Truth about being three coughs above FARMS at a high performing Charter School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here and sorry to hear of OP's issues, whether real or otherwise - whatever the case, absolutely none of what OP describes applies to our own "in-demand, high-performance, long-waitlist, frequently-talked-about charter."

We certainly can't afford to donate thousands of dollars nor can we afford private tutoring or camps, but that never stopped us from stepping up to the plate and getting involved both in the school and in our kids education. For us that means finding free videos like Khan academy, it means the library, it means a walk to the Smithsonians on the weekend, and the only extra expense in terms of supplementing that we ever had was finding a couple of used books cheaply online. Just about all of that is accessible to anyone. Yet there are a lot of people who don't even bother. Families who've never even been to the Museum and families who don't use the library and read at home. People aren't even taking advantage of all of the free stuff that's available.

We have seen no preferential treatment or "choosing" of one kid over another. We also don't see the scales or grading as "subjective" - being involved in the school and talking to other parents at pickup - you get a sense for what goes on in the classroom and in activities.

Also, regarding Title I and FARMS - a lot of charters including "high-performing, in-demand, long-waitlist" do indeed have a lot of FARMS kids and do receive Title I funds and in fact have a lot more socioeconomic diversity than most of the DCPS schools. So please do not go around mischaracterizing all charters based on whatever skewed perception you might have there.

And also - the whole thing about a "high performing" school is that they have high expectations, high bars, and will challenge students to perform. They provide the opportunity, and they provide the instruction, but the child still has to do their part as well. They are teachers, they aren't wizards waving wands and magically swirling education into their students heads. It takes work and commitment on the part of the student and their family, and if you aren't making that commitment then you are the biggest part of your problem. Again, many DC families aren't even taking advantage of freebies like libraries and museums, families aren't encouraging their kids to read, families aren't supportive of their kids at home. That's a much bigger issue outside of the schools that needs to be dealt with, rather than going around blaming charters - dealing with that outside, broader societal issue would solve many of the achievement gap issues in the schools, whether DCPS or otherwise. But instead, people like OP want to go around scapegoating charters.

Gotta challenge this statement about HRCSs and Title I. Many charters get Title I funding but NOT many HRCSs, because while they have FARMS students, they don't have enough to be eligible for Title I. Which HRCSs with impossibly long waitlists are you saying receive Title I funds?

DC Bilingual, KIPP, and Stokes are Title I with wait lists

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I must say the FARM students at the high-performing charter high-schools are raking up the scholarships. They are getting full rides to many of the prestigious universities/colleges.

Does DC have an existing high-performing charter high school (or middle school for that matter)? If so, I've never heard of it. I'm only aware of fairy new high-performing elementary schools (and start of a few middle schools like BASIS). PP, do you even live in DC?

Latin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I must say the FARM students at the high-performing charter high-schools are raking up the scholarships. They are getting full rides to many of the prestigious universities/colleges.

Does DC have an existing high-performing charter high school (or middle school for that matter)? If so, I've never heard of it. I'm only aware of fairy new high-performing elementary schools (and start of a few middle schools like BASIS). PP, do you even live in DC?

Yes.

Latin, Multiple KIPPs, Thurgood Marshall, Paul, Cap City, Haynes, DC Prep, Seed, 2 Rivers, Chavez prep. Do you even live in DC?

SEED, Haynes, and most of the Cesar Chavez campuses are Tier 2. Paul, Two Rivers, DC Prep, and most of the KIPPs stop at middle school.

I'm also a bit leery of how well the KIPP curriculum translates to high school. It's one thing to do well on elementary standardized tests, but SATs and APs require some critical thinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I must say the FARM students at the high-performing charter high-schools are raking up the scholarships. They are getting full rides to many of the prestigious universities/colleges.

Does DC have an existing high-performing charter high school (or middle school for that matter)? If so, I've never heard of it. I'm only aware of fairy new high-performing elementary schools (and start of a few middle schools like BASIS). PP, do you even live in DC?

Yes.

Latin, Multiple KIPPs, Thurgood Marshall, Paul, Cap City, Haynes, DC Prep, Seed, 2 Rivers, Chavez prep. Do you even live in DC?

