The toddlers (3,4 and 5 year olds) in Langdon Education campus' primary Montessori classes have been thriving since 1997.   Our three year olds are learning to count, sound letters and work on their motor skills such as writing their names.  By four, these kids are doing simple addition and subtraction, reading easy readers and writing simple sentences.  It's particularly amazing when you find out this is happening at a school where the student body is 95% black and 71% receive free or reduced price lunch.  Instead of strengthening this program, parents received letters indicating the primary program will be discontinued this year.  

This hurts our children.  When we enrolled our children, it was because we saw the benefit of having the same highly trained teacher for three years.  All of Langdon's Montessori teachers have AMI Montessori diplomas where they mastered cognitive and social development.  Our teachers believe in the potential of all children.  They have demonstrated their willingness to take the extra step to reach a child.  

When we enrolled our children, we saw the benefits of a mixed age classroom.  The younger children strive to get to the level of their older classmates.   Maria Montessori believed there is a teacher in every child so the older children are encouraged to teach the younger children.  The most beautiful sight is to see how the children function like a family.  They have such a sense of pride in caring for each other.

When we enrolled our children, we saw the benefit  of having teachers trained to accommodate a variety of learning styles.  Unlike a traditional classrooms, where a child has to conform to the adult's teaching style, Montessori teachers create individualized lessons for each child rather than group lessons.  

Did you know most Montessori schools in the District are private? We can't afford the $22,063 it costs to attend.  This program is the most important District government service and resource for our families and communities.  Please help us save our Montessori!

Last year DCPS sent hundreds of tuition bills to Maryland commuters with kids enrolled in DC's public preschools, but not one parent paid. DCPS said that without a collection agency there's nothing they can do, but can't they turn the Maryland kids away? DC kids need those spots. If I left my daughter on the doorstep of Sidwell Friends School without paying, would they educate her for free? No! There's a long string of Maryland plates at my daughter's preschool every afternoon and none of those parents are active in the PTA. We need neighborhood schools to be neighborhood schools with engaged neighborhood parents!