DC charters - which ones are open? hybrid model? plans of reopening?

[Anonymous]

My son is at Two Rivers 4th Street. They have not been good at communicating what plans, if any, they have for in-person instruction beyond general aspirations that it will happen some day. They have talked about increasing “in person opportunities” but all we’ve seen so far is an in person, outdoor social event for my son’s class. The school is apparently offering a very small Cares-like class but only for the few kids who weren’t logging in to any of the online classes and wouldn’t/couldn’t do so after the school followed up with them. They have not announced any metric for what rate of infection would trigger a shift from DL to in person learning. HTH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is at Two Rivers 4th Street. They have not been good at communicating what plans, if any, they have for in-person instruction beyond general aspirations that it will happen some day. They have talked about increasing “in person opportunities” but all we’ve seen so far is an in person, outdoor social event for my son’s class. The school is apparently offering a very small Cares-like class but only for the few kids who weren’t logging in to any of the online classes and wouldn’t/couldn’t do so after the school followed up with them. They have not announced any metric for what rate of infection would trigger a shift from DL to in person learning. HTH.

Maybe post on DCUM less, read more of the TR emails and attend some of the meetings and Q&A the school does every two weeks (same meetings they have done since school began). There is a big difference between not liking the outcome and not being told the outcome. TR has clearly communicated in advance of each term what their plans are. They have done surveys and published those survey results. In fact, the only part of your post that is accurate is that they have not set a metric.

[Anonymous]

It’s a good thing CMI has the outdoor learning spaces. Glad to hear they’re trying to put the outdoor classroom to good use finally. /s

[Anonymous]

Well this thread is depressing

[Anonymous]

For those apply for PK3 or PK4, Communikids has been open in a hybrid capacity since the start of the year. It’s funded by OSSE so free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is at Two Rivers 4th Street. They have not been good at communicating what plans, if any, they have for in-person instruction beyond general aspirations that it will happen some day. They have talked about increasing “in person opportunities” but all we’ve seen so far is an in person, outdoor social event for my son’s class. The school is apparently offering a very small Cares-like class but only for the few kids who weren’t logging in to any of the online classes and wouldn’t/couldn’t do so after the school followed up with them. They have not announced any metric for what rate of infection would trigger a shift from DL to in person learning. HTH.

Maybe post on DCUM less, read more of the TR emails and attend some of the meetings and Q&A the school does every two weeks (same meetings they have done since school began). There is a big difference between not liking the outcome and not being told the outcome. TR has clearly communicated in advance of each term what their plans are. They have done surveys and published those survey results. In fact, the only part of your post that is accurate is that they have not set a metric.

I agree that TR sends a significant volume of communication, but its of very little substance. Teachers and staff will be able to get vaccinated beginning Jan. 25, there should be a reopening plan in place, beyond the CARES accommodation, even if its to say, we’re doing DL for the rest of the year (which is what they will likely do).

[Anonymous]

Sela has been open to PreK 3 and 4 kids since Nov and is about to open up to students in all classes - parents are getting to chose in-person or virtual.

Communication has been excellent and planning has been thoughful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sela has been open to PreK 3 and 4 kids since Nov and is about to open up to students in all classes - parents are getting to chose in-person or virtual.

Communication has been excellent and planning has been thoughful.

This is wonderful to hear. I am very happy for the Sela community and wish my kid's charter would do the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sela has been open to PreK 3 and 4 kids since Nov and is about to open up to students in all classes - parents are getting to chose in-person or virtual.

Communication has been excellent and planning has been thoughful.

Wow. For the first time ever I wish we were at Sela.

Can we have some links about their success and method to share with our admins?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sela has been open to PreK 3 and 4 kids since Nov and is about to open up to students in all classes - parents are getting to chose in-person or virtual.

Communication has been excellent and planning has been thoughful.

