Asking for Advice - Rejection from Oyster-Adams Preschool

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New poster here

Oyster seems like a pretty good school for neurotypical kids.

Several families have told me that Oyster counsels out special needs kids. They can do that because they can tell DCPS the child isn't suited to a dual language school due to disabilities, and then have the child sent to Francis Stevens as the English language alternative.

Their data bears out that they have relatively low numbers of kids with disabilities due to counseling out, and that those SN kids in the school are not learning well in their classrooms. See PARCC results for kids with disabilities as a breakout population.

Fifteen to twenty percent of the child population has some sort of special need so these are numbers of students that matter.

Meanwhile, DC Bilingual, Mundo Verde, and LAMB have developed strong special education programs.

That’s how DCPS is allowed to work, even if they shouldn’t. Because they are a multi campus LEA they can decide to move a child from a specialized program saying they can support them better at another school. The District will transport the child if needed.

Because charters are stand alone LEAs, they must serve students with disabilities in their schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The DC school handbook used to say "if a student resides in a home in which Spanish is spoken regularly, it is likely the student will pass assessment." Now the handbook is conspicuously silent on what "Spanish dominant" actually means. There is a complete lack of consistent standards across schools and drastically different interpretations and enforcement policies. This, coupled with the timing of the test (post-lottery), means parents like the OP who have every reason to believe their child is Spanish dominant, will find themselves not only denied entry to their matched school, but at the end of the waitlist of every other school they might otherwise have chosen. This is a a lawsuit waiting to happen. Of course, it's really only a problem at Oyster where the principal seems determined to use the test to push a political agenda rather than a reasonable or commonsense understanding of the child's Spanish proficiency.

Anonymous wrote:
This part is crazy, but also confirms the feeling I got after I heard Ms. Cruz's presentation at an open house earlier this year. She said that the parent(s) have to be in the interview (which differs from Diego's experience, but that's what I heard), that kids who learned their Spanish from nannies are not who they want, and that these Spanish-dominant spots are meant for English language learners (so, I suppose, disqualifying bilingual kids). Not going to debate the merits of what she said, as these points have been debated ad nauseam and with much vitriol on other threads, but the overall vibe I got from her is that ethnic/national origin, and not language ability, is the test, even though she can't say so. I found it very off-putting, especially as the parent of non-Hispanic kids who wake up screaming in Spanish from their nightmares and have meltdowns in Spanish, and as such have a good faith belief that they are, in the commonsensical sense of the term, Spanish dominant.

Anyhow, I agree with whoever said in another thread that DCPS should define the term more clearly, and legally. I have a feeling that this would only affect Oyster, though, since every other DCPS immersion starts at PK3, and it may be hard to test at PK3 because many kids still don't talk all that much when they're 3 in any language.

Good luck, Diego. At least you're IB, so you have that option at K if that's still what you want.

It sounds like it varies wildly from school to school. A family we know from preschool got their daughter into Bruce-Monroe under Spanish Dominant. I’m a native speaker and can attest that neither parent is fluent or close to it. She’s about as fluent as my children, who hear Spanglish at home and Spanish during the day. I never entered the lottery because my understanding was the intent was whether the child is an English learner. (Do they cry for help in Spanish or English?) It seems the answer is, it depends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New poster here

Oyster seems like a pretty good school for neurotypical kids.

Several families have told me that Oyster counsels out special needs kids. They can do that because they can tell DCPS the child isn't suited to a dual language school due to disabilities, and then have the child sent to Francis Stevens as the English language alternative.

Their data bears out that they have relatively low numbers of kids with disabilities due to counseling out, and that those SN kids in the school are not learning well in their classrooms. See PARCC results for kids with disabilities as a breakout population.

Fifteen to twenty percent of the child population has some sort of special need so these are numbers of students that matter.

Meanwhile, DC Bilingual, Mundo Verde, and LAMB have developed strong special education programs.

No way 15-20% of all kids are special needs -- were that true, it wouldn't be "special" any more.

And I could imagine why a challenging bilingual school is not a good fit for many kids with special needs. First things first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New poster here

Oyster seems like a pretty good school for neurotypical kids.

Several families have told me that Oyster counsels out special needs kids. They can do that because they can tell DCPS the child isn't suited to a dual language school due to disabilities, and then have the child sent to Francis Stevens as the English language alternative.

Their data bears out that they have relatively low numbers of kids with disabilities due to counseling out, and that those SN kids in the school are not learning well in their classrooms. See PARCC results for kids with disabilities as a breakout population.

Fifteen to twenty percent of the child population has some sort of special need so these are numbers of students that matter.

Meanwhile, DC Bilingual, Mundo Verde, and LAMB have developed strong special education programs.

No way 15-20% of all kids are special needs -- were that true, it wouldn't be "special" any more.

And I could imagine why a challenging bilingual school is not a good fit for many kids with special needs. First things first.

