Nurturing environment that expects every child to rise to excellence, but appreciates every child as unique. Emphasizes character, sports, & STEM learning. Great parent community. Students from many different backgrounds and countries. I feel that every adult in that building knows and loves every child in that building. read more

Green Hedges School - Green Hedges School. - Elementary Schools Near Me - Vienna, Virginia

I have 4 kids two of which are attending Green Hedges. Also, I have attended both private and public schools growing up. From my personal experience, this school's attention and love for the kids is as good as it gets. The experience and education these kids get is amazing. I feel so lucky every time I think about having such an amazing school for my kids to attend. Both of our kids just love the program and it has felt amazing to see how much they have grown from attending the school and interacting with the other kids. The staff is amazing and the families that we have met clearly have core values and a focus that we want our kids to be around. read more

Green Hedges School - Elementary Schools Near Me - Vienna, Virginia

My three children have attended Green Hedges for several years. They tell me they are very happy with their school experience there, and my wife and I are very pleased as well. When we first visited the school we were impressed with the warm and welcoming environment that we observed, and that feeling continues to this day. Parents are given many opportunities to volunteer and participate in school activities, and are invited to attend all assemblies. The small size of the school fosters supportive relationships among the students and teachers, and gives every student a chance to showcase their individual strengths. Even though the school is small, it encourages diversity, and helps provide students with a wide view of the world. The Montessori program for preschoolers and kindergartners respects and challenges each child and gives them an impressive head start in learning, which includes an introduction to French and Spanish. World languages continue through all the upper grades, multiple days a week. All students receive a broad liberal arts education, which is advanced from what I remember of my own school experience. Starting in first grade, every student performs in a play. Starting in fourth grade, every student plays an instrument and participates in the band. Children from the higher grades lead all school assemblies, and children from grades one through eight regularly give presentations to the school. Every presentation and performance is greeted with support, and no child is left in the shadows. I have enjoyed seeing my children grow and become confident in different ways through their time at Green Hedges, and I look forward to seeing them continue to grow and become more confident in the future. read more

Green Hedges is a wonderful small school that challenges students to do their best academically as well as personally. After more than 15 years in the classroom I feel so fortunate every day to be a part of this amazing community. The administration is incredibly supportive. The faculty collaborates with one another across grades and subjects. The arts are an important part of the curriculum as well as humanities and math and science. read more

My 3 children attend Green Hedges and I could not ask for a more idyllic learning environment. Loving teachers, rigorous academics that align with each child's needs and small classes are some of the most impressive attributes of the school. Seeing my kindergartner perform a play in French was a highlight last school year and I have already been wowed with the first grade curriculum, which includes French instruction 4 days per week, weekly trips to the science lab, 1.5 hours each week with the art teacher (who just happens to be professional artist) and daily technology lessons. We are in our 4th year at the school and each school year my high expectations continue to be exceeded. read more

Our family has been so positively impacted by green hedges, it is impossible to really touch it all. Our son started as a shy, scared 3 and will be moving to grade 1 in the fall, with confidence and extremely prepared. We are also huge fans of the extended day program. As an only child, he has made friends with two great older boys and looks forward to their after school activities. If you are looking for a school that really is a positive little community of its own- this is the place. Each year I am a little more impressed by the dedication and commitment of the faculty and board. Have we investigated other schools as we thought through transitioning out of Montessori and into a traditional 1-8 setting? We sure did. We took a hard look at the Fairfax county public school as well as local catholic parish schools. After weighing all of options green hedges still came out on top, and we are all looking forward to the fall and all the new challenges 1st grade will bring. read more

This school is amazing! My daughter loves it. It has a great group of kids, and the teachers are so supportive and loving.

