Experiences with Stevens Early Learning Center

[Anonymous]

It's surprising to me that if they're underenrolled they don't use more of the space for self-contained classrooms--they have some, but they could shift them from elementaries with higher enrollments that could use the space.

It's also interesting that the 0-3 program is run by CentroNia--it is bilingual? Why not allow them to operate the PK as well as a CBO, allowing preference for the kids who went there from 0-3, and giving kids two more years of bilingual education? That all seems to make more sense than creating feeder into a PK-8 DCPS.

The other thing DCPS could do is open an Opportunity Academy (like Luke C Moore and Ballou/Roosevelt STAY) in one of the underutilized office buildings on the same block as Stevens, then give preference at Stevens for kids of adult-ed students. Goodwill Excel and Briya both have adult ed and child care, so it would be a similar model.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's surprising to me that if they're underenrolled they don't use more of the space for self-contained classrooms--they have some, but they could shift them from elementaries with higher enrollments that could use the space.

It's also interesting that the 0-3 program is run by CentroNia--it is bilingual? Why not allow them to operate the PK as well as a CBO, allowing preference for the kids who went there from 0-3, and giving kids two more years of bilingual education? That all seems to make more sense than creating feeder into a PK-8 DCPS.

The other thing DCPS could do is open an Opportunity Academy (like Luke C Moore and Ballou/Roosevelt STAY) in one of the underutilized office buildings on the same block as Stevens, then give preference at Stevens for kids of adult-ed students. Goodwill Excel and Briya both have adult ed and child care, so it would be a similar model.

And not just a feeder into a PK-8 DCPS, but one that is already well into a modernization without an additional PK feed in mind.

[Anonymous]

I never understood the goal of having the elc in that location. It had an at risk preference but the nearby elementary schools are decent and at risk families would have a hard time going cross town for prek, especially if they had an older kid at a different school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I never understood the goal of having the elc in that location. It had an at risk preference but the nearby elementary schools are decent and at risk families would have a hard time going cross town for prek, especially if they had an older kid at a different school.

I think
a) DCPS owned the building and didn't want to give it to a charter so they had to do something with it
b) nearby schools had PK waitlists
c) pre-pandemic, there was more demand for PK downtown--yes lots of parents with office jobs, but also lower-paying things at GW or food service or security guards or retail....or families wanted their kids in a safer/more economically diverse environment and had relatives who could take them downtown
d) I don't think they really cared if they filled the at-risk slots, but they wanted to have the preference. I think it's a good thing to prioritize at-risk families that want to go there, while keeping it economically diverse. Certainly if they really wanted to help at-risk families there are other ways they could have spent the money (housing vouchers plus services, free public transit, more ERAP, utility assistance, higher TANF, subsidizing child care that operates on evenings and weekends when lots of people are working low-wage jobs) but this let them appear equity focused without turning off upper-income people.

[Anonymous]

I had two kids in self contained at ELC and I thought it was beyond wonderful (amazing principal and top-notch special ed professionals). The kids outgrew it and went to what is considered by many an excellent ward 3 elementary but in my opinion Stevens was miles ahead.

[Anonymous]

Hi - looking for any insight from parents that’s kids went to Steven’s early learning, how were your experiences the past year? My daughter was matched for 24-25 school year but I just had a bad experience with the main admin contact/enrollment officer.

[Anonymous]

No firsthand experience but everything I’ve heard has been positive and there are times when I think it might have been a better option for us than IB. I really wouldn’t base a decision on a one off with admin unless it’s special needs related. The admin at our PK is really irrelevant. If you’re going to be at a school for all of elementary, it would perhaps be different but over 1-2 PK years what you really need is just caring teachers and a safe environment.

[Anonymous]

I was looking for other parents’ opinions about Stevens and came across this post. My child is did PK-3 here, and our experience has been really disappointing. The teacher doesn’t pay attention to dietary restrictions, is frequently absent, and conducts improper assessments. For instance, they moved my child to a multilingual support class simply because he was shy during the first week of school. Had to struggle to get him out of it.

The grades on assessments are also faulty and biased. My child can identify all the alphabets and numbers and even write, but the teacher claimed he had no idea, which was completely inaccurate.

Maybe we just got unlucky with this class and teacher, but I honestly couldnt wait to pull him out of this school.

I’d strongly recommend avoiding this school environment, especially if this teacher is assigned to your child. Even her helper teachers kept changing — she’s was already on her fourth in 4 months last year, which says a lot about how poorly the class is managed.

[Anonymous]

Is it true that Stevens and MR share a principal? Has that always been the case and has it been the same principal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that Stevens and MR share a principal? Has that always been the case and has it been the same principal?

That's not how it's listed on the DCPS school profiles, so if it is true it would be recent. That would be pretty bonkers, though no worse than when Francis became "SWW at Francis-Stevens" and a single principal was over both a PK-8 boundary school and a selective high school many blocks away.

[Anonymous]

It is true

[Anonymous]

My kids, 4 and 3, were on the waitlist and recently called off. Thus, I tried to contact the institution via phone (voicemail) and email, but didn't receive any feedback. Do you know what happen to the institution?

