One of the best public schools in the country! Proud to have sent my daughter here. Amazing…read moreacademics, culture, diversity, and sports!

An amazing schoool that produces some of the Washington DC areas finest students, proud to have…read moresent my kids here !

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.

The teachers here are great - and they are the reason why the school is as good as it is. But…read moreeverything starts at the top and the Head of School not only has no background in education or business but is not held accountable by the Board for all her massive, messy errors. She hires like minded people that are just nasty. Turnover in the administration is shockingly high; and sadly it's the good people that leave. Something like 7 people quit this year? And it's a small team. If management could be replaced with someone who enjoys the job, and parents and children, this school would be top in area.

As an English-speaking parent of a child that has been at Rochambeau since she was three years old,…read moreI am extremely happy with how my child has grown over the years with her knowledge of French, English, and now Spanish. She is also someone who, given the extremely diverse community at Rochambeau (now, I believe over 80 nationalities represented!) is comfortable and informed about the world! No school is perfect--I know of highly rated private schools in the DC area where students struggled with math and parents were paying upwards of $45k a year! Communication is a struggle at times with the administration--but they have listened from American parents and have grown tremendously, for instance now making sure all parent/family programs are in English and French. Rochambeau is an amazing global education with incredibly dedicated teachers at a reasonable price point. I highly recommend it to parents looking for a school that invests in the children and an international education!

Parents beware! The bullying at this school is unbelievable…read more I have a bright, but shy and artistic daughter. From the start, she had a hard time fitting in as the majority of the student body seems to be comprised of typical vanilla teenage girls with hard opinions about what's acceptable and few hobbies outside of sports, mainstream fashion and dating. Two girls targeted her, picked on her daily and nearly drove my daughter to suicide. Teachers ignored the problem even when these problem students physically and verbally assaulted my daughter in front of her classmates. Some even went so far as to blame my daughter for the disruptions the bullies were causing while hurting her. The bullies were never punished due to the donor status of their wealthy parents and it was an easy decision to transfer my daughter out of that vipers nest. A sisterhood Stone Ridge is not. It's a place where only the rich and privileged thrive, protected from consequences by the administration. I've safely transferred my daughter to a better school where she's finally happy, but parents be warned. This school tolerates and encourages bullying.

Overall, a truly excellent educational institution. I attended all four years of high school, and…read morecan confirm that the upper school has rigorous and intellectually stimulating academics, competitive arts and athletics programs, and well-educated teachers who are largely engaged with the students and who clearly care about what they teach. The school is rich with opportunities for volunteering and community engagement, and even short programs abroad. I formed close relationships with teachers there, and am still in contact with some of them. I absolutely would not have the skills I have today without Stone Ridge, and I wouldn't trade my education there for anything. I do, however, have a couple of reservations that keep me from giving the school five stars; the downside of the educational rigor is that the place can be a real pressure cooker, and I knew lots of students who suffered from mental health issues like anxiety, depression, and eating disorders during my time there. It is worth noting that I came of age during the Covid-19 pandemic and during a time with unprecedented access to the rest of the world through social media, which undoubtedly affected these numbers; but the observation is perhaps still worth taking into account if your student is especially susceptible to mental illness. While I was there, the upper school was staffed with two well-qualified and empathetic counselors, but it seemed to me that (through no fault of their own) they were floundering, doing damage control rather than prevention in an environment that placed enormous weight on academic and extracurricular achievement. Socially, SR was a toss-up; in my experience, most students eventually found tight-knit, supportive groups of friends, but this could be more difficult if you were one of the kids who "stuck out" more than the others. For all its attention to ensuring diversity and inclusion (and to its credit, it is clear that the school has and continues to make an effort to grow in this area), Stone Ridge is still a PWI, and the social scene favors extraverted young women with shared tastes in fashion and extracurriculars, whose families are often (though not always) upper-class. This isn't to suggest that these girls deliberately ostracize their peers-- in fact, I found that most of them were quite kind-- but that, maybe unsurprisingly, sticking to conventional social scripts tends to lend itself to popularity more easily than difference. The admin also skews more conservative than much of the student body and faculty, which can lead to some grumbling when one wonders if the school is prioritizing the feelings of a handful of parents and donors more than the teachers' and students'. However, I believe that the school has made huge strides over the past few years, and I hope the progress will continue. Having said all this, my experience there was (to apply a perhaps overused term) life-changing, and I look back on much of my time there (Covid excepted) quite fondly. I remember the Five Goals of Sacred Heart education, and I keep my class ring carefully cushioned in its little box. As a Stone Ridge girl, I was challenged academically and morally, and I genuinely feel that in many ways the school taught me to think for myself. Stone Ridge is not perfect, but I have yet to encounter its equal. Go gators!

absolutely horrible school. the teachers are not qualified, not able to properly deliver…read moreinformation. they keep complaining the parents about children's low results trying to shift their own responsibility. constantly begging for donations in add to tuition fee increases every year. strict dress code, the girls are not allowed to wear tights in winter but teachers can wear pijamas. shame to this school

Absolutely horrible experience. Waste of money. For this…read morehuge amount of money children are not even taught handwriting or good behaving but they are educated how to sue their own parents. Poor girls are not allowed to wear warm tights in winter, instead they have to go with bare legs when it's freezing cold. Is that normal? Teachers wear pijamas, that's ok, but little girls can't wear tights? Why the child isn't allowed to bring even warm tea for lunch? Ice water is ok but warm tea is not, in winter? The teachers have very poor level of behaving and education (mostly online). Constantly collecting money in something else. Don't send your child there!

My kids don't actually go to the school, but I walk by this property pretty much every day on my…read moreway to work. The staff seemed like they are on top of it, and the kids always seem like they're having lots of fun! Just wanted to shout out a local school!

