Capital City Public Charter School

[Anonymous]

They were on 15th street intersecting Irving Street (lower, middle) and 16th street (current DCI location) for grades 6-12.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To PP: I don't fault the school for being small. I DO fault them for not acknowledging that the school [/b]could not/would not meet DC's needs. That's not true of all charters. I know of families at other charters where the school acknowledged its limits and guided the familes through successful alternative placements.[b]

In a school where so many kids come from hard places, and live with the effects of trauma, there school be ongoing training and support around student mental health.

PP, can you elaborate on what you mean by “alternate placements”? Are you talking about other charter schools? Private schools for special needs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To PP: I don't fault the school for being small. I DO fault them for not acknowledging that the school [/b]could not/would not meet DC's needs. That's not true of all charters. I know of families at other charters where the school acknowledged its limits and guided the familes through successful alternative placements.[b]

In a school where so many kids come from hard places, and live with the effects of trauma, there school be ongoing training and support around student mental health.

PP, can you elaborate on what you mean by “alternate placements”? Are you talking about other charter schools? Private schools for special needs?

Alternative placements is a term of art that means private special needs schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you think of the high school? What kind of kid would be happy there? Thanks

Unfortunately, my experience is only with the Lower School so far. However from the limited observation I have had of the Upper School the kids are happy, engaged, friendly and courteous. In addition to the Expeditionary Learniong curriculum, Capital City stresses social and emotional learning and the community really embodies these values. I find it truly impressive.

For the other posters who are posting about negative experiences (their own or even hearsay), perhaps you could share specific areas of concern?

Why do you think the students test so poorly on standardized tests?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They were on 15th street intersecting Irving Street (lower, middle) and 16th street (current DCI location) for grades 6-12.

they started at 14th and Irving - above the CVS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you think of the high school? What kind of kid would be happy there? Thanks

Unfortunately, my experience is only with the Lower School so far. However from the limited observation I have had of the Upper School the kids are happy, engaged, friendly and courteous. In addition to the Expeditionary Learniong curriculum, Capital City stresses social and emotional learning and the community really embodies these values. I find it truly impressive.

For the other posters who are posting about negative experiences (their own or even hearsay), perhaps you could share specific areas of concern?

Why do you think the students test so poorly on standardized tests?

Because performance on standardized tests are is a minor part of a child's education. In my experience Cap City is focused on the entire learning experience. Honestly, I'd rather have my kid at a school focused on creating and supporting well-rounded, capable, intelligent children than at a school where the kids are able to answer questions on a standardized test, but unable to be a positively contributing member of the community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you think of the high school? What kind of kid would be happy there? Thanks

Unfortunately, my experience is only with the Lower School so far. However from the limited observation I have had of the Upper School the kids are happy, engaged, friendly and courteous. In addition to the Expeditionary Learniong curriculum, Capital City stresses social and emotional learning and the community really embodies these values. I find it truly impressive.

For the other posters who are posting about negative experiences (their own or even hearsay), perhaps you could share specific areas of concern?

Why do you think the students test so poorly on standardized tests?

Because performance on standardized tests are is a minor part of a child's education. In my experience Cap City is focused on the entire learning experience. Honestly, I'd rather have my kid at a school focused on creating and supporting well-rounded, capable, intelligent children than at a school where the kids are able to answer questions on a standardized test, but unable to be a positively contributing member of the community.

That is all well and good until they need to apply to college and take the SAT or ACT, or try to pass an AP exam.

Unfortunately, Cap City's graduates haven't done very well as a group on those measures either. There are, certainly, some exceptions.

I just don't think it should have to be an either / or proposition.

