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.

*****EDIT**** Nope…read more According to a few of the mothers who I still talk to and have their children attend there, it's honestly not as great... especially for POC . Ps- Audrey O is a faculty member so it's hard to take that review seriously. I appreciate her effort to improve the school's rating, however. *****EDIT***** Apparently the school got a total faculty makeover. Thank god. They caught on to the fact that there were some issues. So I moved my stars up slightly only because my children no longer attend there so I don't know what the environment is like there currently. I am still scarred from what I had to endure there for the few years my son did attend. However, I don't want to take away from the possibility that the school has improved. ************* It got to a point where I sent my child to a private school because I couldn't let my child go another year in this disaster of a school. Before, this school had raving reviews, but in the past few years- it has just been miserable. Many of the teachers here are pleasant but it's the administrative staff that I worry about. They do not seem engaged with their students nor truly care for their academic success. My child tended to have trouble in school and much of it had to do with his struggle with impulse. The teacher has been kind enough to "allow" an evaluation to take place but I have had so much push-back from the staff. I understand that it costs the school a great deal of money when doing an IEP, but it's for the benefit of the child! I just want to ensure that my child is getting the specialized instruction he needs in order to be confident in school. The year prior, he came home comfortable with the idea that he is just "not smart".That shouldn't ever be the case. My husband and I do our best to try and have him tutured at home, help him with reading, and occasionally see a specialist to assist with impulse control. Despite our efforts at home, my child still struggles at school. During my conference with the school however, I was informed by their assistant principle, Mrs. McNamee, that his issues were stemmed from the fact that he gets too much attention at home. What? Then they proceeded to still push back with getting my child any help until they FINALLY settled on having a 504 plan done. I want to give them the benefit of a doubt- but they have left me with the impression that that if your child has any type of disorder, language barrier, or disability- you're in for a world of grief here. Oh and heaven forbid you're a step parent. According to Mrs. McNamee, step parents dont have an opinion.

Braddock Elementary School is definitely a shining gem in Fairfax County. I am in and out of the…read moreschool every day and I can confidently say that the students are happy to be there. As a member of the PTA, I see teachers who go over and beyond for our kids. Parents, including me, are extremely engaged and volunteer countless hours. We are blessed that the administration allows our students the opportunity to participate in a wide range of after school activities that really enrich my kids. The staff and and administration genuinely live what they do and it truly shows. When your kids come home and all they can talk about is school you know you have them in a winning school! I swear that the principal must live there because she is there every single time I am in the school no matter what time of day! I really enjoy getting to talk to the parent liaison who always has time to listen when I need to talk! When my kids are challenged in such a warm, safe, and meaningful way they are on the path to becoming lifelong learners. This school is amazing and serves its widely diverse population well!

Our family has been very happy with Blue Bird. Our oldest is always happy to arrive at school and…read moreat pick up. The teachers are truly passionate, and the kids' care has been beyond our expectations. Our daughter continues to expand her Spanish and gets to practice every day through the curriculum and teachers! Every day we receive a report card and little notes from the teachers, along with daily worksheets. We've been amazed at how her writing skills have come along and excited for her to start learning math. We highly recommend checking out Blue Bird for your kids! The teachers and admin team are wonderful, and the care and nurturing the children receive is top level.

I am amazed that this school is still in business. Last year the entire pre-school class quit…read morewithin a month of each other after repeatedly flighting with management about their continued violations of health, safety and child abuse violations. They refused to fix the only working toilet in one building for several months! They refused to call the gas company during a gas leak! They violated regulations on discipline putting kids in isolation and time out for 5 times longer than the legal limit! They planned a pre-K graduation ceremony for the kids, spent a month getting the kids excited, then banned the parents from attending, and told the kids that their parents were all too busy to be there. The owner then said - in writing - that she was doing this to punish the parents for daring to call the County for health and safety violations. This place is not safe. Avoid at all costs.

The middle school failed my child this school year. There's a notorious group of students that…read moresystematically bully new kids or someone outside their circle and the worst part, these students are favored among teachers. Multiple complains to the principal resulted in NOTHING! Only a check mark talk with the offenders and the vicious cycle goes on. It's a disgrace that teachers only promote their favorites to win competitions like Science fair. The middle school drastically lacked any fun or engaging events, fundraisers or activities that encouraged team work and inclusion of parents. There was only one field trip throughout the year and no promised end of year concert that even public schools have. The end of year award ceremony was unfairly selective. Throughout the year we got Zero photos from any teacher showing a school day, so it feels like this year just fell out equation with no memories to look back to. There's no graduation ceremony for 5th graders either, which they truly deserve. Since the new owner took over, the school environment (especially in upped grades) is rapidly deteriorating. And it's not surprising, the owner lives outside the country and rarely shows up. My gut feeling was right when I checked the school website before we enrolled and it was generic. And that's how this year felt, generic! A generic website with no teacher names, stock photos of students, there's nothing there that shows actual student life or curriculum or shows any photos of the teachers. This place is about squeezing every dollar they can from paying parents, while failing on delivering the fair support and equal opportunities every student deserves.

This year has been a joke for my daughter. She said she's had the worst year since she started…read moreschool. She complained about daily bullying, degrading or disrespectful comments from some kids in upper grades, because apparently, teachers combined 5th, 6th and 7th grades in the same classroom. School administration is not properly addressing the bullying issue either and I heard the new owner is missing in action, never present and it shows. We as parents were never invited to any classroom event, where we could engage with students, teachers and other parents. There's also no student counselor on site, which upper grades really need. This school needs to step up with its upper grades policies, so every student feels appreciated and having the support the need.

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!!

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

My first just graduated from FCM and it is unbelievable all that he has learned while being in the…read moreloving care of these fantastic teachers. The teachers love our children as their own and you can feel it. FCM strikes a wonderful balance between learning and playing. Your child learns key life skills all while having so much fun. Lastly, it's great that the school has their own private playground vs other centers in this area that have to take kids on long unsafe walks on main roads to get to an outdoor play area.

I consider myself so lucky to have stumbled upon this wonderful Montessori school! We enrolled my…read moreson in the school about a year ago and he quickly felt at home there. At first we were nervous because he had a nanny before (who he loved), but they made the transition so easy for us. He comes home with new knowledge each day and I can tell that the teacher truly care about him. My son is the type of child who really likes when everything is in order, and the classroom is always calm and under control. He also loves the outside playground! I am so happy we made the decision to go with Falls Church Montessori!

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.