What's it like to be in a new charter school in its first year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Aside from that, I would be wary of a new school that tried to start too large. I can't think of any worth their salt who are starting larger than 3 or 4 grades, but it is worth thinking about. That is a lot of curriculum to master with themes that link through the grades and making sure that the kids are hitting everything along the way. We started in a brand new charter a few years back and we are now finding glaring wholes in what our child knows. Very basic things that would have been taught in pre-k or kindergarten but weren't and then they were overlooked for a couple of years. The lesson I learned from this is that you need to have a very good sense of what you child should know at each grade and really keep up on it.

I believe TR started with Preschool-3 through grade 3 and they seem to be doing okay. My child is at the school with the "grape mom". I personally think the school grew too fast this year. Doubling the school after 3 years was just too much for the school community to handle, especially when there were so many other things that the administration had to focus on such as an uncompleted building. The school and PA did very little to welcome these new parents after the school year had started (no events like a fall gathering to make nervous parents feel that they belonged to a school community -- movie nights and family dance night could not take place due to construction) and so instead the school listserve exploded with anger over parking issues and arguments over whether grapes should be cut up. Granted the school had to grow, I just think that there was little thought given to how to incorporate so many new people into the school community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Aside from that, I would be wary of a new school that tried to start too large. I can't think of any worth their salt who are starting larger than 3 or 4 grades, but it is worth thinking about. That is a lot of curriculum to master with themes that link through the grades and making sure that the kids are hitting everything along the way. We started in a brand new charter a few years back and we are now finding glaring wholes in what our child knows. Very basic things that would have been taught in pre-k or kindergarten but weren't and then they were overlooked for a couple of years. The lesson I learned from this is that you need to have a very good sense of what you child should know at each grade and really keep up on it.

I believe TR started with Preschool-3 through grade 3 and they seem to be doing okay. My child is at the school with the "grape mom". I personally think the school grew too fast this year. Doubling the school after 3 years was just too much for the school community to handle, especially when there were so many other things that the administration had to focus on such as an uncompleted building. The school and PA did very little to welcome these new parents after the school year had started (no events like a fall gathering to make nervous parents feel that they belonged to a school community -- movie nights and family dance night could not take place due to construction) and so instead the school listserve exploded with anger over parking issues and arguments over whether grapes should be cut up. Granted the school had to grow, I just think that there was little thought given to how to incorporate so many new people into the school community.

agreed. the new PA is horrible. spending all its time on nonsense and none on what it should be doing: supporting the school, creating bonding opportunities, and raising money.

[Anonymous]

Original TR parent here......most of the originals have moved away from TR. I don't know if that happens to all the other charters of our time (I know a few of the orignal Cap City parents left also) but it is very evident at TR.

Listen, those first years (looking back now) were kind of wild. But everyone was working so hard to make it work that there was a lot of comraderie. As the years went on and the new facilty was built, then the middle school was built it just became more of a school rather than a community. We were sad to see that go but happy to get out of there.

I do think sometimes that TR managed to get most of the crazy parents. I wonder if the other charters felt like that too.

[Anonymous]

Why did so many leave TR after working so hard PP? What lessons are there for YY, IT, and MV? And where are you now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Aside from that, I would be wary of a new school that tried to start too large. I can't think of any worth their salt who are starting larger than 3 or 4 grades, but it is worth thinking about. That is a lot of curriculum to master with themes that link through the grades and making sure that the kids are hitting everything along the way. We started in a brand new charter a few years back and we are now finding glaring wholes in what our child knows. Very basic things that would have been taught in pre-k or kindergarten but weren't and then they were overlooked for a couple of years. The lesson I learned from this is that you need to have a very good sense of what you child should know at each grade and really keep up on it.

I believe TR started with Preschool-3 through grade 3 and they seem to be doing okay. My child is at the school with the "grape mom". I personally think the school grew too fast this year. Doubling the school after 3 years was just too much for the school community to handle, especially when there were so many other things that the administration had to focus on such as an uncompleted building. The school and PA did very little to welcome these new parents after the school year had started (no events like a fall gathering to make nervous parents feel that they belonged to a school community -- movie nights and family dance night could not take place due to construction) and so instead the school listserve exploded with anger over parking issues and arguments over whether grapes should be cut up. Granted the school had to grow, I just think that there was little thought given to how to incorporate so many new people into the school community.

agreed. the new PA is horrible. spending all its time on nonsense and none on what it should be doing: supporting the school, creating bonding opportunities, and raising money.

