Visionary Montessori Academy at Teel vs. Creative Minds Montessori: Two West Frisco Montessori Schools, Compared

Two Montessori schools in West Frisco

Visionary Montessori Academy's Teel campus sits at 8600 Teel Parkway, Frisco, TX 75034, on the west side of town. Creative Minds Montessori is at 5115 Warren Parkway, behind Dua Trattoria at Legacy Drive and Warren Parkway, also in 75034. Depending on traffic they are about ten minutes apart, which makes this one of the comparisons in our series where the commute probably does not decide it.

A word about the name first. The school's Google listing is titled "Visionary Montessori Academy at Teel (formerly known as Frisco Trails Montessori)," and the "formerly" matters for reading its state record. Texas HHS lists the operation as "Visionary Montessori Academy" with a Full Permit issued December 8, 2022, but the same record carries inspections back to May 2022, including a 1,184-standard inspection that May and a note in a 2023 finding about a child "enrolled on 11/8/18." In other words, the building has been a licensed Montessori school for longer than the current permit, and the current permit marks a change of hands. The school's own website does not mention the former name or the change; a parent reviewer says the school "changed ownership on two occasions" in three years. We have reported the state record from May 2022 onward, which is what the state publishes, and we have not attributed anything before December 2022 to the current owner.

Both call themselves Montessori, and both mean it. Visionary describes "mixed-age classrooms," "extended, uninterrupted work periods," "Montessori-trained professionals," "hands-on discovery," and "freedom and responsibility," and its home page calls it a "premier member school of the American Montessori Society (AMS)." We describe the same practices on our Curriculum page. So this is not a Montessori-versus-something-else comparison. It is a comparison of two schools that share a method and differ in scale, hours, how much each publishes about daily life, how each handles food, screens and cameras, and what the two state records and reviews say.

At a glance

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

What kind of school each one is

Visionary Montessori Academy at Teel: a large AMS-affiliated Montessori under newer ownership

Visionary's story, as its About page tells it, is of a founder who began "over a decade ago" as a Montessori teacher and whose "evolution from a Montessori teacher to the owner of our schools" is "a manifestation of her passion for educational excellence." The school now runs two Frisco campuses, Teel Parkway and Main Street, and the Teel building, licensed for 250 children, is the one this article is about. It has been a Montessori school for longer than the Visionary name has been on it: the Google listing still carries "formerly known as Frisco Trails Montessori," and the state's inspection history predates the December 2022 permit.

The website is strong on philosophy and thin on detail. Its Montessori pages say the right things: "respect for the individuality of each child," children "moving at their own pace," "emotional, social, sensorial, and practical life skills alongside academics," and a school that is "not just about academic excellence but about building a community of learners, educators, and families." The program pages divide the early years finely. Infants are "welcomed into a peaceful, safe, and nurturing environment meticulously designed to ease the transition from home to school," with "low rails and easy-to-manipulate objects," a "low staff-child ratio," and "Montessori-trained professionals specializing in early child development." Pre-Toddlers, eighteen to twenty-four months, get "a nurturing setting engineered to foster this growth." Toddlers, two to three, are engaged "in purposeful activities designed to foster their independence, language development, and social skills," with gardening and food preparation named as practical-life work; the toddler page calls these "Neoclassical Montessori Toddler and Pre-Primary programs." Pre-Primary, three to three and a half, "readies your child for the more structured curriculum of the Primary Program." Primary, three and a half to six, is "a comprehensive Montessori curriculum that encompasses love of work and child-led activities," with "multi-sensory educational materials" from "language and math to science and beyond," field trips that connect "classroom learnings to the real world," and a kindergarten year "as a natural extension of the Primary experience" in which "children continue their journey of self-directed learning, working at their own pace."

Around the classroom, the website names "extracurricular activities" that "range from art and music programs to science clubs and physical education classes" and lets children explore "from art to nature study," without saying which are included in tuition. The state record adds meals and snacks provided and school-age care, and no transportation. Admissions is five steps: a call to the Admissions Director, a tour booked through an online calendar, an online or paper application ("spaces fill quickly"), a deposit "applied toward your child's tuition," and a welcome. Hours are 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

What the website does not tell you: tuition or fees, the menu, an allergy policy, cameras, security, a discipline policy, rest, illness, ratios by room, who the teachers are, or what a day's schedule looks like; the school's four blog posts from February 2026 describe Montessori in general rather than this school in particular. All of it is a question for the tour. Two things from the state record deserve a positive mention up front: the last two state visits, in November 2025 and February 2026, found one minor training-hours item and then nothing, and staff departures have fallen from eleven in 2022 and 2023 to six in 2024 and five in 2025.

