Will the PCSB move to force LAMB to back-fill after PK4?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you're missing the point.

Creating a stable student body is a huge advantage for a school, but it doesn't make sense from a public policy standpoint.

Public schools need to deal with students coming in at any given time.
Private schools can tell people to buzz off.

So are you proposing that LAMB, Yu Ying, Latin and Basis all need to take students at every grade level, even though that runs against their approved charters? Because public policy?

Close. I'm not saying that's current public policy, otherwise those charters wouldn't have been approved. I'm saying that policy should be changed to disallow that type of arrangement in a charter.

You are acting like charter schools have oodles of money like DCPS which is simply not true.

So I guess you're just against immersion schools. I personally really love the concept, even if it prevents some children from entering in later years.

I don't think that's so simple. There are plenty of immersion schools that allow children to join in later years. Or offer English tracks too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you're missing the point.

Creating a stable student body is a huge advantage for a school, but it doesn't make sense from a public policy standpoint.

Public schools need to deal with students coming in at any given time.
Private schools can tell people to buzz off.

So are you proposing that LAMB, Yu Ying, Latin and Basis all need to take students at every grade level, even though that runs against their approved charters? Because public policy?

Close. I'm not saying that's current public policy, otherwise those charters wouldn't have been approved. I'm saying that policy should be changed to disallow that type of arrangement in a charter.

So I guess you're just against immersion schools. I personally really love the concept, even if it prevents some children from entering in later years.

I don't think that's so simple. There are plenty of immersion schools that allow children to join in later years. Or offer English tracks too.

What is the point of an immersion school that offers an English track???? What's so bad about DCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But they have to meet the same requirements as a public school district - which is why setting enrollment restrictions is problematic.

DCPS can do it at Logan and Oyster bc they can offer people different placements. LAMB isn't running a non-Montessori, monolingual elementary school for everyone who doesn't get in at PK3 or PK4.

LAMB isn't a school district idiot.

You are the idiot. LAMB is the equivalent of a school district. It's an LEA: Local education agency (LEA) (also known as local educational agency) is a commonly used synonym for a school district, an entity which operates local public primary and secondary schools in the United States

BTW I was one of the original families when LAMB opened. That first year was a mess== because the kids had to learn a second language (either English or Spanish) and also how to be in a Montessori classroom. There weren't any kindergartners to show them. It took almost the whole year to settle the kids into the Montessori method and get comfortable with the bilingual model. I totally understand why the administration does not want new Kers in the mix. They just backfill with more preKers. What's the difference?

And backfilling will be more of a thing of the past now that there's a clear middle school and high school path. People used to peel off mostly just to secure a place in a school with a decent feeder path instead of the unknown. Probably very few seats in the future to argue so much about.

One more thing -- there is no English track, or tracking, period at LAMB. They use an inclusion model so kids with learning disabilities are fully integrated into the classroom. They provide great special ed support. They get the kids they get at pre3 or prek4 and they will work with those kids tirelessly right up until graduation in June of their 5th grade year. That's why they are successful -- they would frankly prefer that more of those kids were non-English speaking and/or low-SES... that's their mission and their calling. They are not trying to avoid having lower SES kids there at all, quite the contrary, but they do believe in their model and it has proven extremely successful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But they have to meet the same requirements as a public school district - which is why setting enrollment restrictions is problematic.

DCPS can do it at Logan and Oyster bc they can offer people different placements. LAMB isn't running a non-Montessori, monolingual elementary school for everyone who doesn't get in at PK3 or PK4.

LAMB isn't a school district idiot.

You are the idiot. LAMB is the equivalent of a school district. It's an LEA: Local education agency (LEA) (also known as local educational agency) is a commonly used synonym for a school district, an entity which operates local public primary and secondary schools in the United States

BTW I was one of the original families when LAMB opened. That first year was a mess== because the kids had to learn a second language (either English or Spanish) and also how to be in a Montessori classroom. There weren't any kindergartners to show them. It took almost the whole year to settle the kids into the Montessori method and get comfortable with the bilingual model. I totally understand why the administration does not want new Kers in the mix. They just backfill with more preKers. What's the difference?

And backfilling will be more of a thing of the past now that there's a clear middle school and high school path. People used to peel off mostly just to secure a place in a school with a decent feeder path instead of the unknown. Probably very few seats in the future to argue so much about.

