Open House - do you learn anything new from these?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I totally rearranged my original (based on hearsay, honestly) list once I went to open houses and met teachers and principals. DCPS went higher, charters dropped lower

Similar experience. DCPS gained a lot of ground with me and some of the more popular charters dropped off the list entirely. Another good reason to do an open house is so that you can try on the commute. Because you'll be making it every day for years. A few schools got removed from my list just because I saw how much trouble it was to get there or how chaotic the drop-off/pick-up situation was.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I totally rearranged my original (based on hearsay, honestly) list once I went to open houses and met teachers and principals. DCPS went higher, charters dropped lower

Similar experience. DCPS gained a lot of ground with me and some of the more popular charters dropped off the list entirely. Another good reason to do an open house is so that you can try on the commute. Because you'll be making it every day for years. A few schools got removed from my list just because I saw how much trouble it was to get there or how chaotic the drop-off/pick-up situation was.

This. Be sure to reality-check the commute, and remember you may need to search for parking and then walk your PK3 kid inside the building, yea even unto the actual classroom, with your baby or 1yo slowing you down. Especially at the larger schools and areas with more than one school close together, it's a real pain. So give the nearby schools (whether they're your technical IB or not) every chance to win you over. Some day your child will have after-school activities, homework, piano, a sport, whatever, and you'll love the time savings of a short commute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Debating whether to go or not. Pretty sure I won't learn anything that will change my mind about listing in lottery.

You learn a lot about the values and warmth of the staff and the general community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Debating whether to go or not. Pretty sure I won't learn anything that will change my mind about listing in lottery.

You learn a lot about the values and warmth of the staff and the general community.

+1 I also liked to see the classrooms and building in general.

[Anonymous]

The advice to check out the commute is good! It’s definitely worth trying the drive during rush hour, i.e., if the open house is during the school day you may get a rosier picture of the commute. I also generally found open houses to be really helpful. Even more helpful, if your neighborhood school offers this option, is a tour during school hours. Our neighborhood school in our old neighborhood offered this before the pandemic (not sure if it’s still an option now), and it gave me a strong sense of the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my experience, open houses are not them at useful unless you bring the specific questions you need answered and make sure to ask them.

LOL. I love that DCUM egos think they alone have some matter of first impression question that is going to crack the code. Precious.

Huh? OP asked for people's perspectives. That's mine. You are free to have your own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Debating whether to go or not. Pretty sure I won't learn anything that will change my mind about listing in lottery.

I always go to open houses, because that's where I learn the real stuff. How can you base your decision just on what other people say or fact sheets? Don't you need to see the vibe of a school yourself?

Can you really learn the vibe from an open house?

At the open house, you learn what the school wants you to learn. -DP

[Anonymous]

You can learn quite a bit when someone goes off-message or things don't go according to plan.

[Anonymous]

You learn who is detailed and thoughtful and who doesn’t give a crap about the presentation and the open house.

You learn who is pretentious and tone deaf and who thoughtful and sincere.

You learn who understands what parents need and provide context rich information to help parents know if the school is a good fit, while others provide BS stuff and answer questions with more BS stuff.

You learn lots of useful information if you bring your hard questions and asks during the Q&A and/or during the tour talking to parents and students.

You learn about how bad or how good the facilities are (gym, library, etc..) how joyful or depressing the classrooms are, how small or large the classrooms are.

Above are just a few things. There is many more. So yes, you definitely should go to the open house, and if you are astate and bring your hard questions, talk with staff, parents, students, you will learn a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You learn who is detailed and thoughtful and who doesn’t give a crap about the presentation and the open house.

You learn who is pretentious and tone deaf and who thoughtful and sincere.

You learn who understands what parents need and provide context rich information to help parents know if the school is a good fit, while others provide BS stuff and answer questions with more BS stuff.

You learn lots of useful information if you bring your hard questions and asks during the Q&A and/or during the tour talking to parents and students.

You learn about how bad or how good the facilities are (gym, library, etc..) how joyful or depressing the classrooms are, how small or large the classrooms are.

Above are just a few things. There is many more. So yes, you definitely should go to the open house, and if you are astate and bring your hard questions, talk with staff, parents, students, you will learn a lot.

Typo astute

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You learn who is detailed and thoughtful and who doesn’t give a crap about the presentation and the open house.

You learn who is pretentious and tone deaf and who thoughtful and sincere.

You learn who understands what parents need and provide context rich information to help parents know if the school is a good fit, while others provide BS stuff and answer questions with more BS stuff.

You learn lots of useful information if you bring your hard questions and asks during the Q&A and/or during the tour talking to parents and students.

You learn about how bad or how good the facilities are (gym, library, etc..) how joyful or depressing the classrooms are, how small or large the classrooms are.

Above are just a few things. There is many more. So yes, you definitely should go to the open house, and if you are astate and bring your hard questions, talk with staff, parents, students, you will learn a lot.

Gotta ask. What are these "hard questions" that you've come up with that are going to stump schools that have been listening to the same questions from PS parents for years and years?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You learn who is detailed and thoughtful and who doesn’t give a crap about the presentation and the open house.

