Fundraising

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for the helpful posts about DCPS schools. We live inbound to Burroughs. I did not intend my post to sound elitist or silly, but parental involvement and school administration efficacy are important to my family. While other posters may be constrained by commute or school location, those are not factors for us where we are really focused on enrolling our child in a highly engaged and responsive school. Thank you for the DCPS list to research in more detail. Are there any recommendations for charter schools that fit our criteria?

If you are also willing to give around $2,000 to $15,000 if you got into one of the WOTP schools, like most of the IB parents do, than I assume you'd be accepted with open arms. I'm not exaggerating. If you are judging by how much other parents are paying to supplement the education that you don't contribute as much to - that's not an 'elitist' attitude... that's something else. Seriously.

The charters are no where close in terms of the $ raised comparatively to any of the WOTP schools - but they may be title I schools, and therefore have more $ per student - but lower scores & achievement.

ALL of the WOTP schools have ridiculously highly involved parents. They all have good to excellent administration - and the parents basically co-manage the schools. As a PP poster pointed out, the PTA budgets pay for different things at the different schools - so they are not even going to be apples to apples. And as another PP pointed out, if you can't figure this out using Guidestar, then it's probably a club you shouldn't be trying for anyway.

I knew it would take an super human effort to be a bigger asshole than, OP, but I also knew we were up to the task.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for the helpful posts about DCPS schools. We live inbound to Burroughs. I did not intend my post to sound elitist or silly, but parental involvement and school administration efficacy are important to my family. While other posters may be constrained by commute or school location, those are not factors for us where we are really focused on enrolling our child in a highly engaged and responsive school. Thank you for the DCPS list to research in more detail. Are there any recommendations for charter schools that fit our criteria?

Why did you buy in Brookland then? And why are you asking about fundraising as a proxy for ses? Most people just look at Farms and at risk rate. Is it because you are trying to avoid the lower middle class that aren't captured in farms or at risk numbers? Then look for white (white in DC are almost all middle and upper middle). On this second measure, you want wotp schools, since even the best charters that have low farms (20% or below) do have a good-sized population of lower middle class. This economic diversity is one of the reasons we chose charter rather than the almost uniformly high ses wotp school we were zoned for. It is one of the reasons we decided to buy in Brookland. Which brings me back to my original question - why are you in Brookland?

[Anonymous]

I am so surprised that my post elicited such hostile comments. I was not aware that parental involvement and school administration efficiency were controversial topics. Thank you for the helpful information about 990s and Guidestar. I also appreciate more information about the charter schools. We currently live in Brookland due to family obligations but are open to moving to another DC neighborhood if we do not match in the school lottery. We are definitely a family willing to donate $8k to the school every year and volunteer as necessary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am so surprised that my post elicited such hostile comments. I was not aware that parental involvement and school administration efficiency were controversial topics. Thank you for the helpful information about 990s and Guidestar. I also appreciate more information about the charter schools. We currently live in Brookland due to family obligations but are open to moving to another DC neighborhood if we do not match in the school lottery. We are definitely a family willing to donate $8k to the school every year and volunteer as necessary.

Parental involvement is not a synonym for donations. Parents can be involved in many ways without giving a dime. That's why you are getting blowback - as if the only thing that matters is writing a check.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:spending per student per charter -- philanthropic line includes parent donations, PTA dues etc

http://www.dcfpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/8.5.15-Revenue-and-Spending-Per-Student-TP-Final.pdf

Philanthropic also includes grants. Not useful at all

Well - since the philanthropic line includes grants + parent donations/PTA - it means that parent donations, for instance, will be a subset of the $302 per pupil for MV or $371 for 2 Rivers, or $1,600 for Latin. It is 2014 data, so it's not as up to date as the PTA funds on school sites, but mostly same reporting year as what's on Guidestar for most schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for the helpful posts about DCPS schools. We live inbound to Burroughs. I did not intend my post to sound elitist or silly, but parental involvement and school administration efficacy are important to my family. While other posters may be constrained by commute or school location, those are not factors for us where we are really focused on enrolling our child in a highly engaged and responsive school. Thank you for the DCPS list to research in more detail. Are there any recommendations for charter schools that fit our criteria?

If you are also willing to give around $2,000 to $15,000 if you got into one of the WOTP schools, like most of the IB parents do, than I assume you'd be accepted with open arms. I'm not exaggerating. If you are judging by how much other parents are paying to supplement the education that you don't contribute as much to - that's not an 'elitist' attitude... that's something else. Seriously.

The charters are no where close in terms of the $ raised comparatively to any of the WOTP schools - but they may be title I schools, and therefore have more $ per student - but lower scores & achievement.

