Someone sure is pushing Children's House all of a sudden. I haven't seen it mentioned much over the past year--is it a small school?

Top 10 Preschools:

NCRC, St. John's, River School, Children's House,
Palisades Community Preschool, St. Columba's,
Little Folks, School for Friends, Aidan Montesori,
Franklin Motessori.

Schoool for Friends is amazing - not sure why it is not on the list where the woman defined schools in a specific order (as some on her list I would not have even considered). The program is diverse, play based, and focuses on the Quaker values of peaceful conflict resolution (lots of communications between kids on how to resolve conflict between each other. The children get two hours a day outside play time - which is something that was important to me.

Country Day School in McLean

There is no top ten...there are too many categories. I guess you could purely look at feeder schools, but that turns my stomach b/c it means one does not give a sh*t about the needs of their child.

This is such a great, sane quote.

Has anyone mentioned commute? We live north in DC near Rock Creek Park, and the idea of making two daily round-trips to, say, St. John's over the span of a few hours is not appealing.

Before this thread veers off into a religious discussion (too late?), I want to recommend St. Columba's. Our son is very happy there. We looked at some of the other "top" preschools, but we decided that all we really wanted was someplace where our boy could play (the playground and time outside were big pluses for us) and make friends. That's not to say that the teachers don't provide lots of developmentally appropriate activities, because they do. It's just presented in a very laid back way, which is a good fit for us.

The "top" preschool. OP, is the one that feels like the best fit to you and your DC. The rest is kind of nonsense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Temple Sinai is a great school. Not sure why it doesn't get the press of Franklin & St Columba's. (Not saying it's as high-profile as NCRC & St John's.)

Because it is Jewish and most gentiles don't feel welcome and/or would not be comfortable in a Temple preschool. Jewsih kids have long attended schools in churches/with christian affiliations but the opposite just has never been common.

There are certainly non-Jewish families at Temple Sinai, as well as many, many families in which only one parent is Jewish (like my family, where we don't practice any religion). So I'm not sure a non-Jewish family could blame feeling unwelcome or uncomfortable on the school.

Anonymous wrote:Temple Sinai is a great school. Not sure why it doesn't get the press of Franklin & St Columba's. (Not saying it's as high-profile as NCRC & St John's.)

Because it is Jewish and most gentiles don't feel welcome and/or would not be comfortable in a Temple preschool. Jewsih kids have long attended schools in churches/with christian affiliations but the opposite just has never been common.

We chose it over NCRC.

Sorry, PP here, and 22:30, obviously I'm agreeing with you, not calling you out!

Anonymous wrote:What can I say? That's your loss. (And no, my children don't go there.)

My child does go there (Temple Sinai), and honestly it's OK that people haven't heard of it. It's not a status-y place. It is, however, an extremely warm place with amazing educators. But if you're seeking a Sidwell feeder, it's probably not going to be your cup of tea (or slice of challah).

It's an excellent school, quite progressive and diverse (perhaps due in part to more Dupont Circle location, availability of full-day care). You should be able to find many positive reports in the archives.

There is no top ten...there are too many categories. I guess you could purely look at feeder schools, but that turns my stomach b/c it means one does not give a sh*t about the needs of their child. If your kid is highly adaptable and the feeder schools work ALL equally, I would also play the lotto, b/c that is some major luck.

Look into educational philosophies before top ANYTHING.

Anonymous wrote:Little Folks, NCRC, St John's, Aidan, St. Patrick's, NPS, River, St. Columba's. In that order.

Why not School for Friends? What is the general consensus on that school?

What can I say? That's your loss. (And no, my children don't go there.)