New charter school application open for public comment

[Anonymous]

https://dcpcsb.org/notice-charter-applications-open-public-comment

This is for a Montessori PK3-K (will always be just those grades) to locate in Ward 5 or 6.

It's really a mystery to me why Ward 5 would need another Montessori. The applicants strive to demonstrate that there will be demand, but it's pretty unconvincing-- just because a lot of people want to get into LAMB doesn't mean that people really want a non-Spanish school with no feeder pattern that will have them lotterying again for 1st grade.

[Anonymous]

They should locate in W3 with an equity preference.

[Anonymous]

The application itself is pretty terrible.

[Anonymous]

It would be like Bethune 16th Street. A placeholder school for lottery losers while they keep trying for better lottery luck. But Bethune is in Ward 4 as close as possible to Ward 3, so it attracts a large number of Ward 3 families that want free pre-K until they can get into their IB school in kindergarten. It’s not clear to me that Ward 5/6 has enough families that wouldn’t just use their IB while playing the lottery.

[Anonymous]

Ward 6 doesn't need this. To the extent there is any need for this at all, Lee EE fills it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ward 6 doesn't need this. To the extent there is any need for this at all, Lee EE fills it.

And I can't help but notice Wildflower didn't attract a lot of interest.

[Anonymous]

It's not really Montessori. They also mention Reggio, STEAM, arts-based, and other buzzwords. And I don't think schools should be able to start or end at whatever grades they want. They should be one or more of:
PK3-4
K-5
6-8
9-12

Otherwise, surrounding schools are going to get a whole bunch of 1st graders dumped on them, who they'll have to find space and teachers for and who haven't been exposed to how the school operates or the curriculum leading into 1st.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not really Montessori. They also mention Reggio, STEAM, arts-based, and other buzzwords. And I don't think schools should be able to start or end at whatever grades they want. They should be one or more of:
PK3-4
K-5
6-8
9-12

Otherwise, surrounding schools are going to get a whole bunch of 1st graders dumped on them, who they'll have to find space and teachers for and who haven't been exposed to how the school operates or the curriculum leading into 1st.

This is a useful public comment, and should be submitted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not really Montessori. They also mention Reggio, STEAM, arts-based, and other buzzwords. And I don't think schools should be able to start or end at whatever grades they want. They should be one or more of:
PK3-4
K-5
6-8
9-12

Otherwise, surrounding schools are going to get a whole bunch of 1st graders dumped on them, who they'll have to find space and teachers for and who haven't been exposed to how the school operates or the curriculum leading into 1st.

This is a useful public comment, and should be submitted.

I am not interested in having my name tied to opposing a specific school, but feel free to share similar sentiments if you are commenting! When there are public fora for the boundary and assignment process, I will go to those and share lots of ideas about how DC schools should work more generally, as I did on the last go-round.

[Anonymous]

I’m a certified Montessori guide and I really don’t like it when schools use the Montessori name when they aren’t planning on actually following the Montessori philosophy or becoming an accredited Montessori school. Dr. Montessori would not have wanted her name being thrown around like that.

[Anonymous]

Ward 6 needs a quality charter middle school; not another elementary school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ward 6 needs a quality charter middle school; not another elementary school.

And definitely not another middling Montessori. SSMA has that role on lock.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ward 6 needs a quality charter middle school; not another elementary school.

And definitely not another middling Montessori. SSMA has that role on lock.

Seriously. And it's not even hard to get in to SSMA for PK3 so why would we need another one?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ward 6 needs a quality charter middle school; not another elementary school.

And definitely not another middling Montessori. SSMA has that role on lock.

Seriously. And it's not even hard to get in to SSMA for PK3 so why would we need another one?

Ward 6 has CHML + proximity to Lee EE + reasonable proximity to Lee + SSMA + Breakthrough. Of all the things we don’t need…

[Anonymous]

The chances of this getting approved are slim. It's not a good application. Take a look at applications from 5-9 years ago when it was a really competitive process with a dozen applicants and 2-3 approvals. Many of those were excellent.