Two Rivers worth it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not the biggest fan of TR but kids do drama every year and put on plays related to their expeditions. And the MS musical is cool. So not sure what that other person was talking about. Spanish teachers are generally great but whoever came up with the idea of doing spanish en masse last year really dropped the ball. That was terrible. Shouldn't relate to spanish moving forward though.

Overall TR does have very strong arts.

An annual MS drama production does not make an overall strong performing arts program for a school. There’s no individualized musical instrument opportunities and several other ways that TR is severely lacking in arts instruction. Is it good for a DC school? Probably. But its not strong.

Yeah - need to go affluent burbs or private for all that.

Anyone have any idea what the arts are like at Thomson?

I went to well-regarded suburban publics (way) back in my youth, and it never occurred to me before reading this thread that not all elementary schools have kids play instruments.

I hope I'm proven wrong--but I don't think ANY DCPS/HRCS schools provide those opportunities. You are on your own to pursue for your child/ren.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not the biggest fan of TR but kids do drama every year and put on plays related to their expeditions. And the MS musical is cool. So not sure what that other person was talking about. Spanish teachers are generally great but whoever came up with the idea of doing spanish en masse last year really dropped the ball. That was terrible. Shouldn't relate to spanish moving forward though.

Overall TR does have very strong arts.

An annual MS drama production does not make an overall strong performing arts program for a school. There’s no individualized musical instrument opportunities and several other ways that TR is severely lacking in arts instruction. Is it good for a DC school? Probably. But its not strong.

Yeah - need to go affluent burbs or private for all that.

Anyone have any idea what the arts are like at Thomson?

I went to well-regarded suburban publics (way) back in my youth, and it never occurred to me before reading this thread that not all elementary schools have kids play instruments.

I hope I'm proven wrong--but I don't think ANY DCPS/HRCS schools provide those opportunities. You are on your own to pursue for your child/ren.

I went to an underfunded rural school and we had it. But here it seems like people do DCYOP. And DCYOP used to have school partnerships but I don't think it's happening anymore. Maybe at Eaton?

[Anonymous]

I think Shepherd had an instrumental music program but not sure if they still do.

[Anonymous]

What Two Rivers has is a critical mass of upper-middle-class families through higher grades than most (but certainly not all) DCPS schools. For many folks, that's enough to recommend Two Rivers to over their in-bound DCPS option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the expeditionary learning and performance arts at Two Rivers look pretty cool, but seems like shouldn't underestimate the convenience of Thomson. Being able to make it over more often for school events/volunteering if able may be more important than whatever marginal benefits may exist. Sounds like scores are pretty similar, though didn't understand what earlier post meant about Thomson's results being tied to gentrification.

Performance arts??!! At TR? Are you serious?

--Signed a TR parent whose 5th grader has received very minimal low quality PA education since PK.

I'm curious about how current families have found the Spanish instruction. The way 2R describes it on the website sounds really cool.

Oh Lordy. Can’t speak to the marketing. My 4th grader complained a lot about the Spanish and she isn’t one to complain. Finally sat in on an online lesson and it was everyone in grades 2-5 in a huge class all talking over each other. She couldn’t get a word in. Some of the older kids had change their screen names to curse words. The material catered to the younger kids - my 4th grader told me that they were covering the same colors they did two years ago. We gave up for all children and haven’t attended Spanish in over a year. Rumor has it the Spanish teachers (they are a married couple) are pulling their own children out this upcoming year due to the poor quality of education.

Their daughter is on a crew list for this coming year so it appears that at least one of their children is staying.

I agree virtual Spanish was poorly executed. But Senor Cody and Ms. Elisabeth are lovely. And let’s be honest — TR doesn’t allege anything like immersion or daily lessons. The kids get I think 2 Spanish periods a week. As someone who wasn’t exposed to a foreign language until I got to high school, I am just really glad that my kids are getting acquainted with Spanish and learning some.

[Anonymous]

Don't send your kid to Two Rivers. Or to Capital City. Neither deliver on their (purported) mission. Perhaps EL can be done by a school that prioritizes kids, but these schools don't do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not the biggest fan of TR but kids do drama every year and put on plays related to their expeditions. And the MS musical is cool. So not sure what that other person was talking about. Spanish teachers are generally great but whoever came up with the idea of doing spanish en masse last year really dropped the ball. That was terrible. Shouldn't relate to spanish moving forward though.

Overall TR does have very strong arts.

An annual MS drama production does not make an overall strong performing arts program for a school. There’s no individualized musical instrument opportunities and several other ways that TR is severely lacking in arts instruction. Is it good for a DC school? Probably. But its not strong.

Yeah - need to go affluent burbs or private for all that.

Anyone have any idea what the arts are like at Thomson?

I went to well-regarded suburban publics (way) back in my youth, and it never occurred to me before reading this thread that not all elementary schools have kids play instruments.

I hope I'm proven wrong--but I don't think ANY DCPS/HRCS schools provide those opportunities. You are on your own to pursue for your child/ren.

Ludlow-Taylor has all kids learn to play the keyboard as part of the music curriculum, as we as various afterschool opportunities to participate in chorus and band for no/low cost (led by the music teachers) and other music education & individual instrument instruction for a fee (led by outside providers).

