Ludlow Taylor ES - 1st Grade

[Anonymous]

Hi, We are thinking about moving which would mean our son switching to Ludlow Taylor for 1st grade and our daughter hopefully starting prek3 there in the fall. Any recent experiences or thoughts regarding 1st grade at this school? Thanks!!

[Anonymous]

I'm a parent with a child currently in the first grade at LT and plan to enroll a younger sibling for PS3 in the fall, also. We're IB and have been at the school since our older child was in PS3. We've stopped playing the lottery because we are very happy with the school, its teachers, principal, and community of committed families. First grade has been good, 17-18 children in the classroom, no "homework" but fun projects sent home to complement the curriculum. I think there are two 1st grade classrooms and both with rock solid teachers. (Teachers at all levels, including ECE, have been top-notch.) My kid is very bright and is thriving there. We like that the school is both socio-economically diverse (still a Title 1 school, but not for much longer) but also has a very active PTA that raises real money. LT also has a dynamic new principal, just got the National Blue Ribbon Award of Excellence, and is getting a new playground any day now. We also have the largest Foodprints garden in DCPS. We utilize the aftercare which is DCPS-run and only $80-something per month and includes no-cost ballet, tap dance, chess, and also offers the usual fee-based extras. The early childhood program is Reggio-inspired and past K the teaching approach (as far as we've seen) has been academic and differentiated. I encourage you to visit for the Open House. And please talk to current families at the school. It's a wonderful community. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a parent with a child currently in the first grade at LT and plan to enroll a younger sibling for PS3 in the fall, also. We're IB and have been at the school since our older child was in PS3. We've stopped playing the lottery because we are very happy with the school, its teachers, principal, and community of committed families. First grade has been good, 17-18 children in the classroom, no "homework" but fun projects sent home to complement the curriculum. I think there are two 1st grade classrooms and both with rock solid teachers. (Teachers at all levels, including ECE, have been top-notch.) My kid is very bright and is thriving there. We like that the school is both socio-economically diverse (still a Title 1 school, but not for much longer) but also has a very active PTA that raises real money. LT also has a dynamic new principal, just got the National Blue Ribbon Award of Excellence, and is getting a new playground any day now. We also have the largest Foodprints garden in DCPS. We utilize the aftercare which is DCPS-run and only $80-something per month and includes no-cost ballet, tap dance, chess, and also offers the usual fee-based extras. The early childhood program is Reggio-inspired and past K the teaching approach (as far as we've seen) has been academic and differentiated. I encourage you to visit for the Open House. And please talk to current families at the school. It's a wonderful community. Good luck!

Sounds lovely! How was K? How big were the classes?

[Anonymous]

My co worker has her kids there and loves it. Go for it!

[Anonymous]

It's the school zone we're targeting to move into if we don't win the lottery by K. (We're zoned for Miner presently and would only need to move ~1.5 blocks to be in the L-T zone.) We have lots of friends with kids at the school and they're all quite happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a parent with a child currently in the first grade at LT and plan to enroll a younger sibling for PS3 in the fall, also. We're IB and have been at the school since our older child was in PS3. We've stopped playing the lottery because we are very happy with the school, its teachers, principal, and community of committed families. First grade has been good, 17-18 children in the classroom, no "homework" but fun projects sent home to complement the curriculum. I think there are two 1st grade classrooms and both with rock solid teachers. (Teachers at all levels, including ECE, have been top-notch.) My kid is very bright and is thriving there. We like that the school is both socio-economically diverse (still a Title 1 school, but not for much longer) but also has a very active PTA that raises real money. LT also has a dynamic new principal, just got the National Blue Ribbon Award of Excellence, and is getting a new playground any day now. We also have the largest Foodprints garden in DCPS. We utilize the aftercare which is DCPS-run and only $80-something per month and includes no-cost ballet, tap dance, chess, and also offers the usual fee-based extras. The early childhood program is Reggio-inspired and past K the teaching approach (as far as we've seen) has been academic and differentiated. I encourage you to visit for the Open House. And please talk to current families at the school. It's a wonderful community. Good luck!

Sounds lovely! How was K? How big were the classes?

