Will the PCSB move to force LAMB to back-fill after PK4?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of successfulschools in VA and md admit don't even have preschool. They take in an all-new class at k. So really, lamb should be able to bring in a few. Really how many kids would it be, like 2 or 3 to a classroom?

+1

+2. Can lamb's super duper wonderful teachers not handle bringing in a new kid or two?

At other montessori schools they have to admit English language learners right? So I don't see how this is different.

[Anonymous]

I hope so. They go from three PK classrooms to one small 5th grade classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why mess with something that is working?

-Not a lamb parent / shut out at pk3 and pk4

You can't say that you were shut out ok pk3/4 unless you list all 12 schools you listed both years. There are pk3/4 spots open now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of successfulschools in VA and md admit don't even have preschool. They take in an all-new class at k. So really, lamb should be able to bring in a few. Really how many kids would it be, like 2 or 3 to a classroom?

+1

+2. Can lamb's super duper wonderful teachers not handle bringing in a new kid or two?

At other montessori schools they have to admit English language learners right? So I don't see how this is different.

+3. In the lottery, they in theory would have to admit a pk4 who had never done montessori and spoke no English OR Spanish, right? And this is totally fine, but a year later impossible?

[Anonymous]

I was also at the meeting last night and was underwhelmed by Lamb's responses to the charter board questions, both around their expansion plans and admissions policy. They seemed unprepared, annoyed by the questions, and even contradictory at times. Based on the line of questioning last night, I agree that they may (and should) start to backfill after pk4.

Also, I say this as a parent who hopes that they do get approved for expansion. They're obviously a wonderful school that is succeeding in educating and nurturing their students. I just wish they didn't seem so stand-offish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope so. They go from three PK classrooms to one small 5th grade classroom.

Montessori classes are ages 3-6, 6-9 and 9-12. So, there is no such thing as a PK class and a 5th grade class at LAMB. You must mean primary and upper elementary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope so. They go from three PK classrooms to one small 5th grade classroom.

That says more about the middle school situation in DC than LAMB.

Last year there were 17 5th graders; this year it's 26. Retention is growing and the schools enrollment is on track to look less like a triangle more like a trapezoid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why mess with something that is working?

-Not a lamb parent / shut out at pk3 and pk4

You can't say that you were shut out ok pk3/4 unless you list all 12 schools you listed both years. There are pk3/4 spots open now.

I think PP meant she was shut out of LAMB. Otherwise I agree with you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why mess with something that is working?

-Not a lamb parent / shut out at pk3 and pk4

Because it is possible that these barriers to access are a fundamental reason that it is working. And that is pretty important - both for LAMB and for other schools whose metrics are compared to LAMB's (see: charter school tiering process).

Put all the other Tier 1 elementary schools don't have the same policies. LAMB is an outlier. And now that other Montessori and immersion schools have come along and proven that you can be successful without these barriers it's harder for LAMB to argue in favor of them.

Except, as the LAMB admin tried to explain last night - other schools aren't doing both immersion and montessori. Just because you successfully integrate a 6 year old in an immersion setting or a montessori setting, doesn't necessarily mean you can do both at the same time.

It's Spanish and Montessori. This doesn't appear to be an insurmountable challenge.

If we were talking about teaching Calculus or Advanced programming in a non-Latin language then I could buy the line, but we're not. Plenty of children start Montessori beyond age 4, and plenty start languages tougher than Spanish (for an English speaker) beyond age 4. It's time to take on the responsibilities which accompany those public funds and backfill some open seats.

[Anonymous]

LAMB parent here. I'd support filling in vacancies for K. With all of the discussion, it's worth the try. Like posters said unthread, there will only be a few additional kids. My kid started at pre-k 4 and did fine. I can't see the world coming to an end if they added a few kids at K. They could make summer school attendance a priority to get the kids ready with the language. If after a good try, that fails, they can make the argument that backfilling is a no go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why mess with something that is working?

-Not a lamb parent / shut out at pk3 and pk4

Because it is possible that these barriers to access are a fundamental reason that it is working. And that is pretty important - both for LAMB and for other schools whose metrics are compared to LAMB's (see: charter school tiering process).

Right because LAMB would just fall apart if it had to take kids at K.

[Anonymous]

Is lamb currently full at k? Where does the drop off occur?

[Anonymous]

For the record, I could see putting a limit after which it's too late. Yu Ying stops at 2nd grade, because it's too hard for the kids to catch up. (Especially so, considering that half the instruction occurs in the target language.)

That said, if Yu Ying can teach 1st graders in Chinese then it's hard to see why LAMB cannot teach Spanish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is lamb currently full at k? Where does the drop off occur?

Look at page 14 of the document on this page. At most 1-2 openings at K.

The dropoff has historically occurred between 3rd and 4th and 4th to 5th when people transfer or move thinking ahead to middle school.

DCI is expected to change this -- keep in mind it wasn't open for the first 8 years that LAMB was open.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is lamb currently full at k? Where does the drop off occur?

Look at page 14 of the document on this page. At most 1-2 openings at K.

The dropoff has historically occurred between 3rd and 4th and 4th to 5th when people transfer or move thinking ahead to middle school.

DCI is expected to change this -- keep in mind it wasn't open for the first 8 years that LAMB was open.

Sorry - link http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=1980746#anchor