We had a great experience! The teachers are warm and attentive, and we really appreciate how often…read morethey send emails and photos - it meant a lot to feel that connected to our daughter. The curriculum clearly works! Our daughter is more than ready for kindergarten. She's already reading and working through math problems, and she runs in happy every morning. Highly recommend.

As a father with a strong demeanor regarding education, I could not be happier with BMS. Now,…read morelet's be honest, your child and mine will not finish pre-school as a rocket scientist. However, he or she will learn basic math, use of a computer, a little French, self-awareness & independence, and start learning how to read and write. In fact, by age 4 most students can legibly write their name and count to 50+. This is only possible due to the loving and nurturing way each teacher engages with each student to build a desire to learn. I can't ask for anything better! My daughter is currently finishing her second year and will return to finish out her 3rd year (Kindergarten). I also intend to send my son once he is old enough for pre-school. Also, the after school care is run by an incredible group of educators that have a tender heart for children, and the school provides "extra classes" ranging from soccor to martial arts to dance and yoga.

We absolutely adore this little preschool. It is a wonderful neighborhood community with amazing…read moreloving and caring teachers, exactly what you would want from a 2-4 YO program!

Constantly closed for the faintest COVID exposure. Think our kids were out of class more than in…read moreit, of course no make up classes or refunds. They see a teacher in passing, wearing a mask, outdoors, for a few minutes and the kids are home two weeks and they want them in front of a screen instead of in person. No attempt to balance the benefits of in person learning and socialization against the truly minimal risk (according to leading scientific research) to children. We pulled ours out, would be a fool to go here. On the other hand, if you want to cower in a basement and wrap your kids in bubble wrap for years while everyone else goes about their normal life this is a great school for you.

we have had our daughter here since the school opened. We love being able to drop her off at 7 AM…read moreand know she is safe throughout the day. It's such a clean school having just opened less than two years ago and the team seems to guide the kids to such good rules for living. She is only 18 months but is such a good little helper at the house. We love that she has had an awesome sleep schedule since starting. She also has not gotten sick much from School, which seems to be the thing parents worry about the most.

I have both of my kids at Guidepost Bradley Hills right now - one in the infant class and one in…read morethe 3-6 class - and we've had a really great experience overall. There was some staff turnover in my older child's classroom last school year that wasn't ideal, but the current team is fantastic and seems really committed for the long haul. The teachers are caring and attentive, and it's amazing to see how much progress both kids are making, especially when I compare to peers at other schools. My 3y/o is writing words already(!), and my infant is getting way more attention and support through bottle-feeding transition, crawling, teething, etc. than we ever got at my eldest's first school. 7a-6p hours are great for us (both working parents), and above all, both of our kids are happy and genuinely thriving here. As a parent that's all I can really ask for.

I put my daughter on the wait list when I was 12 weeks pregnant. They had a spot for us 5 days…read moreafter she was born (timed well with a new room opening). My husband worked at the hospital so that increased our priority level. My daughter has gone from infant (age 0) to pre-toddler (age 1) to now a toddler classroom (age2). I have enjoyed all of her teachers and I feel they all truly care about her well-being. When my daughter was delayed in learning to crawl/walk, the staff was happy to practice the exercises from her physical therapists. Her pre-toddler teacher was able to make my daughter try things in order to get her out of her comfort zone. All classrooms give a daily handout of what your child eats, potty habits, how well she naps, etc. You will not receive daily photos on email as I've heard from other child cares. We have had pretty consistent teachers throughout nearly 2.5 years. If you're military, DoD, or a civilian employee with base access, you should strongly consider NSAB/CDC. The hours are changing from 5am to 7pm as of February 27. Overall I am very happy and I feel 100% comfortable leaving my daughter here.

I am a nurse case manager at WRNMMC, and my daughter (now 3) attends the CDC. I put her on the…read morewaiting list when she was a twenty week fetus, but she was unable to secure a spot until she was 18 months old. I am a contractor, so my priority was at the bottom of the list even though my husband was active duty at the time (he was stationed at Andrews AFB). With that being said, I have been very happy with the care that my daughter has received. She has always had loving providers that seem genuinely interested in her happiness and safety. Yes, the documentation for every fall, bite and bumped head is a little over the top, but I would much prefer that than having no communication at all. What I love about the CDC is that there is constant provider accountability. Your child will never be alone with any provider, there will always be a second provider in the room even if your child is the only one there. There are cameras EVERYWHERE! No one can come or go without an ID check. Even if you've been going to the CDC for 5 years and know everyone on a 1st name basis, they will still require that you show your ID before you can pass the front desk. I am a huge fan of security and accountability, and would never utilize a home daycare. I have a coworker (medical professional) who's child was being beaten in a home daycare setting for quite some time before an employee of the home daycare reported the abuse that she witnessed. It was so bad that it became a criminal case that was prosecuted by the state. The price of the care is unbeatable. I know people that are paying close to $2000 a month for daycare. I pay the max amount, which is about $670 a month. I get regular teacher conferences, review of milestone, recommendations, behavior updates etc. I have loved the teachers and providers that have taken care of my daughter. She had a teacher with a Masters in early childhood development who was incredibly creative with the lesson plans for the kids. I could go on and on about the love that has been poured on my child at that CDC. I will admit that my kid is fairly easy and one of those kids that is easy to love. However, she has had classmates that are disruptive and what I would consider difficult children. I've watched the way those kids were handled, and I've been impressed. The current director for the CDC is named Allison (I'm blanking on her last name). She is phenomenal. She is available, involved and knows all of the kids by name. I can't say enough about the service she has provided me and my child.

