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I love that the daycare has a gym! So nice for the kids to get to play regardless of weather

The price, nicer building, better security, and providing all of the food would definitely lead me to pick the daycare!

The lack of security at the montessori gets a big huge thumbs down from me. ETA: The age range also gets a big thumbs down from me too.

What are the classroom sizes like? Are you happy with that? I know there's a law for minimum teacher-to-student ratio, but when we toured some facilities, some of the classroom sizes were like 20 kids. During our observation tour, it felt overwhelming and the teachers didn't have a good grasp on all the kids even though they were compliant with the ratio requirement.

The age gap in the Montessori doesn't bother me since DS is 10 months old but hangs out with all the older/toddler kids. They all love him and are very observant that he's the baby.

I do like the daycare has an indoor gym for inclement weather! Awesome way for the kids to exert energy!

Regular school from information provided.

Assuming quality of care is same, I picked the Montessori, even though I don't care about that. I liked the walkability, and I actually liked the age differences.
We did both- regular/factory daycare with 'baby room' and something more like what you are describing and I felt like being with the big kids was awesome. She seemed interested in what they were doing and liked copying them. The staff was great about keeping the LOs safe, even with bigger kids running around and had good methods (like a loooong gate that separated the room when it was better to keep the lil ones separate). It is awesome that you have to good choices!

@MamaChin: I don't mind at all, I don't have a little one yet but I taught at a Montessori school and then nannied for two kids who attend Montessori. I took care of them full time for 3 years and now see them weekly at least. Both have attended from age 2.5 through the end of kindergarten.

Both have great problem solving skills and are capable of being very independent. Because they start academics at a young age they both have a sturdier base of knowledge to build on than I see with the kids I nanny for who attend traditional preschool (not daycare and it's okay based). It's such a tactile, multi-sensory approach that watching them transition to paper and pencil work is really cool. The 6 year old closes her eyes when she gets a tricky problem and can literally visualize the Montessori materials and come up with the right answer. They both have a staggering thirst for knowledge and this was something I noticed a lot of while teaching. Because they are taught to go find the answer they seem to realize earlier that they have the power to solve problems.

Don't get me wrong though, while I firmly believe their school had a large influence on them Montessori isn't the end all be all for all kids. Plus they have two well educated parents and had a full time nanny and all three of us happily worked hard to develop these traits in them. Ultimately studies show a great preschool program makes a world of difference for under privileged kids and very little for privileged kids with educated and engaged parents.