Russian charter - Tolstoy Academy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a US-born person of East European descent, and have lived and worked in Russia for years. I think this charter could be great, if it integrated the best parts of Russian literary, artistic, and academic cultures.

The language piece is kind of secondary to high academic standards, and wanting your child to grow up highly literate.

I'm not sure who the target audience is, though, as there is already a Russian-language school run through the Russian Embassy.

Could you please share more info on this? I thought it only serves embassy kids and not open to the public.

PP of the first post upthread here. I've known non-Embassy kids to attend, but I think they had to really work at admission. It's also, as another PP said, a very specific curriculum.

We didn't seek it for our kids because I'd heard the overall attitude was less than nurturing. Which doesn't surprise me, having interacted with the Russian school system. I wanted something a little less rigid for the early elementary years. But you can't argue with success. The Russian education system works - unless it burns you out.

Thank you for mentioning the nurturing part - I would not want to give it up, even for an excellent education.

[Anonymous]

Excellent idea....Ward 7 please!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Excellent idea....Ward 7 please!

The email blast specifically said they were aiming for "NW DC". Also the two information sessions currently scheduled are both taking place in the Shepherd Park library. I kind of doubt they are interested in Ward 7 locations...but you never know, what with the difficulties charters have in finding space.

[Anonymous]

The challenge for any language school is finding and keeping native speaker-level teachers. Not just ones who can teach language grammar. They have to teach multiple subjects in the target language. The ethnicity of families is less important.

Where would Tolstoy get its Russian teachers?

[Anonymous]

Greetings all,

I randomly put in a search Tolstoy academy, and saw this. I am the only who has posted on Ward 4 listservs and there are others who have spread the message around Columbia Heights and other lists. I am a volunteer and have nothing to gain from this except actual Russian school for my daughter. To answer a few questions/observations:
1) Why German? All Germans speak perfect English because very few people study German. Guess what, if an American wants to be an astronaut, what language is required?.
2) There are many Russians in DC, in addition to Rockville and VA, and more staying and coming. The idea is not only to target Russians (its a charter NOT a private school) but the community as a whole. I personally moved from VA to DC, without knowing about this school, and am happy I did...DC also has public Chinese and French schools, and plenty bilingual Spanish ones
3) There have been 2 meetings already and more coming, its work in progress and yes, to meet the deadline for application in March 2018.

Want to know more and get engaged? Please 'like" Tolstoy Academy in DC on FB. or email me at [e-mail]

Poka and thanks for this exciting exchange!

[snegrust]

Now that I logged in you can see better, it is a follow-up to my message above with info on the Russian public charter school. For those who care where it may be and other considerations, pls vote in an ongoing survey, its in your hands.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WGG77PK


and some statistics http://www.dcpcsb.org/evaluating/waitlist-data

again, we hope you will be in touch.

Schastlivo

[Anonymous]

snegrust wrote:Now that I logged in you can see better, it is a follow-up to my message above with info on the Russian public charter school. For those who care where it may be and other considerations, pls vote in an ongoing survey, its in your hands.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WGG77PK


and some statistics http://www.dcpcsb.org/evaluating/waitlist-data

again, we hope you will be in touch.

Schastlivo

This doesn't say where the school will be -- it only asks where respondents live.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a US-born person of East European descent, and have lived and worked in Russia for years. I think this charter could be great, if it integrated the best parts of Russian literary, artistic, and academic cultures.

The language piece is kind of secondary to high academic standards, and wanting your child to grow up highly literate.

I'm not sure who the target audience is, though, as there is already a Russian-language school run through the Russian Embassy.

Could you please share more info on this? I thought it only serves embassy kids and not open to the public.

The embassy school serves the embassy kids and the kids of some affiliated embassies (like Kazakhstan). I would not recommend it for regular American kids, even if you get admitted, because it follows the guidelines of Russia's Ministry of Education (as in, it's a regular public school under the jurisdiction and rules of the country's Dept of Education) and prepares kids for entering Russia's colleges, not American schools.

