Anonymous wrote:I am very happy at ECC. I moved my child to ECC in January of this year from a more mixed play/academic curriculum. Compared to our previous pick-ups where she couldn't remember much about her day, now she is sharing details with excitement. When we do riddles, numbers or letters at home, she is no longer trying to guess what the "right" answer is. She is using her own abilities, talents, knowledge and skills, and is confident in them. ECC knows how children learn and are bulidng a passion for learning in children and nurturing confidence in their own abilities to interact with the world. Smaller class sizes there are really helpful for the learning process with an emphasis on respect for others, kindness and sharing in learning. Every teacher has their own style, but they each engage the children in a way that invites them to feel comfortable. Despite having only been at ECC for a relatively short time, my child asks to stay for aftercare! Aftercare is a very useful service- you can even sign up the day of, no problem. Great for those days that a meeting is set up with short notice and I need to be on a call, and for when I need a bit of time for me. The parent enrichment opportunities are great too- just attended a great one on kindergarten readiness with 3 teachers from 2 schools in the neighborhood area. I am happy ECC is in my community.

Is it just me, or does this sound like someone who works at the school wrote it?

Anonymous wrote:I am very happy at ECC. I moved my child to ECC in January of this year from a more mixed play/academic curriculum. Compared to our previous pick-ups where she couldn't remember much about her day, now she is sharing details with excitement. When we do riddles, numbers or letters at home, she is no longer trying to guess what the "right" answer is. She is using her own abilities, talents, knowledge and skills, and is confident in them. ECC knows how children learn and are bulidng a passion for learning in children and nurturing confidence in their own abilities to interact with the world. Smaller class sizes there are really helpful for the learning process with an emphasis on respect for others, kindness and sharing in learning. Every teacher has their own style, but they each engage the children in a way that invites them to feel comfortable. Despite having only been at ECC for a relatively short time, my child asks to stay for aftercare! Aftercare is a very useful service- you can even sign up the day of, no problem. Great for those days that a meeting is set up with short notice and I need to be on a call, and for when I need a bit of time for me. The parent enrichment opportunities are great too- just attended a great one on kindergarten readiness with 3 teachers from 2 schools in the neighborhood area. I am happy ECC is in my community.

The neighboring preschool was the presenter for the Kindergarten discussion.

I am very happy at ECC. I moved my child to ECC in January of this year from a more mixed play/academic curriculum. Compared to our previous pick-ups where she couldn't remember much about her day, now she is sharing details with excitement. When we do riddles, numbers or letters at home, she is no longer trying to guess what the "right" answer is. She is using her own abilities, talents, knowledge and skills, and is confident in them. ECC knows how children learn and are bulidng a passion for learning in children and nurturing confidence in their own abilities to interact with the world. Smaller class sizes there are really helpful for the learning process with an emphasis on respect for others, kindness and sharing in learning. Every teacher has their own style, but they each engage the children in a way that invites them to feel comfortable. Despite having only been at ECC for a relatively short time, my child asks to stay for aftercare! Aftercare is a very useful service- you can even sign up the day of, no problem. Great for those days that a meeting is set up with short notice and I need to be on a call, and for when I need a bit of time for me. The parent enrichment opportunities are great too- just attended a great one on kindergarten readiness with 3 teachers from 2 schools in the neighborhood area. I am happy ECC is in my community.

I am a parent at ECC and I have my second child there currently. Sadly, I too will not be returning my child there for next year. It just isn't the same school that it used to be.
The current staff are nice and the children like them but the QUALITY of interactions, staff to students, child to child, staff to parents, etc. is not what I expected or need. There seems to be lots of glorified play going on, which is great for the kids but the program is sorely lacking in substance.
I have learned that 3 families withdrew their children to place them in other programs before the holidays. That speaks volumes.

I hope that as many parents as possible will see this before considering placing their child at Early Childhood Center. My older children attended the preschool beginning as two year olds until they were four years old. During that time the school was a wonderful place. The teachers were highly experienced and wonderful, as were the assistants. My kids got an amazing start there, learning play skills, peer interactions, gaining self esteem and becoming well prepared for kindergarten. The hands-on, child-centered philosophy allowed them to learn and explore in ways that enhanced their learning experiences in the best way possible.
The atmosphere was most warm and welcoming for children and adults alike. The office door was always open and the director was always available to greet every student by name and to talk with a parent at a moments notice. The entire office staff was as nurturing and available as the teachers and assistants. It was really a place that made you feel like you belonged and were part of something special.
I am saddened and shocked at the difference I have now found the third time around. All of the veteran teachers left last year with one stepping down to be an assistant. That was the first huge upset because I knew them well and they were great. I knew it was a bad sign since these teachers had been there between 11 - 18 years!
The atmosphere is so very different now. I now feel like the heart has gone out of the school. The new staff are not nearly as experienced. The classroom environment is now primarily play, play, play without any learning going on. There isn't the same sense of "pulling together" or the feeling that the director cares about the individual.
The entire place is noticeably messy and has an unkempt feeling as compared to the other years I've come there. So many things just seem "out of sync" and the quality of everything just isn't anything like it used to be. I find all of this very sad since ECC had always been a shining star as preschools go with a standard of best practices in every aspect. It had always been worth it to drive past 4 other places to bring my children to ECC.
I can not say the same anymore and I will not be sending my child next year. Even more sadly, I will no longer be able to recommend ECC as a preschool anymore. I never imagined that there would ever be a time when I would say that.
If you are considering ECC I suggest that you think twice.