SEED, Haynes, and most of the Cesar Chavez campuses are Tier 2. Paul, Two Rivers, DC Prep, and most of the KIPPs stop at middle school.

I'm also a bit leery of how well the KIPP curriculum translates to high school. It's one thing to do well on elementary standardized tests, but SATs and APs require some critical thinking.

The question was whether there were any high performing high or middle charters. Up until last year Haynes was tier 1. There is a Chavez prep in tier 1. The question was answered. There are few more as well.

http://www.dcpcsb.org/PerformanceTier.aspx

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I must say the FARM students at the high-performing charter high-schools are raking up the scholarships. They are getting full rides to many of the prestigious universities/colleges.

Does DC have an existing high-performing charter high school (or middle school for that matter)? If so, I've never heard of it. I'm only aware of fairy new high-performing elementary schools (and start of a few middle schools like BASIS). PP, do you even live in DC?

Yes.

Latin, Multiple KIPPs, Thurgood Marshall, Paul, Cap City, Haynes, DC Prep, Seed, 2 Rivers, Chavez prep. Do you even live in DC?

SEED, Haynes, and most of the Cesar Chavez campuses are Tier 2. Paul, Two Rivers, DC Prep, and most of the KIPPs stop at middle school.

I'm also a bit leery of how well the KIPP curriculum translates to high school. It's one thing to do well on elementary standardized tests, but SATs and APs require some critical thinking.

The question was whether there were any high performing high or middle charters. Up until last year Haynes was tier 1. There is a Chavez prep in tier 1. The question was answered. There are few more as well.

http://www.dcpcsb.org/PerformanceTier.aspx

BASIS DC wasn't tiered because it was their first year but they came in higher on the DC-CAS than Washington Latin, they will be Tier 1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I must say the FARM students at the high-performing charter high-schools are raking up the scholarships. They are getting full rides to many of the prestigious universities/colleges.

Does DC have an existing high-performing charter high school (or middle school for that matter)? If so, I've never heard of it. I'm only aware of fairy new high-performing elementary schools (and start of a few middle schools like BASIS). PP, do you even live in DC?

Yes.

Latin, Multiple KIPPs, Thurgood Marshall, Paul, Cap City, Haynes, DC Prep, Seed, 2 Rivers, Chavez prep. Do you even live in DC?

SEED, Haynes, and most of the Cesar Chavez campuses are Tier 2. Paul, Two Rivers, DC Prep, and most of the KIPPs stop at middle school.

I'm also a bit leery of how well the KIPP curriculum translates to high school. It's one thing to do well on elementary standardized tests, but SATs and APs require some critical thinking.

Paul is expanding to HS, and the KIPP MS all feed into the KIPP HS, whose is building an awesome new campus in Trinidad.
The question was whether there were any high performing high or middle charters. Up until last year Haynes was tier 1. There is a Chavez prep in tier 1. The question was answered. There are few more as well.

http://www.dcpcsb.org/PerformanceTier.aspx

BASIS DC wasn't tiered because it was their first year but they came in higher on the DC-CAS than Washington Latin, they will be Tier 1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here and sorry to hear of OP's issues, whether real or otherwise - whatever the case, absolutely none of what OP describes applies to our own "in-demand, high-performance, long-waitlist, frequently-talked-about charter."

We certainly can't afford to donate thousands of dollars nor can we afford private tutoring or camps, but that never stopped us from stepping up to the plate and getting involved both in the school and in our kids education. For us that means finding free videos like Khan academy, it means the library, it means a walk to the Smithsonians on the weekend, and the only extra expense in terms of supplementing that we ever had was finding a couple of used books cheaply online. Just about all of that is accessible to anyone. Yet there are a lot of people who don't even bother. Families who've never even been to the Museum and families who don't use the library and read at home. People aren't even taking advantage of all of the free stuff that's available.

We have seen no preferential treatment or "choosing" of one kid over another. We also don't see the scales or grading as "subjective" - being involved in the school and talking to other parents at pickup - you get a sense for what goes on in the classroom and in activities.

Also, regarding Title I and FARMS - a lot of charters including "high-performing, in-demand, long-waitlist" do indeed have a lot of FARMS kids and do receive Title I funds and in fact have a lot more socioeconomic diversity than most of the DCPS schools. So please do not go around mischaracterizing all charters based on whatever skewed perception you might have there.

