Anonymous wrote:Wow, for such a small school it gets a lot of responses at DCUM. Seems like the River Farm families notify one another or something when there is a post? Or it is cheap marketing...

The leadership team is in very frequent contact with one another and we do monitor our internet presence like any strong organization does. We are proud of our community and of course we care about our reputation. We are always happy to answer questions like the one in the OP.

Anonymous wrote:I appreciate that current parents are posting. I’m definitely intrigued for my middle schooler, but this will be the first year that the school has older kids? Is the curriculum developed? Or is it a total work in progress?

My name is Raime Masket and I am the current President of the board at the school. I appreciate your question and am happy to answer it. There is a highly developed curriculum and plan of study for the middle school, which our instructional team has been working on for the better part of a year. The team includes the founders of the school as well as our veteran teachers.

Features which we feel will make for a fantastic program:
-A comprehensive plan of study including Math; Science; History, Culture, and Current Events; ELA; Nature, Movement, and Specials
-Long-term field units (visiting the same site with experts once per week, for 4-5 weeks)
-Multiple field trips (we plan to metro downtown at least once per month)
-Overnight trips
-Daily outdoor lunch and recess for nearly an hour
-Classes held outside whenever possible

That said, as well planned as it is, it is a work in progress and we view that as a good thing. When things aren't working in public school, it can take ages to address the issues and change course. As a small school with a clear organizational structure, we are able to tweak things and make changes as needed. This is one of the many reasons that our students are so happy!

If anyone would like to email me at maskets at riverfarmcooperative dot com, I can see to getting your questions answered in more detail.