Your Experience with Barnard
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Anonymous
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Looking to hear from those whose children currently attend...not what you've heard from others. Considering it as our in-boundary school for our Pk4 son. Why do you like it/not like it? Would you try any of the close-by charters instead? Not looking to drive across town.
Thanks! |
Anonymous
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We are an in-boundary family at Barnard and absolutely love it. It was our #1 choice for the lottery. Our daughter is in PK-3 this year, loving every minute of it. DD is thriving... she was writing her name by October (we were amazed)!
Everyone is wonderful at the school; Dr. Reed is a phenomenal school leader and every staff member we've encountered has been extremely positive and friendly. We love that we can walk to/from school and that her classmates live in the neighborhood. The fact that the school is so close to our house has definitely improved our quality of life - even though her daycare wasn't THAT much farther away, the idea of returning to that commute feels dramatic to me now. Not to mention that the school has great facilities - library, gym, music room, playground, field, etc. Definitely recommend that you take a tour and see the school for yourself! Good luck! |
Anonymous
Thank you, sounds wonderful! I really appreciate your feedback. |
Anonymous
| Forgot to mention, they use Tools of the Mind curriculum which we were really impressed with. You should read about the approach if curriculum choice is important to you! http://www.toolsofthemind.org/ |
Anonymous
| We are at a WOTP school now but I recommend Barnard highly - great teachers, effective principal, kids were nice, facility is nice too, easy/quiet location/air quality, many parents are non-profit professionals...did not do a lot of fundraising and PTA was ineffectual, which we did not appreciate until we moved. An egalitarian school where they do not hit you up for money all the time, but also there are not a lot of extracurriculars set up for afterschool on campus. |
Anonymous
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We sent our child to Barnard for PK-3 and had a very good experience. we had two teachers for 16 students and both teachers were engaged and encouraging.
I would not recommend the aftercare program because the ratio of students to teachers is something like 24:1 and the children get mixed up in age groups. We chose not to do the aftercare program. We left Barnard after getting into a charter for PK4 and beyond. |
Anonymous
thats nice to hear. Do you think you will stay past the early grades? we are trying to balance the needs of preschool wtih the longer term in elem school. |
Anonymous
PP here. It's highly unlikely that we will change schools, We're really happy at Barnard and consider ourselves very lucky to have such a great neighborhood school. However since two charter schools have moved (or are planning to move) closer to our home recently (DC Bilingual and Bridges), we do have new circumstances to consider. The only reason we *might* leave Barnard at some point during elementary is if 1) we got a spot at one of these schools (location is very important to us) and 2) were impressed with the school after we visited and felt it would be a better fit for our child/family (possible, but unlikely). |
Anonymous
| Sadly, as I explore DCPS PK options and really want to believe Barnard is a school worth looking into, it seems like a red flag to me that (1) the school has no stand alone website, and (2) the school calendar that does exist (left column on Barnard's DCPS profile page) only lists ANC meetings taking place in the building. This feeds right into the only thing I've ever heard about this school that it's run by old guard neighborhood residents and not child-focused or at all hip with the times. In any case, I emailed the principal to find out how I could visit. I have been sitting here all morning searching for and entering open house dates into our family's google calendar. Barnard is not at all impressing me at this moment. |
Anonymous
This past year the tours were every Thursday morning at 9am. We were very impressed with Barnard. Dr. Reid is extremely well respected among parents. We have a number of happy friends there for PK3/PK4. |
Anonymous
That is the deciding factor for you? Okay... You can complain about it not being there or you can join up and make it happen. |
Anonymous
| I came back to say that it looks like I was looking at the DCPS school-wide system-wide calendar, with all the listings of the ANC meetings. That said, I still think it's poor that they don't have a dedicated Barnard School website, and we may or may not show up for an open house because of it. For real. I think we are pretty normal and nice go with the flow people but I am not going to put my baby in a school that needs but so much help. We're looking for decent AND smart, with it educators. He already has a Nana, a Grandma and a big family who are nice to him. We can get nice, warm and fuzzy at home. A school in 2016 without an online presence is lame and there's no wishful thinking that away. That said, it's a lottery, we're not rich, and our neighborhood in-boundary school is a non-starter... |
Anonymous
It's me 11:13 again, the one unsure of what to make of the lack of a website. 12:53, thanks for the info. That's very good to know! #keepinghopealive 
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Anonymous
FYI. Barnard isn't the safety it once was. IB kids were on the wailist this year. |
Anonymous
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Silliest reason ever for dismissing a school. But think Barnard has dodged a bullet if PP doesn't apply. God help whichever school you join.
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