That's great. You all are *very* fortunate and way ahead of 99.9% of the DC charters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here are the LEAs' plans: https://osse.dc.gov/publication/lea-continuous-education-plans

I believe that KIPP, Friendship, Meridian, Truth, and BASIS all have at least some students coming into their buildings, but I don't know whether they are getting direct education from teachers or whether it's a learning hub model where they are watching DL from the school building.

Our school's plan is there and is for show only it seems. I.e., it includes where outdoor classrooms might go but they have no plans to have outdoor classrooms.

This is DCB and they have not been good about communicating that they have basically decided as little in person as possible and its really up to teachers if they offer it or not. They are also prioritizing a big construction project starting this spring. It's pretty maddening and I wouldn't recommend the school to new parents at this point even though we initially loved it.

Also a DCB family and feel the same. We were happy in the before times but the lack of any ideas, creative options, hopes for return is very frustrating. They have said they will make some kind of announcement the week of January 25th for term 3. I'm assuming it will be extremely minimal because what could they do with that kind of notice to the families? The emails they sent in December mention "starting to plan" and information gathering and focus groups to take place in January. There are no plans in place. We had a decent looking hybrid plan circulated last summer but apparently everyone gave up on that.

DCB seems more concerned about moving on with the expansion and construction plans than dealing with the current challenges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is at Two Rivers 4th Street. They have not been good at communicating what plans, if any, they have for in-person instruction beyond general aspirations that it will happen some day. They have talked about increasing “in person opportunities” but all we’ve seen so far is an in person, outdoor social event for my son’s class. The school is apparently offering a very small Cares-like class but only for the few kids who weren’t logging in to any of the online classes and wouldn’t/couldn’t do so after the school followed up with them. They have not announced any metric for what rate of infection would trigger a shift from DL to in person learning. HTH.

Maybe post on DCUM less, read more of the TR emails and attend some of the meetings and Q&A the school does every two weeks (same meetings they have done since school began). There is a big difference between not liking the outcome and not being told the outcome. TR has clearly communicated in advance of each term what their plans are. They have done surveys and published those survey results. In fact, the only part of your post that is accurate is that they have not set a metric.

I agree that TR sends a significant volume of communication, but its of very little substance. Teachers and staff will be able to get vaccinated beginning Jan. 25, there should be a reopening plan in place, beyond the CARES accommodation, even if its to say, we’re doing DL for the rest of the year (which is what they will likely do).

You aren't asking for more substantive communication. You are asking them to communicate the outcome you want. Also, funny how you ignore the survey data from the TR community that shows a clear preference for DL this year even with a vaccine.

You are entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to want to return in person. But please stop conflating a lack of communication with not getting what you want.

[Anonymous]

Agreed. They clearly stated they will be virtual until at least the end of term 3. They also send out surveys and report the results in very frequent meetings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sela has been open to PreK 3 and 4 kids since Nov and is about to open up to students in all classes - parents are getting to chose in-person or virtual.

Communication has been excellent and planning has been thoughful.

Wow. For the first time ever I wish we were at Sela.

Can we have some links about their success and method to share with our admins?

Leadership information is available on the website - I'm sure they'd be open to someone reaching out.

https://www.selapcs.org/team

[Anonymous]

We are at ITDS and the meetings they have held are a whole lot of nothing really. They just keep saying "when it is safe" which is unclear and mean different things to different people. Other school in the area have safely opened to at least some students a few days a week or full-time and other have done nothing. I would be less frustrated if they stopped pushing through the learning as if it was a typical school year though it seems that is really out of the teachers control.
We loved the school before though we have only a couple years experience at ITDS. Now I am not loving it much at all. They have put in a lot of effort in a lot of ways but for me it falls short and expectations seem out of balance. Also, they really should have at risk kids in class rooms at least part of the week.
I still like most of the teams and teachers we have worked with. The principals, board members and who ever else is in charge of curriculum and policies.. I have lost a lot of faith in and respect for them.
I don't know if we should be playing the lottery or home school or what. I wouldn't have said that last fall or winter so idk.