East of the River Options

[Anonymous]

I've been really unsatisfied with our experience at Lee East End this year, but I'm having trouble finding other options that would be better to apply for next year.

I toured Stokes East End before the pandemic and I was appalled by the behaviors I saw - both from students and staff. Any idea how it's going these days?

Global Citizens could be an option, but I also have no idea how it is actually going and they don't seem to have any in person tours available right now.

Wildflower Riverseed won't have 2nd grade next year, which is what my eldest will need. I really wish they did because this would be the perfect solution.

I'm not interested in any of the "no excuses" type schools like KIPP, DC Scholars, Rocketship, etc.

Is there anything I'm missing? Are we just stuck?

[Anonymous]

Global Citizens will probably have tours soon.

I would check out Houston, Kimball, and Beers. Do you have a boy or a girl? If a girl, look into Excel.

Have you considered Friendship schools? They have a pretty good reputation and while it's a pretty traditional approach I wouldn't say it's "no excuses". And I do know people who are happy with DC Prep Edgewood so maybe you could check out their other locations.

I know these schools aren't east of the river, but on the highway would Amidon-Bowen, Tyler, Payne, or Van Ness be convenient for you?

[Anonymous]

I'd look at the Empower K12 DC Bold schools - check out Center City Congress Heights?

https://www.dcboldschools.org/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Global Citizens will probably have tours soon.

I would check out Houston, Kimball, and Beers. Do you have a boy or a girl? If a girl, look into Excel.

Have you considered Friendship schools? They have a pretty good reputation and while it's a pretty traditional approach I wouldn't say it's "no excuses". And I do know people who are happy with DC Prep Edgewood so maybe you could check out their other locations.

I know these schools aren't east of the river, but on the highway would Amidon-Bowen, Tyler, Payne, or Van Ness be convenient for you?

I've been to all three - Houston, Kimball, and Beers, and while I think they are good schools, I don't think they will be able to provide what my kids need unfortunately (not enough for me to want to switch schools). I would be okay with Tyler or Payne, I'm just guessing it would be impossible or near impossible to lottery in without in-boundary preference. I also forgot to mention that I am also not a fan of the DC Prep model.

I'll look into Excel because I don't know anything about that school, so thank you!

[Anonymous]

I know families who have been very happy at Beers. Depending on where you live, you can cut through Fort Dupont/Fort Circle park to get to Hillcrest from East Capitol. My son was at a home daycare right near Beers while I was teaching off East Capitol, and it was not a bad commute at all. Not sure which middle school Beers feeds into, but I know there are some families at Eliot Hine from Beers.

Anonymous wrote:Global Citizens will probably have tours soon.

I would check out Houston, Kimball, and Beers. Do you have a boy or a girl? If a girl, look into Excel.

Have you considered Friendship schools? They have a pretty good reputation and while it's a pretty traditional approach I wouldn't say it's "no excuses". And I do know people who are happy with DC Prep Edgewood so maybe you could check out their other locations.

I know these schools aren't east of the river, but on the highway would Amidon-Bowen, Tyler, Payne, or Van Ness be convenient for you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know families who have been very happy at Beers. Depending on where you live, you can cut through Fort Dupont/Fort Circle park to get to Hillcrest from East Capitol. My son was at a home daycare right near Beers while I was teaching off East Capitol, and it was not a bad commute at all. Not sure which middle school Beers feeds into, but I know there are some families at Eliot Hine from Beers.

Anonymous wrote:Global Citizens will probably have tours soon.

I would check out Houston, Kimball, and Beers. Do you have a boy or a girl? If a girl, look into Excel.

Have you considered Friendship schools? They have a pretty good reputation and while it's a pretty traditional approach I wouldn't say it's "no excuses". And I do know people who are happy with DC Prep Edgewood so maybe you could check out their other locations.

I know these schools aren't east of the river, but on the highway would Amidon-Bowen, Tyler, Payne, or Van Ness be convenient for you?

Longterm, if we can't afford private, we would definitely move for MS. I'm very familiar with Beers, and unfortunately don't think it would be worth the move away from Lee EE. I think I'm just over traditional school at this point.

[Anonymous]

Tyler and Payne have both historically cleared their waitlist for 2nd grade and up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tyler and Payne have both historically cleared their waitlist for 2nd grade and up.

Neither of those are east of the river. Traditionally, when people say EOTR, they mean the Anacostia River.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tyler and Payne have both historically cleared their waitlist for 2nd grade and up.

Neither of those are east of the river. Traditionally, when people say EOTR, they mean the Anacostia River.

Well yes, but that was acknowledged when I brought them up. They are WOTR schools that OP might find convenient because of the highway. Or not.

OP, you can use this data to look into out-of-boundary offers. Because all in-boundary kids have a right to attend, the only kids who lottery in or are waitlisted are out-of-boundary. I think your chances are actually quite good.

https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/aaron2446/viz/MSDCSeatsandWaitlistOfferData_draft/MSDCPublicDisplay

[Anonymous]

The OP literally said "I would be okay with Tyler or Payne, I'm just guessing it would be impossible or near impossible to lottery in without in-boundary preference."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tyler and Payne have both historically cleared their waitlist for 2nd grade and up.

Neither of those are east of the river. Traditionally, when people say EOTR, they mean the Anacostia River.

Well yes, but that was acknowledged when I brought them up. They are WOTR schools that OP might find convenient because of the highway. Or not.

OP, you can use this data to look into out-of-boundary offers. Because all in-boundary kids have a right to attend, the only kids who lottery in or are waitlisted are out-of-boundary. I think your chances are actually quite good.

https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/aaron2446/viz/MSDCSeatsandWaitlistOfferData_draft/MSDCPublicDisplay

That makes sense and I hadn't even thought of that! It's definitely worth a shot.

[Anonymous]

Definitely list a bunch of schools--you never know when one will open an additional classroom and take more out of boundary kids. Have you looked at Nalle? They have Montessori and traditional. I don't know how Leckie has changed since Learn DC has probably taken a bunch of the kids from Bolling Air Force Base who used to enroll there, but both could be worth investigating. And I'm not sure how Two Rivers Young compares to Lee East End.

Washington School for Girls starts in 3rd grade. It's not a public school, but it has no tuition. So that might be an option for the future.

[Anonymous]

I talked to a former Excel teacher last week. She said 30 teachers left since last year, frustrated by the new leadership.

I really want Excel to succeed but I was alarmed to hear that news.

I know someone who had a good experience at Randle Highlands for ECE but it sounds like you're beyond those grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I talked to a former Excel teacher last week. She said 30 teachers left since last year, frustrated by the new leadership.

I really want Excel to succeed but I was alarmed to hear that news.

I know someone who had a good experience at Randle Highlands for ECE but it sounds like you're beyond those grades.

Good to know - that's an extremely high turnover! I think Global Citizens could be a great option, but it would be a risk since they're so new.

[Anonymous]

Two Rivers Young campus is just across the river and includes many students from east of the Anacostia including ours. Good elementary school experience and worth looking into.