Question About Two Rivers

[Anonymous]

I really really want to love Two Rivers. But the location, lack of playground, walking pre-K kids several blocks away to Gallaudet when they "need a field," and the absence of a library all leave me cold. During our tour we spoke with several current parents and the director but didn't really hear any answers that said "we've thought about this and here's why those aren't issues, or here's what we do to mitigate them." Instead their responses seemed more like "we have limited resources and those are the decisions we made because of that." I know many parents love this school. Does anyone here happen to have any positive insight into these particular issues? Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

I'm not a Two Rivers parent, but I hear a lot on DCUM about the necessity of athletic fields and playgrounds and think it should be said that in urban places like NYC and London, playgrounds may be fenced roof tops or a public space a few blocks away. This wasn't necessary in DC in the past because land was a lot cheaper, but it can easily be out of reach for an organization with limited means under present circumstances. I think the expectation for outdoor space may need to change as the cost becomes prohibitive for more and more schools.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks. Any thoughts about the absence of a library? I recognize that pre-K is very young, but thoughts about exposure to and expectations about books, and the bearing that has on reading and literacy, etc., keep occuring to me. Anyone know anything about this? Really just curious and trying to figure out how to think about it. Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm 100% with you. We got a spot in TR, and I am very grateful for the option. Everyone I tell says, "that's a great school." And I am aware of the nearly 200 people anxiously sitting on the waitlist. So why aren't I more excited. The location and playground issue is the biggest for me. Outdoor, physical activity is so important for my DC and having him play on a too-small, somewhat sterile space only feet from Fla. Ave is really hard to imagine. And I didn't know they sometimes walk to gualludet...crossing Fla Ave? Yikes.

[Anonymous]

Instead their responses seemed more like "we have limited resources and those are the decisions we made because of that."



That is exactly the attitude you will get regardless of your concerns. See the previous posts about 5th grade flight. Other than that, it's a great school!

[Anonymous]

I am a Two Rivers parent. My child has been at the school 3 years. I can understand your concerns about the playground and the library and can remember feeling the same way when we were making a choice about schools. All I can say now is that my child is extremely happy and loves school. The expeditionary outward bound model has been really amazing, and I feel like the school does a great job of making the school a community of excited learners. No school is perfect so you need to weigh what is crucial for you and your kid(s). In our case, I know that we spend so much time at the park and at our local library that their absence at school would not have a huge impact. Also, each of the classrooms has their own mini-library, which is not an ideal substitute, but it's still nice.

The other night, my child's allergies were acting up. When I told her she might have to miss school the next day if they didn't improve, she was totally distraught. Her kindergarten class is currentlly doing a semester-long expedition on business. They established a business model for an in-school bakery, made a pitch to parents for 5-dollar investments (and gave us "stock certificates"). Did the math to find out what types of products they wanted to make/sell, did the marketing by making advertizing signs around the school, wrote a jingle in music class and performed it at the weekly "community meeting" of all students, did a field trip to the grocery store to get supplies and calculate how much of their budget they needed, had baking days with parental volunteers that involved measuring and following recipe instructions, and set up their in-school store. On the side, they are reading and writing stories about money, business, economy etc. She has done similar expeditions on plants/gardening, construction, simple machines, and the life cycle (raising eggs-to-chicks).

Hope that give you some insight into the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a Two Rivers parent. My child has been at the school 3 years. I can understand your concerns about the playground and the library and can remember feeling the same way when we were making a choice about schools. All I can say now is that my child is extremely happy and loves school. The expeditionary outward bound model has been really amazing, and I feel like the school does a great job of making the school a community of excited learners. No school is perfect so you need to weigh what is crucial for you and your kid(s). In our case, I know that we spend so much time at the park and at our local library that their absence at school would not have a huge impact. Also, each of the classrooms has their own mini-library, which is not an ideal substitute, but it's still nice.

The other night, my child's allergies were acting up. When I told her she might have to miss school the next day if they didn't improve, she was totally distraught. Her kindergarten class is currentlly doing a semester-long expedition on business. They established a business model for an in-school bakery, made a pitch to parents for 5-dollar investments (and gave us "stock certificates"). Did the math to find out what types of products they wanted to make/sell, did the marketing by making advertizing signs around the school, wrote a jingle in music class and performed it at the weekly "community meeting" of all students, did a field trip to the grocery store to get supplies and calculate how much of their budget they needed, had baking days with parental volunteers that involved measuring and following recipe instructions, and set up their in-school store. On the side, they are reading and writing stories about money, business, economy etc. She has done similar expeditions on plants/gardening, construction, simple machines, and the life cycle (raising eggs-to-chicks).

Hope that give you some insight into the school.

17:22 here. Thank you so much for posting this! Reading it really did make me get excited about what goes on at TR and got my mind of the lacking playground and into the classroom where much of the learning takes place. Thank you. Now I'm excited about going to registration orientation next week.

[Anonymous]

The kindergarten bake shop thing sounds so cool. My DCPS kindergartner would absolutely love that.