DC Bilingual VS Inspired Teaching?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am the OP of this thread. I wanted to let people who provided feedback and ideas know how our story resolved, with the caveat that we made the decision that was best for our family and other families have different kids with different needs/locations/etc. Also, other OPs of threads asking for feedback rarely report back on decisions made, and I'd like to make a plea that they do so. Those of us who reply to these threads put in time trying to help you make a decision. We'd like to know how it turned out!

First of all, our son wasn't quite accepted to Inspired Teaching when I started this thread, but I could tell that he would be soon based on wait list movement. He ended up being accepted a week or so into the school year, so we've had the opportunity to try out both schools. I'll give pros and cons for each school as I saw it and unexpected takeaways in the hopes that other parents making a decision about the schools in question will have more information. The hardest part about choosing a school for our family is that we are making very quick decisions after we are offered a space and we have limited information. Even though we had toured both schools and done our homework, it is hard to know what the school will be like.

Ultimately, we chose Inspired Teaching and so far are very happy with our choice as is our son. Our son was having a very hard time adjusting to DC Bilingual with tantrums before and after school which are not typical for him at this age. It became clear that he was miserable and even so the choice was hard because DC Bililngual really is a good school and we had wanted him to learn Spanish.

DC Bilingual

Pros:
Dedicated Staff who are doing a great job of educating an often underserved community
Excellent specials (dance, music, full library, community garden)
Beautiful facilities that will only get better with renovations which are likely to happen in the next couple of years (light filled classrooms, adjacent playground, cafeteria separate from auditorium, library)
Location - just off the metro so it's easy to get kid to school on the way to work.

Cons for our family:
Very long school day (8 to 4:00)
Rigid discipline approach (just a general feeling that trying to keep kids "in line" for that long is hard for the kids).
Boys don't do nearly as well on PARCC as girls
We prefer a progressive educational approach. While DC Bilingual has a very effective, research based approach, it just didn't work as well for our son/mesh with our values as well.
Location - turning to the school off of Riggs Road is very challenging. The traffic there is confusing, with lots of pedestrian traffic. It's farther from the metro than you would think by looking at a map, walking along Riggs is stressful. All around the location didn't work nearly as well for our family as we thought.

Another family might really prefer a longer day, a structured approach, and a more "locked down" atmosphere.

Inspired Teaching -

Pros:
Shorter day - 8:40 to 3:15
Very well organized drop-off line and pick up procedures
Empathetic and caring staff
Emphasis on emotional intelligence in curriculum and daily interactions
Progressive approach to education
Lots of same sex parent led families

Cons:
Some Spanish instruction, but not a lot.
We don't know enough right now to say what the major cons of Inspired Teaching are. Give us a year and I'm sure I will, as all schools have negatives.

it is very clear to me your heart lies with ITS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for updating us OP. What grade are you in? What is the drive time for you now that you're doing it?

I will add that the area around DCI and Bridges has become a nightmare. There are no less than 6 crossing guards and it is a zoo. I imagine the drop off alone would take 15-20 minutes for someone driving.

It's so bad that it is fucking up the commutes trying to get to the other side of the Green Line (both heading east and heading west) from the other access points as well. I'm hoping that things settle down as people figure out their routines and shortcuts.

I honesty can't imagine a worse intersection in the entire city. It's messing up North Capitol, South Dakota, Riggs, Missouri, Kennedy. It was even bad when I went through it at 9:30am.

At 9:30, the problem wouldn't have been either school -- DCB starts its day at 8, and Bridges opens its doors to kids at 8:20. By 9:30, anyone still arriving for either school would be very late. I think it's just a bad intersection, regardless of the schools being there.

That's my point. With construction trucks using this route (cutting through as opposed to going via South Dakota) adds even more drama. But even turning from Riggs to go to DCI takes 4-5 lights in itself. I would stay far far away from this area. Even at 9:30, there were 3 crossing guards working which adds more complexity.

[Anonymous]

I value ease of commute a ton and have a personal preference for ITS too, but I would NOT let a year of bad construction-related traffic be the deciding factor on the best elementary school for a child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I value ease of commute a ton and have a personal preference for ITS too, but I would NOT let a year of bad construction-related traffic be the deciding factor on the best elementary school for a child.

OP. I agree completely. The commute was not the deciding factor. But it was a factor.

In the end we tried driving (10 min), walking (40 min.) and taking the bus (20 min) to DC bilingual. None were perfect but all were fine. Part of the problem is that the DC Bilingual security guard stops traffic for far longer than is necessary. The city needs to assign a crossing guard so that the Ned's of all citizens are meant. The security guard is stopping traffic primarily to get cars in and out of the driveway rather than primarily to guard pedestrians crossing.

The only way to reasonably get to Inspired Teaching is by driving. So far it has taken from 9-13 mins depending on traffic. And the drive feels like a breeze as it is a NE to NE N/S commute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I value ease of commute a ton and have a personal preference for ITS too, but I would NOT let a year of bad construction-related traffic be the deciding factor on the best elementary school for a child.

It is not the construction. It certainly adds to the complexity, but having two large charter schools right next to each other next to a major commuting route, having hundreds of pedestrians walking to two schools and metro with 6 crossing guards is the mess. So basically the pedestrians and crossing guards make it impossible for commuters to drive, turn or even move. It's really, really bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I value ease of commute a ton and have a personal preference for ITS too, but I would NOT let a year of bad construction-related traffic be the deciding factor on the best elementary school for a child.

