any comments on white flint children's house

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We left WFCH and it was the best thing we have done. Much happier in another school. My kid finally is positive about the school. All compalins and crying stopped.

I appreciate that your child is much happier in another school. Did you ever learn what the complaints were or the cause for the tears? What characteristics did you decide were better at the new school? What is the new school? What does your child say that is positive about the new school?

[Anonymous]

Hi, my family is relocating to the area soon and we are looking for preschool options for our son. It sounds like Whilte Flint Children's House has a great educational program. I was just wondering if anyone could comment on the basic care component. Do the kids eat well? nap well? do they get enough water? sufficient rest even if they don't nap? Do the teachers care much about these things, or leave them to their own devices (3/4 year olds) mostly?

Do they allow parents to visit? Stay for few hours and observe? Are the teachers usually in sync with each other or often at odds (different approaches to teaching etc.)? do they communicate with each other, i.e., if you tell one teacher something at drop-off, would that information be shared with other teachers in the classroom? Do the teachers ever have conflicting requests for the parents?

Also, we would need whole day care (till 6 pm). At pick up, will whichever teacher is left in charge of the afternoon segment be able to tell me how my son's day was?

Thanks so much for your time!

[Anonymous]

They have a program where you can either bring or buy lunch and the kids can eat as much as they want I think plus they provide snacks. They have a nap program for the 3's and for the fours they have a nap or a short rest period of about 1/2 hour, but not much inbetween. Parents are encouraged to do small projects with the class, help with reading, or help the school more than staying to observe. They can also come for birthdays and they have a couple of parent child days throughout the year. It is a small enough school that the communication is not a huge problem although as a full time child, you may not see the main teacher much since their hours are from 9 until 3ish. You'd have to stop by while they were there. Our DC's teacher communicted by email which was nice and stayed late once a week if we needed to talk to her. I'm not sure if all teachers do this or not. As far as Montessori's go, they are probably more communicative than most although not as communicative as some traditional schools. The teacher at the end of the day may not be able to tell you everything that happened, but they usually start around lunch time so can comment from then on. The teachers seem to work well as a team though sharing information and the children are in the same classroom all day. The head teacher takes the lead and the other teachers are good about supporting the learning throughout the day. There are several conferences during the year and a monthly paper that goes home about what your child is working on.

[Anonymous]

The "playground" is a fenced in area in the parking lot.

It is owned by the same woman who owns Franklin and Jefferson among other schools. The bottom line and the profit margin are always the most important consideration at WF.

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for the information. And thank you for bringing up the point that for full day care we may not see the main teachers much. Does that mean the teachers do not rotate schedules? I mean if we drop off before 9am and pick up after 5pm we won't be able to chat with primary teachers?

Our current day care here have teachers rotating early/mid/late hours so that we may not see the primary teachers every day, but 3 or 4 days a week we'd see at least one primary teacher (out of two) either at drop off or pick up. Does the White Flint House do anything similar?

[Anonymous]

Any comments on comparisons between the WFCH, the Manor Montessori, and the Redwood (previously Good Shephard) Montessori schools?

[Anonymous]

Our teacher got there at 8:30 and left around 3:30 usually I think. some of the teachers got there earlier. She stayed till 5:00 one day a week. She was very communicative so we didn't have any problem with communication although on occasion I made appointments with her to stop by and chat about something that had recently happened and made those appointments during the time she was there without problem. For the most part, the conferences, monthly reports, and emails were enough, but a couple of times it did help to talk to her face to face about something current. Ms. Margaret, the director, helps out in each classroom often and knows each child well. She is always there in the morning and evening to answer questions too. I liked that I only had to deal with 4 teachers total and all of them had contact with the lead teacher so often I could get information just by talking to them and one of them was there in the early morning and another one later in the evening.

[Anonymous]

I should also add that we though White Flint Children's House was a wonderful school. No regrets sending our DC there.

