I have enrolled my 3 year old child in Marie Reed for the 2011-2011 school year. I can understand the concerns of many parents. I will report back on what my experience is like. So far I can say that I am very impressed with how warm, inviting and organized the school is. I love the toddler-only playground and the garden area. My son was in a private daycare (full immersion Spanish) and he was not happy there at all. Today I took him to Marie Reed and he was so happy and delighted to see his new classroom and to go on the playground. I couldn't get him to leave. He has been talking all day about his new school, and is very excited to start up there full time in a few days.

The teachers he will have have been trained in a special Head Start program. his class has all new tables, books, dolls, blocks, craft supplies, etc. The teacher has met with me 2 times already to get to know me and my son. I have been given a tour of the school, the cafeteria and all other parts of the school grounds. I reviewed the school menus with the cooks -- they have a well balanced menu that is comparable to both public and private schools that I have been a parent at. I am personally very excited to be in a community school where people from all walks of life send their children. He will have access to PE, Art and Music as part of the regular curriculum. We'll be able to go to the Marie Reed Swimming Pool (for free) after school, and he can also take swimming lessons there. The teacher has a full time Teaching Assistant who seems very kind and very well trained as well.

I agree with some of the other posts that have comment or imply that providing your child with a good education requires a lot of hard work both inside and outside the classroom. Reading at home, going on special trips around the city, and having good old-fashioned family time is equally as important as what happens at school each day.

I will be amongst the new Marie Reed parents who will volunteer and try to help out where needed and most useful. I'll admit I am very nervous, but we'll give it a try, and I will make sure I am part of my son's education both inside and outside the classroom, and we'll see how it goes.

E

Just be careful, people. Looks like 2 people who have kids at MR post here... and say the same positive things... over and over. Do the research... look at the scores online... visit and see for yourselves.

Ugh - where did you hear "bad reputation" and "violent incidents"? My daughter is there, and the school has some issues, primarily because the physical space is old and it's sometimes difficult for parents, teachers and administrators to communicate (like many other DC public schools), but it's generally a very positive learning environment.

The bilingual program is great -- and there are so many incredible people working there, including the principal, art teacher, librarian, many of the teachers and aides. I also like the diversity, in terms of ethnicity and languages spoken at home. We've seen no violence and the "bad reputation" I suspect is unwarranted.

The kids actually hold the door open for me when I bring my daughter in!

Marie Reed is great. My son is in the three-year-old program, and we are very pleased with his teacher and the assistant. That said, the teacher in the other three-year-old class left mid year with no warning after taking a lot of sick leave - mostly Mondays. Her replacement, however, is young, energetic, and enthusiastic.

As English speakers, communicating with the other parents can be difficult. Many don't speak English and/or IMHO feel too intimidated to speak with educated and economically privileged (relatively speaking) American parents.

That said, the atmosphere is warm, and the kids are truly loved. Personally, I give the school my full endorsement.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. ...Marie Reed needs an outdoor cleanup crew, fresh blacktop, a completely fenced tot lot and a vegetable garden. The field looks abandoned. They are only able to offer PE once a week! per class, plus some directed recess. Barnard has fresh clean look about it, it's something to think about.

Not that facilities are completely unimportant, but is this really what you're looking at to pick a school?? The superficial issues at MR are just that -- superficial. Dig deeper and it's not any better -- and that's the problem. You can't fix teaching staff by volunteering to clean up the playground!!

Why are you exclamation pointing yourself into a tizzy over a year-old post?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do you think Oyster would be any easier for K than for other grades? They didn't even make it to #5 on the WL last year.

Apologies. I confused another poster (03/31/2010 12:04) with OP, I guess. That poster is in bounds for Oyster but didn't get Pre-K, I think.

Corrected myself too soon!! This from OP: "OP here. We are actually Oyster inbounds but Oyster does not offer 3-year-old PS. "[i] So if in-bounds for Oyster, she needs something between now and K. This is where Bright Horizons could be a great option if affordable for OP.

While I hope MR improves, it is NOT there yet. So if OP has other options, I would exercise them. I DID exercise them, as I am inbounds for MR and sent kids to Bright Horizons. Dare I say that's more "direct insight" than the other people chiming in "just give MR a try" have... I did a TON of research before choosing a path for my kids that did not include MR.

