OK, I will start this thread - Sela

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:22:03 The board should have seen Dr. Lody leaving coming months in advance to prepare a transition plan. The second year of a charter school and the Ex. Dir leaves for personal reasons? OK, that makes sense but the way it appears is not so rosy. Collaboration between the board and the Ex. Dir could have been presented as a seamless transition and mutual decision between board/Ex. Dir. Now the situation is that the Ex Dir is leaving at the end of the school year and the board is going to hire a third party recruitment firm like everything is normal. Bogus.

I'm with you. It's also weird how the board appears near the end of school yr. Where have they been all yr, clearly not introducing themselves to the parents or taking on concerns of many families. Actually had I met them sooner I probably would have ran in the other direction. They seem mediocre. I think there just flying by the seat of there pants honestly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:22:03 The board should have seen Dr. Lody leaving coming months in advance to prepare a transition plan. The second year of a charter school and the Ex. Dir leaves for personal reasons? OK, that makes sense but the way it appears is not so rosy. Collaboration between the board and the Ex. Dir could have been presented as a seamless transition and mutual decision between board/Ex. Dir. Now the situation is that the Ex Dir is leaving at the end of the school year and the board is going to hire a third party recruitment firm like everything is normal. Bogus.

I'm with you. It's also weird how the board appears near the end of school yr. Where have they been all yr, clearly not introducing themselves to the parents or taking on concerns of many families. Actually had I met them sooner I probably would have ran in the other direction. They seem mediocre. I think there just flying by the seat of there pants honestly.

Actually, I have seen several of the board members at events throughout the year (beautifications, Black History presentation, etc) - if you aren't involved in the school community for whatever reason, you might not have noticed them. I don't think they are there during the school day normally, but that's probably an unreasonable expectation. What they did say is that that they planned to have more "meet the board" type meetings this and next year for parents who are too busy to come out to the school on the regular except for pick up/drop off. And Dr. Lody is staying though the summer when the new person takes over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Comparing a Hebrew immersion school to Chinese, Spanish and French immersion is really stretching it. DC needs a Hebrew immersion school as much as it needs a Dutch, Icelandic, Korean, Romanian.... Schools.

It should never have been tax payer funded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Comparing a Hebrew immersion school to Chinese, Spanish and French immersion is really stretching it. DC needs a Hebrew immersion school as much as it needs a Dutch, Icelandic, Korean, Romanian.... Schools.

It should never have been tax payer funded.

Why do you say this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:22:03 The board should have seen Dr. Lody leaving coming months in advance to prepare a transition plan. The second year of a charter school and the Ex. Dir leaves for personal reasons? OK, that makes sense but the way it appears is not so rosy. Collaboration between the board and the Ex. Dir could have been presented as a seamless transition and mutual decision between board/Ex. Dir. Now the situation is that the Ex Dir is leaving at the end of the school year and the board is going to hire a third party recruitment firm like everything is normal. Bogus.

I'm with you. It's also weird how the board appears near the end of school yr. Where have they been all yr, clearly not introducing themselves to the parents or taking on concerns of many families. Actually had I met them sooner I probably would have ran in the other direction. They seem mediocre. I think there just flying by the seat of there pants honestly.

Actually, I have seen several of the board members at events throughout the year (beautifications, Black History presentation, etc) - if you aren't involved in the school community for whatever reason, you might not have noticed them. I don't think they are there during the school day normally, but that's probably an unreasonable expectation. What they did say is that that they planned to have more "meet the board" type meetings this and next year for parents who are too busy to come out to the school on the regular except for pick up/drop off. And Dr. Lody is staying though the summer when the new person takes over.

Actually I attend every event my child is involved. However prior to last week the board was never introduced so if they were at a school function no one announced who they were is my point.

[Anonymous]

To which synagogues do Sela's Jewish families belong?

[Anonymous]

Will aftercare be free again this year? If so, for everyone, or for who?

[Anonymous]

During the tour, it was indicated that after care is free for all students and there was no indication that would change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To which synagogues do Sela's Jewish families belong?

Sela does not teach religion of any form. It is not announced who is Jewish and who is not. So knowing what synagogue a jewish familiy attends would only come up in conversations like there of.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]To which synagogues do Sela's Jewish families belong? [/quote]

Sela does not teach religion of any form. It is not announced who is Jewish and who is not. So knowing what synagogue a jewish familiy attends would only come up in conversations like there of. [/quote]

I know Sela doesn't teach religion and doesn't know who's Jewish.

I'm interested if anybody knows where the Jewish families belong (i.e. you are a Sela parent and you belong here or there, or you know of Sela families in your congregation/friendship circle and can share the info). I'm particularly interested in the Hebrew aspect of religious school for kids who get the more advanced Hebrew curriculum at Sela--are they learning/bored in the synagogue's Hebrew School or do they not attend? Thanks for any info from parents in the know.

[Anonymous]

Are Sela's meals Kosher?

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]Are Sela's meals Kosher?[/quote]

I don't think so.

[Anonymous]

[quote]Are Sela's meals Kosher?

I don't think so.
[/quote]

Bummer--is that something we can change? Also, how do they plan to accomodate exceptions for holidays, e.g., Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Passover? Are there also exceptions if we take off time for Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret / Simchat Torah, & Shavu'ot? They don't count absences on holidays against us, do they?

If the PP is curious, we are currently at the Adas Israel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are Sela's meals Kosher?

Revolution Foods is the vendor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:22:03 The board should have seen Dr. Lody leaving coming months in advance to prepare a transition plan. The second year of a charter school and the Ex. Dir leaves for personal reasons? OK, that makes sense but the way it appears is not so rosy. Collaboration between the board and the Ex. Dir could have been presented as a seamless transition and mutual decision between board/Ex. Dir. Now the situation is that the Ex Dir is leaving at the end of the school year and the board is going to hire a third party recruitment firm like everything is normal. Bogus.

I'm with you. It's also weird how the board appears near the end of school yr. Where have they been all yr, clearly not introducing themselves to the parents or taking on concerns of many families. Actually had I met them sooner I probably would have ran in the other direction. They seem mediocre. I think there just flying by the seat of there pants honestly.

I met one of the board members at the Expo and she couldn't answer basic questions about the school, she deferred to the Ex Dirc. I was really put off by that. The parent rep knew so much more about the school than the board member but maybe that's what expected of the board members? My impression was they either should have had an more informed board member or not had one there at all.