Mundo Verde is going to expand

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FYI- Not a MV family, but a community member active in the schools- and with immersion programs. Move if you don't like Noyes.

Fact stands- the overwhelming negative embrace by key constituents was ignored.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry MV families. Your voice was not heard or respected in the hearing, nor evidently in the decision making by the Board members.

Unfathomable that not one of the DCPSCB was willing to stand with the 255 families- and neighborhood association- in this decision.

Not getting what you want does not mean you weren't heard or respected. They just didn't agree with you.

Go elsewhere if Mundo is so awful. You can have my spot at Noyes.

Wad it ignored? Or was it acknowledged but disagreed with?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FYI- Not a MV family, but a community member active in the schools- and with immersion programs. Move if you don't like Noyes.

Fact stands- the overwhelming negative embrace by key constituents was ignored.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry MV families. Your voice was not heard or respected in the hearing, nor evidently in the decision making by the Board members.

Unfathomable that not one of the DCPSCB was willing to stand with the 255 families- and neighborhood association- in this decision.

Not getting what you want does not mean you weren't heard or respected. They just didn't agree with you.

Go elsewhere if Mundo is so awful. You can have my spot at Noyes.

Wad it ignored? Or was it acknowledged but disagreed with?

Not a MV parent, and my kids are past elementary school. I watched both hearings / meetings where this was discussed. They seemed ignored. The school explained most of it away with a version of 'we're working on it' and 'we'll do better' and 'we're delaying a year.'

The Board said they heard the parents, and decided to move ahead anyway because 'they know' it's a good school.

Based on what? They didn't meet 2 of the board's expansion criteria; the PARCC scores aren't that great and half the parents said that they didn't have faith the administration could pull it off.

It felt like it was rigged from the get-go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FYI- Not a MV family, but a community member active in the schools- and with immersion programs. Move if you don't like Noyes.

Fact stands- the overwhelming negative embrace by key constituents was ignored.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry MV families. Your voice was not heard or respected in the hearing, nor evidently in the decision making by the Board members.

Unfathomable that not one of the DCPSCB was willing to stand with the 255 families- and neighborhood association- in this decision.

Not getting what you want does not mean you weren't heard or respected. They just didn't agree with you.

Go elsewhere if Mundo is so awful. You can have my spot at Noyes.

Wad it ignored? Or was it acknowledged but disagreed with?

Not a MV parent, and my kids are past elementary school. I watched both hearings / meetings where this was discussed. They seemed ignored. The school explained most of it away with a version of 'we're working on it' and 'we'll do better' and 'we're delaying a year.'

The Board said they heard the parents, and decided to move ahead anyway because 'they know' it's a good school.

Based on what? They didn't meet 2 of the board's expansion criteria; the PARCC scores aren't that great and half the parents said that they didn't have faith the administration could pull it off.

It felt like it was rigged from the get-go.

Ok, but still. High retention, biggest wait list in the city= good enough. Sucky administration is the norm in DC, and if Mundo Uno gets a little worse than it is now, the system as a whole is still better off for having Mundo Dos. If it's a hot mess, it'll still be an upgrade for the kids who get in. Please try to get your head around that!

How do you account for the popularity of the school, if it's as bad as you say? Why is the waitlist so much longer than DCB and Stokes, in particular?

[Anonymous]

You're wrong on the relatively popularity, if judged by wait lists.

MV's WL is 1,435 (total enrollment 550+)

Stokes' WL is 1,625 (total enrollment is 350)

DCB is 1176 (total enrollment is 403).

Stokes and DCB have more economically disadvantaged kids. MV attracts people who want diversity, but not too much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're wrong on the relatively popularity, if judged by wait lists.

MV's WL is 1,435 (total enrollment 550+)

Stokes' WL is 1,625 (total enrollment is 350)

DCB is 1176 (total enrollment is 403).

Stokes and DCB have more economically disadvantaged kids. MV attracts people who want diversity, but not too much.

But my numbers at Mundo have always been a lot higher than at Stokes and DCB- why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're wrong on the relatively popularity, if judged by wait lists.

MV's WL is 1,435 (total enrollment 550+)

Stokes' WL is 1,625 (total enrollment is 350)

DCB is 1176 (total enrollment is 403).

Stokes and DCB have more economically disadvantaged kids. MV attracts people who want diversity, but not too much.

But my numbers at Mundo have always been a lot higher than at Stokes and DCB- why?

That's about your master number and how others with better or worse master numbers decided to ranked their choices.

Here's the 2017 initial charter wait lists - Stokes is the longest for the fewest number of slots. http://www.dcpcsb.org/evaluating/waitlist-data

[Anonymous]

I think much of MVs high WL numbers have to do with its central location so it is an option for people from more parts of the city than say Two Rivers or DC Bilingual. If you live south of DC Bilingual and work downtown, the location is not convenient. Meanwhile MV could easily be on your way to work. And if you live in NW and work downtown, Two Rivers is not convenient (and would likely have even higher WL numbers if it was more centrally located).

Also MV is strong in early childhood and when your kids are 2 years old and you are entering the lottery for the first time you likely don't have many contacts with parents of third graders, which is where many of the problems at MV are.

[Anonymous]

I'm an MV parent who was against expansion until the school improves. And perhaps because I've seen enough glimmers of hope over the years at MV that I think it had the potential to be a truly great school if it stopped focusing on getting bigger, just for a few years. I feel like that hope for greatness died. But MV will live on as an okay school.

I understand the decision since even an inconsistent, okay school that doesn't communicate with its communities is still a better option for many families in the city.