Yes, but because the original post is from 2010 and was revived by some current posters, I think the person you are writing to is no longer the one on the thread.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
While I hope MR improves, it is NOT there yet. So if OP has other options, I would exercise them. I DID exercise them, as I am inbounds for MR and sent kids to Bright Horizons. Dare I say that's more "direct insight" than the other people chiming in "just give MR a try" have... I did a TON of research before choosing a path for my kids that did not include MR.

I am poster 12:47 and a Marie Reed parent. My daughter currenty attends preK-4 there. I have been very happy with my daughter's experience this year. I can't speak directly to the 3 year-old program, but I'm quite happy with the principal, teachers and staff.

Good to hear. This isn't consistent with what I heard from parents I spoke with at MR who weren't happy with the quality of teaching and had some not-so-nice things to say about the staff. Do you plan to keep your daughter at MR through elementary school?

Anonymous wrote:
While I hope MR improves, it is NOT there yet. So if OP has other options, I would exercise them. I DID exercise them, as I am inbounds for MR and sent kids to Bright Horizons. Dare I say that's more "direct insight" than the other people chiming in "just give MR a try" have... I did a TON of research before choosing a path for my kids that did not include MR.

I am poster 12:47 and a Marie Reed parent. My daughter currenty attends preK-4 there. I have been very happy with my daughter's experience this year. I can't speak directly to the 3 year-old program, but I'm quite happy with the principal, teachers and staff.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do you think Oyster would be any easier for K than for other grades? They didn't even make it to #5 on the WL last year.

Apologies. I confused another poster (03/31/2010 12:04) with OP, I guess. That poster is in bounds for Oyster but didn't get Pre-K, I think.

Corrected myself too soon!! This from OP: "OP here. We are actually Oyster inbounds but Oyster does not offer 3-year-old PS. "[i] So if in-bounds for Oyster, she needs something between now and K. This is where Bright Horizons could be a great option if affordable for OP.

While I hope MR improves, it is NOT there yet. So if OP has other options, I would exercise them. I DID exercise them, as I am inbounds for MR and sent kids to Bright Horizons. Dare I say that's more "direct insight" than the other people chiming in "just give MR a try" have... I did a TON of research before choosing a path for my kids that did not include MR.

Anonymous wrote:Why do you think Oyster would be any easier for K than for other grades? They didn't even make it to #5 on the WL last year.

Apologies. I confused another poster (03/31/2010 12:04) with OP, I guess. That poster is in bounds for Oyster but didn't get Pre-K, I think.

Why do you think Oyster would be any easier for K than for other grades? They didn't even make it to #5 on the WL last year.

Anonymous wrote:Yes given my lottery situation, all nine of them did not work out. So yes I am going to to give it a go. I will report back and let you know if you can do an I told you so.

PP here who posted the scores and a couple of the other admittedly "be careful" posts... I assure you, 100% to try to be helpful, not "scare people off" as I've been accused by a couple of people.

To the OP... Are you in a position to be able to pay for the Pre-K year to tide you over until Oyster opens up for K? If you are, I really would urge you to check out Bright Horizons. It's probably 1/3 of what privates cost, and I can assure you a MUCH safer bet than MR. I have both of my kids there now (one in Pre-K and one in K) and have had a really positive experience. Then we are moving into the Janney boundary to start them in K/1st next year (luckily, we finally found a house there!).

It's such a crazy, stressful process here in DC unless you have both the funds for and desire to be in the private school environment. I wish you the best of luck, whichever way you go.

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you try Francis Stevens or HD Cooke? Both have emerging middle class support that's already begun so you're not starting from scratch.

Cooke isn't the safety school it was a few years ago. It looks like they're not going to move through their waitlist this year. Francis had its first year of "middle class reinvestment" last year, so they're not that much further along than Marie Reed, which also had people trying it out this year.

Yes given my lottery situation, all nine of them did not work out. So yes I am going to to give it a go. I will report back and let you know if you can do an I told you so.

Anonymous wrote:Honestly when have you seen a principal willing to come on to DCUM and say try us out. Most would encourage us batty lot that have a million and one opinions. Things maybe can change faster than you think. Maybe I am the eternal optimist but there are tipping points in schools and it may be there. Who knows maybe a year from now a bunch of us will make bitter postings regretting our choice but at least we will do it from experience, not some judgmental ooh poor kids go there position. If we come back in a year please write an I told you so, until then...

Fantastic!! So are you going to put your kids in MR and have them be part of this grand and noble experiment?? It all sounds lovely... but who among those posting "don't be so negative" put their kids in a school that was like MR is today and took the chance that the school would improve, EVEN IF they had better schools that were options for them?? Please, share...