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 table below has fewer sharp contrasts than a Montessori-versus-franchise comparison would. The differences are in the edges: how the youngest years are divided, how far the program runs, and how much each school is willing to put in writing about food, screens, rest and discipline.

A few honest notes. Visionary's scale is its own argument: a 250-child building with five finely divided age bands means a child moves up in small steps with peers of nearly the same age, an AMS affiliation means an outside body has at least looked at the school, and a second campus gives a family options if one fills. Its kindergarten stays in the building, where ours hands off to Frisco ISD. On our side, the differences are specific rather than broad: we take babies from six weeks, we publish our discipline, rest, screen, illness and safe-sleep policies rather than leaving them for the tour, we put organic sourcing and a no-added-sugar rule on the menu, and we let you watch the room from anywhere. The honest gap on both sides is that Visionary's website says almost nothing about the day, so most of the right-hand column's specifics have no counterpart to compare against yet. Ask for them.

Food, hours, and the shape of a day

Hours. Visionary wins the evening: 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM is half an hour more evening coverage than Creative Minds' 7:00 to 5:30. 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. On closures, the one critical review of Visionary is worth reading before you decide how much the half hour is worth to you: a three-year parent describes "early closures with last minute notice on several occasions," including an email asking parents to collect children early "because it is cold (no precipitation at all no ice just cold)," a holiday closure announced "with a 1 to 2 day notice," and a four-day closure in the January 2026 winter weather, matching Frisco ISD, "while normal businesses opened everywhere else," with no proration. We cannot verify it; it is one parent's account. But every school makes weather calls, and the question to ask both of us is how the decision is made, how much notice you get, and whether you pay for closed days. Our own answer: we follow the road conditions rather than the district calendar, we notify by email the evening before whenever we can, and tuition is monthly and not prorated for weather days, which is standard and which we say up front.

Food. Both state records say meals and snacks are provided. Visionary's website does not describe its menu, sourcing or allergy policy, and its state record contains no food finding. 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; ask Visionary for theirs.

Flexibility and transportation. Neither school offers transportation. Visionary lists school-age care on its state record and has a second campus. Creative Minds is a full-day preschool. 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.

Safety, security, and seeing your child's day

We describe our security practices on our website. Visionary's website does not, so the left column of this table leans on 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. Visionary's record begins in May 2022, before the current permit; the state does not say which findings fall under which owner, and neither do we. Read ours as critically as theirs; the links go to the primary source.

What Visionary's twelve deficiencies were, in full, oldest first. May 25, 2022, at a 1,184-standard inspection: the operational policies "were missing a few items to include the promotion for indoor/outdoor physical activity" (medium, corrected in eight days), and "a teacher in the infant classroom did not have an available SIDS/safe sleep training available for review" (medium-high, provided in thirteen days). November 8, 2022, the heaviest visit on the record: "the two infant classrooms had children sleeping in restrictive device (bouncy). The ages of the children were 17M, 6M, 11M, 6M, and 11M" (high); "three classrooms out of eleven did not know the number of children they were responsible for" (high); and "a staff was observed not wearing gloves during diaper change" (medium-high); the state's page records no correction text for these three, and none recurred. June 28, 2023: "two infant seating equipment with straps had infants with no straps on" (medium-high, no correction text), and the 3–6 playground with under six inches of wood chips (medium-high, new mulch confirmed August 5). October 18, 2023, an assessment: "the former's director last day was on 7/28/2023 and the operation failed to notify Licensing within 5 days. Licensing was notified on 9/21/2023" (medium-high). December 14, 2023: playground maintenance undocumented since July 2022, and one of ten children's records without an immunization record (both medium, corrected in four days). November 19, 2024: no lock-down drill documentation (medium-high, compliant December 4). November 4, 2025: three of ten caregivers under 24 annual training hours (medium, compliant November 20). And on February 3, 2026, a visit with nothing cited.

