Mundo Verde is going to expand

[Anonymous]

We are a MV family with two kids in the school at grade levels that won't be replicated by the expansion. We have been with the school a long time and love many of the teachers, the emphasis on social justice, the other families, and, of course, the bilingual curriculum. We strongly oppose the expansion, along with many of the teachers.

We understand that being heard does not always lead to the desired result, but believe me when I say we were not heard. Keep in mind this is not the first major decision the administration has made that reversed messaging given to parents and teachers. The best decisions are made after consulting with, or at least considering, the troops on the ground.

Going forward, we hope to stay with the school, but cannot guarantee it. One thing we know for sure, however, is that we will no longer donate money to it. We would consider donating to an independent PTA, which at this point does not exist, but will hopefully be created as a positive reaction to this unfortunate choice by the administration.
I

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are a MV family with two kids in the school at grade levels that won't be replicated by the expansion. We have been with the school a long time and love many of the teachers, the emphasis on social justice, the other families, and, of course, the bilingual curriculum. We strongly oppose the expansion, along with many of the teachers.

We understand that being heard does not always lead to the desired result, but believe me when I say we were not heard. Keep in mind this is not the first major decision the administration has made that reversed messaging given to parents and teachers. The best decisions are made after consulting with, or at least considering, the troops on the ground.

Going forward, we hope to stay with the school, but cannot guarantee it. One thing we know for sure, however, is that we will no longer donate money to it. We would consider donating to an independent PTA, which at this point does not exist, but will hopefully be created as a positive reaction to this unfortunate choice by the administration.
I

Hard to "listen" when 90%+ of MV parents actions betray their words and their words are thin screen for naked self interest.

Langley and myriad other DCPS schools have empty seats. If those seats are good enough for those not fortunate enough to match at MV and that you did not want to match at MV by opposing their expansion, then DCPS is good enough for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are a MV family with two kids in the school at grade levels that won't be replicated by the expansion. We have been with the school a long time and love many of the teachers, the emphasis on social justice, the other families, and, of course, the bilingual curriculum. We strongly oppose the expansion, along with many of the teachers.

We understand that being heard does not always lead to the desired result, but believe me when I say we were not heard. Keep in mind this is not the first major decision the administration has made that reversed messaging given to parents and teachers. The best decisions are made after consulting with, or at least considering, the troops on the ground.

Going forward, we hope to stay with the school, but cannot guarantee it. One thing we know for sure, however, is that we will no longer donate money to it. We would consider donating to an independent PTA, which at this point does not exist, but will hopefully be created as a positive reaction to this unfortunate choice by the administration.
I

Hard to "listen" when 90%+ of MV parents actions betray their words and their words are thin screen for naked self interest.

Langley and myriad other DCPS schools have empty seats. If those seats are good enough for those not fortunate enough to match at MV and that you did not want to match at MV by opposing their expansion, then DCPS is good enough for you.

Not an MV parent, so - unaffected by the administration's choice to ignore the families who have spent years, love, and money investing in the school.

It's simply untrue that Langley is good enough. It isn't. And now, MV isn't going to be either. The problem is that MV is trying to fly before mastering learning to walk. Aiming for DCPS level mediocrity isn't good enough.

Glad that they will have to lottery some of their kids into DCI instead of getting automatic feeder rights for them all. They would water down the cohort for those students coming from better developed schools.

[Anonymous]

I have a feeling this is the first and last year MV will enjoy "tier 1" status.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are a MV family with two kids in the school at grade levels that won't be replicated by the expansion. We have been with the school a long time and love many of the teachers, the emphasis on social justice, the other families, and, of course, the bilingual curriculum. We strongly oppose the expansion, along with many of the teachers.

We understand that being heard does not always lead to the desired result, but believe me when I say we were not heard. Keep in mind this is not the first major decision the administration has made that reversed messaging given to parents and teachers. The best decisions are made after consulting with, or at least considering, the troops on the ground.