[Anonymous]

We are also disappointed with Stevens. While we are not in the multilingual group, we’ve had three assistant teachers in the past four months, which has contributed to inconsistency. Our main teacher rarely provides constructive feedback, and the class plans feel disorganized. We receive only 3–4 random photos from the classroom each week, making it difficult to understand what’s actually happening there. The excessive use of timeouts to discipline is concerning, as they are widely regarded as ineffective and potentially traumatic for some children. The extra classes seem inexistent. In four months, we’ve seen only 2 art projects from our child. Despite having weekly Spanish lessons, my child cannot even say "hello" in Spanish. There is an obvious lack of meaningful enrichment activities, no field trips, and no real community-building events to engage families.

On a positive note, my child enjoys gym, and the gym teacher seems fantastic.

the fact that less than 50% of students return for PK4 is quite telling.

[Anonymous]

One of our kids did PK3 and PK4 at Stevens and we were quite happy. We wanted to send another kid to Stevens this year but did not make it off the waitlist for PK3 and ended up enrolling in another DCPS. We are considering moving that kid to Stevens for PK4 next year. There are some respects in which we have found other DCPS schools to be better (for example, larger outdoor space and better aftercare setup) but we liked the teaching and the community in our class at Stevens very much.

The excessive use of timeouts to discipline is concerning, as they are widely regarded as ineffective and potentially traumatic for some children. The extra classes seem inexistent. In four months, we’ve seen only 2 art projects from our child. Despite having weekly Spanish lessons, my child cannot even say "hello" in Spanish. There is an obvious lack of meaningful enrichment activities, no field trips, and no real community-building events to engage families.

Our experience was quite different. My kid reports that timeouts were used "just a little bit" at Stevens over those two years and were not common. At our parent-teacher conferences I recall going through stacks of art projects, particularly in PK4. (Unlike other DCPS schools where the parents aren't usually allowed past the door, at Stevens parents can walk in the school every day at drop-off and pick-up and see art projects posted in the halls.) We went on a variety of interesting field trips, each coordinated with the class's current topic of study, and a substantial number of parents participated in each trip. There is a school playdate at the beginning of the school year and an open house each year. Each teacher held a "learning celebration" several times each year where the all the parents would come to the classroom, talk with the students about what they had learned, and see the students' work from each unit in the curriculum. Parents would frequently come in and read stories to the kids.

The language classes are similar to what we've seen at other DCPS pre-K programs and are not intended to be rigorous (after all, they meet for less than an hour a week and are teaching 3-year-olds). Here are a few words in the target language, let's color pictures of them. We taught our kid Spanish in other contexts and did not expect Stevens to deliver us a kid conversant in Spanish solely by way of an occasional special.

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that Stevens and MR share a principal? Has that always been the case and has it been the same principal?

Yes, assuming that "MR" refers to Military Road ELC and not Marie Reed Elementary School. Amelia (Hunt) Birchette has been the principal of both since they opened. Stevens' Field Day actually takes place at Military Road ELC.

Thus, I tried to contact the institution via phone (voicemail) and email, but didn't receive any feedback.

I also had difficulty reaching the Stevens front desk on the phone regarding enrollment, and that concerned me at first. But once school started I never had difficulty contacting the teachers via email when I needed something, and emailing the enrollment email worked to report absences.

The teacher doesn’t pay attention to dietary restrictions, is frequently absent, and conducts improper assessments.

Here too, my experience was different. When we brought in cupcakes for birthdays, our teachers made sure we brought in some gluten free ones as well to accommodate a dietary restriction. I don't recall frequent absences from any of the teachers. At conferences the teachers went through in detail the assessments they had conducted, and they seemed to have done them carefully.

the fact that less than 50% of students return for PK4 is quite telling.

It's primarily telling of the fact that many Stevens ELC students live in school boundaries where the IB school starts at PK4. Many students from these areas choose Stevens for PK3 (because it is the closest available PK3 option) and then understandably switch to their in-boundary school for PK4, to have a shorter commute and to get to know the student body they'll be with in elementary school.
However, I recall one Stevens PK3 student who got a lottery spot at their well regarded neighborhood school for PK4, enrolled, concluded over the summer that Stevens was a better choice, and ultimately submitted a post-lottery application and returned to Stevens for PK4.

[Anonymous]

We are in PK3 at Stevens. There has not been a single field trip so far, and none are planned in the near future. Regarding community building, there have been a few so-called "authors' cafés" where the kids prepared a story, as well as one playdate with other parents and children.

I have repeatedly asked for a detailed curriculum, but beyond the "newsletters," we only receive a general outline. For example, the kids have been discussing tree for over 5 weeks. In terms of numbers and letters, they are behind the level of rigor we experienced at daycare a year ago.

As for the school's teachers , we feel like just another family with no real effort to build a relationship. This may be because most families are only there for one year. My child's name is regularly misspelled by the teacher, and some after school teachers do not even make an effort to learn how to pronounce/spell my child's name correctly, instead settling for a nickname only they use.

On a positive note, the specialized teachers for music, gym, and library all seem great.