Choice of Montessori school

Hello all,
I have to decide on a Montessori school for my son. I have shortlisted 2 schools and quite caught up on deciding the right one.

School1 is pretty popular in the vicinity with a 20:1 ratio student teacher ratio. Their play area is like a 10X10 room, hardly appealing. The school has tie-ups with bigger schools for 1 std and they claim that they can mold small children to wholesome individuals. They almost house 40 kids in a batch, with 2 batches in a day.

School2 is a recent school with a nice ambience and play area. The school atmosphere is so inviting and has 15:1 ratio and is run by a single Montessorian (who is the founder of that school) and an additional non-Montessorian. Since its relatively new, they have only 18 kids coming in.

At this age of my son - 2.5 yrs what is important? While I am tending towards school1 wrt tie-ups, since getting a 1std admission is so ???? in Blore.
At the same time, I would like my son to enjoy school, go jump around and explore, and get some individual attention.

I have confused my DH enough with it . He has given up on deciding .

Mothers of older kids, please advise!!

Thanks,
cathzeta.

 

Thanks for replying back Dinny. Like I said, I am tending to school1 primarily coz of admissions to 1st std.