The River School is an incredible place that has been life-changing for our family. After our…read moreyoungest son was diagnosed with hearing loss at 2.5 years, we found The River School. That diagnosis lead to an incredible path of support, communication, therapy, learning, and tutoring through The River School for the past 6 years. The River School is an inclusive, diverse, welcoming, empathetic and loving environment for our sons. Our older son joined the school the next year and stayed through 5th grade. We were impressed with how he embraced a love for learning, developed confidence across all subjects, and benefited from the incredible social-emotional support that is embedded throughout the school's culture. Every teaching team has provided unique insights into our sons' learning styles and supported their very different personalities and learning styles. Outplacement after 5th was great. We highly recommend The River School and are so grateful for all the teachers, staff, doctors and administrators that make The River School possible and work each day to make sure all the students are thriving.

Can't say enough positive things about this school. We've seen our son Jackson blossom into a…read moreconfident, intelligent, articulate, and eager to learn young boy. He started as a "turtle" at 18 months and just finished the "alligator" class at age 4. He loves going to school every day and we continue to be impressed by how much he learns. What this school offers for not only kids with hearing loss but typically hearing peers is very unique and we've had a difficult time finding a school like this anywhere else in the country. We located from Colorado for this school when our son was born profoundly deaf and received cochlear implants at age 1. Our son has constant access to sound with the support from The River School. He gets listening checks daily and with audiology on site if we ever have a problem it gets addressed right away. There is a master's level speech language pathologist in each class. You would never know my son was born with a profound hearing loss because his speech and hearing are better than most kids his age. Thanks to the support of the River School, I never have to worry about my son's hearing loss limiting him in life.

Our son attended Bambini Mt Vernon from 6 months to 2 years old, and we couldn't have asked for a…read morebetter experience. His teachers were incredibly loving, empathetic, and attentive. They built such a strong bond with him and supported his development in so many ways during his time at Bambini. He genuinely loved going to school. He would run into his classroom every morning excited to see his "amigos" and come home happy every afternoon. The combination of daily skill-building, music classes, physical activities, and age-appropriate programming was a wonderful fit for him and helped him grow by leaps and bounds. The catering program was also incredibly helpful for busy parents. We also really appreciated how responsive and attentive the administrators are. They created a warm, welcoming community and were always communicative and helpful. We would have stayed at Bambini indefinitely if we hadn't moved much farther away, and leaving was genuinely bittersweet. We miss the teachers, community, and overall environment immensely -- especially now that we've experienced another daycare. We can't recommend Bambini Mt Vernon highly enough to families looking for a nurturing, engaging, and developmentally supportive place for their child!

I can't say enough good things about this CommuniKids location. My kid attended Pre-K 3 and many…read moresummer camp sessions here. We experienced a place that had such kind, skillful, and thoughtful educators. They provided enriching activities and a welcoming atmosphere. The staff always did a great job communicating and sharing what was happening in the classroom. The center director Audy is wonderful. I loved the summer camp had a different country's theme each week and matching lessons. The staff made this school feel like a community. The other parents I talked to felt the same gratitude and appreciation I did for the teachers and staff at CommuniKids. We swap stories of different ways this staff at this school went above and beyond for our kids. I always felt my child was safe, loved, and learning from highly capable educators. I have written a lot of Yelp reviews over the last ten years, but this is one of the most special and important ones to me.

We have been at communikids for 1 year; for my 18 month old and 3 yr old…read more As a mulitilingual family, I first sought out Communikids because of the language immersion and the location. However, now that we have been at Communikids for 1 year, my favorite aspects of this school are 1- the affection/attention from teachers and staff and 2- how orderly and well-organized they are. (I still love the language immersion and location though!). We will also do summer camp, my 3 yr old is in the PKEEP free pre K3 program, and all these different elements are well-coordinated. Thanks, Communikids!

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.

Amazing school with amazing teachers. They care and love for your child! Wonderful start for any…read moreyoung child!