Would people be interested in an integrated healthy eating/wellness-oriented charter school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
And to the point of the target audience question, while you may be teaching your kids about healthy eating (or at least thinking you are), can you reasonably say that about all the families DCPS serves? What about the at-risk population, many of whom may not have the same access to fruits and vegetables, whole grains or other healthy options you provide?

This may be true, but the OP asked if I would be interested, and I am not for my children. I agree with the PP who asked why schools need a hook or gimmick. Can't we just have schools that do an excellent job of teaching our kids reading, writing, math, and science, rounded out with some health, phys ed, and art?

[Anonymous]

The point about audience is important, OP. If your goal in establishing this school is to serve children who could really use it--low SES kids without access to healthy eating resources or role models, etc--then great. It could work and actually change lives. But if your goal is to attract families like yours (assumption that you're educated, etc) I don't think your idea will fly. So ask yourself where your heart is at on this first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The point about audience is important, OP. If your goal in establishing this school is to serve children who could really use it--low SES kids without access to healthy eating resources or role models, etc--then great. It could work and actually change lives. But if your goal is to attract families like yours (assumption that you're educated, etc) I don't think your idea will fly. So ask yourself where your heart is at on this first.

Right - as an 'educated' parent I can't stand the school telling me what shouldn't go into lunches and how much kids should exercise, although I understand that it is for the benefit of all. I have made informed decisions for my kids and don't give them junk food or let them sit around playing video games all day. I think 'educated' parents look at charter schools because there are options as to what might be the best fit for their children - however most of the time it feels like we just take what we get with the lottery regardless of what the best fit might be because that's just how the system works...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The point about audience is important, OP. If your goal in establishing this school is to serve children who could really use it--low SES kids without access to healthy eating resources or role models, etc--then great. It could work and actually change lives. But if your goal is to attract families like yours (assumption that you're educated, etc) I don't think your idea will fly. So ask yourself where your heart is at on this first.

I'm not getting this argument. A specialized charter is only okay if it is for lower-SES students? Higher SES families need not apply?

Say, would you be one of those Hill families jealous of losing so many students to Two Rivers, and Basis?

[Anonymous]

Get over yourselves. Tons of educated people are overweight and have over-weight child who eat badly and watch tv/play video games excessively. You can get plenty fat on "Whole Foods." Look at this article on Japan's integrated healthy schools program. Made me weep:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/on-japans-school-lunch-menu-a-healthy-meal-made-from-scratch/2013/01/26/5f31d208-63a2-11e2-85f5-a8a9228e55e7_story.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hold the phone!!!
Creative Minds most certainly DOES NOT implement the IB (International Baccalaureate) Program! Instead, it purports to implement the International Early Years and Primary Curriculum which has NOTHING to do with the IB (and which, in my opinion, is a disingenuous attempt to fool people into thinking they're getting the IB) Please remember to be an educated consumer when researching curricular options.

and you think IB is great? LOL

[Anonymous]

Don't they get enough of the healthy food pep talk in public schools already? Tired of my 4 yo telling me that I'm feeding him unhealthy food when I give him dessert, after eating a full well-rounded meal. Doesn't stop him from eating it, but they start the brainwashing early -- and I don't appreciate it. Moderation is a foreign concept, it's all good or bad.

[Anonymous]

"Yu Ying is in the process of applying to be an IB school. It says on its website that it not an IB school yet, but is "in the earliest stages of this process." Accordingly, it is not listed on the IB website as a PYP school.

I have no opinion on whether the 3 IB DCPS schools are "dreck," although it's certainly an uncharitable and unsupported opinion (speaking of unsupported opinions), but they are IB schools, so the OP might want to visit them.

WIS: IB test results for their students (most of whom get not just the IB diploma but a bilingual IB diploma) are excellent, as is their international reputation. Among my colleagues, whose children have attended at least 2-3 dozen international and UN schools around the world, the reputation of WIS places it in the top tier anywhere, not just in the US. But that is neither here not there; I was simply providing information for the OP, who--if he/she really wants to pursue an IB PYP school--might want to start there with her research even though it is a private school."

