LAMB closing its existing campuses and consolidating to one campus

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back to the school location. Does anyone have any real info?

I asked the admin. They said no plans to move. Reiterated long term goal or hope to be unified someday. Somewhere.

So basically no. No one knows anything solid.

Do you think they'll renew the Perry St lease in 2020?

No clue. And I don't think the school knows either.

[Anonymous]

From the "is anyone giving up a LAMB spot" thread.


We gave up a PK3 spot after being told point blank by an Assistant Principal on a tour that they were in the middle of closing a deal to relocate the whole school to a new, non-Walter Reed location starting in the 2018 school year. We were told they would be ready to announce it publicly "in weeks to months".

Trying to follow up with the administration to learn more about the issue was very difficult, and totally reinforced their reputation as being a good school with a"laid-back"/unresponsive administration incapable of running basic management tasks. There were several occasions where the school didn't even pick up the phone in the middle of the day, for example. If I was a parent who couldn't reach my child's school during a school day I would be very upset.

At first I was a bit skeptical of the critics of LAMB's response to the sex abuse at the school earlier this year, but based on my limited experience with them, I can totally believe that they handled it incompetently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From the "is anyone giving up a LAMB spot" thread.


We gave up a PK3 spot after being told point blank by an Assistant Principal on a tour that they were in the middle of closing a deal to relocate the whole school to a new, non-Walter Reed location starting in the 2018 school year. We were told they would be ready to announce it publicly "in weeks to months".

Trying to follow up with the administration to learn more about the issue was very difficult, and totally reinforced their reputation as being a good school with a"laid-back"/unresponsive administration incapable of running basic management tasks. There were several occasions where the school didn't even pick up the phone in the middle of the day, for example. If I was a parent who couldn't reach my child's school during a school day I would be very upset.

At first I was a bit skeptical of the critics of LAMB's response to the sex abuse at the school earlier this year, but based on my limited experience with them, I can totally believe that they handled it incompetently.

Key words. The deal may never materialize. The asst principal should have kept his/her mouth shut about something that is a Board issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From the "is anyone giving up a LAMB spot" thread.


We gave up a PK3 spot after being told point blank by an Assistant Principal on a tour that they were in the middle of closing a deal to relocate the whole school to a new, non-Walter Reed location starting in the 2018 school year. We were told they would be ready to announce it publicly "in weeks to months".

Trying to follow up with the administration to learn more about the issue was very difficult, and totally reinforced their reputation as being a good school with a"laid-back"/unresponsive administration incapable of running basic management tasks. There were several occasions where the school didn't even pick up the phone in the middle of the day, for example. If I was a parent who couldn't reach my child's school during a school day I would be very upset.

At first I was a bit skeptical of the critics of LAMB's response to the sex abuse at the school earlier this year, but based on my limited experience with them, I can totally believe that they handled it incompetently.

I think you made the right choice. Lamb has never been good at customer service, preferring to focus totally on the child. I frequently get frustrated with the administration, but I genuinely believe they always put children first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the "is anyone giving up a LAMB spot" thread.


We gave up a PK3 spot after being told point blank by an Assistant Principal on a tour that they were in the middle of closing a deal to relocate the whole school to a new, non-Walter Reed location starting in the 2018 school year. We were told they would be ready to announce it publicly "in weeks to months".

Trying to follow up with the administration to learn more about the issue was very difficult, and totally reinforced their reputation as being a good school with a"laid-back"/unresponsive administration incapable of running basic management tasks. There were several occasions where the school didn't even pick up the phone in the middle of the day, for example. If I was a parent who couldn't reach my child's school during a school day I would be very upset.

At first I was a bit skeptical of the critics of LAMB's response to the sex abuse at the school earlier this year, but based on my limited experience with them, I can totally believe that they handled it incompetently.

I think you made the right choice. Lamb has never been good at customer service, preferring to focus totally on the child. I frequently get frustrated with the administration, but I genuinely believe they always put children first.

I forgot to mention, it seems like customer service is incredibly important to you. The focus on Latin American culture and Spanish was key for me, so I am willing to have some frustrations. No school is perfect, so good for you that you know what you need out of a school.

