Montessori Public School of Arlington-Seeking reviews

[Anonymous]

This is NOT searching for opinions on the relocation of the program into another building...so hold your thoughts on that topic.

Are you a current or recent parent whose child goes to MPSA? Happy with the school? Or not? Any thoughts about the program and the quality of education delivered? We've heard some who "love it" without much in the way of details and others who say that it isn't so good. Basically we've heard both sides of the same coin.

Reviews? DD would be in lower elementary classroom.

[Anonymous]

I'm not a Montessori parent, but live a stones throw from the school and a lot of our friends send their kids there. They are all genuinely happy. I find some kids do really well there. The self starters and quirky kids seem to thrive. Annectodally, a ton of them seem to be going to summer school. It makes me wonder if the kids who aren't self starters are getting the push they need to do things that are challenging

Environmentally, the building has a lot of issues. I've heard it's not great for kids with asthma. The playgrounds are awesome. The school seems to communicate well. The kids are nice

For me, we chose not to do Montessori because my kids are loud and chaotic. They do better with direct instruction and small group work. They prefer a push over being self guided.

[Anonymous]

Depends on your kid. One of mine went through the satellite Montessori program, and it was not a good fit for him. He's a SPED kid who needs more structure than Montessori provides. We are happy at our neighborhood schools.

The building is a hazard, but honestly unless you're zoned to a fancy school that has a newish building, most APS buildings have HVAC issues and kids and staff with respiratory issues should know that in advance.

[Anonymous]

How is MPSA for kids who are advanced? Is it a good fit? I have been disappointed with lack of the gifted/advanced academics at our neighborhood school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is MPSA for kids who are advanced? Is it a good fit? I have been disappointed with lack of the gifted/advanced academics at our neighborhood school.

There’s lots of opportunities to work above grade level in Montessori but your kid needs to be a self-starter to some extent

[Anonymous]

If your kid is not a great self-starter, do they push them at all? To make sure they are progressing ?

I know they have to take state test, yada, but do they push them or let the kids do what they want all day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on your kid. One of mine went through the satellite Montessori program, and it was not a good fit for him. He's a SPED kid who needs more structure than Montessori provides. We are happy at our neighborhood schools.

The building is a hazard, but honestly unless you're zoned to a fancy school that has a newish building, most APS buildings have HVAC issues and kids and staff with respiratory issues should know that in advance.

Ok...tell me which building are the "fancy schools"? Innovation? ....(fill in the blank)...? Our local one is Oakridge and it is bottom of the barrel..

[Anonymous]

Is the school academic at all? That is not clear to me. Do the kids get a chance to grow strongly in an area? Get to have cool science projects and bells and whistle (growing chicks say) in the classroom?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on your kid. One of mine went through the satellite Montessori program, and it was not a good fit for him. He's a SPED kid who needs more structure than Montessori provides. We are happy at our neighborhood schools.

The building is a hazard, but honestly unless you're zoned to a fancy school that has a newish building, most APS buildings have HVAC issues and kids and staff with respiratory issues should know that in advance.

Ok...tell me which building are the "fancy schools"? Innovation? ....(fill in the blank)...? Our local one is Oakridge and it is bottom of the barrel..

The newer schools:Fleet, Discovery, Cardinal, HB Woodlawn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on your kid. One of mine went through the satellite Montessori program, and it was not a good fit for him. He's a SPED kid who needs more structure than Montessori provides. We are happy at our neighborhood schools.

The building is a hazard, but honestly unless you're zoned to a fancy school that has a newish building, most APS buildings have HVAC issues and kids and staff with respiratory issues should know that in advance.

Ok...tell me which building are the "fancy schools"? Innovation? ....(fill in the blank)...? Our local one is Oakridge and it is bottom of the barrel..

The newer schools:Fleet, Discovery, Cardinal, HB Woodlawn.

I work at one of those schools and while it looks impressive it's a piece of crap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is the school academic at all? That is not clear to me. Do the kids get a chance to grow strongly in an area? Get to have cool science projects and bells and whistle (growing chicks say) in the classroom?

This doesn’t sound like any Arlington school that I know of, but would love to hear if this sounds like anyone else’s school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on your kid. One of mine went through the satellite Montessori program, and it was not a good fit for him. He's a SPED kid who needs more structure than Montessori provides. We are happy at our neighborhood schools.

The building is a hazard, but honestly unless you're zoned to a fancy school that has a newish building, most APS buildings have HVAC issues and kids and staff with respiratory issues should know that in advance.

Ok...tell me which building are the "fancy schools"? Innovation? ....(fill in the blank)...? Our local one is Oakridge and it is bottom of the barrel..

From what I have heard, the current mpsa building is bottom of the barrel…supposedly the worst building. I am also at oakridge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the school academic at all? That is not clear to me. Do the kids get a chance to grow strongly in an area? Get to have cool science projects and bells and whistle (growing chicks say) in the classroom?

This doesn’t sound like any Arlington school that I know of, but would love to hear if this sounds like anyone else’s school?

ATS comes pretty close. Lots of hands on learning projects and a strong focus on academics. ATS star time builds time in school day to help kids who are behind or need extra challenge.

[Anonymous]

We were debating neighborhood or mpsa and started in K at mpsa. I wish we had just started at our neighborhood school because we ended up switching for first back to neighborhood and the transition was harder than expected for my daughter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were debating neighborhood or mpsa and started in K at mpsa. I wish we had just started at our neighborhood school because we ended up switching for first back to neighborhood and the transition was harder than expected for my daughter.

What was hard about the transition between the two? Why did you depart MPSA?