[Anonymous]

Facing this same choice, but don't really know much about Two Rivers. Is there a good way to learn more at this point? Maybe call the school and see if they can connect me with someone? I didn't bother too much with open houses since they weren't in person. Just put it on the list because it seemed well regarded and the commute was reasonable (though not as easy as commute to Thomson).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not the biggest fan of TR but kids do drama every year and put on plays related to their expeditions. And the MS musical is cool. So not sure what that other person was talking about. Spanish teachers are generally great but whoever came up with the idea of doing spanish en masse last year really dropped the ball. That was terrible. Shouldn't relate to spanish moving forward though.

Overall TR does have very strong arts.

An annual MS drama production does not make an overall strong performing arts program for a school. There’s no individualized musical instrument opportunities and several other ways that TR is severely lacking in arts instruction. Is it good for a DC school? Probably. But its not strong.

Yeah - need to go affluent burbs or private for all that.

Anyone have any idea what the arts are like at Thomson?

I went to well-regarded suburban publics (way) back in my youth, and it never occurred to me before reading this thread that not all elementary schools have kids play instruments.

I hope I'm proven wrong--but I don't think ANY DCPS/HRCS schools provide those opportunities. You are on your own to pursue for your child/ren.

Ludlow-Taylor has all kids learn to play the keyboard as part of the music curriculum, as we as various afterschool opportunities to participate in chorus and band for no/low cost (led by the music teachers) and other music education & individual instrument instruction for a fee (led by outside providers).

What I've found is you won't find this level of music education at most or any charters (at elementary level anyway). Where you might find it is at various DCPS especially Title 1. I believe Bunker Hill may have had this? Some are designated arts schools and kids got a variety of instrument choices to learn.

The DCYOP moved to I believe TEC so they should have a good program now. It's hit or miss and hard to find out which school has what. We are on our own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Facing this same choice, but don't really know much about Two Rivers. Is there a good way to learn more at this point? Maybe call the school and see if they can connect me with someone? I didn't bother too much with open houses since they weren't in person. Just put it on the list because it seemed well regarded and the commute was reasonable (though not as easy as commute to Thomson).

Ask around your social network—friends of friends etc. the school will obviously just refer you to a syncophatic kool aid drinking cheerleader. Plenty of chatter on here (both good and bad).

[Anonymous]

If you have the choice I would not go with TR. We were there for two years and I’m so grateful we don’t have to deal with it anymore. There are so many things that can’t be explained or justified - and don’t even try to bring it up to the administration. TR changed out my child’s first grade teacher for the last 2 months of school to support “enrollment efforts” and then refused to even talk to parents until well after the change had been made. They care a lot about admissions and little about children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have the choice I would not go with TR. We were there for two years and I’m so grateful we don’t have to deal with it anymore. There are so many things that can’t be explained or justified - and don’t even try to bring it up to the administration. TR changed out my child’s first grade teacher for the last 2 months of school to support “enrollment efforts” and then refused to even talk to parents until well after the change had been made. They care a lot about admissions and little about children.

This is accurate. They only focused on reopening last year when it came time for reenrollment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have the choice I would not go with TR. We were there for two years and I’m so grateful we don’t have to deal with it anymore. There are so many things that can’t be explained or justified - and don’t even try to bring it up to the administration. TR changed out my child’s first grade teacher for the last 2 months of school to support “enrollment efforts” and then refused to even talk to parents until well after the change had been made. They care a lot about admissions and little about children.

This aligns with our experience. There are some stellar teachers and staff; leadership seems to be a vulnerability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have the choice I would not go with TR. We were there for two years and I’m so grateful we don’t have to deal with it anymore. There are so many things that can’t be explained or justified - and don’t even try to bring it up to the administration. TR changed out my child’s first grade teacher for the last 2 months of school to support “enrollment efforts” and then refused to even talk to parents until well after the change had been made. They care a lot about admissions and little about children.

This aligns with our experience. There are some stellar teachers and staff; leadership seems to be a vulnerability.

This. Our DC's teachers in K and first were excellent otherwise we would have bailed sooner. Leadership is truly terrible; I'm not sure how much longer the school can survive under current ED.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have the choice I would not go with TR. We were there for two years and I’m so grateful we don’t have to deal with it anymore. There are so many things that can’t be explained or justified - and don’t even try to bring it up to the administration. TR changed out my child’s first grade teacher for the last 2 months of school to support “enrollment efforts” and then refused to even talk to parents until well after the change had been made. They care a lot about admissions and little about children.

This aligns with our experience. There are some stellar teachers and staff; leadership seems to be a vulnerability.

This. Our DC's teachers in K and first were excellent otherwise we would have bailed sooner. Leadership is truly terrible; I'm not sure how much longer the school can survive under current ED.

Putting aside how the leadership navigated distance learning, how have the leadership deficiencies manifested themselves at the classroom/instructional level? Is there a sense that kids are being poorly educated in core areas of learning? And if so, what student subgroups are most impacted? To the extent there are disparate impacts, how much of this is traceable to problems with leadership versus demographic features present in most DC schools?

Are there leadership dynamics that DON’T seem to be impacting classroom level outcomes, even if the such dynamics are problematic in principle?

I’m just trying to understand is TR is on balance preferable to our low performing (ie, test scores) in-bound DCPS, which I think is well run.