[Anonymous]

My son has been at WFCH since Aug 2011 and it has been the most wonderful experience for us all! He is a very energetic and curious 3. yr. old who had outgrown daycare and very much needed a stimulating, yet caring learning environment. From the moment we visited WFCH, we knew it was a special place. The teachers are amazing and the administrators are always willing to listen and help. Plus, the other parents are welcoming and eager to provide tips for new students. The school also welcomes parents to visit anytime during the day--which is wonderful and comforting. My son is thriving...and he constantly amazes us with the things he is learning--Spanish, Hindi, art, music, karate, cooking, sports. The life skills are super too--he loves to grind coffee, read the calendar and put lessons back where they belong once he is done. We participate in the full day + after care program and it is super. We also do the catered lunch program, which we've found to be a great deal $$ as well as a super way to introduce new foods to our picky eater. There is plenty of water, and milk is provided. The school also encourages healthy snacks and lots of fruit.

For parents that want to be involved, there are many opportunities: holidays, special pot lucks, book fair, field trips, charitable events, etc. However, if you don't have time or the means, the school does not make you feel guilty if you can not participate. And while some of the teachers leave at 3 pm, there are several of my son's teachers that are there when I pick him up in the evening. They always give me news of his day and progress--of course, now most of the time my son is so excited to tell me himself that they do not have to. BTW, my incredible son is no angel and the teachers do a great job of helping him find his way without endless timeouts, harsh discipline or berating remarks. We've seen such a positive change in many aspects and we are grateful for the WFCH influence and their eagerness to work with us to help our son become an self-confident and respectful preschooler.

The parking lot is pretty horrible, but the school tries hard to accommodate everyone with the space that is available. Our biggest complaint is that they don't offer more grade levels--we will be so sad to leave WFCH after Kindergarten!

[Anonymous]

Great school. My daughter is in her 2nd year there. Is reading at a very high level, doing some decent size math problems, doing a whole lot of crafts, learning languages. They have 3-4 teachers for every classroom so she gets a lot of attention.

I only wish they had a bigger play area, but I looked at several schools and this one was the best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They have expanded the playground, but only to have bicycles there. In the morning and at 3pm they open that space to use for carpool. So, no new equipment. School is great if your child is perfect quite little angel. Teachers are very inexperienced. Only one primary teacher has like 5 years of experience. The rest of the primary teachers have like 0-2 years, that’s all! Children seem to be happy there. A lot of fun activities and they learn a lot too. I wish they had more experienced teachers. I wish we could’ve gone to the other Montessori we were considering.

[Anonymous]

It have been a while since dc left WFCH. Interestingly many posters have positive experiences with them. Good for them if they are real.

The problem is that DC had huge issues with WFCH. A partial list of the problems that she had with WFCH below

1. Her teacher once commented "she cannot be taught" at the parents meeting, but now she is in a gifted program in elementary school. I would guess the real problem is with the teacher.

2. Not much group projects since the program emphasis independence. Hope that has been changed.

3. DC was so unhappy that she cried everyday I took her to the school. The teacher was fed up with the crying that she shouted "stop crying" . Needless to say dc became even more unhappy.

4. The playground was tiny and the students fight over toys all the time.

5. There were lots of bullying and cursing among students. The school will take any student even if he/she has behavior problems.

6. The director was inflexible and dismissed all our concerns.

On the other hand, many teachers are in general kind and working hard, though inexperienced.

When dc went to a new school, we found it was much better in every aspect, to our relief.

[Anonymous]

WFCH doesn't have a good record for retaining teachers. I have seen so many good one leave. It tells you something.
I also have seen families dropping from school after 1-2 months.

[Anonymous]

Interesting. I always thought the director was fantastic and very approachable. I especially like that there IS a director. The "director" at another school was a head teacher in a classroom and basically looked out for her kids and forgot about the rest of the school. White Flint is an urban school. If you want a great playground, Franklin isn't too far away. They do a great job with the space they have both inside and out. One parent I met was even a stay at home parent and placed her child there because she loved the school so much. She had a great relationship with the director and staff and was helping out there all the time.

[Anonymous]

After school we'd often see children from the school out at nearby children's classes too. There are two gymnastics centers within a couple of blocks, a rec center, chuck e cheese, karate studios, dance studios, and OT/PT therapy. It was nice to get to know the families by attending classes or eating out with them nearby after school.