It would be great if this charter worked. DC suburbs are full of Russian preschools and Saturday schools so demand is clearly there. When we left the District, at least part of the reason was to be closer to the Russian-language education resources. Our son attended a full-time Russian immersion preschool in Falls Church until he started K, and our daughter is on track to do the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP 12:56 - My children have attended the Embassy school. It is certainly geared towards the children of diplomats, but there are a handful of non-diplomats who attend. My children went there because we moved to Washington from Moscow unexpectedly and thought it would be more comfortable for them to stick with the system they knew. It is the Russian state curriculum, which as you probably know is a very specific thing. If you're interested for a child older than ?????? ?????, I think it would be very difficult to start.

I also know the people who are trying to start the Tolstoy Academy and they are thinking of it as an immersion program (like many others in the city) that also emphasizes the strengths of the Russian curriculum - math, science, classic literature.

I am happy that my children are bilingual in Russian and I think that, given the state of affairs between Russia and the US, Russian-language skills are likely to be in demand in the future.

Thank you! Is there an official way to contact someone from the embassy school? I could not find anything on their website. As to the charter, ideally, i'd send my childred to a good Russian after school program rather than a full immersion program. I feel that full immersion will alienate my kids and devoid them of a more traditional American childhood that I can't provide being an immigrant. I do want my kids to be bilingual, but I don't want them to feel foreign in their country of birth.

There is no final word on how full or partial the immersion would be, nor on the exact age at which the school would start. You are encouraged to contact people who are trying to start the school as they are seeking to hear preferences from parents.

[snegrust]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Excellent idea....Ward 7 please!

The email blast specifically said they were aiming for "NW DC". Also the two information sessions currently scheduled are both taking place in the Shepherd Park library. I kind of doubt they are interested in Ward 7 locations...but you never know, what with the difficulties charters have in finding space.

Meeting locations have little to do with preliminary plans for school location, please vote and contact organizers. However, current survey results lean towards Wards 4 and 1.

If you have not voted, please do so and encourage others: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WGG77PK

[snegrust]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP 12:56 - My children have attended the Embassy school. It is certainly geared towards the children of diplomats, but there are a handful of non-diplomats who attend. My children went there because we moved to Washington from Moscow unexpectedly and thought it would be more comfortable for them to stick with the system they knew. It is the Russian state curriculum, which as you probably know is a very specific thing. If you're interested for a child older than ?????? ?????, I think it would be very difficult to start.

I also know the people who are trying to start the Tolstoy Academy and they are thinking of it as an immersion program (like many others in the city) that also emphasizes the strengths of the Russian curriculum - math, science, classic literature.

I am happy that my children are bilingual in Russian and I think that, given the state of affairs between Russia and the US, Russian-language skills are likely to be in demand in the future.

Thank you! Is there an official way to contact someone from the embassy school? I could not find anything on their website. As to the charter, ideally, i'd send my childred to a good Russian after school program rather than a full immersion program. I feel that full immersion will alienate my kids and devoid them of a more traditional American childhood that I can't provide being an immigrant. I do want my kids to be bilingual, but I don't want them to feel foreign in their country of birth.

There is no final word on how full or partial the immersion would be, nor on the exact age at which the school would start. You are encouraged to contact people who are trying to start the school as they are seeking to hear preferences from parents. Vote https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WGG77PK

[Anonymous]

All for a Russian immersion school! The more language schools, the better!! Russian, German, Japanese, Arabic. Whatever works to bring language instructions to people in DC!

What about at the Middle-school level?
It seems that we are now having a large number of schools at the elementary levels doing immersion (YY, Sela, MV, LAMB,...) and other doing "language classes" (Chinese at CMI, and others) but nothing at the middle-school level (beside DCI). (I've filled the survey to that effect).

For those who are arguing about the usefulness of learning a language or how "terrible these languages sound", I only shake my head in disbelief. It is just embarrassing to read. You live in the capital of the United State of America but sound as insular as a grandmother stuck in a small village (no offense to grandmothers, mine spoke 3 languages) and terribly narrow minded.
A sentence like "I agree that German and Russian are equally unpleasant-sounding languages. However, as a person with no Russian heritage, and given the current political climate, I would be embarrassed to say that my children attend a Russian immersion school " would be hilarious if it were not so sad...

