Great teachers and great atmosphere. Administration is great too. This is the best high school in…read morethe area if you're looking for a quality education. Students are friendly and enthusiastic for the most part. Teachers are knowledgeable and genuinely care about their students.

Best high school in FCPS hands down. Great school for what it is. A school. Great place to get a…read morequick bite to eat. Probably the cheapest lunch around town.

The experience was just ok for us. Pre K teacher left over lack of support and ability to take a…read morecouple days off. Happy teachers make happy students.

Wonderful!! Truly caring about children!! Small student ratio to teachers. A happy school!!read more

My son has been attending The Castle for the last 3 years. I love this school and so does my son!…read moreThe teachers all really love and care about the kids:) I feel completely comfortable and safe leaving my son in their care. They've helped me so much with my son, especially with potty training. They have been so helpful and have been more like an extended family. They also have a really great Summer program with lots of fun activities for the kids and there is also a pool and swimming lessons. I highly recommend this school :)

It's unfortunate that we're leaving a one-star review but here's why we're leaving it. We enrolled…read moreour child at Minnieland at the Castle for part-time care. Our child was at the daycare for a while and developed comfort with the teachers and seemed to enjoy attending. At the end of April 2019 the director abruptly left and a new director stepped in. One of the new director's first orders of business was to "get all the part-time children on a consistent schedule." Understood. Great idea. Then, all part-time parents were called in to "discuss their children's part-time needs." However, those meetings were not to discuss part-time care needs. Instead, the director informed parents of the school's part-time care policy which apparently is an "at will" policy meaning if they get a request for a full-time enrollment, your part-time child is forced to withdraw. Of course they give you the option to enroll full-time. The problem here is they enrolled students part-time without providing knowledge of the part-time care policy. Evidently, the school has set in motion some financial initiatives and the new director is merely executing those orders from a corporate standpoint. Minnieland claims to be dedicated to "supporting families and children throughout the communities of Virginia" but seemingly not all families. Additionally, in calling around town none of the other childcare providers have this kind of policy and many were shocked to hear that Minnieland has such a policy. Evidently one of the largest childcare providers in Virginia isn't willing to adapt to the needs of modern families, which is real shame especially given the overall high cost of full-time childcare, which for some families often equates to the cost of housing. And while we appreciate the response from the "Lee Group Staffing Agency" evidently hired to manage Minnieland's online reputation, we're quite certain the policy is not going to change.

Wonderful neighborhood school! Kind caring staff! Very diverse. Top notch curriculum!read more

2013 my child was a student with Melissa Bloomrose and shortly after the parent teacher conference…read moreI removed my child and decided private school was a better option. Personal hygiene, self care, common sense and teaching methods were the issues with Mrs. Bloomrose. My child went from struggling with N's and poor grades to Outstanding and Exceeds standards. I was met with combativeness from Mrs. Bloomrose in any communication and feel I made the best decision in removing my child. Graduating high school a year early with honors, and accepted at MIT. In not wanting negative attention toward my child, this was handled as I were being stationed out of the area. Quietly moved on and put all of this behind us. I've held that in for many years, been stationed out of the area, stationed back and decided it was time to put it to rest by adding a review. I gave 2 stars instead of 1 star as I kept this to myself all these years. And is is not a reflection of Montclair Elementary School but rather a teacher there in 2013.

Went to a football game to see this player I got recommended to watch. Laurence Reynolds (20) was…read moreby far one of the greatest players in the game. Beautiful field. Such great people. My favorite team now is FCS with their number one best player Laurence Reynolds. Great staff and lovely families. Met a lot of great families and people. Met the coach, Mr. DeArmas. Very great looking fella. I love the families I've seen. A lot of familiar faces. Saw my neighbors which was awesome. Nathan Moody another Superman in the team. I really hope colleges consider these young men. They're going places. GO BIG GREEN!!!!

I came here for my brother's 8th grade graduation. Nice establishment with a great staff.read more

good school I go there and it's a great school everyone there is so nice and sweet the teacher are…read morenice but the students are welcoming and supportive

