Experiences with Stevens Early Learning Center

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just did the lottery and listed this school as one of our choices. A neighbor of mine really brags about this school but the comments are concerning. Is it the overall school atmosphere and environment or is it a particular teacher ? I would like to still consider this school because it is so close to my job and an early learning center, but if it is a specific teacher I would also prefer to avoid that teacher.

If there is any information on who to avoid, that information would be helpful.

FWIW went to their open house recently and we were wowed.. seems like a very well run facility with staff that appears passionate about the school and its success, with alot of activity to keep kids interested and educated. It has quite a few unique spaces as well.. library, indoor gym, art room etc. as well as a languard translator and spanish lesson teacher. Little to no technology use in classrooms, which seems to be a bit of a DCPS "issue" at various schools.

It has little to no outdoor space, including a playground in need of an overhaul. Its on a fairly busy city block with what looks like may be a tough pickup and dropoff unless you park and walk a bit. There are ALOT of stairs to traverse daily, though not sure if this may be a common issue at many schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just did the lottery and listed this school as one of our choices. A neighbor of mine really brags about this school but the comments are concerning. Is it the overall school atmosphere and environment or is it a particular teacher ? I would like to still consider this school because it is so close to my job and an early learning center, but if it is a specific teacher I would also prefer to avoid that teacher.

If there is any information on who to avoid, that information would be helpful.

FWIW went to their open house recently and we were wowed.. seems like a very well run facility with staff that appears passionate about the school and its success, with alot of activity to keep kids interested and educated. It has quite a few unique spaces as well.. library, indoor gym, art room etc. as well as a languard translator and spanish lesson teacher. Little to no technology use in classrooms, which seems to be a bit of a DCPS "issue" at various schools.

It has little to no outdoor space, including a playground in need of an overhaul. Its on a fairly busy city block with what looks like may be a tough pickup and dropoff unless you park and walk a bit. There are ALOT of stairs to traverse daily, though not sure if this may be a common issue at many schools.

Also the before and aftercare is contracted out to a well-known awful provider.. Flex

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can’t help but feel that the people who claim to love Stevens probably work there. It’s hard to genuinely love a public school—especially if your child is in the afterschool program. Stevens is deeply flawed for one main reason: the teachers don’t seem to care about students’ academic success, classroom performance, or even basic parent and child satisfaction. Since the school isn't ranked and around 55% of students only stay for a year, there seems to be little incentive for improvement. Plus, there are always families desperate for free childcare, so no matter how bad Stevens gets, there will always be children enrolled.

I think it’s easy to love an ELEMENTARY DCPS school -which is what we are talking about here.

Steven’s has great CLASS scores which measures the quality of a pre-k classroom -it’s a 3rd party service. Does that mean Steven’s is wonderful, no but it means it’s better than a good number of pre-k classrooms. Is it worth not going to you good (or great) IB, no.

Kids don’t stay because it’s bad, it has no partner school for K (to my knowledge) For example Brent (my child went here) is a wonderful school but we dropped off at 5th because the middle school it’s connected to is trash.

[Anonymous]

Curious if any more recent feedback on Stevens. From open houses this def felt like one of the better pk3 environments but obviously one hour can't tell the whole story

[Anonymous]

Visted Stevens a few times and also spoke with their team at Edfest.. I think it would be one of the best early childhood programs in DC if it had K, a feeder pattern, and also a better location(less stairs, better playground, outdoor area). The program itself and those running it seem absolutely phenomenal and dialed in.

[Anonymous]

They also use Flex for aftercare which is.. not great by most accounts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t help but feel that the people who claim to love Stevens probably work there. It’s hard to genuinely love a public school—especially if your child is in the afterschool program. Stevens is deeply flawed for one main reason: the teachers don’t seem to care about students’ academic success, classroom performance, or even basic parent and child satisfaction. Since the school isn't ranked and around 55% of students only stay for a year, there seems to be little incentive for improvement. Plus, there are always families desperate for free childcare, so no matter how bad Stevens gets, there will always be children enrolled.

I think it’s easy to love an ELEMENTARY DCPS school -which is what we are talking about here.

Steven’s has great CLASS scores which measures the quality of a pre-k classroom -it’s a 3rd party service. Does that mean Steven’s is wonderful, no but it means it’s better than a good number of pre-k classrooms. Is it worth not going to you good (or great) IB, no.

Kids don’t stay because it’s bad, it has no partner school for K (to my knowledge) For example Brent (my child went here) is a wonderful school but we dropped off at 5th because the middle school it’s connected to is trash.

Most people do not care about CLASS. And as a teacher, I hate to tell you this but some are really just masters of BS.

One of my colleagues is so mean to kids and takes away their entire recess (they are 3 and play is a right), another makes kids run 3 laps before the can play, and a previous colleague would yell at kids all day…

But come CLASS you’d think they were all were Mr. Rogers.