Our oldest started at JBS three years ago in the primary class. Within a few short weeks we noticed a positive change, while he was constantly learning new things! Fast forward to today, he is in first grade and our youngest is in the primary class at JBS. Both are flourishing! Both come home excited to share what they have learned and have made friends along the way. We are grateful for JBS and the commitment they have to fostering curiosity and independence in our kids. read more

We currently have two children enrolled in JB - Laurel and have nothing but wonderful things to say. The teachers and environment are warm, caring, and dedicated, and our children are thriving off of the consistency and true montessori model. We are thankful we found somewhere reliable and safe and wish we had found them sooner. read more

Our overall experience at JBS-Laurel has been a positive one. Our child thrives academically with the lessons that are implemented and has built a wonderful social network /community. read more

Julia Brown School in Laurel is an institution that deserves nothing but praise. The staff is exceptional from top to bottom, beginning with the Director, Ms. Moller. The school is exceptionally clean, respectful, and has a wonderful family-like atmosphere. Ms. Moller is extremely welcoming and knows each student by name. Her staff is extremely invested in the education of each and every student. They support and steer the kids in the right direction while allowing and encouraging self-growth so they can discover and understand who they are. They also do a fantastic job of being inclusive, giving every child a voice, teaching them to be respectful, and preparing them to make responsible decisions throughout the day. Thanks to a rigorous curriculum that they follow every day, your child will be ahead of the curve in most academic areas. For instance, my daughter teaches me new words every day and is always eager to tell me about her Latin language studies when she gets home. Overall, the price is worth the admission. If you want your child to excel and thrive independently without having to worry about being lost in a large school system, Julia Brown is the school for you. read more

My son has attended the Julia Brown School in the full time program in Laurel since he was 3 years old (now 4) and he loves it. He has made many friends there and enjoys the school, he thrives on the structure and routine. This school has been around for 50 years and it is a wonderful place for young children to learn and grow. He comes home singing songs and has developed a healthy level of autonomy. He is very happy to go to school every morning which is wonderful to witness as a parent. I have been very pleased with the program and the administration, they are always available to address any of my concerns, they are organized and put the children first. We love the Montessori approach and are very happy with Julia Brown as are many of my son's friends who attend. read more

Please do not consider ANY of the Julia Brown schools for your child or children. Read all of the negative reviews on greatschools.org website and you will enlighten yourself and know exactly what not to subject yourselves and children too. Unfortunately, we did not do our own homework and I am saddened by it. At JBMS they operate under THEIR OWN Montessori principles, not the Montessori principles by definition. JBMS administration and staff are cynical and cult like. As a parent you are not allowed to talk to them about anything without retaliation. They simply do not want to hear your feedback or concerns. They train their staff to operate this way. They have a very high turnover of staff at every level. As evidenced by their inadequate staff to student ratio. On a daily basis we observed our child and other children in the classrooms with 1 teacher that had up to 15-20+ children ages 2-5+. There is absolutely no way any children can earn a gainful experience and learn like that. Though it is open learning, their must be instruction and 1 person cannot attend to that number of children. The teachers that have been there a long time are not to be honored, but ones to be weary of. Their verbal tones towards the young children are mean. It is not a happy environment at all. My 3 year old could tell me he didn't like 3 teachers in particular. 2 of which they recently fired. Those 2 teachers, I observed their demeanor as ones that were not fit to work with children. The other one is stern at all times and mean even in front of you towards the children. They are forced to hire the worst because they are the worst. These people are driven by financial gain only. They are threatened by parents that are observant and vocal when it is required. As a parent at JBMS your are expected to drop off and pick up your children with blindfolds. The teachers stand at the window in the classroom or at the gate when children are outside playing watching for parents. They make your child put on their coats in the classroom before you even get out of the car, or they'll call them to the gate while you're still in the car. There is no consideration for the instance where you may pull up, but may not be ready to jump out immediately. What about supervising the children. Why is the emphasis on getting rid of them. I want my child to be supervised and or engaged. Not sitting with a coat on and anxious or standing at the gate watching me in my car. As I said, any concern you express is shunned upon. As a result my child will no longer be subjected to this poor definition of an early learning experience. Thank God we will no longer subject our child to this. God works in mysterious ways and I will never second guess his will!!! Thank you. read more

My son and daughter both go to Julia Brown-Olney. I must admit I could not be happier. All the teachers have a great open door policy and so does the directress. For example my daughter who is having a hard time potty training kept having accidents during nap time, I called the school and asked them to wake her up mid-way through nap time to pee to see if that helps and guess what- they were happy to do so and she had fewer accidents. My son is more of the shy kid but seems to be into everything-he loves the school, he loves how they teach and how he can go to different areas to learn "his way." My kids are not there for the summer and when I called to ask a few questions about the school year the directress had no problems answering all my questions and is always very sweet. I love that they are in uniforms and they do have a close knit group, they offer summer camp or you can just do the school part which is 10 months (September-June). My son will start the Kindergarten program in September and when we finished up the school year last year we met with both his and my daughters teachers and they gave us the report cards and for my son said that we can come visit a Kindergarten class before the school year starts, they also have no problems with you stopping by and watching the kids and offer several times throughout the year to actually sit in the class and watch your child do work and then meet with the teachers. At Olney the class sizes are not too big they are perfect and the mixed ages is actually really nice, the older kids are very helpful with the younger kids. I have never had any of the staff not be willing to help or have a problem with any questions I ask or not being helpful. If education is what you are looking for especially with shy kids or kids that have a hard time sitting still it is a great place for them. They adapt to the kids personality and even if my daughter who was 2 at the time had a hard time napping they had no problem rubbing her back. The only "cons" I have are these: They no longer offer lunch so you have to pack lunch everyday, they do not go on any field trips (although 1st-3rd graders have something that comes to the school as I understand, the playground is outdated and there is no PE for the older kids, nor any after school activity options. They do not do many events where you can get to know other parents and families. They are not big on sending juice boxes for lunch. They do not have a "bridge" program or work with other schools to send your kids after 3rd grade (which would be nice). All in all we are happy so far and plan on leaving the kids their until 3rd grade. read more

I would give negative Stars if I could. This school is like a Cult. My son had been in Montessori since he was 1 and it was a wonderful experience of critical self learning and adaptation. He was 3 when he attended the Julia Brown school. Parents are discouraged from seeing the children, and everything is closed door. The owners daughter and the director are very cold and militaristic. They run the Montessori as a boot camp! Not at all like traditional free flow learning. This is my fourth child of whom all have been in Montessori in GA, DE and MD. Stay away!!!!! read more

My son attended from 2.5 - 3 years of age and participated in both the academic and day care portions through 2018. We would've stayed if we could. Ms. Möller is wonderfully patient, helpful, supportives, knowledgeable, and professional to orient families to what they would gain from being part of the JBS group. After visiting three places, I found JBS to be a great school. JBS fosters an independent learning environment where children can independently grow and develop their skills, while learning and gaining comfort in having a consistent structure they are part of. We found it equally helpful that the daycare portion of his day gave him the time to socialize with his classmates in their activities. If a parent is looking for primarily a social environment, JBS may not be the best fit for a child that ONLY attends the academic session. It is a great place for a child to gradually ease into a social setting while having opportunities to focus on just their own self. Overall, I'm impressed and happy with the skills my son came home with, the friends he made, and the teachers he loved. I appreciate the effort every teacher invests to learn all kids' names even if they're not their student. I wish that we lived closer to the school!! read more