Truesdell Education Campus for PrK or beyond?

[mcjd79]

We are going on a tour soon. But we got offered a Early Stages seat at Truesdell Education Campus. Does anyone here have recent experience at this school in PrK or beyond?? Wondering if we should take the spot for this year which would allow us to come back for a full year of Prk3 for next year at Truesdell Education Campus. Or if we should pass and hope this school or a "better" one opens for 17-18 and or something come open on or very long lottery wait list. (It does seem to go through 8th so that could be good??) Please comment only if you have actually visited, atteneed, work with or know someone with kids attending currently. Thanks

[Anonymous]

We live across the street and DD is slated to start PK3 there in the fall. We met with the PK teachers, and have met the Principal on numerous occasions. The teachers are highly motivated and follow the Theory of the Mind philosophy in their teaching, and I am impressed with the principal and her philosophy. The scores for the school are basically equivalent to those in the "hot" Petworth school (Powell). Obviously I will know a lot more once school starts in the fall, but I am cautiously optimistic as of now.

[Anonymous]

We are in PK3 at Truesdell right now, and will be returning for PK4. Our teachers have been great, and I am also very impressed with the principal. All the teachers and administrators we have met have been very welcoming. I wish there was more outdoor recess than the thirty minutes, but that is DCPS standard. I also wish the outdoor space was a bit nicer, but again, few schools have really good outdoor space. Overall, it's a perfectly good place at least for ECE. PP is right that it seems to be on par with other, more popular Title 1 schools (although it doesn't offer Spanish immersion like Powell does).

[Anonymous]

FYI, it will be elementary only in a couple of years, so don't count on it for middle school.

[Anonymous]

The principal it very well-regarded. She won one of the coveted Reubenstein principal awards a few years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The principal it very well-regarded. She won one of the coveted Reubenstein principal awards a few years ago.

+1

My kids are at a nearby school, and when I've had the chance to meet Truesdell's principal she's had her stuff together.

[mcjd79]

Anonymous wrote:We are in PK3 at Truesdell right now, and will be returning for PK4. Our teachers have been great, and I am also very impressed with the principal. All the teachers and administrators we have met have been very welcoming. I wish there was more outdoor recess than the thirty minutes, but that is DCPS standard. I also wish the outdoor space was a bit nicer, but again, few schools have really good outdoor space. Overall, it's a perfectly good place at least for ECE. PP is right that it seems to be on par with other, more popular Title 1 schools (although it doesn't offer Spanish immersion like Powell does).

Would you mind sharing what a typical PrK 3 day looks like??

I am not sure if we will need it but it says in th dc lottery book there is no before school care?? Do you happen to know anything about there after care?? (the regular scholarship day is listed as 8:45a to 3:15pm M-F)

[mcjd79]

Anonymous wrote:We live across the street and DD is slated to start PK3 there in the fall. We met with the PK teachers, and have met the Principal on numerous occasions. The teachers are highly motivated and follow the Theory of the Mind philosophy in their teaching, and I am impressed with the principal and her philosophy. The scores for the school are basically equivalent to those in the "hot" Petworth school (Powell). Obviously I will know a lot more once school starts in the fall, but I am cautiously optimistic as of now.

I am going to have to look that up. I know our little one would do best with lots of play based learning, songs, story times, hands on exploring and smaller class sizes. Do you know if they are highly focused K prep for 3s or do they allow time for emotional, social, and whole child development??

[Anonymous]

mcjd79 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live across the street and DD is slated to start PK3 there in the fall. We met with the PK teachers, and have met the Principal on numerous occasions. The teachers are highly motivated and follow the Theory of the Mind philosophy in their teaching, and I am impressed with the principal and her philosophy. The scores for the school are basically equivalent to those in the "hot" Petworth school (Powell). Obviously I will know a lot more once school starts in the fall, but I am cautiously optimistic as of now.

I am going to have to look that up. I know our little one would do best with lots of play based learning, songs, story times, hands on exploring and smaller class sizes. Do you know if they are highly focused K prep for 3s or do they allow time for emotional, social, and whole child development??