It is not the construction. It certainly adds to the complexity, but having two large charter schools right next to each other next to a major commuting route, having hundreds of pedestrians walking to two schools and metro with 6 crossing guards is the mess. So basically the pedestrians and crossing guards make it impossible for commuters to drive, turn or even move. It's really, really bad.

It is really bad there. I am a np, but the route between those two schools is also one I thought of as "my own short cut to brookland," and the way I intended to commute to ssma.

The op is right--the crossing guard was directing traffic, but I don't see that he had a choice --the traffic on Riggs and going into rock Creek drive (or whatever it's called) was catastrophic.

Dc has to come up with better traffic plans for its schools and it's students. It is a real mess out there. Busing would help, I think. The micro traffic jams around each charter school are pretty amazing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I value ease of commute a ton and have a personal preference for ITS too, but I would NOT let a year of bad construction-related traffic be the deciding factor on the best elementary school for a child.

It is not the construction. It certainly adds to the complexity, but having two large charter schools right next to each other next to a major commuting route, having hundreds of pedestrians walking to two schools and metro with 6 crossing guards is the mess. So basically the pedestrians and crossing guards make it impossible for commuters to drive, turn or even move. It's really, really bad.

It is really bad there. I am a np, but the route between those two schools is also one I thought of as "my own short cut to brookland," and the way I intended to commute to ssma.

The op is right--the crossing guard was directing traffic, but I don't see that he had a choice --the traffic on Riggs and going into rock Creek drive (or whatever it's called) was catastrophic.

Dc has to come up with better traffic plans for its schools and it's students. It is a real mess out there. Busing would help, I think. The micro traffic jams around each charter school are pretty amazing.

In my observation, 80% of the cars in the traffic are not people dropping off for school, it is other commuters (mostly commuters coming from MD going downtown etc) that treat it as a cut through to Brookland, Cap Hill, etc as well. The pure number of pedestrians, the short lights, the crossing guards is causing the gridlock. IMO, bussing is not going to help. The busses can't turn onto the street because the pedestrians crossing (I'm all for pedestrians) going to metro etc. Then people get stuck in the box when lights turn red and it creates a chain reaction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I value ease of commute a ton and have a personal preference for ITS too, but I would NOT let a year of bad construction-related traffic be the deciding factor on the best elementary school for a child.

It is not the construction. It certainly adds to the complexity, but having two large charter schools right next to each other next to a major commuting route, having hundreds of pedestrians walking to two schools and metro with 6 crossing guards is the mess. So basically the pedestrians and crossing guards make it impossible for commuters to drive, turn or even move. It's really, really bad.

It is really bad there. I am a np, but the route between those two schools is also one I thought of as "my own short cut to brookland," and the way I intended to commute to ssma.

The op is right--the crossing guard was directing traffic, but I don't see that he had a choice --the traffic on Riggs and going into rock Creek drive (or whatever it's called) was catastrophic.

Dc has to come up with better traffic plans for its schools and it's students. It is a real mess out there. Busing would help, I think. The micro traffic jams around each charter school are pretty amazing.

In my observation, 80% of the cars in the traffic are not people dropping off for school, it is other commuters (mostly commuters coming from MD going downtown etc) that treat it as a cut through to Brookland, Cap Hill, etc as well. The pure number of pedestrians, the short lights, the crossing guards is causing the gridlock. IMO, bussing is not going to help. The busses can't turn onto the street because the pedestrians crossing (I'm all for pedestrians) going to metro etc. Then people get stuck in the box when lights turn red and it creates a chain reaction.

I live in this neighborhood (between Fort Totten Dr. & North Capitol St) and I can attest that not all of this traffic is due to Bridges and DCB - it has always been pretty bad - but this year is WAY WORSE than I have ever seen in my 10 years of living there.

Fort Totten Drive has long been a cut-through for commuting drivers to get from Riggs Rd to North Capitol and also it is a major route for both Yu Ying and Capital City charter schools (south and north of the area, respectively). Throw in SS, and we now have effectively 5 charter schools in some way using this teeny, tiny little road for their daily commutes in addition to the regular commuter traffic we already had. It's a nightmare.

When Mamie D Lee was there, all of the students were bused (and it was a much smaller student population) so the traffic situation was much better. Not sure if busing would be feasible with the new school populations, but something needs to be tried!

I know they are supposed to be doing some sort of traffic study on the area, but not sure when that is happening or what will come of it.

[Anonymous]

Fwiw, I'm no longer using this route to commute to ss. I'm using eastern Ave, and it's so easy. Ish. Except for the Michigan / south Dakota insane intersection... But working on a workaround there.

[Anonymous]

waze

[Anonymous]

Bridges parent here. I have found the drivers on Ft. Totten to be incredibly aggressive and scary. It is quite shocking. Mostly MD plates who are scary. I know you all are pissed off that little kids who are being educated are messing up your commute but one of you is going to hit a kid. I am so thankful for the crossing guards.

[Anonymous]

Do you crowd source all your important parenting decisions? Seems like a bit of a self indulgent thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you crowd source all your important parenting decisions? Seems like a bit of a self indulgent thread.

Go away

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I truly doubt that there are people choosing Macfarland over DCI. DCI is fed by DCB, Stokes, Lamb, MV and YY. It is a great school. But OP- you should make sure you want to do immersion.

Only if you value football over academics!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I truly doubt that there are people choosing Macfarland over DCI. DCI is fed by DCB, Stokes, Lamb, MV and YY. It is a great school. But OP- you should make sure you want to do immersion.

Only if you value football over academics!!!

You shouldn't choose DCI or Macfarland if you value academics.