One more thing -- there is no English track, or tracking, period at LAMB. They use an inclusion model so kids with learning disabilities are fully integrated into the classroom. They provide great special ed support. They get the kids they get at pre3 or prek4 and they will work with those kids tirelessly right up until graduation in June of their 5th grade year. That's why they are successful -- they would frankly prefer that more of those kids were non-English speaking and/or low-SES... that's their mission and their calling. They are not trying to avoid having lower SES kids there at all, quite the contrary, but they do believe in their model and it has proven extremely successful.

You missed the forest for the trees- the point is that LAMB does not have the responsibility to educate all children in DC. But go ahead and name call first.

[Anonymous]

Breath deep, it's gonna be ok

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But they have to meet the same requirements as a public school district - which is why setting enrollment restrictions is problematic.

DCPS can do it at Logan and Oyster bc they can offer people different placements. LAMB isn't running a non-Montessori, monolingual elementary school for everyone who doesn't get in at PK3 or PK4.

LAMB isn't a school district idiot.

You are the idiot. LAMB is the equivalent of a school district. It's an LEA: Local education agency (LEA) (also known as local educational agency) is a commonly used synonym for a school district, an entity which operates local public primary and secondary schools in the United States

BTW I was one of the original families when LAMB opened. That first year was a mess== because the kids had to learn a second language (either English or Spanish) and also how to be in a Montessori classroom. There weren't any kindergartners to show them. It took almost the whole year to settle the kids into the Montessori method and get comfortable with the bilingual model. I totally understand why the administration does not want new Kers in the mix. They just backfill with more preKers. What's the difference?

And backfilling will be more of a thing of the past now that there's a clear middle school and high school path. People used to peel off mostly just to secure a place in a school with a decent feeder path instead of the unknown. Probably very few seats in the future to argue so much about.

One more thing -- there is no English track, or tracking, period at LAMB. They use an inclusion model so kids with learning disabilities are fully integrated into the classroom. They provide great special ed support. They get the kids they get at pre3 or prek4 and they will work with those kids tirelessly right up until graduation in June of their 5th grade year. That's why they are successful -- they would frankly prefer that more of those kids were non-English speaking and/or low-SES... that's their mission and their calling. They are not trying to avoid having lower SES kids there at all, quite the contrary, but they do believe in their model and it has proven extremely successful.

[Anonymous]

I admit to being amused by the parent on this thread saying the kids in my child's upper elementary class didn't have "real" montessori, and therefore, their experience was totally invalid.

I am even more amused because it is fairly obvious that her own child is still on the polishing plates part of the Montessori experience.

As an additional insight, what with the having of a child scoring double 5s on parcc and knowing how to read, I will add: any school that talks about how they "want" to have lower sea people send their kids there but it just isn't happening?

Those people are lame and, much like a person with a three year old who will tell you your Montessori experience isn't genuine?

They are talking out of their ads.

[Anonymous]

Also, I am going to leave my phone typos stand. Unless you are a current Waldorf student under the age of seven, I think you extrapolate the gist.

[Anonymous]

No school has the responsibility to educate all students: but if your school has to be defnesive about how that is not it's goal--while also not being any kind of test in... Then there is an issue. Incorporating new kids into a classroom is really not that complicated. If your educators can't handle it, then I'd worry about what they can handle... Or how little they are paid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No school has the responsibility to educate all students: but if your school has to be defnesive about how that is not it's goal--while also not being any kind of test in... Then there is an issue. Incorporating new kids into a classroom is really not that complicated. If your educators can't handle it, then I'd worry about what they can handle... Or how little they are paid.

This has been explained dozens of times on this thread and hundreds of times previously- THERE ARE NO TEST IN CHARTER SCHOOLS. So while LAMB would love a Spanish proficiency test so they could have a Spanish dominant lottery, such as Oyster DCPS for example, they cannot do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No school has the responsibility to educate all students: but if your school has to be defnesive about how that is not it's goal--while also not being any kind of test in... Then there is an issue. Incorporating new kids into a classroom is really not that complicated. If your educators can't handle it, then I'd worry about what they can handle... Or how little they are paid.

So you think a school's reputation should be based on how well they incorporate new students?

I get that you're clearly uneducated and just angry, but there is no way a normal child can learn a language in a matter of weeks. Sure they can learn a few phrases and understand some nouns, but the older they get the harder it will be. Furthermore I think diluting immersion schools by adding in kids that don't speak the target language is a terrible idea not only for the kids but for the teacher and other students. I think the reason why LAMB kids speak excellent, grammatically correct Spanish is because they are speaking it since PK4. I am totally against Mundo Verde admitting kids at all levels too fwiw. The magical thinking that goes on with you people (he'll pick it up right away!) is alarming. I also get that LAMB has the whole Montessori system to worry about too.