PP you quoted. When we toured the school, there were 15 or 20 (can't remember which) kids per class with 2 teachers in each class, so a relatively small student to teacher ratio. Theory of mind actually prioritizes emotional and social development, focusing on learning through rich pretend play, talking about other's thoughts/wants, and storytelling. It sounds like it would be a good fit for your child in that way.

[Anonymous]

Do you mean Tools of the Mind? That and Creative Curriculum are common in DCPS PK programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you mean Tools of the Mind? That and Creative Curriculum are common in DCPS PK programs.

Ah, maybe that is it. My husband had to remind me of what it was called, and we came up with theory of the mind. I just remember it focused more on emotional and social awareness rather than traditional a traditional schooling path.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you mean Tools of the Mind? That and Creative Curriculum are common in DCPS PK programs.

Ah, maybe that is it. My husband had to remind me of what it was called, and we came up with theory of the mind. I just remember it focused more on emotional and social awareness rather than traditional a traditional schooling path.

Yeah, it's good. I think most or maybe all DCPS do something like that.

[Anonymous]

mcjd79 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in PK3 at Truesdell right now, and will be returning for PK4. Our teachers have been great, and I am also very impressed with the principal. All the teachers and administrators we have met have been very welcoming. I wish there was more outdoor recess than the thirty minutes, but that is DCPS standard. I also wish the outdoor space was a bit nicer, but again, few schools have really good outdoor space. Overall, it's a perfectly good place at least for ECE. PP is right that it seems to be on par with other, more popular Title 1 schools (although it doesn't offer Spanish immersion like Powell does).

Would you mind sharing what a typical PrK 3 day looks like??

I am not sure if we will need it but it says in th dc lottery book there is no before school care?? Do you happen to know anything about there after care?? (the regular scholarship day is listed as 8:45a to 3:15pm M-F)

PP here. I found the weekly schedule they gave us. Every day is the same except Friday. The Monday to Thursday school day actually goes from 8:45 to 4:15, because Truesdell has extended school day (at least they did this year, I haven't heard about a change). Friday ends at 3:15. You can drop off as early as 8:15 am. They don't have before care but they do have aftercare. We don't use it, so I don't know anything about it.

So the regular day goes as follows:

8:30-8:50 Breakfast/Transition
8:50-9:10 Opening Group/Transition (Morning Meeting)
9:10-10:15 Play Planning/Make Believe Play
10:15-10:30 Recess Transition
10:30-11:00 Recess
11:00-12:00 Lunch (Cleanup/Tooth brushing/Nap Prep)
12:00-1:30 Nap
1:30-2:00 Wakeup Transition (Cleanup/Toileting/Snack)
2:00-2:15 Whole Group Literacy (Buddy Reading)
2:15-2:30 Read Aloud (Story Lab)
2:30-2:45 Small Group Literacy (Graphic Practice)
2:45-3:00 Small Group Math/Science (Supplement Activity)
3:00-3:30 Free Play/Guided Reading
3:30-4:15 Specials

As for class size, I think there are 15 kids in our class, I believe that's the max for PK. There is one teacher and one paraprofessional.

They probably do more academics than I would like (as is probably true for all Title 1 schools), but they do also focus on social emotional learning. As an aside, they were also very supportive in working on potty training, with which we still had some issues at the beginning of the year.

Hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you mean Tools of the Mind? That and Creative Curriculum are common in DCPS PK programs.

Ah, maybe that is it. My husband had to remind me of what it was called, and we came up with theory of the mind. I just remember it focused more on emotional and social awareness rather than traditional a traditional schooling path.

Yeah, it's good. I think most or maybe all DCPS do something like that.

Lol. My prek teacher wife calls Tools of the Mind the early childhood curriculum for administrators who don't know anything about early childhood education. She hates it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you mean Tools of the Mind? That and Creative Curriculum are common in DCPS PK programs.

Ah, maybe that is it. My husband had to remind me of what it was called, and we came up with theory of the mind. I just remember it focused more on emotional and social awareness rather than traditional a traditional schooling path.

Yeah, it's good. I think most or maybe all DCPS do something like that.

Lol. My prek teacher wife calls Tools of the Mind the early childhood curriculum for administrators who don't know anything about early childhood education. She hates it.

Interesting. What curriculum does she favor?