[Anonymous]

It's so funny to me how the zeitgeist of DCUM seems to be:

JLKM/mostly white charter school scores go down/have big achievement gap: test scores don't matter as much as experiential/bilingual education does

KIPP and other schools have high test scores with mostly black/economically disadvantaged student bodies: they teach too much to the test, it's "not a good fit" for my kid.

school like Cap City has middling test scores and a curriculum similar to that of a HRCS (see also, IB at Banneker and Eastern): I can't send my kid there because the test scores show there's not a cohort of high performers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's so funny to me how the zeitgeist of DCUM seems to be:

JLKM/mostly white charter school scores go down/have big achievement gap: test scores don't matter as much as experiential/bilingual education does

KIPP and other schools have high test scores with mostly black/economically disadvantaged student bodies: they teach too much to the test, it's "not a good fit" for my kid.

school like Cap City has middling test scores and a curriculum similar to that of a HRCS (see also, IB at Banneker and Eastern): I can't send my kid there because the test scores show there's not a cohort of high performers.

Sort of.

IMO, what most DCUM families want in a preschool and elementary school is quite different than what they want as high school and college approach.

They're all for play-based preschool, lots of recess minimal assessments, specials and enrichment opportunities. Immersion is a big plus. And they want a school full of students who start scoring well on PARCC by 3rd without any explicit test prep.

Basically they want a progressive private school through 3rd or 4th, and a high achieving suburban or wealthier urban middle and high school environment with advanced classes, IB or AP, and classmates who are scoring in the 1400-1500s on the SAT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's so funny to me how the zeitgeist of DCUM seems to be:

JLKM/mostly white charter school scores go down/have big achievement gap: test scores don't matter as much as experiential/bilingual education does

KIPP and other schools have high test scores with mostly black/economically disadvantaged student bodies: they teach too much to the test, it's "not a good fit" for my kid.

school like Cap City has middling test scores and a curriculum similar to that of a HRCS (see also, IB at Banneker and Eastern): I can't send my kid there because the test scores show there's not a cohort of high performers.

Sort of.

IMO, what most DCUM families want in a preschool and elementary school is quite different than what they want as high school and college approach.

They're all for play-based preschool, lots of recess minimal assessments, specials and enrichment opportunities. Immersion is a big plus. And they want a school full of students who start scoring well on PARCC by 3rd without any explicit test prep.

Basically they want a progressive private school through 3rd or 4th, and a high achieving suburban or wealthier urban middle and high school environment with advanced classes, IB or AP, and classmates who are scoring in the 1400-1500s on the SAT.

uh huh. keep telling yourself that... but nobody else believes it (and you probably don't either).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's so funny to me how the zeitgeist of DCUM seems to be:

JLKM/mostly white charter school scores go down/have big achievement gap: test scores don't matter as much as experiential/bilingual education does

KIPP and other schools have high test scores with mostly black/economically disadvantaged student bodies: they teach too much to the test, it's "not a good fit" for my kid.

school like Cap City has middling test scores and a curriculum similar to that of a HRCS (see also, IB at Banneker and Eastern): I can't send my kid there because the test scores show there's not a cohort of high performers.

Sort of.

IMO, what most DCUM families want in a preschool and elementary school is quite different than what they want as high school and college approach.

They're all for play-based preschool, lots of recess minimal assessments, specials and enrichment opportunities. Immersion is a big plus. And they want a school full of students who start scoring well on PARCC by 3rd without any explicit test prep.

Basically they want a progressive private school through 3rd or 4th, and a high achieving suburban or wealthier urban middle and high school environment with advanced classes, IB or AP, and classmates who are scoring in the 1400-1500s on the SAT.

They want a school full of rich kids with highly educated parents. And they want it to start at age 3 and include language immersion and be two blocks from their house and have guaranteed enrollment for everyone in a three-block radius and not have any kids with behavior problems (unless their kid has behavior problems in which case ONLY that specific behavior problem, only for their kid, and dealt with very intensively yet compassionately with evidence-based treatment). There should also be no more than 15 kids in the class with a full-time aide (with a college degree) but by middle and high school the school should be large enough to offer 7 foreign languages and 12 sports teams and yearbook and band, chorus, and orchestra and robotics and model UN. But it also cannot be overcrowded, and all kids who want to play on a sports team should make the team but also the team should win every game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's so funny to me how the zeitgeist of DCUM seems to be:

JLKM/mostly white charter school scores go down/have big achievement gap: test scores don't matter as much as experiential/bilingual education does

KIPP and other schools have high test scores with mostly black/economically disadvantaged student bodies: they teach too much to the test, it's "not a good fit" for my kid.

school like Cap City has middling test scores and a curriculum similar to that of a HRCS (see also, IB at Banneker and Eastern): I can't send my kid there because the test scores show there's not a cohort of high performers.

