Breakthrough Montessori Family Orientation

[Anonymous]

Ah yes, the charter school shuffle! We are not looking forward to that at all. Any insights on why Breakthrough would not plan to seek certification?

[Anonymous]

No clue their reasons. Could be cost/time?

Ask from any Montessori certification, they have to get accredited as a school, not as a Montessori school per the DCPCSB. One of the Montessori orgs is no longer doing that sort of accreditation (can't recall which one).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No clue their reasons. Could be cost/time?

Ask from any Montessori certification, they have to get accredited as a school, not as a Montessori school per the DCPCSB. One of the Montessori orgs is no longer doing that sort of accreditation (can't recall which one).

Maybe they don't think it is feasible to have the large class sizes or long work periods as required for accreditation?

[Anonymous]

AMI is no longer accrediting only 'recognizing'. PCSB requires some sort of accreditation in the. 5th year. Maybe OCSB has given them a pass already on this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I definitely like the smaller class sizes. They will have 5 classes instead of the 4 classes. Each class will have 18 students, 9 PK3s and 9 PK4s. They will be adding 9 additional children per class next year. Instead of the 30 minutes of outside play, they extended it to 45 minutes (I think), I know it's longer than 30 minutes.

I was leaning more towards Lee mainly because of the half day offering, however, Breakthrough seems to be on top of their game.

Yes, this sounds good (did anyone ask about accreditation - push them to be ami or ams accredited. It's the only way you know you are getting a solid Montessori curriculum) .

But having just gone through the location thing, no way would I go through that again. If you have a choice between a good school with a permanent location and a good school without, go with the permanent location.

They discussed a current 5 year least and a long term option. It seems breakthrough will be on Taylor at least until the current PK4 class graduates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think Breakthrough has a longish-term lease at the former Bridges location, with plans to improve the facility and expand in place - and that they may regard the current location as permanent. Does anyone know more about this?

Check the minutes / docs from the DCPCSB - I think it is only 2 yrs and they will not have enough space to expand into elementary until and unless they move.

My understanding is they have only rented one of the several connected buildings that Bridges had on Taylor NW. That's the 2-3 year sublease.

But they are also negotiating with the landlord for the remainder of the space on Taylor which will give them a longterm lease and more space to fill out the school.

The sublease is for 5 years with an option to expand into the connecting buildings, from what I understand, this space could be habitable for 10-15 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I definitely like the smaller class sizes. They will have 5 classes instead of the 4 classes. Each class will have 18 students, 9 PK3s and 9 PK4s. They will be adding 9 additional children per class next year. Instead of the 30 minutes of outside play, they extended it to 45 minutes (I think), I know it's longer than 30 minutes.

I was leaning more towards Lee mainly because of the half day offering, however, Breakthrough seems to be on top of their game.

Yes, this sounds good (did anyone ask about accreditation - push them to be ami or ams accredited. It's the only way you know you are getting a solid Montessori curriculum) .

But having just gone through the location thing, no way would I go through that again. If you have a choice between a good school with a permanent location and a good school without, go with the permanent location.

They discussed a current 5 year least and a long term option. It seems breakthrough will be on Taylor at least until the current PK4 class graduates.

There's no chance they are going to have an equal number of PK4 to PK3. I won't be surprised if the ratio is more 75% PK3, 25% PK4

[Anonymous]

The building seems full of rooms without any windows. They said they will try to shuffle kids to make use of their windows but I do not quite see how this would happen without causing chaos.

They also said they will be high-fidelity Montessori but already reduced the class size, so I am growing less convinced they got this as well as they seem.

Plus the issue with remote playground etc., I am not sure.. Any thoughts on these?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The building seems full of rooms without any windows. They said they will try to shuffle kids to make use of their windows but I do not quite see how this would happen without causing chaos.

They also said they will be high-fidelity Montessori but already reduced the class size, so I am growing less convinced they got this as well as they seem.

Plus the issue with remote playground etc., I am not sure.. Any thoughts on these?

Windowless classrooms unfortunately seem to be par for the course in DC, so all things being equal, that would not be a deciding factor for me.

As for the class size - I am no Montessori expert, but it seems difficult for me to both have a mission to provide high-quality preschool for lower-income students, and have the traditional large Montessori class size. I just don't see how you could truly provide a good educational experience at the traditionally high ratios.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No clue their reasons. Could be cost/time?

Ask from any Montessori certification, they have to get accredited as a school, not as a Montessori school per the DCPCSB. One of the Montessori orgs is no longer doing that sort of accreditation (can't recall which one).

Are they seeking any sort of accreditation? I could care less about AMI or AMS, but I think they're required to get some accreditation after 5 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The building seems full of rooms without any windows. They said they will try to shuffle kids to make use of their windows but I do not quite see how this would happen without causing chaos.

They also said they will be high-fidelity Montessori but already reduced the class size, so I am growing less convinced they got this as well as they seem.

Plus the issue with remote playground etc., I am not sure.. Any thoughts on these?

Windowless classrooms unfortunately seem to be par for the course in DC, so all things being equal, that would not be a deciding factor for me.

As for the class size - I am no Montessori expert, but it seems difficult for me to both have a mission to provide high-quality preschool for lower-income students, and have the traditional large Montessori class size. I just don't see how you could truly provide a good educational experience at the traditionally high ratios.

No need to be Montessori expert, look at Lee - they have very high ratios as kids really learn from each other, and provide really good education including for low income families. I don't see the mystery...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No clue their reasons. Could be cost/time?

Ask from any Montessori certification, they have to get accredited as a school, not as a Montessori school per the DCPCSB. One of the Montessori orgs is no longer doing that sort of accreditation (can't recall which one).

Are they seeking any sort of accreditation? I could care less about AMI or AMS, but I think they're required to get some accreditation after 5 years.

Yes they will have to get accreditation from someone by year 5. No debate on that.

Others care deeply that they get certified by one of the 2 Montessori organizations to ensure fidelity to the model.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No clue their reasons. Could be cost/time?

Ask from any Montessori certification, they have to get accredited as a school, not as a Montessori school per the DCPCSB. One of the Montessori orgs is no longer doing that sort of accreditation (can't recall which one).

Are they seeking any sort of accreditation? I could care less about AMI or AMS, but I think they're required to get some accreditation after 5 years.

Yes they will have to get accreditation from someone by year 5. No debate on that.

Others care deeply that they get certified by one of the 2 Montessori organizations to ensure fidelity to the model.

Ridiculous. No need for that.

[Anonymous]

It's funny how people say they want fidelity Montesorri, and yet demand smaller class sizes.. make up your mind, please

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's funny how people say they want fidelity Montesorri, and yet demand smaller class sizes.. make up your mind, please

I am the one who talked about class size. Actually I don't care about fidelity to Montessori. I think it's better to meet the needs of children than to have strict fidelity to a certain model.