Southwest Stars Montessori Learning Center

Our child has attended this school since the beginning of school year 2015 and we have been delighted with the progress he has done and the care he has received.
The teachers are very talented and professional and are very committed to the development of all the students. The school itself is nice, clean and very peaceful (which is impressive given the number of toddlers), it is also very accessible by public transportation or car since it has a big parking lot.
We highly recommend NES and have been very happy with the school.

We are so happy we chose Northeast Stars for our toddler. He comes home happy every day and ready to tell stories from his day. The curriculum is practical (he learns to pour, organize, build, clean, etc) but also exciting. Weekly newsletters show our son learning about everything from international bodies of water to basic lessons on letters, how to spell his name, songs, etc. Ms Parker keeps a beautiful and organized classroom environment and the children thrive with the structure she provides. Ms. Cassie’s aftercare seems like a blast, too, and our son brings home several pieces of art and craft work per week. The administration has always been kind and professional, I particularly respect their commitment to feeding the children healthy snacks and keeping allergens like peanuts out of the classroom. (Our son is not allergic but it’s a small price to pay to know other parents feel secure in their children’s health, too). We are so happy we chose a Montessori environment!

Our 2.5 year old daughter has been at the Northeast Stars campus on Capitol Hill (which is part of the Southwest Stars Montessori Learning Center) since August 2015 and we absolutely love it. The teachers are great, calm, and warm toward my daughter and the other children. They create a safe, happy, and joyful environment. She has had the same teachers since the start of the school year; no turnover at all.
The curriculum is great. My daughter is learning so much. They prioritize independence and personal responsibility, which I love. Within the first week they taught her how to put on her own shoes. She is also having fun! On the weekends she asks when is she going back to school and she talks about her friends. These are the things that you want to hear about your child’s preschool!
The program also flexible — you can do 3 days a week, 2 days a week, or 5 days a week and you don’t have to commit to aftercare but can use it if you need it, and pay as you use it, which is great for me because I have a flexible work schedule.
I know there is a negative review on Unilocal but we have had absolutely no problems at all. The administration has been very communicative and we love the program. They have great communication with parents through a weekly newsletter with photos, parent/​teacher conferences, parent information sessions, and multiple holiday parties so far.
I highly recommend the Northeast Stars campus.

My daughter (who’s 2) started attending Northeast Stars Montessori on Capitol Hill DC a couple months ago, so while I don’t have a long history with which to judge the program, I have some observations from the past couple months that prompted me to give a strong positive rating:
*Flexibility of the program to our special schedule needs*
We had a special long-​term scheduling need that the administration was very flexible and accommodating about. While I haven’t done an exhaustive search, I haven’t seen this sort of schedule flexibility elsewhere.
*Ease of adjustment and fondness of the caretakers and fellow students*
Our daughter typically has a very hard time adjusting to unfamiliar caretakers (like babysitters), but after only a week at Northeast Stars, she was already walking away from us at drop-​off without a second glance. At home she frequently talks fondly about her teachers and classmates and wonders what they are doing when she is not there with them.
*Responsiveness of teachers to parent special requests*
Our daughter has two serious food allergies, and from what I can tell, the teachers are taking it very seriously and helping to make sure she is safe while in their care. NOTE: the school is officially nut-​free.
*Delightful weekly newsletter that helps keep us informed*
The program sends a weekly newsletter that includes pictures of the kids engaged in day-​to-​day activities. We love reading this, since (age-​appropriately) our daughter doesn’t think to tell us nearly everything that they learn and do. Her grandparents also really enjoy the newsletter, which is an easy tool to forward to them to help keep them connected to what she’s been up to.
*Thoughtful artwork*
Our daughter frequently comes home with art projects that show the teachers are skilled at thinking of age-​appropriate activities that are both fun and helpful for development (for instance, gluing Cheerios along a line that forms the letters of her name).
*Our daughter’s behavior“
My husband and I have noticed a bunch of things since our daughter started at Northeast Stars, which we attribute to her being in the program, since they are things that we haven’t taught her ourselves: She pushes in her chair after getting up, she says «Yes» rather than «Yeah» (I hear myself say «Yeah» constantly, so I believe they are guiding the more polite response). She is doing much better at putting on and taking off her shoes and socks. While none of these are things we would use to judge her a fine person, they are all indicators that they are working with her to help her learn age-​appropriate life skills, all of which are contributing to make her a pleasant, more independent individual.
So far, we feel very pleased with the program and glad that our daughter is getting such fine care, and at a place so convenient to our home!

