Has anyone accepted a spot at a highly coveted DC Charter and then later been disappointed?
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Anonymous
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To DCPS yes, but not to every school. Times are changing. At Brent's PTA meeting last week, the principal announced that, as of the fall, upper grades math classes will all be held at the same times during the week, enabling a 3rd grader who can handle 4th grade math to "loop up" a grade, or even two grades. Also, 5th graders who can handle 6th grade math will now work with their own teacher, even if there are only a few kids being pulled out. The six-figure PTA is paying for the pullout instruction. I'm sure the math at BASIS is wonderful, just not sold a a middle school without outdoor space, a gym, a stage, real sports teams, decent art room, band/orchestra.... Lack of those facilities describes just about every charter in the city, along with a few DCPS schools as well. I agree that the facilities at most DC MS are not up to PP's high standards. Also want to know where you are going to then send your advanced math scholar after Brent? VA for TJ? MoCO? |
Anonymous
High standards? I went to a small town middle school in a little cash-strapped town that had a basic gym, stage, band, decent art room and playing fields. I find it hard to understand why so many upper middle-class parents in a world-class city put up with bare-bones facilities at charters. No idea where my advanced math scholar is heading but am still glad that Brent will offer more challenging math for advanced learners than virtually ever other public elementary school in this city. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
You both must be so proud of yourselves. |
Anonymous
| We left 2R after a month when we got a lottery call from another school we really wanted. 2R was fine, but logistically it was very hard and we never really felt comfortable there...but it was our only option. 2R has acheived some amazing things and I wish it well. But what I really wish is that preference could be applied somehow to the DCPS AND Charter lotteries so that more families START at a school they really want, rather than starting at a school that they got and then jumping ship several weeks after the school year begins. That Sept Shuffle is hard on the teachers and the students and creates administrative challenges for the schools too. |
Anonymous
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Why don't charters have extensive facilities? Well, start with basic inequities of fund allocations. Charters get far less per student than what DCPS has to spend per student. Then, let's talk about facilities. DCPS is sitting on shuttered schools with fields and athletic facilities that don't even get used - yet charters have to make do in incubators and whatever other spaces that they can lease.
Whoever dreamt up and decided upon this scheme of allocating resources obviously did not care one iota about fairness to the children. Children should get equal resources. |
Anonymous
| Schools could probably do well to have shared facilities. Not every school needs a dedicated football field, and so on. With some planning and coordination, they could probably have some very nice multi-use facilities. |
Anonymous
And the local leaders who are so anti-charter forget that these are PUBLIC SCHOOL CHILDREN, too. Talk about a modern-day separate and unequal. |
Anonymous
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LEft the leading grade of highly sought after and successful fairly new charter. I think they are very well run and I liked the energy and the spirit of the school, and child enjoyed it.
Leading grade - the oldest grade in a new school - was tough for us. No idea of who would be the teachers for the next year, no idea of how the curriculum would proceed, etc. Too many uncertainties for us. I have no doubt the school will be successful. But it is really really nice to know my child is in a school with a permanent location, nice facilities, a wide range of activities, etc. It's just a better fit for us. |
Anonymous
+1. Leading grades in a new charter are so hard. I could have written this one myself. Our kids were probably in the same class. |
Anonymous
I think you, and the schools, are off base if we are talking about very young children at the preschool level. Trying to diagnose things like ADHD, sensory issues, G&T or anything else at this age is nearly impossible, often wildly inaccurate, and IMO ultimately very damaging for many kids and their parents. These schools expect a room of 25 kids to act like automatons who always follow instructions, participate in every activity, etc etc, which I believe is utterly unrealistic for 3 and 4 year old children. This is why we are taking our child out of the system for PK4, and probably forever. I think we are kidding ourselves as parents and at a policy level when we insist that all-day PK is the right thing for every child. Instead of providing high-quality early childhood care (small class sizes, individual attention, play-based programs), we are forcing kids into factories that, by nature of the large size of the programs, have to insist on a level of structure and behavioral adherence that is beyond the capability of many preschool-aged children. Instead of acknowledging that fact, we are labeling kids with "syndromes" at ever earlier ages. I also firmly believe that many of these schools are insisting that kids get lockstep with the program early so that they will be conditioned to deal with the testing culture of the later grades. NCLB is ruining public education in this country, and since charters have to perform well on the DC-CAS too, it is my belief that no matter how "different" their programs and curricula may be, they are still incentivized to perform on tests, which defeats the purpose of those specialized programs entirely. It's basic cognitive dissonance, and I don't think anyone can objectively argue that this insane system we've developed is truly working well. |
Anonymous
| ^25 kids in a classroom for prek3/prek4 - never heard of a class that big. Which school was this? |
Anonymous
Seriously? This is common in DCPS and charters. |
Anonymous
| My charter has 19 pre3 students and three teachers per room. |
Anonymous
I don't think so. If so, I'm even more thankful for my charter with a 2:18 ratio. |