Robert Goddard Montessori

[Anonymous]

Any recent experiences there? Looking mainly into the upper grades, 4th grade and above, because it was mentioned at the virtual open house that they do project based learning from upper elementary, so trying to get some insight into those years.

[Anonymous]

Would you be transferring from a Montessori school? They do not take new students after PK unless they are coming from a certified Montessori program.

[Anonymous]

Yes we would be.

[Anonymous]

My last kid graduated RGMS two years ago so my info might be a little dated, but from 4th on up it becomes much less Montessori and more like regular school. 4th and 5th grade is together, and there might be some Montessori-lite approaches but at that level not all the teachers are even Montessori trained. The middle school is, curriculum wise, a standard school. There's a long story why this is (it wasn't always that way). That said, we were very happy there. The middle school (and upper El too) is very small (like 30 kids per grade), all the kids have known each other forever, the teachers are good, and there's almost no behavioral problems etc. The school isn't perfect but its definitely one of the better ones in PG County.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My last kid graduated RGMS two years ago so my info might be a little dated, but from 4th on up it becomes much less Montessori and more like regular school. 4th and 5th grade is together, and there might be some Montessori-lite approaches but at that level not all the teachers are even Montessori trained. The middle school is, curriculum wise, a standard school. There's a long story why this is (it wasn't always that way). That said, we were very happy there. The middle school (and upper El too) is very small (like 30 kids per grade), all the kids have known each other forever, the teachers are good, and there's almost no behavioral problems etc. The school isn't perfect but its definitely one of the better ones in PG County.

Thanks ! That's super helpful ! Do they use laptops / tech a lot like in the regular curriculum schools or are they more intentional about limiting it ? And I guess you might not know this if you don't go into the classroom but is it a calm environment ? Our kid's experience in Montessori has been mixed. Some years the classroom environment was calm and kids were working on their own things and others it's just been chaos. Very teacher dependent I guess .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My last kid graduated RGMS two years ago so my info might be a little dated, but from 4th on up it becomes much less Montessori and more like regular school. 4th and 5th grade is together, and there might be some Montessori-lite approaches but at that level not all the teachers are even Montessori trained. The middle school is, curriculum wise, a standard school. There's a long story why this is (it wasn't always that way). That said, we were very happy there. The middle school (and upper El too) is very small (like 30 kids per grade), all the kids have known each other forever, the teachers are good, and there's almost no behavioral problems etc. The school isn't perfect but its definitely one of the better ones in PG County.

I will add, Dora Kennedy French Immersion will be sharing the school space starting in Fall 2026. Not sure how it will work, but at least there will be more middle schoolers around for social activities, etc since DKFI is also a K-8 school, and also not many behavioral issues.

[Anonymous]

I would imagine that with DKFI moving into the school, the bus/ carline situation will get challenging. But I could be wrong. Good to know the middle school is solid. Is there just a lot of attrition after elementary for the middle school grades and upper elementary to be so small? Do people just move to other programs like TAG?