Norwood Lower School

[Anonymous]

We are considering Norwood for K. Can anyone please describe the current lower school with the new lower school head? We love the arts focus of the school and the child-centered approach.

[Anonymous]

The lower school has struggled in recent years. The arts are great, but math, science and foreign languages remain weak.

[Anonymous]

We really like the differentiated instruction in math. My kid is challenged and we also supplement at home (only because we are alpha parents!). My kid has also developed a love for science because the teachers make the subject interesting and hands-on. Lots of creative projects. Language (Spanish in lower school) is taught to the middle, so native speakers don't find it sufficiently in-depth and many of their kids take weekend language classes.

The teachers know my kid's strengths and weaknesses and we get constructive feedback during parent teacher conferences. The school is planning to introduce "team teaching" in lower school which will reduce travel time between classes and give the homeroom teachers more teaching time and exposure to the individual kids.

The new lower school head was formerly a teacher at Sidwell. She is intelligent, experienced, super enthusiastic about the new changes that are being introduced, and very open.

[Anonymous]

Our children love the science teachers in the LS at Norwood, they are really enthusiastic, conscientious, interesting thinkers.

My son loves his Spanish teacher, who is very warm and personable, but there hasn't been a great deal of Spanish learned in her class to be fair. We didn't start in K and were reassured by our buddy family that any lack of Spanish didn't really matter because their kid had been doing it for 3 years and really only knew about 4 words, so we didn't worry about it but we do wonder why it is on the curriculum.

The LS head is new. There have been a few LS heads over the past 6 or so years. I don't know why they don't stick around. This one is still finding her feet, I think.

[Anonymous]

We have a child in the first grade and agree that the science teachers are great! This year's teacher does an awesome job of keeping it hands on, fun, and engaging. We have no expectation of fluency in Spanish at this young age; we appreciate that the Spanish teacher includes lots of singing and dancing. Yes, this is the first year under a new lower school head, but we see her working through the adjustment and frankly are okay with that. For us it is most important that our daughter is loving school. She comes home lit up and full of chatter about her day. That is what we wanted, and it is exactly what we are getting.

[Anonymous]

I completely agree with most of what has been said and just wanted to add that there is a visible gender divide in the LS, more than we've seen in other schools. Can't speak to what its like in the MS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I completely agree with most of what has been said and just wanted to add that there is a visible gender divide in the LS, more than we've seen in other schools. Can't speak to what its like in the MS.

Agree - a lot of sporty boys (nothing wrong with that, I have one myself!)

[Anonymous]

We've been thrilled with Norwood and will be sending a K student in the fall to join our 2nd grader. My DD has loved all the teachers and honestly doesn't ever say anything that suggests a gender divide. I also don't notice that when watching kids play after school. I saw more of a gender divide at my DDs previous DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've been thrilled with Norwood and will be sending a K student in the fall to join our 2nd grader. My DD has loved all the teachers and honestly doesn't ever say anything that suggests a gender divide. I also don't notice that when watching kids play after school. I saw more of a gender divide at my DDs previous DCPS.

what thrills you, exactly?

Its easy to come on this board and attempt to balance any coherent criticism which has been posted, but really you have to be coherent yourself. Just saying you're "thrilled" makes your post look like a desperate attempt to improve school image but without any of the facts to back it up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I completely agree with most of what has been said and just wanted to add that there is a visible gender divide in the LS, more than we've seen in other schools. Can't speak to what its like in the MS.

Agree - a lot of sporty boys (nothing wrong with that, I have one myself!)

I agree as well, and it has nothing to do with sporty boys. There are also lots of sporty KIDS (of both gender) at the other school my family is a part of. There is a culture at Norwood that encourages a gender divide ,in lower grades at least, by having parties with only one gender invited at the start of the school years, etc , playdates are not common with other gender, etc. this is not as it is at the other schools we have been a part of.
Matters more to some than others and depends on your child's personality and what you want them exposed to. Norwood has a very "traditional" culture in some respects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I completely agree with most of what has been said and just wanted to add that there is a visible gender divide in the LS, more than we've seen in other schools. Can't speak to what its like in the MS.

Agree - a lot of sporty boys (nothing wrong with that, I have one myself!)

I agree as well, and it has nothing to do with sporty boys. There are also lots of sporty KIDS (of both gender) at the other school my family is a part of. There is a culture at Norwood that encourages a gender divide ,in lower grades at least, by having parties with only one gender invited at the start of the school years, etc , playdates are not common with other gender, etc. this is not as it is at the other schools we have been a part of.
Matters more to some than others and depends on your child's personality and what you want them exposed to. Norwood has a very "traditional" culture in some respects.

I have two kids at Norwood, and have no clue what you're talking about. There have been plenty of parties with both sexes involved, and I've never seen the school do anything official with only one gender in any form.
Playdates aren't common with other genders? When I was an elementary school kid, I certainly didn't want a playdate with a girl.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've been thrilled with Norwood and will be sending a K student in the fall to join our 2nd grader. My DD has loved all the teachers and honestly doesn't ever say anything that suggests a gender divide. I also don't notice that when watching kids play after school. I saw more of a gender divide at my DDs previous DCPS.

what thrills you, exactly?

Its easy to come on this board and attempt to balance any coherent criticism which has been posted, but really you have to be coherent yourself. Just saying you're "thrilled" makes your post look like a desperate attempt to improve school image but without any of the facts to back it up.

Coherent criticism? I haven't seen any yet. Just wild stabs at saying they segregate sexes somehow without giving any specific examples.
I too am thrilled with Norwood. It's a very warm and caring environment, the teachers have been fantastic, our kids have made great strides in reading and math, and love both science and the arts because of their experienced there. And the head of school is as straightforward and approachable as any I've ever met.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The LS head is new. There have been a few LS heads over the past 6 or so years. I don't know why they don't stick around. This one is still finding her feet, I think.

The last one left to be closer to a sick parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The LS head is new. There have been a few LS heads over the past 6 or so years. I don't know why they don't stick around. This one is still finding her feet, I think.

The last one left to be closer to a sick parent.

I understood that she was pissed she didn't get the job of Head of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've been thrilled with Norwood and will be sending a K student in the fall to join our 2nd grader. My DD has loved all the teachers and honestly doesn't ever say anything that suggests a gender divide. I also don't notice that when watching kids play after school. I saw more of a gender divide at my DDs previous DCPS.

what thrills you, exactly?

Its easy to come on this board and attempt to balance any coherent criticism which has been posted, but really you have to be coherent yourself. Just saying you're "thrilled" makes your post look like a desperate attempt to improve school image but without any of the facts to back it up.

Coherent criticism? I haven't seen any yet. Just wild stabs at saying they segregate sexes somehow without giving any specific examples.
I too am thrilled with Norwood. It's a very warm and caring environment, the teachers have been fantastic, our kids have made great strides in reading and math, and love both science and the arts because of their experienced there. And the head of school is as straightforward and approachable as any I've ever met.

Well the first few posts on this thread are pretty coherent, but maybe you just didn't bother reading any of them.