MV s/o: impact of flat budget on other schools

[Anonymous]

It will be interesting to see their test scores coupled with these new choices in management.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It will be interesting to see their test scores coupled with these new choices in management.

I would like to see the test scores in three years when the kids have all been there the whole time. These first grades have had a ton of late arrivals, and even the ones who have been there the longest didn't start until kindergarten and never had a period of full immersion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, as someone who was offered a spot after getting another spot at another DCI feeder, it makes me nervous that it seems like they are adding classes to strengthen shaky finances vs based on a strategic assessment that adding classes makes sense and furthers their mission. That said, everyone I know at MV is pretty happy and I think they are doing a lot right.

I know 6 families at MV. Equally split on how "happy" they are.

I'm an MV family. We are incredibly unhappy and leaving the school. The notice today about cutting admin support, adding kids just for money, and increasing class sizes of some grades that are already having issues with classroom management just makes it clear to me how non-strategic they are and how they are not focused on being a school, but on being cool and innovative, or I'm not sure what.

What is it that you are incredibly unhappy about? We just got in off the waitlist for pk4 and am wondering why you are leaving? For us MV is probably temporary anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they are handling it wonderfully. I actually think kids do better when they start earlier, and all this is doing is increasing the early starts for that cohorts. Fewer kindergartners without spanish exposure is great for everyone.

They also added more teachers to the upper grades, which must be costly, but a very good move.

That is not how I read the notice. they are cutting teachers for the rising 3rd and 4th, increasing class size. they say this will let them hire special ed and support people but they didn't say how many, and I think strong teachers and small classes is the palce to start.

A family like ours is coming from a DCPS Spanish immersion school. Our child is well prepared to start K.

Of course some are, but you can't just pick those who have had prior experience. That isn't how it works.

I know that's not how it works. Lamb once tried it and failed. I was just pointing out that there are some families such as mine enrolling at the K level with prior Spanish exposure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they are handling it wonderfully. I actually think kids do better when they start earlier, and all this is doing is increasing the early starts for that cohorts. Fewer kindergartners without spanish exposure is great for everyone.

They also added more teachers to the upper grades, which must be costly, but a very good move.

That is not how I read the notice. they are cutting teachers for the rising 3rd and 4th, increasing class size. they say this will let them hire special ed and support people but they didn't say how many, and I think strong teachers and small classes is the palce to start.

A family like ours is coming from a DCPS Spanish immersion school. Our child is well prepared to start K.

Of course some are, but you can't just pick those who have had prior experience. That isn't how it works.

I know that's not how it works. Lamb once tried it and failed. I was just pointing out that there are some families such as mine enrolling at the K level with prior Spanish exposure.

Of course, but there are many who enroll later with no exposure. No one is knocking your kid. It isn't a personal thing.

[Anonymous]

We are another entering Kindergarten with prior Spanish exposure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It will be interesting to see their test scores coupled with these new choices in management.

I would like to see the test scores in three years when the kids have all been there the whole time. These first grades have had a ton of late arrivals, and even the ones who have been there the longest didn't start until kindergarten and never had a period of full immersion.

Full immersion and/or prior Spanish instruction are not going to help their standardized test scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It will be interesting to see their test scores coupled with these new choices in management.

I would like to see the test scores in three years when the kids have all been there the whole time. These first grades have had a ton of late arrivals, and even the ones who have been there the longest didn't start until kindergarten and never had a period of full immersion.

Full immersion and/or prior Spanish instruction are not going to help their standardized test scores.

Took the words out of my mouth.

[Anonymous]

It's rarely a good sign in any industry when quantity becomes the main priority. I still probably wouldn't turn down a spot, but it doesn't sound good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's rarely a good sign in any industry when quantity becomes the main priority. I still probably wouldn't turn down a spot, but it doesn't sound good.

All charter schools need to fill all available spaces to survive. That is why there are bump years. The total number of students projected for next year has not changes, they just announced how they were going to fill the spots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, as someone who was offered a spot after getting another spot at another DCI feeder, it makes me nervous that it seems like they are adding classes to strengthen shaky finances vs based on a strategic assessment that adding classes makes sense and furthers their mission. That said, everyone I know at MV is pretty happy and I think they are doing a lot right.

I know 6 families at MV. Equally split on how "happy" they are.

I'm an MV family. We are incredibly unhappy and leaving the school. The notice today about cutting admin support, adding kids just for money, and increasing class sizes of some grades that are already having issues with classroom management just makes it clear to me how non-strategic they are and how they are not focused on being a school, but on being cool and innovative, or I'm not sure what.

Can you share the notice?

