River Farm Cooperative, Alexandria

[Anonymous]

Not everyone lives close to school. Many families live 20+ minutes away and a few live 30+ away.

[Anonymous]

River Farm Cooperative School is excited to announce that it is moving to 6744 South Kings Highway for the 2017-18 academic year! The new location is located within the St. Mark's Parish complex and adjacent to beautiful Lee District Park giving us lots of wonderful options for outdoor learning and adventure.

A few spots remain for next school year and there will be limited opportunities to visit over the summer, so now is the time to contact us if you are interested.

About River Farm:

River Farm Cooperative is a small, nurturing, and dynamic K-6 school located in Alexandria, VA. The school has taken educational elements from successful programs around the world to form a thoughtful balance of rigorous academics, mindfulness, family involvement, and time outside in nature. We are planning to expand to include middle school in the next few years! Please visit our website for more information.

http://www.riverfarmcooperative.com/

[Anonymous]

Now in our fourth year of operations, the River Farm Cooperative School is excited to announce that we are expanding to include a mixed-age middle school program for next year (2018-2019)! We have a rigorous curriculum planned, with opportunities for field studies and advocacy work. If you have a rising 6th, 7th, or 8th grader, check us out!

Located on S. King's Highway in Alexandria, our school features small class sizes, rain-or-shine outdoor time, individualized education that challenges each student, and mixed-age classes. At the end of each year our students take the Terra Nova, a nationally normed standardized exam. Last year, every student scored above grade level in every subject area, except one student (this one student was a kindergartener – and this child scored at grade level).

www.riverfarmcooperative.com.

[Anonymous]

Hi -- does River Farm Cooperative have experience with kids with learning differences? How do they handle ADHD in particular? A child that needs some accommodations? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Now in our fourth year of operations, the River Farm Cooperative School is excited to announce that we are expanding to include a mixed-age middle school program for next year (2018-2019)! We have a rigorous curriculum planned, with opportunities for field studies and advocacy work. If you have a rising 6th, 7th, or 8th grader, check us out!

Located on S. King's Highway in Alexandria, our school features small class sizes, rain-or-shine outdoor time, individualized education that challenges each student, and mixed-age classes. At the end of each year our students take the Terra Nova, a nationally normed standardized exam. Last year, every student scored above grade level in every subject area, except one student (this one student was a kindergartener – and this child scored at grade level).

www.riverfarmcooperative.com.

I appreciate the effort at transparency but really? calling out one child? and a Kindergarten child at that...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi -- does River Farm Cooperative have experience with kids with learning differences? How do they handle ADHD in particular? A child that needs some accommodations? Thanks!

I'm curious about this--it sounds like they don't have the staff for all types of accommodations/disabilities, but I am curious if they accept any children with learning differences and/or minor accommodations?

[Anonymous]

Is this school accredited?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi -- does River Farm Cooperative have experience with kids with learning differences? How do they handle ADHD in particular? A child that needs some accommodations? Thanks!

I'm curious about this--it sounds like they don't have the staff for all types of accommodations/disabilities, but I am curious if they accept any children with learning differences and/or minor accommodations?

No, they are not. This is taken directly from their FAQ page:

16. Is RFC a good fit for students with special needs?

In most cases, RFC is not a great fit for students with special needs. Our co-op is very small, with no extra resources beyond our classroom teachers; we are parent-run and have no access to tutors, learning specialists, school social workers, therapists, psychologists, or guidance counselors. In addition, our classroom is supported by a rotating schedule of parent helpers who come from a variety of backgrounds and are not trained for special needs.

[Anonymous]

Reawakening this thread in light of some recent comments about River Farm.

How many kids go there now? What are the demographics? I wouldn't want my kid to be the only non-white kid in the room...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reawakening this thread in light of some recent comments about River Farm.

How many kids go there now? What are the demographics? I wouldn't want my kid to be the only non-white kid in the room...

Most of the families left mid-year, the school is falling apart quickly. There are about 20 kids left K-8 and very few are returning after their contracts end. The school has gone through 3 directors just in this school year, which goes to show the huge turnover rate and instability.

[Anonymous]

Agree that the school is falling apart quickly. The turn over of directors is just the start of their problems. Too much drama.

[Anonymous]

Constant turnover of teachers and board members too.

[Anonymous]

Huge drama. We thought this place sounded great then we joined....

Recently the president of RFC sent out a message to all of us members calling out one of the other families by name. He called them dishonest and dishonorable and honestly the entire message was really shocking. I don’t know much about the family but I know the wife was in Afghanistan almost the entire school year then was elected RFC president while she was gone. She resigned at the board meeting shortly after she returned, as did the secretary and director. Evidently the family never signed a contract and didn’t want to. I get it...I wish we never signed a contact either. But I also was very shocked that they were named by name by the president. But the entire school is run very unprofessionally and we can’t wait until our contract is over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Huge drama. We thought this place sounded great then we joined....

Recently the president of RFC sent out a message to all of us members calling out one of the other families by name. He called them dishonest and dishonorable and honestly the entire message was really shocking. I don’t know much about the family but I know the wife was in Afghanistan almost the entire school year then was elected RFC president while she was gone. She resigned at the board meeting shortly after she returned, as did the secretary and director. Evidently the family never signed a contract and didn’t want to. I get it...I wish we never signed a contact either. But I also was very shocked that they were named by name by the president. But the entire school is run very unprofessionally and we can’t wait until our contract is over.

Close friends were part of this *community* a few years ago and lasted only one year, and they weren't the only ones. They could not believe the cattiness and viciousness from some members of the leadership. I see nothing has changed.

I've lived in the area for a long time and there are a number of well regarded schools. Few people think of this as one of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi -- does River Farm Cooperative have experience with kids with learning differences? How do they handle ADHD in particular? A child that needs some accommodations? Thanks!

I'm curious about this--it sounds like they don't have the staff for all types of accommodations/disabilities, but I am curious if they accept any children with learning differences and/or minor accommodations?

They are not capable of providing much in the way of accommodations. A child with ADHD would not do well here.