CHML…Thoughts? My child will be attending Pk3. Hearing mixed reviews

[Anonymous]

Was a little worried with the whole Montessori style of teaching but after attending open house and speaking with teachers, I felt a little better. Just want to be sure I’m making the right decision?!?

[Anonymous]

It’s virtually impossible to find a bad pk3 in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was a little worried with the whole Montessori style of teaching but after attending open house and speaking with teachers, I felt a little better. Just want to be sure I’m making the right decision?!?

You never know if something will truly be a good fit for YOUR child before you try it, OP. Even still, I'm sure it will be fine.

[Anonymous]

That is a hard citywide unbounded lottery spot to land for preK3. Be happy with it. Good/great ECE teachers can be found at all schools and sometimes it is just luck of the draw there. The DCUM school gripes really mostly start with upper elementary. You have lots of time to switch out in K-3 if/when things stop working so well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That is a hard citywide unbounded lottery spot to land for preK3. Be happy with it. Good/great ECE teachers can be found at all schools and sometimes it is just luck of the draw there. The DCUM school gripes really mostly start with upper elementary. You have lots of time to switch out in K-3 if/when things stop working so well.

True, but I have found that hard lottery spot doesn't necessarily equate to a quality school. Some schools seem to be both great and hard to get into (like Latin). Others are hard to get into, but not really that amazing.

I think it depends on what your inbound school is, OP, and what your other options are.

I wouldn't give up a coveted spot in Maury's PreK-3 for CHML, for instance.

But if you're zoned for a school you wouldn't want to attend in K-5 anyway and didn't get into a school you'd rather be at, it's probably worth a try. I have a lot of friends at CHML and they've had a range of experiences. It seems pretty teacher dependent especially cause kids are with the same teacher for three years in most of elementary there. (PreK-3 through K, 1-3, and I believe 4-5).

There are apparently some outstanding - and not so outstanding - teachers at CHML.

I have not heard good reviews of the principal from any of my CHML friends, multiple families with kids at different ages, from ECE to middle.

To be clear, my kiddo isn't at CHML, so don't totally take my word for it. I'm curious if this tracks with current, actual families' experience.

[Anonymous]

The ECE program is the only thing that works at CHML. The principal is a disaster-I'm not sure how she still has her job. There is high teacher turnover due specifically to her. The classroom behaviors beyond ECE are atrocious. There is student on student violence on a daily (sometimes hourly) basis and there are NO consequences. Bad behavior is rewarded by admin. Students all know there are virtually no consequences. There is one classroom in lower elementary that is just plain unsafe at this point. Lower and upper elementary are not true Montessori classrooms-they are just chaos under the guise of Montessori. That is not to say there are some teachers that truly try but they don't have administrative support to make the classrooms truly successful Montessori environments. I don't think students actually learn anything in upper elementary and students themselves have voiced this. If there was a new principal who could turn the place around, it has so much potential. As it stands, I'd run away fast.

[Anonymous]

PS-K are were great there for us. Enjoy those years at CHML and look elsewhere after K.

[Anonymous]

PK3 (and 4 and maybe K) are the only times when the answer is - what a great option! That is what Montessori was designed for. Take it and enjoy it. And have an exit strategy for middle/upper ES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PS-K are were great there for us. Enjoy those years at CHML and look elsewhere after K.

I agree... former CHML teacher

[Anonymous]

Thank you all so much for the insight 👏🏽

[Anonymous]

Live right by there and so know people with kids there. So take this with a grain of salt since it’s not direct experience.

Have heard people very happy with ECE. However, there was a snafu a couple of years ago where they did not tell parents until quite late in the summer that they were doing a “staggered start” for all preschoolers—as in, not all kids would get to start on the first day of school but that there would be rolling start dates over several weeks. Parents were pretty shocked to find out that they had to scramble to find weeks of extra child care and would not know their child’s actual start date until some undisclosed point in August. I never forgot that because it was such poor planning and communication, and it influenced my own choices when doing the lottery. Hopefully if they have continued that practice it’s clearer now.

[Anonymous]

The principal is the MAJOR problem at CHML. I wouldn't even think of going there until she's finally removed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The principal is the MAJOR problem at CHML. I wouldn't even think of going there until she's finally removed.

.

Can you elaborate ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The principal is the MAJOR problem at CHML. I wouldn't even think of going there until she's finally removed.

.

Can you elaborate ?

She’s been formally suspended at least twice (once for covering up sexual abuse until post-the lottery ranking deadline) and it yet here we are…

[Anonymous]

^^ I should add allegedly, because I do know the offender was charged but I don’t know what happened afterwards and I don’t know for sure what her motive was for not disclosing for several weeks until immediately after the lottery deadline.