Going forward, we hope to stay with the school, but cannot guarantee it. One thing we know for sure, however, is that we will no longer donate money to it. We would consider donating to an independent PTA, which at this point does not exist, but will hopefully be created as a positive reaction to this unfortunate choice by the administration.
I

Hard to "listen" when 90%+ of MV parents actions betray their words and their words are thin screen for naked self interest.

Langley and myriad other DCPS schools have empty seats. If those seats are good enough for those not fortunate enough to match at MV and that you did not want to match at MV by opposing their expansion, then DCPS is good enough for you.

Not an MV parent, so - unaffected by the administration's choice to ignore the families who have spent years, love, and money investing in the school.

It's simply untrue that Langley is good enough. It isn't. And now, MV isn't going to be either. The problem is that MV is trying to fly before mastering learning to walk. Aiming for DCPS level mediocrity isn't good enough.

Glad that they will have to lottery some of their kids into DCI instead of getting automatic feeder rights for them all. They would water down the cohort for those students coming from better developed schools.

Unless, of course DCI decides to expand to absorb these new MV students, as well as the ones from Stokes.

No commitment at all from DCI to do that, but they told their parents last month that they are considering expanding in response to what the feeders are doing, and the PCSB staff said the same thing re DCI in their recommendation to the Board re Stokes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are a MV family with two kids in the school at grade levels that won't be replicated by the expansion. We have been with the school a long time and love many of the teachers, the emphasis on social justice, the other families, and, of course, the bilingual curriculum. We strongly oppose the expansion, along with many of the teachers.

We understand that being heard does not always lead to the desired result, but believe me when I say we were not heard. Keep in mind this is not the first major decision the administration has made that reversed messaging given to parents and teachers. The best decisions are made after consulting with, or at least considering, the troops on the ground.

Going forward, we hope to stay with the school, but cannot guarantee it. One thing we know for sure, however, is that we will no longer donate money to it. We would consider donating to an independent PTA, which at this point does not exist, but will hopefully be created as a positive reaction to this unfortunate choice by the administration.
I

Hard to "listen" when 90%+ of MV parents actions betray their words and their words are thin screen for naked self interest.

Langley and myriad other DCPS schools have empty seats. If those seats are good enough for those not fortunate enough to match at MV and that you did not want to match at MV by opposing their expansion, then DCPS is good enough for you.

Not an MV parent, so - unaffected by the administration's choice to ignore the families who have spent years, love, and money investing in the school.

It's simply untrue that Langley is good enough. It isn't. And now, MV isn't going to be either. The problem is that MV is trying to fly before mastering learning to walk. Aiming for DCPS level mediocrity isn't good enough.

Glad that they will have to lottery some of their kids into DCI instead of getting automatic feeder rights for them all. They would water down the cohort for those students coming from better developed schools.

Unless, of course DCI decides to expand to absorb these new MV students, as well as the ones from Stokes.

No commitment at all from DCI to do that, but they told their parents last month that they are considering expanding in response to what the feeders are doing, and the PCSB staff said the same thing re DCI in their recommendation to the Board re Stokes.

Hopefully they won't. LAMB and Yu Ying students deserve better.

[Anonymous]

That was more than a little snobby.

DCI is going to expand. I'd bet money on it. The thing is, they don't have a track record either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That was more than a little snobby.

DCI is going to expand. I'd bet money on it. The thing is, they don't have a track record either.

LAMB and Yu Ying DO have track records. And it's hard to see them being served well by such a decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That was more than a little snobby.

DCI is going to expand. I'd bet money on it. The thing is, they don't have a track record either.

LAMB and Yu Ying DO have track records. And it's hard to see them being served well by such a decision.

But it isn't their decision. It is the DCI Board's decision to apply, and the PCSBs decision to approve. If they approved MV, they'll approve DCI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That was more than a little snobby.

DCI is going to expand. I'd bet money on it. The thing is, they don't have a track record either.

