Shining Stars Montessori Academy PCS

Posted: February 6, 2026

The students and employees are there with enthusiasm and compassion to teach and learn. However, the Executive Director creates such a toxic environment that good teachers/leaders leave, are fired or are pushed out if they dare voice their own opinion that does not favor the Executive Director. I am blessed to be away from this toxic environment.

Posted: February 6, 2026

Posted: February 6, 2026

Posted: February 6, 2026

Posted: February 6, 2026

Posted: February 6, 2026

Posted: February 6, 2026

Posted: February 6, 2026

Posted: June 25, 2025

Unfortunately, my son and I had a disappointing and disheartening experience at this school. From the very beginning, he showed clear signs of anxiety—especially during morning drop-offs as soon as we pulled up to the school often complaining of stomachaches as soon as we arrived. This never happened with my son. He also said he was nervous to go in.. He struggled with focus, staying seated, and other behavioral challenges that I suspected could be signs of ADHD. I brought these concerns to his teacher and asked about beginning the evaluation process. Instead of receiving support or guidance, I was told there was nothing wrong with him and that he was choosing to act out. That response felt both dismissive and lacking the compassion children with potential learning or behavioral needs deserve. After we left the school, my son was formally evaluated and diagnosed with severe ADHD. He also experienced bullying while enrolled. One troubling incident involved another student stealing and eating his lunch during a classroom-supervised lunch period. Despite multiple teachers being present, no one noticed. Even more concerning, my son didn’t feel safe enough to tell any of the adults what had happened. He later shared that he often felt disliked by his teachers and he was only in kindergarten. No child should feel that way in a place meant to support and nurture them. To the administration’s credit, they were responsive when I voiced concerns, and I appreciated their effort to address issues as they came up. However, those moments of support didn’t change the overall environment, which left my child feeling unsupported, misunderstood, and emotionally unsafe. His teacher remained disengaged and unequipped to meet the needs of a student facing behavioral and social-emotional challenges. Adding to our concerns: my son has a peanut allergy and was prescribed an EpiPen, which I submitted to the nurse along with the required paperwork and additional medications. Yet, when I withdrew him from the school and went to retrieve the medications, the nurse claimed she never received them. This was not only alarming it could have been life-threatening had he experienced a reaction at school. This entire experience was extremely upsetting. I hope the school reflects on feedback like this and takes meaningful steps toward creating a more inclusive, observant, and caring environment especially for students who require extra support.

Posted: June 25, 2025

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Posted: November 26, 2022

Horrible place to work and send your children. It's a revolving door. Teachers and staff members leave on a regular basis. They are very short staff which leaves classroom assistance to teach your children. This is not good.

Posted: November 26, 2022

Posted: November 26, 2022

Posted: November 26, 2022

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Posted: November 26, 2022

Posted: November 26, 2022

Posted: November 26, 2022

Posted: July 28, 2021

Posted: July 28, 2021

Posted: July 28, 2021

Posted: July 28, 2021

Posted: July 28, 2021

Posted: July 28, 2021

Posted: July 28, 2021

Posted: July 28, 2021

I taught at Shining Stars for two years and I found my experience quite challenging. My students were lovely and the staff was nice to work with but the disorganized culture of the school does not promote learning. I would work with very intelligent students that were a victim of their learning environment and lack of resources. I often found that students would pick up reading and math skills very quickly when given a little extra direct instruction as opposed to the self guided learning. By the time students qualified for extra support they were often many years behind.

Posted: February 25, 2021

This school is terrible, the principal won’t listen to parents or teachers. The environment is very intimidating. The staff is scared to speak up, fear being fired.
The school is dirty and messy. The classrooms are often missing the Montessori materials.
I can’t understand how the school still open.
Clubs will be started and end for no reason. The amount of the upper elementary homework is huge I mean pages long.
The students are often behind and the mentality of not being enough or not be able to understand tasks are often used to describe those students.
The principal and the director are defensive about any issues parents will bring up.
Please avoid the headache skip this school off your list.

Posted: February 25, 2021

Posted: February 25, 2021

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Posted: February 25, 2021

Posted: March 18, 2020

Posted: March 18, 2020

Bullying of my past Classroom Assistant by a student's parent was not addressed appropriately by the school Principal to whose attention she brought it.

Posted: March 18, 2020

disappointing.

