Richwoods Academy vs. Creative Minds Montessori: A Toddler-to-School-Age Program and a Montessori Preschool, Compared

Two small independents, two sides of Frisco

Richwoods Academy sits at 4633 Coit Road, Suite 310, Frisco, TX 75035, in a suite on the east side of town near where Coit meets Main Street, a few minutes from the Richwoods neighborhood it is named for. Creative Minds Montessori is at 5115 Warren Parkway, behind Dua Trattoria at Legacy Drive and Warren Parkway, in West Frisco 75034. Depending on traffic they are about fifteen minutes apart, which for many families is the first fact that matters: one of these schools is probably on your commute and the other is not.

Both are small and independently owned rather than franchised, and both put "Montessori" on the sign. But they are built for different jobs. Richwoods' state record describes a program licensed for toddlers, pre-kindergarteners and school-age children, with after-school care, drop-in care and transportation to and from school; its Google listing name is "Richwoods Academy - Montessori & After school in Frisco," and the parents who review it talk about basketball classes and summer camps as much as preschool. Creative Minds is a preschool from six weeks to kindergarten entry, full stop: no school-age program, no bus, no camp for a nine-year-old. So this is less a Montessori-versus-Montessori comparison than a comparison of a preschool-plus-after-school hub with a dedicated early-childhood school, and the section on which family fits which school is where the real answer lives.

At a glance

Sources: Richwoods Academy's Texas HHS record and Google listing, September 22, 2026; Creative Minds' website and Texas HHS record, same date; Google ratings and review counts as of the same date. Details change — confirm on your tour.

What kind of school each one is

Richwoods Academy: a toddler-to-school-age program with a bus, built around after-school hours

We wanted to describe Richwoods in its own words, and we could not. The website listed on its state record, www.richwoodsacademy.com, returned "not found" on the home page and on every sub-page we tried on September 22, 2026. That may be a temporary outage or a site being rebuilt; either way, we have not guessed at what it would have said. What follows is what the State of Texas and the school's Google presence tell us.

The state's picture is specific. Richwoods Academy is a Licensed Center running a Child Care Program under a Full Permit issued June 20, 2022, with inspections on its record going back to December 2021, when the state evaluated 1,184 standards before the permit was granted and found nothing deficient. It is licensed for toddlers, pre-kindergarteners and school-age children but not for infants, so the youngest child in the building is a toddler. Its licensed capacity is 102, which makes it the smallest building in this comparison by more than half. Its hours are 7:30 AM to 6:30 PM. The programs the state lists are school-age care, after-school care, drop-in care, and transportation to and from school, and it is the only school we have compared whose record says it accepts child-care subsidies, which matters to a family using Texas Workforce Commission assistance.

The Google listing adds the shape of the program. The listing name is "Richwoods Academy - Montessori & After school in Frisco," which is how the school presents itself to the public, and the reviews describe basketball classes with coaches, summer camps, and tax statements for camp fees. Put the two together and you get a program with a Montessori-branded preschool for the younger children and a sports-and-activities after-school and camp operation for elementary children, with a vehicle to collect them from school. That is a genuinely useful combination for a family with a three-year-old and a second-grader who want one pickup at 6:15, and it is one we do not offer.

What we cannot tell you, because nothing we are allowed to rely on says it, is what the Montessori program actually contains: whether the lead teachers hold Montessori credentials, whether rooms are mixed-age, whether there is an uninterrupted work period, what the materials are, or what a day looks like for a toddler. Ask all of it on the tour, and ask to see the room. We also cannot tell you about meals (the state record does not list meals or snacks among the programs provided, which usually means families pack), cameras, security, or tuition.

Two things from the state record deserve a positive mention up front. First, turnover: the state counts zero employees leaving in 2020, two in 2021, two in 2022, two in 2023, three in 2024 and three in 2025. Those are the lowest departure counts of any school we have compared, and in a small building that means the same adults year after year, which is the single thing parents say they want most. Second, the state recorded no injuries of any kind in five years and no corrective or adverse action.

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

This table is lopsided, and we want to be upfront about why: for Richwoods, the only sources we can rely on are the state record and reviews, and neither describes a classroom day. Where a cell says "not published," it means we could find no statement from the school itself, not that the school does not do it. Take the empty cells with you on the tour.

A few honest notes. Richwoods' real advantage is structural: one building for a two-year-old and a seven-year-old, a vehicle to bring the older one from school, drop-in days, and doors open an hour later than ours. No amount of Montessori detail on our side changes that for a family who needs it. On our side, the differences are specific: we take babies from six weeks, we publish exactly what our Montessori rooms contain and who teaches in them, we put organic sourcing and a no-added-sugar rule on the menu, we keep screens out of the early years by policy, and we let you watch the room from anywhere.

