We have been at Seneca Academy for 5 years. Both of our kids started in preschool and have…read morecontinued through elementary and we could not be happier with our experience! The staff is absolutely phenomenal. The classes are small so each child gets the attention they need. The kids get lots of outdoor time and because of that they are able to focus better when in the classroom. Dr. Parker, the head of school, is fantastic and we really appriciate her open-door policy. Seneca is such a close-knit community and we are so grateful to be a part of it! Our kids are thriving and love going to school every day. I can't imagine there is a better school out there!

Seneca Academy has serious bullying problems that the administration refuses to address, with kids…read morephysically attacked and verbally abused at school. Very little learning takes place and the principal is aggressive, untruthful, condescending, and belligerent. Almost every student in the class is taught at home or goes to tutoring to make up for the lack of learning at school. There are some good specials teachers including in Spanish and PE but they aren't treated well by the administration. The building and grounds aren't properly cared for with kids coming home with gnats in eyes, ears, and nose, mosquito bites and having to be checked for ticks. The school water has a milky texture and foul taste and the kids refuse to drink it. The school doesn't emphasize phonics and has some of the worst math instruction. It also seems to have perpetual financial problems and low enrollment with only a handful of kids in the class by 5th grade. I have watched the principal exacerbate the low enrollment by driving families away. There are many nice kids and families that we are sad to leave, but the poor leadership, poor main subject teachers, and bullies let the community down. The principal told me how "the school is a village" and then went on a 3-week international vacation while school was in session, during which the school ran much better without her. Our experience was in the elementary school so I can't comment on the pre-k and K situation. I hope Seneca Academy gets new leadership and turns around for the better in the future.

My son, Elgar, spent only six months at Oak Hill, but during that short time we saw tremendous…read moregrowth and improvement in him. Mrs. Key and Mrs. Birehan were an incredible blessing to our family, providing him with patience, encouragement, and support every step of the way. We are also deeply grateful to Mr. Robert and Abigail for being so welcoming, kind, and supportive from the very beginning. They created an environment where our family felt valued and cared for. If it weren't for the unexpected changes in our family's circumstances, we would have gladly allowed Elgar to continue his educational journey at Oak Hill. We will always be thankful for the love, guidance, and positive impact the Oak Hill team had on our son and our family.

LOVE this school! My son transferred to OH from a public school and I must say, he has…read moreexceptionally excelled in his reading, writing, and math capabilities. Not to mention, the staff, the headmaster and his family, are all so incredibly kind and an excellent reflection of core Christian values that I want my son to be influenced by. Ms. Weathers pours her heart into these children and my son adores her! She is incredibly sweet and my son always comes home talking about nothing but positive experiences with this teacher. I recommend this school to all my fellow Christians who want a solid Christian education for their children. They are doing it right here

As a student who went to this school many years ago, it was good at times but when you got to the…read moreteachers it was horrible. Don't get me wrong, some of them were amazing and honestly many of them were awesome but I had a teacher who was racist towards me and who would always treat me badly cause of how far I could achieve academic wise. Also, as far as it was for help with situations I struggled with I never received the help me or other students deserved. During my last year I struggled with bully's and when I asked to speak to anyone with my problems I was always given the same "just talk it out" or "let's have a group discussion with them" which would always cause me to get more hate and at times bullied way more cause I had told a teacher. I get how it could be my fault but at the same time, if I was truly seeking help for other reason like someone to talk to, I would never receive it. Now, during a year in my life I was going through tough times and really struggled with my mental and physical health; I always had the support of friends and some amazing, wonderful teachers. They really brought me happiness in the darkest of days. But when some days I didn't feel like doing my best I would always get scolded and ridiculed. Not to mention when times I would always be left out of fun activities because I struggled with finishing an assignment. Also this teacher would physically hurt me when she would drag me out of places causing my arm or hand to hurt for hours at times. At times this teacher would be incredibly racist towards me because of the color of my skin. She would often say "I must be living a hard life cause of my skin color" and how "Latins usually work in low paying jobs" Now, I live a very normal life with very fortunate parents who can provide way more than I need, and it always hurt me when she would racially treat me different because of my skin. (By the way, I am proud to be a Latin American who takes pride in my heritage and culture) As with that, something that really messed me up was when I couldn't attend my Valentine's Day dance on the last valentines I had at school because, I forgot to make some people valentines. On my part it was my fault I forget them because I didn't have the list of students in my class and that I didn't have many friends in there and hardly knew anyone. but when my supposed "caring" teacher found out she yelled at me and forced me to call my mother in front of the whole class and ask her for valentines (even though my mother was busy working) and when my mother didn't pick up, she told me until she picks up, I wasn't allowed to go to the dance. And when she brought us to the cafeteria for the dance I had to stay away from everyone and not dance, eat any candy or food available for all students, or even say hi to my friends. Then when my mom got me the valentines I should give to the classmates I unfortunately forgot to make, I could only do little in the dance and practically had to leave when it was already over. Now honey, when I tell you I had all my valentines taken from me by the students friends who I forgot to give the valentines to. I was devastated and when I try to tell my teacher she brushed it off like everything I try to talk about. Finally, as I graduated from this school we did many fun activities, but I would constantly get sit out just because I was being to loud or disrupted. (Which I wasn't) And when I was sitting near my friends I would constantly be asked to move cause I can't handle sitting next to "mature students" Now if you plan to send your child here, it's a lovely school with amazing opportunities and great staff and sometimes students. But please, if your child complains of tough times they have here please speak with administration cause they could be going through something that would be awful for their mental health.