Northeast Stars Montessori in Capitol Hill is a horrendous place. My child was there last year (2012 – 2013) for approximately ten months, and her class went through approximately SIXTEEN different teachers in that amount of time. It is the opposite of the kind of stable, consistent environment you want for your child. On many mornings, we’d actually have to introduce her to the stranger standing in the classroom. When I asked the owner/​director if she could at least put a note up at the door with the name of the teacher that would be there that day, she replied that they didn’t have the administrative resources to do so. She also said that I shouldn’t care, because I was, «paying for the school, not the teachers.» She finished by saying that if anyone was unhappy, they should just leave, because she had a waiting list. This was her general attitude throughout the year — she didn’t really care that things were horrible, because there was a waiting list.
On top of the enornously high turnover, there were tons of other administrative fails. They lost tuition checks, lost health forms (and threatened to not let kids attend the following week without updated forms), had major errors on the calendar causing people to have to arrange for last minute care, told us one thing would happen when another happened, and on and on.
Although a lot of people did not like the fact that the school is in a basement, it was not so much the basement, but the fact that they cleaned with harsh chemicals during school hours, which was the problem. Many times I would pick up my child, and the smell of chemicals was so overwhelming that I couldn’t believe the teachers could stand it. There were often times that I would arrive at 5:00 (and the school did not close until 6) and the chairs would be stacked, and the children would be in the hall just sitting and waiting for their parents.
On top of teachers leaving, there was high family turnover as well, as people realized how bad the school was. One family we know left because their child was bullied, and the director told them they should just leave if they were unhappy. Another family left when their child was allowed to leave with an adult who had never picked her up before, and the adult did not even have to show an ID.
Now that we are happily settled in at a different school, it is even more clear how horrible Northeast Stars was. The new school is wonderful; there is open communication, the teachers and administrators are happy, and the children are happy. I would strongly advise not sending your child to this school. I would not be surprised if they shut down in the near future due to health code violations, student — teacher ratio violations, or just due to the occurrance of a negligent event.

Our daughter has been enrolled at Northeast Stars Montessori on Capitol Hill since fall 2011 (there is another new campus in Arlington, VA; Southwest Stars is the name of the company that holds/​runs both campuses). We absolutely love this school, and I will be sad the day that my daughter has to go somewhere else. They take children from 2 — 5 years in a Montessori program. Our daughter was about 2 ¾ when she started. There are several things that especially impressed me from the beginning. The first is that the primary teachers in each classroom have master’s degrees in education. That is very rare for a preschool. The second is the attention and understanding that all of the staff give to the individual needs and personalities of each child. I have also been amazed at the connection that the teachers make with the students, and how much the teachers are devoted to the children and their jobs. The two primary teachers this year are nothing short of magical with small children. Northeast Stars has, so far, done a really great job of hiring its teachers and other staff, and we are confident that they will continue to do so. Everyone has been competent, responsive, friendly, helpful, and concerned with our daughter’s well being. The director is rigorously concerned with meeting and exceeding all regulations regarding child-​staff ratios, safety, etc. The staff have always been immediately responsive to any phone calls or concerns from us and very open to discussions with parents. We have seen our daughter really blossom with independence, verbal skills, improved social skills, and confidence. Our daughter likes going to school, has made great friends, and is often reluctant to leave at the end of the day.
The sole reason I cannot give five stars is that I feel the school is sometimes disorganized in communicating administrative information in a timely way to parents. We felt like we did not get detailed lists of supplies our child would need at school, daily schedule, how drop off & pick up worked, etc. until kind of the eleventh hour before school started. Fortunately, there is a friendly and wonderful parent community available to supply all kinds of answers. But it seems like lists, etc. could have been provided earlier, or some kind of orientation morning for parents & children could have been done before the first day to avoid a lot of questions and confusion. I also think the school could make better use of electronic notification/​messages instead of hard copies. From what I hear from other parents at other day cares and preschools, this is perhaps not unusual.
But overall, we adore this school, the teachers, and the parent community, and feel so lucky that our daughter goes there. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it highly!