would you send your Kindergartner to Powell?
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Anonymous
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we are WL in the teens at powell. i have been out of the country for work for several months and haven't been able to tour the school or find out much. would love any information about powell for kindergarten from current parents preferably but anyone who has information feel free to share.
what is the program like? is spanish 50% of the day or is it full spanish one day, full english the next? class size? uniforms? behavior issues? morning drop off time for before care? thanks in advance |
Anonymous
| and from what i have seen on the website (ok, see they do have uniforms) it seems very structured and rigid. my child is currently in a play-based preschool with lots of outdoors time. is this the case? |
Anonymous
| Powell is our IB and we have accepted at Sela and have a fairly decent WL # at Bridges. We just haven't been impressed with Powell on our tours, and the neighborhood talk about bullying and fights among the older kids is just to active for us to chance it. We have toured Bridges and gone to the Sela information session and have been really impressed with their programs. If you haven't considered some of the charters with newer programs (Bridges just expanded to K, Sela is a new school), I would give them a try. |
Anonymous
| Powell uses the tools of the mind curriculum for kindergarten which is a very exciting program. Every three weeks the teacher reads a chapter book (a chapter a day typically) from the magic treehouse series and the kids learn about different topics like outer space, marine life and ancient Egypt. Currently my kids are learning about cowboys and will be going to a horse ranch on a field trip in a few weeks. |
Anonymous
| Exactly the same at Bancroft-- they use Tools through K, the classes did Egypt in the fall, oceans not long ago, cowboys right now, including the Magic Treehouse chapters. Which makes me wonder, is the Tools curriculum developed by downtown? How much input do the schools have? |
Anonymous
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tools was developed in Colorado and has been adopted by schools all over the county. The district has consultants who support teachers in keeping fidelity to the program but they have a certain amount of leeway
.http://www.toolsofthemind.org/extendedcampus/toolsofthemind/ |
Anonymous
| A bunch of folks in my neighborhood (IB-Petworth) have decided to try Powell for Pre-K this year. They were very impressed by the principal and the language program. There seems to be a growing movement in Petworth towards creating community around a neighborhood school. I would ask your question on the Petworth Parents listserve to hear more first hand experiences. |
Anonymous
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PP, thanks for posting this. I really like the Petworth neighborhood and I am thinking about moving back to DC and targeting this area for home purchases. Where can I find more information on the Petworth listserve.
I wish there were enough concerned parents in my neighborhood to pressure my local elementary school. |
Anonymous
| I live right near the school (though it's in 16th Street Heights, that name never really seems to stick with anyone -you might add it to real estate searches, or search by the zip code, 20011) and we're planning on sending our child to Powell for preschool. |
Anonymous
| Search for Petworth Parents in Yahoo Groups. You have to join to post, I think you can search within the messages to find recent discussion on Powell. |
Anonymous
| Any chance for a high single digit WL number to get an OOB slot. All of a sudden everyone wants Powell for Pre-K 4 and I was banking on getting a slot myself! |
Anonymous
| Obviously there's a lot of enthusiasm for preschool/preK at Powell, but is anybody staying for K? |
Anonymous
| Most of the neighborhood people with negative remarks about Powell, don't actually have first-hand knowledge of the school. There may have been problems in the past, but we have had a very positive experience at this school. My children will be there for Kindergarten. |
Anonymous
Nope. |
Anonymous
Hmm. So the school is filled with phantom children who don't really exist? Or maybe they're orphans? |