EdFest reactions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The booths who remained sitting behind a table didn't work. A few dumped the tables or had one for flyers etc were my favorite to navigate. It felt more open. Lee Montesorri gave out little plants. My kid is currently tossing around his football from Garfield. We are far from high school but the young people i met who were roaming from Dunbar and Washington Leadershup Academy were impressive. I like schools that had a mix of teachers or administrators and parents. Myschooldc folks in the middle of the floor did a good job explaining the process.

So, you pick a school by what freebies they give you?

Nope, not even close, that was an addendum to how schools set up booths. Those that were "open U" and those that were square. If you are standing behind a table, it made it feel like you didn't want to talk to me. Re: freebies at least one of those freebies (and maybe both, I don't remember), were sitting behind tables. I too thought Ingenuity Prep was impressive (maybe they are investing in outreach, but they are also promoting well on Facebook, because I'm getting their ads consistently).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The booths who remained sitting behind a table didn't work. A few dumped the tables or had one for flyers etc were my favorite to navigate. It felt more open. Lee Montesorri gave out little plants. My kid is currently tossing around his football from Garfield. We are far from high school but the young people i met who were roaming from Dunbar and Washington Leadershup Academy were impressive. I like schools that had a mix of teachers or administrators and parents. Myschooldc folks in the middle of the floor did a good job explaining the process.

So, you pick a school by what freebies they give you?

Nope, not even close, that was an addendum to how schools set up booths. Those that were "open U" and those that were square. If you are standing behind a table, it made it feel like you didn't want to talk to me. Re: freebies at least one of those freebies (and maybe both, I don't remember), were sitting behind tables. I too thought Ingenuity Prep was impressive (maybe they are investing in outreach, but they are also promoting well on Facebook, because I'm getting their ads consistently).

Education being driven by marketing is not a good thing. If we make decisions based on things like this, that's driving more money to marketing and less to the basics that actually teach our kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The booths who remained sitting behind a table didn't work. A few dumped the tables or had one for flyers etc were my favorite to navigate. It felt more open. Lee Montesorri gave out little plants. My kid is currently tossing around his football from Garfield. We are far from high school but the young people i met who were roaming from Dunbar and Washington Leadershup Academy were impressive. I like schools that had a mix of teachers or administrators and parents. Myschooldc folks in the middle of the floor did a good job explaining the process.

So, you pick a school by what freebies they give you?

Nope, not even close, that was an addendum to how schools set up booths. Those that were "open U" and those that were square. If you are standing behind a table, it made it feel like you didn't want to talk to me. Re: freebies at least one of those freebies (and maybe both, I don't remember), were sitting behind tables. I too thought Ingenuity Prep was impressive (maybe they are investing in outreach, but they are also promoting well on Facebook, because I'm getting their ads consistently).

I'm going to disagree with this poster. I wasn't there for the marketing, the promotion, swag, etc. I enjoyed the booths that had parent reps who talked about the school and were open and engaging.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm here representing our DCPS ... not nearly the crowds as previous years.

I was there the whole time this year and last year. It seemed like a steady flow this year, rather than a crush at the beginning that petered out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The booths who remained sitting behind a table didn't work. A few dumped the tables or had one for flyers etc were my favorite to navigate. It felt more open. Lee Montesorri gave out little plants. My kid is currently tossing around his football from Garfield. We are far from high school but the young people i met who were roaming from Dunbar and Washington Leadershup Academy were impressive. I like schools that had a mix of teachers or administrators and parents. Myschooldc folks in the middle of the floor did a good job explaining the process.

So, you pick a school by what freebies they give you?

Nope, not even close, that was an addendum to how schools set up booths. Those that were "open U" and those that were square. If you are standing behind a table, it made it feel like you didn't want to talk to me. Re: freebies at least one of those freebies (and maybe both, I don't remember), were sitting behind tables. I too thought Ingenuity Prep was impressive (maybe they are investing in outreach, but they are also promoting well on Facebook, because I'm getting their ads consistently).

I'm going to disagree with this poster. I wasn't there for the marketing, the promotion, swag, etc. I enjoyed the booths that had parent reps who talked about the school and were open and engaging.

I thought the energy in the room was great! It was extremely well organized and didn't feel overly crowded or hectic.