Have you **ever** heard of Dostoyevsky? Pushkin? Chekhov?? (and yes, Tolstoy!)??
And for those who are not aware of, Russian scientists have nothing to be ashamed of (certainly compared to Germans!). Their contributions were often ignored because of the cold war and there is a clear difference of philosophy in the teaching of science -- less like Feynman always full of insights and more heavy on math.

I am not Russian and have no Russian heritage but I am a foreign-born American (French, another horrible sounding language ) and frankly cannot believe what I am reading.

Anyway -- Good luck to those trying to bring Russian (or any other language!) to DC!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

snegrust wrote:Now that I logged in you can see better, it is a follow-up to my message above with info on the Russian public charter school. For those who care where it may be and other considerations, pls vote in an ongoing survey, its in your hands.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WGG77PK


and some statistics http://www.dcpcsb.org/evaluating/waitlist-data

again, we hope you will be in touch.

Schastlivo

This doesn't say where the school will be -- it only asks where respondents live.

There is no final decision of where school will be yet, the decision would be depend on many factors, including where there are more of those interested and school buildings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All for a Russian immersion school! The more language schools, the better!! Russian, German, Japanese, Arabic. Whatever works to bring language instructions to people in DC!

What about at the Middle-school level?
It seems that we are now having a large number of schools at the elementary levels doing immersion (YY, Sela, MV, LAMB,...) and other doing "language classes" (Chinese at CMI, and others) but nothing at the middle-school level (beside DCI). (I've filled the survey to that effect).

For those who are arguing about the usefulness of learning a language or how "terrible these languages sound", I only shake my head in disbelief. It is just embarrassing to read. You live in the capital of the United State of America but sound as insular as a grandmother stuck in a small village (no offense to grandmothers, mine spoke 3 languages) and terribly narrow minded.
A sentence like "I agree that German and Russian are equally unpleasant-sounding languages. However, as a person with no Russian heritage, and given the current political climate, I would be embarrassed to say that my children attend a Russian immersion school " would be hilarious if it were not so sad...

Have you **ever** heard of Dostoyevsky? Pushkin? Chekhov?? (and yes, Tolstoy!)??
And for those who are not aware of, Russian scientists have nothing to be ashamed of (certainly compared to Germans!). Their contributions were often ignored because of the cold war and there is a clear difference of philosophy in the teaching of science -- less like Feynman always full of insights and more heavy on math.

I am not Russian and have no Russian heritage but I am a foreign-born American (French, another horrible sounding language ) and frankly cannot believe what I am reading.

Anyway -- Good luck to those trying to bring Russian (or any other language!) to DC!

What a nice and positive message, how refreshing!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Greetings all,

I randomly put in a search Tolstoy academy, and saw this. I am the only who has posted on Ward 4 listservs and there are others who have spread the message around Columbia Heights and other lists. I am a volunteer and have nothing to gain from this except actual Russian school for my daughter. To answer a few questions/observations:
1) Why German? All Germans speak perfect English because very few people study German. Guess what, if an American wants to be an astronaut, what language is required?.
2) There are many Russians in DC, in addition to Rockville and VA, and more staying and coming. The idea is not only to target Russians (its a charter NOT a private school) but the community as a whole. I personally moved from VA to DC, without knowing about this school, and am happy I did...DC also has public Chinese and French schools, and plenty bilingual Spanish ones
3) There have been 2 meetings already and more coming, its work in progress and yes, to meet the deadline for application in March 2018.

Want to know more and get engaged? Please 'like" Tolstoy Academy in DC on FB. or email me at [e-mail]

Poka and thanks for this exciting exchange!

Best of luck to you! When presenting to the Charter Board, one suggestion is to learn to speak the language they like to hear. You can meet with their staff ahead of time to get help tailoring your application to their interests. They will rubber stamp anything with the right spin on it. You can watch the testimony of other "successful" charters on their website. They are not big on substance.