Food, hours, and the shape of a day

Hours. Richwoods wins this one: 7:30 AM to 6:30 PM on the state record is an hour more evening coverage than Creative Minds' 7:00 to 5:30, though we open half an hour earlier. For a parent who leaves an office in Plano or Dallas at 5:30, that hour is the whole decision. 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. The Texas record for Richwoods lists school-age care, after-school care, drop-in care and transportation as its programs and does not list "meals provided" or "snacks provided," which in the state's data usually means families send food. A reviewer of the after-school program mentions healthy snacks, but that is one parent's word and the website that would settle it was offline. Ask what a toddler eats at lunch and who provides it. Creative Minds does not cook on site; lunch is catered by KidzCaters on a four-week rotation, and the choices are in the sourcing: 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. Our menu is on our Nutrition page.

Flexibility and transportation. Richwoods offers drop-in care and transportation to and from school on its state record, and reviewers describe summer camps, all of which point to a program built for families whose needs change week to week. 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 a bus from a Frisco ISD elementary, a drop-in day, or a place for a nine-year-old in July, Richwoods is the one to ask.

Subsidies. Richwoods' state record says it accepts child-care subsidies; ours says we do not. For a family using Texas Workforce Commission child-care assistance, that settles it.

Safety, security, and seeing your child's day

We describe our security practices on our website. Richwoods' were not readable when we checked, so the left column of this table is mostly what the state's inspectors have written down when they walked through.

What the state's five-year records show, side by side

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission publishes every licensed center's five-year compliance history in its public Child Care Search. We read both schools' pages on September 22, 2026 and put them in one table. Read ours as critically as theirs; the links go to the primary source.

What Richwoods' eighteen deficiencies were, grouped. Eleven are records and training paperwork: at a June 14, 2023 inspection, one staff file lacked photo identification, three lacked the required affidavit, four of eight children's files lacked immunization records, the emergency-drill record was not up to date and backpacks were "piled on the floor in between two shelving units"; at a May 8, 2025 inspection, all ten employee files reviewed and all ten children's files reviewed were "lacking required information," the director's transportation training and the employee and director annual-training records were not available, and the drill log showed one fire drill for the year. Every one of those was corrected between five days and seven weeks later; the training-records item was re-cited on June 20, 2025 and closed on June 24. Three are physical hazards: a pole inside a slide's use zone in January 2023, and, in April 2026, an outlet cover missing in the preschool room and an unanchored television, both fixed within a day. One is the screen-time rule: the same April 2026 television, in a mixed-age room including children under two, "confirmed to be used at least once per week on Fridays," removed during the inspection.

The remaining three are the ones to ask about. On May 8, 2025, "one employee who is on provisional status was observed to be alone with a child during the inspection," a high-risk citation because provisional background-check status means the person may not be alone with children until the check clears; the director sent a compliance plan four days later. And an investigation closed October 9, 2025 produced two findings: an incident report that "was incomplete and was not signed by the operation or the parent," and a high-risk prohibited-punishment finding that "a caregiver used prohibited punishment when she hit a child with a toy to demonstrate how it hurt and threw a ball at the child." The state's follow-up note records that "the caregiver is no longer employed at the operation" and that the director documented additional discipline training for all staff; the standard was verified compliant on November 14, 2025. The state's summary also lists one administrative penalty for this operation, which we have not characterized because the open data does not describe it; the state page does.

Read as a whole, that is a record of a small school that has been inspected fifteen times, keeps its staff, has never had a child injured, and has twice in five years had a finding about an adult's conduct with a child, once resolved by that adult leaving. Set against that, its departure counts of zero to three a year are the best we have seen. Ask on the tour how the October 2025 incident was handled with the family, and what discipline training looks like now.

Our own record is the one we want you to read hardest. Twenty-six deficiencies across 3,942 standards is more than Richwoods', 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. Richwoods' 2025 departure count is lower than ours, which we note with respect. 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 on a page we could read. That is normal in Frisco and frustrating for a shopping parent. Here is exactly what each does say, so you know what to ask.

Richwoods Academy publishes nothing about tuition that we could reach, because its website was offline. Its state record says it accepts child-care subsidies, which is the most useful cost fact on the page for a family who qualifies. Two reviews touch on money: a 2023 reviewer describes months of unanswered calls and emails trying to obtain tax statements for 2022 summer-camp fees, and a 2022 prospective parent describes getting basic fee details by text message and then getting no reply for a week. So when you ask for rates, ask in writing, and ask for the year-end tax statement process at the same time.