I honestly have absolutely no idea where to begin with this review. My experience with Green Hedges was absolutely horrific. My poor child, who was a young 3 at the time of his admission, was blind-sighted with a slur of restricted hours, unfair treatment (I witnessed this first hand after sitting in on the class), and just outright rudeness from his teacher, as well as the vice principal. Let me begin by saying my son is a bright, intelligent and sweet little boy. As the saying goes, "boys will be boys", my son is very high energy and rambunctious, however he is far from being 'out of control' or 'a problem child', as the school so rudely insinuated on several occasions. The treatment he and the rest of my family received at this school was absolutely heart breaking. We paid $15,000 for these terrible people to restrict his hours down to just one hour a day, without any sort of reimbursement, but with the empty promise that by the end of the year they would allow him back full time. We worked very closely with the school, had several meetings which ended every time with me being more frustrated than the previous meeting, and accusations from his teachers and vice principal on my parenting style. They accused my son of terrible misbehavior, and though he acts like any other three year old boy, we were not having any relative scale of these problems they were talking about at home. The absolute most heart breaking part of it all was how much my son looked forward to going to school in the morning, and, as any child would be, he was completely unaware of the situation surrounding him. We were not invited back by Green Hedges, however, we had long before decided that we would not have even considered sending him back. My son is a CHILD. He is a SMALL, ADOLESCENT BOY. He was barely out of his terrible two's by the time he entered Green Hedges, and he was being treated as though he needed to act like a sixth grader. In my experience during the sit-in class, which I was almost declined by his teachers, I witnessed a little girl kick him repeatedly under a chair, and when the teacher walked past, I tried to address it with him, and instead of talking to the little girl and asking her to stop, or instead of listening to the information I had just given him, he instead got down to my son's level, asked him what he did to make the girl kick him, and when he said he didn't do anything, he still made him move to another area, instead of removing the girl who had been bullying my child. On another occasion, my son sat down at an empty seat, and then stood up to go get some colored pencils. While he was up a little boy sat in his chair, and when he came back he asked him to move, and he even said please. The little boy looked at him, and then ignored him and kept doing his business. My son waited by my side until the little boy got up, and then my son went back to sit in his chair (thinking the little boy was not coming back). The little boy say this, came running back and screamed "MOVE!" at my son. When the teacher came over, instead of asking anyone what happened, he immediately reprimanded my son, saying it's not acceptable to take other people's seats. When I tried to intervene, and explain what had happened, the teacher, very rudely, reminded me that I was not supposed to interfere during sit-ins, because it distracts the children enough when a parent is just sitting in a room. Overall, my family is absolutely disgusted by the experience we had at Green Hedges. I would advise almost any family against going to this school. We had been warned earlier before we entered my son that the school was going through a rough patch of teachers and staff members, and our friend's words to us when referring to the vice principal was that we should take everything she says 'with a grain of salt', and we truly regret not listening to them sooner. If I could go back in time, I would never even pay half a mind to handing those people my money. If any child is not uniform to the upper class children that typically attend Green Hedges, they are automatically outcasts with no chance of self redemption, because at that point, your child has already been labeled as the black sheep of the class. read more

After having a conference with our daughter's teachers, I thought I really should write about the amazing teachers our children have everyday. My daughter is in second grade and has two full time teachers in her class everyday. We have been at Green Hedges since the school year of 2009/2010. We have a daughter who is finishing 8th grade, a son in middle school, and our youngest daughter in second grade. This fantastic school is located in Vienna, Va and it is a very vibrant and lively small school with a big experience for all who attend. They start French in Montessori and you can stay with that all through 8th grade or switch to Spanish in 5th grade. The Middle school kids take their language of choice, French or Spanish and then in 6th grade they start Latin and take it all through eighth grade. My 8th grade daughter switched to Spanish and missed French so she signed up for French as an elective in Middle School! The whole school environment is immersed in learning and exploring. The humanities program is very strong with so many opportunities for writing and reading great literature. All through the grades. The teachers have high expectations and create an atmosphere where the kids can meet and exceed expectations. Hard work is expected but not silly busy work. The same is for the math program. The kids go in depth with math from a very early age. Problem solving, experiential learning, and manipulative are used in every class. The kids all work on coding and they work with robots on top of a very strong math curriculum. The science curriculum is strong and they are constantly evaluating to see how they can always strive high and improve. One of my favorite way to see how the school is working is to talk to the kids who come back and visit from high school! It happens frequently and the kids talk about how well prepared they were for high school. They transition from a small school to public, private, religious, or boarding schools prepared and confident. The administration and teachers work directly with families and meet them through out the year and not just for scheduled conferences. The school has a fantastic way of introducing the students to public speaking from Montessori on through the eighth grade. They have openings every Monday and closings every friday afternoon. The openings and closings happen every week and the whole school gathers together. The openings and closings are run by the 8th grade class. The 8th graders speak in front of the whole school and tell the announcements for the week and introduce special guests who share their knowledge of many different subjects. They have musicians, mathematicians, poets, scientists, activists, and historians just to name a few. Starting in Montessori each class through out the year shares special assignments or share their knowledge about interesting lessons or facts in these openings and closings. Each class from first grade through fifth grade puts on a play and performs in front of the school and families! The Middle school gets heavily involved in their musical production that they do every year! It is incredible. The students start instruments in 4th grade and they perform through out the year. They have a fabulous Middle school Jazz band. I could keep writing about so many more fantastic projects and work that the kids do but honestly, you should book a tour and check it out. This school is fantastic and really has a great diverse community of families and teachers who work and strive for an excellent education for every student! read more

