It's an incredible school and definitely the best one I've ever gone too I'm lucky to be here.read more

Our son is a rising senior at HGS and we couldn't be happier with the education he has received…read morethere. The teachers are truly exceptional and the Head of School does a fantastic job of leading the school in accomplishing its mission. Erick has always been a joy to work with and I've never met an educator so dedicated to supporting our son's success. (Our son just took a week-long "Maymester" course on game theory with him and LOVED it). If you're looking for a school where your child's talents will be nurtured, values will be shaped, independence will be fostered, and community-engaged citizenship will be encouraged, look no further - HGS is the best school around. At HGS, your child will get honest feedback on their work and will gain the confidence needed to be successful both in and out of the classroom beyond high school. (If you have an artistic child, don't be put off by the lack of art classes. Through internships, "Maymester" classes, and electives, our son has been able to develop a solid portfolio to use in applying for film schools next year). If you're considering HGS but aren't sure if it's the right fit for your child, tour the school and see what you think. Erick and Lizzy (Admissions) can connect you with parents who can talk to you about their experiences. Tell them you'd like to talk to the mom of the rising senior who's planning to go to film school - they'll know who you're talking about and will give you my contact info. Happy to talk with you about how fantastic HGS is! :) Kim

I had a bad experience with this school. My childs teacher was great but the lady who manages the…read moreschool is horrible. I believe her last name is Usher. She has no respect or education for parents. Last time, she kept questioning a parent and I saw him yelled at him. My child has been bullied and nothing has been done. It is still the same thing. I am glad my child is not coming to this school anymore after it ends in June 2024. I will transfer or move my child to another elementary school. I hope FCPS can do something because its unfair for parents and kids.

My son has attended Kindergarten at this school and I have had no problems. His teacher, Ms…read more Angowski is everything I could have wanted for my child's first year in public school. I am consistently updated about my son's progress in school and reassured about any concerns or issues. The student body is eclectic and classroom size is fair (he has 16 classmates but two teachers). I attended this school myself from grades 2 through 5 and had a great experience. Highly Recommended.

We have three children attending WME. The teaching staff is great, with a few exceptions. Two of…read moreour teachers were wonderful, winning over the hearts of our children. The third was pretty mediocre. Nice enough guy, just lousy at his job. The kids do not have textbooks. Instead, they paste photocopies into notebooks. They never have homework, which allows the students without parental support at home to compete on an even playing field. Of course, most educated parents make up home study exercises to supplement the substandard education they receive at WME. If you're a crack head, however, you can neglect your child's education and they should continue to progress at a snail's pace with the rest of the class. The school building is too small. Most classes are housed in trailers. Though the school is nestled among the neighborhoods of $700k+ homes, most of the children are bussed in from high-density low-income housing along the route 1 corridor. Very few parents speak English. The middle class families living in the homes surrounding the school do not send their kids to public school. They have been effectively forced out by an educational system which prioritizes teaching immigrant children to speak English over providing an adequate education to the American establishment. If kids are Asian or Caucasian, they're not just the minority--they're the anomaly. Many optimistic parents love the Spanish immersion program which gives the school a progressive excuse to lecture the majority of the students in their native language. Personally, I didn't buy a home in Tijuana; I bought a home in Alexandria, and expect more. Our kids learned virtually nothing last year, even with the teachers who cared.

So far so good from what I've seen. Kindergarden...read more

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.

We loved our daughter's time in the infant room at Bluebird II. I was nervous about leaving her at…read morea daycare when I went back to work, but Bluebird turned out to be so wonderful. Ms. Tuba and Ms. Sonia took excellent care of her, along with all of the infant room teachers. Bluebird is clean, bright, safe, and all of the children there seemed so happy. There also didn't seem to be much teacher turnover, so the children form positive relationships with the staff. It's a low-tech day care, so you won't receive daily emails and pictures, which was fine for us. The teachers are hard working and our daughter was well taken care of and loved every day. We were so sad to leave when we moved to Maryland. Highly recommend!

