Montessori Children’s House of Loudoun, Sterling | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

We had our 6 month son at MCHL for 1 month, 2 days a week and it was a mistake I wish I could go back and change. We only wanted a few days a week for our son to be at daycare for interaction with other kids, however he ended up sitting on the floor crying, for possibly the whole time he was at MCHL.

On the first day our son was there they told us he cried for two hours, then one hour the next day, then 30 minutes the next day and finally 15 minutes the fourth. On the fifth day they told us he didn’t cry at all after we dropped him off for the day. We received photos from the staff as requested for the first two weeks, after that we were told that ‘they were too busy’ to send them and that they would send them on the weekend. These photos were never received and probably never existed.

At the end of the month my husband I compiled information gathered (from various staff members while picking up/dropping off our son)and the changes we noted in our son and realized that the Montessori method, which “respects the uniqueness of each child and tailors the educational experience to the needs and progress of each child’s developmental level” was not being provided to our son.

Even on days with fewer children in the infant room, our son was not provided more attention as ‘it cannot be provided all the time.’ On the final day our son was at MCHL we found our son sitting on the floor isolated away from the other children crying at the attendant standing near him holding another child. And we soon found out that the owners and office staff were aware of the constant crying the whole time. However, us the parents of the infant were never called once or told until the last week our son was at MCHL that he was crying incessantly. Their solution was having him there more days per week – which likely would have resulted in him crying on the floor three days a week instead of two.

This is unacceptable. Please do not trust what they tell you. I will not ever recommend this place and you should think more than twice about bringing your child here.

Try as hard as you wish, but you will not find a better school out there! It is amazing that three teachers founded the school, still run it, and still actively teach there! Perhaps this level of involvement is what drives the school to be a special place for children, but on the whole is also attracts great office staff, overall wonderful teachers and aides, and great parents.

The school itself is not fancy and cannot compete with some of the newer buildings and nicer surroundings. But what it does have is an incredible amount and variety of Montessori work, and a program that will make you delighted to write the monthly check. In addition, the staff cares so much about each child, that they are willing to be flexible with parents schedules and individual needs.

I don’t recommend the school lunch menu (very fast-food oriented) but I can’t remember ever being in an environment where every teacher knows my child, the classroom teachers eat lunch with the students and keep tabs on what children like and don’t like, their individual preferences and needs, and work with parents to build a program that works.

This place is obviously a business but it is anything but! You will find that the school will forego a profit if it is the best decision for a students and parents (ex. having a child with a special part time schedule versus a full time student), which is obviously an outcome of the entire attitude towards being child-centric in the traditional Montessori way.

I can’t recommend the school enough and encourage you to not only come and visit, but spend a significant amount of time observing the classrooms, teachers, and students, as well as speaking with other parents!