Reply to Questions about Crossway Community Montessori

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[quote=Anonymous]This is my son's 3rd year at Crossway Montessori.  We continue to be in the non-charter (private) part of the school.  We like and appreciate the school's non-profit mission, as well as its ability to provide a very good education to its students, using the Montessori philosophy.  I can't comment much on the Charter as its very new, but i assume the philosophy and classroom approach we've experienced on the private side will be transferred to the Charter school as well.  The charter started with 3-4 year olds (the Montessori primary classroom comprises 3, 4, and 5 year olds for a 3-year long experience in one classroom (ideally)).  The private school is expensive, as are all the Montessoris in the Silver Spring area (we compared!), and we also use the after care program (beforecare is also offered), so an added expense.  The teachers are absolutely genuine, warm, and experienced. The campus is great, and tucked back down a quiet street and protected from traffic, has awesome gardens (and nature is heavily incorporated into the curriculum), and a really nice and attractive playground.  We live in the neighborhood, so i know for a fact the kids spend a lot of time outside playing, taking walks, exploring nature, etc. which we really like.  The Administration is generally well-meaning, but there's plenty of concern among the parents-- both private side and charter side -- that communication is/continues to be a big challenge for the school, as noted by others.  Although they're a non-profit, because we do spend a lot of money for our son to attend year round (seems about what we paid to go to college 20 years ago!), we feel that at least at the administrative level, they should run things more like a business w/ customers (e.g., promptly answering calls/emails, timely and organized billing, better website, etc).  Perhaps under what I assume will be new MCPS oversight, this will improve eventually.  In all, we will have spent a lot of money over my son's 3 years there, but I believe he will depart well-rounded, a good communicator, understanding the importance of kindness and courtesy, and very well-equipped for kindergarten/1st grade in terms of reading, writing, math and science. And I'd say that's the case with most of the children when they "graduate", no matter what their socioeconomic experience, and that's significant.

Based on this, if I had a child who would qualify to apply for the charter program lottery when it next opens up, I would definitely apply (guessing this will be for kids who will be 3 during the 2013-2014 school year), despite the school's quirks.  They accepted 3 and 4 year olds during the charter's first year to establish some age diversity in the classroom (along the lines described above, which ideally has 3, 4, and 5 year olds as there's supposed to be a lot of 2-way learning and teaching between the younger and older kids' interactions in the classroom), but i believe (though am not certain) that they were going to then move to just accepting 3 year olds in the following lottery years.  Sorry, I know nothing about the lottery program, but would take time to research that and to attend some of the info sessions the school will likely offer prior to the lottery to find out more about Montessori method, observe classrooms, and ask questions in person.

Hope this helps.  Good luck!

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