PK at Eaton

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will also chime in. This forum really can be disheartening. My son attends John Eaton and is in PreK this year and we love it and are proud to be part of the Eaton family. It seems like this board has a lot of Eaton foes and I don't understand why. It sounds like one person had a bad experience there with one teacher. It also seems like this is not the reality for most kids who attend. there are not so great teachers at every school and one never knows who their child will get.....my perspective at Eaton is early childhood is not their strength but it is not weak either. The principal is very involved and the teachers, parents and staff respect her which is really important. I am looking forward to continuing at Eaton and my son is very happy there and has tons of friends and is doing well..

Ah, the "it's just one person" defense.....

By my count there are at least 3 separate posters who have had specific negative experiences with Eaton in the early grades, and at least 2-3 different posters who feel positively about Eaton.

While I respect that you have had a good experience there it seems that others have not, and I think it's not really helpful to Eaton to dismiss it as "just one person" who is an Eaton "foe." It seems to me the better question to ask would be "is there something Eaton is missing that would make the experience better for all children who attend."

I say this because when we attended Eaton, it was clear that many children left in different years after prek-K, and I thought the school leadership was pretty delusional about why. Parents who left were mostly dismissed as suburban wannabes, social climbers who wanted to get their kids into fancy private schools, or people who couldn't tolerate diversity, etc. The school leadership (PTA, LSRT, and principal) seemed uninterested in finding out whether those transferring out were voting with their feet on the quality of the school, perhaps because there were always plenty of kids from OOB to fill those empty spots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will also chime in. This forum really can be disheartening. My son attends John Eaton and is in PreK this year and we love it and are proud to be part of the Eaton family. It seems like this board has a lot of Eaton foes and I don't understand why. It sounds like one person had a bad experience there with one teacher. It also seems like this is not the reality for most kids who attend. there are not so great teachers at every school and one never knows who their child will get.....my perspective at Eaton is early childhood is not their strength but it is not weak either. The principal is very involved and the teachers, parents and staff respect her which is really important. I am looking forward to continuing at Eaton and my son is very happy there and has tons of friends and is doing well..

I think people are just sharing their experiences and, unfortunately, they are not all good. I don't think that makes anyone an Eaton "foe." It just means some families had good experiences....some did not. Your experience was good, but that does not mean everyone will share your fortune....though I'm happy you have had a positive experience. The thread started with an inquiry about Eaton PK and here we are. Respectfully sharing experiences makes the thread richer and more authentic. I personally would not send my child back there...early childhood is PreK-3rd grade and the foundation for 4th grade which is considered the make or break grade and the hardest primary grade. If a school is weak at the starting gate.....that's a problem.

[Anonymous]

Who thinks Eaton is weak? It is a great school. What makes it weak? Test scores are high, leadership is there, parents involved, kids wonderful and happy, art, drama, music, pe, a new playground, chinese, invited to be an autonomous school for 2010-2011, received world cultures school status, fabulous teachers, enthusiastic staff, great aftercare program?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who thinks Eaton is weak? It is a great school. What makes it weak? Test scores are high, leadership is there, parents involved, kids wonderful and happy, art, drama, music, pe, a new playground, chinese, invited to be an autonomous school for 2010-2011, received world cultures school status, fabulous teachers, enthusiastic staff, great aftercare program?

Apparently there's some dissent from the party line. It seems that not everyone agrees with you.

[Anonymous]

A school is not just ONE teacher to the larger community, but for a child entering pre-k it IS the whole school. My son didn't care one bit about any of the aforementioned accoutrements, distinctions and designations. He only cared that he never, ever got to pick a treat from the treasure chest. I am only submitting my one little tiny piece of data for the OP to consider. I'm not trying to change anyone's opinion or convince anything for people who got lucky enough to be in a different class/ have a different experience.

[Anonymous]

1641, it is not "the party line" but many of us with children at Eaton are thrilled with the school, which is wonderful, we just don't all take the time to post.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A school is not just ONE teacher to the larger community, but for a child entering pre-k it IS the whole school. My son didn't care one bit about any of the aforementioned accoutrements, distinctions and designations. He only cared that he never, ever got to pick a treat from the treasure chest. I am only submitting my one little tiny piece of data for the OP to consider. I'm not trying to change anyone's opinion or convince anything for people who got lucky enough to be in a different class/ have a different experience.

NP here. That is really, really sad. For a little boy to go an entire Pre-K year without ever being singled out for a special treat that other children were enjoying is pretty unforgivable. There are several teachers and administrators who should hang their heads in shame. Obviously there's a real lack of early childhood expertise in this school. For all the wealth and special offerings at Eaton, a lot of children would be far better off at Appletree or Bridges where reaching every child really matters. So sorry that was your son's experience, PP.

[Anonymous]

That's telling that 9:43 perceives the options to be charters in Petworth and Columbia Heights or ... Eaton, which acts like a charter (in terms of enrollment addresses), but without the autonomy from DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Eaton is actually being granted autonomous status for 2010-2011. My child is in Pre-K and there is no treasure chest. My child's class had one at the beginning of the year but we spoke with the teacher and administration and expressed our concern for having it and they got rid of it. It is a very wonderful environment that does have every child in mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who thinks Eaton is weak? It is a great school. What makes it weak? Test scores are high, leadership is there, parents involved, kids wonderful and happy, art, drama, music, pe, a new playground, chinese, invited to be an autonomous school for 2010-2011, received world cultures school status, fabulous teachers, enthusiastic staff, great aftercare program?

Isn't Chinese just once a week? It's seems a stretch to tout the Chinese language aspect of it when there's no opportunity to really learn the language.

[Anonymous]

You will find disgruntled families at any school, public, charter or private. We have been at Eaton for 4 years and were not happy with a pre-k teacher when we started. Subsequent teachers have been great and I'm glad we stayed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1641, it is not "the party line" but many of us with children at Eaton are thrilled with the school, which is wonderful, we just don't all take the time to post.....

And we don't all agree that the school is wonderful. Eaton's early childhood program needs some attention. It's the foundation for future learning. There is absolutely no excuse for not having a high quality early childhood program in every DCPS school with Pre-K. If they want to put it out there in the universe and then expand it seems to me that they would ensure that EVERY CHILD HAS A GOOD START. The thread is about PK....and their PK/early childhood program needs work.

[Anonymous]

This is getting ridiculous. A few folks have chimed in saying they did not have a great experience. But others have, and thousands of children have gone through the pre-k program (Eaton is about to turn 100!) and they are all more than fine!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is getting ridiculous. A few folks have chimed in saying they did not have a great experience. But others have, and thousands of children have gone through the pre-k program (Eaton is about to turn 100!) and they are all more than fine!

The fact that people can't agree to disagree on this forum is ridiculous or to admit that Eaton is not perfect is ridiculous. It needs improvement. So what is the problem with that? You are absolutely right though, but that does not negate the fact that their Early childhood program needs work. Acknowledging that is actually a good thing. I'm a little nervous when schools are portrayed as everyone whistling and skipping happily through the tulips. I said the EC program needs work. I didn't say it was horrible. If a school wants to be great there is always room for improvement to get to greatness and maintain. Personally, when my school has valid issues we work hard to address them. If I learned that the community thought my early childhood program needed work....guess what? I'd get to working on it so that the next 1,000 kids would not just be fine but will have a greater and richer experience. Negative feedback is not a bad thing. I'm not raising a child who is going to be fine.....I'm raising a winner and hero and any school should be in a position to help me get my child their and if not then be open to ideas to improve so that all children are winners and heros...not just fine.

[Anonymous]

So what can be improved? No one is answering that.