Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another parent here considering exploring this school. The vaccination question concerns me a bit...does anyone have any insight as to if there are a large number of religious or personal exemptions used at this school? As it is a cooperative, I take in to account the parents who will be in the school on a regular basis with my child. If a large percentage of the parents at the school can't accept the basic science behind vaccinations I don't want them anywhere near my child's education. (I am obcoously 100% fine with medical exemptions.)

+1

+2. I am also intrigued by this school but this gives me pause.

Anonymous wrote:What's the vibe at the school? Crunchy? Religious? Attachment parenting? Etc?

God, I sincerely hope parents of 10 year-olds aren't still identifying at attachment parents.

What's the vibe at the school? Crunchy? Religious? Attachment parenting? Etc?

Anonymous wrote:Another parent here considering exploring this school. The vaccination question concerns me a bit...does anyone have any insight as to if there are a large number of religious or personal exemptions used at this school? As it is a cooperative, I take in to account the parents who will be in the school on a regular basis with my child. If a large percentage of the parents at the school can't accept the basic science behind vaccinations I don't want them anywhere near my child's education. (I am obcoously 100% fine with medical exemptions.)

+1

Another parent here considering exploring this school. The vaccination question concerns me a bit...does anyone have any insight as to if there are a large number of religious or personal exemptions used at this school? As it is a cooperative, I take in to account the parents who will be in the school on a regular basis with my child. If a large percentage of the parents at the school can't accept the basic science behind vaccinations I don't want them anywhere near my child's education. (I am obcoously 100% fine with medical exemptions.)

Regarding RFC as a homeschool vs private school, its legal status has traditionally been a homeschool co-op since that is how it started. However, as it is growing and evolving, it is changing to a private school status for next Fall. So the homeschooling paperwork that families have had to file with the county up until now will not be an issue by next year. It will still be a co-op in terms of parent involvement and expectations.

For the family who wrote to say they recently contacted RFC - that's wonderful! I hope you love it!! We truly feel so fortunate to have found it!

Anonymous wrote:Does the co-op accept unvaccinated children? (Mine is vaccinated, just wondering)

All public schools in VA will accept a unvaxed child as will almost every private school.

Anonymous wrote:Does the co-op accept unvaccinated children? (Mine is vaccinated, just wondering)

Not sure about that question, but my understanding is that the child isn't officially enrolled in RFC as a "school", but rather designed as a homeschooler for your local school system. They then implement the education for your homeschooled child. Hence, cooperative. They are not accredited, I don't believe, so it has to be a homeschool situation.

Anonymous wrote:The River Farm Cooperative School (Alexandria, VA) is now accepting applications for grades K-5 for the 2017/18 school year! If interested, please contact the Admissions Director using the following link:

http://www.riverfarmcooperative.com/contact/

There is a particular need for kindergartners, and kids for the upper school (grades 3-5), esp boys to maintain a gender balance. Based on our experience (our daughter is a student there), I believe it behooves all potential applicants to have an "immersion day" there to truly see if it is a good fit, and they try to schedule these visits on Tuesdays so as to include their nature hikes. I would recommend scheduling this visit ASAP...

Thanks & best of luck in your searches!

Thank you! I am interested in learning more and just sent an inquiry.

The River Farm Cooperative School (Alexandria, VA) is now accepting applications for grades K-5 for the 2017/18 school year! If interested, please contact the Admissions Director using the following link:

http://www.riverfarmcooperative.com/contact/

There is a particular need for kindergartners, and kids for the upper school (grades 3-5), esp boys to maintain a gender balance. Based on our experience (our daughter is a student there), I believe it behooves all potential applicants to have an "immersion day" there to truly see if it is a good fit, and they try to schedule these visits on Tuesdays so as to include their nature hikes. I would recommend scheduling this visit ASAP...

Thanks & best of luck in your searches!

Hi - I'm the one that posted several weeks ago who has a daughter that started at the River Farm Cooperative this year. I'm still learning a lot about it, but I will do my best to answer your questions. As for whether RFC accepts unvaccinated children, I believe they do, but there needs to be a religious or cultural exemption. Like you, my kids are vaccinated. Regarding the kids who had left who were not on par with their peers academically, I'm not sure what to say about that. I posted earlier about all of the kids testing above their grade levels last year on their end of year standardized exams. But I never knew those families that left, so I can't really speak to what they experienced. I will just say that it is so hard for me to imagine any child leaving there being academically unprepared in any way. They have a very progressive and holistic approach to education and the children learn the concepts deeply; they don't just memorize as I was taught to do as a kid! For example, the first graders are introduced to multiplication and division because they can make sense of it in ways the kids understand (5+5+5 is the same as 5x3)...that sort of thing. Kindergarteners start learning cursive as well as print as part of an integrative process. So it's very refreshing for me to see this approach, and the kids all receive incredible one on one attention from the teachers every day too, so it seems they would address any skills that weren't up to par. Those experiences posted earlier might have been some earlier growing pains of a new school at that time. But it is certainly not reflective of the RFC that we have come to know and love today. I'll check back soon if you have other questions!

I am also a River Farm parent. Our kids absolutely love the program and are excelling academically. While we only do standardized testing once a year, the scores have been great and we certainly have no need for a tutor. We have also seen wonderful social and emotional growth in both of them. We love being so involved with every aspect of their school (even when it means I'm out in the woods on a walk with them in the freezing cold!). We are committed to progressive education and RFC is the program we had hoped to find for quite a while.

Most of RFC's kids are vaccinated, although a few families do not for religious or medical reasons. This is standard for Virginia schools, -although we do not require submission of exemption forms this year. http://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/22.1-271.2/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of the families who attended last year left and out of those kids, a large number are woefully behind their peers academically.
Bear this in mind if you're not prepared to homeschool your child or hire a tutor once they leave.

Is this true? This gives me pause and I'm hoping it can be refuted/explained by other posters.

This is not true. Most of last year's families returned. And most of the ones who didn't return moved out of the area. All of last year's students took the Terra Nova test. The scores were 1.8 above grade level on average.

This is our second year with RFC and we have two children there. We could not be happier and will be returning next year.

Our website is http://www.riverfarmcooperative.com/, and the leadership is very responsive to inquiries. If anyone has questions, please reach out to us directly.

Anonymous wrote:Why not go to Burgundy Farm? Lots of outdoor time and a progressive education philosophy.

Burgundy Farm is our first choice, but I know several parents who are looking at both because they have to be realistic. They would love to be at Burgundy, but can't be sure they'll be admitted and/or aren't sure if it's financially feasible (River Farm Co-op tuition is less than $6K).

Why not go to Burgundy Farm? Lots of outdoor time and a progressive education philosophy.