We took a tour and something just felt a little off about this place and the teacher who hosted us…read more On the outside they seem a bit too standoffish, but I think it's something deeper. I tried looking at Google reviews but it's turned off for them, which makes me even more suspicious. Just be careful...

Save yourself a lot of heartbreak and choose another school. By the time we realized they weren't…read moreteaching our son he was 3 grade levels behind. It's a school for running around in the woods not for learning.

teachers are great, cafeteria food is good, and the kids are well-behaved. Playground is large,…read moreextracurriculars are fun, and it's very accessible as a school.

I recommend this school to everyone that is looking for a serious and true Montessori program. In…read moreMD any school that claims to be Montessori has to be approved by the state and has to have at least one Montessori-trained teacher. However, I have heard parents complain sending kids to Montessori is a waste of money because it's just a name to sell the school. So, not all state-approved Montessori programs have good quality of education. So being aware not all schools are the same, I toured 3 Montessori schools: Lone Oak, Manor and the Woods Academy. I found the Lone Oak Montessori on AMI website and Woods academy on AMS website. Manor was recommended by other parents and it seems to be a popular choice when it comes to Montessori preschools in Bethesda area. I took my 3-year-old son with me to all the tours and he loved the Woods the best because we were allowed to walk into the classroom and had very brief interactions with the students and teachers, to observe and also play some toys in the classroom while parents were talking to the director, Mrs. Gerber- who is very knowledgeable and experienced about Montessori programs and part of the reason we chose Montessori is because of her expertise and experience. After the tour, my son wanted to go back the next day because the classroom was just so fun and interesting for little kids. My son is happy every day and cannot wait to tell me what he learned in school. The teachers encourage independence, good manners, trying new things/food, healthy snacks, and creativity. They are caring and loving but also very firm when giving instructions. My son learns new things/facts each day and not just merely playing with expensive toys. For instance, he came home one day start singing "The family of the Sun," and talked about all the facts he learned about planets and I was amazed. And three weeks later, he started to learn the sounds of alphabets and try to read! The teacher told me she would advance any student if s/he is ready so there is no need to wait till 4 or 5 to learn how to read. The other pluses but not major factors are- 1) facility, it's a school so it has it's own gym, music/art classrooms, library, and playground. It's very spacious, clean and well-maintained. 2) it has PE, music and art classes once a week for 30 minutes. The school has a very strong art program. 3) faculty and staff are very friendly and they know student by names. I felt that students are given a lot of attention because of its small classroom size. The only downside is the tuition. It is about $2K more than other schools I checked/toured. We've been happy with our choice and would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a good preschool in Bethesda. If you want more information about the Montessori program, check out the blog: http://woodsmontessori.blogspot.com/

This is a very good private school in the Potomac and Bethesda area. I went here for Montessori…read morethrough 8th grade and loved my experience here. There were incredible resources and the teachers were awesome! I definitely recommend looking here for your child.

We had to look for a preschool during the middle of the pandemic and we knew that we wanted a place…read morethat was going to develop not only our son's academic skills, but his social emotional skills as well. Ms. Hana took COVID safety very seriously and took all the measures to make sure that the learning environment was also a safe place as well which was also a top priority for us. It was going to be his first time in a structured school setting so I really appreciated the smaller class size and student to teacher ratio because I felt like he was able to receive a more individualized curriculum and he was met at his academic level. When my son first started, he had very basic knowledge of his letters and sounds, but now we are almost to the end of our first year and he is reading simple sentences. He comes home excited to tell me what he has learned and about all his friends at school! I am so impressed with how much he has learned and grown thanks to Ms. Hana. Although we will be moving on next year to kindergarten, we are so happy that our son was able to get a good foundation for this upcoming school year!

My daughter has been attending Magnet Montessori for past 6 months. (3 years - 3 and Half) Me and…read moremy husband feel its been one of the best decisions we have made so far to enroll her. My daughter has grown so much during her time here into very sweet, talkative, helpful. Ms. Hana plans thoughtful activities for the kids all the time and is a very responsive director. She takes the time to get to know every child very well. I love that this school is smaller which affords the kids more personalized care as well as bring a "family like" feeling between parents, teachers, and children. My most favorite part is, I really enjoy receiving a art works, worksheets, home report and occasional pictures of my child. We have been very happy at MMPS. It is a gem of a school within affluent North Potomac/Rockville with still very reasonable rates relative to other preschool.