Stevens early learning center

[Anonymous]

Just got matched with this school for PreK4. I'm not sure how I feel about it. Any parents have their kids here?
What percentage of the kids in pre k4 are at risk? Is it the majority of the class?

[Anonymous]

Bump

[Anonymous]

We toured and were happy with the school. Major drawback is lack of outdoor play space and downtown location, which may not be convenient for many people. The classrooms are nice and they have a sensory gym and some dedicated indoor play spaces. It’s nice that the entire school is dedicated to Early Childhood Education but that can also be a downside as you will need to change school again after PK4.

[Anonymous]

We are currently in PK3. Unfortunately, the location is a major drawback—traffic during drop-off and pick-up is terrible. The facilities are also underwhelming. The outdoor space is limited and uninspiring, with only a few structures that don’t accommodate many children. The only real activity is climbing up and down, which gets boring quickly.

The classrooms are not well-equipped, and my child frequently complains that they’re boring. We also didn’t get lucky with the teacher—she’s not particularly engaging, and we feel very disconnected from what’s happening in the classroom. She doesn’t seem to care for parent feedback, and when she provides feedback about our child, it’s often factually inaccurate and difficult to understand.

The after-school care has been a huge disappointment. The teachers make minimal effort to engage the children—there are no clubs, no enrichment activities, and no structure. They seem eager to leave for the day, packing the kids up 15-20 minutes early and seating them by the front door to wait for their parents, like sad little puppies.

Overall, the culture at Stevens feels very transactional. Most families are only involved for a single year, so there’s no real sense of community. The administration often prioritizes staff convenience over the needs of the children. For example, our classroom has been without a permanent aide for over three months because the school is holding the spot for the previous aide—who was, frankly, terrible. On numerous occasions when I dropped off my child and saw her scrolling through her phone, completely disengaged from the kids.

The academics is super weak - no real progress towards counting or reading. But that may be a common problem for DC public system.

The school is under-enrolled, and it seems that everyone on the waiting list is eventually offered a spot. To compensate for the low enrollment, the school has a strong focus on supporting children with special needs, as well as those experiencing homelessness or in foster care. There is also a high percentage of students considered at risk.

[Anonymous]

The only drawback would be the playground space and after pre-k4 you will need to re-enter the lottery. Other than that, we love it. My child is in pre-k3 and his teacher is amazing. I had another child he prior too. My 3 year old is now reading sight and CVC words. We have had many connections with birthday parties and classroom events.

They have multiple studies which I assume all of DCPS does the same. However my child has come home talking about sturdy foundations and ways to make buildings strong, using vocabulary words like chlorophyll, collapse, steels beams and a host of other things and we absolutely LOVE ms. carla. Im not sure of her job but between the teacher, specials teachers and Ms. Carla.