DC charters - which ones are open? hybrid model? plans of reopening?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why should parents who are happy with the status quo have to ask the school to talk to the parents and have a plan? I'm not really sure I understand what that means. Sounds like you're not happy. Have you asked the school for a plan? Why is it on other parents to do that for you?

Does the PTA in your school only addresses issues when 100% of parents ask for something? Or do they go ahead and talk to the school if just a few parents are facing a problem. The problem is that the teachers are in at his together and have a unified voice, but the parents are not willing to speak for others that just cannot continue to keep kids at home after almost a year. Some parents are asking the school for a plan and there are others who oppose this because they have means to do continue remote learning.

Think of this like this - if some parents go to the school and ask for extra help for their kids in Math. Would you go and say -hey, I am not comfortable in asking the school because they are already doing so much and I trust them, and my kid got an A in Math. So nobody needs to even ask for a plan for extra help.

Sounds like you need to stop complaining on dcurbanmom.com and run for PTA president.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why should parents who are happy with the status quo have to ask the school to talk to the parents and have a plan? I'm not really sure I understand what that means. Sounds like you're not happy. Have you asked the school for a plan? Why is it on other parents to do that for you?

Does the PTA in your school only addresses issues when 100% of parents ask for something? Or do they go ahead and talk to the school if just a few parents are facing a problem. The problem is that the teachers are in at his together and have a unified voice, but the parents are not willing to speak for others that just cannot continue to keep kids at home after almost a year. Some parents are asking the school for a plan and there are others who oppose this because they have means to do continue remote learning.

Think of this like this - if some parents go to the school and ask for extra help for their kids in Math. Would you go and say -hey, I am not comfortable in asking the school because they are already doing so much and I trust them, and my kid got an A in Math. So nobody needs to even ask for a plan for extra help.

Sounds like you need to stop complaining on dcurbanmom.com and run for PTA president.

..because that's what someone who is looking for extra support needs. Why don't you get off dcum if you don't have anything useful to say?

[Anonymous]

You're looking for another parent to stick their neck out for you, even if it's the minority position at the school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lee is in no hurry. I wish they had some plan. They arent even at the first step yet. This worries me. Our child will not get a turn yet, but hard to believe that they (like so many other schools) think that there are ZERO kids in the school need this. I believe that they too are pandering to the teacher's wants more than the kid's needs.

This is what every school is doing, and it's starting to be too much. I think the tipping point is here, parents. We need to speak out loudly now, particularly if DCPS fudges their reopen next week.

At the VERY LEAST every school needs to be open by early March when teachers are vaccinated. Ideally fully open, with just a few kids staying home (keep an option but emphasize it's not recommended).

sad to say, as long as teachers and admins are getting paid, there is very little incentive to return as long as they continue getting federal and local tax $$. the only way schools are opening is if there is some kind of accountability. For DCPS it’s political accountability with elected officials. For privates, it’s tuition. For Catholics, it’s a sense of mission and a strict hierarchy.

Wow. You're so right.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Any stokes parents here? It seems most kids will not be going back at all this year (except for nwea testing). Did I read that correctly?

Sisters kids go to stokes. She said they called it early and made it clear early on that they would not see a classroom this year (although there are kids with IEPs etc on site)

Stokes parent here. Just clarify because pp makes it sound like a they have a CARES type classroom open the school just announced 36 kids total (at risk) will return to the building at the start of the third trimester. This overdue and I’m glad they are finally helping a few at risk kids. The rest of scholars will remain DL. They have devised a plan to bring kids in to do testing (not sure why there is so much emphasis on this and not a real reopening plan). At the presentation to the board in January there was discussion of a plan to bring back pk-k which makes zero sense since PK is not mandatory. No idea why they wouldn’t start with K and work up to 5 first but there has been little transparency about anything. I think DL for fall 2021 - maybe the whole year. There doesn’t seem to be any energy or desire by the administration to go back to in person 😔.

Did they really say they expect DL for fall too? Wow. I don’t see how they could already make that call... most adults should be vaccinated by summer

NP - they haven‘t said anything about fall 2021. I believe that is just PP’s speculation and in my opinion wouldn’t align with what was said during the board meeting about looking to bring back PK-K students in some form this year.

Outside of the board meeting there has been no communication to the parents about bringing PK-K back this school year. At this point you can safely assume your child won't see the inside of the Stokes school building except for NWEA testing.

So you believe they won’t be back in the building fall 2021 because they didn’t address it in the letter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're looking for another parent to stick their neck out for you, even if it's the minority position at the school

No, I am not. I am not looking for support from them, but surprised at the opposition when some are asking for the school to make a plan. Just make a plan, not even asking them to reopen, just asking them to provide more details to those that are interested in going back. They are sticking their neck out to say don't even have a conversation about opening at some future date.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am curious about folks experience with Haynes. They were on our short list. Like the year round schedule but not the larger size of 5 graders being with the middle school.

