Thomson Elementary School- is the PreK3 classroom in basement?

[Anonymous]

planning to go to their open house and heard that the PreK 3 classroom is in basement, which is a deal breaker to me. Could anybody help confirm this? Thanks

[Anonymous]

Well if you're planning to go to the open house anyway....? Sorry if it sounds snarky, but you will find out then.

[Anonymous]

There are a lot of lovely things about Thomson, even if the building has some challenges with outdoor space. It's worth going to the open house anyway to see what you learn/think!

[Anonymous]

There are multiple PreK classrooms. I believe they are all on the first floor. There are no classrooms on the lower level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well if you're planning to go to the open house anyway....? Sorry if it sounds snarky, but you will find out then.

could be that planned to go and thinking of cancelling if the classroom is underground?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of lovely things about Thomson, even if the building has some challenges with outdoor space. It's worth going to the open house anyway to see what you learn/think!

Thanks! could you elaborate about the good things about Thomson?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are multiple PreK classrooms. I believe they are all on the first floor. There are no classrooms on the lower level.

Thank you for the info! Glad it's not underground

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of lovely things about Thomson, even if the building has some challenges with outdoor space. It's worth going to the open house anyway to see what you learn/think!

Thanks! could you elaborate about the good things about Thomson?

DP but my kid is in PreK-3 Thomson and I think it's a great, under-the-radar option. (Disclosure: I'm on the PTO, so DCUM will consider me a "booster" but whatever). We are mulling a move to the burbs but if we stay in DC, we are planning to stick with Thomson through grade 5. The building is old, yes. And there are no outdoor playgrounds - they're indoors. (To be fair, the kids don't seem bothered by that, but it turned me off when I first looked at the school.)

But the facilities are the worst thing about Thomson - otherwise it's a lovely, easy-to-lottery-into school and we feel super lucky.

Here's a list of the great things:

- Principal Carmen Shepherd is one of the longest serving school leaders in DCPS. She's been at Thomson for 12 years and is committed to the school. She's the reason it is great. We are attending Thomson out-of-boundary. I work in education so I called people I know who work for DCPS to find out about the school (and others in the area) and they absolutely raved about both the school and Shepherd. She knows every single kid's name and is accessible to parents. She holds monthly coffees for the community. It's mostly parents but anyone can drop in.

- Teachers stick around forever and are great. My kid's teacher has been at Thomson for 11 years and brought her best friend, also an amazing ECE teacher, there. They both plan to retire from the school.

- The upper grades teachers are awesome and (according to my friends who have kids who went through grade 5 at Thomson) experienced and competent enough to differentiate instruction. That's not true everywhere in DCPS. A friend of mine who I researched schools with wondered if Thomson would be able to prepare her kid for a rigorous middle school like Basis. So I called teachers I know at Basis and asked how the Thomson kids were doing. I'm not sure how I feel about Basis and don't want to turn this into a Basis thread, but I'll admit I was happy to hear that the Basis teachers thought the Thomson kids arrived consistently well-prepared.

- Thomson has DCPS' first IB (International Baccalaureate) elementary school program. They've kept it in place for more than 10 years, which speaks to the quality of school leadership. In fact, the early childhood elementary program is slated to be featured in IB's journal, which means it's being held up as a model for how to teach critical thinking, communication, etc. to really little kids for schools all over the world.

- Thomson feeds one of the few decent middle schools in DCPS: School Without Walls at Francis-Stephens.

- Thomson is diverse. It's got kids who live in multi-million condos and kids who live in subsidized housing. It's Hispanic, Black, Asian, White. No race or ethnic group really dominates, which I like.

- Thomson just has a warm, friendly, joyful atmosphere. This video the staff made to welcome the kids back to school and introduce themselves is a good representation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEkIGClBZ9A

To be fair,Thomson has had its challenges with enrollment recently because it used to be the go-to school for parents who worked downtown and had a not-so-desirable in-boundary school. There are fewer families like that because of work from home and because so many elementary schools are improving. The good news is that makes it really easy to lottery into, which was lucky for us because our in-boundary school is not good.

Happy to chat more if you want my email address - just reply in this thread.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the detailed info and all the good things sound really appealing. A very specific question: you mentioned the indoor playground- do the kids get any outdoor time if the playground is indoor?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of lovely things about Thomson, even if the building has some challenges with outdoor space. It's worth going to the open house anyway to see what you learn/think!

Thanks! could you elaborate about the good things about Thomson?

DP but my kid is in PreK-3 Thomson and I think it's a great, under-the-radar option. (Disclosure: I'm on the PTO, so DCUM will consider me a "booster" but whatever). We are mulling a move to the burbs but if we stay in DC, we are planning to stick with Thomson through grade 5. The building is old, yes. And there are no outdoor playgrounds - they're indoors. (To be fair, the kids don't seem bothered by that, but it turned me off when I first looked at the school.)

But the facilities are the worst thing about Thomson - otherwise it's a lovely, easy-to-lottery-into school and we feel super lucky.

Here's a list of the great things:

- Principal Carmen Shepherd is one of the longest serving school leaders in DCPS. She's been at Thomson for 12 years and is committed to the school. She's the reason it is great. We are attending Thomson out-of-boundary. I work in education so I called people I know who work for DCPS to find out about the school (and others in the area) and they absolutely raved about both the school and Shepherd. She knows every single kid's name and is accessible to parents. She holds monthly coffees for the community. It's mostly parents but anyone can drop in.

