River Farm Cooperative, Alexandria

[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.

Hello! So I am the “wife” of this synopsis! It is true - my kids started there in April 2019 the same week I left for Afghanistan, leaving my active duty husband home with our 4 kids. We were hoping to have a friendly community for our kids to help them cope while I was gone since we had moved here from Germany. Shortly after I deployed my husband went to a school meeting and called me afterwards to say the place was not a good fit and we needed to find a different school. At school meeting there was raised voices, crying, and it went on hours and hours. I talked him out of it, thinking that during the tour they seemed so great and their online presence and philosophy seemed amazing. So the kids started back there again in the fall.

Shortly before I returned from deployment the school asked if I’d run for president. No one else would run so I started the job when I returned in November 2019. Again, I had no idea what the school was really like. When I took over my first priority was to ensure financial sustainability. I wanted to vote on a budget at the January all-school meeting. We had a great 5 member board - consisting of a Ph.D in education, a Baltimore high school administrator (exterior to RFC with no children or stake in the school), a Navy finance professional with years of experience (also exterior to the school), a high-speed military spouse w/ experience in cooperative schools, and me (an attorney). I’ll spare you all the details, but suffice to say that there was a refusal to vote on a budget and at the January meeting 3 of us resigned and by Feb the remaining two members resigned.

The school became a place that was no longer a healthy environment for our family. I had repeatedly asked for confidentiality training for parents/staff after some breaches, I repeatedly asked that the bylaws be followed and was often rebuffed or told that they’d just change the bylaws to suit the immediate situation. At that point I asked for my contract so I could see what exit clauses there were and it was discovered that several families, including mine, were never provided contracts for signature. I told them we would be done at the end of March for two of my kids and at the end of April for one of my kids. We had already paid in full for that entire time (March x3 students, April x1). They became upset that I didn’t want to sign a contract, so they informed me on Sunday afternoon March 28 that my kids were cut off at 0830 the next morning.

My kids were never given a chance to say goodbye to their classmates or teachers, just cut off. Obviously after the deployment, etc I wish the school was a little more compassionate than doing that to my kids. But apparently (according to the previous post) the president of the board went on to send out an email to the entire membership saying that we are dishonest and dishonorable people lol...which goes back to part of the reason we left: I find that to be toxic and unprofessional behavior for a school board.

I’d still like a refund for the tuition I paid but was refused schooling so I’m pursuing different options for that. In addition to the entire board resigning and 2 Ph.D directors resigning, there were quite a few families that left during the school year because they were so fed up...so if anyone is looking into this school I’d encourage you to dig deeper than we did before committing.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, but how's the school's high school placement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Hello! So I am the “wife” of this synopsis! It is true - my kids started there in April 2019 the same week I left for Afghanistan, leaving my active duty husband home with our 4 kids. We were hoping to have a friendly community for our kids to help them cope while I was gone since we had moved here from Germany. Shortly after I deployed my husband went to a school meeting and called me afterwards to say the place was not a good fit and we needed to find a different school. At school meeting there was raised voices, crying, and it went on hours and hours. I talked him out of it, thinking that during the tour they seemed so great and their online presence and philosophy seemed amazing. So the kids started back there again in the fall.

Shortly before I returned from deployment the school asked if I’d run for president. No one else would run so I started the job when I returned in November 2019. Again, I had no idea what the school was really like. When I took over my first priority was to ensure financial sustainability. I wanted to vote on a budget at the January all-school meeting. We had a great 5 member board - consisting of a Ph.D in education, a Baltimore high school administrator (exterior to RFC with no children or stake in the school), a Navy finance professional with years of experience (also exterior to the school), a high-speed military spouse w/ experience in cooperative schools, and me (an attorney). I’ll spare you all the details, but suffice to say that there was a refusal to vote on a budget and at the January meeting 3 of us resigned and by Feb the remaining two members resigned.

