How was Hearst Last Year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:to my knowledge there was never a 'cap' on the K class sizes related to NAEYC. there has been a deliberate effort to keep PK classes at 19 or 20 and every year we've been at the school - coming up on 4 now - that has been the case.

It is my understanding that schools limit the PK numbers so that the in boundary kids that don't attend until K don't create a bubble and/or the need to add a class.

No school can limit the PK numbers per class (they can maybe have 19 instead of 20 students). They can only limit the number of classes.

[Anonymous]

As a class parent last year I will say we had a great year overall. The kids had fun and the parents were really responsive, making things like staffing field trips and collecting money for teacher appreciation easy. The parents all seemed like a good group. But communication was incredibly poor. Emails to the teacher and principal went unanswered or replies would come 2-3 weeks later. This included basic things like scheduling. We hope this problem is nipped in the bud this year.

[Anonymous]

Hearst IB family. Very happy with the school and had great year. New principal is very good. Our teachers have been fantastic. Very excited about new building. Of course, nothing is every perfect, but do feel like the school, which was already great, is getting even better.

I would stress that the improvement is not because IB families are choosing the school. We are happy that our neighbors are realizing they have one of the best schools in the city in their backyard, and are seeing real signs that the number and percentage of IB families are enrolling especially at younger grades. But *all* current families are contributing to the improvement (and staff huge part too!). The OOB families at Hearst are very energetic and involved; and moreover, are an integral part of the community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:to my knowledge there was never a 'cap' on the K class sizes related to NAEYC. there has been a deliberate effort to keep PK classes at 19 or 20 and every year we've been at the school - coming up on 4 now - that has been the case.

NAEYC accreditation does require 20 or fewer students. However, I do not believe Hearst has current accreditation as of the last school year, so they would not be obliged to keep to classes that small.

interesting. parent leading tour a couple months back said they were accredited and cited it as one reason they make the PK have a nap time, which I think they said carries into the first months of K. They also cited the 20 kids for PK and K. Maybe someone at the school could chime in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:to my knowledge there was never a 'cap' on the K class sizes related to NAEYC. there has been a deliberate effort to keep PK classes at 19 or 20 and every year we've been at the school - coming up on 4 now - that has been the case.

NAEYC accreditation does require 20 or fewer students. However, I do not believe Hearst has current accreditation as of the last school year, so they would not be obliged to keep to classes that small.

interesting. parent leading tour a couple months back said they were accredited and cited it as one reason they make the PK have a nap time, which I think they said carries into the first months of K. They also cited the 20 kids for PK and K. Maybe someone at the school could chime in?

Family at school. Whoever said that was mistaken. Accreditation lapsed and NAEYC wouldn't redo while renovation was in process. We will see about in future. PK kids in all schools have nap time available, and I'm sure some time in K too. I highly doubt that nap has anything to do with NAEYC. Still great school, just not for that reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:to my knowledge there was never a 'cap' on the K class sizes related to NAEYC. there has been a deliberate effort to keep PK classes at 19 or 20 and every year we've been at the school - coming up on 4 now - that has been the case.

NAEYC accreditation does require 20 or fewer students. However, I do not believe Hearst has current accreditation as of the last school year, so they would not be obliged to keep to classes that small.

Hmmm. Was the lapse of accreditation communicated to the parents? Not sure that it was.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:to my knowledge there was never a 'cap' on the K class sizes related to NAEYC. there has been a deliberate effort to keep PK classes at 19 or 20 and every year we've been at the school - coming up on 4 now - that has been the case.

It is my understanding that schools limit the PK numbers so that the in boundary kids that don't attend until K don't create a bubble and/or the need to add a class.

No school can limit the PK numbers per class (they can maybe have 19 instead of 20 students). They can only limit the number of classes.

That's what I meant by limiting. They (DCPS) don't have classes of 24 or 25 PK as far as I know.

[Anonymous]

I saw that article on charges against DC police officers who sent their kids to Eaton, Deal and Wilson using a fictitious DC address while they lived out of DC. I suspect that Hearst has a similar issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I saw that article on charges against DC police officers who sent their kids to Eaton, Deal and Wilson using a fictitious DC address while they lived out of DC. I suspect that Hearst has a similar issue.

I was wondering how long it was going to take for you to join us .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw that article on charges against DC police officers who sent their kids to Eaton, Deal and Wilson using a fictitious DC address while they lived out of DC. I suspect that Hearst has a similar issue.

I was wondering how long it was going to take for you to join us .

There are definitely some "Ward 9" kids at Hearst, just like at other DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:to my knowledge there was never a 'cap' on the K class sizes related to NAEYC. there has been a deliberate effort to keep PK classes at 19 or 20 and every year we've been at the school - coming up on 4 now - that has been the case.

