Columbia Baptist Falls Church
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Anonymous
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When I visited, I got two weird vibes -- one was total chaos and the second was that it was far too religious for a preschool (they pray before snacks and meals? bible lessons and songs every day?).
I'm curious about if this is just my impression or if this is actually the case -- because I have heard only really great, positive feedback about this school. Can some current parents please share their experiences? I'm also VERY curious about communications. How much do you hear from the school? How do they communicate with parents? Email? Letters? And how frequent? |
Anonymous
It's probably one of the best preschool in the area but it is religious. On that note, feel free to give up your waitlist spot 
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Anonymous
| They communicate every few days and the teacher communicates daily. |
Anonymous
| A lot of the church preschools are like that. Mt. Olivet kids pray before meals and say grace and have a Christmas pageant. |
Anonymous
| We go there and love it! And we are not an overly religious family at all. The religious component I find nice, my son has learned how to pray which we had not really done much before at home. But the prayers are very kid appropriate and not over the top (I think one of the prayers is a,b,c,d,e,f,g thank you God for loving me...or something like that). Today I am off from work and my son is at school simply because I asked him if he would rather stay home or go to school and he wanted to go to school. The teachers and staff are great and we are really happy that our son goes there. Maybe the chaos is because its play based so it does seem a little wild, but our son has learned so much and loves going everyday. |
Anonymous
| Oh PP again they have a bullitan board that is outside the classroom so you can see what they did for the day when you go for pickup. There is an email newsletter and our teacher posts pictures too. So we feel pretty up to date with what they are doing |
Anonymous
| We are there and we LOVE it. It is a million times better than the daycare that we moved from... but yes, it is openly religious. The kids pray and they just put on a big christmas pageant where they told the story of the birth of Jesus. We attend church regularly so we don't care. But if you are really squeamish about your kids being exposed to religion (and christianity in particular) then it is probably not the place for you. Communication is fantastic though- bulletin board updates outside the door each day; weekly emails from the teachers (with pictures); ad hoc emails as needed... Really love, love the teachers and admin staff. |
Anonymous
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The religious component teaches the kids good values--caring, sharing, working together, etc. I appreciate the team work woven into lessons. My son loves going to preschool and calls his teachers "good friends"! teachers are wonderful and communicate well!! In addition, the teachers upload pix to Shutterfly so parents can observe classroom activities.
Last year my son attended another nearby preschool but hated it and resisted walking into the building and classroom sometimes (I didn't like it either). |
Anonymous
OP here - do you mind if I ask what school he previously attended? We're deciding between two... |
Anonymous
| OP again - I read something recently about how they recently changed their approach to completely play based from a reggio emilia or high scope curriculum. Can anyone explain this change and the impact its had on your kids?? |
Anonymous
I think you misheard. There has not been a change. They are currently a Reggio inspired school with child led projects and learning, but they do incorporate some principles from high scope. |
Anonymous
| Another thing that really makes Columbia stand out is the very low turnover rate for their teachers. Most have been there 5-10 years, and it really shows. They love their jobs and they really love and invest in each child. |
Anonymous
I would make sure you apply to both because I know depending on the age group Columbia Baptist can have a waiting list. Our 3 year old goes there and we are starting the reenrollement agreement for next year next week. I believe after they get the numbers for next year they figure out how many new kids can start. I think the 3 year old and older classes are easier to get into but if your child is younger the spots go to siblings and church members first. |
Anonymous
Mine is 3, so she's likely to get in to Columbia Baptist based on the experience of friends. That said, I think we are leaning towards the other, smaller, school. The one that kept us on the wait list and didn't require us to apply and spend $100 again. |
Anonymous
Do you mind if I ask which preschool? |