LAMB and Yu Ying DO have track records. And it's hard to see them being served well by such a decision.

But it isn't their decision. It is the DCI Board's decision to apply, and the PCSBs decision to approve. If they approved MV, they'll approve DCI.

Right. So we have to hope that DCI doesn't echo MV's and Stokes's hubris, and sacrifice LAMB (and YY).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That was more than a little snobby.

DCI is going to expand. I'd bet money on it. The thing is, they don't have a track record either.

LAMB and Yu Ying DO have track records. And it's hard to see them being served well by such a decision.

But it isn't their decision. It is the DCI Board's decision to apply, and the PCSBs decision to approve. If they approved MV, they'll approve DCI.

Right. So we have to hope that DCI doesn't echo MV's and Stokes's hubris, and sacrifice LAMB (and YY).

They already said they were going to pursue it at their May parent meeting when asked.

[Anonymous]

I haven't been on these fora much this past school year, but in school years past after lottery results and so many disappointed parents, someone would ALWAYS talk about how schools like Yu Ying, LAMB, Creative Minds and others should expand. And I can only speak for the one of those schools that my kids attend, but those comments were always so ignorant because they assumed it was as simple as "just expanding your model". Just get more space and replicate.

It is nowhere near that simple, and often this is exactly where schools crash and burn miserably, because they stop focusing on maintaining what they've done well and keep trying to accommodate the desire/pressure/hubris to get bigger and bigger and bigger.

There are always great lessons to be learned from schools that succeed, and those schools should be open about sharing what they do and how they do it. But to think you can just multiply the current staff and admins and students by X and keep the quality is ignorant at best, disastrous at worst.

When we first were looking at schools for our kids, we fell madly in love with 2 schools: our current school and Mundo Verde. This was before the move, when they were still on 16th St. Even though we didn't end up at MV, I've always followed it's evolution with interest because I really did love so much about what I saw and heard and the parents/kids I met in looking at it. It's very depressing that whoever is driving this expansion is not committed enough or focused enough on taking current problems seriously and making sure those not-minor wrinkles are ironed out before moving to expanding.

Hopefully DCI is smart enough to also realize, they haven't even gotten to a fully populated school yet (won't SY17-18 be their first year with a 10th grade, and still no 11th or 12th?). And they've got more than enough to worry about with getting into the new building. DCI would be crazy to consider further expansion of their size model before having a couple of successful years fully populated and in the new space. They've already pulled off quite a feat by forming and opening at all, so hopefully those in charge and their Board are smart enough to stay focused on quality, building out the student population as currently planned, and getting their new building finished and open in time.

If MV is going to expand, and is making that decision without resolving their biggest problems or making sure DCI has a plan for how that would work with the feeder relationship, then MV has to be ready to live with the unknown consequences. Which it sounds like will cost them a LOT of current families.

[Anonymous]

Your language is offensive (sacrificing?)

LAMB and YY are the smallest DCI feeders with the lowest percentage of students enrolling at DCI. They could disappear from the feeder pattern tomorrow and it would make very little difference to DCI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your language is offensive (sacrificing?)

LAMB and YY are the smallest DCI feeders with the lowest percentage of students enrolling at DCI. They could disappear from the feeder pattern tomorrow and it would make very little difference to DCI.

You should quote the post you're referencing, because the word "sacrificing" isn't in the post before this one.

Much more importantly though, you're out of your mind if you think YY and LAMB taking themselves out of the DCI feeder system would make very little difference. Unless you also think test scores don't matter to DCI parents or parents considering DCI... because if you knew anything about the breakdown of how kids currently at DCI perform on standardized tests, you'd know it's the LAMB and YY students who average the highest scores, which means pulling out brings the overall average scores down. You think that makes little difference? I'd be very sad if you had to find out just how big a difference it would make, because I love the idea of DCI and the school it is so far.

[Anonymous]

Yu Ying is the school that started DCI. Everyone else is along for the ride. Without the YY leadership there would be no DCI.