Sorry, I meant them come in later and leave later. Not exactly sure what their hours are.

Anonymous wrote:For those there--I find it a little odd that the little kids are with the high schoolers, with the kids in between at a different campus. Does it work in practice?

Yes, in practice it works just fine. The high school building is attached to the elementary school building, but they don't share any of the space, and other than seeing the HS students in their study lounge/cafetera area through the glass windows I've never seen a HS student on the elementary school grounds or in the building. They are also not allowed re-entry to the building after they leave and their hours are different -- they come in later and later. There have been no issues that I know about so far.

Also, they are moving the 4th grade to the elementary school next year. The only grades that will be at the GA Ave. campus are 5th-8th.

Anonymous wrote:Sorry to hijack but any current/former families willing to share why they left or gave up their spots?

High ELL percentage.

For those there--I find it a little odd that the little kids are with the high schoolers, with the kids in between at a different campus. Does it work in practice?

Anonymous wrote:The Petworth Metro station (green line) is about 2 blocks away.

This is not accurate. Not from the campus in Kansas Ave.

63 bus, also the buses in Georgia (70).

The Petworth Metro station (green line) is about 2 blocks away.

Anonymous wrote:Is there a public transportation option (bus or metro) to EL Haynes (for the location that has the preschool program)? It doesn't look like it from the WMATA site but just thought I'd confirm here. Seems like the only real option is to either drive or if you are nearby walk.

The 62 bus, which runs between the Takoma & Georgia Ave stations, stops right in front of the school. (During rush hour, the 62 becomes the 63 and goes all the way downtown.)

Sorry to hijack but any current/former families willing to share why they left or gave up their spots?

The Georgia ave bus routes are your best option. You could also walk over from routes that go up and down 14th.

Is there a public transportation option (bus or metro) to EL Haynes (for the location that has the preschool program)? It doesn't look like it from the WMATA site but just thought I'd confirm here. Seems like the only real option is to either drive or if you are nearby walk.

I'm the mom of a soon-to-be 1st grader at E.L. Haynes. We've been at the school for 3 years. I was just asked by a friend of a friend who just got in off the waiting list for my feedback on our overall experiences of the school, and particularly on the year-round program aspect so I'm cutting and pasting some of what I just typed to her this morning (or perhaps this is the same person?) Here it is:

My daughter has been attending for 3 years now. Overall, we've generally been very pleased. The teachers and staff are pretty consistently awesome. My daughter has LOVED all her teachers and loves the school. The year-round schedule has it's benefits, but quite frankly it isn't really a traditional year-round school schedule, which typically has a much shorter summer break and breaks of 2-4 weeks after every six weeks of school. When I tell people the school is year-round I usually get raised eyebrows or "Wow, really? She goes to school through the summer?" And the answer to that is "no, not really." We still do camp and summer vacations. We get a 6-7 week summer break, 4 of which intersession is available (this year we are ending the same day as DCPS and going back only 2-weeks before them), a 2-week break in October, 2-3 weeks at the winter holiday and a 2-week spring break. During those breaks the kids can go to intersession classes, which are theme-based classes that are educational but not as intense as a traditional academic school day. In my experience they've varied in quality, but overall my daughter has enjoyed them.

In regard to your concern about having a shy child, I can't speak to it personally since my child is rather outgoing, but from what I've seen the teachers are very well trained in handling all types of personalities and issues with children. They also do home visits for Pre-K students during the first week of school so your child will meet their teacher in the comfort of his/her home before even starting school. This was really nice, especially our first year.

To the poster here on DCUM, we did our tour after we got in. They should schedule one for you if you call. Bethany Molitor is the director of family communications and she is AWESOME. You should ask for her when you call. Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions.

I don't have anything to offer, but I have to comment on your post. Whenever I post on here I make sure to include some type of disclaimer for when DCUMers attack. You already knew that the DCUM lynch mob would crucify you for asking for info. about a particular school. Usually they say something snide like "do your own research. Why would you come on DCUM, etc..." To nip that, you let them know you've already done research. The next nasty bunch would tell you to tour. You've already taken care of that, so they can't attack. I've had to do the same thing. So, guess I just found that funny/sad and also I'm partly curious as to what else DCUM will find to attack. We'll see...

Tour was impressive (last year). You should be able to schedule a tour now that you're in. We plan to do another one.

Anonymous wrote:Research - check
Visit - check
Searching message boards for information - check
Current stories from parents regarding their thoughts on the program and its strengths and why they love it for their kids - specifically the PK3s and their transition up - please help.
Insight from parents of shy ones would also be helpful.
Thank you so much!

OP, I'm also eager for the same information. Would you mind sharing your experience of the visit or tour that you took at Haynes. Due to circumstances we couldn't prevent, I wasn't able to visit. I hope that you get some genuine and helpful responses to your question!

Research - check
Visit - check
Searching message boards for information - check
Current stories from parents regarding their thoughts on the program and its strengths and why they love it for their kids - specifically the PK3s and their transition up - please help.
Insight from parents of shy ones would also be helpful.
Thank you so much!