Long time Lee parent here. It's a well-run school these days (wasn't always). I've seen families leave for lots of different reasons, Montessori 'fit' being one of them; moving to the burbs another, and of course tons of attrition for MS and for elementaries with MS pathways. A swath of kids leaving in lower elementary are pulled along by family decisions for older siblings.

Because OP is bizarrely narrowing her acceptable responses. She's not willing to hear from anyone who considered Lee for those grades but decided against it. She's not willing to hear from anyone who left Lee after 4th. Why on earth not? Those people may have something interesting and relevant to say!

The number of people who do qualify for the honor of responding to OP is very small. So small that only one such person has replied at all. Hope that is what OP wanted.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid doesn’t enjoy math, they just don’t learn it. As parents learn that in the 1-3 classroom, they leave the school and Montessori.

OP here - Oh look, it's our first person with Opinions!

Did you have a child at Lee? If so, I would love to hear more about your experience. But since you say "parents" and not "I" or "we" I'm thinking you didn't. So please move along.

Gosh, some days, I just do not have the patience for DCUM, and unfortunately, this is one of those days, but I don't have another way to get in touch with the people I want. Pity.

Except this poster is completely right. This conversation has been had about Lee and other Montessori schools on this forum 100 times. I know, I know, only a certain kind of poster is worthy of responding to your posts…

Anonymous wrote:If your kid doesn’t enjoy math, they just don’t learn it. As parents learn that in the 1-3 classroom, they leave the school and Montessori.

+1. Sorry in advance for sullying your post on a public forum.

This is what we experienced at a different Montessori school. Child led, but if the child isn’t interested, there’s not enough pushing until the child is significantly behind. That’s all public Montessori schools in DC, including Lee.

Now if your elementary kid is very self motivated, it’s a non-issue. But many parents start peeling off in second or third when they realize how far behind their kid is in math or reading.

Current Lee parent. My kid was reading comfortably in prek4, the Montessori literacy model really worked for him, but there is a lot of follow the child so it depends on if you want that and how you think your kids would do with that.

Of all the charters, Lee seems the most AMI Montessori, so reading up on AMI and if you like that specifically would be informative. If you hear about the goings out format and think wow, this sounds great, then you’d probably be happy vs if you hear about it and it sounds like a waste of time, less so. That said, there is regular time in iReady now, too.

In the elementary grades, a lot comes down to executive functioning and independence. The current upper elementary teachers are both quite strong, but the lack of a feeder is a real issue that causes people to peel off at 5th and 6th.

Anonymous wrote:No recent experience, so I guess you will get snippy with me too. But we left Lee in 2nd grade because, as you say, there's an element of "fit"- some kids really do well with Montessori and some just don't. This was years ago.

OP here. Thank you for responding! And I'm sorry for the extreme snippiness, it's just been a day.

I'd love to hear more about why you left. Were there things about your kid that, in retrospect, just weren't a great fit for Montessori? I'd love to be able to be on the lookout for those sorts of things as we evaluate our options. How did you feel about the academic side of things? On one hand, I think kid-directed learning can be wonderful, and I love their emphasis on just reading books (would love to raise a reader). And, my kids at least right now, seem to have fairly academic interests and are self motivated on things like reading and learning basic math. But it's hard to know if that would fade. And at some point, ya know, like it or not you need to learn fractions.

Would really love to hear more from you about why you switched. My temporary email address is on the chain if you'd rather talk offline.

I think not having 5th and 6th graders makes for a classroom age distribution that isn't ideal, it's too 4th-grade-heavy and there are new kids who aren't Montessori-experienced so it isn't as close to the imaginary official Montessori model, and the older kids don't have as many peers at their level if they are academically advanced. Some people are bothered by this so they try to leave when they can. When that happens depends on their lottery luck.

In my experience, kids tend to leave if their older sibling leaves for a school the younger kid can go to. So if someone gets into ITDS for 5th or 6th, a younger child may also move to ITDS. I know this because I am an ITDS parent, not a Lee parent. Is it okay with you that I sullied your thread with my presence?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid doesn’t enjoy math, they just don’t learn it. As parents learn that in the 1-3 classroom, they leave the school and Montessori.

OP here - Oh look, it's our first person with Opinions!

Did you have a child at Lee? If so, I would love to hear more about your experience. But since you say "parents" and not "I" or "we" I'm thinking you didn't. So please move along.

Gosh, some days, I just do not have the patience for DCUM, and unfortunately, this is one of those days, but I don't have another way to get in touch with the people I want. Pity.

You seem pretty tightly wound, so you'll fit right in at Lee.

I was never a Lee parent, because I chose Breakthrough Montessori instead. So I guess you don't want to hear from me about why.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid doesn’t enjoy math, they just don’t learn it. As parents learn that in the 1-3 classroom, they leave the school and Montessori.

OP here - Oh look, it's our first person with Opinions!

Did you have a child at Lee? If so, I would love to hear more about your experience. But since you say "parents" and not "I" or "we" I'm thinking you didn't. So please move along.

Gosh, some days, I just do not have the patience for DCUM, and unfortunately, this is one of those days, but I don't have another way to get in touch with the people I want. Pity.

It's odd that you're asking for help but also starting off so rude and snippy. If you only want to hear from current Lee parents who happen to see your post and aren't put off by your attitude, you'll be hearing from very few people.

You can read CAPE scores but did you notice the huge racial achievement gap at Lee?

No recent experience, so I guess you will get snippy with me too. But we left Lee in 2nd grade because, as you say, there's an element of "fit"- some kids really do well with Montessori and some just don't. This was years ago.

Anonymous wrote:If your kid doesn’t enjoy math, they just don’t learn it. As parents learn that in the 1-3 classroom, they leave the school and Montessori.

OP here - Oh look, it's our first person with Opinions!

Did you have a child at Lee? If so, I would love to hear more about your experience. But since you say "parents" and not "I" or "we" I'm thinking you didn't. So please move along.

Gosh, some days, I just do not have the patience for DCUM, and unfortunately, this is one of those days, but I don't have another way to get in touch with the people I want. Pity.

If your kid doesn’t enjoy math, they just don’t learn it. As parents learn that in the 1-3 classroom, they leave the school and Montessori.

We are considering Lee for our early elementary children (not PK). There's a lot about the Montessori model we like, but in looking at the data, they have a fair amount of attrition in mid-late elementary. Now, kids leaving in 5th for Basis or Latin or in 6th for any number of other middle schools, okay, fine. But I'd love to hear from people who have had children in Lee but left BEFORE 4th grade.

It seems to me like there's an element of "fit" - some kids really do well with Montessori and some just don't, and it feels like mine would. And of course people have different priorities. But to get a true view of the school, I'd really like to hear from people who tried it and left early.

I set up a throw away email for 48 hours - csogydj908@seenotice.tech - if you'd prefer to talk directly rather than through DCUM.

Would appreciate any feedback from parents who actually had kids at Lee. If you didn't but just have Opinions (I can read CAPE score data, too), this thread is not for you. Thanks.