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[quote=Anonymous]Hello! We have 2 daughters at the River Farm Cooperative (RFC) School, and they love it there. When I hear my friends who have kids at other schools say something like, "Tim just doesn't like school, but I guess that's the way it's going to be for him", I cringe a bit. We went through the same experience - our daughter was not enjoying early elementary school at all, and the road ahead just looked so long and hard. She was doing well by academic standards, but was stressed anxious about "getting the wrong answer". But we had just moved into the Fairfax County Public School System because the public schools were so great, so we felt like we were in it for the long haul and just had to figure out how to make it fit our children better. Making a change mid-year (once we learned more about RFC) seemed like a crazy move, but once we did, we had absolutely no regrets. We can say with 100% confidence that our kids love school, and they are getting an outstanding education.

My husband and I have done a lot of reading on the different educational systems around the world. One book we really enjoyed is called "The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way" by Amanda Ripley. Two of the highest performing educational systems in the world are South Korea and Finland, and yet their philosophies are diametrically opposed. The South Korean system focuses are more time in the classroom, more homework, more testing/drilling. The Finnish system takes a less-is-more approach. There is less time in the classroom, less homework, less testing, and more unstructured playtime.

To us, it felt like the DC metro area public schools are moving towards a more South Korean educational system, and we did not want that. That system works for a lot of families, and it works well. It produces highly educated kids who go on to great careers. We were just looking for something different. It seems to us like RFC parents tend to prefer a model similar to the Finnish model. If that is considered "crunchy" because it is outside of the mainstream system here (?), I suppose that word applies. It definitely applies if you are looking for a greener, more environmentally conscious school, and one which emphasizes open, thoughtful discussions on all topics, including world politics and social justice issues. But no, we are not a religions school, although we lease space from a church. And as for attachment parenting, I actually had to look that up before responding...so no, we do not embrace that as a whole community. Most parents I know would actually be described as "mainstream" parents who were just looking for a different educational approach for their kids. If you are interested, I would highly encourage you to contact admissions and learn more. We think it is a very special place!

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