Read as a whole, the record has a clear shape: a difficult first year on the state's page, with five infants asleep in bouncers and three rooms unable to say how many children they had in November 2022, then infant strap and playground items in mid-2023, then a steady thinning to one paperwork item a year and a clean visit in 2026. No investigation has ever been opened, no incident self-reported, no child injured, no penalty. Whether the improvement tracks the change of ownership is a fair question for the tour, and so is the November 2022 finding itself: ask how infant sleep is handled today, and ask any teacher you meet how many children are in her room right now.

Our own record is the one we want you to read hardest. Twenty-six deficiencies across 3,942 standards is more than Visionary'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. Visionary's 2025 departure count is as low as 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 its website, which is normal in Frisco and frustrating for a shopping parent. Here is exactly what each does say, so you know what to ask.

Visionary Montessori Academy publishes its process rather than its prices: a conversation with the Admissions Director "to discuss your child's age and the program you're interested in," a tour, an application online or on paper, and then, "if your child is accepted, a deposit will secure their enrollment. This deposit will be applied toward your child's tuition." No amounts, fees, refund terms or included services are stated. The one critical review raises a cost question the website does not answer: whether tuition is prorated for weather closures. The reviewer says it was not, over a four-day closure in January 2026, and that the school was "not willing to prorate their services despite the fact that I had to pay for a childcare at my home." Ask for the closure policy in writing.

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, the deposit and what it becomes, and whether extracurriculars cost extra. Second, ask what happens to your spot and your money during a two-week vacation, a maternity leave, a job change, or a week of ice; 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

Visionary Montessori Academy at Teel

Start with the number: Visionary Montessori Academy at Teel holds a 4.9-star rating across 19 Google reviews as of September 22, 2026. That is the highest score in this comparison and also the smallest count, which is consistent with a listing that was renamed when the school changed hands; nineteen reviews at 4.9 means nearly everyone who has written has been happy, and also that the sample is small. We collected the critical reviews from the listing and did not copy the positive ones. There is exactly one, so what follows is not a pattern and we do not present it as one; it is a single parent's account, unverified, and the school had not replied to it publicly as of that date.

The review, edited around July 2026 by a parent enrolled "for just over three years," makes three points. On continuity: "They have had a lot of turnover of staff and have changed ownership on two occasions." On closures: "early closures with last minute notice on several occasions," including a request to collect children early because "it is cold (no precipitation at all no ice just cold)," and "last minute holiday closures with a 1 to 2 day notice (Juneteenth)." And on the January 2026 winter weather: the school "decided to remain closed for four days" while the reviewer says other businesses and "the primrose schools opened before they did," with no proration, which "truly feels as though we are being taken advantage of." The reviewer's framing is that of a customer: "They are their own private business that we are paying to provide a service for our families." Nothing in the review is about a classroom, a teacher's conduct, food, safety or what the child learned, and a parent who stays three years and writes at that length is usually a parent who otherwise likes the school.

What the state record adds is partial support for the first point and nothing on the others: departures of eleven in 2022 and 2023 fell to six and five in 2024 and 2025, and the state noted a director's departure in July 2023 that was reported late. Two ownership changes in three years is the reviewer's claim; the state shows one permit change, in December 2022, and the Google listing shows one renaming. Ask the school directly how many owners and directors the building has had since 2022, and who will be running it next year. Then read the eighteen positive reviews yourself.

Creative Minds Montessori

Creative Minds Montessori holds a 4.7-star rating across 44 Google reviews. It is a lower score than Visionary's on a larger count; 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.

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. Because Visionary's website leaves so much unsaid, the answers matter more there than the pages do.