- Teachers stick around forever and are great. My kid's teacher has been at Thomson for 11 years and brought her best friend, also an amazing ECE teacher, there. They both plan to retire from the school.

- The upper grades teachers are awesome and (according to my friends who have kids who went through grade 5 at Thomson) experienced and competent enough to differentiate instruction. That's not true everywhere in DCPS. A friend of mine who I researched schools with wondered if Thomson would be able to prepare her kid for a rigorous middle school like Basis. So I called teachers I know at Basis and asked how the Thomson kids were doing. I'm not sure how I feel about Basis and don't want to turn this into a Basis thread, but I'll admit I was happy to hear that the Basis teachers thought the Thomson kids arrived consistently well-prepared.

- Thomson has DCPS' first IB (International Baccalaureate) elementary school program. They've kept it in place for more than 10 years, which speaks to the quality of school leadership. In fact, the early childhood elementary program is slated to be featured in IB's journal, which means it's being held up as a model for how to teach critical thinking, communication, etc. to really little kids for schools all over the world.

- Thomson feeds one of the few decent middle schools in DCPS: School Without Walls at Francis-Stephens.

- Thomson is diverse. It's got kids who live in multi-million condos and kids who live in subsidized housing. It's Hispanic, Black, Asian, White. No race or ethnic group really dominates, which I like.

- Thomson just has a warm, friendly, joyful atmosphere. This video the staff made to welcome the kids back to school and introduce themselves is a good representation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEkIGClBZ9A

To be fair,Thomson has had its challenges with enrollment recently because it used to be the go-to school for parents who worked downtown and had a not-so-desirable in-boundary school. There are fewer families like that because of work from home and because so many elementary schools are improving. The good news is that makes it really easy to lottery into, which was lucky for us because our in-boundary school is not good.

Happy to chat more if you want my email address - just reply in this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for the detailed info and all the good things sound really appealing. A very specific question: you mentioned the indoor playground- do the kids get any outdoor time if the playground is indoor?

The playground is indoors, but it is not temp controlled. The kids do get fresh air and I believe they also have rooftop access. When I was looking for schools for my kid, it was my top choice. Everyone seemed so into the school. The kids were so excited to share their reports with us. The principal had a great vibe and was very open and friendly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for the detailed info and all the good things sound really appealing. A very specific question: you mentioned the indoor playground- do the kids get any outdoor time if the playground is indoor?

The playground is indoors, but it is not temp controlled. The kids do get fresh air and I believe they also have rooftop access. When I was looking for schools for my kid, it was my top choice. Everyone seemed so into the school. The kids were so excited to share their reports with us. The principal had a great vibe and was very open and friendly.

This is the PP who you were responding to and yup, that's true as far as I know. The indoor playgrounds allow for fresh air and there is a roof. I'm told some of the older grades also go to nearby Franklin Park.

I think the lack of true outdoor space is a huge part of the reason Thomson isn't more popular. At least that's what the people I talked to at DCPS speculated when I asked why it was so easy to get into Thomson out-of-boundary if it was really as great as they said.

And I get it. As a parent, it's one of the few things I'd change about Thomson. But in my mind, the principal, assistant principal, teachers who know what they are doing, and a good middle school feeder is more important than better outdoor space.

I get updates from my son's teacher, with pictures, almost everyday. And my kid is already learning some great skills. Academic stuff like shapes and how to write his name and even some letter sounds, but also critical thinking skills using IB language like "I noticed" or "I want to know more about" or "I have questions about." And he's practicing things like "snake breathing" when he gets upset. Plus he's made a ton of friends and I've even made friends with other parents. It's a nice community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for the detailed info and all the good things sound really appealing. A very specific question: you mentioned the indoor playground- do the kids get any outdoor time if the playground is indoor?

The playground is indoors, but it is not temp controlled. The kids do get fresh air and I believe they also have rooftop access. When I was looking for schools for my kid, it was my top choice. Everyone seemed so into the school. The kids were so excited to share their reports with us. The principal had a great vibe and was very open and friendly.

So, as experienced on my tour of Thomson, the playgrounds (I think one per floor) are essentially really large screened porches or lanais, with the one long east wall being screened and about 75% structurally open to light and air (not bug screen, but wire mesh to prevent toys, etc, from landing on folks walking on the sidewalk below). I think they are about 60'x30'? Basically, in my view it's perfect. The kids can get outdoor running-around time rain or shine- they only keep them inside and leverage the gymnasium if it's below freezing- and the individual spaces can be tailored to the age groups using them. The kids won't get direct sunlight, I guess, which could be a dealbreaker for some, but unlike daycare no elementary school teacher is going to have time to be helping your little one apply sunscreen, either, so I view it as a plus.

As a walking commuter over the years past the school I suspect the kids on different floors try their hardest to be louder than every other floor when they play, which is more than slightly startling as one walks by-- but I expect is a lot of hilarity for the kids.

And yeah, the kids we ran into on our tour seemed the most joyous and excited of the daytime tours I did. It definitely caused me to raise my personal ranking of Thompson several slots.

[Anonymous]

I heard it was a dungeon, complete with manipulatives and calm-down corners.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I heard it was a dungeon, complete with manipulatives and calm-down corners.

er... i don't know what this even means, although i take it it's bad?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard it was a dungeon, complete with manipulatives and calm-down corners.

er... i don't know what this even means, although i take it it's bad?

I'm assuming this is a joke?

It's not a dungeon, you guys!