Thomson ES Logan Circle

[Anonymous]

Getting read to finalize the PS Lottery application. Should I include Thomson? Any parent with kids there who have an opinion, positive, negative, wishy-washy? Other schools on my list are Bancroft, Cooke and the usual charters.

[Anonymous]

Jay Matthews at the Washington Post loves the school. He wrote an article suggesting the Obamas should send their girls there. Obviously that didn't happen, but here are some nice write-ups on the school:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/09/AR2008110901937.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/27/AR2006112701362.html

[Anonymous]

Thomson Math 44.44% Reading 43.97% Trend:up

Bancroft Math 46.96% Reading 38.33% Trend:down

Cooke Math 38.05% Reading 31.86% Trend:down

[Anonymous]

I was told at Thomson PS was going to continue to be focused on Headstart kids with the same Headstart teachers as last year. So if you are Headstart, it would be a very good choice. Otherwise, I'd look at other DCPS preschool options on the list (Cooke, Bancroft, Francis Stevens, West) and charters (Appletree, Bridges).

[Anonymous]

Also, there's no outside playground if that matters to you. I didn't like that.

[Anonymous]

Francis Stevens Math 42.61% Reading 47.46% Trend:down

West Math 53.92% Reading 61.76% Trend:up

Francis-Stevens and West both go through 8th grade

[Anonymous]

Does Thomson offer preschool 3?

[Anonymous]

Yes, Thomson has pk3 but I was told to expect Headstart classes and no Chinese until pk4.

[Anonymous]

When I did the tour at Bancroft I wished my kid could be in Headstart. That teacher really impressed me. The non-headstart classes no so much.

[Anonymous]

So? Does anyone go to the school, or am I just going to get the usual DCUM reporting of scores that 1) I can look up myself, and 2) are meaningless for a PS kid.

[Anonymous]

Sorry for my ignorance, but what does it mean when you are told to expect Headstart classes? How do Headstart classes differ from regular preschool/prek? This school is very convenient to my office as is Butler PCS on Thomas Circle. Unfortunately, I have been unable to get much practical info about either of them.

[Anonymous]

Headstart is for low income and at-risk children. It is preschool but tends to focus on the unique needs of these families. I thought DCPS was doing mixed classes but the woman at the Thomson open house said no. Maybe she was wrong. Butler is a charter and runs their own program.

[Anonymous]

My child is in Pre-K 4 and we love it. This is the first year for a 3 year old program, in the past it's been Headstart, which is income dependent and not your likely DCUM population. FWIW, I think the 2 teachers that do the three year old program are terrific, based strictly on seeing them in the hallways, lunchroom and how they interact with my child at after-school events.

We love the Chinese, guitar lessons and IB program. It's a warm, family environment. Scores are low. Look on the OSSE website to see the real breakdowns by race. The Asian children at Thomson tend to perform very well.

Be warned, it's definitely not an upper NW school. About 80% of the children are low income and over half are ESL. We got a spot in Hyde and chose Thomson. We have no regrets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry for my ignorance, but what does it mean when you are told to expect Headstart classes? How do Headstart classes differ from regular preschool/prek? This school is very convenient to my office as is Butler PCS on Thomas Circle. Unfortunately, I have been unable to get much practical info about either of them.

Thomson strikes me as a warm, safe place with a strong principal and committed staff. The physical plant is quite nice, and it does actually have an outdoor playground -- it's covered and above ground level. The student population is not privileged, and so the school's primary focus seems to be helping kids who are behind to catch up, but there's also at least some effort to challenge kids who are ahead. On whole, I consider Thomson functionally equivalent to Cooke. I ranked Cooke third on my list and Thomson fifth, but purely for logistical reasons -- were Thomson more convenient for me, I easily could have flipped them. I would have no qualms sending DC to either school, at least for the early years.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

There used to be a Thomson poster to this forum. I suggest you use the search feature to find other posts about Thomson. She was very positive about the school.

Maybe she went away b/c DCUM is so hostile to school that aren't JKLM or Cap City/Haynes/Yu Ying. I hope she comes back though.