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. Then ask the teacher in that room the same question.
2. "How long have the teachers in that room been here, and how many owners and directors has the school had since 2022?" Tenure is the single best predictor of how your child's day will feel.
3. "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.
4. "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.
5. "Where do infants sleep, and what is the rule about bouncers, swings and straps?" Both schools have a 2022 or 2023 finding here; both should be able to say exactly what changed.
6. "What did the children eat yesterday, and where was it cooked?" 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 and the deposit, and what happens to tuition on a weather closure?" Get it in writing.
9. "How do you decide to close, how much notice do you give, and what happened in January 2026?" Ask both of us; compare the tone as well as the answer.
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

Visionary Montessori Academy at Teel, formerly Frisco Trails Montessori, is a large, AMS-affiliated Montessori under a permit issued in December 2022, with five age bands from infants to a kindergarten year, hours to 6:00, meals provided, a second campus, a 4.9-star Google rating on nineteen reviews, and a state record of twelve findings across 4,890 standards that starts heavily, with infants asleep in bouncers and rooms unsure of their counts in November 2022, and thins to nothing by 2026, with no investigation, incident, injury or penalty in five years. Its website says little about daily life, and its one critical review is about closures and ownership changes rather than classrooms.

Creative Minds Montessori is a smaller, narrower, deeper offer: one philosophy carried out from six weeks to kindergarten entry by adults who have been here for years, under one owner and one Director, with a food and screen policy you can see on the plate, positive guidance with published limits, cameras you can watch all day, published fees, and a state record with more findings than Visionary's, including supervision and discipline findings that we describe above rather than hide. It cannot keep your child until 6:00, offer a second campus, or give you an AMS membership card.

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, and in Visionary's case the website will not get you far. 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. Visionary Montessori Academy books tours through its website or at (469) 365-9100.

Quick answers

How far apart are the two schools?

About ten minutes. Visionary Montessori Academy at Teel is at 8600 Teel Parkway in West Frisco (75034); Creative Minds is at 5115 Warren Parkway, also in 75034, behind Dua Trattoria at Legacy and Warren.

Was Visionary Montessori Academy at Teel formerly Frisco Trails Montessori?

Yes, according to its own Google listing, which is titled "Visionary Montessori Academy at Teel (formerly known as Frisco Trails Montessori)." Texas HHS lists the current permit as issued December 8, 2022, with inspections on the record from May 2022. The school's website does not mention the former name.

Are both schools really Montessori?

Yes. Visionary describes mixed-age classrooms, uninterrupted work periods, Montessori-trained teachers and a founder who was a Montessori teacher, and calls itself a premier member school of the American Montessori Society; 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?

Visionary: 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM, infants through a kindergarten year inside its Primary program, with school-age care on its state record. Creative Minds: 7:00 AM to 5:30 PM, 6 weeks through kindergarten entry. Neither offers transportation.

Is Visionary Montessori Academy a licensed center?

Yes. Texas HHS lists Visionary Montessori Academy at 8600 Teel Parkway as a Licensed Center – Child Care Program with a Full Permit since December 8, 2022, Operation No. 1742445, licensed capacity 250, hours 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM, serving infants through school-age, with meals and snacks provided and school-age care.

What do the Texas licensing records show for each school?

Over five years, both have zero injuries, zero penalties, and no corrective or adverse action. Visionary shows 12 deficiencies across 4,890 standards (five infants asleep in bouncers and three rooms not knowing their child counts in November 2022, both rated high; infant straps and playground mulch in 2023; a late director-change report in 2023; and single paperwork items in each of 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025), no investigations, no self-reports, and 5 and 6 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. Visionary says a deposit secures enrollment and is applied to tuition, with no amounts stated. 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 Visionary Montessori Academy say?

Visionary holds a 4.9-star rating across 19 Google reviews as of September 22, 2026. We found one critical review, edited around July 2026 by a parent of three years, describing staff turnover and two ownership changes, early closures with little notice, and a four-day closure in January 2026 without proration. It is one account, not a pattern, and the school had not replied publicly as of that date.

Do both have parent cameras?

Creative Minds has cameras in every room with all-day secure viewing for $25 per child per month and grandparent logins. Visionary's website does not mention cameras. Ask on the tour.

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 Visionary Montessori Academy at Teel come from its public website (home, about, why Montessori, programs, infant, toddler, primary, admissions, locations, Teel campus, contact and blog pages, read September 22, 2026), from its Texas HHS Child Care Search record (permit, capacity, programs, hours, administrator, and the full five-year inspection and compliance history, read the same day), and from its Google listing, whose title records the former name Frisco Trails Montessori, and public Google reviews as of the same date; review counts, ratings, 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 Visionary 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.