Anonymous wrote:Great advice! What do you think what type of community is in Norwood?

Anonymous wrote:I say this with kindness OP, since you appear to be a new parent: all independent K-3s in MoCo and NWDC near you will offer a whole lot of outdoor play and creative, hands-on, project-based learning. All of them. Every single one. Concord, Primary Day, Green Acres, Sheridan, Lowell, Beauvoir, GDS, Sidwell, Sandy Spring Friends, Bullis, St. Pat's, Norwood, NPS, Maret, and Washington Waldorf.

I would instead narrow my search using the filters of short commute and good fit with the parent community. There some _very_ significant differences among the parent cultures at these schools. Which, when kids are little, has a lot of impact on their social lives and your general hapiness as a family. Unfortunately, parent :: parent relationships have more impact on things like playdates, parties and pee wee sports teams and activities than they probably should, from the child's POV

You didn't mention parochial / parish schools as an option, but the few of these I know don't present the same level of free play nor outdoor time as the ones I listed (Blessed Sacrament and Holy Trinity in case you're curious)

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Anonymous wrote:My kid is at the River School, and while the playgrounds are relatively small (responding to PP 8/28 19:29), the younger kids' playground is sufficiently covered and that they usually use it rain or shine. They spend plenty of time outdoors, especially since they don't only go outdoors for playground times.

River has a lot of the things that you want, OP, although the facilities aren't luxurious. They do zero standardized testing (though they administer the WRAT every couple of years for benchmarking where a kid is at, it's done one-on-one with each kid) It's screen-free until 4th grade where they start to teach keyboarding skills and typed papers, and even then, they don't depend on screens for any instruction.

Classes cap at 14 kids, and there are a minimum of two teachers per class (both with master's degrees) and there's often also a teaching assistant and.or an intern, as well. Kids get a lot of individual attention as a result. Classrooms are busy with activity, but they aren't chaotic, and the teachers do a very good job of classroom management.

The way subjects are taught at River is often very creative. The preschool is wonderful, with play-based learning rooted in dramatic play. That goes away bit by bit in the elementary school, but since the curriculum is progressive there's still a lot of fun hands-on projects built into the day. They do a great job of disguising the "learning" part in the activities that the kids participate in.

The commute from Bethesda to the Palisades (where River is located) is relatively easy, though it does depend on where in Bethesda you live -- some parts of Bethesda border the Palisades.

The preschool program is excellent, the elementary program is not, unless you are ok supplementing with math, reading, and writing tutors.

Our child just finished the River School elementary program and the math placement test at our child’s next school placed our child over a grade level ahead. Our child also reads at an advanced level. The innovation and art program in upper elementary was also unparalleled. The school follows the interests of the kids. At one point the kids got into trying to figure out odds of a raffle and were taught summation and probability. Our child has never had outside tutors or Russian math.

The school will not force an uninterested student to be a top student. However, the school does provide ample opportunity for children to learn at individually differentiated paces. The school also tries to foster a natural love of learning and follows the children’s interests. Teachers have made up lesson plans around everything from glitter to world travel. Ours took an interest in CAD design and was supported. Bright, curious kids do well there.

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely look at Green Acres. Smaller school with tons of outdoor and play time. It's progressive-based learning and it's wonderful.

Anonymous wrote:Look at NPS. Nice community, lots of outdoor time and a brand new playground opening this Fall.

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Anonymous wrote:In that neighborhood you should absolutely consider WES. You would have lots of neighbors at school, your commute would be easy, and WES is a great community.

You're right - it's super close and I am sure an excellent school. I am sure there are kids of numerous faiths there but since we are secular and Hindu have been mostly targeting secular schools for now, though I myself grew up in Catholic and Episcopal schools and found them to be very welcoming and progressive (the ones I went to, anyway).

As is typical of Episcopalian schools, WES is indeed very inclusive. It is also incredibly international and has a not insignificant population that come from Hindu backgrounds.

Anonymous wrote:We loved Norwood - both of my children have now graduated, but it’s a solid school with wonderful families and staff. The new lower school head is fantastic. We often referred to it as “a hug on a hill.”

Anonymous wrote:I'm the River School PP. Certainly not admin, just a parent that feels we've gotten our money's worth. The school's not perfect, but teachers and administration have been very responsive throughout our time there.

I'm only aware of one child in my LO's class who has a tutor, and that child has clearly had learning challenges from the start.

My LO has some especially bright classmates who are doing outside above-grade-level math, but I'm not aware of any other tutoring. I can't imagine why any child who is even the slightest bit bright would need tutoring in elementary school, to be honest.

Like PP 08:14, I've been impressed by the creativity of the teachers and the way they're able to adapt to the interests of the children. I think that adaptability fades somewhat with the elementary but they're surprisingly flexible.