I'm not at Haynes but they are definitely not year-round in 2020-2021. I don't know if that's a permanent change but their website says they "strive to align with the DCPS calendar".

[Anonymous]

Our charter is currently vaccinating everyone and still saying they won’t necessarily reopen even after full vaccination.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our charter is currently vaccinating everyone and still saying they won’t necessarily reopen even after full vaccination.

No charter is vaccinating everyone. All charters had to submit a priority list of vaccination and only those who have been doing in person contact were eligible. It's a seriously screwed up chicken and egg scenario and yolk in on the Mayor's face.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any stokes parents here? It seems most kids will not be going back at all this year (except for nwea testing). Did I read that correctly?

Sisters kids go to stokes. She said they called it early and made it clear early on that they would not see a classroom this year (although there are kids with IEPs etc on site)

Stokes parent here. Just clarify because pp makes it sound like a they have a CARES type classroom open the school just announced 36 kids total (at risk) will return to the building at the start of the third trimester. This overdue and I’m glad they are finally helping a few at risk kids. The rest of scholars will remain DL. They have devised a plan to bring kids in to do testing (not sure why there is so much emphasis on this and not a real reopening plan). At the presentation to the board in January there was discussion of a plan to bring back pk-k which makes zero sense since PK is not mandatory. No idea why they wouldn’t start with K and work up to 5 first but there has been little transparency about anything. I think DL for fall 2021 - maybe the whole year. There doesn’t seem to be any energy or desire by the administration to go back to in person 😔.

Did they really say they expect DL for fall too? Wow. I don’t see how they could already make that call... most adults should be vaccinated by summer

NP - they haven‘t said anything about fall 2021. I believe that is just PP’s speculation and in my opinion wouldn’t align with what was said during the board meeting about looking to bring back PK-K students in some form this year.

Outside of the board meeting there has been no communication to the parents about bringing PK-K back this school year. At this point you can safely assume your child won't see the inside of the Stokes school building except for NWEA testing.

So you believe they won’t be back in the building fall 2021 because they didn’t address it in the letter?

What do you think?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our charter is currently vaccinating everyone and still saying they won’t necessarily reopen even after full vaccination.

No charter is vaccinating everyone. All charters had to submit a priority list of vaccination and only those who have been doing in person contact were eligible. It's a seriously screwed up chicken and egg scenario and yolk in on the Mayor's face.

I believe teachers who are planning to go back in Feb are also eligible for the vaccine.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:MV parent of PK4’er here. I’m really starting to regret our decision to go with a language immersion school at this point. Our son has lost an entire year of immersion now, and I’m concerned that they won’t be open full time in the fall now. We may join the lottery again last-minute just to have some options.

They should be able to catch up next year in K.

Funny, I just lotteried for MV because I think our immersion school is doing DL poorly and won’t open!

They haven’t said they aren’t reopening, but they haven’t provided a reopening date or details. We have missed out on the full year of immersion and will have to look in to other ways to get our son some Spanish exposure. Kindergarten isn’t full immersion. The updates from the school are all very vague and don’t have any specifics

What is most concerning about MV is, in their latest communications, seem not to have changed anything about their approach despite the impact of the vaccine and its availability to teachers/staff. By the looks of things, they are keeping to an approach to reopening based on transmission metrics which may or may not improve in time for fall. And even when these metrics improve, they haven't committed to opening for non-SES disadvantaged kids.

Within our household we're now debating on whether to put our rising K kid in the local Title I DCPS or a private school or moving because this past year has been awful for our kids social and academic progress. We can't take another year of this.

PP here... just wanted to say we’re right there with you. This year has been incredibly frustrating. We were so thrilled to get a spot at MV after the lottery, and we are incredibly frustrated with how reopening is going. They seem to be sticking to these metrics despite other schools moving forward. Our child is having such a hard time right now it’s very disheartening. We plan to stop participating in DL for now.

I saw a chart where covid rate has to go below 15 - is that what you mean?

Yes, they are referring to metrics from the city. Some of these include the percent of positive cases who are contacted by contact tracers. Other schools are figuring out ways to move forward despite city monitoring of metrics. There is plenty of space at the school to open up additional classrooms too. They should have been working on reopening this whole time.

MV8 family here. First of all whoever said K isn’t full immersion obviously is a troll and don’t have a child at the school. It is full immersion in Spanish in K.

Also MV has been transparent with families what they have done with the school in regards to hvac changes and ventilation system for the past 6 months. These changes are now done.

There will be an update later in the week from this past weekly bulletin about more definitive plans for timeline for hybrid, etc., so hang tight.

MV8 parent here- do you happen to know whether they will simply expand the on-site distance learning program that is ongoing? Or will they be bringing students on campus for in-person instruction? My kid is struggling big time and is not learning a thing from zoom.