[Anonymous]

I just read on a different thread that one of the assistant principals announced that the school would be moving to a new location (not Walter Reed) for the 2018 school year. Any word on this??? It's frustrating that this announcement was made to potential new parents, but hasn't been announced to current parents.

[Anonymous]

I forgot to mention that I'm not giving one penny to Arriba until they tell us the new location, so I hope it's soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just read on a different thread that one of the assistant principals announced that the school would be moving to a new location (not Walter Reed) for the 2018 school year. Any word on this??? It's frustrating that this announcement was made to potential new parents, but hasn't been announced to current parents.

No, on the other thread it said that an asst principal mentioned the school was 'in the middle of a possible deal' that would allow consolidation and that it would be a few months before it were finalized, if it were finalized. Not that it was a done deal by any means.

They have been soooo close to just such a deal many times over the years, and it has never happened. It might, it might not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back to the school location. Does anyone have any real info?

I asked the admin. They said no plans to move. Reiterated long term goal or hope to be unified someday. Somewhere.

So basically no. No one knows anything solid.

You mean no one is telling YOU anything solid. Like poorly run management organizations everywhere, there seem to be a lot of leaks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back to the school location. Does anyone have any real info?

I asked the admin. They said no plans to move. Reiterated long term goal or hope to be unified someday. Somewhere.

So basically no. No one knows anything solid.

You mean no one is telling YOU anything solid. Like poorly run management organizations everywhere, there seem to be a lot of leaks.

Yesterday an email came out from the principal reiterating that they will be in 3 locations for 17-18, and which grades would be where -- and stating that it would be discussed at this months coffees with the principal.

The message noted that most of their families live in Ward 1, 4 and 5 also acknowledged the difficulty for families of the school being in 3 places, that wherever they are some will be more inconvenienced than others and that some degree of facilities uncertainty is a part of life as a charter school in DC.

It also noted, almost as an aside, that they do wish, someday, to find one location that would house everyone but there were no hints that this is any closer to being a reality than it was before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the "is anyone giving up a LAMB spot" thread.


We gave up a PK3 spot after being told point blank by an Assistant Principal on a tour that they were in the middle of closing a deal to relocate the whole school to a new, non-Walter Reed location starting in the 2018 school year. We were told they would be ready to announce it publicly "in weeks to months".

Trying to follow up with the administration to learn more about the issue was very difficult, and totally reinforced their reputation as being a good school with a"laid-back"/unresponsive administration incapable of running basic management tasks. There were several occasions where the school didn't even pick up the phone in the middle of the day, for example. If I was a parent who couldn't reach my child's school during a school day I would be very upset.

At first I was a bit skeptical of the critics of LAMB's response to the sex abuse at the school earlier this year, but based on my limited experience with them, I can totally believe that they handled it incompetently.

I think you made the right choice. Lamb has never been good at customer service, preferring to focus totally on the child. I frequently get frustrated with the administration, but I genuinely believe they always put children first.

I forgot to mention, it seems like customer service is incredibly important to you. The focus on Latin American culture and Spanish was key for me, so I am willing to have some frustrations. No school is perfect, so good for you that you know what you need out of a school.

I think you're confusing "Customer Service" with basic organizational competence. OPs example of not answering their main phone line during the school day (if true) is just not being able to do the most basic tasks properly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back to the school location. Does anyone have any real info?

I asked the admin. They said no plans to move. Reiterated long term goal or hope to be unified someday. Somewhere.

So basically no. No one knows anything solid.

You mean no one is telling YOU anything solid. Like poorly run management organizations everywhere, there seem to be a lot of leaks.

Yesterday an email came out from the principal reiterating that they will be in 3 locations for 17-18, and which grades would be where -- and stating that it would be discussed at this months coffees with the principal.

The message noted that most of their families live in Ward 1, 4 and 5 also acknowledged the difficulty for families of the school being in 3 places, that wherever they are some will be more inconvenienced than others and that some degree of facilities uncertainty is a part of life as a charter school in DC.

It also noted, almost as an aside, that they do wish, someday, to find one location that would house everyone but there were no hints that this is any closer to being a reality than it was before.