ALL of the WOTP schools have ridiculously highly involved parents. They all have good to excellent administration - and the parents basically co-manage the schools. As a PP poster pointed out, the PTA budgets pay for different things at the different schools - so they are not even going to be apples to apples. And as another PP pointed out, if you can't figure this out using Guidestar, then it's probably a club you shouldn't be trying for anyway.

Where in the hell are you getting this??? It is not at all true. Most of the OOB kids accepted at our school in the higher grades are specifically made to disadvantaged kids and kids of color.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am so surprised that my post elicited such hostile comments. I was not aware that parental involvement and school administration efficiency were controversial topics. Thank you for the helpful information about 990s and Guidestar. I also appreciate more information about the charter schools. We currently live in Brookland due to family obligations but are open to moving to another DC neighborhood if we do not match in the school lottery. We are definitely a family willing to donate $8k to the school every year and volunteer as necessary.

OP, I think what you are really looking for is a private school.

[Anonymous]

Also, no one cares or knows if you donate or not to the PTA at our WOTP ES. I have made the max contribution to the PTA as requested and I promise no special favors have been given to me. Please stop perpetuating these rumors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, no one cares or knows if you donate or not to the PTA at our WOTP ES. I have made the max contribution to the PTA as requested and I promise no special favors have been given to me. Please stop perpetuating these rumors.

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am so surprised that my post elicited such hostile comments. I was not aware that parental involvement and school administration efficiency were controversial topics. Thank you for the helpful information about 990s and Guidestar. I also appreciate more information about the charter schools. We currently live in Brookland due to family obligations but are open to moving to another DC neighborhood if we do not match in the school lottery. We are definitely a family willing to donate $8k to the school every year and volunteer as necessary.

OP, the reason you're getting hostility is that in poor neighborhoods especially, parental involvement and fundraising are not the same thing. My child goes to a school with fairly high parental engagement. We have a PTO that does some stuff, including raise money, but the donations come in $15-$30 increments, for the most part. Occasionally, we get a big donation of $100+, but if you looked at our financials, what you'd see is a lot of little fundraisers to pay for specific events. I think we have <$1000 in the bank right now. But we have more parent volunteers than we need for every event we have. People show up to volunteer in their kids' classrooms, they show up to volunteer at events, and they'll give $10, $15, $20 because that's what they have to give.

I think that the best plan for you would be to visit your IB school and think about it with first hand information. Add the charters to your list, because they are mostly going to meet your criteria. Then if you are not placed somewhere that meets your approval, you can look into moving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am so surprised that my post elicited such hostile comments. I was not aware that parental involvement and school administration efficiency were controversial topics. Thank you for the helpful information about 990s and Guidestar. I also appreciate more information about the charter schools. We currently live in Brookland due to family obligations but are open to moving to another DC neighborhood if we do not match in the school lottery. We are definitely a family willing to donate $8k to the school every year and volunteer as necessary.

Parental involvement is not a synonym for donations. Parents can be involved in many ways without giving a dime. That's why you are getting blowback - as if the only thing that matters is writing a check.

+1. Our school raises a few thousand a year, not the hundreds of thousands you can expect at upper NW schools. But we have FTA meetings with 50-60 percent of the school represented. We have a thriving FTA with very diverse leadership and active committees that is inclusive of all families, not just those who can afford to donate hundreds of dollars. We have events that are attended by virtually all families. We help families in need in our school community. We work with the school to make sure all families are engaged. How would you be able to tell that from looking at our accounts?

And not all PTAs are 501c3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for the helpful posts about DCPS schools. We live inbound to Burroughs. I did not intend my post to sound elitist or silly, but parental involvement and school administration efficacy are important to my family. While other posters may be constrained by commute or school location, those are not factors for us where we are really focused on enrolling our child in a highly engaged and responsive school. Thank you for the DCPS list to research in more detail. Are there any recommendations for charter schools that fit our criteria?

Why did you buy in Brookland then? And why are you asking about fundraising as a proxy for ses? Most people just look at Farms and at risk rate. Is it because you are trying to avoid the lower middle class that aren't captured in farms or at risk numbers? Then look for white (white in DC are almost all middle and upper middle). On this second measure, you want wotp schools, since even the best charters that have low farms (20% or below) do have a good-sized population of lower middle class. This economic diversity is one of the reasons we chose charter rather than the almost uniformly high ses wotp school we were zoned for. It is one of the reasons we decided to buy in Brookland. Which brings me back to my original question - why are you in Brookland?

you were IB for west of the park school and you chose a charter. You are nuts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for the helpful posts about DCPS schools. We live inbound to Burroughs. I did not intend my post to sound elitist or silly, but parental involvement and school administration efficacy are important to my family. While other posters may be constrained by commute or school location, those are not factors for us where we are really focused on enrolling our child in a highly engaged and responsive school. Thank you for the DCPS list to research in more detail. Are there any recommendations for charter schools that fit our criteria?

