AppleTree leaving Amidon-Bowen campus & Riverside campus at the end of this school year

[Anonymous]

Anybody know why this his happening?

[Anonymous]

Are they still participating in the lottery?

[Anonymous]

AppleTree here - We were recently notified that DCPS plans to take over the space that we currently occupy at Amidon Elementary school, and the Riverside Baptist Church is being sold to PN Hoffman, the developer of the Southwest Waterfront. We are actively looking for nearby alternatives to relocate the program in Southwest. All parents who have applied to the lottery should have received an email today. If you have ranked these campuses, you will be automatically waitlisted and will be contacted as soon as we find a space to operate this campus. We sincerely regret this inconvenience and hope to be in touch regarding alternatives shortly.

[Anonymous]

Wow, I live in the neighborhood and I had no idea about the church sale! That makes it the 3rd one (PN Hoffman's also doing St Augustine's, I think). I really hope Appletree manages to stay in SW - it sounds like a great program and so nice to have a pre-K option this side of the freeway.

[Anonymous]

Hi neighbor! Doesn't look so good for appletree staying in the neighborhood. The myschooldc website says they are moving to another school in ward 8 I think.

And I hadn't heard about St. Augustine, are they relocating too?

[Anonymous]

AppleTree again - we are not relocating to Ward 8 (although we do currently have schools there). We are partnering with Democracy Prep and will be operating their PS and PK classrooms (and they are located in Ward 8). This site will not take the place of the Southwest sites and we will continue to look for space in SW for next year. We apologize for the confusion!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AppleTree again - we are not relocating to Ward 8 (although we do currently have schools there). We are partnering with Democracy Prep and will be operating their PS and PK classrooms (and they are located in Ward 8). This site will not take the place of the Southwest sites and we will continue to look for space in SW for next year. We apologize for the confusion!

Thank you for clearing this up. The language on the website about the new partnership is confusing since it is not mentioned under all of the Appletree pages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi neighbor! Doesn't look so good for appletree staying in the neighborhood. The myschooldc website says they are moving to another school in ward 8 I think.

And I hadn't heard about St. Augustine, are they relocating too?

Hey neighbor!

No, St Augustine is doing like St. Matthews - sold the site to a developer who will rebuild a smaller church and condos on site. It was hung up in legal protests for a while because of the impact on the Tiber Island townhouses view, but that got cleared up with the regulators and green lighted. (And I get where Tiber was coming from on this - it's not that tall a building, but they do look like they're building right up to the lot line, which will loom over them a bit.) It's now due to be one of the first parts of the Wharf development to deliver. Since it's a PN Hoffman project, I guess it's not surprising that they wanted to buy the Riverside parcel, too. If nothing else, I suspect that limits potentially complaining parties about impact on view on that side of M Street.


http://southwestquadrant.blogspot.com/2014/02/parcel-11-will-be-first-to-deliver-at.html

St Matthew's (whenever it finally gets going, which, who knows) is supposed to include a nursery school and coffee shop and such, which do sound like nice neighborhood additions.

I really hope Appletree stays in SW. We're thinking of starting a family and having a pre-k option that's walking distance had been one of the things we were considering when thinking about whether to stay or go.