LAMB vs DCPS Immersion with major Tradeoffs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get that some people are (rightly!!) upset with the administration re: SD location moving and the bus situation, but can anyone speak to how it's been for their children? How are academics? Are your kids happy at LAMB? Are they learning? Are they enjoying school? What is teacher turnover like, etc? Thanks!

There is one anti-LAMB troll who posts a bunch in all of the LAMB threads. Those posts are all probably the same person.

Teachers tend to stay. There are some very experienced great teachers at the SD location. Children seem to be very happy and they really emphasize kindness at the school.

Eh, I wouldn't call the statements on this thread "trolling" about LAMB. They've all provided nuanced takes that are generally matching (teachers are good, admin sucks, school has seen some rocky times).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get that some people are (rightly!!) upset with the administration re: SD location moving and the bus situation, but can anyone speak to how it's been for their children? How are academics? Are your kids happy at LAMB? Are they learning? Are they enjoying school? What is teacher turnover like, etc? Thanks!

We are basically happy there. I get the frustration of other parents here but I don’t hear much better from others at charters for the long haul who’ve been through the pandemic. Upper grade LAMB parents are special, they’ve been through a lot and stuck it out and are more likely to be frustrated since we also know what it used to be like. A lot of my current frustration is with the pandemic measures still in place. I still think some administrators are working hard to keep the ship afloat, and they retain teachers by listening to them (hence perhaps being overly cautious at their request?). Kids are learning and turnover while not perfect is probably fine, although we happen to have had a lot of it in my specific kids classes. Teachers at primary level are all pretty fantastic. Kids are happy. I would take this spot if I were you OP…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lamb moved campuses, realizing that many students wouldn’t be able to attend the Kingsbury campus. They liked to us telling us that we could stay at the South Dakota campus for several years. Months later they completely reversed their decision, but claimed we would have a bus. Blaming Covid, they canceled the bus. People ask about the bus constantly, but LAMB’s position has been that they’re “exploring” it. Today they announced they’re offering free beginner spanish classes for parents. But there continues to be no money for a bus.

That pretty clearly shows their priorities. I wouldn’t choose lamb.

LAMB never blamed COVID for cancelling the bus. What they blamed was the Zoning Agreement that was struck in order to allow occupancy of the 14th St location. That agreement specifically bans busses on campus outside of field trips. The agreement does allow for the possibility of a shuttle service using vans; though I'm not sure how practical that would be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lamb moved campuses, realizing that many students wouldn’t be able to attend the Kingsbury campus. They liked to us telling us that we could stay at the South Dakota campus for several years. Months later they completely reversed their decision, but claimed we would have a bus. Blaming Covid, they canceled the bus. People ask about the bus constantly, but LAMB’s position has been that they’re “exploring” it. Today they announced they’re offering free beginner spanish classes for parents. But there continues to be no money for a bus.

That pretty clearly shows their priorities. I wouldn’t choose lamb.

LAMB never blamed COVID for cancelling the bus. What they blamed was the Zoning Agreement that was struck in order to allow occupancy of the 14th St location. That agreement specifically bans busses on campus outside of field trips. The agreement does allow for the possibility of a shuttle service using vans; though I'm not sure how practical that would be.

They blamed COVID for cancelling the shuttle. The shuttle was organized to the extent of having sent out detailed pricing and timing info. Then COVID happened and when school reopened in person many moons later, shuttle was no more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lamb moved campuses, realizing that many students wouldn’t be able to attend the Kingsbury campus. They liked to us telling us that we could stay at the South Dakota campus for several years. Months later they completely reversed their decision, but claimed we would have a bus. Blaming Covid, they canceled the bus. People ask about the bus constantly, but LAMB’s position has been that they’re “exploring” it. Today they announced they’re offering free beginner spanish classes for parents. But there continues to be no money for a bus.

That pretty clearly shows their priorities. I wouldn’t choose lamb.

LAMB never blamed COVID for cancelling the bus. What they blamed was the Zoning Agreement that was struck in order to allow occupancy of the 14th St location. That agreement specifically bans busses on campus outside of field trips. The agreement does allow for the possibility of a shuttle service using vans; though I'm not sure how practical that would be.

No they had a bus in place, allegedly. And then they claimed that it was canceled due to Covid. And they have no plans on bringing it back mainly because there isn’t enough funds (allegedly).

And now the predominantly white barely Spanish speaking (or totally not Spanish speaking) administration is offering free beginner Spanish classes for other white families.

Hopefully the executive director will attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get that some people are (rightly!!) upset with the administration re: SD location moving and the bus situation, but can anyone speak to how it's been for their children? How are academics? Are your kids happy at LAMB? Are they learning? Are they enjoying school? What is teacher turnover like, etc? Thanks!

There is one anti-LAMB troll who posts a bunch in all of the LAMB threads. Those posts are all probably the same person.

Teachers tend to stay. There are some very experienced great teachers at the SD location. Children seem to be very happy and they really emphasize kindness at the school.

There are many people who (rightly) critique the poor administration at lamb.

I also notice many positives especially about the culture and teachers.

There is no anti lamb troll on dcum as far as I can see, even though there are many families with plenty of reason to troll lamb online.

[Anonymous]

Depending when you get the offer off the waitlist you may not have that much time to decide. Especially if you get off in the fall, you may have just hours to decide (there are deadlines the school has to meet). That said, if you think that the Montessori method could be a good fit for your kid, jump at the offer. LAMB is fantastic. There is not school in this city that is parent grumble free, especially during COVID. At LAMB, the kids I know including mine are happy, healthy, engaged, and learning positive life skills, and as a parent I'm not sure I could ask for much more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It all boils down to demographics. DCPS has IB kids where Charters do not brining in a variance of demographics if you know what I mean.

