Shining Stars

[Anonymous]

I am in the same boat! I think we are not going to list SSMA--reluctantly, since we like Montessori a lot. We know a lot of parents there--they say the classroom experience is great for PK3 and PK4 but the administration is a mess. The high teacher turnover (66% last year, I think--yikes) was a dealbreaker for me. Our IB is Burroughs and I was definitely more impressed by their tour and their building.

[Anonymous]

OP - read this thread.
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/725818.page

[Anonymous]

SSMA is a total mess. I listed it last year and then turned down the spot when I saw the school admin up close. Stayed at our T1 EA IB. Definitely would never list it again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know if there are any Shining Stars open houses?

According to their website, these are the Open Houses on the calendar:

Be sure to RSVP to attend an upcoming open house and tour.

Open Houses:
Wednesday, January 16, 2019, 9:00am
Saturday, January 19, 2019, 10am
Saturday, February 2, 2019, 10am
Wednesday, February 6, 2019, 10am
Wednesday, March 6, 2019, 9am
Saturday, March 16, 2019, 10am
Wednesday, April 10, 2019, 9am
Wednesday, May 15, 2019, 9am


RSVP

Email Teresa Burgess at [e-mail] with questions.

Yep. I RSVP'd and tried to go to the Jan. 19th one, but no one was at the school and all the doors were locked. We waited outside in the cold with several other families for at least 15 minutes. I emailed the contact twice and never got a response to either email.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know if there are any Shining Stars open houses?

According to their website, these are the Open Houses on the calendar:

Be sure to RSVP to attend an upcoming open house and tour.

Open Houses:
Wednesday, January 16, 2019, 9:00am
Saturday, January 19, 2019, 10am
Saturday, February 2, 2019, 10am
Wednesday, February 6, 2019, 10am
Wednesday, March 6, 2019, 9am
Saturday, March 16, 2019, 10am
Wednesday, April 10, 2019, 9am
Wednesday, May 15, 2019, 9am


RSVP

Email Teresa Burgess at [e-mail] with questions.

The open house dates on the website seem to be incorrect. If you call the school they tell you other dates, most of which are at 6pm.

So why don't they update the website? And, you know, respond to RSVPs that they aren't actually having the open house?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are a first year family and I have to say it’s really grown on me over the year. We have two children in the school and both sets of guides/assistants are wonderful. Our kids are loved well and it’s a warm, caring place. We’ve definitely seen the admin issues, but also had very positive experiences with the principal (who sadly is no longer there). We hadn’t visited ahead of getting in but had applied because we wanted Montessori. I think you’ll still get a great Montessori education (at least in primary which is our experience). With all it’s faults, there are still a lot of intangible qualities to the school and wonderful staff. I don’t have personal experience with a lot of schools but think it’s still a good option for those who don’t have a good guaranteed option and are looking for a decent Montessori education with a higher probability of getting in.

Thank you for this perspective. We have a strong Montessori preference and my list this with all the others despite the warnings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am in the same boat! I think we are not going to list SSMA--reluctantly, since we like Montessori a lot. We know a lot of parents there--they say the classroom experience is great for PK3 and PK4 but the administration is a mess. The high teacher turnover (66% last year, I think--yikes) was a dealbreaker for me. Our IB is Burroughs and I was definitely more impressed by their tour and their building.

Funny, 2 years ago I had the reverse experience. We attended a fantastic OH at SSMA (actually 2, my husband went separately) which caused us to list it high up and even get matched (but ended up elsewhere). We went to Burroughs on their advertised OH date and nobody had heard about it, they scrambled to find a tour guide and it led to us listing it last.

I think moral of my story is take OH with a grain of salt. It only tells you a little bit about the school, either the best or worst side can show.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am in the same boat! I think we are not going to list SSMA--reluctantly, since we like Montessori a lot. We know a lot of parents there--they say the classroom experience is great for PK3 and PK4 but the administration is a mess. The high teacher turnover (66% last year, I think--yikes) was a dealbreaker for me. Our IB is Burroughs and I was definitely more impressed by their tour and their building.

Funny, 2 years ago I had the reverse experience. We attended a fantastic OH at SSMA (actually 2, my husband went separately) which caused us to list it high up and even get matched (but ended up elsewhere). We went to Burroughs on their advertised OH date and nobody had heard about it, they scrambled to find a tour guide and it led to us listing it last.

I think moral of my story is take OH with a grain of salt. It only tells you a little bit about the school, either the best or worst side can show.

