Thomson Elementary School

[Anonymous]

Is there any reason this school isn't discussed more? Does anyone have feedback positive/negative? We live and work within 5 blocks of the school, and with a rising PK3er, we may be interested. It is classified as "rising", offers Mandarin and is a candidate for an IB PY program.

[Anonymous]

I live downtown and we talk about it all the time. In fact, we just had a great meeting discussing downtown schools and this was one of the top choices we talked about.

DCUM = Cap Hill and Ward 3

You need to go to other places to talk about downtown choices.

[Anonymous]

Thanks 11:32... I'm trying to not get lottery crazy, but also get to know my viable and non-viable options.

[Anonymous]

We looked closely at Thomson a couple years ago for PS-3 (my daughter is Chinese, so the ethnic mix & mandarin instruction were appealing). We applied in the lottery but didn't get in & she's happy now at another DCPS.

The school had a lot of momentum two principals ago, but Dr. Camp retired and Dupont only lasted a couple years (and apparently had problems with discipline?). I'm not sure what the current principal is like.

Some parents ding the school for a lack of outdoor play space -- the recess space is only semi-outdoors (w/a floor and ceiling but open walls -- like an above-ground parking garage?). There is a rooftop garden, but AFAIK no plans to convert that to a play area.

Academically, it's a mix -- the aggregate scores are so-so, and there's a wide range of scores among ethnic subgroups. When we looked, they were just getting going with the IB primary program -- I'm not sure where that stands now.

It does have a good amount of diversity for a DCPS -- few white kids, but the majority ethnic group (Hispanic) is less than 60% of the student body, and the rest is evenly split between black and Asian kids.

If you're looking ahead to your MS options, Thomson feeds into Jefferson, which isn't looking great right now, but no idea what it will look like in eight years. But if you're planning to go charter/private for MS, that might not matter anyway.

[Anonymous]

Go visit, as with many downtown schools - the lack of playground is a serious issue. But it's not terrible. The Chinese is great and many of the Chinese kids from the area go there because of the ELL program so that's also good.

[Anonymous]

I went to an open house a month or so ago and found it to be a great little school. They work around the no outdoor playground issue. I am definitely putting it as one of our 12 slots.

[Anonymous]

I will add that I live near Jefferson and have been really impressed with their principal when she's come to community meetings (and she often does!). They had some nice gains in test scores too. I know a woman in her 20s who attended Jefferson when it had the reputation of being second to Deal in terms of school quality, and I think it has the opportunity to rise again.

[Anonymous]

Actually they told us at the Open House that they no longer feed into Jefferson. They have another International Baccalaureate school as an option but I just can't remember which.

[Anonymous]

This definitely sounds like exploring in more detail. I'm the product of an IB education and grateful.

[Anonymous]

Although the lack of green space is not ideal, I was pleasantly surprised to find out the school has an indoor gym for basketball, etc. I wasn't expecting a gym given the downtown location and the school is bigger on the inside than I imagined it to be. I toured the school 2 years ago so maybe they've done some updating, but I do remember thinking they could/should create more of a play area or garden or something on the roof.

[Anonymous]

According to http://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Thomson+Elementary+School they feed to Jefferson Academy, which is working towards an IB curriculum (that then feeds to Eastern's IB program). They switched over from Jefferson JHS to Jefferson Academy a few years ago; for a while, the school had one principal for the older kids in the JHS and one for the younger grades of Academy but I think it's all Academy now.

[Anonymous]

if they do change the feeder pattern for Thomson, the other Ward 2 MS is SWW @ Franklin-Stevens.

[Anonymous]

When is the open house?

[Anonymous]

They do have a roof garden. It's a really nice space.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They do have a roof garden. It's a really nice space.

Great, but where do the kids play outside?