Feedback on AppleTree Spring Valley

[Anonymous]

Interested in feedback on AppleTree Spring Valley by any former/current parents. We are finalizing our lottery list and considering listing this as #1. Any thoughts on positives/negatives would be welcome. If you have experience with the before/after care programs, please let me know your thoughts.

[Anonymous]

Bump

[Anonymous]

We liked it. Very academic focused, which was really good for our DD. She learned lots of early phonics stuff even in prek 3. Good facility, brand new, playgrounds not huge but nice. They had several field trips over the year, both traveling to outside venues and bringing in events into the school. Principal is great and very organized. Not a ton of outdoor play time, but our child never seemed like it was an issue.

[Anonymous]

Agree with PP. we’ve had a great experience in the main classroom for sure. My 3 year old has learned a lot of fine motor/writing and letters/phonics. Not tons of outdoor time, but it seems like there’s enough play time at “centers” for him.

after care is … fine. My DS is generally reluctant to leave, so that’s a good sign? I’m not expecting much more than that.

I would say, if you have other options that are full elementary school, that may be a pro. We’re back in the lottery for PK4, hoping for our IB school. Which will mean 2 new schools in 2 years, which feels like a lot at this age.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you! These are helpful.

[Anonymous]

We were at another AT and had a great experience. The teachers were very well-qualified and caring; our kid had some trouble transitioning because she was at home up until school started, and the teachers were amazing at working on that. Our kid started running off without saying goodbye by the second or third month or school.

One thing to know is that it is a fairly academic program compared to other preschools. That was a plus for us and for our kid's temperament. She and a substantial group of kids were reading (and I don't mean sight words-- I mean full books, fluently) and writing full sentences by the end of pre-k 4. Some people would see my kid, at barely 5, reading a chapter book and be amazed. While we encouraged reading at home, it really was all AT that got her there. However, some other kids may not mesh well with a more academic program or you may be interested in something a little less structure.

[Anonymous]

I'm not OP, but have been debating between another AppleTree (Lincoln Park) and Miner. The commute would be much easier if we did AppleTree, but I've been concerned about the more "academic" nature of AT. Particularly since DD will be coming from a Montessori nursery program that has very much been child led.

Can you elaborate on what they did that makes it more "academic" than the DCPS creative curriculum? I know they use Every Child Ready vs. Creative Curriculum at Miner and I've read about how it differs. I've done site visits at both places and they don't seem all that different from an observation perspective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not OP, but have been debating between another AppleTree (Lincoln Park) and Miner. The commute would be much easier if we did AppleTree, but I've been concerned about the more "academic" nature of AT. Particularly since DD will be coming from a Montessori nursery program that has very much been child led.

Can you elaborate on what they did that makes it more "academic" than the DCPS creative curriculum? I know they use Every Child Ready vs. Creative Curriculum at Miner and I've read about how it differs. I've done site visits at both places and they don't seem all that different from an observation perspective.

I can only speak to my experience at AT (and what other parents have told me). I didn’t find that the actual school experience was too academic; learning happened in 10-15 min short bursts they call “small group” while the rest of the kids were in different centers (which included art, sensory play, dramatic play, etc). The center cycling and schedule seem very similar to what I observed when visiting a school like Miner, for instance.

They do care very much about progress towards kindergarten readiness. They had specific skills they wanted learned within each semester, which included basic reading and writing and math awareness (like very basic arithmetic) by the end of pre-K 4. They also had “homework” the first year that was weekly worksheets; my kid really liked them, and I liked seeing what she was learning. In pre-k 4, they stopped doing homework but did lots of “presentations” and other things where a child led something. (I actually think they were experimenting to see what worked.) My kid especially LOVED the presentations, probably because she’s very outgoing (and bossy). They also had children read to the class, teach the class, share skills, bring in a parent to demonstrate something, and so on.

Most of the day was still play-based. But I have heard from other parents that the day seemed more structured and included more “work” than other preschools. (I’m sure some would be horrified by homework, for instance.) They really focused on familiarity with typical elementary school tasks.
But my kid was really happy and it was all developmentally appropriate.

Overall, I really don’t think there’s a huge difference in curriculums or that it matters so much. My kid went to kindergarten and is just like any other kid, and I don’t really see a huge difference between kids who were at a Montessori schools vs AppleTree or a DCPS or something. AT worked for our family also because it was a very short commute and it had many kids that went into our local DCPS. Those are all important factors too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not OP, but have been debating between another AppleTree (Lincoln Park) and Miner. The commute would be much easier if we did AppleTree, but I've been concerned about the more "academic" nature of AT. Particularly since DD will be coming from a Montessori nursery program that has very much been child led.

Can you elaborate on what they did that makes it more "academic" than the DCPS creative curriculum? I know they use Every Child Ready vs. Creative Curriculum at Miner and I've read about how it differs. I've done site visits at both places and they don't seem all that different from an observation perspective.

I can only speak to my experience at AT (and what other parents have told me). I didn’t find that the actual school experience was too academic; learning happened in 10-15 min short bursts they call “small group” while the rest of the kids were in different centers (which included art, sensory play, dramatic play, etc). The center cycling and schedule seem very similar to what I observed when visiting a school like Miner, for instance.

They do care very much about progress towards kindergarten readiness. They had specific skills they wanted learned within each semester, which included basic reading and writing and math awareness (like very basic arithmetic) by the end of pre-K 4. They also had “homework” the first year that was weekly worksheets; my kid really liked them, and I liked seeing what she was learning. In pre-k 4, they stopped doing homework but did lots of “presentations” and other things where a child led something. (I actually think they were experimenting to see what worked.) My kid especially LOVED the presentations, probably because she’s very outgoing (and bossy). They also had children read to the class, teach the class, share skills, bring in a parent to demonstrate something, and so on.

Most of the day was still play-based. But I have heard from other parents that the day seemed more structured and included more “work” than other preschools. (I’m sure some would be horrified by homework, for instance.) They really focused on familiarity with typical elementary school tasks.
But my kid was really happy and it was all developmentally appropriate.

Overall, I really don’t think there’s a huge difference in curriculums or that it matters so much. My kid went to kindergarten and is just like any other kid, and I don’t really see a huge difference between kids who were at a Montessori schools vs AppleTree or a DCPS or something. AT worked for our family also because it was a very short commute and it had many kids that went into our local DCPS. Those are all important factors too.

Thank you for the detailed response. Really helpful insights!

[Anonymous]

Just saying I'm a Apple Tree spring valley parent and we have loved it for both years we've been there! It's been fantastic for my kid.

[Anonymous]

How is it for more active, outdoorsy kids? Or it doesn’t really matter?

[Anonymous]

Also how is aftercare?