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.

Excellent school in the Catholic tradition, but welcoming to all religions. My daughter is…read moregraduating this year from 8th grade and she is well prepared to move on to high school thanks to the rigorous curriculum and caring, knowledgeable teachers and administration. We will greatly miss the St Jane DeChantal family as our daughter begins her high school journey well prepared thanks to the wonderful staff at DeChantal!

I am currently attending this school, awesome teachers, excellent community, and great food…read more However, they do not have a bike rack, which for a neighborhood school, I find crazy, especially with PE shut down due to corona, biking would be a great way to encourage physical activities, however, without a bike rack, no one bikes to and from school. Also I will happily take this post down, if you install a bike rack.

I went to this school at the end of the Seventies and graduated in 1980. I made many friends. I…read morewould say it was better than other schools nearby at the time I went there for academics but also because of the unique landscape and architecture that was destroyed in a teardown and rebuild project which came ten years after I graduated. We had a domed arena that was in the style of Finnish architect Ero Saarinen and was great to play sports in. The principal was pretty good: Dr. Jerome Marco-he served a long time and had the current Football field named after him. He didn't like underage drinking so he got rid of the Rugby team which was a club sport-not varsity. That team became the Maryland Exiles thanks to Dan Soso who kept it going. I did academics with great teachers like Bari Bergman for English, Speech and Drama but sports was really what I was into at the time. We had arguably the best football team in the history of the school. I played each season. We were not undefeated in the regular season but 9-1 then lost the state AA Championship-our QB got injured in the semifinal. The 2003 team went 10-0 but lost their first playoff game that makes us better in my opinion. Our coach, Rich Cameron was good. He had us in the wishbone offense that just could not be stopped. Our rugby team won tournaments-the coach was John Haberman. I also wrestled. That was more fun than anything. Many of the students have gone on to great careers and spread out across the country nowadays. We had great colors and a great mascot but I do not agree with the gender equity changes made to our mascot. Our Colors were Black, White and Columbia Blue. We were the Vikings and we had a great Viking but nowadays any depiction of our Viking must be accompanied by a Lady Viking. I went to our reunion and saw Lady Viking drawings which we did not have. If you want to have Lady Viking Drawings in 2013 O.K. but we did not have them in 1980 so don't go back and try to re-write history. Cafeteria food was good. We even had a salad bar which I used in wrestling season. We always had a weight room open after school. Other notable teachers were Mr. Cleary-English and Yearbook, Jack Freeman-JV Football and Al Patini-Driver's Education, Mr. Peters and Mr. Debone-gym, Hugh Hammet-Tennis Coach, Ms. Linda Niedbalski and Melanie Sorg-Biology, Mrs. Trebor-Home Economics, Ms. Guiterrez-English, Ms. Cummings-English. Some great teachers have names I forgot-sorry. This was a high school you would want to go to. 4 stars.

I went to Whitman and had mixed opinions. I enjoyed the activities and classes I chose, but the…read morepeople really brought it down a notch. It's definitely very challenging academically. It either pushes students to excel or burns them out and causes them to give up. It just depends on each students ability to handle stress. Even so, the school has a class, activity, friend group, caring teacher for everyone.

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 !

Best school in the town! Great leadership, great staff, great students! Friendly front desk staff!…read moreFriendly atmosphere all around! People actually say hi to each other! And when you are the one to say hi first, they reply to you!!! Highly recommend this school to any parent who wants the best for their child and to any career seeker in public schools! Go bulldogs! I am a proud teacher and parent at Churchill!

My youngest received a Merit Award last night. The event consisted of middle school age children…read morefrom all over Montgomery County. The award ceremony took place at Winston Churchill HS. I truly believe any facility dedicated to the education of our future (our children) should be given five stars. I was a little perplexed about the size of the lockers. They look like they belonged in an elementary school. In this day and age where high schoolers are 10 feet tall, I don't think they should have to get on their knees to get in and out of their lockers. Maybe that is their exercise for the day. Who knows. The school was very clean and their trophy case was loaded. I would have taken a picture, however I hate to be in pictures (via reflective glass).

My sisters and I went to this middle school. Although, they went when it was at the former…read morelocation. Generally, this middle school was okay and I went through it fine, but for some reason the culture there was a little trashy. I don't know. The high school(WJ) was significantly more classy and preppy, but this middle school was a little bit nasty. I liked the classes I took and all the electives I could take. It did prepare me for high school. At that time in the mid-90s, alternative rock music was famous and Friends was on TV. It was a good time in the US. We liked meeting other schoolmates in middle school and going through high school, but it got a bit dramatic and cliquey...as well there are some snobby people and you just had to sit through it all in high school because after all, you are not in private school!!

It is a wonderful school but the teachers are a little harsh about the phone policy. If a student…read morehas their phone in the back of their pocket they will call them out and usually confiscate the phone even if it is last bell. The teachers sometimes will turn a blind eye whether it be on purpose or not when fights break out. The teaching is also a bit strict but otherwise it's a great school.