I have experience at the Brookland campus. I have never heard a prek3 teacher yell at a student. My child loves going to school and his teachers are warm, organized and communicate well. His teachers really focus on social/ emotional learning and I am continually impressed by how flexible my LO has become when faced with conflict. They use the Creative Curriculum for prek like many other DCPS/ charter prek programs. Cons--The overall school is not the best with communication, before/ after care is so-so, and they do not spend as much time outside as I'd like (they use indoor recess on days when the kids could really be outside).

We matched at Sela a couple years ago and decided on 16th street instead. When we got off the wait list at another school higher on our MySchool list (Bethune was outside the lottery then) we accepted.

We liked out visit at Bethune (nice warm people, small safe feeling space) but it felt like a day care more than like a school we'd want our kids to attend past early childhood. Also, it seemed disorganized in terms of before care and lunch (a worry since we have a child with food allergies) and one of the classrooms we visited with very chaotic. The school we went to felt like a "real" school.

My LO attended Bethune (16th street campus), for PK3 and PK4 and we had a lovely experience! A supportive, close knit school community - and great teachers!

Wow, thanks for the feedback! I attended the open house and was impressed (considering i've heard mixed things). Should we list it on our lottery app or not? Probably will end up at IB anyway....

Anonymous wrote:For those who got a spot and declined, can you say why?

Reputation for being disorganized, and location. We went to our IB nearby and are happy.

We went for PK3 (Brookland)and had a horrible experience. There is no oversight of the early childhood programs, the teachers often yelled at the students, let them watch shows during the school day, and my child barely learned any Spanish (which is concerning considering they claim that half their day is Spanish immersion). I’m not sure if things have changed since they got a new principal, but based on our experience, I would say you would be better off at most of the Brookland IB schools.

Is there a big difference between 16th Street and Brookland Campus?

For those who got a spot and declined, can you say why?

My kid is going to the 16th street campus and we like it! The pk3 teachers are really good. The school is better than its reputation on this board. I am only talking about the 16th street campus!

We were given a spot for PK3 in Brookland (near where we live) and we declined.

Do a search - I don't know much has changed in the past few years and there are lots of threads about MMBA. FWIW, my child went for PK3 @ Brookland, we were not going to return.

Here's the QSR for Bethune:
https://www.dcpcsb.org/sites/default/files/report/2018-12-20%20QSR%20Report%20MM%20Bethune%20PCS.pdf

We looked and opted for Langley.

I have an acquaintance who teaches at the Brookland campus and he said Bethune PreK3 and 4 are fine, but you will likely have to move to another school around 2nd grade.

Interested in hearing from parents who send their children to Mary Mcleod Bethune for Pk3 and 4. Thoughts? Has anyone considered enrolling there and then declined to do so? Why?

Thanks.