I'd like to revive this post yet again as I look for options for our son who will be 3 in July 2016.

Anyone have experiences with Marie Reed, Powell or Bancroft?

I would be curious to hear what the "second tier" PK3s are like as I just want free PK instead of $1900 a month day care, so I'm not even applying to the top 5.

I can't speak to rankings, but I wanted to add, for those who are visiting this post thinking about PK3/4 how great our experience has been at Capital City with their early childhood programming. The classrooms are combined with ages 3-4, and the teachers of each classroom work as a team. A very warm and safe and enriching environment. (We also have an older sibling in the school and have been really impressed with her teachers and experience.)

The commute is far from great for us, but it's been worth it.

I totally agree with 01/17/2015 20:25 poster. AppleTree is a great program. I admit I was skeptical when we were matched first round in last year's lottery. But we moved from a private montessori that was $$$ to AT and the difference is easy to see. The teacher/child ratio is better, caring teachers and staff, and best of all, my child is happy and learning new things every day. So to all who doubt, here is another happy AT mom.

Anonymous wrote:Well, I'm a potential YY parent and don't put too much stock in what happens on DCUM. It's clear from the thread that there are lots of non-YY parents on it. Obviously the anonymous nature of DCUM encourages people to make snide comments that they would never dream of making in person.

It seems like there is a pattern: when a school is new or in transition, the parents are really pulling together to make the school work. As it becomes established and successful, people have the luxury of taking potshots and nitpicking.

Agree, tons of threads trashing schools like YY, CM, MV, IT etc. That's how you know a school has made it, when DCUM has long negative threads about it.

^^ Because new families just getting started are using the search feature before posting. Good work,new famiies!

This thread is 2+ years old.not sure why it was revived.

Imo, AppleTree has hand down the best early childhood Program in the city.

Anonymous wrote:NP here - I swear and I don't care if you live envy where in the beltway - SWS is amazing for PK. Still remains to see where they land in new upper grades but for PK/K they've been doing it 17 years and it doesn't get better.

Well beyond the PK years myself, but I've heard from local educators that SWS is doing it right.

Anonymous wrote:A thread turned YY focused? Shock!

Now all we need is for it to turn into a Basis flamewar. I know it's about PK, but they'll find a way...

NP here - I swear and I don't care if you live envy where in the beltway - SWS is amazing for PK. Still remains to see where they land in new upper grades but for PK/K they've been doing it 17 years and it doesn't get better.

Pk3.???

A thread turned YY focused? Shock!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yu Ying has been an amazing experience for us and many of our friends.

OP, read this ongoing thread - http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/256347.page - before you think about Yu Ying. The PTA harpies there have been flaming each other for three months now. Not exactly a glowing recommendation for the community there.

If you're thinking about YY, yes, you should read that thread. Because you'll see some serious bickering about a hot topic at that school... but you'll also see there that - as PP just demonstrated - there is this vehement anti-YY contingent here as well, and you gotta wonder why people spend so much time flaming a school that their kids don't go to.... jealous much?

Not that there aren't parents at YY with criticisms, or that no one's ever left YY. But the criticisms and exits are pretty small compared to the glowing raves of current parents and crazy efforts others make to get their kids in.

So yes, check it all out (do that with all schools), but also notice and ask yourself what motivates the detractors when there are a lot of them. Sometimes it's bad experiences and that is very important to pay attention to... but sometimes... it just looks like sour grapes.

Well, I'm the poster you're responding to and no, it's not sour grapes. I could give a crap about my kid ever going to YY. I just find it amazing that you chickens are still pecking at each other on DCUM three months after that thread was started I am sick to death of seeing it pop up and just wish you would all go have a big rumble in the parking lot or something, scratching and clawing each other's eyes out. Come to think of it, if you do, will you let us know so I can come watch? It would be hilarious.

I worked at a private school once and when the parents are like that, the kids end up that way, too. And the culture becomes insufferable. You've all pretty much convinced me it's a similar environment. I'd rather scratch my OWN eyes out than subjugate myself or my kid to that kind of toxic culture.

Ok, so we won't see you or your kid at the school. Sounds like that works fine for all involved. Cool, now why not just ignore the obvious YY threads from now on and keep that blood pressure down?

YY parent who is very happy there and doesn't understand why almost every thread (however it starts out) turns into anti-YY at some point. Although I have found DCUM invaluable, I agree with the poster about being cautious about postings. One has to read all the threads (and some of them are quite long) to get a full picture. The anonymity makes it extremely difficult to judge although I do feel that one gets a sense after a while and it gets easier to tell real posts that are genuine (either positive or negative). I also find it lamentable that parents these days do so much nitpicking in general - the school might be fabulous but there may be one or a few rules/decisions that certain parents don't agree with and they become very discontent. Schools have hundreds of families to consider - I think it isn't surprising to find some families that are unhappy to different degrees or pull their kids out (for a variety of reasons). But you have to look at the whole picture. I think the rankings measure re-enrollment so that is a way to tell. And so is DCUM if you take things with a grain of salt.

Anonymous wrote:Well, I'm a potential YY parent and don't put too much stock in what happens on DCUM. It's clear from the thread that there are lots of non-YY parents on it. Obviously the anonymous nature of DCUM encourages people to make snide comments that they would never dream of making in person.

It seems like there is a pattern: when a school is new or in transition, the parents are really pulling together to make the school work. As it becomes established and successful, people have the luxury of taking potshots and nitpicking.

As you take a look at YY (or any school)- ask about the Social Curriculum. What type of support do they have. What is the approach for dealing with bullies? Is there a School Counselor? (Is this position funded FT or PT)

You don't know to ask these questions when you are looking at preK - you are more concerned about naps, ratios, amount of enrichment. However, this is what will contribute to making it a school you want to stay at.