Haricots Verts (French Green Immersion Charter)

[Anonymous]

We really would be strengthened and enriched by people native to the francophone world. We would really value what would be a truly critical contribution to our group. Also anyone with start-up experience. If you have a commitment to education and desire to the cardre of great charter schools, please join us!

[Anonymous]

Will HV be basically a "green" version of Stokes French, or will it be fundamentally different? And how so?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will HV be basically a "green" version of Stokes French, or will it be fundamentally different? And how so?

How are they supposed to answer that yet? Maybe it will be a French MV. Give them a chance to meet and recruit and start writing a charter app would you?

[Anonymous]

I'm guessing a French Mundo Verde is a better comparison, but since HV is still in the very beginning idea stage, that's probably hard to answer at this point.

[Anonymous]

Hi- I know the name has been taken into consideration but I would recommend that discussion taking place sooner rather than later.
1) I almost didn't click on this thread because I thought that it was either a farce or a preschool created by non-native speakers.
2) The name is the starting line of the school's brand identity. You must start building the brand immediately. One of the first legal and logistical pieces will be to register the name(s) and incorporate.


Other advice from which I have knowledge:
- This is raw, hard work. Think 60-80 hour days for the core 3-5 people for a period of 5-6 years. This is not an exaggeration. Do you have the family support for that?
- In the original group there will be people who work out, people who won't and others who get marginalized, pushed out or just up and leave. There will be hurt feelings because this is a very exhausting, personal, emotional process. Everyone deeply involved with the process will literally be putting everything on the line.
- You MUST have a very strong and very capable business person on board from the beginning. NOT a person who is enthusiastic and "can help with the business end of things". He/she must have a strong personality and be able to say no, have experience with development and have connections in the outside community. That person might be friends with the start-up team, but that can't be his or her motivation.
- don't underestimate or over estimate the importance of a head of school. That person doesn't need to be on board from the very beginning, but you will want him or her no later than spring before opening. This is psychological for the families coming on board.
- Figure out a way to pay for more teachers and to pay them as well as you can. Experience counts, especially in special needs. This sound obvious, but the budget won't allow a nice set-aside for building down payment and to pay the teachers properly. Get creative. Use proceeds from aftercare to offset expenses in your general fund.
- You need someone at the helm who has a clear vision. Having a large, amorphous group of people will muddy the water.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi- I know the name has been taken into consideration but I would recommend that discussion taking place sooner rather than later.
1) I almost didn't click on this thread because I thought that it was either a farce or a preschool created by non-native speakers.
2) The name is the starting line of the school's brand identity. You must start building the brand immediately. One of the first legal and logistical pieces will be to register the name(s) and incorporate.


Other advice from which I have knowledge:
- This is raw, hard work. Think 60-80 hour days for the core 3-5 people for a period of 5-6 years. This is not an exaggeration. Do you have the family support for that?
- In the original group there will be people who work out, people who won't and others who get marginalized, pushed out or just up and leave. There will be hurt feelings because this is a very exhausting, personal, emotional process. Everyone deeply involved with the process will literally be putting everything on the line.
- You MUST have a very strong and very capable business person on board from the beginning. NOT a person who is enthusiastic and "can help with the business end of things". He/she must have a strong personality and be able to say no, have experience with development and have connections in the outside community. That person might be friends with the start-up team, but that can't be his or her motivation.
- don't underestimate or over estimate the importance of a head of school. That person doesn't need to be on board from the very beginning, but you will want him or her no later than spring before opening. This is psychological for the families coming on board.
- Figure out a way to pay for more teachers and to pay them as well as you can. Experience counts, especially in special needs. This sound obvious, but the budget won't allow a nice set-aside for building down payment and to pay the teachers properly. Get creative. Use proceeds from aftercare to offset expenses in your general fund.
- You need someone at the helm who has a clear vision. Having a large, amorphous group of people will muddy the water.

From someone who has witnessed a school being formed, big thumbs up to all of the above.

[Anonymous]

Interesting note on the Sela thread:

"Sela is currently going up to 5th grade with plans to go to 8th... DC Charter Public School Board will have an immersion high school. All of the immersion schools will go to this hs(more than likely.)"

and

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/299235.page#3426623

all the more reason to create another good immersion school, if true.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a promising idea. Congrats! I would suggest thinking about alternate names. My first assumption on seeing the thread title was April Fools joke... followed by it sounds like a cutesy preschool name a la Huckleberry Cheesecake. Maybe not so great for a 5th grader.

Also will be difficult for non-French speakers to pronounce, or to understand when you say it out loud. Cute idea, though.

[Anonymous]

You should really reach out to the people at Sela, since they have been through the fire most recently. They seem to really have their act together.

[Anonymous]

We are continuing the conversation on this offline, but really appreciate the continued sharing of ideas/suggestions here. Thank you and please keep the wisdom coming!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing a French Mundo Verde is a better comparison, but since HV is still in the very beginning idea stage, that's probably hard to answer at this point.

Or maybe a French track could be added to MV. Together it would be sort of a Green Stokes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing a French Mundo Verde is a better comparison, but since HV is still in the very beginning idea stage, that's probably hard to answer at this point.

Or maybe a French track could be added to MV. Together it would be sort of a Green Stokes.

Why do people think that random suggestions on DCUM which have nothing to do with a school's mission have any merit? That's a completely stupid idea. If MV wants more students, all it needs to do is open more classrooms - which is very likely in the new building. Why alter or water-down the program? There has NEVER been any interest in French, and considering the size of the WL for Spanish, it would be absurd to make that adjustment. BTW, guess what? Stokes has more takers for Spanish too.

Look, starting a new French Immersion school is a great idea. But, taking a successful Spanish Immersion school and slapping French on top of it is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

I like the idea of a totally French school. Monde Vert. They could help bolster the Francophone population of the DCI.

Is this still a go?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like the idea of a totally French school. Monde Vert. They could help bolster the Francophone population of the DCI.

Is this still a go?

Yes we're still in discussions to see how seriously we can move this idea. Email the addy in the 1st postof this thread and join our group! The 1st mtg will be in a couple of weeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are continuing the conversation on this offline, but really appreciate the continued sharing of ideas/suggestions here. Thank you and please keep the wisdom coming!

Why? I think it would be beneficial to keep this alive in DCUM. Threads die, but other people who haven't been on DCUM may also be interested.

I also sent a message to the e-dress, but got no reply...