The school became a place that was no longer a healthy environment for our family. I had repeatedly asked for confidentiality training for parents/staff after some breaches, I repeatedly asked that the bylaws be followed and was often rebuffed or told that they’d just change the bylaws to suit the immediate situation. At that point I asked for my contract so I could see what exit clauses there were and it was discovered that several families, including mine, were never provided contracts for signature. I told them we would be done at the end of March for two of my kids and at the end of April for one of my kids. We had already paid in full for that entire time (March x3 students, April x1). They became upset that I didn’t want to sign a contract, so they informed me on Sunday afternoon March 28 that my kids were cut off at 0830 the next morning.

My kids were never given a chance to say goodbye to their classmates or teachers, just cut off. Obviously after the deployment, etc I wish the school was a little more compassionate than doing that to my kids. But apparently (according to the previous post) the president of the board went on to send out an email to the entire membership saying that we are dishonest and dishonorable people lol...which goes back to part of the reason we left: I find that to be toxic and unprofessional behavior for a school board.

I’d still like a refund for the tuition I paid but was refused schooling so I’m pursuing different options for that. In addition to the entire board resigning and 2 Ph.D directors resigning, there were quite a few families that left during the school year because they were so fed up...so if anyone is looking into this school I’d encourage you to dig deeper than we did before committing.

Whoa!!! JUICY!

[Anonymous]

I can second the posts that are all over DCUM from the last few years that expose what a fraud this school is. It is run by catty, vindictive, financially delusional individuals. I am only sorry we spent so much time and energy trying to help it become what we and many other families believed it could be. So many people tried to push this organization forward over the years. Truth is, RFC will likely never offer a high quality education nor be financially solvent. The drama is nonstop. If you’re looking for a supportive, alternative, nature based education for your kids, that’s terrific. So were we. Don’t try to do that here. Run the other way. You’d be better off starting your own cooperative than jumping into this dumpster fire.

[Anonymous]

I'm not surprised by some of what is said based upon the family I know that goes there. The mom is always looking to make waves in any environment where her child is found.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not surprised by some of what is said based upon the family I know that goes there. The mom is always looking to make waves in any environment where her child is found.

+1

[Anonymous]

I’m glad to see so many people posting warnings here and elsewhere about their experiences with this school (despite the school’s “board” working to delete as many truthful but negative posts as possible). It’s frightening to think they could be continuing to pull in unsuspecting families. I hope people continue to spread the word about the truth of the education, management, and overall subpar operations of this place.

[Anonymous]

Yes, thank you all for taking the time to post. Now is a time when many families are looking for alternatives and these posts are very helpful. I'm sorry to the families -especially the kids just dumped during the school year!- who went through these bad experiences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m glad to see so many people posting warnings here and elsewhere about their experiences with this school (despite the school’s “board” working to delete as many truthful but negative posts as possible). It’s frightening to think they could be continuing to pull in unsuspecting families. I hope people continue to spread the word about the truth of the education, management, and overall subpar operations of this place.

Agree with getting negative reviews removed. One chain from here has disappeared. Why? It contained truthful information that could help other families decide if this school was a good fit for their family. I’ve also had my yelp and google reviews removed. There posts should be removed when advertising for next year with the current teachers they have on staff. At least one, and I believe two, out of the three have already put in their notice to leave after the year is over. They’ve gone through two MS teachers in the two years they’ve had a MS, so if they even have a MS next year they’ll be on teacher #3 in three years.

Can the administrator say why the active thread on RFC was recently removed?

[Anonymous]

The administrator does not read every post. Use the “report” button or post your question in Website Feedback.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The administrator does not read every post. Use the “report” button or post your question in Website Feedback.

+1000
Jeff is not even going to pretend he’s reading some thread about a cooperative school in Va. Hit the report button and ask. Include your email and he’ll respond.

[Anonymous]

I heard they're already seeing staff and student departures again. What goes on at that place???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I heard they're already seeing staff and student departures again. What goes on at that place???

That’s the way they roll. People will leave and they’ll find new families to hoodwink. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Anonymous]

Turnover must be constant. What is it now? 4 directors in 2.5 school years??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Turnover must be constant. What is it now? 4 directors in 2.5 school years??

That seems to indicate one thing, a small group of families that are intolerable to work with.