Montessori Kids Universe Cameron Square

My son has been at MKU for more than a year now and its amazing. The Montessori curriculum is great and the school facility is new. Most importantly, the school feels like a family and the staff truly love the children. My sons teacher seems to love him like a family member. MKU is also truly a school with many daily educational activities and is something completely different than a daycare-like facility. If you want a respectful, kind, independent, calm, and thoughtful toddlerthis is the school for you. (They also accept and work with Child Care Aware as form of payment).
Apr 3rd, 2024

My daughter has been with MKU since she was 4 months old. We moved her after having a bad experience at another nearby daycare. From the beginning we were blown away at the level of individualized care our daughter received. We were told at another daycare that it would be impossible for teachers to have separate feeding and nap schedules for young babies, but MKU has always met and exceeded expectations. Now that she is older, her developmental growth has just been so impressive. She is learning so much, and her little classroom is like a family. MKU is more than just a daycare to stick your kid while you work. It's a beneficial part of their growth and development.
Feb 16th, 2024

My child attended Montessori Kids Universe for almost a year. I'm in the military and received orders to go to training that I was going to bring my child to. I asked Lily Chekalin, the director, about bringing my child with me and she said I would still need to pay to retain the spot, so I began looking at other options, because I would need to also pay for daycare while in training. I told one of the ladies at the front desk that I needed to withdraw my child and she said I needed to notify the director. I sent Lily an email the following day and was told I would have to pay for the current month and the following month because I paid for the current month and I paid for the first and last month during enrollment. I looked at the parent handbook which said I was required to give 30 days' notice to withdraw, so I responded I would pay for the 30 days, but not beyond that. After going back and forth, Joy Nash, the owner, joined the conversation and presented a different document that had different verbiage about the withdrawal policy and stated no refunds are permitted so I would have to pay for two months of care, despite my son being in a different state. I explained it wasn't fair to hold me to this since it wasn't clear. The following day, the school issued a new handbook to all parents with the updated policy. After several more emails, Joy asked me to call her, so I did and explained my situation again, and she said she needed to think about it. After a week without a response, I followed up and she responded the following day that the policy was "clear" and her decision stood, forcing me to pay two months for daycare when my child wasn't there. However, if her policy was clear, why did she update it as soon as I pointed out the issue. Joy accused me of knowing sooner, that I had another reason for withdrawing my child, and that I was stealing food from her children's mouths by asking for a refund. She also said that the biggest issue is she can't issue a refund despite all payments being electronic. In addition to this horrible experience, I never liked that the parents had no interaction with the teachers. I inquired several times about this. While I was told several times they would look into it, I was told that it was a security issue and later told it would be a distraction to the program. During my child's time, several teachers left and it was never explained why. I have three older children who went to different daycares and I always had good rapport with the people who spent nearly all day with my children, so it seemed odd that this never happened at MKU. Lastly, MKU has several violations including children getting hurt, being left alone, and rat droppings in the classroom, which can be found on the Virginia Department of Social Services website.
Feb 26th, 2024

MKU is an amazing place for children to learn and grow. The fact that it is a Montessori is great, but its the staff/teachers that make this place special. Our girls (5&3) absolutely love their teachers and we do too. People leave negative reviews without context - hold ZERO validity. We have been here since theyve opened and have been a part of their maturation. If youre looking for an amazing & safe place for your children to learn and grow while being surrounded by people who LOVE their profession and LOVE your kid, this is the place for you.
Jan 1st, 2024

My third child is getting ready to start at MKU Cameron Station and I know he couldn't be in better hands. We've had our kids in 3 different daycares in the area and MKU is hands down the best when it comes to instruction, cleanliness, professionalism - essentially everything. While a bit more expensive, we've found it's well worth the investment. I can't recommend it enough.
Dec 27th, 2023