PP, hope you saw the communication yesterday that MV is starting hybrid in Feb for ECE and 1st grade and phasing in 100 students to start. Link will be sent shortly to families asking if they want hybrid or DL. They said they are starting with these grades, because they understand how difficult and challenging DL can be for the younger kids.

I think once the 1st 100 students and teachers are doing well with hybrid, then potential to bring back more students after March.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lee is in no hurry. I wish they had some plan. They arent even at the first step yet. This worries me. Our child will not get a turn yet, but hard to believe that they (like so many other schools) think that there are ZERO kids in the school need this. I believe that they too are pandering to the teacher's wants more than the kid's needs.

Charter school teachers cannot be vaccinated unless they are in person and don’t want to be in person until they’re vaccinated. We have a real chicken and egg situation here.

Charter school teachers got over 1,000 vaccines. Given how few charter teachers are back or going back any time soon, the charter teacher vaccination policy is actually way more lenient than the DCPS one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lee is in no hurry. I wish they had some plan. They arent even at the first step yet. This worries me. Our child will not get a turn yet, but hard to believe that they (like so many other schools) think that there are ZERO kids in the school need this. I believe that they too are pandering to the teacher's wants more than the kid's needs.

Charter school teachers cannot be vaccinated unless they are in person and don’t want to be in person until they’re vaccinated. We have a real chicken and egg situation here.

Charter school teachers got over 1,000 vaccines. Given how few charter teachers are back or going back any time soon, the charter teacher vaccination policy is actually way more lenient than the DCPS one.

I say wait another 1-2 months till March. I think more charters will likely be going hybrid then.

If not, then parents need to hold their charter accountable. Don’t put up with the BS excuse of the school needing to deal with logistics - they have had a year to figure that out. Don’t put up with the excuse that some families want DL only - sure but there are a significant number who want hybrid and their needs need to be met too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MV parent of PK4’er here. I’m really starting to regret our decision to go with a language immersion school at this point. Our son has lost an entire year of immersion now, and I’m concerned that they won’t be open full time in the fall now. We may join the lottery again last-minute just to have some options.

They should be able to catch up next year in K.

Funny, I just lotteried for MV because I think our immersion school is doing DL poorly and won’t open!

They haven’t said they aren’t reopening, but they haven’t provided a reopening date or details. We have missed out on the full year of immersion and will have to look in to other ways to get our son some Spanish exposure. Kindergarten isn’t full immersion. The updates from the school are all very vague and don’t have any specifics

What is most concerning about MV is, in their latest communications, seem not to have changed anything about their approach despite the impact of the vaccine and its availability to teachers/staff. By the looks of things, they are keeping to an approach to reopening based on transmission metrics which may or may not improve in time for fall. And even when these metrics improve, they haven't committed to opening for non-SES disadvantaged kids.

Within our household we're now debating on whether to put our rising K kid in the local Title I DCPS or a private school or moving because this past year has been awful for our kids social and academic progress. We can't take another year of this.

PP here... just wanted to say we’re right there with you. This year has been incredibly frustrating. We were so thrilled to get a spot at MV after the lottery, and we are incredibly frustrated with how reopening is going. They seem to be sticking to these metrics despite other schools moving forward. Our child is having such a hard time right now it’s very disheartening. We plan to stop participating in DL for now.

I saw a chart where covid rate has to go below 15 - is that what you mean?

Yes, they are referring to metrics from the city. Some of these include the percent of positive cases who are contacted by contact tracers. Other schools are figuring out ways to move forward despite city monitoring of metrics. There is plenty of space at the school to open up additional classrooms too. They should have been working on reopening this whole time.

MV8 family here. First of all whoever said K isn’t full immersion obviously is a troll and don’t have a child at the school. It is full immersion in Spanish in K.

Also MV has been transparent with families what they have done with the school in regards to hvac changes and ventilation system for the past 6 months. These changes are now done.

There will be an update later in the week from this past weekly bulletin about more definitive plans for timeline for hybrid, etc., so hang tight.

MV8 parent here- do you happen to know whether they will simply expand the on-site distance learning program that is ongoing? Or will they be bringing students on campus for in-person instruction? My kid is struggling big time and is not learning a thing from zoom.

PP, hope you saw the communication yesterday that MV is starting hybrid in Feb for ECE and 1st grade and phasing in 100 students to start. Link will be sent shortly to families asking if they want hybrid or DL. They said they are starting with these grades, because they understand how difficult and challenging DL can be for the younger kids.

I think once the 1st 100 students and teachers are doing well with hybrid, then potential to bring back more students after March.

We are at a different charter but interested in hearing details about MVs plans if you feel comfortable sharing. Are they bringing back 100 kids across both campuses or at each and is this for in person learning or a CAREs type classroom? Is everyone who wants an in person slot guaranteed? If parents don’t want hybrid can they continue with full remote? Hoping this info will push our school to expanded it’s in person offering.