Flora Singer v. Oakland Terrace v. Rock Creek Forest

[Anonymous]

We are currently living in a house assigned to Flora Singer with two kids in daycare. We have heard great things about Flora Singer, but have also heard great things about Oakland Terrace and Rock Creek Forest. We considering either moving into Rock Creek Forest, lottering into its Spanish immersion, or moving to Oakland Terrace. What are the ups and downs of each three of these schools? Interested in any tidbits of information that would give us a better picture of what is going on in them. Mostly my number one goal is to make sure my kids love learning and come out feeling confident both academically and socially. Spanish immersion would be cool, but is not a dealbreaker. All info appreciated!

[Anonymous]

We are one of the rare families who hated Flora Singer. We left for Forest Knolls which was fabulous. Consider adding FKES to your list.

[Anonymous]

One main difference is the feeder patterns. Singer/Sligo/Einstein vs. OTES/Newport Mill/Einstein vs. RCF/Silver Creek/B-CC. Of course things may have changed by the time your kids are in MS/HS, but it's good to consider if you're planning to live there awhile.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t move based on getting an immersion spot. If you like the English program at RCF then keep that on your list.

[Anonymous]

There is no "home school" advantage to living in-bounds for RCF and that lottery list routinely goes into the hundreds.

The English side is supposed to be great, so that may be worth it by itself, but I would not assume you will get a Spanish spot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no "home school" advantage to living in-bounds for RCF and that lottery list routinely goes into the hundreds.

The English side is supposed to be great, so that may be worth it by itself, but I would not assume you will get a Spanish spot.

Vs OTES, where every kid is in dual-language immersion.

[Anonymous]

I know people who are happy at each of the 3. OT two-way immersion for all students is a major difference. The family I know who have a kindergartener at OT really like it. RCF has a messy dismissal process that takes a long time with a lot of busses. My kid rides a bus from another school that stops to pick up immersion kids at RCF and RCF dismissal is always late and making her afternoon bus late. The out of boundary immersion bus rides can be long, might want to consider that if you apply for the lottery from your current home. You can look online at what the immersion bus routes are and they usually don’t change much from year to year.

[Anonymous]

We had a lot of problems with the principal at OT. The principal at FSES was much better in our experience.

[Anonymous]

From my understanding as a Forest Knolls parent with several friends at Flora Singer and a few at the other schools you mentioned, I can't imagine why you would move to be zoned for one or the other if you didn't wish to move already.

Minus the Spanish immersion factor, they're all fairly comparable. Our friends at Flora Singer all seem satisfied with the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know people who are happy at each of the 3. OT two-way immersion for all students is a major difference. The family I know who have a kindergartener at OT really like it. RCF has a messy dismissal process that takes a long time with a lot of busses. My kid rides a bus from another school that stops to pick up immersion kids at RCF and RCF dismissal is always late and making her afternoon bus late. The out of boundary immersion bus rides can be long, might want to consider that if you apply for the lottery from your current home. You can look online at what the immersion bus routes are and they usually don’t change much from year to year.

Weird - my child was one of the longer rides from RCF, and her bus always beats the local elementary bus to our stop which is just a few blocks away (with dismissal at the same time). and the bus arrives at the same time 99% of the time. I think their drop off and pick up seems pretty darn efficient.

[Anonymous]

We're at OT, and yeah, the Spanish immersion is mostly what differentiates that and Singer. Otherwise, they're pretty comparable. We love our neighborhood and neighbors and school and feel like we won the lottery with the dual-language immersion program.

RCF goes to BCC, if that matters to you. I wouldn't go there assuming you'd get into the immersion program.

[Anonymous]

RCF no longer goes to BCC. This just in from the board. Do not choose rcf for the high school feeder program. Assume you will go back to your home high school.

[Anonymous]

"RCF no longer goes to BCC. This just in from the board. Do not choose rcf for the high school feeder program. Assume you will go back to your home high school."

Do you mean if you're in the Spanish immersion program or in general (i.e. if you kid is in the English program).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:RCF no longer goes to BCC. This just in from the board. Do not choose rcf for the high school feeder program. Assume you will go back to your home high school.

So Silver Creek won't go into BCC either?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:RCF no longer goes to BCC. This just in from the board. Do not choose rcf for the high school feeder program. Assume you will go back to your home high school.

So Silver Creek won't go into BCC either?

Where will RCF go, then? Source?