Marie Reed public DC elemen. for 3-year-old, pre-K classes - what do you think?
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Anonymous
| Doubling up on my preschool forum post - We got into Marie Reed's 3-year-old class for fall 2010 and were waitlisted at the other 5 schools. Reed was at the bottom of our list. I have heard "bad reputation" and "violent incidents"...but their test scores are 69/74 last year, as good or better than Watkins on Capital Hill, and not as bad as many other schools. The location is also convenient for our family. We'll keep visiting charter schools etc. but I am wondering if any DCUMers can chime in on your experiences with Reed good and bad, impressions, hearsay...anything to supplement what we know from DCAS and visiting. I do not know any other Reed parents personally. |
Anonymous
I don't know anything about Reed other than not to put too much stock in the test scores -- Reed headlined the group of "suspicious erasures" (i.e., teachers cheating on the tests for their students) schools last year. |
Anonymous
| It is a bilingual program, and the principal seems nice. I'd set up a time to go tour the school and see what you think. Also, waitlists do move. |
Anonymous
| I was intrigued by the bilingual component, but I couldn't find any information on this school, nor anyone who attends, so we didn't apply. |
Anonymous
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my understanding is that Reed has a bunch of corporate sponsors who are trying to help make a change.
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Anonymous
| Heard they use a Japanese math curriculum that has been credited with scores. Had no idea it's bilingual. Guess proximity to oyster means it gets overshadowed. Do they use same model as Oyster's new one? |
Anonymous
| OP here. We dropped off our letter of intent today. Part of me wants to jump right in with joining/forming a parent group, etc. but honestly I am going to be still checking my other DCPS waitlists and have applied to charter schools too - LAMB, AppleTree, Bridges, and E.L. Haynes. Checking the board at Marie Reed, I noticed the pre-k - K classes are smallish (16/17 students, 2 teachers) with a good balance of boys and girls. LOTS of bilingual parents showing up to drop off their forms as well. Could it be we have stumbled on a school that is about to become something great? |
Anonymous
| you may have, observe the PreS/ PreK teachers carefully, as the teacher has most influence on your kid. Be very very careful if you need after care, it is tough for little kids in elementary schools. I have encountered non age appropriate aftercare for PreK in DCPS. (not at Marie Reed). Suggest you pick up yourself at 3:15 or hire a babysitter. |
Anonymous
| 15:48 - Not the OP here, can you tell me more about the non-age-appropriate care at DCPS for PreK? thanks. |
Anonymous
| I would check out the aftercare program myself. My child is in DCPS pre k and they separate the aftercare students by grade. The preschoolers, pre K and K have aftercare in their classroom with extras like Gym, music in the approproate rooms. Every school I looked at separated the little ones from the older ones by grade level. I feel very comforatbale leaving my child in aftercare...especially since her teacher and many of the teacher do the afterschool program. I guess every school is different. |
Anonymous
| I'm an Oyster parent, now at Adams. Having spent some time at Marie Reed last SY dropping off various community stuff as our schools partner on various actiities, I was absolutely blown away by the great artwork and busy-bee nature of the school. It is definitely up and coming, with a lot of dedicated responsive teachers. The only thing negative is the PHYSICAL SPACE -- like many things awarded to Rhee, the real momentum and excitment is ignited when ALLEN LEW COMES TO PLAY. The swimming pool facility has been revamped, and as a decade long DC Parent, go for your first instincts -- start a parent group! Go for it! And if it is walking distance from home, you and your child will cherish the fabric of your day going to and fro. |
Anonymous
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I see a trend here. Marie Reed is apparently up and coming (I never even looked at it). Lots of parents seem excited by Cooke. Tubman doesn't hit these boards often, but they seem to have "non-suspicious" test score increases. Garrison has a new facebook page and a group of interested neighborhood parents (up to now, Garrison was mostly OOB -- like Ross a few years ago).
Ross is now a desirable school. Mid-city parents, there may really be a trend toward making our neighborhood schools desirable. Wouldn't it be nice if we could walk to school together instead of competing with each other for a few OOB slots across the park! |
Anonymous
Yes! |
Anonymous
And to this list of up-and-coming schools, add Barnard, which three years ago I utterly scorned, but which I visited just this morning and am now amazed by. Yaay, walking to school! |
Anonymous
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Oh BLEEP!! Wish I knew about Reed bilingual for pre-s/k. We moved in bounds for Oyster (Spanish friends recommended) but house is closer to Reed than Woodley. Naively assumed Oyster preschool was a given for in bounds. (I was pregnant and clueless at the time.)
OA pp, how close is Reed to 50/50 Oyster model? What does partnership mean? Do lots Reed kids go to Adams now? Impressions would be helpful for our longer term planning. OBE hasn't been very clear. Rhee herself told me DCPS has "pretty loose definition of language dominance." Great. What do parents think of bilingual options? |