Seeking advice on Eaton & Oyster Adams

[Anonymous]

Newbie poster here. We have a son (turning three in a few months) and another on the way this fall. With the second coming, we're getting too big for our current home in Dupont and are thinking of moving. Currently, we are IB at Marie Reed. We've been looking at houses IB for Oyster Adams and Eaton. It would be great to hear about people's experiences at the two schools. We've visited Eaton, and have the Oyster Adams open house in Nov. on our calendar. My husband's top concern is that the school be academically challenging; we're both committed to DC and a public school. Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

They are both fine. Consider what you prefer for middle school (and middle school commute).

[Anonymous]

Eaton mom here. We love it! It’s a great community - very warm and inclusive. We should have a newly renovated building in 2021 which we are all excited about. I don’t know your husband’s standards on academics, but we’ve been happy with how our kids are doing and how the teachers are pushing them along.

[Anonymous]

Depends on how much you value bilingual education. Either is fine - if you aren’t drawn to bilingual, I’d go by whichever house you like the most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Newbie poster here. We have a son (turning three in a few months) and another on the way this fall. With the second coming, we're getting too big for our current home in Dupont and are thinking of moving. Currently, we are IB at Marie Reed. We've been looking at houses IB for Oyster Adams and Eaton. It would be great to hear about people's experiences at the two schools. We've visited Eaton, and have the Oyster Adams open house in Nov. on our calendar. My husband's top concern is that the school be academically challenging; we're both committed to DC and a public school. Thanks in advance!

Hi OP - Not sure if you've combed through the OA threads, but take most opinions on OA posted on here with a bit to a lot of salt. Any thread involving OA/Spanish immersion here seems to immediately get soaked with venom within five posts or so. Not sure why. A colleague of mine whose kids went to OA loved it, for what it's worth. My kids aren't old enough yet, but I went to an open house, and the (prospective) parent community seems to be more Type A than others (Marie Reed, for example) - asking tougher, more detailed questions of the principal, more assertive. That has its pros and cons.

[Anonymous]

I’d consider sticking with Marie reed if you want Spanish. My older child goes to Adams, the upper school, and the bullying is vicious. People seem to love the lower school though. Eaton might be great if you don’t care about Spanish, but why wouldn’t you?

[Anonymous]

If you like living in Dupont I’d consider moving a couple blocks to be in bounds for Ross. It’s an amazing school academically with a really close knit community. Housing is expensive, but it’s also expensive in the Eaton/OA boundaries

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Newbie poster here. We have a son (turning three in a few months) and another on the way this fall. With the second coming, we're getting too big for our current home in Dupont and are thinking of moving. Currently, we are IB at Marie Reed. We've been looking at houses IB for Oyster Adams and Eaton. It would be great to hear about people's experiences at the two schools. We've visited Eaton, and have the Oyster Adams open house in Nov. on our calendar. My husband's top concern is that the school be academically challenging; we're both committed to DC and a public school. Thanks in advance!

Youre committed to DC schools as long as theyre Oyster or Adams. Got it.

[Anonymous]

That should say Eaton

[Anonymous]

Think hard about whether you want a bilingual education. We are doing it, but it is a big decision and more work for parents (have to make sure your kid can read in two languages, make sure they are getting enough Spanish in the summer, etc). Also if the Spanish doesn't click for one of your kids or bilingual education ends up not being the best choice (for ex: kid has a learning disability and is struggling to read in English), what would you do? Stay at OA and invest in a lot of supports? Go to the backup school for kids who live in bounds for OA but don't have the Spanish? Play the lottery? Do private? Move?

[Anonymous]

Something worth considering, you significantly increase (though don't guarantee) the likelihood of a PK3 spot if you stay in your current place and try for a spot at Marie Reed. Assuming you're not Spanish dominant, you wont get a spot at OA until K so you may want to consider delaying the move by a year or two.

[Anonymous]

You might consider hanging in there until the April 1 lottery results. It's possible you could get into a nice charter such as DC Bilingual in a more affordable area.

Deal, and Hardy are not everyone's first choice for middle schools. You might look at Two Rivers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’d consider sticking with Marie reed if you want Spanish. My older child goes to Adams, the upper school, and the bullying is vicious. People seem to love the lower school though. Eaton might be great if you don’t care about Spanish, but why wouldn’t you?

Can you elaborate on this some? I used to be at Adams all the time when my kid was there and I was coaching there, and I just didn't see this. I'll add that I attended middle school at a school that had lots kids who had been heavily involved with the criminal justice system, and they pretty much terrorized the kids who got decent grades and had never been to juvie, so I hate bullying. Had I seen it at Adams (or had our kid experienced it), I would have made a pretty big deal about it. I still socialize with a fair number of parents who are heavily involved with the school, and they don't report anything like that. What I did see when my kid was there was a couple of kids who tried to exclude other kids socially, but it seemed like most kids weren't into that and tended to hold it against the kids who tried it.

Also, Eaton apparently feeds Hardy and Oyster feeds Adams, so I'm not sure how Deal is relevant to the discussion. Do some Eaton kids go to Deal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’d consider sticking with Marie reed if you want Spanish. My older child goes to Adams, the upper school, and the bullying is vicious. People seem to love the lower school though. Eaton might be great if you don’t care about Spanish, but why wouldn’t you?

some families don't prioritize bilingual education. we know we can't support it well at home and that it often can't be authentic language acquisition without that. or we prioritize an instructional style over language. you could have dropped the question at the end and this comment would have been so much more helpful/less judgy.

[Anonymous]

Both seem good. Our kids have been going to Easton since PK. One issue may be the upcoming construction. Some people are a bit annoyed since it messes up drop offs.

Also we are looking forward to Hardy for middle school. OA is a combined program. Apparently there are some people who think that Hardy is bad, since kids wear uniforms.