Franklin Montessori - DC - feedback from current/past parents?

[Anonymous]

We recently toured Franklin Montessori DC and were rather impressed. However, we've read very mixed reviews on this site, in particular about the teacher/student ratio, the director, and the incident last fall where a little girl was left behind on the playground. Would love to get feedback from current/past parents at Franklin DC. Thanks alot

[Anonymous]

I don't have any specific feedback other than to say that I have seen many other Franklin parents shopping around at other schools in the area. I did the Franklin tour myself but when I saw that Franklin parents were not happy there, I decided not to apply.

[Anonymous]

My friend loved it for her DD.

[Anonymous]

I'm a current Franklin parent and we are thrilled. The place is very special, my child has thrived there and I wish we were staying one more year. But we are feeling stretched too thin with the high tuition, so we're going to public school next year. Obviously it's not good they left a child behind. But I believe it was an isolated incident and they have stepped up their procedures since then. The student-teacher ratio was an initial concern to me but no longer now that I see what a close relationship my child has with the lead teacher and the amount of detail she tells me about what my child did each day. I don't know how she keeps that close track with so many kids, but she does. My child worships his teacher.

[Anonymous]

OP here - many thanks to everyone's feedback. We don't feel that there are many options available to us, after taking into consideration the distance from our house, and our full time work schedules. While we are willing to travel further for a worthwhile program, that would also mean less time with our children the further we have to go. We have not found any other comparable option so far, other than Aidan. We were very interested in Auguste as well, unfortunately they don't offer after-care options.

If anyone knows of any other schools in AU Park/Friendship Heights area that are worth considering, we would very much appreciate any suggestions. Also, any more specific feedback on Franklin DC's director (Randy) and teachers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much!

[Anonymous]

We are current Franklin parents and think it has been just amazing for our son. We are sending our younger child next year as well. The teachers we've had have been able to identify what makes our son tick and he is thriving. Randy is who she is - she loves the kids, loves the school, loves montessori. She wants the kids to stay through the whole cycle and is pissed if you don't. Most kids leave for K, so almost every family gets the stern Randy talking too and it isn't pleasant, but I don't think the kids notice.

[Anonymous]

I have two kids at Franklin. We have been very pleased with the school, particularly the primary program. Older DC's teacher is just fabulous, and the art and woods programs add to the richness of the Montessori curriculum. My kids cannot wait to go to school every day. The flexible extra hours (before and aftercare, drop-in) are wonderful for working parents. The director can be prickly at times, but we actually found her to be thoughtful and caring when a small issue arose with one of our DCs. We would highly recommend the school to those interested in Montessori.

[Anonymous]

We send our son to Frankin and are happy with it.

Pros:

- Child seems happy and is learning a ton. We are continually surprised by what he is capable of, and I think a fair amount of that is a testament to the school.

- Every teacher we have interacted with has been well-trained, kind, and effective. I know a family who has had a kid in each teacher's class and have loved every single teacher (or at least thought the teacher was a good fit for that child.

- The facilities are incredibly clean and well cared for.

- Location is great for us.

- The cost, while eye-popping, completely replaces secondary childcare for us because of the year round program and extended care. It is actually a much more cost effective option for us than part time pre-school and childcare.

- Convenient location for us.

- Despite the park incident, I have always felt safe leaving my child there.

Cons:

- Expensive.

- Parking is a PITA.

- Outdoor play space is cramped (somewhat compensated for by a good nature program and trips to the playground).

Regarding teachers, I've been impressed with all of them. Regarding Randy, I like her but some people don't. She can come across as a bit flippant and dismissive. She also has a reputation for being nasty if you move your child to public kindergarten rather then letting them graduate through Franklin. The reason I look past those issues is because its obvious to me she cares deeply about the school, she seems to know every kid's name and usually a fair bit about their personality, and she takes her job very seriously, which I can appreciate in a director.

[Anonymous]

Former parent here. We switched from Franklin to a play-base preschool. I'm sure montessori is great, but I just never really *got* it, and I didn't love that I really didn't understand what DS was up to all day. I also think play-based suits DS better. He's the type of kid that, left up to him, would stay home and play with his toys all day (over pretty much anything, not just school). When I ask him what his favorite thing about school is he says "the toys."

My only real complaint w/ Franklin is that I felt like they weren't great about parental involvement. They seemed to have the attitude of "thanks, but we've got this" when it comes to the classroom. We were only in the toddler program, so maybe it's different in the older classrooms. But there aren't a lot of opportunities for parents to volunteer in the classroom, nor was there anything along the lines of weekly reports (DS's class now sends a weekly update of what they've been doing all week, which is great, because I can use that to ask him more directed questions about school. So for instance, when they read a specific book last week that was mentioned in the report, I bought an interactive e-book for the iPad that we played with and DS was really excited about it. They also send us the lyrics to songs they sing, which is fun. Somewhat related to that, I feel like the new school does more to integrate parents and establish a community. I met a few parents at Franklin, but far fewer. In DS's current class, which is actually bigger than his Franklin class, I know all of the kids and probably 75% of the parents (both moms and dads).

Loved the nature program, but I do wish the playground were bigger.

DS's Franklin teacher was always very responsive to emails and phone calls, though.

Randy is odd, but honestly, I don't think she has an huge impact on your day-to-day. We liked our classroom teacher very much.

[Anonymous]

OP here - thank you all so much for the very detailed feedback. The posts have been immensely helpful, we really appreciate it!

[Anonymous]

I'm surprised the same director is still there, given how poorly she handled the lost child disaster. Parents were furious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised the same director is still there, given how poorly she handled the lost child disaster. Parents were furious.

I think a few parents were furious - and they were very vocal on this site. Although I'm not entirely convinced it wasn't non-franklin parents chiming in. I'm a Franklin parent and thought Randy handled the "lost child disaster" perfectly fine. It was a crappy situation, but one that ended well with everyone safe. Most of the parents I know at the school feel the same. I know the parents of the lost child and while they weren't happy their child was left at the park, even they weren't "furious".

[Anonymous]

We send our child to Franklin for a year and then switched to Montessori School of Chevy Chase up the street. MUCH lower student-teacher ratio, and even though the facilities aren't as new as Franklin, we thought the teachers are much more caring providers at MSCC. Our kid loves it.

[Anonymous]

In response to the previous poster. My child is at Franklin. I looked carefully at MSCC too. Despite the better teacher to student ratio, the facilities are decrepit at MSCC. It's very dirty, there's no lock or security for the front door and your child spends most of their day in an old church basement. Franklin has natural daylight, sinks in classrooms and a clean space for kids to work, play and learn. I don't think you can compare the two.

[Anonymous]

Current parent. I echo comments above and I've posted in prior threads so I won't rehash that. Bottom line is that for us it's the best (and maybe only) choice for a high quality program that has true full-time coverage for working families who don't have nannies or grandma to do early pick ups and cover all the breaks. The teachers are fantastic. Really no comparison to the staff at a "daycare." I have gripes, similar to what has already been said.

We also briefly looked at the Gan, which also has FT hours (but all the Jewish holidays), but the program seemed more disorganized to me. Also the staff wasn't upfront about the openings or lack thereof so that was a turnoff.

Now, if I were a SAHM or had a nanny I might chose a different program. I would consider a smaller Montessori program (eg Auguste) or play based, like Temple Sinai.