Vinci School in Alexandria reviews?
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Anonymous
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Wondering if anyone has experience with their children at the Vinci School in Alexandria. Would love to hear reviews.
Thanks! |
Anonymous
| Stay away. Lots of big promises, but complete disorganization and disappointment in the short time our child has gone there. We will be switching to another school soon. |
Anonymous
| Thank you for your comment. Our child also started recently and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I have mixed feelings about the teachers, and my child still is very sad at drop off even though it's been a while. I'm not sure if that would be the case at any school or if it's something about this one specifically. Seems ok at pick up however. |
Anonymous
| Interested in the summation of "disorganization and disappointment": my wife and I are considering this school as an option - could you elaborate? |
Anonymous
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We are going to the tour and I would like to hear a bit more from other parents.
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Anonymous
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We went to the pre-construction open house/info session last spring, but decided not to enroll. Some thoughts (which may not apply now):
- The information session felt like a timeshare sales pitch. This turned my husband off right away. - They were unclear on opening dates. They told us by July, August at the latest, but to enroll in a backup school, just in case. I believe the school ended up opening in September. - The curriculum isn't really Montessori, and it isn't really Reggio. I don't know a lot about those philosophies, but I was under the impression you couldn't be "a little Montessori". - Most of the STEM seemed to be through add-on segments (pay extra for Robotics club, etc). I went to their website and noticed their LA location recently closed. I thought LA was their pilot location, but maybe I am confusing it with Ottawa. |
Anonymous
| Their violation record, along with a conditional licensing, is concerning. I would be interested in their most recent inspection report, which is not online yet. |
Anonymous
The one PP posted is from a month ago. Were they inspected more recently? |
Anonymous
| If they have been it's not on the DSS site. However they are required to post their most recent report onsite. |
Anonymous
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Much of the disorganization stems from teacher turnover, and the absenteeism of the owner. The turnover rate has been quite dismaying, particularly given the newness of the school. My kid is on their THIRD teacher since October. One teacher recently left after less than a month.
The owner has multiple business ventures in motion, and cannot possibly give this new school the attention it deserves. She has other schools in Canada and China, and there are rumors she's starting another school in Alexandria. She is rarely on-site. In short, find a daycare that is more established. I wish I'd done my homework before enrolling my kid there. |
Anonymous
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http://www.dss.virginia.gov/facility/search/cc.cgi?rm=Details;ID=41931;search_keywords_name=Vinci%20School
Their recent inspections are concerning |
Anonymous
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Hell to the no. The April visit should have resulted in corrections for at least 90% of the March violations. At their currently rate, they may not be able to get a non conditional license.
Run. |
Anonymous
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I have a school in mind for my DD, but I took notice of the school driving on Duke St. today. I was interested in going to the open house, but not after seeing they are Montessori/Reggio/STEM. As an educator, that is way to much to keep up with while providing consistent high-quality educational experiences. I was even more dismayed that the school posted this below comment on Facebook in response to an unhappy parent.
Vinci School: We appreciate your feedback. Your child is in distress due to your marital situation and it has nothing to do with his color. A distressed child who complains being left behind by his parents, who hits himself as well as hitting others require special attention which our school can not provide. We are happy that you find the right environment for him. This right here shows me this school has no boundaries, lacks professionalism, and along with their hybrid curriculum, is nothing more than a gimmick to siphon money from parents. |
Anonymous
My child has been attending since the school opened and I have to agree with the disorganization. In my opinion a lot of the issues stem from the owner who is rarely present and treats the place as a business first. However since she is not there often, I give more importance to the director and my child's teacher. I think the director tries her best, but is overworked and expectations are high, and she does not have a full staff to support her. I would like to think that with time, once the school is more established that the organization of how the place is run will improve. I believe the Director tries her best because anytime I have come to her with a concern she listens, understands and addresses my concern immediately. I absolutely love my child's teacher, she is definitely one of the rare ones who is meant to teach preschool and truly cares about all of the kids...and so my only concern with her is that she will get burned out! 
I shopped around last Summer and had narrowed it down to Blue Bird and Vinci, and I was just not convinced that Blue Bird was the place for my child. The class sizes are very high and it seems to be run like a factory. My child will not be continuing Elementary School at Vinci, mostly because of price and logistics, but after reading the violations and seeing that it is not accredited (not to mention that the KG classroom is on it's second teacher), I am happy with this decision and look forward to public school! |