Opinions on Eaton Elementary?

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have experience with Eaton and can offer info about the school and the parent community and pros and cons of the school? We can send DS there for K - he is very bright and also active. Any thoughts on their K program? TIA

[Anonymous]

I am an Eaton Parent. The school has a very charismatic, bright and engaged principal. The teachers are strong and very proactive. The parents association is very strong. I also felt that the second grade curriculum was challenging. My child did not attend for Kindrgarten so I so not hav any direct experience with that grade.

[Anonymous]

Eaton is a terrific school. My daughter had a wonderful year - her class was diverse, the teacher was terrific, and the principal is incredible. The school is also building a brand-new playground this summer, which is the one thing the school was missing. You simply cannot go wrong there. Several parents in my daughter's class had pulled their kids from private school to attend Eaton and said they liked Eaton much more. You'll love it!

[Anonymous]

I know there are some Eaton boosters on these pages, but we spent a number of years there, some under the new principal and finally left. Loved our neighborhood, loved the parent/student body diversity, loved the idea of DC public school, but ended up hating the seriously weak academics. Principal was nice, but not moving quickly enough, IMO, to improve the school.

For a "bright and also active" child, I would visit and ask very close questions about academics and behavior/classroom management techniques.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eaton is a terrific school. My daughter had a wonderful year - her class was diverse, the teacher was terrific, and the principal is incredible. The school is also building a brand-new playground this summer, which is the one thing the school was missing. You simply cannot go wrong there. Several parents in my daughter's class had pulled their kids from private school to attend Eaton and said they liked Eaton much more. You'll love it!

We've found Eaton to be a functional school with a fair measure of both strengths and weaknesses. Advice from boosters should always be taken with a grain of salt.

[Anonymous]

My husband and I moved our daughter from Sheridan to Eaton last year and couldn't be happier. Not only are we saving the $25k tuition, but we've found that Eaton is a much better fit for my daughter. The diversity, engaging principal, involved parents, and, most importantly, outstanding instruction, are all big drawing points. The emphasis on small group instruction by ability seems to work well. We're glad we made the move and haven't looked back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband and I moved our daughter from Sheridan to Eaton last year and couldn't be happier. Not only are we saving the $25k tuition, but we've found that Eaton is a much better fit for my daughter. The diversity, engaging principal, involved parents, and, most importantly, outstanding instruction, are all big drawing points. The emphasis on small group instruction by ability seems to work well. We're glad we made the move and haven't looked back.

How long has small group instruction by ability been going on -- is that something new last year? Does it happen in math and reading? Do kids get books assigned at their reading level (i.e. if a child is reading in 1st grade at a 3rd grade level, is the book being used to teach character development a 1st grade level reader or a 3rd grade one?) Is it provided exclusively by the teacher or does Eaton ask parents to come in and help with this? How many times a week does the teacher provide the small group instruction? Is it in the classroom or are some students "pulled-out" to accomplish this? Are the skill groups broken down w/i the class, across both classes in a grade or across grade?

[Anonymous]

PP here, forgot to ask if the small group instruction at Eaton is mostly for the DCCAS or is it for learning in general? From what I have read/heard, small group instruction is very focused on lifting students close to the edge of a testing band to the next level (basic to proficient, etc.) in particular DCCAS skills, but not necessarily provided throughout the curriculum.

[Anonymous]

I don't think there is a formal process in place yet. You can learn more about the school by checking the HSA minutes on www.eatondc.org

Eaton is a perfectly good school and your child will do fine to exceedingly well depending on your child. It is a large urban school with large classrooms, wide student abilities, and limited resources and it also has good teachers, great classmates and the potential for your child to learn and be exposed to a great many things.

[Anonymous]

The FCC Commissioner's daughter will be attending Eaton in the fall. His older child goes to Maret and the Commissioner is mega-wealthy so I think it says a lot that he's sending his child to Eaton. Apparently the incoming pre-k class is 76% in-boundary, up from 62% last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The FCC Commissioner's daughter will be attending Eaton in the fall. His older child goes to Maret and the Commissioner is mega-wealthy so I think it says a lot that he's sending his child to Eaton. Apparently the incoming pre-k class is 76% in-boundary, up from 62% last year.

This is a healthy sign, but attrition in the higher grades is always a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The FCC Commissioner's daughter will be attending Eaton in the fall. His older child goes to Maret and the Commissioner is mega-wealthy so I think it says a lot that he's sending his child to Eaton.

This is kind of a silly argument. Schools are multidimensional, as are kids, and different families value different packages of attributes. That a wealthy person chooses to send his child to a particular school may indicate that it's "good enough" across a range of attributes, but beyond that it doesn't provide much guidance to parents seeking the best choices for their own families.

[Anonymous]

My son has been at Eaton the past two years and we've been very happy with the school. The new principal has gotten rid of the 2-3 bad teachers that she inherited and replaced them with terrific teachers. The teachers feel truly supported by the principal, which makes a big difference. Because of the improvements in the last 2 years, a lot more neighborhood families who previously would have opted for private school and now sending their children to Eaton, making it much more of a neighborhood school. It is a true community where diversity is valued, the kids are happy and learning, and the parents are positively involved. We were on the fence 2 years ago in terms of sending my son to Eaton and are very pleased we opted to do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The FCC Commissioner's daughter will be attending Eaton in the fall. His older child goes to Maret and the Commissioner is mega-wealthy so I think it says a lot that he's sending his child to Eaton. Apparently the incoming pre-k class is 76% in-boundary, up from 62% last year.

Up to 76% from 62%? I think this says a lot more about the staggering weakness of our economy and the limited outlook for its improvement under the current regime than it says about the quality of instruction at Eaton.

[Anonymous]

My son just graduated from Eaton and our other two children are still there, and thriving. It's been a terrific school for us. My son has been in the school play the last two years and loved it. With the exception of one teacher (who has since left), all have had outstanding instruction every year. We love the diversity, the small group instruction, and the involved school community. We've found the academics excellent and feel my son is well prepared to start 7th grade at Sidwell in the fall (we looked long and hard at Deal but decided it was a little too big for him). There are going to be some bumps at any DCPS but Eaton is as good as it gets on the elementary school level.