[Anonymous]

I am kind of laughing at the parents who are making decisions based on "vibes" or what one parent volunteer said about calming down or where they stood. I guess that's one way to make important decisions, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am kind of laughing at the parents who are making decisions based on "vibes" or what one parent volunteer said about calming down or where they stood. I guess that's one way to make important decisions, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it.

The PP who won't be moving IB for Deal/Hardy due to the booths at EdFest.

That has to be a first.

[Anonymous]

I was just there for the free cupcakes.

[Anonymous]

+1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The booths who remained sitting behind a table didn't work. A few dumped the tables or had one for flyers etc were my favorite to navigate. It felt more open. Lee Montesorri gave out little plants. My kid is currently tossing around his football from Garfield. We are far from high school but the young people i met who were roaming from Dunbar and Washington Leadershup Academy were impressive. I like schools that had a mix of teachers or administrators and parents. Myschooldc folks in the middle of the floor did a good job explaining the process.

So, you pick a school by what freebies they give you?

Nope, not even close, that was an addendum to how schools set up booths. Those that were "open U" and those that were square. If you are standing behind a table, it made it feel like you didn't want to talk to me. Re: freebies at least one of those freebies (and maybe both, I don't remember), were sitting behind tables. I too thought Ingenuity Prep was impressive (maybe they are investing in outreach, but they are also promoting well on Facebook, because I'm getting their ads consistently).

Education being driven by marketing is not a good thing. If we make decisions based on things like this, that's driving more money to marketing and less to the basics that actually teach our kids.

But free markets! Competition! School choice!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My first edoest, what an overwhelming experience!
Please please help! My twins are getting ready to enter pk3 and my husband and I are going nuts with research lol.

Well, back to EdFEST: I got a good vibe from the following booths (in no particular order):
1- DC Bilingual
2- Ingenuity Prep
3- Lees Montesano

On a side note, I ruled out onevery school due to the parent volunteer I spoke with. She said "why are you freaking out this is not college, who cares what elementary school your child goes to, they are basically the same, I don't get why they rank them in my opinion..." well that did it for me, like ma'am elementary education sets the tone for your child's academic journey, I can't just throw my twins at some bottom of the barrel school!

All in all, this was my first EdFEST and it wasn't a waste of time.

Seriously, she has a point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My first edoest, what an overwhelming experience!
Please please help! My twins are getting ready to enter pk3 and my husband and I are going nuts with research lol.

Well, back to EdFEST: I got a good vibe from the following booths (in no particular order):
1- DC Bilingual
2- Ingenuity Prep
3- Lees Montesano

On a side note, I ruled out onevery school due to the parent volunteer I spoke with. She said "why are you freaking out this is not college, who cares what elementary school your child goes to, they are basically the same, I don't get why they rank them in my opinion..." well that did it for me, like ma'am elementary education sets the tone for your child's academic journey, I can't just throw my twins at some bottom of the barrel school!

All in all, this was my first EdFEST and it wasn't a waste of time.

Twin parent, join the DC Twins yahoo group. [e-mail] (Try to ignore anyone who is not a parent of multiples who tells you to "calm down". )

Yes because getting into a good school matters so much more if you're a twin.

It's easier if you are a twin. You get two shots at getting in. No sympathy here!

[Anonymous]

I've been to many, many EdFest (and Charter School Festivals). I thought it was ok. It seems that the DC Armory is a tough location, but they make do.

After I represented my school, I walked around and thought that some of the schools really were engaging. I liked Lee Montessori and Creative Minds. They seemed to step out and meet the parents (vs. making parents come to you). I also like the middle/high schools that had kids talking the parents (Dunbar did a great job of this).

Was pretty annoyed by some of the "groups" like PAVE who were interrupting parents at booths to give their pitch.

[Anonymous]

I wanted to go but the timing was horrible. Right before the holidays and only a 4 hour window.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am kind of laughing at the parents who are making decisions based on "vibes" or what one parent volunteer said about calming down or where they stood. I guess that's one way to make important decisions, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it.

The PP who won't be moving IB for Deal/Hardy due to the booths at EdFest.

That has to be a first.

I am the PP you mentioned and I think you misunderstood.

We still may move IB for Deal or Hardy the summer before 6th grade. But from what we learned at the fair, we didn't feel like it made sense to switch to a Deal or Hardy feeder elementary school. It could enable us to stay in our house through middle or high school because of feeder rights, but we'd have a miserable commute and I don't think our kid would be as happy or learn as much as at his current ES. Things like outdoor space, homework policy, and class size are really important to us.