As DOD Civilians my husband and i were in a bad spot in trying to find a daycare for our 18-month…read moreson within 5 days of arrival from Germany. I happened to walk past BBA II and just walked in to see if they had an opening (all other daycares were booked for months and very much out of our budget). The owner Susan was there that day and was very courteous, she showed me around the entire daycare and very patiently answered all my questions. She stated that she had openings available due to BBA II having larger class sizes. Initially, that did concern me since my son had only been in CDC with class sizes of less than 15; however, he adapted very well to his first class of ~22 kids (with the appropriate number of teachers/aides). BBA II provides diapers, wipes (from COSTCO), and (not the best) food. I just had to bring a bedroll for his naps. Also during warmer weathers, parents are asked to provide sunscreen and appropriate headgear since the teachers take the kids out on nature walks. The teachers have been great- especially in his 2 1/2-3 year class with Ms. Yilliam. For Holiday 2018 my husband and I put together gift baskets for each of the two aides and one teacher to show our appreciation- our son talks about the teachers as if they are his second parents! The prices are low- especially for a daycare located in Old Towne Alexandria, on popular Duke Street, and a walk away from King St. Metro. There is a daycare in my residential neighborhood that is smaller and more prestigious, we had considered them since they also had an opening and it was one block away from our house, however, they charge about $1,750/month and parents were required to provide diapers and wipes. At the time of his enrollment ~21 months ago, BBA II charged ~$1200+/mo for non-potty trained kiddos (I think more for infants); this cost lowers as soon as your child is potty-trained (which the teachers really help a lot with). My son is currently 3 years old and enjoys it here. He has learned some light Spanish (colours, alphabet, and numbers), has excellent manners (taught at home but reinforced at school), brings home art projects everyday that we have proudly hung up in our house and given as gifts, has began to learn to spell starter words, understands traffic signs... overall this school has been great for my family and my son. The ONLY negative comment I have is in regards to the food and snacks the school provides. Nothing is fresh, nothing is notably nutritious. All food appears to be canned (highly processed and filled with sodium). I wish, instead of canned peaches or crackers as a snack, they would actually provide fresh cut fruits or hummus with carrot sticks (for example); typical lunches consist of an entree of sloppy joe sandwiches, pre-made meals of chicken nuggets/chicken patties with ketchup, or canned chicken and rice soups (to name a few meals), accompanied with diced canned fruit, or applesauce; typical breakfasts consist of little pre-frozen bagels with butter/jelly, biscuits with jelly, or cheerios without milk (?)...

Choosing a preschool for our child was very hard, especially coming from overseas. Today we are…read morevery happy with our choice of Full Circle Montessori School. The teachers and staff have consistently exceeded our expectations in making our child adjust to the new environment and making learning fun and engaging. Adjustment time was needed (very sensitive child)to fit into a new environment. But with a welcoming and comforting environment, our child adjusted to school very well. Also, with the thoughtfully designed curriculum that promotes both academic readiness and essential social-emotional skills, our child is very excited about going to school every day now. Communication with parents is superb; the scheduled updates and photos make us feel connected and informed about her activities. The facility itself is bright, clean, and safe, offering a wonderful space for the children to explore and play. We highly recommend Full Circle Montessori School for families seeking a positive, enriching, and high-quality early childhood education experience.

We started our son in public school for kindergarten, but halfway through the year, we became…read moreunhappy with the experience and began looking into other options. The lack of communication, heavy screen time, and the way our son was feeling about himself made it clear that we needed a change. He would often come home saying he was a "bad kid" because he kept getting in trouble at school, which was hard to hear as a parent. Switching to Full Circle Montessori has been one of the best decisions we've made for our family. The difference in our son was noticeable within a few weeks. He's much more regulated coming home from school, and we've seen a noticeable boost in his self-confidence. One of the first things he told us after starting at Full Circle was how nice the teachers are he said they actually talk to him instead of yelling. That shift alone was huge for him, and for us. Academically, he was at the top of his class in public school, but that often led to boredom. Since he wasn't being challenged, he would try to socialize, which would get him in trouble. At Full Circle, he learns at his own pace with a hands-on approach that keeps him curious and engaged. If you have a child who isn't thriving in a traditional school setting or struggles with the sit-still-all-day model, we can't recommend Full Circle Montessori enough. It's been a truly positive and empowering experience for our son and for us as parents.