The website is dated. The school has gone through applicant, candidate, and is now finishing the authorization process. By the end of this school it will be an IB world school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This would not interest me. I want my children to learn how to read, write, and do math. These other things are important, but I wouldn't want them to be the focus. Wellness, activity, healthy eating, and environmental stewardship are all values that I will instill at home.

+1

And even for the parents who aren't inclined to instill those values at home, being able to do reading, writing, and arithmetic is still the key need for their students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why can't there be a good overall school without any gimmicks or hooks?

EXACTLY!

The IB/wellness thing might work in some posh suburb, but the kids in DC REALLY need to focus on the basics.

[Anonymous]

Interesting idea, but no, I would not be interested in sending my kids to a "healthy eating/wellness" charter.

For one thing, sounds like too much emphasis on diets at a very early age. It also sounds very prone to faddish or specific "lifestyle" choices -- I can just imagine the parents fighting over vegan vs. vegetarian in the cafeteria or who is more organic than whom.

As a prior poster stated, healthy eating and wellness is something I teach and model at home.

An interest in ecology is great but most schools incorporate that into their curriculum these days. There are some wackos in the environmental movement so I'd prefer not to have a full time focus on that either.

What do I want in a school? Focus on something I can't readily teach at home. Foreign language is an obvious choice, esp. as small kids' brains are wired to acquire language faster at an early age. Indeed, it seems that the language-focused charters have done very well in DC.

[Anonymous]

for me it sounds like a charter for parents who used to have eating disorders and now just have obsessions with 'healthy eating' which in my opinion isn't that healthy. I'm not knocking healthy eating--I'm all for it and try to practice it--but having that be the basis of education seems totally misguided to me.

full disclosure; I used to have an eating disorder and have someone in my family who does, so this is a bit close to home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The point about audience is important, OP. If your goal in establishing this school is to serve children who could really use it--low SES kids without access to healthy eating resources or role models, etc--then great. It could work and actually change lives. But if your goal is to attract families like yours (assumption that you're educated, etc) I don't think your idea will fly. So ask yourself where your heart is at on this first.

I'm not getting this argument. A specialized charter is only okay if it is for lower-SES students? Higher SES families need not apply?

NP here. Of course not. But charters are PUBLIC schools and the vast majority of public school children in DC are lower SES. If you can't serve the public at large, you shouldn't get a charter for a public school and receive public funds.

[Anonymous]

So let me get this straight: if a Charter school opens in DC that is open to all DC children for free but it doesn't manage to attract a majority of low SES students do you think that school should be closed as a waste of public money. Just curious how far you would take this argument that public schools are only for the poor public. Why don't you also answer why it is ok for a wealthier neighborhood school or a selective school like Walls to take money from.the public even if they don't have a majority of poor kids. I am seriously interested in your response to I can understand this way of thinking

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The point about audience is important, OP. If your goal in establishing this school is to serve children who could really use it--low SES kids without access to healthy eating resources or role models, etc--then great. It could work and actually change lives. But if your goal is to attract families like yours (assumption that you're educated, etc) I don't think your idea will fly. So ask yourself where your heart is at on this first.

I'm not getting this argument. A specialized charter is only okay if it is for lower-SES students? Higher SES families need not apply?

NP here. Of course not. But charters are PUBLIC schools and the vast majority of public school children in DC are lower SES. If you can't serve the public at large, you shouldn't get a charter for a public school and receive public funds.

You may also ask yourself why a vast majority of public school kids are lower ses and if that might not be the case if the public schools were any good. It is a circular argument: kids in public schools are poor so we need to set up systems that serve poor kids any programs that will serve and attract people other than the poor are therefore a waste of money. See the problem? Unless you are one of the people who wants to become like a third world country where the public schools really are only for the poor and the middle/upper class won't touch them