Has anyone accepted a spot at a highly coveted DC Charter and then later been disappointed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:None that I know of and the poster refuses to name the school but continues to rave against "SN administrators, the public model of universal preschool, and the insane lottery system" all based on her experience at this unnamed school on this thread and now on a new thread like this version 2.

Wacko.

Not to mention calling anyone who claims to be satisfied with their experience "sheep." I am deeply sympathetic to someone who is having difficulty with the system, but it seems like she is lashing out at everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:None that I know of and the poster refuses to name the school but continues to rave against "SN administrators, the public model of universal preschool, and the insane lottery system" all based on her experience at this unnamed school on this thread and now on a new thread like this version 2.

Wacko.

Not to mention calling anyone who claims to be satisfied with their experience "sheep." I am deeply sympathetic to someone who is having difficulty with the system, but it seems like she is lashing out at everyone.

No, I'm lashing out at people who make sarcastic comments like "next time, maybe you should take their advice," while presuming to know what we have and have not done. But whatever. Think I'm a wacko all you want. None other than Diane Ravitch, former Assistant Secretary of Education, backs up what I and a lot of other parents are feeling about the testing culture and its impacts on education - http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124209100. We haven't even scratched the surface in terms of research on how this culture is affecting our children and trickling down into the public preschool model. If I knew of someone conducting this research, I would support it wholeheartedly.

[Anonymous]

My dear, I just reread the previous thread from January, and it does seem like you are at your wit's end with your school. I was struck by the many helpful people who offered encouragement about their own journeys with SN kids with sensory problems but it seems that you were uninterested in their feedback or help. Perhaps DCUM (or at least the public school board) is not the best place to get the validation you are looking for.

I sincerely hope that your move will enable you to find the resources to support your son, and I am deeply sorry that you feel that your school and DC let you down.

On a more positive note: my SN niece has recently left a highly regarded Arlington public school for Waldorf and could not be happier. For her, the focus on reading and academics was absolutely wrong, and she is thriving in an environment that cares for the whole child. I hope that you can find a similar resolution. Best to you and your son.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My dear, I just reread the previous thread from January, and it does seem like you are at your wit's end with your school. I was struck by the many helpful people who offered encouragement about their own journeys with SN kids with sensory problems but it seems that you were uninterested in their feedback or help. Perhaps DCUM (or at least the public school board) is not the best place to get the validation you are looking for.

I sincerely hope that your move will enable you to find the resources to support your son, and I am deeply sorry that you feel that your school and DC let you down.

On a more positive note: my SN niece has recently left a highly regarded Arlington public school for Waldorf and could not be happier. For her, the focus on reading and academics was absolutely wrong, and she is thriving in an environment that cares for the whole child. I hope that you can find a similar resolution. Best to you and your son.

I agree. This is not constructive. I wish you and your son well. Now back to the question OP raised. I too am facing this predicament in that my DC got into a coveted charter school. We have done our due diligence, but I'm cognizant that there's only so much of that we can do. It is close to our house and a Montessori. It has green space and a playground. For now this fits, and we'll probably accept the spot. We'll do what we can to make it work, but if it doesn't, we'll regroup and take it from there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My dear, I just reread the previous thread from January, and it does seem like you are at your wit's end with your school. I was struck by the many helpful people who offered encouragement about their own journeys with SN kids with sensory problems but it seems that you were uninterested in their feedback or help. Perhaps DCUM (or at least the public school board) is not the best place to get the validation you are looking for.

I sincerely hope that your move will enable you to find the resources to support your son, and I am deeply sorry that you feel that your school and DC let you down.

On a more positive note: my SN niece has recently left a highly regarded Arlington public school for Waldorf and could not be happier. For her, the focus on reading and academics was absolutely wrong, and she is thriving in an environment that cares for the whole child. I hope that you can find a similar resolution. Best to you and your son.

Thank you. And BTW, I'm not really looking for validation. I'm looking to engage other people who are concerned about the state of public education and its impact on kids. I'm not the only one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My dear, I just reread the previous thread from January, and it does seem like you are at your wit's end with your school. I was struck by the many helpful people who offered encouragement about their own journeys with SN kids with sensory problems but it seems that you were uninterested in their feedback or help. Perhaps DCUM (or at least the public school board) is not the best place to get the validation you are looking for.

I sincerely hope that your move will enable you to find the resources to support your son, and I am deeply sorry that you feel that your school and DC let you down.

On a more positive note: my SN niece has recently left a highly regarded Arlington public school for Waldorf and could not be happier. For her, the focus on reading and academics was absolutely wrong, and she is thriving in an environment that cares for the whole child. I hope that you can find a similar resolution. Best to you and your son.

Thank you. And BTW, I'm not really looking for validation. I'm looking to engage other people who are concerned about the state of public education and its impact on kids. I'm not the only one.

Hopefully somewhere other than here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My dear, I just reread the previous thread from January, and it does seem like you are at your wit's end with your school. I was struck by the many helpful people who offered encouragement about their own journeys with SN kids with sensory problems but it seems that you were uninterested in their feedback or help. Perhaps DCUM (or at least the public school board) is not the best place to get the validation you are looking for.

