Love this school! Have had 3 children in this school over the past six years. Excellent…read moreadministrative staff, teachers, and PTO. The lunch staff and custodial staff are friendly and remember the kids names. The principal is in his second year at Penn. He has made a lot of changes to the look and feel of the school. The kids and parents are always welcome to talk to him at events. Great teachers at all grade levels from pre-K to 5th. I can't say enough about the staff at this school. There is a lot of parental involvement. There are a lot of events throughout the year for the students from field trips, movie night, ice cream social, science fair, reading fair, spelling bee, gym nights, spirit night at local restaurants, and more. There is a great deal of emphasis on the whole child...education, community, health and fun! I still have 3 years left and plan to keep my last two at Penn. I am a PTO member and a huge school volunteer. Penn is a great place to learn and grow.

I went there it was a fun experience overall fun events and everything however one of the…read morecounselors seem to pick which students they automatically don't like so wouldn't recommend going to them for any personal issues. Fun overall just gotta check on a counselor.

I know there's no such thing as a good 6th grade expirience, but I was hoping for a better one. I…read moreknow some of the teachers are trying, but at least 50% just suck. The food is terrible. and It's cramped. I know it can do better, but at least for now 2 stars is what it deserves. Also, there is no way zena wasn't forced to post that review. If you work here, don't take this personally. I'm a middle schooler going through puberty with more opinions than there are people on earth. -thanks for reading.

I will start by saying that we have been here for 10yrs from pre school to 8th and it has been a…read morejourney. I appreciate all the teachers and staff at WOLCA. of course no school is perfect but my kids loved it her. I have 3kids here, they love their teachers and Christian guidance that came with it being part of the school. The school provided some stability and consistency, dont get me wrong, with 3kids in the school , there were some ups and downs, but we worked it out with the teachers and the principal which im grateful for. The school offered great christian view to early life and upbringing, discipline and guidance for my kids that I will always be proud of. As we transition out, we will miss being part of this community, and we pray that all families benefit from what we had benefited during our stay here.

If I can save a family from the discrimination and hypocrisy of this school, then writing this…read morereview is well worth it. The current principal presents as a kind person in public meetings, when the Pastor is around, and I suppose for parents of younger children. Her entire character changes, once you make it clear that accountability should go both ways. The principal is easily offended, retaliatory, and prejudiced-at least 3 parents have shared similar experiences. She is unwilling to account for various family experiences, and communication styles. During my time at the school, my children experienced various forms of discrimination regarding discipline policies, grading, and access! The middle school program is very poorly managed. The academics, elective courses, and overall teacher effectiveness are seriously lacking. I have only experienced 1 solid core teacher (who really should be the lead), and MAYBE 2 solid elective teachers. The students are not treated with respect or trust. Some wealthy families have their student's poor behavior excused, while other families are consistently mistreated. When brought to the attention of the principal, she sits quiet in meetings and allows the middle school "lead teacher" to lead any outcomes down a destructive and non truthful path. The Principal and many other staff members have difficulty holding this middle school lead accountable. Inasmuch as parents want to be involved as partner's in their children's learning, this school only allows that if you are agreeable with everything they currently do. They have handpicked the parents that receive patience, kindness, and grace. They have also handpicked the parents who will receive resistance, retaliation, and prejudice. None of which represent the Christian character they claim to lead in. If you are a parent who asks questions, and expects accountability and respect to go both ways-this is NOT the school for you. I think the only reason they have the enrollment they do, is because they keep their tuition lower than the Christian K-12 School that is one block away from them. They are basically undercutting a nearby school. You can see both schools from the road and many families need the tuition costs to remain affordable. Unfortunately, what you are getting in return is a hypocritical school, who claims to love Jesus and lead with love, but when challenged, are the furthest away from demonstrating that when it matters most.

So far so good with the School & our child's teacher. They have a descent & very affordable before…read more& after school program. The only problems we see thus far lies with the School's Principle. I observed a concern & tried to address it to her but instead of finding out a better way to fix it, she went on the Offensive. I will not go into details due to the children safety & security but the principle is aware of it & she chose not to be bothered with it. As a school principle, she should learn how to take constructive criticism better & not go on the offensive everytime a concerned parent brings up an issue. Another problem is lunch, it is only 30 min, by the time the kids wait in line & got their food, they only have about 10 min to eat. My child said she wasn't finished with her food & a staff took away her fork while she was eating. After school program is ok but they need to clean the place better, basquets where kids put their bookbags are filthy. Teachers need to monitor the kids 'coz the kids open door for anyone that walks by. Unsafe! They need a better system.

My children all had wonderful teachers in Mary William Elementary and the front desk were great…read more Thank you Mary Williams Elementary.

I like the school and the principal is chill and most of the teachers are nice and funny, the…read moremiddle school is fun and there isn't too much homework. There are many kids there and I had fun in all my 5 years.

