Not bad, Just you know some teachers once in a while Are a tad rude but that was only couple out of…read morethe staff i have been here almost 7 years so it's so much fun recommended of course but just note rarely there are teachers who are a tad rude or interns I love this school thank you CES IS THE BEST 3.4-4 out of 5

Plenty of visitor parking, unless there's a big school event going on…read more The school and grounds are always clean and well maintained. Security is always consistently tight. You need to be buzzed in to enter. The office staff is friendly. Playground is fun to use after school is out. Great hills for sledding on snow days.

A great elementary school located in the Fairfax/Chantilly area. The principle, teachers and staff…read moreare all amazing, hard workers and truly care for each of their students. If you spend a little time within the walls of this school you will easily see how great of a team the teachers and staff are - all striving for excellence!

The 7 years of my life that I spent at this school were.....not well liked. Half the teachers…read morehalf-assed their lessons and the main staff were assholes. Don't even get me started on the head lunch lady. The worst part about this school is how badly they treated my mother. She put about 85% of the total effort into the 6th grade graduation party for the class of 2023, yet was treated so badly by the staff, teachers, and some of the other PTA members. If anyone reading is on the PTA, I recommend you leave. All in all, experience at this school was a 1/10, made me hate school and learning and was not beneficial to me at all.

Excellent, caring, professional staff and educators. Students are happy, engaged, and seem to love…read moreto learn.

Parent / Guardian May 24, 2022…read moreDO NOT SEND YOUR SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS HERE. This has to be the worst school for special needs. My son attended for 3 years. I regret not pulling him from the school immediately when he complained of an adult putting her hands on him. She would pull him by the arm when he refused to walk with her. I complained and requested that he never be alone with her. Additionally the CSS principal is either uncaring and incompetent. The school has had budget cuts and no longer had a full time psychologist for the CSS kids. Instead they've hired very poor IAs and a woman who worked in law enforcement. My son has the same teacher for two years and she absolutely did not care about the kids or her job. It was evident that she'd given up trying.

We have had a great year so far! Teachers are engaged and sweet to the kids! Front office is always…read moresmiling!

It was a home away from home! There can be a waitlist! Got my daughter in at 9 months and now we…read moreare only leaving because my daughter is starting kindergarten! And the education they provide has us beyond ready for kindergarten

Please consider Emily R.'s review from 2022, particularly regarding their inadequate communication…read morewith parents, absence of common technologies (such as an informative website or social media presence for schedule announcements), and the owner/management's complete inability to handle concerns from patents or questions about their inconsistently applied rules, ever-changing schedule, or even specific incidents involving your child without becoming defensive. It often felt like she intentionally made herself unavailable, suggesting, "If you don't like how I've handled a situation, you can go somewhere else." So, after two years, that's ultimately what we did.

