Marie Reed in Adams Morgan

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Put down the crack pipe. Who pulls out of Cap City for Marie Reed?!

Ummmm...I was saying to apply to Cap City for the 5th grader and then the 3 year old can ride on his/her coattails, because lots of people pull their kids out of Cap City after 3rd grade and do the private route from there, so there might be spaces for the 5th grader. Put on YOUR reading classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:9:14 it is because I am focused on my child that I want to leave. I really believe IB is harmful. It does not provide nearly enough content, it is very challenging in the Thomson environment when so many kids are struggling and frankly the teacher turnover is going to be very intense most likely for several years. I am also thinking about a younger 2nd child. I get the question about Deal but I have a great deal of logistical difficulty getting to their feeder schools. I think a lot of folks on the West side of the city just don't get how hard it can be for any of us in any of the other quadrants to get across the city every day twice a day. Until you are in failing school and feel trapped by it refrain from judgment.

all DCPS follow DC content guidelines, IB or not...IB is just extra stuff on to of that
If your argument is that the extras are crowding out the basics, I could see that....

[Anonymous]

Bringing in IB in a public school is like trying to teach two curriculumns. Not an easy proposition and one usually seems to give way to the other. IB also has theories behind it that are really anticontent in process and cause content guidelines to be very loosely interpreted.

[Anonymous]

Marie Reed is down the street from me -- I would never consider it. We are moving before our kids start school, sadly. I love this neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

wow is Marie Reed that bad. I was going to put it on my lottery list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bringing in IB in a public school is like trying to teach two curriculumns. Not an easy proposition and one usually seems to give way to the other. IB also has theories behind it that are really anticontent in process and cause content guidelines to be very loosely interpreted.

IB isn't just anti-content, it's profoundly silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:9:14 it is because I am focused on my child that I want to leave. I really believe IB is harmful. It does not provide nearly enough content, it is very challenging in the Thomson environment when so many kids are struggling and frankly the teacher turnover is going to be very intense most likely for several years. I am also thinking about a younger 2nd child. I get the question about Deal but I have a great deal of logistical difficulty getting to their feeder schools. I think a lot of folks on the West side of the city just don't get how hard it can be for any of us in any of the other quadrants to get across the city every day twice a day. Until you are in failing school and feel trapped by it refrain from judgment.

all DCPS follow DC content guidelines, IB or not...IB is just extra stuff on to of that
If your argument is that the extras are crowding out the basics, I could see that....

Actually, IB makes it very difficult to teach any content, unless it is integrated into one of six IB themes, which are supposed to encompass all of the Social Studies and Science content.

[Anonymous]

"Actually, IB makes it very difficult to teach any content, unless it is integrated into one of six IB themes"

Funny, there are no problems teaching content with IB at WIS or Yu Ying.

IB is a nice addition when you consider that DCPS is basically using "how to master a standardized test" as their curriculum.

Given that Ward 6 parents have hopped on IB as the fix for Jefferson and Elliot-Hine, it seems the poster here who dislikes IB is in the minority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Actually, IB makes it very difficult to teach any content, unless it is integrated into one of six IB themes"

Funny, there are no problems teaching content with IB at WIS or Yu Ying.

IB is a nice addition when you consider that DCPS is basically using "how to master a standardized test" as their curriculum.

Given that Ward 6 parents have hopped on IB as the fix for Jefferson and Elliot-Hine, it seems the poster here who dislikes IB is in the minority.

or bethesda chevy chase
if there IS a problem, it's not with IB, it's with how it is implemented...
I recently looked at a school where, if you wanted to take an AP language, you had no access to AP math
Is that a flaw with AP, or with the school's organization of AP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Actually, IB makes it very difficult to teach any content, unless it is integrated into one of six IB themes"

Funny, there are no problems teaching content with IB at WIS or Yu Ying.

IB is a nice addition when you consider that DCPS is basically using "how to master a standardized test" as their curriculum.

Given that Ward 6 parents have hopped on IB as the fix for Jefferson and Elliot-Hine, it seems the poster here who dislikes IB is in the minority.

That would be because WIS and Yu Ying have their own curriculum and are not obligated to teach the DC Standards. If you take a look at the DC standards for science and socials studies you will find that there is a lot of content that has nothing to do with "mastering a standardized test". I would argue that it's not the best sequence of content, but there is content in the DC Standards. Take a look at grades 4-8 standards for science and social studies.

http://dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/In+the+Classroom/What+Students+Are+Learning/Learning+Standards+for+Grades+Pre-K-8

As for Ward 6 parents pinning their hopes on IB to fix Jefferson and Elliot-Hine, I would recommend that they take a good look at what's being taught at Deal before they decide that IB is the fix they want. Unfortunately, the IBO lacks transparency and you really can't learn much about the program from the IB website unless you have access to the IB standards and guidelines. Someone on the Deal faculty or staff might be willing to share these documents. I don't know anything about the MYP, but the PYP is pretty lame.

[Anonymous]

Obviously you dislike IB. Ok. Transfer a your child to Marie Reed for 5th grade and then make the child go on to Reed's feeder middle school. (Shaw?) Good times.

Feel good and happy about the choices you are imposing on your child.

Some of us like IB and are thrilled with any program that promotes a global perspective, makes language instruction part of the school day and allows teachers to rise above the weaknesses in the DCPS-curriculum-is-the-test that gets dished out at most schools.

Good luck to you and your child.

[Anonymous]

Funny, there are no problems teaching content with IB at WIS or Yu Ying.

Like the previous poster noted, I think most people miss how hard IB is to implement for struggling kids and frankly struggling teachers. It requires teachers that are very secure in the 6 themes and have well designed exploration processes. It requires kids not multiple grade behind, it requires a library that actually has research resources. It requires computer labs that don't block 90% of the web because it might be a blog or ask.com. It requires parents that can actually help their kids. It requires a central administration that actually is helpful in the implementation process. We all know that a number of DC Schools just don't have this level of capacity. The reality is that many years of profound economic inequalities that reign in this school system will undermine programs like IB whether you like them or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Obviously you dislike IB. Ok. Transfer a your child to Marie Reed for 5th grade and then make the child go on to Reed's feeder middle school. (Shaw?) Good times.

Feel good and happy about the choices you are imposing on your child.

Some of us like IB and are thrilled with any program that promotes a global perspective, makes language instruction part of the school day and allows teachers to rise above the weaknesses in the DCPS-curriculum-is-the-test that gets dished out at most schools.

Good luck to you and your child.

Schools can implement foreign language and inquiry learning without locking into the tremendous expense, anti-content bias, and gazillion ridiculous mandates of IB.

[Anonymous]

Got it. There are over 80 elementary schools in DCPS. 3 are trying to get IB PYP status. That bothers you.

I see you would like to remove the option for all the rest of us.

As if our choices in DCPS weren't weak enough.

Thanks. Much appreciated.

And having been to WIS, Deal, Yu Ying and all 3 DCPS that are pursuing the IB, I don't buy your anti-content argument.

Expensive, yes. Not worthy of a Title One school, not so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Got it. There are over 80 elementary schools in DCPS. 3 are trying to get IB PYP status. That bothers you.

I see you would like to remove the option for all the rest of us.

As if our choices in DCPS weren't weak enough.

Thanks. Much appreciated.

And having been to WIS, Deal, Yu Ying and all 3 DCPS that are pursuing the IB, I don't buy your anti-content argument.

Expensive, yes. Not worthy of a Title One school, not so much.

go for any option you want, just adding my 2 cents, take it or leave it.