LOL! I didn't realize we are at the same school as "grape" mom but I try to stay away from the listserv as it makes me think most of the parents are nutjobs which is not at all apparent when I'm actually at the school. Really love the school, the kids and the teachers. We're one of the new parents and I agree the PA's done nothing to make the new parents feel welcome or make us feel a part of the community. Also, the attitude with some of the parents who already have a kid at the school and the "new preK parents" who are seen as newcomers and by that second class participants at the school, overall isn't very welcoming especially with the bruhaha about fees to have a vote in the PA - which seemed specifically aimed at the new parents. So be it. We won't be attending the gala or have much to do with the PA. We will just donate money directly to the school.

[Anonymous]

completely agree. new PA seems to be run by some ultra-combative type A's who fancy themselves in charge of policy and who want to tell the administration what to do. we're also giving directly to the school and not to the PA.

[Anonymous]

8:58 here. I did not mean to criticize the PA. In general I think that they have done a good job and have worked hard to put into place a structure (many charters such as Cap City or TR do not have PAs). The PA did have a lot of new parent events over the summer. I just think that they were bound by the lack of meeting space as much as the school administration was. My point was that the growth happened too quickly and had some serious implications for the school community.

[Anonymous]

And the bottom line with "growth" is that you have a school culture set up and then there are new kids and parents who aren't a part of that culture who come in in a large group in an entry grade/year.

Let's say the culture is "work hard, get smart, play nice, go to college" or something like that. Great. If a new kid or two joins the community they will learn the culture and go along with the flow.

But let's say the school doubles. The year before your kid was with 20 kids who knew the culture and bought into the slogan above. But now your child is in a class with 10 kids that know the culture and 10 kids that don't. That's a big disruption. The new 10 kids can learn the culture or they can force the culture to change to them, depending on what priority the school is placing on school community and culture at the time. If there's some other emphasis going on (facilities problems or a move/construction; DC CAS crisis, etc., even staff changes) you can bet that culture/community takes a back seat. And so now your kid is in a class with 10 new kids who may or may not want to buy into the school program. If they don't want to work hard and play nice, or their families don't value education, etc., that will make a big difference. And that can really stink.

[Anonymous]

I agree with a lot of what the PPs are saying. The school community feeling dissolved completely this year. I've been there since day one and this new load of parents being so large and concetrated in the lower grade has made it really tough to bring into the community. We've had no space to have any events until very recently, and now the space isn't even big enough to host the whole school at one time.
The PA is one hell of a hard working group of parents, some of whom are completely burnt out trying to be go-betweens with what the parent needs are and what the school needs are, all while making a new organization, fundraising, planning events, etc. I'm sure from the outside it seems like they aren't spending enough time "creating bonding opportunities", but all of the events and activities are created and run by parents just like you, and are therefore everyone's responsibility. I'm not sure when people started to become entitled to a perfect experience without contributing. Like anything in politics: if you don't like it try running for office. It will give insight into what actually goes on. I'm sure your efforts will be greatly appreciated.

[Anonymous]

I think lots of parents work very hard for this school. The new PA leadership with their attempted poll tax, bizarre survey, and haphazard approach to communication (check out the parent portal: except for some dedicated committee parents, the PA leadership has posted NOTHING) have set an antagonistic tone with school staff that has both parents and teachers wondering why they don't focus more on what a PA should focus on, and leave the running of the school to the faculty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why did so many leave TR after working so hard PP? What lessons are there for YY, IT, and MV? And where are you now?

I think if you talk to a sampling of us you will get very different responses. For us it was a mixture of some bad teachers but even worse leadership. There is a big gap in someone who can effectively bring them to the next level. Now some of the teachers we amazing but some of the bad ones were extremely bad. Plus I always felt that my performing child was left to fend for herself while they focused on the underperforming children.

Anyways, we are in a NW school now (lottery). Lots of TR kids have popped up in the schools there in the last few years. There are a bunch at Latin and I know more are headed off for Basis in the fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you SO much for the considered replies. Some of these describe issues that never would have occurred to me at all. DC will only be three years old, but I'm not sure I'll have the mental or emotional energy to deal with such roller-coaster things this fall, given that I'll probably be in a new job and also have other stressful things on my plate.

To 12:37, I'd love to hear more about how the issues were different at your "under-enrolled, dilapidated, and somewhat under-invested DCPS" school. That describes our other choice, except for the under-enrolled part.

