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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Hi! My daughter was waitlisted # 16 for Takoma Ed. What do you think her chances of getting in are?

Also, is West a good Pre-K?[/quote]

Totally biased post on West.  We are an OOB family that has been at West for 4 years.  Our kids are in 1st grade.  I am also the PSCO president and have been active at the school - both on activities and governance since we arrived.

The early childhood program at West is top notch.  It is an established program with teachers who are inspiring and lay a great foundation for achievement.  My kids have had 2 of the 4 teachers and both are reading beyond a 2nd grade level.  Like most east of the park schools we have an exodus that happens at K.  Some of this was due to perceptions (both real and unfounded) of the education they would get in the upper grades.  Others left because they were looking for more bells and whistles that West is slowly adding back (restarted with several sports leagues, geo plunge, science fair, full time art in the school).  However we have found the upper grade teachers (some new and some who have been at West over a decade) to also be inspiring and rock solid in their ability to communicate the essentials at each level.  New PE teacher who also coaches college women's soccer, great Spanish teacher (my kids have two sections of Spanish each week), restocked library, nice gym, upgraded computer lab.

In analyzing the data we have learned that the kids who stay together - those who start at West in PS - have the highest achievement levels on the DC CAS.  The kids who transfer in mid way, coming from other schools where instruction may not have been so good, are the ones who struggle more.  This year they have put in place a number of supports - in class, pulls out, before school tutoring - to bring these kids to proficient. We have also done more outreach to parents to work with them to address issues proactively that might have led them to leave.  We piloted the Positive Behavior Incentive System last year and did a full roll out this year which means behavior issues are at a minimum and there is a clear set of guidelines for acceptable behavior throughout the building.

The PSCO has a rock solid core and we just had our best turnout ever for a family event for Family Reading Night.  We launched a new website over the summer and are slowly rolling out content and use it a key communication channel along with a weekly newsletter and an active e-mail list.  If you want to get a sense of the happenings you can subscribe to the Yahoo group.  The link is here - www.westschool.org

There are always PS/PK play dates and we are thinking to do one during enrollment month so families can make some links for over the summer.  Be in touch if you want more info.  All the PSCO and school leadership contact info is on the website.

We will have a butterfly garden work day which is open to anyone who wants to stop by from 9-11 on March 17th.

Teresa[/quote]

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