No. Exactly what do you mean?

[Anonymous]

LAMB is unlikely to remove masking….like ever. You have to consider what that means for your child learning basic subjects in a different language.

I would go DCPS at this point if immersion is your primary interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LAMB is unlikely to remove masking….like ever. You have to consider what that means for your child learning basic subjects in a different language.

I would go DCPS at this point if immersion is your primary interest.

Can you tell me what you're basing this on? We enrolled my DC for pk3, but seriously considering pulling out and staying at CBO because of this. I've tried emailing admin, but haven't heard anything back yet so would love to hear from current parents about their expectations. Hoping in the long run Covid will not be a huge issue for my not-yet-pk3's elementary school experience, and would love to be in Montessori if we can get through the next year, but this is seriously making me question if our IB would just be a better bet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LAMB is unlikely to remove masking….like ever. You have to consider what that means for your child learning basic subjects in a different language.

I would go DCPS at this point if immersion is your primary interest.

Can you tell me what you're basing this on? We enrolled my DC for pk3, but seriously considering pulling out and staying at CBO because of this. I've tried emailing admin, but haven't heard anything back yet so would love to hear from current parents about their expectations. Hoping in the long run Covid will not be a huge issue for my not-yet-pk3's elementary school experience, and would love to be in Montessori if we can get through the next year, but this is seriously making me question if our IB would just be a better bet.

Well, we still have indoor mandated masking. The admin keep saying they will update this policy next week, or in coming weeks, or some time. Over and over, this is what admin says, and then never announces anything.

Also, don't trust anything the admin says about next year, because she'll just change it with no regard for the decisions you make based on what they tell you. Like, they announced to entering parents in the pandemic that they'd have hybrid starting in Fall 2020, but didn't announce that to parents of returning students. Then they just changed everything two weeks later.

Expect to be jerked around and have no recourse, and don't expect that your voice means anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LAMB is unlikely to remove masking….like ever. You have to consider what that means for your child learning basic subjects in a different language.

I would go DCPS at this point if immersion is your primary interest.

Can you tell me what you're basing this on? We enrolled my DC for pk3, but seriously considering pulling out and staying at CBO because of this. I've tried emailing admin, but haven't heard anything back yet so would love to hear from current parents about their expectations. Hoping in the long run Covid will not be a huge issue for my not-yet-pk3's elementary school experience, and would love to be in Montessori if we can get through the next year, but this is seriously making me question if our IB would just be a better bet.

Well, we still have indoor mandated masking. The admin keep saying they will update this policy next week, or in coming weeks, or some time. Over and over, this is what admin says, and then never announces anything.

Also, don't trust anything the admin says about next year, because she'll just change it with no regard for the decisions you make based on what they tell you. Like, they announced to entering parents in the pandemic that they'd have hybrid starting in Fall 2020, but didn't announce that to parents of returning students. Then they just changed everything two weeks later.

Expect to be jerked around and have no recourse, and don't expect that your voice means anything.

I agree with PP. i feel like the administration is in permanent crises mode and makes decisions on the fly… and then changes them on the fly.

I think if they hired people with more experience and a better grasp of Latin culture they’d be way better off.

For instance in the beginning of the year we heard a lot of talk about Covid catch-up classes. As far as I can tell there have been none. But there was a huge focus and a town hall on changing the names of some classrooms? Truly bizarre. And yes, I am certain we will be masking next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LAMB is unlikely to remove masking….like ever. You have to consider what that means for your child learning basic subjects in a different language.

I would go DCPS at this point if immersion is your primary interest.

Can you tell me what you're basing this on? We enrolled my DC for pk3, but seriously considering pulling out and staying at CBO because of this. I've tried emailing admin, but haven't heard anything back yet so would love to hear from current parents about their expectations. Hoping in the long run Covid will not be a huge issue for my not-yet-pk3's elementary school experience, and would love to be in Montessori if we can get through the next year, but this is seriously making me question if our IB would just be a better bet.

Well, we still have indoor mandated masking. The admin keep saying they will update this policy next week, or in coming weeks, or some time. Over and over, this is what admin says, and then never announces anything.

Also, don't trust anything the admin says about next year, because she'll just change it with no regard for the decisions you make based on what they tell you. Like, they announced to entering parents in the pandemic that they'd have hybrid starting in Fall 2020, but didn't announce that to parents of returning students. Then they just changed everything two weeks later.

Expect to be jerked around and have no recourse, and don't expect that your voice means anything.

I actually doubt masks will be mandatory next year. They won’t drop them this year, but I think next year they won’t be able to justify returning with masks being mandatory.

[Anonymous]

At the board meeting just now they announced the plan to drop masks for elementary classes starting next Monday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LAMB is unlikely to remove masking….like ever. You have to consider what that means for your child learning basic subjects in a different language.

I would go DCPS at this point if immersion is your primary interest.

Can you tell me what you're basing this on? We enrolled my DC for pk3, but seriously considering pulling out and staying at CBO because of this. I've tried emailing admin, but haven't heard anything back yet so would love to hear from current parents about their expectations. Hoping in the long run Covid will not be a huge issue for my not-yet-pk3's elementary school experience, and would love to be in Montessori if we can get through the next year, but this is seriously making me question if our IB would just be a better bet.

I really think you would regret giving up LAMB over masking. My PK3er has done great with the language learning even with masks, and they weren’t accustomed to masks all day in their daycare.