Oneness Family School

[Anonymous]

I visited recently and LOVED it. Can any current families comment on the classrooms for 3-5 year olds? I'm looking for a nurturing, warm place for my child, yet a place where she can be challenged and move at her own pace. It is obviously not a very strict Montessori (from what I observed, it was so warm and nurturing, so unlike the others I've seen). How is the administration to deal with? I am not a very "alternative" type person, so would it be a problem if I don't share their "60s" personal philosophies, even if I love their preschool? Any experience with the after-care program?
If I took my child out at K or grade 1, would she easily fit into the public school system?

[Anonymous]

The head of the school is a Sri Chinmoy follower. That is a very creepy cult. Here is one website that talks about Sri Chinmoy: http://www.factnet.org/cults/Sri_Chinmoy/index.html

I like the current pre K teachers but we had a very bad experience with the principal and we only stayed one year.

[Anonymous]

PP here: I just clicked on a lot of the links on that website and found that most of them are no longer available. Just google "Sri Chinmoy Cult" and you will find info. It's scary that one of his followers is running a school. We had some very disturbing experiences at the Oneness Family School.

[Anonymous]

worst place ever. This place is full of the icons of the cult.

[Anonymous]

Gosh, I have to disagree and say that I think Oneness-Family School is a very good school and truly a rare gem among the DC/MD options. Our daughter began in the pre-K program at Oneness Family School and is now in third grade there and thriving. The school is a progressive, international Montessori school that teaches and honors all the major religious traditions of the world. They have a strong social and emotional learning component and very good academics plus art, yoga and foreign languages. The founder was indeed a student of Sri Chinmoy and wanted to help nurture peace in the world by creating a school that provided peace education as part of the curriculum. Chinmoy was popular for a while, particularly in the 1980s, and died four years ago. I personally quizzed the founder early on about Chinmoy because I knew of the history. I have to say that as someone with years of experience at the school, the best of an Eastern religious perspective is present there: support for the inner life and understanding of how our inner lives affect our lives in the world. The school has been happily housed for more than 20 years on the grounds of St John's Episcopal Church. As an Episcopalian who also values meditation, I think the school offers children the special gift of an interfaith and global understanding that is a really important educational foundation for today's pluralistic world.

[Anonymous]

I attended a preschool fair just to meet the Oneness Family reps (they had registered to attend) and they never showed up. I know it sounds like a small thing but it turned me off and therefore I never looked further into the school.

[Anonymous]

Dan Snyder's kid goes there-what does that tell you

[Anonymous]

I understand how disappointing the Oneness Family preschool fair no-show must have been. They have a small administrative staff so odds are the person who was staffing it was out sick that day.

Many different folks send their children to the school--from nonprofit leaders to scientists to diplomats to businesspeople and all sorts of other professionals. We've met lots of great people through Oneness.

If you're still interested in the school, I recommend checking out one of their Open Houses this winter.

[Anonymous]

Rumors at St. John's (where they rent the space from) didn't want to renew thier lease not sure of the term they gave them but it was not as long as OFS wanted.

[Anonymous]

They're actually in the midst of creating a much stronger public presence on the St Johns grounds so I don't see much merit in the rumors.