"HRCS" parents-- are you playing the lottery?

[Anonymous]

Happy with our HRCS but I do have an itch to enter the lottery for the heck of it to see if we'd get into a Wilson/Deal feeder (PK-4)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not playing the lottery, but leaving our HRC for our IB DCPS.

Why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not playing the lottery, but leaving our HRC for our IB DCPS.

Why?

We love our school, but I think we underestimated the value of neighborhood school and no commute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not playing the lottery, but leaving our HRC for our IB DCPS.

Why?

We love our school, but I think we underestimated the value of neighborhood school and no commute.

Just realized this wasn’t my post. I posted the exact thing on page 1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not playing the lottery, but leaving our HRC for our IB DCPS.

Why?

Underwhelmed with our charter, to put it mildly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At ITS, hoping to trade up to MV P St.

Not sure how that is moving up, but good luck.

I am not either but DH wants the Spanish.

NP. Then why say moving up? No dog in fight, but we’ve had 3 friends leave a good school for MV and all 3 have regretted it.

I guess because it is "up" in his view. I am kinda not into it. Sometimes the spousal agreement is the hardest part of the lottery.

+1 on spousal agreement! Not to derail the thread but managing expectations around child's education can be equally hard as money issues, domestic chores, etc!

re: lottery, we are also at ITS and staying put. Our kid is happy, healthy and enjoys going to school. I think I've finally figured out that that combo (happy, healthy, enjoyment) is the greenest grass. It happens in lots of different schools, and lots of different scenarios, and if you get there with your kid enjoy that ride as long as it lasts!

I agree about spousal agreement. We left a good (but not great) school for immersion. Ended up to be a terrible choice for my child. Thankfully, we got into another HRCS that was a great fit.

It's hard to let your spouse have their way when you know it simply won't work/isn't worth it and that immersion will be a poor choice for your child. Especially when, pre-kids, you agreed on immersion as a goal for school.

But I honestly think sometimes one spouse (especially if they are the parent that has a part time/less crazy job) really does have a better sense of what will work for that kid. And I wish I had argued like hell instead of giving in when I was that spouse. All's well that ends well, and we love the school my kid is in, but immersion (especially in later grades) can be a tough adjustment.

[Anonymous]

We are another ITS family who left for the siren call of Spanish immersion at MV. As a school, much happier with ITS ... and if the four families we know that made similar transitions, only one of us remain at MV. (Two left for other immersion programs while third moved out if DC.) This is purely anecdotal, sure there has been other moves, in both directions.

One thing to consider is that often the grades are quite small at HRCS. So potentially a pool of only two classes, eg 40-50 kids, for yours to socialize with and establish friendships. ITS has two classes per grade level, MV has four. Compare this to other schools if you are trying to gauge some of the socio- emotional needs of your kids. DCPS can have six or more (Janney) per grade level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dumb question, what is HRCS?

It's a made-up term on this forum for "highly-regarded charter schools." Shorthand for a critical mass of UMC and white children. There's less agreement on this than what constitutes the Big 3 in the private school forum.

Huh. I thought it was high resource charter school, with a similar definition. That's why I thought DCB etc. might not apply.

[Anonymous]

Two kids at ITS in elementary school, and very happily staying put.

[Anonymous]

There are a lot of ITS parents on this forum, compared to many of the other charter schools. Is that because the school has lots of UMC parents?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are another ITS family who left for the siren call of Spanish immersion at MV. As a school, much happier with ITS ... and if the four families we know that made similar transitions, only one of us remain at MV. (Two left for other immersion programs while third moved out if DC.) This is purely anecdotal, sure there has been other moves, in both directions.

One thing to consider is that often the grades are quite small at HRCS. So potentially a pool of only two classes, eg 40-50 kids, for yours to socialize with and establish friendships. ITS has two classes per grade level, MV has four. Compare this to other schools if you are trying to gauge some of the socio- emotional needs of your kids. DCPS can have six or more (Janney) per grade level.

Thanks, PP. How do you feel the academics compare? And would you still switch without the DCI guarantee?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of ITS parents on this forum, compared to many of the other charter schools. Is that because the school has lots of UMC parents?

No, it is because they watch this forum like a hawk to shut down any criticism of their school, while hoping their upper middle class live in Ward 5 choice was a good one

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PK3 at LAMB. Really like the school. It hasn't been a perfect half-year, but we are staying next year and are NOT entering the lottery.

LOL. You've been in the school for less than 6 months.

NP- why is this funny? How long is an acceptable amount of time to be at a school before deciding if you like it or not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are another ITS family who left for the siren call of Spanish immersion at MV. As a school, much happier with ITS ... and if the four families we know that made similar transitions, only one of us remain at MV. (Two left for other immersion programs while third moved out if DC.) This is purely anecdotal, sure there has been other moves, in both directions.

One thing to consider is that often the grades are quite small at HRCS. So potentially a pool of only two classes, eg 40-50 kids, for yours to socialize with and establish friendships. ITS has two classes per grade level, MV has four. Compare this to other schools if you are trying to gauge some of the socio- emotional needs of your kids. DCPS can have six or more (Janney) per grade level.

Thanks, PP. How do you feel the academics compare? And would you still switch without the DCI guarantee?

We would not switch without the DCI guarantee. The preparation/critical thinking skills at ITS created a solid foundation for original thinking.

If we had to do over, would have moved inbounds for Oyster, Bancroft (where there are quite a few ITS fellows) or Powell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of ITS parents on this forum, compared to many of the other charter schools. Is that because the school has lots of UMC parents?

No, it is because they watch this forum like a hawk to shut down any criticism of their school, while hoping their upper middle class live in Ward 5 choice was a good one

Do you have any evidence that DCI posts as parents? How would you distinguish such a post from an actual happy parent?