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, transportation if you need it, and what after-school or camp weeks cost on top. 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

Richwoods Academy

Start with the number: Richwoods Academy holds a 4.7-star rating across 104 Google reviews as of September 22, 2026, a score as high as ours on a review count more than twice the size, and it should frame everything below. A rating like that does not accumulate without many families who are glad they enrolled. We collected the critical reviews from the listing on that date and did not copy the positive ones, so this section is the critical slice, not the whole picture, and you should read the listing yourself before you weigh it. The school had not posted public replies to any of the reviews below as of that date. Individual reviews are unverified parent opinion.

Of 104 reviews, we counted five critical ones, posted between about 2022 and April 2026, from prospective parents, enrolled families, and one reviewer who writes about the owner's treatment of employees. Read together, they describe a small number of concerns in different years and in different families' words:

• Getting an answer. This is the most persistent thread. A prospective parent around 2022 got basic fee details by text, stopped by the office and "waited for a really long time but no one turned up," called with no response, and a week later had no reply to a text either. A parent whose son attended summer camp in 2022 wrote a year later that obtaining tax statements took "numerous phone calls and emails," "false promises," and "inadequate" communication. A 2025 reviewer calls the owner "nonresponsive to employees, and inaccessible." Three reviews across three years describe the same experience of not being able to reach the school.
• How the owner speaks. A 2025 parent writes that the owner directly told their child "they are the worst kid they've ever seen," adding, "I know my kid's faults and I recognize when he is wrong, but no kid should ever be told that." A second 2025 reviewer calls the owner "rude." We have not verified either, and the school has not replied to them publicly.
• Sports classes. The most recent review, from about April 2026, is about the basketball program: classes or coaches "cancel" without "any prior information," and a son who "lost the complete passion in basketball because of them." It is a review of the after-school sports side rather than the preschool.

What cuts the other way, and we would be dishonest to leave it out: five critical reviews out of 104 is a small share, and a 4.7 average means the great majority of families who wrote anything wrote something good; the state has inspected this building fifteen times in five years and never recorded an injury; its staff departures are the lowest we have seen at any school, which is rarely true of a place where adults are unhappy; and three of the five reviews are about the office and the sports program, not about a child's day in a classroom. The one theme that overlaps with the state record is adult conduct: the 2025 "worst kid" review and the state's October 2025 prohibited-punishment finding are separate matters involving different adults, and we do not connect them, but together they make discipline and tone the first thing to ask about on the tour. Ask how the school talks to a child who is struggling, and listen to how the answer is delivered as much as to what it says.

Creative Minds Montessori

Creative Minds Montessori holds a 4.7-star rating across 44 Google reviews. It is a smaller count than many Frisco schools; 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 school with Montessori on the sign: the word is the beginning of the comparison, not the end of it. Ask to see the materials, ask who trained the teacher, and ask how long she has been in that room. 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.

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. For Richwoods, where the website could not fill in the basics, the first four are essential.

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.
2. "Who is the lead teacher in that room, what Montessori training does she have, and how long has she been here?" Tenure is the single best predictor of how your child's day will feel. Richwoods' state numbers suggest a good story here; make them tell it room by room.
3. "What does a Montessori morning look like here, and may I see the materials?" A three-hour work period, a prepared environment, and a shelf of real materials are the difference between Montessori and a preschool with the word on the door.
4. "What happens when a child says, 'I can't do it,' and what happens when a child hits?" The answers reveal the whole philosophy. Ask Richwoods specifically what changed after October 2025. We explain why in our guide to choosing a whole-child program.
5. "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.
6. "What did the children eat yesterday, and who provided it?" Then ask to see the menu for next week and the allergy policy.
7. "How much screen time will my child have, and what is it for?" Get a number, not an adjective.
8. "What is my all-in annual cost for this age, including every fee, transportation and camp weeks, and how do I get a year-end tax statement?" Then ask what happens to the spot if you withdraw mid-year.
9. "When a parent raises a concern, what happens in the next 48 hours, and what did you report to the state last year?" Ask for a real example. Compare the answer with the school's state page.
10. "May I come back on a normal morning?" The answer, and the tone of the answer, tells you nearly everything.

