River School

[Anonymous]

I am looking at River School next year for DC, and was hoping to get some more information on the school....

any current parents want to share what they like about the school?
any parents that went through the process this year and want to share what made them choose River?
any parents that did not choose River would you care to elaborate on why you chose a different school?

We live in the neighborhood and I think a progressive and play based program would be a great fit for DC. I am trying to get things organized for next year and thought while this is still fresh in the minds of those that chose this year it might be a good time to ask. Also their website just has so little info it would be great to hear more stories from those with kids in the program - what they like etc.

also very interested to hear how long you plan to be at River with DC...leave at K or stick all the way through 3rd?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am looking at River School next year for DC, and was hoping to get some more information on the school....

any current parents want to share what they like about the school?
any parents that went through the process this year and want to share what made them choose River?
any parents that did not choose River would you care to elaborate on why you chose a different school?

We live in the neighborhood and I think a progressive and play based program would be a great fit for DC. I am trying to get things organized for next year and thought while this is still fresh in the minds of those that chose this year it might be a good time to ask. Also their website just has so little info it would be great to hear more stories from those with kids in the program - what they like etc.

also very interested to hear how long you plan to be at River with DC...leave at K or stick all the way through 3rd?

We knew a number of families there, all of whom were very happy. We took a hard look at the school, and for the most part liked what we saw. Two things persuaded us not to apply. One, we were concerned about the exmissions (we wanted to get on the Cathedral School track for our DS and DD). Two, it dawned on us after speaking to many other families there that it was basically a neighborhood school for Palisades.

[Anonymous]

If you haven't already, do a search of the forum as there are a number of prior River School discussions. As a longtime and current River parent, I can say it is definitely not a "local" Palisades school, though it's certainly convenient for NW DC families who don't want to send their kids to Key or Horace Mann elementary (or who want to send their kids to pre-school rather than day care).

River is simply a wonderful nurturing place. Small class sizes, wonderful teachers, caring administration, etc. Kids really seem to love it. They learn to read. They like to read! They do occasional "acting" and presentations, so kids get used to getting up in front of a group.

We've had great experiences with the River parents too -- a great bunch of moms and dads.

The one negative is that there's no big grassy field for the kdis to have recess in - -there are 3 playgrounds, though the best one, a very large one on the roof of the school, is reserved for kids at least age 5. For really young kids, this isn't a negative really at all, though for some 2nd and 3rd graders who are sports oriented and already shooting hoops at age 7 or 8, they might wish for a bigger play space. For us, that's not been an issue - - our kids do plenty of running around during recess and even more after school at home or at after-school sports activities.

[Anonymous]

Here are a few of my observations about River School. While I understand these would be viewed as mostly "negatives", I honestly believe others could see them as real positives. Here goes:

Classroom speaking model -- River prides itself on having speech therapists/pathologists in every classroom and stresses its "classroom model" as containing only two types of students in a class -- either hearing impaired or what they refer to as "model speakers." It appears they actually don't want students who fall in between these two categories. When so much is made of this model, would a child who develops speech issues while at River have his/her needs adequately addressed?

Length of school year -- River's school year runs through July 1st or nearly a month longer than most other schools in the area. We preferred to do a more traditional camp or outdoor option in June particularly since...

Outdoor play areas -- ...the outdoor play areas are extremely limited. As the PP said, the most appealing playground is the roof one which is limited to older students. While I believe children at River are adequately exercised (they also have an impressive indoor gymnasium), it seems a bit depressing to be cooped up inside in June in a building with limited outdoor play while all your friends are running around outside at camps, playgrounds, etc.

Pressure to stay to 3rd grade -- During our tour, the AD made no secret of the fact that they looked for students who would go all the way through the school. Obviously, there's no formal commitment, but we were pretty sure we didn't want to stay at the school that long.

Hope that's helpful. I agree with the PP that River is certainly NOT a Palisades community school. It draws from around NW DC and even VA and MD. I do think, however, that some of the administrators have an overly high opinion of themselves. The school is only 10 years old and accepted nearly every child we know that applied. It's a fine option for your child and I've heard many positives about the nurturing classroom, but it certainly wasn't a good fit for us.

[Anonymous]

To the PP, a few things to correct about your post. We are a long time River School family, but we have children who have gone on to other schools well before third grade, and felt no pressure in that regard.
Also - one of our children did develop speech issues while at River, and we were SO happy that our child was there - to have one of your teachers be a speech pathologist is of great benefit to all of the children's speech and language development - and they are in a great position to identify and help when issues arise.
Finally, I know a number of children who were wait-listed and also many who were outright rejected (variety of ages) - so I believe it is harder to get into than you described. I would say, however, that the younger years are the most competitive, and as the kids enter K and beyond I would think it would be less competitive. We agree that the outdoor space could be better - esp for active children who really want to be outside running on fields / starting to play sports, etc.

[Anonymous]

Great school with nurturing teachers. However, I keep hearing nightmare stories about exmissions and getting no help at all in the early grades.

[Anonymous]

River is not a play based pre-school. They emphasize learning to read and write at an early age (pre-K). That is a bonus for some people and it does give kids who go on to other school's at K a head start. Some people aren't looking for this kind of academic school at a young age, however.

[Anonymous]

This is 11:12 responding to 12:00:

I don't think you mean to say that you are "correcting" my post; I think you mean you simply disagree with the post. That's fine. I offered my observations; you are offering yours. Your observations may differ from mine, but my observations don't need "correcting."

It is true River School stresses the classroom model I describe. It is clearly stated on their website under class make-up (see http://www.riverschool.net/cs/the_river_approach/model_overview). I expressed our concern that a child who developed a problem may not get adequate attention. We are not River parents and I'm glad to hear your child's needs were addressed. However, this was our quite valid concern as a prospective family. The OP was asking for perspectives from parents who did not choose the school. I'm offering these.

Further, during our tour, the AD said they looked for people to stay through the third grade. That also doesn't need "correcting." Obviously, the school can't keep families at the school. Anyone can leave whenever they want, and it doesn't surprise me that some (and you) did. I'm simply relaying what was said during our tour.

Lastly, I offered my own experience which is with over half a dozen friends who applied to the school for their younger classes. All but one was accepted. Again, this is simply my experience.

I understand you have strong positive feelings towards River. If you are a current parent paying $20,000 a year to send your child to the school, I would hope you're happy with the school. However, there are others who have less positive feelings -- valid feelings -- which I believe could be useful to the OP and others reading these threads. That was my intention at least -- to offer a different perspective.