[Anonymous]

MV logo circle


12 de mayo de 2015


Queridas Familias de Mundo Verde, (please click for English)


Es difícil imaginar que sólo faltan seis cortas semanas para que termine el año escolar 2014-2015. Nuestros alumnos y maestros han profundizado mucho en su expedición de primavera y todavía les queda mucho por aprender, mientras que el equipo de liderazgo de la escuela planea el próximo año escolar. Aún teniendo mucho para celebrar este año, estamos enfocando nuestra energía del fin de año principalmente en las áreas de crecimiento y mejora. Estamos contratando maestros para nuestras nuevas aulas, inscribiendo nuevos alumnos, evaluando políticas y sistemas, y posiblemente más importante, reflexionando sobre el actual año escolar y considerando la retroalimentación proporcionada por nuestro personal y familias. Claramente hemos escuchado el mensaje sobre la necesidad de continuar fortaleciendo nuestro enfoque en el desarrollo y comportamiento socioemocional, y nuestro ambiente y cultura escolar en general. Nosotros, así como ustedes, estamos ansiosos de terminar la construcción de nuestro proyecto, para poder comenzar a vivir el sueño de nuestro campus de PreK-5to grado con un patio escolar basado en la naturaleza con numerosos espacios dedicados al juego y actividad física.

Con la mira hacia el año escolar 2015-16, Mundo Verde encara un año fiscal más ajustado de lo inicialmente previsto. Inesperados déficits en el presupuesto de DC para el próximo año significan que nuestro financiamiento del Distrito por alumno es fijo, en lugar del incremento regular de 2 a 3 porciento. Hemos tenido que considerar recorte de personal, reestructuración de supuestas contrataciones de personal, y/o expansión de nuestro cuerpo estudiantil. Estamos comprometido a ambos, asegurar nuestro presupuesto para el año fiscal 2016 y satisfacer las necesidades de nuestros alumnos y familias. Conforme ajustamos las distintas expectativas de lo que el año nos traerá, nos sentimos optimistas sobre nuestra capacidad de continuar profundizando nuestro programa en el año fiscal 2016.

A continuación se encuentran los pasos que planeamos para continuar satisfaciendo las necesidades de nuestros alumnos, aún con la reducción de costos totales.
Por única ocasión, expandiremos el número de las clases de PK de cuatro a seis aulas. A través de incrementar el número de alumnos e ingresos, tenemos la capacidad de cubrir los costos que de otra manera no podríamos cubrir hasta la adición de 5to grado en el año escolar 2017-18. Programáticamente cada clase será del mismo tamaño con 21-22 alumnos y mantendrá la mezcla de dos tercios de niños de cuatro años de edad, y un tercio de niños de 3 años de edad. Contamos con un equipo fuerte de liderazgo y docencia en nuestro programa de PreK, y tenemos la confianza en nuestra habilidad de mantener la calidad de nuestro programa preescolar. Este paso resulta en un número de alumnos inscritos en PreK-3 de 44 y PreK-4 de 88 alumnos, dando un total de 132 alumnos de PreK en lugar de los 88 planeados inicialmente. Si bien, esto no significa un cambio de largo plazo para nuestras metas de inscripción, sí reducirá el número adicional de alumnos externos que aceptaremos en PreK-4 y Kínder para el año escolar 2017-18.
Para reducir los costos de nuestro personal, estamos reduciendo tres posiciones en forma general dentro de nuestro equipo administrativo y de liderazgo. Actualmente hay algunas transiciones sucediendo dentro de nuestro personal, y decidimos no recontratar inmediatamente para esas posiciones como medida de ahorro conservadora.
A través de expandir lo que actualmente proporcionamos y mejorar nuestros enfoques actuales, mejoraremos nuestro trabajo para apoyar el desarrollo y comportamiento emocional. Estamos negociando incrementar nuestro apoyo de salud mental interno, de tres días a la semana a cinco días a la semana. Con el fin de evaluar y mejorar nuestro enfoque de Ambiente y Cultura, Ms. Kathryn Conners, maestra fundadora, estará asistiendo con la coordinación de Ambiente y Cultura por el resto del año escolar. Su trabajo temporal en este rol le permitirá a la escuela prepararse para la transición de Topaz Terry como Directora de Ambiente y Cultura, así como establecer firmemente las estructuras y sistemas que necesitamos para apoyar el desarrollo emocional, y comportamiento positivo de nuestros alumnos.
Para proporcionar un apoyo y experiencia más profunda a nuestros grupos de alumnos pasando a 3er y 4to grado, estamos reestructurando nuestras aulas de 3er y 4to grado para ser menos aulas, ligeramente más grandes. Este paso, siendo un cambio importante, significará que tendremos los recursos para incrementar el apoyo de intervención (lenguaje, comportamiento y académica), educación especial, y desarrollo de currículo en cada aula y a nivel de grados.
En 3er grado, tendremos aulas con aproximadamente 24 alumnos en cada una y dos maestros dedicados. En dos aulas implementaremos un modelo piloto de co-enseñanza con dos maestros de tiempo completo - un maestro líder de enseñanza general y un maestro de educación especial en cada aula. La tercer aula tendrá un maestro líder y un maestro en formación de tiempo completo.
En 4to grado, tendremos aulas con 20 alumnos, un maestro líder por clase, y un maestro de inclusión bilingüe dedicado al grado.
Ambos grados se beneficiarán con apoyo adicional para el desarrollo de currículo e intervención en todo el grado.