I was hired in Aug '19 to Guide King Stars, a job I accepted before I was shown my basement classroom. My request for decrepit window blinds and moldy ceiling tiles to be removed and damaged sink to be replaced were not answered. Furthermore, my classroom did not have the full range of didactic materials I am trained to present, and although there was more funding given to the school than its Executive Director found need to spend (per her account at meeting of Board of Directors), the missing/broken/incomplete materials in my classroom were not replaced. And some of the mathematics materials in my classroom I had never encountered before and not been trained to use. The inventory of materials for my classroom was not correct; I substantially corrected it and my credibility in correcting it was questioned by the school's Executive Director without her articulating her questioning until I raised the matter at meeting of the Board of Directors. There the parent association leader present corroborated she heard didactic materials were not equitably distributed in the school. Rather than recognizing a problem understood to exist by me and the parent association leader, the Executive Director defensively and reproachfully pursued asking who (other than me at time of meeting) had said what the parent association leader referenced having heard. The Executive Director asserted materials in the school's classrooms were as they should be per American Montessori Society written guidelines: I have encountered such discrepancy between what is spoken and what is actual fact in schools accredited by the American Montessori Society (AMS) before. Also, I have encountered administrators in some AMS accredited schools including this one lacking knowledge of Montessori pedagogy.

The Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) is the only accrediting body founded by Maria Montessori and it protects the standards she set. All AMI Recognized schools are required to have a complete set of (expensive and high quality) materials manufactured by an approved manufacturer. And the knowledge of Montessori pedagogy among AMI trained educators and administrators is reliably deep. Standards maintained by AMI should not be confused with standards claimed to be upheld by AMS.

And there was no art teacher.

And there was insufficient behavioral health staff.

Posted: March 18, 2020

Montessori pedagogy is not always followed, and unnecessary teacher firing disrupts students' relationships of trust with their teachers.

Posted: November 26, 2019

Posted: November 26, 2019

Posted: November 26, 2019

Posted: June 14, 2019

The leadership during the 2018-2019 school year has come a long way. They have dramatically increased communication with parents and the newest school leader displays a great level of confidence and caring.

Posted: June 14, 2019

The Montessori method helps to meet students where they are. Because students have choice with activities, they can both build confidence by working on something they've mastered and develop new skills by working on new tasks.

Posted: June 14, 2019

Posted: June 14, 2019

The teachers are very good at keeping the students engaged, giving the students agency over their work, and redirecting them when necessary.

Posted: June 14, 2019

A core principal of the Montessori method is to teach students grace and courtesy. The teachers continuously emphasize respect for self, others, and the environment (micro and macro).

Posted: June 14, 2019

My child has been in a primary classroom for one year at this school. We had a great first year. My child loves the teachers, has made great friends, and loves going to school. I have seen tremendous progress in emotional and academic growth in my child. My child has become much more confident, vocal and independent. My child has also learned several reading and math concepts. We will definitely be back next year.

Posted: June 14, 2019

My child is in the primary grades. Her only "homework" is to read two books a night with a parent/guardian.

Posted: March 31, 2019

Posted: March 31, 2019

Teachers are amazing. Worker very well with students. Perform very highly with incompetence from leadership.

Posted: March 31, 2019

The teachers and staff do very amazing jobs in working with, respecting, and teaching kids how to be great.

Posted: March 31, 2019

Leadership is a clown college. No board meetings for over 7 months, quarterly required by dc. Made kids got to building with no heat for 2 days and told parents in monthly newsletter. Also, shut down parts of school for over a year with “plumbing” issues.

Posted: March 31, 2019

Posted: March 31, 2019

It’s a mixed bag, my son loved his teacher and his class. The leadership is so irrogant and see parents as the problem.

Posted: December 14, 2018

My children attended this school for four years. We left this summer after the director went on a firing spree, firing most of the competent staff. It was a disaster the whole time, but we were committed to helping turn it around. When the staff became openly hostile to the Community Association, we knew it was time to go. Frankly, it was a tramatic experience.

Posted: December 14, 2018

Posted: December 14, 2018

Posted: December 14, 2018

Posted: December 14, 2018

No accommodations for students with special needs.

Posted: December 14, 2018

Posted: March 13, 2017

My daughter has been at SSMA for 2 years and she loved it! The staff members show genuine love and care for her well being. I have seen great academic growth as well.

Posted: March 2, 2016

Amazing school with incredible people proving a great education to a wonderfully diverse student body.

Posted: February 29, 2016

My daughter has already been at SSMA for 3 years. During that time the school went through substantial growth and is constantly improving. All the staff is always very kind and helpful. My daughter is very happy there and I rarely hear her to say she don't want to go to school. She substantially improved her concentration skills. The best part or SSMA is the grace and courtesy teaching. Everyone is very polite and the children learn how to coexist with each other in a very gentle way. I love it and so does my daughter.