My 3.5-year-old twins have been attending BCDS in the past 18 months, and it has been a blast! The…read moreprincipal and teachers are very loving, caring and full of energy, especially Ms Bionca, Ms Suzy, Ms Lorena, Ms Nicole, Ms Isabella, Ms Briona and many more! They took so much care of my girls, always ready to share about statuses, progress, issues, and tips/guidance with parents! Originally we selected the school because it was just walking distance from home, but then we realized how convenient it is. it offers nutritious breakfast, lunch and snacka, have before and after care, and never close (except federal holidays)! that's critical for busy working parents! My girls loved their teachers so much and a lot of enrichment programs offered in school so we don't have to send them elsewhere to take dance, Karate, or soccer! lots of holiday events and even swimming/water fun during the summer! High recommend to all!

When I lived in Bethesda when my son was 3 years old, I toured Harbor School along with 40 other…read moreBethesda area schools (that's not a typo, actually 40), and Harbor school was my favorite of the 40 for early childhood education. I have 17 years of experience as a recruiter (mainly Microsoft, now Nike) and am honed in evaluating talent -- with schools, checking everything out, the student art on the walls, how the kids look, how the teachers interact with the children, how the environment feels, all of it. Harbor School is a special place in that the teachers are really exceptional -- exceptional care for the students, expertise, there's a healthy genuine feel to the school, the students look good. It's not a fancy hyper modern place, but note that it also doesn't come with a fancy hyper modern 40k tuition price tag. The school is real, and I think a gem. Sadly for us, we moved too far away from it, in Middleburg VA now. Our 6 year old is a bit school avoiding and so I recently called up Harbor School, where our dear friends with a 6yr old and 3 yr old attend, and I asked Andrea if she would be willing to tour me and my son again, let him be in the classroom of his best friend, let him see how his younger friend, the 3 year old, is also in school. She was gracious in allowing it, I spent a beautiful 15 minutes in the pre-k class, 2 students productive and engaged at each station. The 2 teachers were lovely, on the ball, inclusive to my son, it was just a wonderful visit. One of the teachers with 27 years of experience at the school. We got to see the art room, music room, the maker room with loads of hands-on crafts, and we spent 15 minutes outside at the playground in the back -- lovely space. You could pay more for a school, and help fund facilities that go with it, but common sense would advise checking out this lovely school that has keen focus on what matters most: recruitment of wonderful staff. I also valued the small teacher to student ratio I saw, which set the whole thing up for success. In terms of kindness/sensitivity/expert knowledge at the younger years, I'm definitely impressed with Harbor School. End of day, I think a young child benefits most from being surrounded by excellent compassionate teachers vs a shiny perfect gym that some schools with higher tuition offer. Apparently Harbor School is moving in a year, but I think this is a school that would be worth chasing after wherever nearby they relocate to. Being at Harbor School again yesterday I literally contemplated could we reasonably do the drive from Middleburg...sigh. But for Bethesda area parents you're in a lucky situation feels like to me, wherever they move, because they are taking their teachers and philosophy and humane student:teacher ratio with them.

A wonderful, caring school. It's a great foundation for young learners. The teachers are very…read moreexperienced, caring and kind. Students are embraced. Each child gets a lot of individual attention. They feel accepted and comfortable, so they truly learn and form meaningful relationships. The student-teacher ratio is amazing and makes such a big difference. They are up to date on growth mindset, mindfulness, hands on learning, flexible classroom space and sitting options, inquiry based learning, use of technology, etc. It's a traditional school with an innovative learning program. It has structure, but it is personalized and flexible to accomodate each student. We are in our final year at the Harbor School and very sad to be leaving this wonderful place.

"Mama, why do they have stay at home days?", my son, a kindergartner at the WWS asked me. In his…read moreopinion, eliminating stay at home days is the only improvement his school needs. I could not agree more, but I'd still have stay at home days for my own selfish reasons. Here is a sample conversation at the end of a typical day: Me: What did you do today? My son: Played, played, and played. Me: What did you learn today? My son: Nothing. But I love my teacher so much. Me: Why do you love your teacher so? My son: She rakes with me. For you folks who are unfamiliar with Waldorf schools, ask to check out books on Waldorf pedagogy at the school library, turn off the TV, and buy your kid a leaf rake next time he asks for a new toy. For my savvy readers, WWS is a fantastic community of likeminded individuals who will make your kid's childhood and adolescent years an epic experience of play, work, love and passion. Stay at home days are overrated anyway: school days are so much cooler! Cheers!

Our daughter has thrived at the Washington Waldorf School since joining the first grade in the Fall…read moreof 2020. The educational experience offered by WWS has nurtured all aspects of our daughter's life and personality. The emphasis that WWS places on skills beyond basic reading, writing and arithmetic has been critical to her growth as a person and increased confidence in herself and abilities (both mental and physical). The basic curriculum is certainly taught - and taught well - but the use of movement, arts and crafts, music, and outdoor activities to teach and enrich has made all the difference. WWS's guiding principle is the education of the whole person; as our daughter experiences the highs and lows of life, we feel this will serve her well. We are excited to watch our daughter's progress as she continues her education at WWS.

Our child has been through the County school system and finishing off here. Overall experience has…read morebeen good.

Voting Poll Place Review:…read more I've been here twice to cast my votes & the Volunteers are friendly & helpful. Now, with the exception of the students lending a hand of almost nothing (one didn't know the street that was facing the exit & the other didn't know how to exit to the parking lot), hope they are getting good grades nonetheless. Upon entering there were a few group of campaign workers who respected people's space & not force any persuasion. The signage made it easy to get to the polling place that was located in the Gymnasium, check in & cast your ballot. Thanks to the Volunteers for making the Voters comfortable while casting their votes. This polling location was open to 7PM.