I expected more, and am in the group of families who can afford more. So we're pulling our younger kid out. But we'll see it through with our older one since I think an okay school is better than a massive disruption in late elementary. I don't think you'll see a mass exodus, but I think over time MV will lose the higher social-economic families that provided some stability and financial support. I don't think those families are interested in sending their kids to a franchise that ignores parental input.

Everyone wants their kid's school to be great, and it is disappointing when it doesn't live up to your expectations. I think that feeling is especially strong among founding families who had a true stake in growing the school to where it is today. But those families will cycle out of MV soon and the school will become something else for those who follow. Perhaps not a great school, but a good option for a population more in need of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm an MV parent who was against expansion until the school improves. And perhaps because I've seen enough glimmers of hope over the years at MV that I think it had the potential to be a truly great school if it stopped focusing on getting bigger, just for a few years. I feel like that hope for greatness died. But MV will live on as an okay school.

I understand the decision since even an inconsistent, okay school that doesn't communicate with its communities is still a better option for many families in the city.

I expected more, and am in the group of families who can afford more. So we're pulling our younger kid out. But we'll see it through with our older one since I think an okay school is better than a massive disruption in late elementary. I don't think you'll see a mass exodus, but I think over time MV will lose the higher social-economic families that provided some stability and financial support. I don't think those families are interested in sending their kids to a franchise that ignores parental input.

Everyone wants their kid's school to be great, and it is disappointing when it doesn't live up to your expectations. I think that feeling is especially strong among founding families who had a true stake in growing the school to where it is today. But those families will cycle out of MV soon and the school will become something else for those who follow. Perhaps not a great school, but a good option for a population more in need of it.

Thank you for your kind and balanced perspective, PP.

[Anonymous]

I don't really understand why, if so many parents are so unhappy with the school, that they don't demand that the administration fix whatever the problems are. Or leave. Why is retention so high?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't really understand why, if so many parents are so unhappy with the school, that they don't demand that the administration fix whatever the problems are. Or leave. Why is retention so high?

Ha! They DID demand that the administration fix the problems. Half of the parents in the school signed a petition, attended meetings, screamed at the top of their lungs. The administration completely ignored them. On leaving that is harder. Most people just cannot pick and leave. Even if they did, they hoped that their concerns would be addressed, and when it was clear that the administration had zero interest in doing so, the first round of the lottery was over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't really understand why, if so many parents are so unhappy with the school, that they don't demand that the administration fix whatever the problems are. Or leave. Why is retention so high?

Ha! They DID demand that the administration fix the problems. Half of the parents in the school signed a petition, attended meetings, screamed at the top of their lungs. The administration completely ignored them. On leaving that is harder. Most people just cannot pick and leave. Even if they did, they hoped that their concerns would be addressed, and when it was clear that the administration had zero interest in doing so, the first round of the lottery was over.

But these problems are longstanding, aren't they? And lots of these people have decent IB options, I can tell by the charter attendance maps.

If there are so many parents that are so unsatisfied, they should be able to force some improvements. Or maybe they aren't actually that unhappy with it, but just want to keep others out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't really understand why, if so many parents are so unhappy with the school, that they don't demand that the administration fix whatever the problems are. Or leave. Why is retention so high?

This year is the first year that MV is at full capacity (graduating its first 5th grade class). Many of us attributed problems over the years to "growing pains" and we expected most of those problems to end now that the school was done growing (or so we thought). We were blindsided by the news that the school will continue to grow for the foreseeable future. That was a last straw for many families that were waiting out the growth in hopes of some stability.

By the time we learned of the plans, it was too late to apply to private school and too late to play the lottery. In-bounds schools are an option for some but many want to continue immersion. So we're back to the drawing board of trying to fix what isn't working. I want to be hopeful but I honestly think the administration will be too focused on getting the new school off the ground. So I think you'll see families leave in 2018.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't really understand why, if so many parents are so unhappy with the school, that they don't demand that the administration fix whatever the problems are. Or leave. Why is retention so high?

This year is the first year that MV is at full capacity (graduating its first 5th grade class). Many of us attributed problems over the years to "growing pains" and we expected most of those problems to end now that the school was done growing (or so we thought). We were blindsided by the news that the school will continue to grow for the foreseeable future. That was a last straw for many families that were waiting out the growth in hopes of some stability.

By the time we learned of the plans, it was too late to apply to private school and too late to play the lottery. In-bounds schools are an option for some but many want to continue immersion. So we're back to the drawing board of trying to fix what isn't working. I want to be hopeful but I honestly think the administration will be too focused on getting the new school off the ground. So I think you'll see families leave in 2018.

+1. We will look for other options for 2018 even if it means moving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't really understand why, if so many parents are so unhappy with the school, that they don't demand that the administration fix whatever the problems are. Or leave. Why is retention so high?

This year is the first year that MV is at full capacity (graduating its first 5th grade class). Many of us attributed problems over the years to "growing pains" and we expected most of those problems to end now that the school was done growing (or so we thought). We were blindsided by the news that the school will continue to grow for the foreseeable future. That was a last straw for many families that were waiting out the growth in hopes of some stability.

By the time we learned of the plans, it was too late to apply to private school and too late to play the lottery. In-bounds schools are an option for some but many want to continue immersion. So we're back to the drawing board of trying to fix what isn't working. I want to be hopeful but I honestly think the administration will be too focused on getting the new school off the ground. So I think you'll see families leave in 2018.

+1. We will look for other options for 2018 even if it means moving.

+2. We sold our home and moved rather than wait out MV's growing pains. Until the administration changes to more professional, indpendent leaders, the school has/will plateau. The blinders that are there will not miraculously be taken off or improved upon.