Posted: February 29, 2016

I love the guides and appreciate their varied cultural background. SSMA puts emphasis on diversity and it is doing a great job.

Posted: February 29, 2016

Posted: February 29, 2016

We have 2 daughters at SSMA, they love going to school and we know our girls are in good hands !!!

Posted: February 26, 2016

Our daughter is in her 2nd year (PK4) at SSMA and we have had a wonderful experience and we are so excited about the future of this school.

Posted: February 26, 2016

Our daughter has learned a lot over the past year and a half and she likes school. She loves her teachers so it seems to me they are effective.

Posted: February 26, 2016

The only "homework" she has been given are a calendar fun little activities to do. For example for PK3: Find something that feels smooth in your house. Go to the library and check out a book about fall. Name 5 things you are grateful for. Play the "I Spy" game - remember to take turns. Find some triangle shapes in your house.

But no real homework which I think is perfect for 3 - 5 year olds. Her teacher will say, " just let them be children at home".

Posted: February 26, 2016

The school focuses on the whole child - not just the "three R's". In the primary class (PK3 through Kindergarten) they learn practical life skills, grace and courtesy, independence, what it means to be part of a community (sharing, waiting your turn, doing your part). They learn to respect and care for others.

Posted: February 26, 2016

Posted: February 26, 2016

We are in our third year at Shining Stars, and our child loves going to school here. In all honesty, we did not choose this school for any particular reason, other than this is where we happened to "win" admission through the lottery. However, we now realize how incredibly lucky we were! The Montessori approach is remarkable, and our child is thriving. The teachers are excellent, and care deeply about the children and the work that goes on in the classroom. We also appreciate the diversity - both among students, as well as teachers and staff.

Posted: February 26, 2016

Posted: February 26, 2016

There is no homework (at least not for the younger children), and that is just right!

Posted: February 26, 2016

When observing the class it is really obvious that while the children have a lot of independence, the classroom is being very carefully run. Seriously, it's pretty cool to behold.

Posted: February 26, 2016

There is no homework for our four-year-old daughter , and at this age I think that's exactly the right amount.

Posted: February 26, 2016

Posted: February 26, 2016

Posted: February 26, 2016

Posted: February 26, 2016

Character development is integral to what they do at Shining Stars. And the kids really do seem to reflect that in what I've seen in classroom alterations.

Posted: February 26, 2016

As a parent who have raised 4 children who have attended traditional public schools, I am fortunate to have my youngest child attending Shining Stars Montessori Academy because the Montessori educational model is making a great impact on my daughter's learning process. I have come to know several advantages of this model over the traditional model. Therefore, I strongly recommend it.

Posted: February 26, 2016

Our daughter enjoys school and loves her teachers. She started in PK3 and is now in PK4. Shining stars staff are really kind, tireless professionals who put the children's joyful learning at the center of what they do. Our family loves everything about this school. In addition to providing a genuine and high-quality Montessori education every day. The staff has dealt with the significant adversity that has come with being a young charter school in DC with staggering grace. And they never lose sight of the kids. Despite the 3+ mile commute we have to school, we are so glad and grateful to have landed at this school.

Posted: February 26, 2016

Posted: February 26, 2016

Posted: February 26, 2016

Posted: February 26, 2016

Shining Stars is a wonderful school. This is my child's first year there and we've seen her thrive in the Montessori environment. She loves going to school and we're constantly amazed by the things she's learning. It's clear that she truly understands the concepts of numbers and beginning math, for example. Rather than simply learning the words to count to 100 and 1000, she understands what that means and how numbers work and naturally carries out math calculations. It's been so fun to observe her all-around growth, both social and academic, since coming to this school. We feel so lucky to have landed at Shining Stars.

Posted: February 23, 2016

Posted: February 23, 2016

Posted: February 23, 2016

Posted: February 23, 2016

We have two children in Shining Stars and we love the true Montessori approach to its curriculum and teaching environment. The classrooms are clean and packed with Montessori learning materials that both of my children love to interact with and enjoy talking about after school. There's plenty of classroom support with three guides in the Primary (3-5) classrooms, and even better, our each child will have the same guides for three years, rather than getting shuffled into a new classroom and new teachers every year. It helps build continuity of instruction as well as the confidence of the child. And the guides are AMS certified so Shining Stars offers an authentic Montessori experience.