We have been at Green Hedges for 10 years and my two girls both started in the Montessori program at 3 years old. My girls love the school because they love their relationships with their teachers and their teachers make learning fun. I love the school because the teachers not only care about developing close bonds with your child but are also honest about his/her strengths and weaknesses. The teachers really encourage and support those strengths but also really work on those weaknesses. One of my children really struggled with reading and not only did the teacher suggest a tutor but also gave my child additional reading/phonics homework assignments. However, because she knew my child loved animals, those reading passages were always about an animal, even focusing on her favorites. To me that is what makes a great teacher and you will find those gems at Green Hedges. read more

This school does a great job of listening to the children and building a community with their parents. The curriculum is very comprehensive -- the expectations on academics are very high, real focus on character, plus every child is in the band from 4th grade to graduation, every child can participate on the sports teams, every child has a speaking role in the grade-level plays. The school wants every child to explore their interests in a nurturing environment vs. hyper-focus on only one thing. I find that refreshing and my kids love it. read more

We have 3 children who have attended Green Hedges School for 2 years. Having moved here from a very small village in the UK we wanted the same small, caring atmosphere & GHS did not disappoint. The school was pivotal in our relocation to the area & we have all made life long friends here which helped us settle into the area immensely. Due to the size of the school the class sizes thus benefit & the children are challenged & supported where needed.Our children have thrived in the school & its nurturing atmosphere has benefitted us all in every way. I cannot praise this school enough & when we soon move back to the UK we will be so,so sad to leave. read more

GHS isn t as well known as some of the larger private schools but the more intimate environment combined with first-rate academics make it the best place for our children. GHS students are challenged to grow academically and socially and are known by name by the faculty, staff and fellow students. Your child will not be lost there and they will be challenged in light of their natural abilities to explore and grow. Our family began there in 2009 and we are fortunate to have all three of our children there currently. The faculty and staff are highly professional, available and responsive. They are also willing to tell a parent what you need to hear rather than perhaps what you want to hear. If your child needs help, you will hear about it and be asked to work with your child and the school to address and resolve issues (If you are given to the unyielding beliefs that your child is already due a Nobel Prize and is a soon to be Olympic athlete with no room for improvement and you need constant reassurance of this, do not look here). The faculty, staff and parental partnership is a very real and valuable aspect of the experience - and it is something that sets the school apart. read more

My daughter is in her second year in the Montessori program, and she has had a wonderful experience. I love the self-paced learning that is a fundamental part of the Montessori education but I also like that the teachers implement other aspects of pre-K education into the program, so that it is a lively, happy, cheerful and thoughtful environment. In other words, they take the best parts of the Montessori method while still letting them be kids. Her teachers really care about her - for example, one time she was not feeling well and I kept her home and her head teacher called later in the day to check to make sure she was okay. I really feel like she is getting individualized attention and it is worth every penny. It is also really nice how the doors are always open to the parents - volunteer opportunities are offered but not pushed on you, and if I ever happen to be in the building, they are happy to see me pop my head into the classroom. Some schools I think prefer to keep their parents at a distance and I really like the transparency. Being that the Montessori program is a part of the elementary and middle schools, they really benefit from the resources available to the older children - whether it be STEM week or the library or visitors/events on campus. There are a variety of options available at the preschool level - early drop off, half day, full day and extended day, to suit every family's needs. I think any parent that begins a child's education in the preschool program at Green Hedges can be confident that their child is getting the best of the best, and acquiring a love of learning early on. read more

If you are a parent who is researching schools and deeply cares about your child's education - then keeping reading about Green Hedges! Last year, my wife and I were looking for the ideal school environment for our 3 year old son and could not recommend Green Hedges more strongly to fellow parents who may be overwhelmed by the myriad of school choices in the northern Virginia area. Without exception you need to know that the faculty and staff are some of the most dedicated and caring professionals that we know, trust, and now love. The attention and care that they have for each individual student including our son make us certain that there is no better choice than Green Hedges. From the Headmaster to his teacher, to the librarian, to his French teacher everyone is on a first name basis with a sincere appreciation for academic excellence. This extends beyond the classroom and it is clear that our child is a "name and not just a number" that could otherwise be lost in larger school systems. This passion for education extends beyond the classroom with a genuine care for the "whole" student allowing for a nurturing environment that can only be described as "the very best." For that we are grateful and encourage like minded parents to stop your research! You just found the perfect school and it is Green Hedges. read more