Franklin montessori vs others (Aidan, Montessori school of Washington)

[Anonymous]

Can someone compare these three different Montessori schools? I've looked at their websites, tried to find reviews but it's especially to find reviews on Aidan and Montessori school of Washington. The latter two also have a significantly cheaper tuition rate. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I have sent three kids through Franklin, but can't really answer your question because we haven't been through either. I think you are mistaken about Aiden - it was more expensive than Franklin. Never heard of Montessori school of Washington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have sent three kids through Franklin, but can't really answer your question because we haven't been through either. I think you are mistaken about Aiden - it was more expensive than Franklin. Never heard of Montessori school of Washington.

A NP writing - PP, since OP listed this school, would you mind sharing a bit more anyway - having sent 3 kids through Franklin sounds like it worked out well. What are some highlights that you could share? Thank you

[Anonymous]

Sure! All 3 kids started in the 2s program and went on to do 2/3 years of the primary program. The little one has a fall birthday and we're torn between sending him to PK at the school his older sibs are at or keeping him for the 3rd year.

What I loved about the school:
- great diversity, families from all over with really interesting backgrounds
- location: walkable from our house and on my husband's way to the metro so super easy to do drop off. The availability for extended day on both ends was a huge bonus to us as a 2 working parent family.
- I love that the kids stay in the same class for primary, my kids really were able to form meaningful friendships with peers and close relationships with teachers
- the lead teacher my kids had is amazing (all had/will have the same one, but none overlapped due to ages)
- nice parent community
- the Art program is amazing - it unlocked a love of art in each of my kids that we never knew was there!
- Nature program - 2 of 3 kids adored this. 1 wasn't so into it, but I liked that they got him out anyways.

Didn't love
- a bit too academic for my taste for essentially nursery school - I didn't care whether my kids could read at 4, but it is part of the program. We knew what we were getting into with Montessori, but it is a lot for some kids' personalities
- the front office staff can feel cold - Randy definitely gave us the cold shoulder when we pulled our kids out after the 2nd year of primary - but they were always wonderful to our kids and I felt like that was most important
- It is expensive, but probably no more than any other full day program.

[Anonymous]

13:45 here - thank you, PP! I am reading your detailed note

[Anonymous]

13:45 again -- PP, if you are still here/will return, I have a specific questions for you -- how did you find the communication with the teachers, such as letting you drop in or at least speak to you about your children? I'm asking because it seems to come up now and then related to Montessori schools in particular, that parents are not encouraged to visit or interact much during the school days. Thanks again, if you return

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:13:45 again -- PP, if you are still here/will return, I have a specific questions for you -- how did you find the communication with the teachers, such as letting you drop in or at least speak to you about your children? I'm asking because it seems to come up now and then related to Montessori schools in particular, that parents are not encouraged to visit or interact much during the school days. Thanks again, if you return

PP again. The communication/parent involvement was different between the 2s and primary rooms. In the 2s room, parents were not allowed to come into the classroom at all during the first 3 or so months of school because it is apparently disruptive. I found that an easy bright line rule to follow. We did get a weekly or so email from the teacher and a ton of pictures of what went on in the classroom.

In the primary rooms there also was a weekly or so newsletter and lots of pictures and parents were allowed in the classroom starting late October. Lots of opportunities to volunteer and head teacher was very responsive with emails.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:13:45 again -- PP, if you are still here/will return, I have a specific questions for you -- how did you find the communication with the teachers, such as letting you drop in or at least speak to you about your children? I'm asking because it seems to come up now and then related to Montessori schools in particular, that parents are not encouraged to visit or interact much during the school days. Thanks again, if you return

PP again. The communication/parent involvement was different between the 2s and primary rooms. In the 2s room, parents were not allowed to come into the classroom at all during the first 3 or so months of school because it is apparently disruptive. I found that an easy bright line rule to follow. We did get a weekly or so email from the teacher and a ton of pictures of what went on in the classroom.

In the primary rooms there also was a weekly or so newsletter and lots of pictures and parents were allowed in the classroom starting late October. Lots of opportunities to volunteer and head teacher was very responsive with emails.

Thank you for coming back, PP. I'm nervous about sending my child to any place where there is a rule (or strong suggestion) to not visit, though I can understand the rationale. It's great to hear that that period was limited to the beginning, and getting any updates (including photos, that'd be great) of what went on would be nice. Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

All I know about Franklin is that in the past few years they have TWICE left small children unattended on a public playground. The most recent time was this past spring. The police were called. Fortunately neither child was harmed but seriously, why send your kid to a school where not once, but TWICE, they have forgotten their small charges and left them behind? How terrifying the experience must have been for these poor kids.

[Anonymous]

Don't know Montessori School of Washington. Have friends with kids at Franklin - half of them love it, half of them say meh about it. There is a thread on Aidan in the private schools forum that would probably be helpful to you.

[Anonymous]

This is the most recent thread about Franklin leaving behind a kid in the park:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/552257.page

There is an older thread about Franklin doing the same thing a few years ago but I haven't looked for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All I know about Franklin is that in the past few years they have TWICE left small children unattended on a public playground. The most recent time was this past spring. The police were called. Fortunately neither child was harmed but seriously, why send your kid to a school where not once, but TWICE, they have forgotten their small charges and left them behind? How terrifying the experience must have been for these poor kids.

But don't they just take the children to their existing playgrounds; this happened on a field trip someplace, outside the school property?

[Anonymous]

13:56 -- sorry, I did mean to ask, were you kids at the DC location, or is this the one in Rockville?

[Anonymous]

I just posted a detailed response about Aidan in the Private Schools thread in response to someone's inquiry

As for your question about parent visits to classrooms or parent questions: You get two parent-teacher conferences a year, one in the fall and one in the spring. You also get two classroom visits a year (fall and spring) where you are invited into the classroom for about an hour or so and your kid takes you around the class and shows you what s/he is working on or interested in. Any time I had a question or issue, I emailed my kids' teachers and got responses within 24 hours. I also had the teachers proactively reach out to me when they had questions or concerns. I also frequently talked to the teachers at drop-off, though I did try to make this quick because I know they were busy in the mornings working with the incoming children. There are also several opportunities to get more involved in the class -- parents are asked to volunteer to come in and read twice a week, every week. Parents are also encouraged to come in and show off a "special skill" to the class, such as playing a musical instrument, or teaching the class a short lesson about Hanukkah, etc. The teachers also sent emails with photos from the classroom about once a month or so. I never felt like the class was a black box to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All I know about Franklin is that in the past few years they have TWICE left small children unattended on a public playground. The most recent time was this past spring. The police were called. Fortunately neither child was harmed but seriously, why send your kid to a school where not once, but TWICE, they have forgotten their small charges and left them behind? How terrifying the experience must have been for these poor kids.

But don't they just take the children to their existing playgrounds; this happened on a field trip someplace, outside the school property?

The DC location of Franklin has a pretty small playground. They used to have a program called "beyond the walls" or something like that in which the kids were taken to a nearby playground and also went on nature hikes. The first incident where they left a kid behind was a few years ago. In response to that they changed the policy so that the director herself was now going to accompany the kids on their trips off school property. Then they left another kid behind this past spring. Fortunately a kind, benevolent stranger came to her aid.