Ridgemont Montessori School

As a parent of a special needs child Franklin Sherman has been a great experience thus far. We are impressed with the principals ideas, family engagement opportunities, special programming for language speech therapy and the list goes on. It’s a small school and has great teachers. I recommend!

Serious attitude problems from the front desk receptionist. Not sure why. Would it hurt to show just a smudge of politeness? If you a miserable then it makes the school look bad.Secondly, the amount of days off and half days at this school was ridiculous. There were at least 1-2 per week. Some are legit holidays, but many are bogus teacher days that leave dual-employed parents scrambling to find child care.

I have a second grader at this school and we have had a wonderful experience at Kent Gardens. The principal is about as engaged as can be and many of the teachers are long-time veterans who are so skilled at what they do, but also still have the passion after so many years of teaching. We have been thrilled with the teachers who go above and beyond. We have regular communication with them and I really get the sense that they care. Even though the French immersion classes are rather large in comparison with non-immersion classes (both at KT and other schools), they have extra help in the classroom and no one gets left behind. My child has attention deficit challenges and her teachers recommended her for special education. My child has an Individual Education Plan (IEP) and we think the special education chair and her staff are really wonderful and supportive. When my child was testing behind the mark, the school rallied and organized small group work during 'PRIDE' time, set up the goals for improvement, worked with a counselor to learn some time management type skills during special lunch sessions and we supported as much as we could at home. My child had incredible growth in a very short time because of this.The school promotes respect, inclusion, diversity, and kindness. They have green, yellow, red, etc. houses representing different values that they promote and the kids and teachers are really enthusiastic about this. They also have a 'buddy system' pairing younger kids with older kids at the school, which has been a hit. Sixth graders are often put in leadership positions at the school and it is fun to see them thrive. I disagree with previous commenter about a 'toxic' environment. I haven't seen that at all. This school is special and the French immersion program is such a great offering. 5 stars!

As a parent, I’m really disappointed in the direction Country Day has taken. This used to be a strong school with a great reputation, but it’s clear that reputation is from another era. There’s been three heads of school in as many years over the time our family has been there, and the constant leadership changes have created real instability. Teachers leave constantly, and there’s no consistency from year to year. Some of the new hires have very little experience — we’ve even seen teachers as young as 19 leading classrooms. Basic vetting of teachers seems to be bypassed, with things coming to light months into teachers' tenure that a google search would have revealed. The school psychologist lives in Richmond and is only on campus three days a week, which just isn’t enough to meet students’ needs. Meanwhile, it feels like the admissions office actually runs the school, picking classes, and having a huge amount of sway over decisions that seem to prioritize optics and high amount donor families over the broader community.What’s even more frustrating is the defensiveness and lack of transparency from the administration. Questions are often brushed off or met with vague, polished answers rather than genuine communication. Parents who raise concerns are treated as problems rather than partners.The families and kids themselves are wonderful — truly one of the only bright spots — and there are some long term, really great teachers, but donor families are prioritized when it comes to who gets those teachers. Overall, it feels like you’re paying for playgrounds, marketing, and appearances, not for high-quality teaching or academic rigor. Like the other posters said, the campus is truly beautiful and the kids who don't have any extra needs seem genuinely happy (because they are playing all day). However, for the price point, parents should expect much better. Country Day seems to be running on the fumes of its reputation from 20 years ago, and it’s hard to see where meaningful improvement will come from under the current leadership, who has no experience in leadership at the Pre-K level.