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

Richwoods Academy is a small east-Frisco program licensed for toddlers through school-age children, open 7:30 to 6:30, with after-school care, transportation from school, drop-in care, subsidy acceptance, sports and camps, the lowest staff turnover of any school we have compared, zero injuries, and a state record of eighteen deficiencies across 5,660 standards that is mostly paperwork but includes two adult-conduct findings in 2025 and one administrative penalty. Its website was offline when we checked, so its curriculum, meals, cameras and tuition are questions for the phone. Its Google rating is 4.7 across 104 reviews; its critical reviews, five over four years, keep returning to reaching the office and to the owner's tone, with one about cancelled basketball classes.

Creative Minds Montessori is a narrower, deeper offer: one philosophy carried out from six weeks 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 published limits, cameras you can watch all day, and a state record with more deficiencies than Richwoods', including findings about supervision and discipline that we describe above rather than hide. It cannot keep your child until 6:30, collect them from school, take a subsidy, or give a seven-year-old somewhere to be in July.

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. Richwoods Academy's phone on its state record is (214) 909-4668.

Quick answers

How far apart are the two schools?

About fifteen minutes. Richwoods Academy is at 4633 Coit Road, Suite 310, in east Frisco (75035), near Coit and Main; Creative Minds is at 5115 Warren Parkway in West Frisco (75034), behind Dua Trattoria at Legacy and Warren.

Is Richwoods Academy a Montessori school?

Its Google listing is named "Richwoods Academy - Montessori & After school in Frisco," and its Texas record lists toddlers, pre-kindergarteners and school-age children with after-school care and transportation. Its website, which would describe the Montessori program, was offline when we checked on September 22, 2026, so ask on the tour what the classrooms contain and what training the lead teachers hold. Creative Minds has certified Montessori guides, mixed-age rooms and the classic materials across the five areas, with a Waldorf-inspired arts and music thread.

Which has longer hours and serves older children?

Richwoods: 7:30 AM to 6:30 PM per its state record, toddlers through school-age, with after-school care, drop-in care and transportation to and from school. Creative Minds: 7:00 AM to 5:30 PM, 6 weeks through kindergarten entry, no transportation. Richwoods is not licensed for infants.

Is Richwoods Academy a licensed center?

Yes. Texas HHS lists Richwoods Academy as a Licensed Center – Child Care Program with a Full Permit since June 20, 2022, Operation No. 1731813, licensed capacity 102, hours 7:30 AM to 6:30 PM, serving toddlers, pre-kindergarten and school-age children, with school-age care, after-school care, drop-in care and transportation to and from school, and accepting child-care subsidies.

What do the Texas licensing records show for each school?

Over five years, both have zero injuries and no corrective or adverse action. Richwoods shows 18 deficiencies across 5,660 standards (mostly file and training paperwork in 2023 and 2025, three physical hazards, one screen-time citation, one provisional-background-check employee alone with a child in May 2025, and one prohibited-punishment finding in October 2025 after which the caregiver left), one administrative penalty, no self-reported incidents, and 3 and 3 staff departures in 2025 and 2024. 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. Richwoods' website was offline when we checked; its state record says it accepts child-care subsidies. 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.

What do the critical Google reviews of Richwoods Academy say?

Richwoods holds a 4.7-star rating across 104 Google reviews as of September 22, 2026. We collected five critical reviews posted between about 2022 and April 2026. Three describe not being able to get an answer from the office or the owner (an unanswered inquiry, months of chasing a tax statement, an owner described as inaccessible); two describe the owner's tone, including one that says the owner told a child he was the worst kid they had seen; one is about basketball classes cancelled without notice. The school had not replied publicly as of September 22, 2026. Read the full listing, including the positive reviews and the overall rating, before you weigh them.

Does either school accept child-care subsidies?

Richwoods Academy's Texas record says yes. Creative Minds' says no.

Keep reading

• How to Choose a Daycare You Actually Trust — the full checklist, the unannounced-visit test, and real red flags.
• Alpha Montessori Frisco vs. Creative Minds Montessori, Acepire Montessori vs. Creative Minds Montessori, Primrose School of Lakehill vs. Creative Minds Montessori and Kids 'R' Kids Legacy West vs. Creative Minds Montessori — our other 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 Richwoods Academy come from its Texas HHS Child Care Search record (permit, capacity, programs, hours, administrator, and the full five-year inspection and compliance history, read September 22, 2026), from its Google listing name and public Google reviews as of the same date, and from an attempt to read its website, www.richwoodsacademy.com, which returned "not found" on every page that day; review counts, ratings, and policies change, and we will add what the website says when it is reachable. 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 Richwoods 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.