I think our K classroom last year had 15-17 kids plus a classroom aide. It was a really good year and helped us decide to invest in the school through elementary grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a parent with a child currently in the first grade at LT and plan to enroll a younger sibling for PS3 in the fall, also. We're IB and have been at the school since our older child was in PS3. We've stopped playing the lottery because we are very happy with the school, its teachers, principal, and community of committed families. First grade has been good, 17-18 children in the classroom, no "homework" but fun projects sent home to complement the curriculum. I think there are two 1st grade classrooms and both with rock solid teachers. (Teachers at all levels, including ECE, have been top-notch.) My kid is very bright and is thriving there. We like that the school is both socio-economically diverse (still a Title 1 school, but not for much longer) but also has a very active PTA that raises real money. LT also has a dynamic new principal, just got the National Blue Ribbon Award of Excellence, and is getting a new playground any day now. We also have the largest Foodprints garden in DCPS. We utilize the aftercare which is DCPS-run and only $80-something per month and includes no-cost ballet, tap dance, chess, and also offers the usual fee-based extras. The early childhood program is Reggio-inspired and past K the teaching approach (as far as we've seen) has been academic and differentiated. I encourage you to visit for the Open House. And please talk to current families at the school. It's a wonderful community. Good luck!

Sounds lovely! How was K? How big were the classes?

I think our K classroom last year had 15-17 kids plus a classroom aide. It was a really good year and helped us decide to invest in the school through elementary grades.

That's great. Is it so small because it's Title I?

[Anonymous]

yes

[Anonymous]

Isn't Miner improving? Could it be the school to go to in a few years? Visited Ludlow Taylor and was impressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn't Miner improving? Could it be the school to go to in a few years? Visited Ludlow Taylor and was impressed.

Our oldest is nearly school aged, so we don't have a lot of time to wait and see. While Miner does seem to be improving, I seriously doubt they will be in a good enough place in 2 years that I will feel comfortable sending my DD to K there. That said, unless we get lucky, we'll be sending her to ECE there, so perhaps I will be pleasantly surprised.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's the school zone we're targeting to move into if we don't win the lottery by K. (We're zoned for Miner presently and would only need to move ~1.5 blocks to be in the L-T zone.) We have lots of friends with kids at the school and they're all quite happy.

Selling your house is going to cost you mucho, mucho dinero. Have you thought of staying put and going private or parochial?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn't Miner improving? Could it be the school to go to in a few years? Visited Ludlow Taylor and was impressed.

More on that in this thread: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/616513.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the school zone we're targeting to move into if we don't win the lottery by K. (We're zoned for Miner presently and would only need to move ~1.5 blocks to be in the L-T zone.) We have lots of friends with kids at the school and they're all quite happy.

Selling your house is going to cost you mucho, mucho dinero. Have you thought of staying put and going private or parochial?

Why would selling my house cost me "mucho, mucho dinero"? Like virtually everyone else on the Hill, my house has appreciated in value a lot. Redfin guesses it's worth more than $200K more than I paid for it less than 5 years ago. But thanks for your concern.

[Anonymous]

^^^^ I'm glad you're not my financial adviser. Good luck with that. After you pay 6% to a broker, pay transfer taxes and settlement costs (another 2% or so), and pay recordation taxes, settlement costs and moving costs on the new place a block and a half away (another 2% to 3%), you'll be out nearly $100,000. That's all because your neighborhood school sucks. Give a big high-5 to the City Council's Education Committee for me, and your dedicated DCPS "administrator". They really helped you out!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^^^ I'm glad you're not my financial adviser. Good luck with that. After you pay 6% to a broker, pay transfer taxes and settlement costs (another 2% or so), and pay recordation taxes, settlement costs and moving costs on the new place a block and a half away (another 2% to 3%), you'll be out nearly $100,000. That's all because your neighborhood school sucks. Give a big high-5 to the City Council's Education Committee for me, and your dedicated DCPS "administrator". They really helped you out!

I still don't understand. Your house is only worth what you can sell it for. Yes, we will need to pay fees associated with house selling, but we would need to pay those whenever we sell our house. So, actually, we will be up about $125K hard cash post-sale even after we account for costs v having $220K or so of non-realized capital gains. We plan to move at some point anyway (want more space and to be closer to public transport), so while this forces our hand a bit on the timing, it's certainly cheaper than private school, which was your other suggestion. Either way, it's not actually going to cost us much beyond whatever we lose by having less flexibility to play the market re: the timing of buying and selling. Again, I'm glad you're so concerned about my finances.