And also - the whole thing about a "high performing" school is that they have high expectations, high bars, and will challenge students to perform. They provide the opportunity, and they provide the instruction, but the child still has to do their part as well. They are teachers, they aren't wizards waving wands and magically swirling education into their students heads. It takes work and commitment on the part of the student and their family, and if you aren't making that commitment then you are the biggest part of your problem. Again, many DC families aren't even taking advantage of freebies like libraries and museums, families aren't encouraging their kids to read, families aren't supportive of their kids at home. That's a much bigger issue outside of the schools that needs to be dealt with, rather than going around blaming charters - dealing with that outside, broader societal issue would solve many of the achievement gap issues in the schools, whether DCPS or otherwise. But instead, people like OP want to go around scapegoating charters.

Gotta challenge this statement about HRCSs and Title I. Many charters get Title I funding but NOT many HRCSs, because while they have FARMS students, they don't have enough to be eligible for Title I. Which HRCSs with impossibly long waitlists are you saying receive Title I funds?

E.L. Haynes does. Though to be honest, I'm not sure Haynes is as highly regarded as it used to be.

[Anonymous]

Paul no longer stops at middle school. This year it will go up to 10th grade & I assume will eventually continue through 12th.

[Anonymous]

oh god. it's back.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:oh god. it's back.....

Not enough cough syrup? Wrong brand? Generic vs. brand names?

[Anonymous]

This thread's conception of high-performing is mired in relativism in this Metro area, to say the least.

Compare the quality of the programs pps enumerate to the best in MoCo, including for enrolled FARMs students. Nobody can offer up DC examples on a par with the several MoCo 4th-5th grade Centers for the Highly Gifted, the test-in MS magnets (Eastern MS humanities, Takoma Park math/science), or the test-in HS magnets (Blair Montgomery Communications Arts and Math/Science and Richard Mongtomery International Baccalaurate). None of these programs admits more than 18% of applicants, drawing from a county-wide pool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread's conception of high-performing is mired in relativism in this Metro area, to say the least.

Compare the quality of the programs pps enumerate to the best in MoCo, including for enrolled FARMs students. Nobody can offer up DC examples on a par with the several MoCo 4th-5th grade Centers for the Highly Gifted, the test-in MS magnets (Eastern MS humanities, Takoma Park math/science), or the test-in HS magnets (Blair Montgomery Communications Arts and Math/Science and Richard Mongtomery International Baccalaurate). None of these programs admits more than 18% of applicants, drawing from a county-wide pool.

After reading your post I coughed

[Anonymous]

Two Rivers does NOT receive title 1 funding!!! They do not have nearly enough farms for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WTF did I just read

+1. I was thinking the same, but me foreigner, so a lot got lost in translation. Shortly ,please, charter schools no good or yes good?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I must say the FARM students at the high-performing charter high-schools are raking up the scholarships. They are getting full rides to many of the prestigious universities/colleges.

Does DC have an existing high-performing charter high school (or middle school for that matter)? If so, I've never heard of it. I'm only aware of fairy new high-performing elementary schools (and start of a few middle schools like BASIS). PP, do you even live in DC?

Yes.

Latin, Multiple KIPPs, Thurgood Marshall, Paul, Cap City, Haynes, DC Prep, Seed, 2 Rivers, Chavez prep. Do you even live in DC?

SEED, Haynes, and most of the Cesar Chavez campuses are Tier 2. Paul, Two Rivers, DC Prep, and most of the KIPPs stop at middle school.

I'm also a bit leery of how well the KIPP curriculum translates to high school. It's one thing to do well on elementary standardized tests, but SATs and APs require some critical thinking.

The question was whether there were any high performing high or middle charters. Up until last year Haynes was tier 1. There is a Chavez prep in tier 1. The question was answered. There are few more as well.

http://www.dcpcsb.org/PerformanceTier.aspx

BASIS DC wasn't tiered because it was their first year but they came in higher on the DC-CAS than Washington Latin, they will be Tier 1.

Are the scores out? My DC has not received his scores.