1st–5th at LAMB

[Anonymous]

Looking to hear from families with recent experience in the more academic years at LAMB (1st-5th), and also for feedback on what the current leadership and staff are like. Tell me the good and the bad. What do you like? What do you think could be much better?

We have a sense of what Montessori preschool experiences are like but aren’t familiar with later on. Do kids at LAMB really stay with same teacher for 1st-3rd or are there opportunities to switch if it’s not quite a good fit?

[Anonymous]

We have a 1st and 3rd grader at LAMB.

The big thing about LAMB: If you're going to be happy there post pre-k, you have to really embrace a bilingual Montessori education. So my first advice: it's worth spending time outside of DCUM researching the Montessori pedagogy and making sure you really 'get' it. There are good articles and books out there. 

Truly a lot of what makes LAMB and Montessori amazing ALSO can at times drive me crazy. 

So here is just a list of thoughts / experience 
- Very well resourced school, strong community, kind, creative, and welcoming kids, behavioral issues are low (not nonexistent) 
-Combined age classes allow kids to learn from each other and flex up or down on content. It also means that kids have real friendships across grades (and there is some research that multi age classrooms in elementary school reduces bullying).
-Kids are with the same teachers from 1st-3rd (and 4th-5th). Plus there are 2 teachers in every classroom (ratio of 2:25). This means the teachers know the kids EXTREMELY well and there is almost no friction at the beginning of the year (except transition yeras). 
-That said, there is variable quality in some of the teachers, probably not more dramatic than other schools, but you can feel it more accutely if you are with the same teacher for 3 years (though I do know kids who have switched classes)
- The kids learn in small group sessions within the classroom (no teacher at blackboard in front of room), reinforced with hands on learning of materials ("work cycles")
-This means the kids get a lot of attention when they are in the small group session, but the work cycles require a lot of self-discipline and executive functioning 

 In terms of LAMB itself, our experience with the administration has been positive, the facilities are gorgeous, and we've been impressed at the increased focus on 'teaching to the test' on math + reading in interventionists settings to supplement in-class room learning

All that said: have we found it to be a highly rigorous, demanding academic environment? Definitely not. My husband and I have debated moving our 3rd grader who probably would benefit from being pushed more. But at the end of the day we are staying because:
-For elementary school, we believe that the pros of the incredible environment (and the Montessori conceptual thinking) outweigh the cons of the (lack) of academic rigor (we figure they will catch up at DCI)
-The school is 10/10 for social emotional learning and teaching friendships / being kind and in this world that matters so much
-We like the low screen use 
-We like the Spanish
-Our kids are happy and don't want to move 

[Anonymous]

I’m a teacher who has had LAMB students transfer to my school throughout the years. They have all come below grade level. Most of the parents are extremely confused because for years they have been told their child was performing on grade level/doing well. That is not the case when they are in a regular classroom with standard learning. It’s been very eye opening for the parents. Many of the children lack foundational skills and struggle. I’d be very careful in the upper grades and would consider a tutor/outside educational opportunities if my child attended.

[Anonymous]

I am leaving lamb this year as my youngest is graduating.


ECE is spectacular at Lamb. All my kids loved it and thrived.

Grades 1-3 were great for two of my kids and not great for one of them. I agree with the pp above that said any kid who left lamb was below grade level. That makes sense to me because some teachers (the vast minority) just aren’t good. It would make sense to have kids who left because they had bad teachers to be below grade level. Two of my kids had just amazing educators (none that are still at lamb come to think about it) that we keep in touch with today. The most important thing they ever taught my kids is to stay curious and love learning. This has stayed with them today. I also think that lamb does a great job in grades 1-3 to meet kids where they are and take them at a slow pace if needed. My kids were late bloomers and were nurtured and made to feel invested in their own education. They wanted to learn. And even though it took them longer to get there, they did grow up to be great students. Some teachers aren’t that great, and I think lamb is going a worse job with retaining and teaching staff. The lack of immigration to the US will only make this worse long term.

Grades 4-5: dumpster fire. We had the “good” upper el teacher (you know who I’m talking about), and we had two upper el teachers who was literally dismissed or left. I really think the quality of teaching upper el is really poor. I toured so many dcps and other charter schools at this time wondering if we should pull the plug. We essentially stayed purely for dci which has worked out really well for our kids. I think you should supplement like crazy, particularly in Math and Spanish which are tracked at DCI. We also hired a writing coach which was a great idea. Lamb literally does maybe 4 writing assignments all year while DCI does 4 each week. They don’t force kids to speak spanish during spanish time anymore. They don’t do a great job with math either. At dci the difference between the kids who supplemented during this time and those that did not were clearly visible. My oldest’s executive functioning was terrible because she had never had homework! Ever! I thought behavior issues were low but there is a lot of bullying and the administrators don’t do much about it. I think lamb is still better than dcps but not by much during this period. Make sure you are investing in tutoring because your kid will need it at DCI.

DCI has been wonderful for our kids. They’ve gotten to study abroad, learn a third language, and for my stem kid they have great ECs and lots of tracking so they felt challenged. We never considered another high school because no other high school could meet my kids’ needs in STEM and foreign languages. I look back at my time at LAMB and am really grateful that we didn’t pull the plug despite thinking about it constantly.

