OK, I will start this thread - Sela

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okaaayy......
Craziness aside, Why would the ED announce this now, right before the lottery? Not great confidence-building. I have never been a fan of his. Something a little troubling by the constant reinvention and hopping around. Maybe it will be better for the school in the long run.

Because if he delayed the announcement til after the lottery and it came out later that he had already decided to leave prior to the lottery but kept it under wraps until after the lottery, it'll look a whole lot worse.

They not only announced him leaving but the board wants to hold a meeting with all the parents next week to discuss school concerns. I'm guessing they will get a lot of questions from parents. I'm glad because it gives the parents an opportunity to speak directly to board members about any concerns before excepting or declining their lottery pick. I think a fresh administration will be nice, in the pass months Lody has dropped the ball on several occasions.

[Anonymous]

How has he dropped the ball?

[Anonymous]

Some say he hasn't been as responsive as he should be to issues that really needed addressing. I think he's gone through some good but distracting personal changes hasn't he? But that's not an excuse - maybe he just checked out awhile ago? Many really like him and are gat to see him go, even if he did drop some if balls.

[Anonymous]

Sad to see him go, not gat to see him go.

[Anonymous]

Is he leaving to start a cupcake business?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is he leaving to start a cupcake business?

Um no, I'm sure he's not. I think what he's doing is much bigger than cupcakes. I hope that question was meant as a joke...

[Anonymous]

It was...a previous well-liked principal at Hearst elementary got so bogged down and demoralized by the DC school scene that he just quit stating he was opening up a cupcake business.

[Anonymous]

I'm not a Sela parent and have no involvement in the school, but these comments strike me as inappropriately personal about someone who is not a public figure. Jeff - it's your call, but this strikes me as unfair and outside the line.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a Sela parent and have no involvement in the school, but these comments strike me as inappropriately personal about someone who is not a public figure. Jeff - it's your call, but this strikes me as unfair and outside the line.

Yes, I'm going to remove a few posts. The same thing happened when the principal left. There were several posts attacking her.

[Anonymous]

Personally, I think that the ED is a little burnt out from working very long hours and is looking to do something a little less intensive so he can spend more time with his family.

I think that the board is realizing that a lot of families are feeling frustrated over this and some other stuff that while not major is accumulating and want to clear the air with the parents and maybe get them more involved with the school.

[Anonymous]

It's too bad to hear this. Last year I was interested in Sela at the Charter expo, but my child was going to be entering PK3, so we entered the lottery and went somewhere else and this year, I didn't consider it for a couple reasons particular (no strong interest in Hebrew, wanted more outdoor time for my kid, some worry about hte long term future of the school).

I have wondered how things have gone and it's too bad to hear that there's been some rough patches with administrative turn over. While relying on DCUM as any kind of scientific evidence is ofcourse silly, I did note that almost no one seemed to be putting Sela on their lottery list. Perhaps because many people posting are looking for PK3 so Sela is out, but I also do wonder if the lack of a buzz, for better or worse, combined with a less popular immersion language is going to mean that it can't keep enrollment going. Without a DCI connection, and with the opening of other charters, and more DCPS schools on the rise, it may not ever generate the excitement that other immerson or even non immersion schools do. Perhaps new leaders can recruit more kids and make it a really desirable school, but I fear that it being a new school, combined with some uncertainty, means that it wont get so many kids--especially since it starts at PK4 an probably a lot ofparents will stick with whatever PK3 option they got into if they were relatively happy with it.

I do wonder, however, about what makes a school so popular--I mean, creative minds had a HUGE waitlist in its second year of operation, so with really almost no track record. It seems to have lots of things going for it, but it does not have language immersion, a permanent location, etc. Why is it that some schools seem to generate huge buzz and others almost nothing?

[Anonymous]

You ask a good question PP: what makes a school so popular? But you also basically answer your question in you post: a combo of teaching philosophy, special offerings (I.e. Bilingual or Montessori), and reputation. Munro Verde was popular from the start, but it was a popular language (Spanish) and equally as important it was founded by people involved with EL Haynes so it had a good rep before they even opened their doors.

