Mundo Verde since unionization/recently
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Anonymous
By the time you catch on, you may have even less options because it's very hard to change to a different language with an older child. |
Anonymous
That sounds great, and like a better fit for us than a charter like MV. If we're going to have to compromise in some areas on schools, I'd rather be part of a neighborhood school with like minded peers and teachers with years of experience in that school. Really love the idea of a self-selecting cohort who stick it out. Appreciate the thoughts, PP. |
Anonymous
THIS. +100. MV is similar to most of these “HRCS” in that as the kids get older, behavior and social emotional issues become more challenging, translating into significant classroom (and learning) disruption. Its relatively easy for these schools to adhere closely to their mission (and dare I say) marketing messaging in K or 1st grade. But by 3rd,4rth grade the wheels start to come off and teacher turnover sky rockets. |
Anonymous
| OP here. That’s right. Having been to a million open houses pre-pandemic and seeing kids at all of these schools, it’s clear that different schools have different bells and whistles, but aside from Montessori, they’re all about the same and complex missions and teaching approaches get in the way of solid instruction and comprehensive curricula once you get past teaching the basics. We know many kids in older grades, so have been able to track what they have been learning (and not learning) over the years. If you genuinely have an “any school will be fine for my child” attitude, then you need bells and whistles to distinguish one from the other. But inexperience and turnover among teachers is a non-starter for us. Many charters treat their teachers VERY poorly, and that is not an environment I want my child learning in. Or supporting by enrolling. I hope the families that take these seats are happy for years to come, but I also urge them to look past the marketing and think about why the test scores and teacher retention rates are what they are. Somewhere like MV may be better than your local DCPS, but don’t assume it is just because the waitlist is longer. |
Anonymous
Bruce Monroe also has issues its own issues after 2nd grade due to achievement gaps and behavioral issues. |
Anonymous
| How do you know that? Do you have first hand experience at that school or are you assuming because of demographics? |
Anonymous
| OP here. I’ve probably spoken to half a dozen parents at both schools (MV and BM) in the last few weeks. I’ve heard of academic gaps at MV, lack of challenging academics without a lot of parental leg work at BM, classroom management issues at MV, but nothing about behavior issues at BM. And I ask these questions explicitly. BM has used responsive classroom successfully for years, and teachers there say it works well. That’s good enough feedback for me. |
Anonymous
| Good for you, OP. When I was making a similar decision, I spoke to the principal/heads of both schools as well to get real information about the curriculum and differential practices. (The DCPS schools info was MUCH more detailed a d robust fwiw). I wonder if a lot of the difference in classroom manager comes from the fact that DCPS teachers all have masters in ED -- classroom management/behavior issues is something they specifically learn about. As I'm sure you know, MV teachers don't have those degrees, and often have a Bachelor's in a non-ed field, so they have never learned about that stuff. |