Columbia Forest

Lafayette is a stellar school with one of the best parent/student communities in the DC area. The teachers are extremely committed, creative, and engaging. The curriculum is appropriately challenging but also balanced (great art, music, and peace classes). Students are generally kind and inclusive. The school’s leadership and staff are supportive and run the school in an efficient manner, ensuring parents are always aware of what’s going on. My kids look forward to school everyday and feel very supported in the Lafayette community.

Since Dr. Zaks joined as principal in 2022, the school has been amazing for my child, who has special education needs. The teachers are great, as is the entire administration. There is plenty of family involvement and a very active PTA. The school provides a nurturing and supportive environment where students feel valued and encouraged to succeed.

There is a mean girl culture that is rampant at the school and it is well known throughout the Kensington community. Many families of past generations who went there say the same thing about the bullying that is allowed to happen and remains unchecked. It is an unwelcoming environment from parents, and the Principle had done nothing about, but seems to favor the primary PTA clique that runs the school. Sadly, the mean girls are just like their parents and it's learned behavior. Unfortunately, the teachers or administration are not redirecting this bad behavior when they see it. It's so ironic they proclaim to value the 4 C's to include compassion, when they actually place no value on those virtues by allowing bullying to spread rampant. There is no doubt families will be removing their funding due to the administration looking the other way.