What's so bad about DCPS? If your kid doesn't speak Spanish or whatever, why can't the many English speaking charters and DCPS handle your kid? Really asking. I promise you- every kid I know who entered MV in the later years that has no Spanish background does not speak Spanish beyond a couple phrases that impress their monolingual parents.

[Anonymous]

I'm not bitter, jealous of lamb, or ill-educated.

However, other schools do manage. You may not "like" how they manage, but they do. It is somewhat absurd, also: in a city with such a huge native Spanish-speaking population, many of them not particularly rich; to condescendingly explain that children have to be young enough to learn Spanish--or to learn "grammatically correct" Spanish. There's a large group of kids knowing Spanish! Maybe you could recruit them!

Si personne chez nous parlent l'espangnol, je ne donne pas deux merdes que Les gens a LAMB fait... Mais je veut ma ville d'etre an place gentil.

That is the longest sentence I think I've written in French in twenty years, and it's probably wrong. Mais je ne donne pas deux merdes de ça, aussi.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not bitter, jealous of lamb, or ill-educated.

However, other schools do manage. You may not "like" how they manage, but they do. It is somewhat absurd, also: in a city with such a huge native Spanish-speaking population, many of them not particularly rich; to condescendingly explain that children have to be young enough to learn Spanish--or to learn "grammatically correct" Spanish. There's a large group of kids knowing Spanish! Maybe you could recruit them!

Si personne chez nous parlent l'espangnol, je ne donne pas deux merdes que Les gens a LAMB fait... Mais je veut ma ville d'etre an place gentil.

That is the longest sentence I think I've written in French in twenty years, and it's probably wrong. Mais je ne donne pas deux merdes de ça, aussi.

So you want us to recruit the poor Latinos to help dumb kids like your own? FUCK YOU.

- mother to two poor Central American kids from DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not bitter, jealous of lamb, or ill-educated.

However, other schools do manage. You may not "like" how they manage, but they do. It is somewhat absurd, also: in a city with such a huge native Spanish-speaking population, many of them not particularly rich; to condescendingly explain that children have to be young enough to learn Spanish--or to learn "grammatically correct" Spanish. There's a large group of kids knowing Spanish! Maybe you could recruit them!

Si personne chez nous parlent l'espangnol, je ne donne pas deux merdes que Les gens a LAMB fait... Mais je veut ma ville d'etre an place gentil.

That is the longest sentence I think I've written in French in twenty years, and it's probably wrong. Mais je ne donne pas deux merdes de ça, aussi.

This is exactly why LAMB doesn't want to join the common lottery- they heavily recruit underprivileged Latino kids.

And for those that don't speak terrible French, I believe the racist poster above said "I don't give two shits what LAMB does, I just want a friendly city."

Well posting racist stuff about Latinos online doesn't make this city a happier place. Is that why you hate LAMB so much? Because it has a 50% Latino student body?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I admit to being amused by the parent on this thread saying the kids in my child's upper elementary class didn't have "real" montessori, and therefore, their experience was totally invalid.

I am even more amused because it is fairly obvious that her own child is still on the polishing plates part of the Montessori experience.

As an additional insight, what with the having of a child scoring double 5s on parcc and knowing how to read, I will add: any school that talks about how they "want" to have lower sea people send their kids there but it just isn't happening?

Those people are lame and, much like a person with a three year old who will tell you your Montessori experience isn't genuine?

They are talking out of their ads.

You can assume whatever you want, but like you I have elementary aged Montessori children (plural). I have no idea why you insist otherwise. And because my children have primary experience I know how important it is as a foundation for elementary. If half the kids didn't have that foundation the guide should have to make significant accommodations to the method. Because you and your child don't have that background you don't seem to understand this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why mess with something that is working?

-Not a lamb parent / shut out at pk3 and pk4

To increase the number of quality seats available. It would still work fine just like it does at yu ying.

If the culture really cannot survive a handful of new kindergarteners, what does that say about the school?

It only works "fine" at Yu Ying because standards for Chinese aren't very high at the school. If you're a native Mandarin speaker, you're not impressed with how well YY kids understand or speak Chinese, unless they have an adult in the home who consistently speaks Chinese to them, and requires them to answer in Chinese. The truth is that the great majority of YY kids speak Chinese haltingly, even if they've been in the program for four, five or six years. They really having to think before they can get a sentence out in Mandarin, slowly.

LAMB is unique among DC charter immersion programs because they're aiming higher. Go, LAMB, stick to your guns if you can.