One in five children in the US has a learning or attention issue. See https://www.ncld.org/archives/blog/the-state-of-ld-understanding-the-1-in-5

My child is still testing as an ELL, Spanish speaker, in second grade. Both parents speak Spanish at home so Dual language is important for his learning.

His IQ is in the ninetieth percentile and gifted is one of his designated special needs. .

He also has dyslexia.

What type of program should he attend if not a challenging bilingual school?

[Anonymous]

Perhaps 18:48 meant "first things first" as in "first weed out any challenging kids"

Then "declare virctory as the highest scoring bilingual school in the city".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps 18:48 meant "first things first" as in "first weed out any challenging kids"

Then "declare virctory as the highest scoring bilingual school in the city".

Oh please! Oyster has a much higher FARMs/At-Risk student population than YY, yet it’s still the highest scoring language immersion school inside the Beltway. There are plenty of “challenging kids” at Oyster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps 18:48 meant "first things first" as in "first weed out any challenging kids"

Then "declare virctory as the highest scoring bilingual school in the city".

Oh please! Oyster has a much higher FARMs/At-Risk student population than YY, yet it’s still the highest scoring language immersion school inside the Beltway. There are plenty of “challenging kids” at Oyster.

Oyster has 10% at risk; YY has 5%. Oyster's stats are also Pk4-8. Not a straight up comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps 18:48 meant "first things first" as in "first weed out any challenging kids"

Then "declare virctory as the highest scoring bilingual school in the city".

Oh please! Oyster has a much higher FARMs/At-Risk student population than YY, yet it’s still the highest scoring language immersion school inside the Beltway. There are plenty of “challenging kids” at Oyster.

Oyster has 10% at risk; YY has 5%. Oyster's stats are also Pk4-8. Not a straight up comparison.

It’s a pretty close comparison because OA is Pk4 to 8th, while YY is Pk3 to 5th. YY only has 2 fewer grades than OA, and OA is only a little larger (677 students compared to YY’s 579). Btw, 21% of OA’s students are “Economically Disadvantaged,” compared to 11.4% of YY students. Face it, OA is the highest achieving language immersion school in the area because it has earned it; not by manipulating the numbers of “challenging kids.”

http://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Oyster-Adams+Bilingual+School

https://www.dcpcsb.org/school/washington-yu-ying-pcs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps 18:48 meant "first things first" as in "first weed out any challenging kids"

Then "declare virctory as the highest scoring bilingual school in the city".

This is yet another reason we fled oyster- parents like PP.

- thankful our special needs child is getting help, not screaming teachers and judgmental parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m disgusted by the arrogance displayed. No, half of dc would not want to attend oyster. Please don’t invent statistics to justify your choices.

NP. I don’t know the exact percentage of parents who want Oyster (neither do you), but according to this article it’s the most sought after DCPS this year: https://www.wusa9.com/mobile/article/news/local/dc/300-applications-per-seat-see-which-dc-schools-were-the-most-sought-after-in-the-2019-2020-lottery/65-16583d09-a157-4d35-98e8-bf1a8ee8d7a1

I don’t have a dog in this fight, but I think this tidbit adds more texture to the discussion.

Like PP I’m just concerned that the person/people attacking Oyster are trolls. Not the OP, who has a legit complaint but we sort of know what Oyster is doing in PK4, and OP will get in in K. The trolls who seems to show up in all Oyster threads slagging one of the most high demand schools in the system. Is the goal to improve their own kids’ lottery chances?

We still don’t have enough examples of real problems at Oyster to warrant the negativity.

Oh like when the school auctioned off a sleepover with a child molester?

No, you lying idiot. That child’s parents, on their own time, allowed their child to spend time with that teacher. Those parents had no idea that their son was being groomed by a pedophile.

I challenge you to find written proof (WaPo article or equivalent) that states that Oyster auctioned off an overnight sleepover with any teacher.

I see you have a short memory. I remember this well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m disgusted by the arrogance displayed. No, half of dc would not want to attend oyster. Please don’t invent statistics to justify your choices.

NP. I don’t know the exact percentage of parents who want Oyster (neither do you), but according to this article it’s the most sought after DCPS this year: https://www.wusa9.com/mobile/article/news/local/dc/300-applications-per-seat-see-which-dc-schools-were-the-most-sought-after-in-the-2019-2020-lottery/65-16583d09-a157-4d35-98e8-bf1a8ee8d7a1

I don’t have a dog in this fight, but I think this tidbit adds more texture to the discussion.

Like PP I’m just concerned that the person/people attacking Oyster are trolls. Not the OP, who has a legit complaint but we sort of know what Oyster is doing in PK4, and OP will get in in K. The trolls who seems to show up in all Oyster threads slagging one of the most high demand schools in the system. Is the goal to improve their own kids’ lottery chances?

