Petworth choices PK3

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Breakthrough Montessori. First year school, head of school is not montessori trained and they are not seeking accredidation


Why aren't they seeking to be accredited?

They have to seek accreditation within their first five years per DC PCSB policy. They can choose to seek accreditation from a number of entities approved by OSSE (Breakthrough hasn't said which one they will use).

They did just hire (within in last 45 days) a new head of instruction who is an experienced Montessori teacher and administrator.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Breakthrough Montessori. First year school, head of school is not montessori trained and they are not seeking accredidation


Why aren't they seeking to be accredited?

They have to seek accreditation within their first five years per DC PCSB policy. They can choose to seek accreditation from a number of entities approved by OSSE (Breakthrough hasn't said which one they will use).

They did just hire (within in last 45 days) a new head of instruction who is an experienced Montessori teacher and administrator.

Clarify: they aren't seeking AMI or AMS accreditation. I don't know the "why".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Breakthrough Montessori. First year school, head of school is not montessori trained and they are not seeking accredidation


Why aren't they seeking to be accredited?

They have to seek accreditation within their first five years per DC PCSB policy. They can choose to seek accreditation from a number of entities approved by OSSE (Breakthrough hasn't said which one they will use).

They did just hire (within in last 45 days) a new head of instruction who is an experienced Montessori teacher and administrator.

that sounds good. Lee's head also isn't Montessori trained though the two other founders were Montessori teachers, and Lee is a true blue Montessori school.

My one worry about new Montessori schools is it could be a money maker for an unscrupulous company who sees green at the thought of a legitimate way to have 30 kids in classroom with one teacher In practice, with a lottery population, you need a lot of aids/assistants and thus Lee has three adults in all the primary classrooms. Breakthough doesn't strike me as at all unscrupulous and seems to be doing all the right things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are IB for West. However, we consider West to be in our lower tier among the 12 choices. Ideally (like everyone else) we want either dual language or Montessori.
Does anyone have any feedback on Powell, Bruce Monroe, Marie Reed? Same for Lee Montessori or DC Bilingual? I am finding it hard to get to twelve choices as I think most of the better DCPS spots will go to in-bound or those with sibling preference. The HRCS spots also seem like a long shot. Would you rank West lower and still try to aim high or put West and perhaps a Powell high, to increase chances of getting in at least somewhere.

We have our list but not sure if we are shorting ourselves by not putting 12 and also by not putting certain schools higher than others.

Have you applied for LAMB? Spanish immersion Montessori school but not in the common lottery.

[Anonymous]

I know of two families at IT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Breakthrough Montessori. First year school, head of school is not montessori trained and they are not seeking accredidation


Why aren't they seeking to be accredited?

They have to seek accreditation within their first five years per DC PCSB policy. They can choose to seek accreditation from a number of entities approved by OSSE (Breakthrough hasn't said which one they will use).

They did just hire (within in last 45 days) a new head of instruction who is an experienced Montessori teacher and administrator.

They sent me an email and specifically said they are NOT seeking MONTESSORI accreditation. If they are seeking some other accreditation per PCSB policy that is different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Breakthrough Montessori. First year school, head of school is not montessori trained and they are not seeking accredidation


Why aren't they seeking to be accredited?

They have to seek accreditation within their first five years per DC PCSB policy. They can choose to seek accreditation from a number of entities approved by OSSE (Breakthrough hasn't said which one they will use).

They did just hire (within in last 45 days) a new head of instruction who is an experienced Montessori teacher and administrator.

They sent me an email and specifically said they are NOT seeking MONTESSORI accreditation. If they are seeking some other accreditation per PCSB policy that is different.

Thanks for the clarification. AMS is one of the entities on the DCPCSB approved list - perhaps they will change their mind down the line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are IB for West. However, we consider West to be in our lower tier among the 12 choices. Ideally (like everyone else) we want either dual language or Montessori.
Does anyone have any feedback on Powell, Bruce Monroe, Marie Reed? Same for Lee Montessori or DC Bilingual? I am finding it hard to get to twelve choices as I think most of the better DCPS spots will go to in-bound or those with sibling preference. The HRCS spots also seem like a long shot. Would you rank West lower and still try to aim high or put West and perhaps a Powell high, to increase chances of getting in at least somewhere.

We have our list but not sure if we are shorting ourselves by not putting 12 and also by not putting certain schools higher than others.

Have you applied for LAMB? Spanish immersion Montessori school but not in the common lottery.

And last year had over 500 on their PK3 waitlist.

[Anonymous]

I am IB for West, and I know at least three families at West, four families at EL Haynes, one family at LAMB. Other families on my block send kids to Catholic school or have kids too young or too old to worry about it.

[Anonymous]

Exactly. Very few spots out there.

[Anonymous]

Heard it through the grapevine that Shining Stars just received AMS accreditation . That would make them the only AMS accredited public Montessori in DC. Langdon and CH@Logan are DCPS and AMI-recognized. Not sure what 'recognized' versus accreditated means, but SS has AMI and AMS trained teachers and assistants.

[Anonymous]

Breakthrough is backed by a national non-profit looking for this to be the first of a network of public Montessoris. They have 90 seats, an extra month of school time, and free before/aftercare. We are applying!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Breakthrough is backed by a national non-profit looking for this to be the first of a network of public Montessoris. They have 90 seats, an extra month of school time, and free before/aftercare. We are applying!

Best of luck to you. You have good opportunity to get in on the ground floor but if you attend be prepared for growing pains. Signing up with a new school with ambitious founders is not for the feignt of heart.

-BTDT

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP. Shining Stars, Bridges, DC Bilingual, Inspired, all on list. Did anyone go the DC Bilingual open house on Saturday or know of families with kids there?

I have friends with sons in 5th grade and 3nd I believe who have been at DC Bilingual the whole time and have been very happy with it. They are only leaving bc they're moving to overseas (ultimate immersion).

[Anonymous]

We live in Petworth and our DS goes to ITS, great school, easy commute (I work near Union Station). Have heard great things about Lee as well. Re: your Petworth location I would put EL Haynes and CMI on your list as well. YY also in a good location - we did not include bc not interested in Chinese immersion. You might want to consider Two Rivers, Stokes, as those could be reasonable depending on where you work.

Other tip I did not think of: it can be more convenient to have your kids in school near your work instead of near home. It was the case for us our first year as I frequently had to go to the school. But definitely prioritize schools that are workable with your commute.