S/o next great white hope: Breakthrough Montessori

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. You're very mean.

New poster here.
Nope, OP is not mean, just honest.
Please, everyone, get real.
Charters are there for people who feel they need to avoid their neighborhood dcps schools. State the truth. Really, if you lived next door to a JKLM you wouldn't give a rat ass about a "Green World"or for your child to be in a montessori setting with kids of multiple ages in the same class. Be honest with yourself at least .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. You're very mean.

New poster here.
Nope, OP is not mean, just honest.
Please, everyone, get real.
Charters are there for people who feel they need to avoid their neighborhood dcps schools. State the truth. Really, if you lived next door to a JKLM you wouldn't give a rat ass about a "Green World"or for your child to be in a montessori setting with kids of multiple ages in the same class. Be honest with yourself at least .

95% of time I agree and this is a common thought among people throughout the city - including in Wards 7 and 8.

Yes a few people are seeking the 'extra' or special experience of Montessori, or dual language or expeditionary learning. But not most of us.

That said, i'm truly grateful for the choices we have.

[Anonymous]

I think the Breakthrough Montessori people were fairly smart and strategic in their roll out. They know that Montessori is basically catnip for gentrifier parents and that there are a lot of those in Wards 1, 4 and 5. Putting BM east of the river would attract the parents down there who don't want to send their kids to DCPS and would rather not drive for 45-60 minutes every morning to get to Petworth. Both would be a win, but if you state on your application that you are going to recruit the gentrifier parents, you will make little progress. If you say you want to locate east of the river and recruit "motivated students" in Wards 7 and 8, you check off the "social justice" box. I'm not saying that it's not sincere, but cynically, I think that they made a plan that they'd win either way.

There will always be a market for Montessori. White people love it the same way that we love any other cult - Whole Foods, yoga, Uggs, whatever. It works well for some kids and less well for others, but it's never not going to be popular.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the Breakthrough Montessori people were fairly smart and strategic in their roll out. They know that Montessori is basically catnip for gentrifier parents and that there are a lot of those in Wards 1, 4 and 5. Putting BM east of the river would attract the parents down there who don't want to send their kids to DCPS and would rather not drive for 45-60 minutes every morning to get to Petworth. Both would be a win, but if you state on your application that you are going to recruit the gentrifier parents, you will make little progress. If you say you want to locate east of the river and recruit "motivated students" in Wards 7 and 8, you check off the "social justice" box. I'm not saying that it's not sincere, but cynically, I think that they made a plan that they'd win either way.

There will always be a market for Montessori. White people love it the same way that we love any other cult - Whole Foods, yoga, Uggs, whatever. It works well for some kids and less well for others, but it's never not going to be popular.

But of course Breakthrough is in temporary space. Who knows where they will end up eventually.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure why people suggest upper SES people shouldn't take places at charter schools. Frankly, since we know integration is actually the one proven method to improve struggling kids, we should welcome this. Truly mixed schools should be the goal everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. You're very mean.

New poster here.
Nope, OP is not mean, just honest.
Please, everyone, get real.
Charters are there for people who feel they need to avoid their neighborhood dcps schools. State the truth. Really, if you lived next door to a JKLM you wouldn't give a rat ass about a "Green World"or for your child to be in a montessori setting with kids of multiple ages in the same class. Be honest with yourself at least .

We lived inbounds for a JKLM and still go to a charter. I really think you don't know what you are talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. You're very mean.

New poster here.
Nope, OP is not mean, just honest.
Please, everyone, get real.
Charters are there for people who feel they need to avoid their neighborhood dcps schools. State the truth. Really, if you lived next door to a JKLM you wouldn't give a rat ass about a "Green World"or for your child to be in a montessori setting with kids of multiple ages in the same class. Be honest with yourself at least .

You frame this as if it is something to be ashamed of, like avoiding a disaster zone of a school with a majority of students below grade level is akin to fucking goats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. You're very mean.

New poster here.
Nope, OP is not mean, just honest.
Please, everyone, get real.
Charters are there for people who feel they need to avoid their neighborhood dcps schools. State the truth. Really, if you lived next door to a JKLM you wouldn't give a rat ass about a "Green World"or for your child to be in a montessori setting with kids of multiple ages in the same class. Be honest with yourself at least .

We lived inbounds for a JKLM and still go to a charter. I really think you don't know what you are talking about.

Yep. I was IB for easton. Fine school, but I went to a fine traditional neighborhood school and wanted something different for my child. So we lotteried Montessori and immersion. There are others like me - indeed another IB eaton family at my school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP is spot on and a good anthropologist.

