This is OP. Thank you! That makes a lot of sense.

I didn’t see it as a warning. Those schools’ approaches are diametrically opposed, so it sounded like OP might just be wanting to escape their zoned school.

Seeing the classrooms and the kids’ experiences should be important to help her understand which environment is right for your child.

My child went to our zoned school. Montessori would have been a bad fit at a young age even though everyone touts it as the holy grail of early education. Nothing wrong with Montessori, but we needed to see that to understand. I would think same with ATS.

Someone asked about ATS versus the Montessori public school on the Arlington Neighbors Helping Neighbors FB group, and everyone keeps replying to make sure to “go visit during the school day” to observe before they make a decision. I doubt that’s an option, but besides the impossibility, what is everyone implying that OP would see if she visited that she would not like? It sounds like a veiled warning of some kind but I can’t figure out what they are saying but not saying.