I regret enrolling my daughter here. Despite committing early (touring in Feb 2024, paying a…read moredeposit, and submitting all forms), the school's lack of communication, disorganization, and disregard for basic safety and hygiene created a deeply frustrating and emotionally exhausting year. From misplaced incident reports and unaddressed injuries, to administrative errors and tone-deaf leadership, this school consistently failed to provide a safe, transparent, and developmentally supportive environment. My daughter came home with swollen lips, unexplained bruises, missing shoes, and stories of peer mistreatment -- with no formal documentation provided, despite repeated requests. These were not isolated events; I have video/photo documentation, and other parents voiced similar concerns in meetings. The director's conduct was both inappropriate and hypocritical -- once sending me a photo of my 3-year-old with paper in her mouth and demanding I "talk to her about telling the truth" over a harmless joke (gum from dad), while gaslighting parents about emails that were never sent. We were made to feel like the problem, when in reality the school's tech systems, operations, and staffing plans were simply broken. Staffing was unstable -- the lead teacher left for maternity leave with no real succession plan. Parents were informed of changes through hallway gossip before any official notice. Other red flags included: * Poor nap hygiene (child's skin broke out); * No proper underwear/clean clothes sent home; * Unsafe food handling policies; * Lost orthopedic shoes due to mishandling after an accident -- only replaced after escalation; * Inconsistent behavioral reporting, with my child being singled out for normal 3-year-old behavior, while aggressive peer behavior went unaddressed all year. The school showed a lack of respect for working parents, sending critical updates (like school closures) late at night and offering no accessible options for required events (no childcare, no virtual options, last-minute notices). They ran meetings on free Zoom accounts that cut off mid-call, used free Gmail accounts, and misunderstood basic tools like unlisted YouTube links. My concerns were dismissed, incident reports were never filed, and when I reported this to the county, I was told it was "too late." Given how long and hard I tried to resolve these issues internally -- and my documentation of events -- this only added to the heartbreak. In hindsight, I should have trusted my gut and pulled my child out much earlier. If you're a parent considering this school, please ask hard questions about staff turnover, behavior policies, safety reporting, and operational transparency. And if something feels off -- trust yourself.

Will only state the facts that lead to this review…read more.. In preparation for our move to VA this year, my family and I have been searching for a suitable Montessori school within this area. After speaking with Cardinal several times via the phone we felt that this might be a great option. A few weeks ago, my wife had scheduled a school tour and staff meet with Cardinal's senior coordinator (not official title) to allow us to see a routine day at the school and view its operation. We scheduled the tour for a Friday, which we were told was not "normal" but would be allowed given the fact that my family had to drive 5+ hours to get there. The tour was locked on that Monday with a 0930 start time on Friday. We had no other communication from the school throughout the week and on Thursday afternoon, we hit the road after I had gotten off work and arrived in VA just after midnight. We were up the following Friday morning and arrived at Cardinal at 0910 to an empty parking lot, locked building, lights off, and no one on site... We sat, waited, and attempted to call anyone with no luck and no response. It was about 0930 when finally a car pulled up and a women was dropped off. She didn't engage us at all and simply walked into the school. My wife proceeded to knock on the door and was met by said women who appeared to be cleaning. My wife explained our situation to the women who simply laughed, nodded, and said that the school was closed due to a maintenance emergency. A few minutes later, another women arrived who identified herself as a teacher. We calmly explained how we were scheduled to meet with a Ms. Igera for our tour but had not been able to reach her or anyone else. The teacher looked surprised and quickly reiterated that the school had been closed for the last few days. She then pulled out her phone and said she would call the "school owner" who was already on her way to Cardinal. At approx. 0945 the school co-owner arrived and welcomed us inside. We explained, again, who we were and why we were there. She quickly apologized and then explained how the school closed on Wednesday and Thursday due to plumbing issues. They had sent all the students and staff home and were now back (Friday morning) in order to clean for the reopening on Monday. She didn't ask any further about the botched tour appointment, but rather tried to go right into her pitch for the school. At the end of the walk-through, we were on our way out the door when we asked for Ms. Igera to call us about the clear failure in communication. The Co-owner said she would, glorified her staff, and said she hoped we would consider them when we moved... Fast forward 2+ weeks later....we got that call.... And it was to schedule yet another tour at the school. Nothing more. The level of complete disregard, disrespect, and sheer unprofessionalism that went into this waste of time is truly astounding. For better perspective, here is a better overview of all my family and I sacrificed in order to simply VISIT the school and observe its operation. - late night drive 5+ hours after work. - pulled my 4yo daughter out of current school in order to see the Cardinal school and meet the teachers. - my wife is 7 months pregnant at the time of all this. And she had to make all these movements. - I scheduled a full day away from work to make this trip happen. - spent hundreds on gas to make the round trip. Along with paying for a hotel in order to stay overnight... The Cardinal school may do just fine in some things, but I find it hard to imagine what. The coordination, communication, and lack of accountability is frightening. To make a commitment to an outside family who is willing to spend thousands on the betterment of their children's care and education and then not even have the courtesy to communicate a simple appointment change is unacceptable. I would HIGHLY encourage any family seeking a Montessori program to move on and explore other options (military families or otherwise). I have nothing negative to post about the teachers who work here, simply the lack of efficient and effective administrative overview of the school itself. This was not a sophisticated encounter, but rather a simple and what I would image routine engagement with an interested party. If this is how they treat an unaffiliated party, how do they respond under higher stress situations? Who actually maintains the schools appointments? Who is charge of registrations? Etc... Bottom line, keep searching. There are other great options within this region of VA, as my family and I learned. So disappointed to leave a review of this manner on a Montessori related establishment, but title alone does not guarantee quality. I truly hope this review can bring about a greater awareness of the low standard practices at Cardinal.