Experienced Parents - when do you decide to move your child out of a school?

[Anonymous]

We have a preK3er (first child) at an HRCS this year. We loved the school when we got in and were initially very impressed by the teaching model and diverse community. However, there have been many things throughout the year that have been less impressive. Some are small issues, some are bigger issues. The biggest issue is that a wonderful teacher that we loved left in the middle of the school year and was replaced by a much less qualified teacher (aide really) for the rest of the school year. The new teacher is nice but not of the same caliber as the other teachers in the school in terms of experience and education. I know it is hard to replace teachers in the middle of the year but the school also doesn't seem to have tried very hard to correct this issue. They seem to think that nothing can be done until the coming school year in terms of hiring someone better.

We have an inbounds school that is well regarded and that we would probably be fine with despite its having its own issues. But while I am frustrated with the HRCS, I wonder if I am holding them to too high of a standard. I am also hesitant to leave because we won't be able to get in again and we love the school's model. And after all, people like this school so much (although few have actual experience with it). Perhaps as a new parent, I just haven't realized that there are good years and bad years teacher-wise and I need to be more relaxed? Or is it that this school is potentially over-rated? Test scores are good there but not amazing - slightly worse than the neighborhood school but that may be attributed to lower SES at the HRCS (this seems to correlate greatly with test score achievement). School is not immersion so doesn't have any particularly pull in terms of teaching a language.

Thoughts on whether I should lottery for IB preK4 at the neighborhood school? Or stick it out with the HRCS to see if things get better next year?

[Anonymous]

What's the charter and what's your IB?
Sounds like too high of a standard to me... You'll probably have other problems, maybe smaller maybe larger wherever you go.
Try to with the decision between the two as objectively as you can.

[Anonymous]

We left a popular charter for an unpopular IB school and are very happy with our choice.

[Anonymous]

I would switch to the IB school if the only thing keeping you at the HRCS is it's "model". Better test scores at the Ib school! No contest.

We are at another HRCS that is immersion and we tolerate the good and the bad b/c switching would mean giving up the immersion language. If it wasn't for the language component which we have already invested in for years, we would be switching schools and moving out of DC.

[Anonymous]

Wow, threads like this make it seem like there is a lot of hype about the charter schools.

[Anonymous]

How are pre-k 4 teachers at your HRCS? If they are good and will likely stay, I'd probably stay too.

Also, keep in mind that there will be good and bad teachers everywhere (even in privates, even in fancy suburban districts).

[Anonymous]

Aren't we IN the middle of the year? How long has the new teacher been in the position?

Frankly we have had amazing first time teachers and crappy experienced/highly educated teachers. Our worst one yet was an award winning teacher. Horrible year.

But you are just barely into this whole school thing and only a few weeks with a new teacher. Give it some time. No school is perfect and teachers can vary a lot in one school.

I wouldn't pull over this. Just give it some time, play the lottery and see what happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, threads like this make it seem like there is a lot of hype about the charter schools.

Uh, duh.

[Anonymous]

Your child is 40 months old (yes?). Breathe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The new teacher is nice but not of the same caliber as the other teachers in the school in terms of experience and education. I know it is hard to replace teachers in the middle of the year but the school also doesn't seem to have tried very hard to correct this issue. They seem to think that nothing can be done until the coming school year in terms of hiring someone better.

So then you wait until next year for one of the higher caliber teachers....

OP if you are expecting every teacher your child has to be 100% amazing, then yes, you are expecting too much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, threads like this make it seem like there is a lot of hype about the charter schools.

Or, you are listening to an over dramatic preschool parent. It's freaking preschool. Her kid is eating paste and napping. "Teaching model" good grief.

OP: talk to parents at your school in higher grades (you know, where actual learning takes place) and see what they think. Or by all means, pull your 3 year old from this school MID YEAR.

[Anonymous]

Overall I agree- relax and take some time to assess. But if as you assess you notice big differences in "model" and "execution" move on.

[Anonymous]

Wow, I tried drafting a post like this yesterday evening. I won't hijack your thread, but I will say that we're in a similar situation.

In our case, we're IB for a WOTP school but I've tried to not let that skew my perception of our charter. In fact, I loved it so much last year that we were going to stay for the long run. This year, things aren't looking too good.

I'm not an experienced parent, but I can tell you that I'm looking at parent participation, development of the whole child, long-term outlook, and a guesstimation of how much "damage" one bad teacher/year can do towards my child's love/interest in school.

[Anonymous]

OP, it could really go either way.

If you like the school outside the teacher issue, if you are committed to the model (whatever it is), if you like the community, think about next year. What are the PK4 teachers like? What about the kindergarten teachers?

We left a charter at the end of the PK3 year. DD's main teacher had also left unexpectedly mid-year. There was a supportive and lovely parent community. The school itself was fine. But DD didn't like it. She didn't connect with the model. She didn't connect with the replacement teacher or the aide and was not happy to go to school at all, all year. When we were matched at a DCPS (not even a well regarded one), we were happy to move on.

I wouldn't have moved her mid-year unless there was a clear safety issue, though. Too much hassle and upset for a little kid, which could also be why the school decided to "promote" the aide rather than bringing in a new person. Continuity and trust are important for preschoolers. More important, arguably, than "quality teaching" at that age.

If you don't think that the charter is a good long term fit for your family for whatever reason, by all means explore other options. But do so in a thoughtful manner that isn't motivated by unrealistic expectations. It's preschool, not Harvard. If the environment is safe and the kids are learning something somehow, it's probably more about socializing them to school than it is about instruction.

[Anonymous]

Also in a similar situation here except in pk4. DC will finish out the school year at her current charter then we will likely move her back to our IB (where she did pk3) for kindergarten.