OP I think it depends on your kid - would kid do ok with a more academic, less play-based approach? If so AT is a great choice. But it can be a bad fit for a kid who needs a more child-led approach.

We are currently at Apple Tree Lincoln Park for PK3 and will happily re-enroll there if we don't get a better spot at an elementary. I am honestly very impressed with them. My 4 year old is light years ahead of her peers in other parts of the DMV. She can already read and write her name, the entire alphabet, numbers and short words. They give homework every week and projects intermittently at the kindergarten level so I don't know what else she'll have left to learn by kindergarten! Some have complained that it's too academic, but I think it's a good mix of academics and fun. They are still very lenient all around so even if she wasn't responding to the academia, I think she would be enjoying her time there.

We loved AppleTree Lincoln Park-- our girl was there two years ago (for two years) and had great, loving teachers who really knew her as a kid and as a learner. Great experience.

Anonymous wrote:My son is in PK3 at AppleTree Spring Valley. We love it. It's a 15 minute drive for us, so we're reluctantly moving him to Eaton for PK4 (our IB school, a three minute walk) purely for convenience, but if he hadn't gotten into Eaton we would have very happily stayed at AppleTree for PK4. We're going to be truly, truly heartbroken to leave. The school has been phenomenal for my son. I feel like we hit the jackpot with his teachers, and he absolutely loves going to school every day. His class has 16 kids and two teachers (a way better ratio than Eaton with 22 kids), as do all six classes at Spring Valley.

The curriculum is fantastic (and I was nervous about a curriculum that wasn't fully play based) -- it's been SO good for him. He's also in aftercare and loves it. We've had zero issues with discipline and I have not heard of any issues from other parents. We love the school and I genuinely get choked up at the reality of having to say goodbye in June. Can't recommend the school highly enough for any parents considering for next year!

FWIW the different classroom sizes reflect the difference in staff ratios for PK3 vs PK4. DCPS PK3 classrooms are typically 16 students as well.

My son is in PK3 at AppleTree Spring Valley. We love it. It's a 15 minute drive for us, so we're reluctantly moving him to Eaton for PK4 (our IB school, a three minute walk) purely for convenience, but if he hadn't gotten into Eaton we would have very happily stayed at AppleTree for PK4. We're going to be truly, truly heartbroken to leave. The school has been phenomenal for my son. I feel like we hit the jackpot with his teachers, and he absolutely loves going to school every day. His class has 16 kids and two teachers (a way better ratio than Eaton with 22 kids), as do all six classes at Spring Valley.

The curriculum is fantastic (and I was nervous about a curriculum that wasn't fully play based) -- it's been SO good for him. He's also in aftercare and loves it. We've had zero issues with discipline and I have not heard of any issues from other parents. We love the school and I genuinely get choked up at the reality of having to say goodbye in June. Can't recommend the school highly enough for any parents considering for next year!

We are currently at the Spring Valley campus with our 4-year old. We have had a wonderful experience for our son. We find a balance of play and learning. He comes home with questions which is a sign to us that he's engaged in the learning. Most importantly he wants to "go to school" each day. His teacher has been very supportive of him this year and his emotional development. He started the year shy and without a lot of openness to new friends. Now, we can barely get him to want to leave each day. We have not seen an focus on discipline, but appreciate that everyone's experience is different. We find the parent community to be a huge asset.

My knowledge is dated but if we could go back a decade, no to AppleTree. My kid was frequently disciplined there because she couldn’t handle K type structure in PreS3 and PreK4.

Any current or recent parents care to share what your day-to-day and overall preschool experience at AppleTree is or was like? We're aware spots for the locations near us get filled up, so they're obviously not struggling for enrollment or have a terrible reputation. But so far we don't have a good read on what the classroom experience is like, in order to decide where to rank them in relation to other nearby DCPS and charter options.

The open house presentation and marketing materials feel very sales-y, rightfully I suppose, and spend a lot of time on language and keywords that ultimately feel cliche and not that illustrative for us. Not to be weird, but we don't really care that a lesson plan or curriculum is "innovative" or exclusive. Are the assessments we spent 10-15 minutes talking about to be taken that seriously or more like "take it or leave it"? We just want to know if the kids are happy, safe, and playing/learning in developmentally appropriate ways. Or if it's mid and people are just OK sending kids there because it's "just" for 1 or 2 years.

We're going to include them either way due to short commute, but hearing others' experience would be informative so we can manage our expectations and understand what we might be getting into.