Someone brought up the taxing aspects of dealing with other parents, too, which is one of the things that hadn't occurred to me. I guess it would be a very different set of parents at a charter school vs. a DCPS school. One perhaps TOO involved and assertive and opinionated, and the other perhaps not involved enough?

Sorry, not checking regularly. I'm 12:37, how posted on the first page regarding our comparative experience in both a first year charter (not DC) and a DCPS, returning to answer your follow-up question. I'll try to use similar bullets as I did further up:

- Leadership: While maybe less passionate and outgoing, the principal obviously worked on an established timeline, knew when it was time to recruit, time to discuss the budget, time to prepare for tests, time to evaluate teachers etc. While the school hadn't been very active, there were a number of pre-established school events (back to school night, fall festival, various competitions). It wasn't a matter to reinvent everything from scratch but to tweak, add, and subtract. To give you some examples, new parents weren't crazy about the beauty pageant, so no one craved to hold on to it. On the other hand, there weren't any visible fundraisers, so an existing event was tweaked to turn it into one. The principal, although in a bit of a learning curve regarding parental involvement, had established channels to simply up the ante on various fronts. New initiatives, such as a school newsletter could be tacked on to existing ones, such as the principals newsletter.
- Parents: Maybe due to the nature of public schools, the new parents, even those with first-borns in the system, were relaxed about their experience. Just as someone mentioned regarding first-year charters, they knew it wasn't perfect and were willing to put up with some of it. But maybe by contrast, those who threw themselves into the mix didn't first have to sort out very basic things (such as whether to cut grapes or not) because there were established standard-operating procedures. For better, not only for worse, procedures bring quick closures to non-essential discussions. Open a manual, as downtown, and that's the extent of it. The involved kind could then direct their energy to more essential questions on how to get playground equipment updated, lobby for a renovation plan, recruit new parents, establish a culture of involvement at all levels. None of that was a walk in the park but I found more rewarding, less studded with set-backs and empty loops. Also, I feel that I actually had something to say. My voice wasn't drowned out because frankly there just weren't that many of us and for the above reasons not whinging about parking spaces and goldfish.
- Organization: The focus didn't need to be on building an organization nor on the building per se, although a many later spent long waking hours helping plan a school renovation, but on filling in what was in place, re-appointing and broadening PTA involvement, unearthing LSAT participation, increasing the frequency of communications. While some administrative procedures seemed unbearable, at least they were in place. No need to hire and train all new staff and worry about burn-out. Instead, the focus could be placed on checking on those in the building and making adjustments as needed. We were fortunate to have mostly great teachers already, some very traditional ones but great and open to adapting and trying out new ways so long as they fit in with their practices. Since not everybody started anew, there was a lot of diversity among the staff regarding age, experience, background. While I didn't connect with all of them, I always found someone I connected with. While I do think we had some downright ineffective teachers (and to this day tests scores to prove it), they quickly left and there was never a safety concern, the same way I had experienced it our new charter.
- Contrary to our new charter, where a flashy curriculum lacked bones and follow-through, our DCPS seemed to have none, which was a little unsettling at first. But I quickly realized that a lot was solidly in place, it just didn't have a name, which I thought was a little easier to solve. In naming and advertising things, we could then focus on some of the disconnect and gaps, rather than feeling we had to help build every single thing from scratch. In all, I felt like discussions were directed at improving and complementing not constantly rethinking the whole of it. This made for a lot of steady continuity. Still not perfect, with ample opportunity to sit back and relax a little.

[Anonymous]

One of the many roles of any parent organization is to act as a bridge and buffer between what might be mobs disgruntled parents and the school so that the admin can spend its time doing work instead of dealing with frenzy-whipped people. In a perfect world no one would have anything to complain about and everyone would get the chance to spend all of their energy moving forward instead of putting out fires.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of the many roles of any parent organization is to act as a bridge and buffer between what might be mobs disgruntled parents and the school so that the admin can spend its time doing work instead of dealing with frenzy-whipped people. In a perfect world no one would have anything to complain about and everyone would get the chance to spend all of their energy moving forward instead of putting out fires.

Too bad in our school's case the PA board members are the frenzy-whippers!!

[Anonymous]

Is this all about the PA trying to calm down the however-many people demanding a guidance counselor in light of the bullying problem? It seems like someone who works at the school or knows someone who works at the school is posting inside information because there isn't a frenzy taking place on the list serve.