Just support your kiddos and make sure they’re being appropriately challenged and you’ll be golden.

[Anonymous]

Sorry for the novel above. I just am going to miss lamb despite all my issues with it, and was in my feelings!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a teacher who has had LAMB students transfer to my school throughout the years. They have all come below grade level. Most of the parents are extremely confused because for years they have been told their child was performing on grade level/doing well. That is not the case when they are in a regular classroom with standard learning. It’s been very eye opening for the parents. Many of the children lack foundational skills and struggle. I’d be very careful in the upper grades and would consider a tutor/outside educational opportunities if my child attended.

My kid went to LAMB. Now goes to Latin. Straight A's.

[Anonymous]

LAMB is a lovely community. Your kid will get so good at Spanish. Montessori is so great for young children that I don't understand how young children go to schools that aren't Montessori. Behavioral issues are nonexistent. There are virtually no screens in the classroom. The building is beautiful. The downside to LAMB is that the shortcomings of Montessori become more apparent as the child ages. The kids can choose what they want to focus on, but what if they never want to learn math? They will be terrible at math. The school and some teachers recognize the issue, and have been working on it, but it's hit or miss. The school doesn't care at all about standardized tests and barely prepares for them, and opinions will vary about whether that's a good thing. There's a lot of turnover lately among teachers, and the quality varies widely, especially in the upper grades.

[Anonymous]

I would have loved to send my kid to basis for 4th and 5th grade. Then I would have switched to DCI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a teacher who has had LAMB students transfer to my school throughout the years. They have all come below grade level. Most of the parents are extremely confused because for years they have been told their child was performing on grade level/doing well. That is not the case when they are in a regular classroom with standard learning. It’s been very eye opening for the parents. Many of the children lack foundational skills and struggle. I’d be very careful in the upper grades and would consider a tutor/outside educational opportunities if my child attended.

My kid went to LAMB. Now goes to Latin. Straight A's.

Ok. That must mean every kid at Lamb is heading to middle school completely prepared.

OP we have some best friends that were at Lamb and it seems like many families supplement in math and writing. That can be a big financial investment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a teacher who has had LAMB students transfer to my school throughout the years. They have all come below grade level. Most of the parents are extremely confused because for years they have been told their child was performing on grade level/doing well. That is not the case when they are in a regular classroom with standard learning. It’s been very eye opening for the parents. Many of the children lack foundational skills and struggle. I’d be very careful in the upper grades and would consider a tutor/outside educational opportunities if my child attended.

My kid went to LAMB. Now goes to Latin. Straight A's.

Ok. That must mean every kid at Lamb is heading to middle school completely prepared.

OP we have some best friends that were at Lamb and it seems like many families supplement in math and writing. That can be a big financial investment.

Read a little more carefully. It was a counterpoint to someone who said they had LAMB students transfer to their school over the years, and they were "all" below grade level.

[Anonymous]

I assume any kid transferring out of lamb is doing so because it’s not working and they’re below grade level. People switching to Latin or basis is a different story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looking to hear from families with recent experience in the more academic years at LAMB (1st-5th), and also for feedback on what the current leadership and staff are like. Tell me the good and the bad. What do you like? What do you think could be much better?

We have a sense of what Montessori preschool experiences are like but aren’t familiar with later on. Do kids at LAMB really stay with same teacher for 1st-3rd or are there opportunities to switch if it’s not quite a good fit?

One of my kids had a terrible Lower el teacher (who was eventually let go). We were able to transfer with a few other students in second grade. There was a different principal and exec director back then, so not sure if that’s okay anymore. I also think that the teacher was so bad we didn’t have to work very hard to convince lamb we needed a switch. There has long been a culture of favoritism at lamb which is a negative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LAMB is a lovely community. Your kid will get so good at Spanish. Montessori is so great for young children that I don't understand how young children go to schools that aren't Montessori. Behavioral issues are nonexistent. There are virtually no screens in the classroom. The building is beautiful. The downside to LAMB is that the shortcomings of Montessori become more apparent as the child ages. The kids can choose what they want to focus on, but what if they never want to learn math? They will be terrible at math. The school and some teachers recognize the issue, and have been working on it, but it's hit or miss. The school doesn't care at all about standardized tests and barely prepares for them, and opinions will vary about whether that's a good thing. There's a lot of turnover lately among teachers, and the quality varies widely, especially in the upper grades.

The other thing is LAMB is serious about Spanish, and the kids are learning math, science, etc. in a foreign language, which I think makes it hard to compare to English-only schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I assume any kid transferring out of lamb is doing so because it’s not working and they’re below grade level. People switching to Latin or basis is a different story.

Why assume that? They may be transferring because the school isn’t rigorous enough for their above-grade-level child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I assume any kid transferring out of lamb is doing so because it’s not working and they’re below grade level. People switching to Latin or basis is a different story.

Why assume that? They may be transferring because the school isn’t rigorous enough for their above-grade-level child.

LAMB parent here. I have never heard of anyone doing that. If people leave early, it's usually because the Spanish is too much or because their kid needs more structure or the family is leaving DC or they're going to Latin or BASIS.