I sincerely hope that your move will enable you to find the resources to support your son, and I am deeply sorry that you feel that your school and DC let you down.

On a more positive note: my SN niece has recently left a highly regarded Arlington public school for Waldorf and could not be happier. For her, the focus on reading and academics was absolutely wrong, and she is thriving in an environment that cares for the whole child. I hope that you can find a similar resolution. Best to you and your son.

Thank you. And BTW, I'm not really looking for validation. I'm looking to engage other people who are concerned about the state of public education and its impact on kids. I'm not the only one.

Hopefully somewhere other than here.

She also posted on the SN board awhile ago - preschool expects 3 yr old to read and wants to "label" my child as Special Needs, etc. She did a great job of alienating SN parents there too who were only trying to help her. So much for "engagement."

[Anonymous]

For each child that gets labeled as "special needs", there comes along with it extra money for the district. It's a sick incentive to overdiagnose and overlabel children who are perfectly fine.

And, more insidiously, its a sick incentive to give children a pass on learning the basics "just because they didn't want to" by justifying it through some contrived diagnosis or label. It further propagates the dumbing down of our children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^25 kids in a classroom for prek3/prek4 - never heard of a class that big. Which school was this?

Seriously? This is common in DCPS and charters.

Not ours. PS-3 was 19 kids with 3 adults. PK-4 is 18 with 2 adults.

Which school? 1:6 for PS3 is pretty good. Still would want to know what the structure and expectations are though, because again, we're talking a very long day for very small children. If others are having a better experience than we've had, I'm glad. But after seeing it from the inside, I'm still philosophically opposed to the public preschool model, though. If you have no other option for care or the child is coming from an impoverished background, I get it, though I still think ten hours of structure is too much.

Still waiting for you to name the school that has 25 kids in a classroom and 10 hr days...

i didn't write this but maybe they are speaking of DOAR? i know they have extended day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^25 kids in a classroom for prek3/prek4 - never heard of a class that big. Which school was this?

Seriously? This is common in DCPS and charters.

Not ours. PS-3 was 19 kids with 3 adults. PK-4 is 18 with 2 adults.

Which school? 1:6 for PS3 is pretty good. Still would want to know what the structure and expectations are though, because again, we're talking a very long day for very small children. If others are having a better experience than we've had, I'm glad. But after seeing it from the inside, I'm still philosophically opposed to the public preschool model, though. If you have no other option for care or the child is coming from an impoverished background, I get it, though I still think ten hours of structure is too much.

Still waiting for you to name the school that has 25 kids in a classroom and 10 hr days...

i didn't write this but maybe they are speaking of DOAR? i know they have extended day.

What is DOAR?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For each child that gets labeled as "special needs", there comes along with it extra money for the district. It's a sick incentive to overdiagnose and overlabel children who are perfectly fine.

And, more insidiously, its a sick incentive to give children a pass on learning the basics "just because they didn't want to" by justifying it through some contrived diagnosis or label. It further propagates the dumbing down of our children.

I agree with your first point and disagree with your second. There are surely children who have legitimate special needs, and accomodating them is not an excuse to give them a pass on learning. It is quite the opposite. However, I do firmly believe that there is "overdiagnosis and overlabeling" of preschool-aged children, at least at our school, and likely at others too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^25 kids in a classroom for prek3/prek4 - never heard of a class that big. Which school was this?

Seriously? This is common in DCPS and charters.

Not ours. PS-3 was 19 kids with 3 adults. PK-4 is 18 with 2 adults.

Which school? 1:6 for PS3 is pretty good. Still would want to know what the structure and expectations are though, because again, we're talking a very long day for very small children. If others are having a better experience than we've had, I'm glad. But after seeing it from the inside, I'm still philosophically opposed to the public preschool model, though. If you have no other option for care or the child is coming from an impoverished background, I get it, though I still think ten hours of structure is too much.

Still waiting for you to name the school that has 25 kids in a classroom and 10 hr days...

i didn't write this but maybe they are speaking of DOAR? i know they have extended day.

Lots of schools have extended days. It's called before and aftercare, which many working parents use. Must be a lot of SAHM's on here or something who don't quite get how FT preschool works for 2-parent working households.

[Anonymous]

William E Doar PCS has extended school hours, not including before or after care

[Anonymous]

and so does EL haynes i believe

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For each child that gets labeled as "special needs", there comes along with it extra money for the district. It's a sick incentive to overdiagnose and overlabel children who are perfectly fine.

And, more insidiously, its a sick incentive to give children a pass on learning the basics "just because they didn't want to" by justifying it through some contrived diagnosis or label. It further propagates the dumbing down of our children.

I agree with your first point and disagree with your second. There are surely children who have legitimate special needs, and accomodating them is not an excuse to give them a pass on learning. It is quite the opposite. However, I do firmly believe that there is "overdiagnosis and overlabeling" of preschool-aged children, at least at our school, and likely at others too.

For every person like you who claims there is "overdiagnosis and overlabeling", there are many other parents who actually have SN children who cannot get the services/support/help they need for their kids. So which is it? You don't know what the he!! you are talking about...