We still don’t have enough examples of real problems at Oyster to warrant the negativity.

Oh like when the school auctioned off a sleepover with a child molester?

No, you lying idiot. That child’s parents, on their own time, allowed their child to spend time with that teacher. Those parents had no idea that their son was being groomed by a pedophile.

I challenge you to find written proof (WaPo article or equivalent) that states that Oyster auctioned off an overnight sleepover with any teacher.

I see you have a short memory. I remember this well.

Where’s your proof? Put up or shut up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps 18:48 meant "first things first" as in "first weed out any challenging kids"

Then "declare virctory as the highest scoring bilingual school in the city".

This is yet another reason we fled oyster- parents like PP.

- thankful our special needs child is getting help, not screaming teachers and judgmental parents.

Well, I hope that you and your special needs child are getting your needs met elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps 18:48 meant "first things first" as in "first weed out any challenging kids"

Then "declare virctory as the highest scoring bilingual school in the city".

This is yet another reason we fled oyster- parents like PP.

- thankful our special needs child is getting help, not screaming teachers and judgmental parents.

Well, I hope that you and your special needs child are getting your needs met elsewhere.

+1.

And let's not forget when a group of special need parents conspired with the previous principal to close down the existing school and reopen OA who knows where, harming the school and the community and the neighborhood in the process.

Thankfully we dodged that bullet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m disgusted by the arrogance displayed. No, half of dc would not want to attend oyster. Please don’t invent statistics to justify your choices.

NP. I don’t know the exact percentage of parents who want Oyster (neither do you), but according to this article it’s the most sought after DCPS this year: https://www.wusa9.com/mobile/article/news/local/dc/300-applications-per-seat-see-which-dc-schools-were-the-most-sought-after-in-the-2019-2020-lottery/65-16583d09-a157-4d35-98e8-bf1a8ee8d7a1

I don’t have a dog in this fight, but I think this tidbit adds more texture to the discussion.

Like PP I’m just concerned that the person/people attacking Oyster are trolls. Not the OP, who has a legit complaint but we sort of know what Oyster is doing in PK4, and OP will get in in K. The trolls who seems to show up in all Oyster threads slagging one of the most high demand schools in the system. Is the goal to improve their own kids’ lottery chances?

We still don’t have enough examples of real problems at Oyster to warrant the negativity.

Oh like when the school auctioned off a sleepover with a child molester?

No, you lying idiot. That child’s parents, on their own time, allowed their child to spend time with that teacher. Those parents had no idea that their son was being groomed by a pedophile.

I challenge you to find written proof (WaPo article or equivalent) that states that Oyster auctioned off an overnight sleepover with any teacher.

I see you have a short memory. I remember this well.

Where’s your proof? Put up or shut up.

This lengthy thread from 2015 quotes from an online auction site about an auction item donated by Pena that is now defunct. Oyster did in fact auction off a pizza and movie night with Pena at his place. It wasn't a sleepover.

Jump to page 13-18 of the thread. https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/195/475813.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m disgusted by the arrogance displayed. No, half of dc would not want to attend oyster. Please don’t invent statistics to justify your choices.

NP. I don’t know the exact percentage of parents who want Oyster (neither do you), but according to this article it’s the most sought after DCPS this year: https://www.wusa9.com/mobile/article/news/local/dc/300-applications-per-seat-see-which-dc-schools-were-the-most-sought-after-in-the-2019-2020-lottery/65-16583d09-a157-4d35-98e8-bf1a8ee8d7a1

I don’t have a dog in this fight, but I think this tidbit adds more texture to the discussion.

Like PP I’m just concerned that the person/people attacking Oyster are trolls. Not the OP, who has a legit complaint but we sort of know what Oyster is doing in PK4, and OP will get in in K. The trolls who seems to show up in all Oyster threads slagging one of the most high demand schools in the system. Is the goal to improve their own kids’ lottery chances?

We still don’t have enough examples of real problems at Oyster to warrant the negativity.

Oh like when the school auctioned off a sleepover with a child molester?

No, you lying idiot. That child’s parents, on their own time, allowed their child to spend time with that teacher. Those parents had no idea that their son was being groomed by a pedophile.

I challenge you to find written proof (WaPo article or equivalent) that states that Oyster auctioned off an overnight sleepover with any teacher.

I see you have a short memory. I remember this well.

Where’s your proof? Put up or shut up.

This lengthy thread from 2015 quotes from an online auction site about an auction item donated by Pena that is now defunct. Oyster did in fact auction off a pizza and movie night with Pena at his place. It wasn't a sleepover.

Jump to page 13-18 of the thread. https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/195/475813.page

Ahhh, so it wasn’t a sleepover as a PP has repeatedly stated. The (unknown at the time) pedophile teacher offered to show a movie at his home for three kids. That’s very different from offering a NAMBLA sleepover to one child at his home. And btw, parents can always NOT bid on auction items.