Katherine Thomas School

Aspen Hill Cooperative Nursery School is a non-profit, parent-owned and operated preschool in Rockville, Maryland that has run since 1959. It is licensed by the Maryland State Department of Education, Division of Early Childhood, Office of Child Care, and its nursery school teachers are certified by the State of Maryland. As a cooperative, tuition is kept lower because each family provides a classroom helper a couple of times a month and takes on an administrative job such as kitchen tidying, event planning, fundraising, or building maintenance. That structure lets parents spend time in the room and watch how their child interacts with teachers, classmates, and the school setting. The program is play-based and divided by age. Pandas (2-year-olds) meet Monday and Wednesday with an option to add Friday, Monkeys (3-year-olds) meet Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with an option to add Tuesday, and Tigers (4-year-olds) follow a four-day Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday schedule. Children must turn 2, 3, or 4 by September 1 of the year they enroll. All classes run from 9:30am to 12:30pm, with an optional Lunch Bunch from 12:30 to 1:30 for the 3s and 4s that emphasizes arts, sciences, languages, and math (about $12 per session, or $10 if you sign up for six or more in a month). Class sizes are roughly 10 children for Pandas and up to 15 for Monkeys and Tigers; if the 4s group is overenrolled it may split into a 3-day Lions room and a 4-day Tigers room. For 2026-2027, monthly tuition runs $260 (two days) to $390 (three days) for Pandas, $390 to $520 for Monkeys, and $520 for Tigers, alongside a non-refundable registration fee of $75 if submitted by April 30 (rising to $125 after May 1) and a one-time $50 enrichment fee for supplies and activities. Registration for the coming year is handled through Jovial, and financial aid is available through the school. The school draws families from across Montgomery County, and in the 2018-2019 year 56% of children entered speaking one of 15 languages other than English. A stated goal is to include children of all abilities, working closely with families, caregivers, and specialists to accommodate individual needs and support full participation, which fits families looking for an inclusive, low-ratio, parent-participation setting. To learn more or schedule a tour, families can contact Emily Wolinsky at aspenhillcns@gmail.com or (240) 903-1001.

CCACC Academy is a nonprofit educational institution at 9400 Key West Ave in Rockville, Maryland, founded in 2015. It operates as a community cultural and educational space, running a bilingual early education program along with year-round STEAM, STEM, performing arts, fine arts, and sports offerings. The school serves children from roughly age 2 to age 13, and its signature program is a Chinese Immersion Preschool. CCACC Academy reports working with about 3,000 students from nearly 2,000 families across the Washington metropolitan area, operating out of a 24,000 square foot facility with daily capacity for more than 280 children. Programming is split across three tracks. The preschool side covers a bilingual early education program with its own classes and teaching staff. The afterschool program is organized by subject area, including art, leadership, movement, STEM, math, and multi-interest courses, and the school offers transportation for afterschool students. A seasonal summer camp rounds out the calendar with academic, performing arts, art, STEM, future-leader, movement, multi-interest, and Chinese-language tracks. Hours run Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 6:30 pm, which fits the working-parent schedule the afterschool and camp tracks are built around. The academy keeps a low student-to-teacher ratio and emphasizes a child-centered, play-based approach in the early years, with small groups used for language work. Its enrichment model, which pairs hands-on STEAM and arts work with bilingual instruction, can suit families looking for varied, project-based learning, including students who are twice-exceptional or who learn best outside a single-track classroom. The school also serves children with language-based learning differences and pairs its academic tracks with a broad mix of fine arts, performing arts, and sports. Admissions run year-round on a rolling basis. The school accepts applications from prospective families throughout the year and asks interested parents to reach out by phone or email and to attend a campus tour, which is booked by appointment. Tours are limited in size and do not guarantee placement, since enrollment depends on availability and fit. Families can reach the school at (301) 978-3918 or info@ccaccacademy.org.

The Rockville location at 14426 Traville Gardens Cir is one of the Children's Manor and Children's Magnet Montessori Schools (CMMS), a Maryland network that has run Montessori early-childhood programs since 1993. The school enrolls children across a wide age range, from infants as young as 6 weeks through elementary grades. Programs are grouped by stage: Infants and Toddlers (6 weeks to 2 years), Pre-Primary (2 to 3.5 years), Primary (3.5 to 5 years), Honors and Kindergarten, and Elementary, with full-day and partial-day childcare schedules available. A summer program built around weekly themes, enrichment activities, and field trips runs outside the regular school year. Instruction follows the Montessori method built on five learning areas: Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Mathematics, and Cultural Studies (geography, zoology, botany, history, and science). CMMS layers its own "Montessori Links" curriculum on top of these, organizing each month of the year around a theme and a continent study that ties the five areas to Character Development, STEM, Continent Connections, and Author Study and Arts. Children also take part in scheduled enrichment blocks that include Spanish, technology and introductory coding, library media, music, yoga, art, and one-on-one reading readiness coaching aimed at kindergarten preparation. Classrooms use mixed-age grouping after age 2 and the multi-sensory, hands-on materials standard to Montessori practice. The school's stated approach adapts to a child's individual ability, learning style, and social maturity, which is consistent with the language-based learning support and social-emotional focus noted for this listing. Lead teachers for ages 3.5 and up hold bachelor's degrees along with Montessori certification, and many have advanced degrees and long tenure at the school. Each location has a dedicated Instructional Leader who coaches teachers and shapes curriculum. Progress is tracked individually: teachers assess each child across the five Montessori areas plus social and emotional development, issue progress cards (three per year for Pre-Primary and Primary, four for Kindergarten), and hold parent-teacher conferences at least three times a year. CMMS participates in the Maryland EXCELS quality-rating program through the Maryland State Department of Education and accepts the state Child Care Scholarship (CCS). For military families it takes part in Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood (MCCYN) and works with Child Care Aware of America. Families can request a tour or check enrollment through the CMMS website.