-- longtime DC resident-transplant and amused observer of the new group of young parents

if HIGH SES parents didn't have charter options we all would have continued the flight out of the city as soon as the kids hit Kindergarten. More are staying and guess what , our high incomes (Which seem to offend some of you clueless folks), cover a great deal of things you enjoy in this city. Want to go back in time to the late 80s as the city was going bankrupt? Your welcome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP is spot on and a good anthropologist.

-- longtime DC resident-transplant and amused observer of the new group of young parents

+1


And to the people like PP who equate any post over 140 characters with 'having too much time on your hands" ..... some of us are fast writers, readers and thinkers. A well-developed thought need not take more than 120 seconds to put in print.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP is spot on and a good anthropologist.

-- longtime DC resident-transplant and amused observer of the new group of young parents

if HIGH SES parents didn't have charter options we all would have continued the flight out of the city as soon as the kids hit Kindergarten. More are staying and guess what , our high incomes (Which seem to offend some of you clueless folks), cover a great deal of things you enjoy in this city. Want to go back in time to the late 80s as the city was going bankrupt? Your welcome.

I'm a high SES parent in DC with a child in DCPS. You are not incorrect that your taxes pay for things that WE ALL ENJOY in this city. However, your attitude that people like the PP should be grateful that you decided to stay is offensive. The smugness is the problem, not the facts. There are a lot of young parents who are very, very precious about the school situation. They are clearly susceptible to marketing, and every charter school has a marketing strategy. My DCPS has a marketing strategy! Everyone wants to know what makes this school or that school special, and the answer is never gonna be, "Nothing, we're just a regular school." We will always highlight the good things.

Not everyone shares your smugness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. You're very mean.

New poster here.
Nope, OP is not mean, just honest.
Please, everyone, get real.
Charters are there for people who feel they need to avoid their neighborhood dcps schools. State the truth. Really, if you lived next door to a JKLM you wouldn't give a rat ass about a "Green World"or for your child to be in a montessori setting with kids of multiple ages in the same class. Be honest with yourself at least .

We lived inbounds for a JKLM and still go to a charter. I really think you don't know what you are talking about.

there are very, very few of you though. This is a fact that has remained constant for the past decade.

The only statistically significant exception to this is that not-seriously-wealthy parents of multiple children who are inbound for Key or Mann do, indeed, send kids to BASIS and Latin instead of Hardy.

But very, very, very few parents skip Murch, Mann, and Janney for Flavor of the Month elementary grade charters and schlep cross-town to do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. You're very mean.

New poster here.
Nope, OP is not mean, just honest.
Please, everyone, get real.
Charters are there for people who feel they need to avoid their neighborhood dcps schools. State the truth. Really, if you lived next door to a JKLM you wouldn't give a rat ass about a "Green World"or for your child to be in a montessori setting with kids of multiple ages in the same class. Be honest with yourself at least .

We lived inbounds for a JKLM and still go to a charter. I really think you don't know what you are talking about.

there are very, very few of you though. This is a fact that has remained constant for the past decade.

The only statistically significant exception to this is that not-seriously-wealthy parents of multiple children who are inbound for Key or Mann do, indeed, send kids to BASIS and Latin instead of Hardy.

But very, very, very few parents skip Murch, Mann, and Janney for Flavor of the Month elementary grade charters and schlep cross-town to do so.

We've also reached the point where there are at least a couple charters that have moved well beyond flavor-of-the month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP is spot on and a good anthropologist.

-- longtime DC resident-transplant and amused observer of the new group of young parents

if HIGH SES parents didn't have charter options we all would have continued the flight out of the city as soon as the kids hit Kindergarten. More are staying and guess what , our high incomes (Which seem to offend some of you clueless folks), cover a great deal of things you enjoy in this city. Want to go back in time to the late 80s as the city was going bankrupt? Your welcome.

We long-time DC residents who were here before you arrived and are here now often have higher incomes than your prideful self does. You're a 30 yr old at a non-profit? Hey guess what! I'm the exec director of that non-profit. You're a 3rd year associate at BigLawX? My husband is your boss. and so on.

During those dark days of the 1980s -- which you can't actually remember, because let's be honest, you weren't born yet -- people like us sent our kids to independent schools. We still do. And while we think it's adorable that you really, really Believe In Dual Immersion, we don't begrudge you that. It's fine if you stay, it'll be fine when you do leave for MoCo by high school at the latest.

[Anonymous]

And the award for missing the point goes to PP!