So, um, how did things go for you at Murch this am?

[Anonymous]

My DC seems happy enough with new teacher and some old buds. We lucked out and kept the same class assignment we were given mid-week last week so there were no adjustments to expectations.

This morning I saw several very upset kids who had their class assignment changed since late last week. Some were even changed over the weekend, unbeknownst to them. The first day is stressful enough for kids without unexplained last minute changes, esp if away from friends. There are always a few last minute new kids, don't ever remember this kind of chaos happening in past years. Saw other families wandering trying to figure out WHERE DC belonged after receiving no notice from the school prior to today. No one seemed happy about the split class or understood why the numbers warranted it rather than 4 first grade classes and 3 second grade classes (as was reflected on the updated website on 8/3). Some kids felt embrassed to be in that class as second graders and were sad that they were "picked". Kids in the 2 classes in the trailer with no bathroom seemed worried about that. No idea why specials were not moved there instead. Did NOT see the principal on the playground before school.

How did your morning go?

[Anonymous]

Kindergarten classes are big - 24 -25 kids each. Insane. And I know kids who got in OOB for K this year. I realize they had a much higher enrollment than expected but isn't there a better way to handle this? They let too many kids in OOB for Pre-K so they had to add an extra K class - and then they stuff those. Sigh.

[Anonymous]

There were never any plans for 4 first grade classes, but 4 2nd grade classes. But there were less second graders than thought and more first graders than thought and that is the origin of the split class.

The year my son got into the Pre-K - with only 2 classes - they had to hold a lottery. It was the first year they ever had to do that. I had 3 friends who weren't paying attention to dates and Murch sent Pre-K and K overflow to Hearst. Can't do that any more.

DS had 24 kids in K - this is pretty typical for the school. The 2 K classrooms in the main building have so much more space than in the Kaufman wing and the 2 second grade teachers in the trailer are happy to be there for the bigger space.

What would be a better way to handle it? Until there is a new building in 2014 and people keeping choosing public, there isn't much choice.

And Art and Music was in the trailer before, but it is really hard to do art without water.....

I feel bad for the kids who were crying. It was stressful.
The real musical chairs were the first and second grades, 3rd, 4th and 5th did not go anywhere. I think what was important was to have teachers in proximity to each other to support each other and the specials teachers cover lunch duty for the classroom teachers and step in to cover sometimes if not teaching, Having them in the trailer makes it harder for them to do back-up.

Class assignments have never been so disorganized, but I want to know how come so many people just suddenly appeared in the last week or so. Maybe it's the economy? Is it OOB? I would want to see the statistics.

[Anonymous]

I'm in VA, but just wanted to say that this sounds awful. I'm completely mystified by the entire DC school system. I guess I see why so many people go private.

On a related note, what is up with people not registering their kids until the last minute?

[Anonymous]

I don't why parents register the day school starts or a week or two into the school year.

I think DCPS is too parent centric and OOB parents who don't bother to re-enroll by May should lose their spots.

[Anonymous]

One of the pre-K rooms still doesn't have stations; the teacher told us last week that the "room" (meaning the stuff that goes in it) was being delivered but that she didn't know when. Really frustrating for her and the kids, but they seem to have had a good day in spite of it.

[Anonymous]

24-25 kids in K is pretty typical in public school.

[Anonymous]

I doubt it would be the economy. Anyone withdrawing from private schools would have known that in Feb/March, or July at the latest, without incurring financial obligations.

[Anonymous]

I would love to know how many OOB kids are in Murch's preK, K, and 1 this year.

Further, I would like to know how this compares to Janney.

Then, I'd like to compare the K and 1 class sizes between these two schools. Sounds like 24, 25 at Murch -- does anyone know the #s for Janney this year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would love to know how many OOB kids are in Murch's preK, K, and 1 this year.

Further, I would like to know how this compares to Janney.

Then, I'd like to compare the K and 1 class sizes between these two schools. Sounds like 24, 25 at Murch -- does anyone know the #s for Janney this year?

There's a Janney thread saying that K classes are 25-27.

I don't know how many OOB kids ended up in Murch pre-K, but I know that at lottery time, there were 10-15 in-bounds kids on the waitlist, and a bunch of OOB siblings after them. So I find it hard to imagine there are any first-born OOB kids in pre-K.

[Anonymous]

Janney Ks are 25, 26 and 27. There is a teacher and aide in each class and the class with 27 has a child with special needs that has a personal aide provided by DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anyone attend the special information session tonight at Murch re: the first-second grade combo class?

[Anonymous]

I think the principal is going to say that there were an enormous number of late enrollments, but I don't think that is the case. Would love to see documentation of that. Several new in bounds kids in first were enrolled in the spring to my direct knowledge. There have always been a few last minute kids, it never caused chaos before. I really wonder what the motivation was for the last minute upheaval, even with 3 classes for first, they would be big but not bigger than last year.

First grade was big last year (although on par with Janney and smaller than FC or MC) and thus the plan was to have 4 second classes as of the early summer. As the numbers shifted, quite a few second graders did not return and there was a bump up in first grade enrollment, it became clear that the numbers warranted a 4th first grade, not a 4th second. The website update reflected that plan as of 8/3. Class lists were done or largely done early last week or late the week before (in line with the robocall info.) Why the principal decided to change it all as of the Thursday before school is the mystery. Why the school did not hire movers as had been the plan for the room shifts is a mystery. The teachers had packed the rooms before leaving at the end of hte year. Why they waited to move the music room until the Friday before school starts (indluding a piano) is a mystery. We couldn't believe our eyes. There were also 4th graders who did not have a class assignment converyed to them as of the weekend, we were in that boat. Friday before schoolis the day for final touches and the kids meeting teachers, not wholesale chaos.

Could there be another motive behind the split class? Has Murch ever done one? Anyone know if Rhee ifs pushing hte schools to add more pre-K classes?

[Anonymous]

sorry for typos, typing with baby on lap

Would love to have it verified that the principal was around at Murch over the summer. Things like having the classrooms moved or lining up a sub for a teacher on leave are not horribly time consuming and are not better left to the last second.

[Anonymous]

Principals are on a 12 month contract, so she should have been around over the summer.

It's interesting to see this happening at Murch. It's a problem many schools face, especially schools that have a high population of parents who are likely to show up on the first day without having registered. Schools with big numbers of ESL students deal with this every year.

The real catch the principals face is having the class full, but not too full. If you are running small classes, you're going to get your budget cut after equalization and you're likely to lose staff. If you're overenrolled, parents scream.

Doing a split grade class is a sign that they couldn't get the numbers right and had to blend a class.

Rhee is pushing this and her budget documents issued last year stated that larger class sizes don't matter in later grades AND that blended classes are fine too. Of course the LSRT chairs called her budget guy on this, but it wasn't as if they were going to do anything about it.

For Murch parents, I feel your pain. I have been there and so have many other parents. It's a sign of a shrinking budget, unpredictable admissions, and a principal who didn't play her cards quite right. The advantage you guys have is you have powerful voices and if you are loud enough, Rhee just might listen to you.