A safe school environment that helps my children thrive Guidepost Montessori has been one of the best decisions for our family because of the nurturing environment, the caring teachers, and great community for parents to join. Both of my children attend one of the Guidepost locations in Northern Virginia and I have seen their love of learning grow throughout the two years they've attended school. Above all, both of my children are so eager to learn new things, feel comfortable and confident to ask questions, and have truly grown into the Guidepost value of 'Grace & Courtesy'. They are so sweet and kind and always happy when I pick them up from school. It makes me feel reassured as I really struggled with drop-off when they first started. It's also great to see how much they have both began learning in the areas of mathematics, literacy, and practical life. They are 4 and 2 years old. My 4 year old can count to 20 and is learning addition, subtraction, and has been introduced to multiplication. My son confidently says his ABC's, prepares his own food for snacks at home (like cutting with plastic knives!), and knows all of his colors in English and Spanish. I would definitely recommend Guidepost Montessori to parents that want to help their children grow into capable human beings. I feel that the foundations for this education will shape how they function in their day-to-day lives as adults and am so happy I found this school.

Great school network My daughter has been in Guidepost since 6 mo. She is now 3.5 and super independent. Sometimes I feel like she is “too independent” (*face palm smiley*). She has attended multiple locations during her tenure at Guidepost and every transition was unexpectedly easy for our a bit shy and reserved child. I believe this could be a very important aspect to families that move around a lot. All locations are beautiful AND look the same AND teachers approach children in the similar manner. This provides so needed reassurance to the child in the tumultuous times of the move. Whether it is a geographical move or transition up to a different program.

Are rainbows a political symbol in the year 2023. Its been a good experience. But with that being said if you want your child to come home and start arguing with you about rainbows send them to the school.

Guidepost Foothill Ranch, CA If I could give a zero, I would. This is my personal and direct experience as a parent who sent their kid to this school. Most of these "5-star reviews" are parents who were encouraged to do so during a raffle. We were encouraged to write the "best" review. *RED FLAG* I am writing my personal review because a great deal of parents (like myself), rely on accurate social media reviews to chose a daycare or school for our children. Since my son started there June 2022, 2 head of schools left, 1 assistant head of school, 3 lead guides (1 later returned after trying to seek a nanny job) and 5 assistant guides (1 got terminated for physically and emotionally harming the children-which I will get into more detail because my son was one of 7 children affected). That is a total of 10 people in a year who have left (not including the person who returned). No consistency for our children. *RED FLAG* During the months of October 2022-March 2023, my son would cry during drop offs and pick ups. We didn't know why, we thought it was normal toddler behavior. We were then notified that our son by the current head of school at the time on 3/2023 that our son experienced abuse by an assistant guide who was first put on administrative leave then terminated a few days later after interviewing staff who corroborated the allegations. Specific examples of witnessed abuse against my son included this person intentionally tripping him when he was running outside, pulling him by his arm and pinning him down in his chair to sit by his shoulders. These were only the witnessed accounts. The current head of school told us that these concerns about abuse were told to prior head of school who left end of 2022 but nothing was followed up. Which breaks my heart as a parent to think all this abuse was ongoing without further investigation. *RED FLAG* We wanted to leave at that moment when they disclosed all the abuse information but the head of school insisted we stay to make things right since that employee was terminated. We agreed only under the contingency that if we saw any emotional distress in our son, we would be leaving the school. He was having serious behavioral issues/changes. He probably didn’t feel safe at that school so we left. I would never recommend this place. Another huge RED FLAG is when there are multiple violations posted on their front door for the public to view. Hope our feedback and experience help other families make an informed decision.

High turnover ruins the environment Things started out well here but the high staff turnover led the center to essentially abandon the programming part way through the year. I feel like it has to be a culture/pay/systemic problem and the kids ultimately lose out the most.