NAEYC accreditation does require 20 or fewer students. However, I do not believe Hearst has current accreditation as of the last school year, so they would not be obliged to keep to classes that small.

interesting. parent leading tour a couple months back said they were accredited and cited it as one reason they make the PK have a nap time, which I think they said carries into the first months of K. They also cited the 20 kids for PK and K. Maybe someone at the school could chime in?

Family at school. Whoever said that was mistaken. Accreditation lapsed and NAEYC wouldn't redo while renovation was in process. We will see about in future. PK kids in all schools have nap time available, and I'm sure some time in K too. I highly doubt that nap has anything to do with NAEYC. Still great school, just not for that reason.

When did the accreditation lapse? Given the frequency in which the accreditation was mentioned as a selling point for the school it's strange that it was not more robustly communicated to current parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw that article on charges against DC police officers who sent their kids to Eaton, Deal and Wilson using a fictitious DC address while they lived out of DC. I suspect that Hearst has a similar issue.

I was wondering how long it was going to take for you to join us .

There are definitely some "Ward 9" kids at Hearst, just like at other DCPS.

How do you know this? Because of Md license plates on cars at pick up/drop off?

[Anonymous]

No need to feed the troll. We all know that this particular poster has a very specific perspective that we have heard MANY times before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:to my knowledge there was never a 'cap' on the K class sizes related to NAEYC. there has been a deliberate effort to keep PK classes at 19 or 20 and every year we've been at the school - coming up on 4 now - that has been the case.

NAEYC accreditation does require 20 or fewer students. However, I do not believe Hearst has current accreditation as of the last school year, so they would not be obliged to keep to classes that small.

interesting. parent leading tour a couple months back said they were accredited and cited it as one reason they make the PK have a nap time, which I think they said carries into the first months of K. They also cited the 20 kids for PK and K. Maybe someone at the school could chime in?

Family at school. Whoever said that was mistaken. Accreditation lapsed and NAEYC wouldn't redo while renovation was in process. We will see about in future. PK kids in all schools have nap time available, and I'm sure some time in K too. I highly doubt that nap has anything to do with NAEYC. Still great school, just not for that reason.

When did the accreditation lapse? Given the frequency in which the accreditation was mentioned as a selling point for the school it's strange that it was not more robustly communicated to current parents.

It's not any big conspiracy. All schools that are NAEYC accredited have to be re-certified on a regular basis. I believe because of the renovation process they could not check every box appropriately so they will just re-certify once the construction is done. They maintain all of the other criteria, including rest time in kindergarten. If a parent volunteer provided that information on the tour they just may not have known what was up because nothing changed in the way that the classes are run. They still follow all of the NAEYC principles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:to my knowledge there was never a 'cap' on the K class sizes related to NAEYC. there has been a deliberate effort to keep PK classes at 19 or 20 and every year we've been at the school - coming up on 4 now - that has been the case.

NAEYC accreditation does require 20 or fewer students. However, I do not believe Hearst has current accreditation as of the last school year, so they would not be obliged to keep to classes that small.

interesting. parent leading tour a couple months back said they were accredited and cited it as one reason they make the PK have a nap time, which I think they said carries into the first months of K. They also cited the 20 kids for PK and K. Maybe someone at the school could chime in?

Family at school. Whoever said that was mistaken. Accreditation lapsed and NAEYC wouldn't redo while renovation was in process. We will see about in future. PK kids in all schools have nap time available, and I'm sure some time in K too. I highly doubt that nap has anything to do with NAEYC. Still great school, just not for that reason.

When did the accreditation lapse? Given the frequency in which the accreditation was mentioned as a selling point for the school it's strange that it was not more robustly communicated to current parents.

It's not any big conspiracy. All schools that are NAEYC accredited have to be re-certified on a regular basis. I believe because of the renovation process they could not check every box appropriately so they will just re-certify once the construction is done. They maintain all of the other criteria, including rest time in kindergarten. If a parent volunteer provided that information on the tour they just may not have known what was up because nothing changed in the way that the classes are run. They still follow all of the NAEYC principles.

It's kind of a big deal for parents who want their kids in small classes in the early grades. And, hate to bring up a bad subject, but this is not the first time that some bad info has been shared on a Hearst school tour that has later turned out to be inaccurate (see the PS3 issue at Hearst). But its not just the parent volunteer that had it wrong. It's currently on the school's FB page:

"Our Pre-K through 5th grade school in Northwest Washington is the only DC public school with Pre-K and Kindergarten programs accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)."

Be nice if somebody in an official capacity could speak to the issue.