Anonymous wrote:Oh, and our class sizes were super small. There were 20 kids in my kid's class last year. That meant with 2 teachers and 2 paras he had a 1:5 ratio of adults to students. And because there were so many kids pulled out for reading help or speech therapy or other programs, he often got a lot of one on one attention or one on three small group work. He got far more personalized instruction at Drew than I have seen at the other elementary schools I work with

Could not agree more about the class sizes at Drew last year. Especially compared to some of the other schools in Arlington. Not sure if it will be the same this year, but it made a huge difference for our kinder!

Another happy Drew parent here. Our daughter had an amazing teacher last year. DD is low needs but didn't know how to read or do math before starting. Halfway through the year she was reading and doing 1st grade math with no problem. She is on the younger side and I assumed would be behind the other children, but the teachers really connected with her. We also loved the small classroom sizes!

Oh, and our class sizes were super small. There were 20 kids in my kid's class last year. That meant with 2 teachers and 2 paras he had a 1:5 ratio of adults to students. And because there were so many kids pulled out for reading help or speech therapy or other programs, he often got a lot of one on one attention or one on three small group work. He got far more personalized instruction at Drew than I have seen at the other elementary schools I work with

The kindergarten team is wonderful. My kid learned so much and all of them are great. If you come to the popsicle playdate tomorrow, I am happy to talk in person about who I loved and just how much she made a huge difference to my child.

For perspective, my kid is well resourced and low needs. He was in a high needs class. There were 2 teachers and 2 paras and they were all fantastic. He got so much direct instruction and his reading took off where he went from a handful of sight words to being able to read almost anything (2nd grade level). He learned math in a way that he is doing multiplication without realizing it. His classmates were so nice and I honestly had nothing to complain about.

The class set up allowed for a lot of outside time and movement. They used hands on learning with a lot of practice. Great communication with parents. The principal is great and communicative and the new AP seems wonderful and engaged. I cannot say enough good things about our experience last year.

We love Campbell! Just wanted to put in a plug. We had a daughter in kinder last year. We were happy with the teacher and the school.

Anonymous wrote:This is a really obnoxious thing to do - seeking public critique of teachers on an anonymous forum.

I am a middle school teacher and see nothing wrong with asking for feedback. Of all things posted on this forum it is funny this is what is called obnoxious.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a really obnoxious thing to do - seeking public critique of teachers on an anonymous forum.

+1

I disagree. I do not have children at Drew, however, I wish I had feedback or access to my children's teachers each year.

Hi OP! Welcome to APS and the roller coaster it is. I have a rising 4th grader at Drew. Not sure who the kindergarten teachers are this year, however, I can say my son had a wonderful experience. They now have reading specialists that all kids have access to which has been an amazing benefit. The only feedback that I can say about Drew is their PTA is not as involved as some of the other elementary schools. It seems like that is changing, but it is noticeable. Otherwise, we have really been happy with everything overall. APS in general is a different story!

OP here!

Just to confirm I'm not looking for critiques or negative feedback about any school or teacher. We are so thankful and thrilled to have the opportunity to go to an Arlington school since we are not from here and our last state did not have great public schools. Because we recently moved we have not been able to get a ton of info. We are really behind the ball on meeting people, getting to know the area and learning more about the schools. Not to mention we haven't had children in public school yet so some of it is just nerves. Sorry for any confusion.

Thank you to anyone who has provided constructive feedback, it is very appreciated.

Anonymous wrote:This is a really obnoxious thing to do - seeking public critique of teachers on an anonymous forum.

+1

Anonymous wrote:This is a really obnoxious thing to do - seeking public critique of teachers on an anonymous forum.

You're the obnoxious one for assuming the OP is looking for critiques of teachers. Since when is asking for feedback a bad thing? Feedback could be extremely positive - neutral - or negative. All fair game when our kids are concerned. Gd there are so many idiots on here.

I'm sure all the is kindergarten teachers at both schools are wonderful, caring people. As kindergarten teachers typically are.

This is a really obnoxious thing to do - seeking public critique of teachers on an anonymous forum.

Does anyone have feedback on the Kindergarten teachers at Drew? Our DC has a spot at Campbell, but we are not sold on going there for a handful of reasons. It seems like a great school but for logistical reasons we might benefit more from going to our neighborhood school. I'm pretty sure that is what we are opting for at this point but we would still love to hear any feedback in general about Drew or if anyone has specifics about the kinder classes we would greatly appreciate it.