You learn who is pretentious and tone deaf and who thoughtful and sincere.

You learn who understands what parents need and provide context rich information to help parents know if the school is a good fit, while others provide BS stuff and answer questions with more BS stuff.

You learn lots of useful information if you bring your hard questions and asks during the Q&A and/or during the tour talking to parents and students.

You learn about how bad or how good the facilities are (gym, library, etc..) how joyful or depressing the classrooms are, how small or large the classrooms are.

Above are just a few things. There is many more. So yes, you definitely should go to the open house, and if you are astate and bring your hard questions, talk with staff, parents, students, you will learn a lot.

Gotta ask. What are these "hard questions" that you've come up with that are going to stump schools that have been listening to the same questions from PS parents for years and years?

I would love to know too. The most common question that I heard in every single open house (for pk3) that I went was about differentiation. It was cute!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You learn who is detailed and thoughtful and who doesn’t give a crap about the presentation and the open house.

You learn who is pretentious and tone deaf and who thoughtful and sincere.

You learn who understands what parents need and provide context rich information to help parents know if the school is a good fit, while others provide BS stuff and answer questions with more BS stuff.

You learn lots of useful information if you bring your hard questions and asks during the Q&A and/or during the tour talking to parents and students.

You learn about how bad or how good the facilities are (gym, library, etc..) how joyful or depressing the classrooms are, how small or large the classrooms are.

Above are just a few things. There is many more. So yes, you definitely should go to the open house, and if you are astate and bring your hard questions, talk with staff, parents, students, you will learn a lot.

Gotta ask. What are these "hard questions" that you've come up with that are going to stump schools that have been listening to the same questions from PS parents for years and years?

I would love to know too. The most common question that I heard in every single open house (for pk3) that I went was about differentiation. It was cute!

Differentiation is a very reasonable question for PK parents to ask if looking at a school long term. It is obviously particularly important if they suspect that their kid will need it (in either direction)... but it is especially reasonable for any school with a diverse student population. A willingness to support differentiation can easily make or break a kid's classroom experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You learn who is detailed and thoughtful and who doesn’t give a crap about the presentation and the open house.

You learn who is pretentious and tone deaf and who thoughtful and sincere.

You learn who understands what parents need and provide context rich information to help parents know if the school is a good fit, while others provide BS stuff and answer questions with more BS stuff.

You learn lots of useful information if you bring your hard questions and asks during the Q&A and/or during the tour talking to parents and students.

You learn about how bad or how good the facilities are (gym, library, etc..) how joyful or depressing the classrooms are, how small or large the classrooms are.

Above are just a few things. There is many more. So yes, you definitely should go to the open house, and if you are astate and bring your hard questions, talk with staff, parents, students, you will learn a lot.

Gotta ask. What are these "hard questions" that you've come up with that are going to stump schools that have been listening to the same questions from PS parents for years and years?

I would love to know too. The most common question that I heard in every single open house (for pk3) that I went was about differentiation. It was cute!

Differentiation is a very reasonable question for PK parents to ask if looking at a school long term. It is obviously particularly important if they suspect that their kid will need it (in either direction)... but it is especially reasonable for any school with a diverse student population. A willingness to support differentiation can easily make or break a kid's classroom experience.

This racism isn't just coded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You learn who is detailed and thoughtful and who doesn’t give a crap about the presentation and the open house.

You learn who is pretentious and tone deaf and who thoughtful and sincere.

You learn who understands what parents need and provide context rich information to help parents know if the school is a good fit, while others provide BS stuff and answer questions with more BS stuff.

You learn lots of useful information if you bring your hard questions and asks during the Q&A and/or during the tour talking to parents and students.

You learn about how bad or how good the facilities are (gym, library, etc..) how joyful or depressing the classrooms are, how small or large the classrooms are.

Above are just a few things. There is many more. So yes, you definitely should go to the open house, and if you are astate and bring your hard questions, talk with staff, parents, students, you will learn a lot.

Gotta ask. What are these "hard questions" that you've come up with that are going to stump schools that have been listening to the same questions from PS parents for years and years?

I would love to know too. The most common question that I heard in every single open house (for pk3) that I went was about differentiation. It was cute!

Differentiation is a very reasonable question for PK parents to ask if looking at a school long term. It is obviously particularly important if they suspect that their kid will need it (in either direction)... but it is especially reasonable for any school with a diverse student population. A willingness to support differentiation can easily make or break a kid's classroom experience.

First, that is neither a "hard" question nor a matter of first impression. The idea that DCUM readers think Larla's mommy and daddy are the first to ask about it is previous. Second, you are asking about differentiation in ECE. FFS people. At that age differentiation is a function of home environment. Third, DCPS won't even do differentiation in MS. Spoiler alert: they aren't going to do it in ES. They will tell you they will meet your kid where they are and all kinds of other talking points. The reality is simply that (absent a 504/IEP) the class is going to be focused where it is. And that is why schools with great test scores and low economically disadvantaged numbers are preferable for Larla. In that environment they are more likely to be surrounded by kids who are advanced and the teacher is more likely to be able to teach to that cohort (or at least find materials to challenge that cohort).