HELP: Ross elementary school feedback
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Anonymous
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We are moving up the waiting list for Ross. Can any Ross families provide more specifics about the school?
Thus far we are attracted by: - the small size of the school/family feel. - strong classroom communication. - monthly field trips and project-based learning. - partnerships with community organizations. - strong parent organization. Potential downsides: - attrition in the higher grades due to the middle school options. - no science teacher. - as out of boundary one of perhaps the strong neighborhood feel may be less relevant. Unknown: - is the discipline exemplary? Coming from a school where discipline is a major issue, it is important for us to find a school where discipline is not a major issue. - are science and social studies taught well in the classroom? - is teacher attrition low and is the quality of the teachers consistently high across grade levels? - how is the principal? - is the school good at challenging advanced learners? - does it ever feel too small a peer group? |
Anonymous
| What grade? I think people are viewing Francis Stevens as more of a real option, so middle school issue might not be as relevant in a few years. |
Anonymous
| Sounds like you should go private. |
Anonymous
| The principal, Holly Searl, is excellent, has been there quite a while, and is friendly and approachable. Her staff does a great job differentiating instruction for advanced learners including using pull-out Junior Great Books groups. Science and social studies is taught by the teachers, not just math and literacy as the school has great test scores and few students in need of much remediation, therefore there isn't a lot of pressure to just "focus on the basics" as there is at other schools in our country. (ie. just focusing on teaching math and literacy.) Yes, the school is small but I think if one can afford to have a home in that area then one should definitely attend Ross. |
Anonymous
| Thank you! That is very helpful! We have one child in the upper grades and one child in the lower grades. Are there discipline issues? |
Anonymous
| they don't have SEM like some of their "peer" schools like Stoddert or Murch or Hearst though. My only quibble. |
Anonymous
We have a child at Ross and don't know of any serious discipline issues. The kids and families are mostly very nice and laid-back. |
Anonymous
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I would look into Francis Stevens and decide mainly based on that. But I think you also have a decent chance of getting into other middle school options like CMI, ITS, etc., so you do have options other than Francis Stevens, at least for your younger child. Ross is a great school and may be worth putting up with middle school uncertainty for a while.
What are your options other than Ross? |
Anonymous
| What year is your child in? Most families stay through 4th. There is some attrition at 5th as some kids leave for charters. SWW@Francis is an increasingly viable MS option though. A number of Ross kids are going there for sixth this year. |
Anonymous
| Thank you so much! We have a good in boundary school for middle school. We are trying to compare options between Ross, Stoddert and Key as elementary schools. |
Anonymous
| Our experience so far has been very good in PK3 and PK4. Our child is engaged and challenged and we believe the teachers look for ways to engage beyond the basic curriculum. We have gotten frequent text and email updates from the teacher. Ms. Lee in PK3 is loving and gentle with the younger munchkins. If diversity is important to you, Ross is a bit like the United Nations - many bilinguals from all over the world. No known discipline issues. Laid-back parents. The principal has turned this school from mediocre to excellent and continues to care. We are staying tuned to conversations about SWW@Francis but are quite happy with Ross and so is our kid. |
Anonymous
| Thank you for your thoughtful comments! We also have a toddler who will be a candidate for prek three eventually in the outofboundary lottery. Are any of the Pre-K three class outofboundary? Thanks again! |
Anonymous
| PP, no chance of OOB pk. Many in bounds families don't get in. It's mostly IB siblings at this point |
Anonymous
| Thanks for the info! |
Anonymous
| What's your waitlist number and for which grade? |