El mes de mayo es un mes para escuchar y reflexionar. Estamos planeando múltiples espacios y acercamientos para abordar, escuchar y conocer más de las familias.
Comenzando con nuestra Construcción del Jardín el 25 de abril y el Sembrado de Árboles el 9 de mayo, les hemos invitamos literalmente a ayudarnos a darle vida al patio de nuestra escuela, y a darnos su opinión sobre en lo que podrían convertirse nuestros espacios de juego. Alternativamente, usted ha dado y puede continuar proporcionando su opinión utilizando nuestra página digital para lluvia de ideas sobre los espacios de juego.
Por determinar: Reuniones con las familias actuales de 2do y 3er grado para considerar la estructura del personal específicamente para las clases de 3er y 4to grado.
15 de mayo -Reunión de Padres, para considerar el liderazgo de los padres para el año escolar 2015-16
29 de mayo -Charla informal con Dahlia y Kristin
31 de mayo / 11 de junio -Conversación Comunitaria (ver a continuación)

¡Acompáñenos a las dos sesiones de la reunión comunitaria!

31 de mayo, 3:30-5:30pm
11 de junio, 6:00-8:00pm

Ofreceremos comida en ambos eventos.
Favor de confirmar su asistencia y reservar un espacio para el cuidado de su hijo/a.

Propósito: Unirnos para ejercer el liderazgo hacia el cumplimiento de la visión/objetivo de Mundo Verde, y comenzar a crear caminos para diagnosticar retos continuamente y co-crear soluciones para abordarlos.

Resultados Previstos:
Usted y lo que es más importantes para usted como miembro de esta comunidad, será escuchado.
Usted conocerá cómo los esfuerzos recientes de la escuela han dado lugar a resultados concretos en financiamientos, colaboraciones, y establecimiento de prioridades que nos acercan a convertir en realidad la visión de nuestra escuela.
Usted saldrá informado y actualizado sobre los resultados de la encuesta, y aportaciones de otras sesiones comunitarias sobre cuestiones clave.
Usted será parte de una exploración compartida para determinar cómo podemos fortalecer los caminos para trabajar juntos como comunidad, y construir una cultura de liderazgo colectivo.

¿Desea saber qué esperar y qué no esperar? Oprima aquí.

Únese a nuestra comunidad en esta fechas y recuerde confirmar su asistencia.


Atentamente,

KS-signature-web Dahlia Signature

Kristin Scotchmer Dahlia Aguilar
Directora Ejecutiva Directora Académica


May 12, 2015


Dear Mundo Verde Families,


It is hard to imagine that there are just six short weeks left in school year 2014-2015. Our students and teachers are deep into their spring expeditions with much learning still to come, as our school leadership is already planning for the next school year. While there is much to celebrate this year, we are focusing our end of year energy primarily on areas of growth and improvement. We are hiring teachers for our new classrooms, enrolling new students, evaluating policies and systems, and perhaps most importantly, reflecting back on the year, and considering the feedback we have received from staff and families. We have heard clearly the message that we need to continue to strengthen our approach to social emotional development and behavior, and our overall school culture and climate. Like each of you - we are eager to be finished with our construction project, so we can begin to live into the dream of our PreK-5th grade campus with a nature-based schoolyard and numerous spaces for play and physical activity.

As we look forward to school year 2015-2016, Mundo Verde faces a tighter financial year than originally projected. Unexpected shortfalls in the DC budget for the coming year mean that our per pupil District funding is flat, instead of the standard increase of 2 to 3 percent. We have had to consider cutting positions, restructuring staffing assumptions, and/or expanding our student population. We are committed to both ensuring our FY16 budget is sound and to meeting the needs of our students and families. While we are adjusting to different expectations for what the year will bring, we are optimistic that we will still be able to deepen our program in FY16.