The biggest mistake Sela made was thinking that there would either be enough interest in Hebrew or enough general interest in bilingual that parents would start with Hebrew and stay committed. There may be several families at YY who had zero interest in Chinese, but once they got there they were surrounded by a huge number of parents who were *very* intentional about Chinese and maybe those reasons are contagious, I don't know, but you see very few leaving YY once they start. The same is simply not true for Hebrew and while I have no problem with people starting a school for any second language, I have no idea why the founders of Sela expected critical mass to show interest. The language matters, as does the rep of the founders, as does the curriculum.

I have no doubt Sela has good intentions and some great staff, but it takes much more than that to recruit real interest. And you need enrollment to survive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's too bad to hear this. Last year I was interested in Sela at the Charter expo, but my child was going to be entering PK3, so we entered the lottery and went somewhere else and this year, I didn't consider it for a couple reasons particular (no strong interest in Hebrew, wanted more outdoor time for my kid, some worry about hte long term future of the school).

I have wondered how things have gone and it's too bad to hear that there's been some rough patches with administrative turn over. While relying on DCUM as any kind of scientific evidence is ofcourse silly, I did note that almost no one seemed to be putting Sela on their lottery list. Perhaps because many people posting are looking for PK3 so Sela is out, but I also do wonder if the lack of a buzz, for better or worse, combined with a less popular immersion language is going to mean that it can't keep enrollment going. Without a DCI connection, and with the opening of other charters, and more DCPS schools on the rise, it may not ever generate the excitement that other immerson or even non immersion schools do. Perhaps new leaders can recruit more kids and make it a really desirable school, but I fear that it being a new school, combined with some uncertainty, means that it wont get so many kids--especially since it starts at PK4 an probably a lot ofparents will stick with whatever PK3 option they got into if they were relatively happy with it.

I do wonder, however, about what makes a school so popular--I mean, creative minds had a HUGE waitlist in its second year of operation, so with really almost no track record. It seems to have lots of things going for it, but it does not have language immersion, a permanent location, etc. Why is it that some schools seem to generate huge buzz and others almost nothing?

current location for creative minds plus buzz itself is a self-fullfilling prophesy. I do kinda wonder teh role od DCurban mom. I relied heavily on opinions on this baord for my lottery pics (I did put sela on my list though after my IB school).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's too bad to hear this. Last year I was interested in Sela at the Charter expo, but my child was going to be entering PK3, so we entered the lottery and went somewhere else and this year, I didn't consider it for a couple reasons particular (no strong interest in Hebrew, wanted more outdoor time for my kid, some worry about hte long term future of the school).

I have wondered how things have gone and it's too bad to hear that there's been some rough patches with administrative turn over. While relying on DCUM as any kind of scientific evidence is ofcourse silly, I did note that almost no one seemed to be putting Sela on their lottery list. Perhaps because many people posting are looking for PK3 so Sela is out, but I also do wonder if the lack of a buzz, for better or worse, combined with a less popular immersion language is going to mean that it can't keep enrollment going. Without a DCI connection, and with the opening of other charters, and more DCPS schools on the rise, it may not ever generate the excitement that other immerson or even non immersion schools do. Perhaps new leaders can recruit more kids and make it a really desirable school, but I fear that it being a new school, combined with some uncertainty, means that it wont get so many kids--especially since it starts at PK4 an probably a lot ofparents will stick with whatever PK3 option they got into if they were relatively happy with it.

I do wonder, however, about what makes a school so popular--I mean, creative minds had a HUGE waitlist in its second year of operation, so with really almost no track record. It seems to have lots of things going for it, but it does not have language immersion, a permanent location, etc. Why is it that some schools seem to generate huge buzz and others almost nothing?

current location for creative minds plus buzz itself is a self-fullfilling prophesy. I do kinda wonder teh role od DCurban mom. I relied heavily on opinions on this baord for my lottery pics (I did put sela on my list though after my IB school).

pp here. holy cow - mispellings! sorry!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Personally, I think that the ED is a little burnt out from working very long hours and is looking to do something a little less intensive so he can spend more time with his family.

I think that the board is realizing that a lot of families are feeling frustrated over this and some other stuff that while not major is accumulating and want to clear the air with the parents and maybe get them more involved with the school.

Sounds like you've been talking to ED

I really hope the board is able to answer questions at the meeting and not just blowing smoke. It is lottery time when parents will be making decisions for next year. So I'm hoping it's not their way of pitching Sela to parents for another year of buy in to Sela. My hopes is they are coming with solutions in hand if not and parents are left with nothing... but hopes and promises. They can kiss half those kids good bye for 2014-15 school year.