Montessori School of Arlington -REVIEWS NEEDED

[Anonymous]

Can you give us the scoop, the pluses and minuses about APS’ Montessori program?

Is it good, not good? A good principal? Anything active with the PTA? Would you send your own kids these? Do kids learn much?

[Anonymous]

Are you
Interested in the Montessori model? That’s the most important part. I have several friends who are happy there, all have kids who are a bit quirky and would probably not have a great time in a big, traditional elementary school

[Anonymous]

It was a disaster for our kid with ADHD (boy). Teachers did not believe in IEPs or supports, they insisted on treating all kids the same (the way Maria Montessori would have treated them in 1924, apparently). He spent a lot of time isolated so he would not distract the other students. We thought it would be a good model for him because they emphasize choice and independence and movement; turned out the primary teacher was extremely rigid about following all of the "works" in a specific order for a specific number of repetitions (which drove him nuts, he was forced to keep doing something after he was bored with it, even if we was clearly interested in switching to something else), and then the lower EL teacher insisted on quiet during the 3-hour work period which was impossible for him.

We should have pulled him out after primary when we realized it wasn't working, but we believed the BS about how the Montessori model can work for any child. Maybe with more flexible teachers, but not the way they were doing it in APS. Ended up switching to private (regular) school so he could get the attention he needed to catch up academically.

[Anonymous]

OP here...I am also trying to find out about the school culture. Did you get to meet other parents? Get to know the parents in your DC's grade? Have an organized feeling from the teacher? Get information about what is going on in the classroom?

We are coming from years of private school experiences ($ doesn't buy you a way out of the current state of education in this area when you don't want to be at the $40K and above pricetag) but youngest child doesn't have a great crop of students at her current private school. She needs a wider pool of kiddos. And our neighborhood APS school is the absolute pits.

Thanks for any insights!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here...I am also trying to find out about the school culture. Did you get to meet other parents? Get to know the parents in your DC's grade? Have an organized feeling from the teacher? Get information about what is going on in the classroom?

We are coming from years of private school experiences ($ doesn't buy you a way out of the current state of education in this area when you don't want to be at the $40K and above pricetag) but youngest child doesn't have a great crop of students at her current private school. She needs a wider pool of kiddos. And our neighborhood APS school is the absolute pits.

Thanks for any insights!

What grade will she be entering? Do you already have the offer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was a disaster for our kid with ADHD (boy). Teachers did not believe in IEPs or supports, they insisted on treating all kids the same (the way Maria Montessori would have treated them in 1924, apparently). He spent a lot of time isolated so he would not distract the other students. We thought it would be a good model for him because they emphasize choice and independence and movement; turned out the primary teacher was extremely rigid about following all of the "works" in a specific order for a specific number of repetitions (which drove him nuts, he was forced to keep doing something after he was bored with it, even if we was clearly interested in switching to something else), and then the lower EL teacher insisted on quiet during the 3-hour work period which was impossible for him.

We should have pulled him out after primary when we realized it wasn't working, but we believed the BS about how the Montessori model can work for any child. Maybe with more flexible teachers, but not the way they were doing it in APS. Ended up switching to private (regular) school so he could get the attention he needed to catch up academically.

MM made the system for kids with intellectual deficiencies so they could work for $. It's a load of BS that it's for kids without those limitations. Your story is a great ex. No matter about the adhd.

[Anonymous]

^^ it needs to be abolished.

[Anonymous]

Here are responses to a similar question posed a month ago: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1201431.page

[Anonymous]

Have you considered private Catholic school? That's about 12K per year, at least at STM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was a disaster for our kid with ADHD (boy). Teachers did not believe in IEPs or supports, they insisted on treating all kids the same (the way Maria Montessori would have treated them in 1924, apparently). He spent a lot of time isolated so he would not distract the other students. We thought it would be a good model for him because they emphasize choice and independence and movement; turned out the primary teacher was extremely rigid about following all of the "works" in a specific order for a specific number of repetitions (which drove him nuts, he was forced to keep doing something after he was bored with it, even if we was clearly interested in switching to something else), and then the lower EL teacher insisted on quiet during the 3-hour work period which was impossible for him.

We should have pulled him out after primary when we realized it wasn't working, but we believed the BS about how the Montessori model can work for any child. Maybe with more flexible teachers, but not the way they were doing it in APS. Ended up switching to private (regular) school so he could get the attention he needed to catch up academically.

That sounds....not legal.

[Anonymous]

Our kid is dyslexic and struggled until we went private. And the Montessori Mafia (the boosters) is intense.

[Anonymous]

OP each school has a school report on their website. I would look it up and see what it says.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our kid is dyslexic and struggled until we went private. And the Montessori Mafia (the boosters) is intense.

borderline cultish

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was a disaster for our kid with ADHD (boy). Teachers did not believe in IEPs or supports, they insisted on treating all kids the same (the way Maria Montessori would have treated them in 1924, apparently). He spent a lot of time isolated so he would not distract the other students. We thought it would be a good model for him because they emphasize choice and independence and movement; turned out the primary teacher was extremely rigid about following all of the "works" in a specific order for a specific number of repetitions (which drove him nuts, he was forced to keep doing something after he was bored with it, even if we was clearly interested in switching to something else), and then the lower EL teacher insisted on quiet during the 3-hour work period which was impossible for him.

We should have pulled him out after primary when we realized it wasn't working, but we believed the BS about how the Montessori model can work for any child. Maybe with more flexible teachers, but not the way they were doing it in APS. Ended up switching to private (regular) school so he could get the attention he needed to catch up academically.

That sounds....not legal.

I mean, welcome to APS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our kid is dyslexic and struggled until we went private. And the Montessori Mafia (the boosters) is intense.

yes, they rival Nottingham ES, ATS supporters, and HBW-ers. They just go under the radar a bit more and wrap it all up in the serving the underprivileged kids blanket.