Why did you buy in Brookland then? And why are you asking about fundraising as a proxy for ses? Most people just look at Farms and at risk rate. Is it because you are trying to avoid the lower middle class that aren't captured in farms or at risk numbers? Then look for white (white in DC are almost all middle and upper middle). On this second measure, you want wotp schools, since even the best charters that have low farms (20% or below) do have a good-sized population of lower middle class. This economic diversity is one of the reasons we chose charter rather than the almost uniformly high ses wotp school we were zoned for. It is one of the reasons we decided to buy in Brookland. Which brings me back to my original question - why are you in Brookland?

you were IB for west of the park school and you chose a charter. You are nuts.

no, we couldn't stay long term - we were crammed into a tiny apartment. Plus my neighbors in CP were not friendly to us (somehow they could smell we weren't rich). Plus I didn't want a traditional school program and had already signed up for a progressive private school when we won the lottery. And I LOVE my friendly, economically mixed brookland neighbors and so glad my kids go to school with all of them (the middle, the upper middle, the lower middle, the at risk)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for the helpful posts about DCPS schools. We live inbound to Burroughs. I did not intend my post to sound elitist or silly, but parental involvement and school administration efficacy are important to my family. While other posters may be constrained by commute or school location, those are not factors for us where we are really focused on enrolling our child in a highly engaged and responsive school. Thank you for the DCPS list to research in more detail. Are there any recommendations for charter schools that fit our criteria?

Why did you buy in Brookland then? And why are you asking about fundraising as a proxy for ses? Most people just look at Farms and at risk rate. Is it because you are trying to avoid the lower middle class that aren't captured in farms or at risk numbers? Then look for white (white in DC are almost all middle and upper middle). On this second measure, you want wotp schools, since even the best charters that have low farms (20% or below) do have a good-sized population of lower middle class. This economic diversity is one of the reasons we chose charter rather than the almost uniformly high ses wotp school we were zoned for. It is one of the reasons we decided to buy in Brookland. Which brings me back to my original question - why are you in Brookland?

you were IB for west of the park school and you chose a charter. You are nuts.

no, we couldn't stay long term - we were crammed into a tiny apartment. Plus my neighbors in CP were not friendly to us (somehow they could smell we weren't rich). Plus I didn't want a traditional school program and had already signed up for a progressive private school when we won the lottery. And I LOVE my friendly, economically mixed brookland neighbors and so glad my kids go to school with all of them (the middle, the upper middle, the lower middle, the at risk)

Yes, I'm sure that's the reason they weren't friendly to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for the helpful posts about DCPS schools. We live inbound to Burroughs. I did not intend my post to sound elitist or silly, but parental involvement and school administration efficacy are important to my family. While other posters may be constrained by commute or school location, those are not factors for us where we are really focused on enrolling our child in a highly engaged and responsive school. Thank you for the DCPS list to research in more detail. Are there any recommendations for charter schools that fit our criteria?

Why did you buy in Brookland then? And why are you asking about fundraising as a proxy for ses? Most people just look at Farms and at risk rate. Is it because you are trying to avoid the lower middle class that aren't captured in farms or at risk numbers? Then look for white (white in DC are almost all middle and upper middle). On this second measure, you want wotp schools, since even the best charters that have low farms (20% or below) do have a good-sized population of lower middle class. This economic diversity is one of the reasons we chose charter rather than the almost uniformly high ses wotp school we were zoned for. It is one of the reasons we decided to buy in Brookland. Which brings me back to my original question - why are you in Brookland?

you were IB for west of the park school and you chose a charter. You are nuts.

no, we couldn't stay long term - we were crammed into a tiny apartment. Plus my neighbors in CP were not friendly to us (somehow they could smell we weren't rich). Plus I didn't want a traditional school program and had already signed up for a progressive private school when we won the lottery. And I LOVE my friendly, economically mixed brookland neighbors and so glad my kids go to school with all of them (the middle, the upper middle, the lower middle, the at risk)

Yes, I'm sure that's the reason they weren't friendly to you.

Seriously. It was bizarre. Even my husband noticed (and he's not at all sensitive). People are lovely to us in Brookland and don't ask where exactly we live.