LRDS is the best! The teachers do a great job preparing the children for Kindergarten while still…read morefostering a fun, safe environment for all. My child rarely came home sick and didn't pick up any bad habits during the 2 years she spent at little river day school. All of the teachers are caring and patient with the kids and, most importantly, the director Ms. Sue is always around and making sure everything is going as it should and responding to/communicating with parents with the utmost respect and professionalism.

Out tot has been at LRDS for almost two months. I cannot thank them enough for their patience and…read morekindness with our little one - not because he's misbehaved or difficult but because he was new and really struggled upon arrival to settle in. There were lots of tears from both tot and mom but the people at LRDS were so patient and attentive. Now, he walks in and almost doesn't say goodbye. He's excited to go and he's definitely ready to leave at the end of the day. They have exhausted him, taught him and fed him until you can say, "no more." My child has picked up so many new words and is learning so well his letter, shapes, and colors. It gives me such joy to see him learning ms actually enjoying the process. I am grateful for the attentiveness of all the workers. Because while each teacher has her class, my sons name is known to all which gives me such confidence to know that they know him and he knows them. I don't worry about his care or safety because the building is secured and there is always a watchful eye at the door. Thank you, LRDS for welcoming us into the family!!

Our son started at CIS in August 2024 after our VERY beloved in-home daycare closed. He was 3 at…read morethe time and we knew the adjustment would be tricky. We visited several full-time preschools in the area, with location/convenience of drop-off/pick-up being a top priority for us. CIS was the only one we visited without a personal reference, and we were referred to it through friends who checked it out but didn't ultimately attend CIS because they moved out of the country. On our initial visit, we were immediately impressed with the diversity and warmth the school provided. Many of the teachers (great ones!) have been there for decades. The materials also referenced a "conscious discipline" approach to managing behavior, which my husband and I wholly support. We also loved the way the rooms were arranged, with photos to show where everything belongs. And although there isn't much green space, CIS has on-site two small playgrounds. The preschool also coordinates with a local organization to provide spring and fall soccer lessons once a week, at an additional cost. For music, CIS arranges for a talented, local musician to come on-site once a week to get the kids singing and dancing. Once we made our choice, our son had a bit of a rough transition, which is to be expected at 3 years old. One of the veteran teachers, with a perfect balance of compassion and no-nonsense, spent at least three weeks personally helping our son say goodbye in the morning with as few tears as possible. After that initial transition period, our son has really loved CIS, and has thrived there. He loves his teachers, has made some great friends, and generally enjoys going each day. The school communicates coursework and activities, and shares the lunch/snack menus monthly. Although it's not a big fancy center, CIS is warm and the staff clearly care about the kids. They take medicine administration seriously and the space is clean and welcoming. There has been some turnover in directors during our time there, but the current director seems great so far! Our son will head to kindergarten this fall and we will genuinely miss our connection to CIS (for now). We highly recommend CIS as an affordable, full-time preschool option in Alexandria.

We love CIS! My first kid started during the pandemic, and we toured all the nearby schools. This…read moreone was a no-brainer: teachers who'd been there for years, dedicated playground, dedicated parking lot, fun and welcoming space. Now, our second kid just started there this year and it's just as good as I remember. There is one teacher who wasn't even her main teacher at the time who just had the magic touch getting her to calm down after drop-off. The teachers are all so loving and caring towards the kids. I'm really grateful we found a place like this for our kiddos.