Below are the steps we are planning to continue to meet the needs of our students even as we reduce overall costs.
For one year only, we are expanding the number PK classes from four to six classrooms. By increasing students and revenue, we are able to cover the costs that we would otherwise not be able to support until the addition of 5th grade in SY17-18. Programmatically, each classroom will be the same size with 21-22 students and will retain its mix of two thirds four-year olds and one third three-year olds. We have strong leadership and teaching teams in our PreK program and are confident in our ability to retain the quality of our preschool program. This step brings our enrollment of PreK-3 students to 44 and PreK-4 students to 88 for a total of 132 PK students, instead of 88 as originally planned. While this is not a long-term shift of our enrollment goals, it will reduce the number of additional external students we will accept in PreK-4 and Kindergarten for SY17-18.
To reduce our staffing costs, we are reducing our overall administrative and leadership team by three positions. There are a few staffing transitions already underway, and we are choosing not to rehire for those positions immediately as a conservative cost savings measure.
By expanding what we provide and improving on our current approaches, we will improve our work to support emotional development and behavior. We are negotiating to increase our onsite mental health support from three days a week to five days a week. In order to evaluate and improve on our approach to Climate and Culture, Ms. Kathryn Conners, founding teacher, will be assisting with the coordination of Climate and Culture for the remainder of this school year. Her work in this temporary role will allow the school to prepare for Topaz Terry’s transition from her role as Director of Climate and Culture and firmly establish the structures and systems we need to support our students’ emotional development and positive behavior.
To bring deeper support and experience to our rising 3rd and 4th grade cohorts, we are restructuring our 3rd and 4th grade classrooms to fewer larger classes. This step, while a significant change, will mean we will have the resources to add support for intervention (language, behavior, and academic), special education, and curriculum development in each classroom and across the grades.
In 3rd grade, we will have classrooms of approximately 24 students each and two dedicated teachers. Two classrooms will be piloting a co-teaching model with two full time teachers - a general education lead and Special Education lead in each. The third class will have a lead teacher and a full time fellow.
In 4th grade, we will have classrooms with 20 students, one lead teacher per class, and one bilingual inclusion teacher dedicated to the grade.
Both grades will benefit from additional support for curriculum development and intervention across the grade.
The month of May is a month of listening and reflecting. We are planning multiple venues and approaches to engage, listen to, and learn from families.
Beginning with our April 25 Garden Build and May 9 Tree Planting, we have invited you to quite literally help us bring alive our school yard and give us your input on what our play spaces can become. Alternatively, you have and can continue to provide input using our digital idea catcher regarding play spaces.
TBD: Meetings with current 2nd and 3rd Grade families to consider staffing structures for rising 3rd and 4th grades specifically
May 15 Padres Meeting to consider parent leadership for SY2015-2016
May 29 Informal charla with Dahlia and Kristin
May 31 / June 11 - Community Conversation (see below)

Please join us for a two-part community meeting!

May 31, 3:30-5:30pm
June 11, 6:00-8:00pm

Food will be provided at both events.
Please RSVP for the event and to reserve for childcare.

Purpose: To come together to exercise leadership toward the fulfillment of Mundo Verde’s vision/purpose and begin to create pathways to ongoingly diagnose challenges and co-create solutions to address them.

Intended Outcomes:
You and what matters most to you as a member of this community will be heard.
You will learn how recent school efforts have led to specific results in funding, partnership, and priority-setting that move us closer to realizing the vision for our school.
You will leave informed and updated on the results of the survey and other community input sessions on key issues.
You will be part of a shared exploration to determine how we can strengthen ways to work together as a community and build a culture of collective leadership. ?
Want to know what to expect? What not to expect? Click here.

Please join our community on these dates and remember to RSVP.


Sincerely,

KS-signature-web-gray Dahlia-Signature-web

Kristin Scotchmer Dahlia Aguilar
Executive Director Principal

202-750-7060 * www.mundoverdepcs.org * [e-mail]





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[Anonymous]

Yu Ying did this for the entering prek4 class (no prek3 then) when they moved to their new location. The big bump class has 6 classrooms instead of the usual 4 and these kids are now the rising 3rd grade. It worked out fine. I have a child in the class and very happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yu Ying did this for the entering prek4 class (no prek3 then) when they moved to their new location. The big bump class has 6 classrooms instead of the usual 4 and these kids are now the rising 3rd grade. It worked out fine. I have a child in the class and very happy.

The difference here is that MV won't have a bump class after the first year. Instead, they just won't add more to that class as they usually would the following year.

[Anonymous]

Nothing against MV, but wow.