I wish new families also received communication like this from the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the "is anyone giving up a LAMB spot" thread.


We gave up a PK3 spot after being told point blank by an Assistant Principal on a tour that they were in the middle of closing a deal to relocate the whole school to a new, non-Walter Reed location starting in the 2018 school year. We were told they would be ready to announce it publicly "in weeks to months".

Trying to follow up with the administration to learn more about the issue was very difficult, and totally reinforced their reputation as being a good school with a"laid-back"/unresponsive administration incapable of running basic management tasks. There were several occasions where the school didn't even pick up the phone in the middle of the day, for example. If I was a parent who couldn't reach my child's school during a school day I would be very upset.

At first I was a bit skeptical of the critics of LAMB's response to the sex abuse at the school earlier this year, but based on my limited experience with them, I can totally believe that they handled it incompetently.

I think you made the right choice. Lamb has never been good at customer service, preferring to focus totally on the child. I frequently get frustrated with the administration, but I genuinely believe they always put children first.

I forgot to mention, it seems like customer service is incredibly important to you. The focus on Latin American culture and Spanish was key for me, so I am willing to have some frustrations. No school is perfect, so good for you that you know what you need out of a school.

I think you're confusing "Customer Service" with basic organizational competence. OPs example of not answering their main phone line during the school day (if true) is just not being able to do the most basic tasks properly.

And the saddest fact that is that LAMB delivers a far superior education than what DCPS offers.

If you want "customer service" then private school may be a growing industry. It has been declining in DC with the growth of charters, but this may be the limit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From the "is anyone giving up a LAMB spot" thread.


We gave up a PK3 spot after being told point blank by an Assistant Principal on a tour that they were in the middle of closing a deal to relocate the whole school to a new, non-Walter Reed location starting in the 2018 school year. We were told they would be ready to announce it publicly "in weeks to months".

Trying to follow up with the administration to learn more about the issue was very difficult, and totally reinforced their reputation as being a good school with a"laid-back"/unresponsive administration incapable of running basic management tasks. There were several occasions where the school didn't even pick up the phone in the middle of the day, for example. If I was a parent who couldn't reach my child's school during a school day I would be very upset.

At first I was a bit skeptical of the critics of LAMB's response to the sex abuse at the school earlier this year, but based on my limited experience with them, I can totally believe that they handled it incompetently.

In defense of LAMB (specifically regarding getting in touch with individuals who physically have your children), my child's teachers have NO problem giving me their personal phone numbers. If there is an emergent concern they've called me and I've called them. We keep it brief because they're teaching, but they've handled it professionally and quickly. I've never not been able to get a hold of my child's whereabouts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the "is anyone giving up a LAMB spot" thread.


We gave up a PK3 spot after being told point blank by an Assistant Principal on a tour that they were in the middle of closing a deal to relocate the whole school to a new, non-Walter Reed location starting in the 2018 school year. We were told they would be ready to announce it publicly "in weeks to months".

Trying to follow up with the administration to learn more about the issue was very difficult, and totally reinforced their reputation as being a good school with a"laid-back"/unresponsive administration incapable of running basic management tasks. There were several occasions where the school didn't even pick up the phone in the middle of the day, for example. If I was a parent who couldn't reach my child's school during a school day I would be very upset.

At first I was a bit skeptical of the critics of LAMB's response to the sex abuse at the school earlier this year, but based on my limited experience with them, I can totally believe that they handled it incompetently.

I think you made the right choice. Lamb has never been good at customer service, preferring to focus totally on the child. I frequently get frustrated with the administration, but I genuinely believe they always put children first.

I forgot to mention, it seems like customer service is incredibly important to you. The focus on Latin American culture and Spanish was key for me, so I am willing to have some frustrations. No school is perfect, so good for you that you know what you need out of a school.

I think you're confusing "Customer Service" with basic organizational competence. OPs example of not answering their main phone line during the school day (if true) is just not being able to do the most basic tasks properly.

I've never had them not answer the phone in the middle of the day.

Honestly the pp who gave up a spot at lamb sounds unhinged. Glad you moved on. We will not miss you.