My child went two years ago and had a good experience. One of the teachers for 4th is very strict- it works for some kids but not others . The criteria has now changed to get in and it may look more like a class of smart kids vs a class of gifted kids. My son developed 2 passions as a result of attending Drew- one based on his teacher's interest and another from a peer. Being away from his typical peer group from the neighborhood was tough though along with the bus ride- these were the negatives

Thank you so much, that's very helpful! It's only a 15 minute drive from our house, but the bus route is circuitous of course. We are doing a tour of the school next week and have an info session tonight so hopefully that will help us make the decision.

I had two kids go through the Drew CES; they are currently in 7th and 9th grade. It was a very good program for them. They made great friends and had good teachers and interesting work. However, it was a very short commute for us (same distance from our house as their home school). I believe the teachers there now are the same that my younger child had.

I'd suggest you and your child attend the open house (assuming they are having one) to get a feel for the program and the school. If your child is excited by the idea, I'd give it a try. If she's reluctant and has a good group of friends and the potential for the enriched literacy curriculum at her home school, that's probably a fine option, too. She can always start at the CES and transfer to the home school if it ends up being a bad fit.

No experience with Drew. But DC was accepted into that CES program and we declined because local school offered compacted math and accelerated lit (or whatever the formal term for that is)

bump-anyone?

Just wondering if anyone on here has recent (in the last couple years) experience with a 4th or 5th grader at the Drew CES program? My 3rd grader was accepted for next fall and just trying to decide whether it would be worth it. She goes to a pretty good school and she's been doing well and has a good group of friends. The bus ride looks to be between 20-40 min if we do accept so there's that (compared to less than 10 now). Surprisingly, though she's possibly interested and I was just hoping to connect with someone who has a kid there!