Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live near Truesdell, too, and I'm sorry to say that I would not send my child there. It just looks really depressing, and while aesthetics may count for very little, more often than not, such concerns appear to be justified.

If you find the aesthetics of Truesdell to be too much of a turn off, then you probably won't be interested in West. The people inside are great, but the building is not.

+1. And PP, have you ever been inside Truesdell? I have seen worse (the old Bridges building, where Breakthrough is going to be, for instance). We are likely going to be at Truesdell for PK3. The principal seems really great. I don't understand why the higher SES neighborhood parents aren't giving the school a chance, like they do for instance with Langley (whose scores are worse). Now entering in 3rd grade, for OP, may be a different matter, given that there won't be many (or any?) other kids of her demographic yet.

No, I totally admit that I've never been inside, but the fenced in, dilapidated, hard-surface playground is discouraging.

Better than no playground, like some schools in this city (like Breakthrough)! And do you really want your school playground not to be fenced in? I think it's a must for the little ones.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live near Truesdell, too, and I'm sorry to say that I would not send my child there. It just looks really depressing, and while aesthetics may count for very little, more often than not, such concerns appear to be justified.

If you find the aesthetics of Truesdell to be too much of a turn off, then you probably won't be interested in West. The people inside are great, but the building is not.

+1. And PP, have you ever been inside Truesdell? I have seen worse (the old Bridges building, where Breakthrough is going to be, for instance). We are likely going to be at Truesdell for PK3. The principal seems really great. I don't understand why the higher SES neighborhood parents aren't giving the school a chance, like they do for instance with Langley (whose scores are worse). Now entering in 3rd grade, for OP, may be a different matter, given that there won't be many (or any?) other kids of her demographic yet.

No, I totally admit that I've never been inside, but the fenced in, dilapidated, hard-surface playground is discouraging.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live near Truesdell, too, and I'm sorry to say that I would not send my child there. It just looks really depressing, and while aesthetics may count for very little, more often than not, such concerns appear to be justified.

If you find the aesthetics of Truesdell to be too much of a turn off, then you probably won't be interested in West. The people inside are great, but the building is not.

+1. And PP, have you ever been inside Truesdell? I have seen worse (the old Bridges building, where Breakthrough is going to be, for instance). We are likely going to be at Truesdell for PK3. The principal seems really great. I don't understand why the higher SES neighborhood parents aren't giving the school a chance, like they do for instance with Langley (whose scores are worse). Now entering in 3rd grade, for OP, may be a different matter, given that there won't be many (or any?) other kids of her demographic yet.

No, I totally admit that I've never been inside, but the fenced in, dilapidated, hard-surface playground is discouraging.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live near Truesdell, too, and I'm sorry to say that I would not send my child there. It just looks really depressing, and while aesthetics may count for very little, more often than not, such concerns appear to be justified.

If you find the aesthetics of Truesdell to be too much of a turn off, then you probably won't be interested in West. The people inside are great, but the building is not.

+1. And PP, have you ever been inside Truesdell? I have seen worse (the old Bridges building, where Breakthrough is going to be, for instance). We are likely going to be at Truesdell for PK3. The principal seems really great. I don't understand why the higher SES neighborhood parents aren't giving the school a chance, like they do for instance with Langley (whose scores are worse). Now entering in 3rd grade, for OP, may be a different matter, given that there won't be many (or any?) other kids of her demographic yet.

No, I totally admit that I've never been inside, but the fenced in, dilapidated, hard-surface playground is discouraging.

Anonymous wrote:We live near Truesdell, too, and I'm sorry to say that I would not send my child there. It just looks really depressing, and while aesthetics may count for very little, more often than not, such concerns appear to be justified.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live near Truesdell, too, and I'm sorry to say that I would not send my child there. It just looks really depressing, and while aesthetics may count for very little, more often than not, such concerns appear to be justified.

If you find the aesthetics of Truesdell to be too much of a turn off, then you probably won't be interested in West. The people inside are great, but the building is not.

+1. And PP, have you ever been inside Truesdell? I have seen worse (the old Bridges building, where Breakthrough is going to be, for instance). We are likely going to be at Truesdell for PK3. The principal seems really great. I don't understand why the higher SES neighborhood parents aren't giving the school a chance, like they do for instance with Langley (whose scores are worse). Now entering in 3rd grade, for OP, may be a different matter, given that there won't be many (or any?) other kids of her demographic yet.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live near Truesdell, too, and I'm sorry to say that I would not send my child there. It just looks really depressing, and while aesthetics may count for very little, more often than not, such concerns appear to be justified.

If you find the aesthetics of Truesdell to be too much of a turn off, then you probably won't be interested in West. The people inside are great, but the building is not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks so much everyone, all very helpful suggestions. I hadn't looked much at Langley, the number of schools to research in a short period of time is kind of overwhelming. Will also look at St Anthony's which I hadn't heard of and sacred Heart and the other private schools mentioned. I think montessori is out for my son, doesn't really suit his learning style as he needs a lot of structure.
The IB school is Truesdale and I saw some not so great comments on these forums and test scored don't look great.
We will be there for a while so I would like to get him in one place and keep him there for at least a few years. West also is closeby. Anyone have any feedback on that?
I'll give bridges a call too, I didn't want to be a pest but if that is something people often do its worth a shot.

We've been happy at West, starting at PK. We're not at 3rd grade yet, but have spoken to parents from upper grades who have been happy with it. It is a title 1 school, so you'd have to be comfortable with that. There is an active PTA that you can reach out to.

I'm not sure what the waitlist looks like or if the data is even available on that.

Anonymous wrote:We live near Truesdell, too, and I'm sorry to say that I would not send my child there. It just looks really depressing, and while aesthetics may count for very little, more often than not, such concerns appear to be justified.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks so much everyone, all very helpful suggestions. I hadn't looked much at Langley, the number of schools to research in a short period of time is kind of overwhelming. Will also look at St Anthony's which I hadn't heard of and sacred Heart and the other private schools mentioned. I think montessori is out for my son, doesn't really suit his learning style as he needs a lot of structure.
The IB school is Truesdale and I saw some not so great comments on these forums and test scored don't look great.
We will be there for a while so I would like to get him in one place and keep him there for at least a few years. West also is closeby. Anyone have any feedback on that?
I'll give bridges a call too, I didn't want to be a pest but if that is something people often do its worth a shot.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks so much everyone, all very helpful suggestions. I hadn't looked much at Langley, the number of schools to research in a short period of time is kind of overwhelming. Will also look at St Anthony's which I hadn't heard of and sacred Heart and the other private schools mentioned. I think montessori is out for my son, doesn't really suit his learning style as he needs a lot of structure.
The IB school is Truesdale and I saw some not so great comments on these forums and test scored don't look great.
We will be there for a while so I would like to get him in one place and keep him there for at least a few years. West also is closeby. Anyone have any feedback on that?
I'll give bridges a call too, I didn't want to be a pest but if that is something people often do its worth a shot.

Anonymous wrote:If you're willing to go to Brookland, I'd also agree St Anthony's might be an option and the DCPS John Burroughs could be a good possibility.