This is our 4th year at ECC. My older child started when he was 2, completed 3 years there, and is now in KG. This is my younger child's (age 4) second year at ECC.

I was also disappointed that some of the more senior teachers left prior to start of this school year. However, most importantly, from my child's perspective, it's a wonderful place! She has such a good time at school and could go all day every day. She goes 2-1/2 days per week. Some pre-schoolers can thrive in an environment with 18 other kids in a class, but I've found that being in a small school with small classes allowed my kids to develop and explore with a lot of attention from teachers. My son adjusted so well to KG!

As far as class sizes, I think the 2s classes used to be limited to 8 children, but now up to 10 are permitted. The other class sizes have not changed.

Finally, as a parent, I admit I liked some things about the school better with the old director. However, I also appreciate some of the changes the new director has brought to the school. Nothing is ever going to be perfect! Please visit the school and have look around!

I'm a parent of two children at the school, this is our second year there. All the teachers and assistant teachers we have had have been fabulous and I can't say enough about the curriculum (we were at another preschool before that was extremely underwhelming, so that's my frame of reference).

A PP mentioned that there have been a lot of changes with staff lately, and this is true, there has been a lot of turnover. However, I don't agree with the PP that the classes have increased--as far as I know, almost all of the classes only have 10 students and 2 teachers, and I also don't agree that it seems to be more of a daycare than a preschool. They do offer before and aftercare for working parents, but the preschool classes themselves have a strong curriculum and encourage discovery and exploration and cover a lot of ground "academically" without being a direct-instruction environment.

I've had a child at ECC for several years and have had great experiences. It is definitely a preschool not a daycare. My child stayed one hour late one day last week and she was one of only 3 kids in the school when I went to pick her up at 1:15. She was having a blast and did not want to leave with me until she finished her project.
She has 2 teachers and 10 children in her 3 year old class, and that seems perfect to me. Her teacher is energetic and thoughtful and they have been doing fun and educational activities. One thing they have been doing this week is to learn about their bodies and senses and emotions.

Anonymous wrote:Thank you so much for your interest in the Early Childhood Center. We are excited to have parents come and visit the school. Our mission is to create a positive school experience that fosters a love of learning through a child-centered program in a nurturing community. When families come to tour, we always encourage parents to spend time in the classrooms and accept our invitation to speak with one of our current families and hear about their experiences first hand. Our current parents welcome the opportunity to rave about our program and teachers. We look forward to hearing from you soon! Please give us at call at (301) 424-8056.

Actually, the number is 301-424-8065!

Thank you so much for your interest in the Early Childhood Center. We are excited to have parents come and visit the school. Our mission is to create a positive school experience that fosters a love of learning through a child-centered program in a nurturing community. When families come to tour, we always encourage parents to spend time in the classrooms and accept our invitation to speak with one of our current families and hear about their experiences first hand. Our current parents welcome the opportunity to rave about our program and teachers. We look forward to hearing from you soon! Please give us at call at (301) 424-8056.

ECC got a new director last year, and all of the longtime teachers have left over the last 15 months. Only a few longtime assistants are still there. This director has increased class sizes, and lowered teacher requirements. All the teachers used to be required to have Bachelor's degrees, and now they ask for only an Associate's degree. It seems she is steering the place from the high quality preschool it has been to more of a daycare, as "Daycare and Preschool" is how they now describe themselves on their Facebook page. I suggest that you observe all the classes and teachers at your child's grade level and ask lots of questions.

If you are heading over there, you might also check into Rockville Community Nursery School. ECC and RCNS are on the same campus. ECC is a regular drop off/pickup nursery school. RCNS is a parent-cooperative so parents are more involved there. The two schools are not officially related, but they are friendly neighbors, with some RCNS kids using ECC for aftercare, for example. They are both good schools, and I believe both use the Creative Curriculum, which is the best preschool curriculum out there, imho. www.RCNScoop.org and ECCpreschool.com are the two websites.

(My kids go to RCNS & we love it. We have lots of friends at ECC too.)

They are good. I have my daughter at Christ Episcopal Preschool near the Town Center. They have great options and the teacher are wonderful. They use what's called an inquiry based curriculum, which allows the kids to learn through natural exploration, but they also have a good structure. Check it out!

Planning to head into this one for a tour soon. Would also love to hear shared experiences.

Hi! I'm looking for a preschool for my daughter next year and this is on our list but I don't know anyone who goes there so I don't have any references. Any thoughts on this preschool?