Posted: February 21, 2016

This is our child's second year at Shining Stars and we love the school and the staff and the administration. I am listing a few aspects we love about Shining Stars.
1) Each child gets individual attention.
2) The school molds the child to be independent, considerate to the fellow students and staff and teaches about multi cultural values.
3) The curriculum is well designed to suit each kids individual capabilities.
4) The staff are very friendly and always give a ear to the parents thoughts/ideas/concerns.
5) There is enough parent involvement in school activities to make us feel a part of the entire system.
The list keeps going and we are very satisfied with the School and hope to continue here as long as we can.

Posted: February 21, 2016

Posted: February 21, 2016

Posted: February 21, 2016

Posted: May 31, 2015

Wonderful school. My son was previously in public school. He is in pre k 3 and has progressed so much since coming to this school. He is so much further along and has developed a sense of independence. I'm so glad we made the choice to move him.

Posted: May 6, 2015

I love the staff and administration! I would recommend this school to anyone to is invested in their child's education and future.

Posted: April 28, 2015

It cares for the whole child, and protects them and the teachers from too much interference with their learning from outside sources.

Posted: April 28, 2015

This is a hidden gem of a school that simply gets better with each year. Between their pure approach to Montessori, their caring and intelligent guides, staff and families and the addition of language, music and other enrichment programs, I, and more importantly, my child love being here.

Posted: April 26, 2015

This is a school that puts student success first. The Executive Director has years of experience working with students and designing programs that work for students.

Posted: September 16, 2013

I had the opportunity to work with school leadership for a short time and was very impressed with the school overall. The mission is unique in that the focus is in keeping with the true Montessori teaching style. The children are well-behaved yet independent and curious. The facility, while temporary, is still set up in a way that it functions very well for the students. The staff and leadership is knowledgeable and dedicated.

Posted: August 19, 2013

The minute you have any contact with this school you can tell that the entire staffreally cares!! The parents are very involved and I feel that the teaching methods employed are right and thoughtful of the children. Looking forward to a great year!

Posted: October 28, 2012

With a much improved, if awkwardly located, facility this year, the only concern I had after year one with Shining Stars was resolved. My son has had excellent teachers who are well trained and serious about Montessori and who also clearly love and highly regard/respect all of the children. As they are still a new school, there are operational kinks that continue to be worked out, but they in no way overshadow the great teachers and nice new classrooms filled with beautiful Montessori activities. It is a diverse environment representative of the world and we really feel like we're part of a growing school community!

Posted: October 28, 2012

Shining Stars has patient, loving teachers who are a great support for both the students and the parents. My daughter has made great progress here and we have become part of a strong school community.

Posted: October 28, 2012

I can highly recommend Shining Stars, as our daughter is now in her second year here and is thriving in their caring Montessori environment. The excellent teachers strive to create a child-centric learning experience and are backed up by the strong leadership team that puts the interests of the students first. For our daughter, who is a quick learner, the teachers have challenging academics that translate into impressive learning gains. We are very happy with the school overall

Posted: October 27, 2012

My daughter wakes up every morning happy to go to school. I continue to be pleased with the quality of education and community at Shining Stars!

Posted: July 31, 2012

My child has made a lot of progress this year. I have been happy with Shining Stars and am looking forward to next year, including more space at the new building.

Posted: February 13, 2012

Another parent here, given the challenges of a smaller temporary space and getting kids acclimated to the Montessori approach, overall I am pleased and I feel incredibly grateful that there is public funding to bring the Montessori approach to families who otherwise could not access it. We have some concerns based on our own child's personality/skills -- he is happy but doesn't always take initiative, which is tough with the Montessori method and may not mean it will continue to be a good fit for our child. But, we are impressed with the staff, administration, the board, and especially fellow parents.

Posted: January 10, 2012

Shining Stars is a great school for parents who desire to be actively involved with their children's education because they value parental input! Also, I am excited about the fact that we have access to the Montessori method without pay. Both my children are benefiting from it and I do not detect any deficiencies in their development, in fact, I witnessed growth. The teachers demonstrate tremendous patience as they carefully their employ skill in leading our children through the curriculum. The school did have a rough inagural year, but what new Charter school doesn't? At least, as a parent, I am familiar with alot of there challenges as they have had an appropriate transparent process the whole time. I would not that SSMA PCS definately need time to work out some of their operational kinks, but it is nothing that cant be implemented within a carefully crafted and easily implemented 3-5 year strategy. I'm sure summer 2012 will cause board members and parents to go back to the drawing board to prepare for a great 2012-2013 school year. Most importantly, their operational downfalls does not compromise the quality of my children's education. Im rooting for their success!

Posted: January 1, 2012

We have 2 boys at shining stars. They will NOT be going back. Not at all recommended. Too Much to list. Check all schools closely. This schools charter should be revoked.