who checks?" Ask to watch a room move to the playground.
3. "How long have the teachers in that room been here?" Tenure is the single best predictor of how your child's day will feel.
4. "What happens when a child says, 'I can't do it'?" The answer reveals the whole philosophy. We explain why in our guide to choosing a whole-child program.
5. "What is your written behavior policy, and when would you ask a family to leave?" Ask to read it before you sign it, at both schools.
6. "Can I see my child's room during the day, and how?" Cameras, an app, a window, or an open door. Get the specifics and the cost.
7. "What did the children eat yesterday, and where was it cooked?" Then ask to see the menu for next week and the allergy policy.
8. "How much screen time will my child have, and what is it for?" Get a number, not an adjective.
9. "What is my all-in annual cost for this age, including every fee and every extra, after any special ends?"
10. "When something goes wrong in a classroom, what happens in the next 48 hours, who tells me, and what did you report to the state last year?" Ask for a real example. Compare the answer with the school's state page.

For the longer version of this checklist, including the unannounced-visit test and the difference between settling-in tears and real red flags, see How to Choose a Daycare You Actually Trust.

The bottom line

Acepire Montessori Academy is a young school with real advantages: a genuine Montessori program description, long hours, school-age care with transportation, flexible schedules, a list of extracurriculars, a new building, a top Texas Rising Star rating, and warm reviews from families in its infant and toddler rooms. Its state record from 2023 to 2025 shows the growing pains of a new operation in the area that matters most, keeping every child in an adult's sight, and it shows a school that corrected each finding, removed the adults involved, and has been clean since. Those are all things to ask about on a tour, not reasons to skip one.

Creative Minds Montessori is a smaller, narrower, deeper offer: one philosophy carried out faithfully from infancy to kindergarten by adults who have been here for years, with a food and screen policy you can see on the plate, positive guidance with no send-home rule, cameras you can watch all day, and a state record whose deficiencies are paperwork. It cannot drive your child to school, keep them until six, or take them on Tuesdays only.

Those are different products, and a family can be right to choose either. The wrong choice is the one made from a website, including this one. Tour both. Bring the questions above. Watch the children more than the adults, and then watch the adults. And if you would like to start with us, book a 40-minute weekday tour at Creative Minds, call (972) 338-4304, or email director@creativemindsfrisco.com. Acepire Montessori Academy schedules tours through its website or at (469) 362-5489.

Quick answers

How far apart are the two schools?

Both are in West Frisco, ZIP 75034: Acepire at 2828 Stonebrook Pkwy near Legacy and Stonebrook, Creative Minds at 5115 Warren Parkway behind Dua Trattoria at Legacy and Warren. They are a few minutes apart by car, so touring both in one morning is realistic.

Are both schools really Montessori?

Both describe classic Montessori practice: mixed-age classrooms, uninterrupted work periods, guided choice of work, and the teacher as a guide. Acepire's Primary curriculum lists practical life, sensorial, language, mathematics, cultural subjects, art, and music and movement; Creative Minds teaches the same five areas with a Waldorf-inspired arts and music thread.

Which has longer hours and more services?

Acepire: 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM per its state record, with drop-in, part-time, before- and after-school care, school transportation, and care to age 12. Creative Minds: 7:00 AM to 5:30 PM, full-day programs only, six weeks through kindergarten entry, no transportation.

Is Acepire Montessori Academy a licensed center?

Yes. Texas HHS lists it as a Licensed Center – Child Care Program with a Full Permit issued January 5, 2024, Operation No. 1778082, Denton County, licensed capacity 150, Texas Rising Star certified at 4 out of 4 stars, with transportation, field trips, meals and snacks.

What do the Texas licensing records show for each school?

Both have zero injuries, zero penalties, and no corrective or adverse action. Acepire shows 20 deficiencies across 4,401 standards since June 2023, including three findings that a child was left unattended (August 2023, November 2023, spring 2025), a falsely completed attendance roster and a ratio violation in 2023, and two prohibited-punishment findings in 2025, all corrected with the staff involved removed, followed by clean inspections in December 2025 and June 2026. Creative Minds shows 26 deficiencies across 3,942 standards, including three supervision findings (2022, 2023 and a self-reported one in June 2026), all verified corrected, plus 3 self-reported incidents, zero injuries in the same years.

Does either publish tuition?

No. Acepire asks you to contact the school for a quote and advertises a fall special of $500 off each of the first two months. Creative Minds publishes its fees ($150 registration, $150 supply fee twice a year, $25 monthly camera fee) and credits (sibling discount, $150 referral, $100-a-month welcome credit for ten months); monthly rates come from the Director.

Do both have parent cameras?

Creative Minds offers all-day secure classroom viewing for $25 per child per month, with grandparent logins available. Acepire's website does not mention cameras or parent viewing; the school has video footage, per a reviewer, so ask whether parents can see it.

Keep reading

• How to Choose a Daycare You Actually Trust — the full checklist, the unannounced-visit test, and real red flags.
• Primrose School of Lakehill vs. Creative Minds Montessori and Kids 'R' Kids Legacy West vs. Creative Minds Montessori — our other West Frisco comparisons, same method.
• What Should Parents Look For? Choosing a Whole-Child Program — eight questions that reveal a program's beliefs.
• Early Childhood Education Methodologies — Montessori, Reggio, Waldorf, and seventeen other approaches compared.
• How Much Does Childcare Cost — FSAs, tax credits, and why continuity beats the cheapest slot.
• Our Curriculum and Our Nutrition Program — see the claims in this article for yourself.

About this comparison: written by the teachers of Creative Minds Montessori, Frisco, TX, in September 2026. Facts about Acepire Montessori Academy come from its public website (home, programs, infant, toddler, primary, after-school, summer-camp and contact pages, read September 17, 2026), from its Texas HHS Child Care Search record (permit, capacity, programs, hours, administrator, Texas Rising Star status, and the full inspection and compliance history, read the same day), and from public Google reviews, the school's Google posts and the owner's public replies as of the same date, with the state record and reviews re-read on September 22, 2026; review counts, ratings, promotions and policies change. Facts about Creative Minds come from our own website and our Texas HHS record. Quotations from reviews and from the state record are reproduced as posted; individual reviews are the opinions of their authors and are unverified, and the state's findings are the state's, not ours. If you are the owner or director of Acepire Montessori Academy and find an error, or want to add context to anything here, email director@creativemindsfrisco.com and we will correct or add it promptly and note the change. Nothing here is a substitute for your own tour of both schools. Our legal disclaimer applies.