We've been at the school for over 2 years, and my kid is transitioning out of this school and going…read moreinto first grade in our neighborhood public school. Thought it's time for an update! During the past two years, lots has changed--Our lead guide (teacher), the school admin team, guides in other classrooms, etc. While all changes are hard, I think the school does a pretty good job keeping kids and parents informed, and minimizing any transition challenges. Overall, I stand by my impressions from 2 years ago--Ms. Christine (our previous lead guide, now the head of school), Ms. Freshta (our previous assistant guide, now a lead guide in a different classroom and a lead guide in the kindergarten program), Ms. Vinita (our current lead guide who was previously our assistant guide), Ms. Dawn (float guide), and other guides/staff, are all amazing. They continue to be my daughter's anchor during many of the school administrative changes. Because of the high teacher quality, I would highly recommend this school to any families wanting to go with a Montessori education. Now, the school is not perfect--there are some things that were inconvenient and/or different from our expectations, but as someone who used to work in schools, the most important things is that the staff are qualified and truly care. We can deal with some hiccups here and there: - The biggest friction I had with the school is that I noticed not all staff are well-trained in the Montessori methods. For example, even when I observed briefly at a recent school event, I noticed one of the (newer) guides VERY QUICKLY took over what my daughter was working on when she struggled (for like 10 seconds). When I asked my daughter about this guide, she told me that this happens a lot. I get that the guides come from different background and learn at different speeds...and so we practiced how to push back respectfully instead of us talking to the guides. This is an easily missable detail for busy parents, however. - The guides do a great job not using technology or screens for the most part, and when they do (which is extremely rare), they are intentional and thoughtful. HOWEVER, my daughter and her classmates brought to our attention of a fairly inappropriate song in a foreign language--and they claimed that a guide had shown them the song. The song is not our guide's native language, it is catchy, and I can see it accidentally/automatically come up on Spotify or other music platforms. It is also entirely possible that the song didn't originate from the guides, but from another student. - We stayed with guidepost for 5 years (3 at another guidepost location, 2 at the south riding location), and my favorite thing about it was the holiday hours--They used to only close on MAJOR holidays such as thanksgiving and christmas, but not smaller holidays such as president's day or Juneteenth. They now close on a lot more holidays, which is harder for us who don't get these days off. But their calendar is still better than many daycares following public school schedules. - Some admin transitions (such as a company buying out the school, leaving the staff with very limited notice and preparation) was ROCKY, although I think Ms. Christine and the staff dealt with it the best that they can. - There were quite a lot of staff turnover this past year, especially in the younger kids' classrooms. Overall, we find that the pros significantly outweighs the cons for our family at this school. I would still recommend it to anyone without hesitance, and we are so, so grateful to all the amazing staff--Our heroes without capes!

we enrolled our son here back in 2024 after shopping around for a Montessori in the South Riding…read morearea. I enjoyed our initial visit and Monica (the previous head of the school) was great to work with. our son quickly adapted to his classroom & became very close with his teacher who is no longer there (Ms. Aya). he has since moved up to Children's House with Ms. Freshta and Ms. Priyanka! they know how to work with each children as they are all different in their way of learning. they have been nothing but patient and they love challenging my son to help him reach new heights. in his time there, he has learned a lot. they took potty training very seriously and he started just about as soon as he joined the school. he loves going to school & as a Montessori, they are very "children based". the students do everything themselves in the classroom to help them gain independence at an early age. when we first signed up, we were told our son would know his multiplication table by 4 and fractions by 5 so I'm excited to watch him progress. the new director, Ms. Desirae, has been a pleasure to work with. she has quickly immersed herself in the school and learned every child in all the classrooms. Ms. Cady at the front desk is very helpful and greets everyone as they come in. the after school teacher assistants like Ms. Dawn are super helpful and the children love her! my only gripe is that lunch is not provided. my daughter went to a school nearby growing up that did provide lunch, but it seems a lot of the daycares in the area no longer provide lunch. but different times I guess.

We had two children in Rise & Shine for a few years. The staff is amazing and so friendly! Our kids…read moreloved going! The teachers are so caring and prepare students for Kindergarten and all that Littles need to know! Ms. Destiny, Ms. Synthia, Ms. Vanessa and more were so sweet and caring for our Littles. We couldn't get enough of the Disney party Ms. Destiny planned and other fun activities for the kids!

We have been sending our boys to Rise and Shine at 10185 Main St (the church location) for over…read morethree years and have loved it. The school is the perfect size - large enough that there are plenty of teachers and friends, but small enough that all the kids and teachers know each other well. I also really like that the church location is set back from the road and more discreet for safety purposes. My kids have always loved the outdoor spaces as well - even when they were in-between playgrounds. The staff is incredibly loving and positive. They contact us whenever there is any issue, but when they have had to deal with things that could have been frustrating (potty training accidents, unexpected illness) they have never made me feel bad or embarrassed. One other aspect of Rise and Shine that we love is that our boys have had the opportunity to learn from teachers from other countries and some who speak different languages. I love that their teachers contribute to their learning and growth in ways that I haven't even thought of. Highly recommend!