Sort of.

IMO, what most DCUM families want in a preschool and elementary school is quite different than what they want as high school and college approach.

They're all for play-based preschool, lots of recess minimal assessments, specials and enrichment opportunities. Immersion is a big plus. And they want a school full of students who start scoring well on PARCC by 3rd without any explicit test prep.

Basically they want a progressive private school through 3rd or 4th, and a high achieving suburban or wealthier urban middle and high school environment with advanced classes, IB or AP, and classmates who are scoring in the 1400-1500s on the SAT.

uh huh. keep telling yourself that... but nobody else believes it (and you probably don't either).

Add in dual language and that sounds pretty accurate to me. What's the lie?

It seems like Cap City tries to foster critical thinking. Whether the kids can all write an effective and gramatically correct three paragraph argument upon graduation, I don't know.

[Anonymous]

The EL model is implemented with a lot of variability at Cap City. Some teachers do it well and others not so much.

The school states that they have a Master Teacher and a Fellow in each classroom , but their definition of a master teacher and most other schools is very different. (take a look at Inspired Teaching)

The teachers are fine as long as your child does not have any learning differences. Do not expect for the teachers to identify a child with a learning challenge - unless the child has behavioral issues and is disruptive to the classroom.

Leadership at the lower school is an issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It must have improved quite a bit since we were last there several years ago.

Yes, it must have. My experience is only in observing the after-school activities over the past two years. I am also impressed with the diversity of the student body, the faculty, and families, and with how respectful and well-behaved, yet active, happy, and engaged the students appear to be. My grandmother taught for a decade at the public elementary school that served Chicago's Cabrini Green housing project, and my sister and I would visit with her at the school one day each year. I thus have a place in my heart for urban public schools, their teachers and staff, and the children they educate. CCPC seems like a great model to me.

Respectful and well-behaved? They took down playground equipment b.c the children could not use it the way it was intended even after being reminded how it should be used.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's so funny to me how the zeitgeist of DCUM seems to be:

JLKM/mostly white charter school scores go down/have big achievement gap: test scores don't matter as much as experiential/bilingual education does

KIPP and other schools have high test scores with mostly black/economically disadvantaged student bodies: they teach too much to the test, it's "not a good fit" for my kid.

school like Cap City has middling test scores and a curriculum similar to that of a HRCS (see also, IB at Banneker and Eastern): I can't send my kid there because the test scores show there's not a cohort of high performers.

Sort of.

IMO, what most DCUM families want in a preschool and elementary school is quite different than what they want as high school and college approach.

They're all for play-based preschool, lots of recess minimal assessments, specials and enrichment opportunities. Immersion is a big plus. And they want a school full of students who start scoring well on PARCC by 3rd without any explicit test prep.

Basically they want a progressive private school through 3rd or 4th, and a high achieving suburban or wealthier urban middle and high school environment with advanced classes, IB or AP, and classmates who are scoring in the 1400-1500s on the SAT.

They want a school full of rich kids with highly educated parents. And they want it to start at age 3 and include language immersion and be two blocks from their house and have guaranteed enrollment for everyone in a three-block radius and not have any kids with behavior problems (unless their kid has behavior problems in which case ONLY that specific behavior problem, only for their kid, and dealt with very intensively yet compassionately with evidence-based treatment). There should also be no more than 15 kids in the class with a full-time aide (with a college degree) but by middle and high school the school should be large enough to offer 7 foreign languages and 12 sports teams and yearbook and band, chorus, and orchestra and robotics and model UN. But it also cannot be overcrowded, and all kids who want to play on a sports team should make the team but also the team should win every game.

I love you.