Commonwealth Academy promotes itself as a school that has expertise in ADHD and executive…read morefunctioning. Our experience there this last year with our son (12) was the opposite, and the staff was extremely unwilling to work with us on his needs. It gets worse. In the end, a false report of child abuse and neglect was filed against us, we believe and have strong evidence to back it up by senior school staff in retaliation for disputes we had with them. In my opinion, the place is not safe for your kids or you. We enrolled mid-year, when our local school was having issues meeting his needs. He has a learning profile that includes ADHD, language processing difficulties, and executive function difficulties. When we interviewed the school, which is billed as particularly suited for a child of his profile, we were very excited about the approach and attention to executive function, and the admissions head similarly felt it would be a great fit for our son. For a school that supposedly focuses on executive function skills, they offered him almost nothing in the way of support there, and made it very difficult for him (and us) to figure out what his assignments even were. There was no consistent place where or how assignments were listed; some were online, some were via emails, and some were given in class. This is a nightmare for someone with executive function difficulties, and only set him up for failure. The school was also slow to implement an assisted listening device, provided by us, that has greatly helped our son in his previous school. We had discussed using the device with CA prior to enrollment and they had agreed in principle. It took them over three months to actually begin using it. One of us is a licensed counselor and former teacher with years of professional expertise and success in helping children with learning profiles similar to our son's. With this expertise, we tried very hard to work with the school on how best to serve our son, and offered specific interventions to help him access the curriculum and get through the day. The school presented considerable resistance and foot-dragging and at one point, the head of the middle school told us that we were no longer welcome to email them. They were not only not interested in the resources we offered, they at times seemed offended by it. Another dispute centered around repeated and inappropriate suggestions from certain staff that we should get medical diagnoses and/or therapy for our son. For our son's privacy, I am not going to discuss the nature of these requests, but we have in fact involved his health care providers in addressing his in-school challenges, and we provided evidence of this in the form of doctor's notes to the staff on multiple occasions. After about the third time these requests were made, we complained to the head of school, who responded very supportively and agreed the staff had been inappropriate. It was two days after this that the false report to DC CFSA was made. The report included the allegation that we "refused" to take our son to the doctor, and other disturbing allegations that were simply made up out of whole cloth. After 35 days the report was ruled Unfounded by DC CFSA, which means a report they consider untrue. Based on the timing and the content of the allegations in the report as communicated to us by the social workers, we believe it's almost a certainly that it was made by one of three people there, two of whom are still there and are fairly senior in the school's administration. We removed him from the school the day the report was filed and home schooled him for the remainder of the year. The school was uncooperative in providing assignments and materials during this time, and was uncooperative in our investigation of who filed the false report. They have also not provided materials needed for applications to other schools, obstructing our efforts to find a new placement for him. Parents considering Commonwealth Academy should be aware that (1) it is not what it claims to be in terms of support for ADHD and executive function, and (2) it apparently employs people who are willing to weaponize Child and Family Services against parents by filing false and malicious reports accusing them of child abuse and neglect.

calvary is a good school overall and Mr Lewis and his wife are amazing people here are my problems…read morewarnings all they do is not give kids ice cream but any kid with a warning can just go to the store and buy some and the teachers are focused towards girls and it is extremely unfair another complaint the bathroom door on one of the doors dosent lock people are extremely uncomfortable in there knowing any kid can open the door on them but the some of the teachers are amazing like Mr Mayer and dr elk too and Mrs Peffer and Mrs Lewis does his best because most pf this things are caused by kids but they still need to be fixed

We just completed our first school year at Calvary (1 son in kindergarten, 1 daughter in preschool…read more3). My son is excelling and I am very pleased with the school and the staff. My youngest daughter will join her older siblings in the fall.

I like this school but it has it's problems, the teachers didn't watch my special education son and…read moresaid. "Come pick up your son he hit his head." They could've prevented it but they didn't. I don't recommend putting your kids in that school. But it has its advantages. Some kids enjoy this school. They have decent lunch, there's a book vending machines or something like that. If you have special education kids I would not recommend, but if you have kids and your nearby Dumfries VA I would recommend. Thank you for taking your time to read this review.

All of our son's past teachers have loved him because he is just a kind, big hearted kid. But no…read moreone has cared about our son the way Dr Kruzynski and Dr Frank have, and it is truly something money can't buy. There are seemingly endless options of schools in this area that you can send your child(ren) to, but very few, if any, will come close to caring about and investing in your kid(s) the way the teachers at Phoenix Nova do! Our son was a year behind after attending another private Christian school in Fairfax, but Dr K and Dr Frank got him up to speed and he passed the CAT for entry into the next grade. Their selflessness and investment in this school and its students is second to none!

This school is the most wonderful, welcoming, warm and supportive environment for any child. The…read moreeducators are experts at child development and behavior. They have a unique approach to connecting each child to the curriculum, maximizing their mastery and command of the information. I never thought my son would have so much success engaging with his schoolwork. They're also incredibly accommodating, facilitating, Speech, and occupational therapy during, before, and after the school day. Aftercare is a lifesaver for working families and there's nowhere my kid would rather be.