Common theme here is that if the school doesn't take it seriously or screws up (particularly with no apology), then the parents are left with a bad taste in their mouth about the school even if they may have liked it otherwise. I still haven't decided if I am going to leave it off entirely or just put it at the bottom, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am in the same boat! I think we are not going to list SSMA--reluctantly, since we like Montessori a lot. We know a lot of parents there--they say the classroom experience is great for PK3 and PK4 but the administration is a mess. The high teacher turnover (66% last year, I think--yikes) was a dealbreaker for me. Our IB is Burroughs and I was definitely more impressed by their tour and their building.

Funny, 2 years ago I had the reverse experience. We attended a fantastic OH at SSMA (actually 2, my husband went separately) which caused us to list it high up and even get matched (but ended up elsewhere). We went to Burroughs on their advertised OH date and nobody had heard about it, they scrambled to find a tour guide and it led to us listing it last.

I think moral of my story is take OH with a grain of salt. It only tells you a little bit about the school, either the best or worst side can show.

Interesting! I know the Burroughs principal was new in fall 2017, so maybe that's been a factor in improving the outreach to potential parents.

SSMA was the first open house I attended. I wasn't blown away but also wasn't horrified--I came away feeling like it would probably be fine for pre-K. It wasn't until we started talking more to current parents that we started to wonder if we should put it on our list above Burroughs, and then finding out about the staff turnover rate pushed us over into "probably no."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am in the same boat! I think we are not going to list SSMA--reluctantly, since we like Montessori a lot. We know a lot of parents there--they say the classroom experience is great for PK3 and PK4 but the administration is a mess. The high teacher turnover (66% last year, I think--yikes) was a dealbreaker for me. Our IB is Burroughs and I was definitely more impressed by their tour and their building.

Funny, 2 years ago I had the reverse experience. We attended a fantastic OH at SSMA (actually 2, my husband went separately) which caused us to list it high up and even get matched (but ended up elsewhere). We went to Burroughs on their advertised OH date and nobody had heard about it, they scrambled to find a tour guide and it led to us listing it last.

I think moral of my story is take OH with a grain of salt. It only tells you a little bit about the school, either the best or worst side can show.

Interesting! I know the Burroughs principal was new in fall 2017, so maybe that's been a factor in improving the outreach to potential parents.

SSMA was the first open house I attended. I wasn't blown away but also wasn't horrified--I came away feeling like it would probably be fine for pre-K. It wasn't until we started talking more to current parents that we started to wonder if we should put it on our list above Burroughs, and then finding out about the staff turnover rate pushed us over into "probably no."

This is so sad. All I can say is I hope their board of directors is reading this.

[Anonymous]

There's an open house scheduled for this morning; let's see if it actually happens...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's an open house scheduled for this morning; let's see if it actually happens...

Did it??

Also, why do they have three open houses past the deadline where you can change schooo order much less even put it on your list? And after the enrollment desdline?

[Anonymous]

It did! I wasn't blown away, but I wasn't totally disappointed, either. I can understand why parents have issues with the executive director, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's an open house scheduled for this morning; let's see if it actually happens...

Did it??

Also, why do they have three open houses past the deadline where you can change schooo order much less even put it on your list? And after the enrollment desdline?

I've never totally understood this, but there are many schools that continue open houses through the spring.

You actually CAN change your order up until March 15 (just not add or subtract any schools). So potentially you could go to an open house and decide to move a school up or down on your list. You could also use an open house to help you determine whether to accept a spot if offered if you decided to throw a school on your list at the last minute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's an open house scheduled for this morning; let's see if it actually happens...

Did it??

Also, why do they have three open houses past the deadline where you can change schooo order much less even put it on your list? And after the enrollment desdline?

I've never totally understood this, but there are many schools that continue open houses through the spring.

You actually CAN change your order up until March 15 (just not add or subtract any schools). So potentially you could go to an open house and decide to move a school up or down on your list. You could also use an open house to help you determine whether to accept a spot if offered if you decided to throw a school on your list at the last minute.

I work at a school and we don't give the MSDC team our number of seats for each grade until mid-March. We are also still taking re-enrollment applications from current parents. So we want as many parents as possible to experience our school in case we have more seats to make available by-mid-March. We also continue open houses after that date so that parents who are matched can experience what our school is like. While we do open houses to get applicants, we also do them to make families comfortable with our school and to start to build relationships with potential new families.