How much is aftercare at your school, and what does it include?

[Anonymous]

do you have to separately pay more for the specialty classes?

[Anonymous]

No, the specialty classes and field trips are included in the cost of attendance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m jealous of all of you. We are at lamb. Aftercare is terrible and almost no one gets in after teacher preference and FARMS Preference. It costs 500 for before and aftercare and 440 for just aftercare. Glorified babysitting at best. Terrible!

We are at LAMB too. There are plenty of spots, albeit still a shortage. I have no idea what a FARMS preference is.

It is totally fine, the teachers are generally good and there are no screens. Apparently the snacks are good. Outdoor time everyday, and free dance, yoga, art. Can pay extra for soccer and music classes. It is $110/wk but my kids enjoy going.

There are not plenty of spots as 60% of the school was shut out due to mismanagement. We ended up pulling our kid out last year because there was no supervision, many altercations, and my child ended up injured. Right now we are struggling to handle pickup but I’m not going through that again. I do understand they let the main director go, so things might have changed this year.

I'm sorry to hear this was your child's experience. My kid loves aftercare at LAMB. I haven't heard of any altercations in any of the primary classes, I don't have enough experience with the higher grades. While there is a waitlist, and I get not having guaranteed aftercare year after year is stressful, it's nowhere near 60% of the school - more like 15-20%. Still too high--I get it--but no need to grossly exaggerate.

I can’t wait until you hit lower el and upper el and actually see what’s going on. And yes it really is close to 60%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Free at DCPS! There's some programming, like soccer once a week, and maybe dance/theatre, but mostly it's playground or free time, which i like. No coverage for days off, we don't have half days, and no coverage the day before a holiday (so like on Wednesday before Thanksgiving).

It isn’t free. Taxpayers are covering it. I think everyone no matter income should pay a certain % for after care even if it’s just $10 a week.

People are complaining but it amounts to what $5 an hour? Come on, would you want to watch 15-20 kids for $15 -$20 hour? I pay a high schooler $15 -$20/ hour to watch my ONE child! You get what you pay for (or don’t apparently).

Do you think the DCPS teachers and staff who work aftercare at Title I schools who offer it free are not getting paid??

It appears the people complaining on this thread are the ones who do pay, not the ones who don't, because their extra money seems to amount to basically the same as the free programming run by staff their kids already know.

Taxpayers are paying for a lot of stuff they don't use.

I forget the exact amount off top of my head but after care teachers in the DCPS programs are very very underpaid. Which means a lot of teachers either don't work after school at all or find work in a private provider at a different school that pays more, which leads to staff teacher shortages at a title 1 school aftercare. It is often hard for the school to find staff for aftercare, further limiting spots.

I just want to clarify for everyone here that any DCPS teachers who work either for DCPS-operated (that is, OSTP) afterschool programming at the Title 1 schools as well as those DCPS teachers who work DCPS-operated summer school make $60/hour per their WTU contract. Now, if a DCPS teacher is working for some sort of partner organization that is a different situation, but for those with DCPS programs run directly by DCPS then the $ per hour is not bad at all. (It's still not enough $ to make a lot of teachers willing to give up their summers or after school time but it's enough to get plenty.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m jealous of all of you. We are at lamb. Aftercare is terrible and almost no one gets in after teacher preference and FARMS Preference. It costs 500 for before and aftercare and 440 for just aftercare. Glorified babysitting at best. Terrible!

We are at LAMB too. There are plenty of spots, albeit still a shortage. I have no idea what a FARMS preference is.

It is totally fine, the teachers are generally good and there are no screens. Apparently the snacks are good. Outdoor time everyday, and free dance, yoga, art. Can pay extra for soccer and music classes. It is $110/wk but my kids enjoy going.

There are not plenty of spots as 60% of the school was shut out due to mismanagement. We ended up pulling our kid out last year because there was no supervision, many altercations, and my child ended up injured. Right now we are struggling to handle pickup but I’m not going through that again. I do understand they let the main director go, so things might have changed this year.

I'm sorry to hear this was your child's experience. My kid loves aftercare at LAMB. I haven't heard of any altercations in any of the primary classes, I don't have enough experience with the higher grades. While there is a waitlist, and I get not having guaranteed aftercare year after year is stressful, it's nowhere near 60% of the school - more like 15-20%. Still too high--I get it--but no need to grossly exaggerate.

I can’t wait until you hit lower el and upper el and actually see what’s going on. And yes it really is close to 60%.

There are 575 students at LAMB. The waitlist for aftercare is ~100 kids. 100/575=17.4% of students are on the waitlist. Even assuming there are kids who would were "shut out" but aren't on the waitlist, there are ~350 kids enrolled in BASE, which is 60% of the school. So, no, it is not "close to 60%" that was shut out. Your inability to admit facts makes your vague threats about lower and upper el carry a lot less weight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m jealous of all of you. We are at lamb. Aftercare is terrible and almost no one gets in after teacher preference and FARMS Preference. It costs 500 for before and aftercare and 440 for just aftercare. Glorified babysitting at best. Terrible!

We are at LAMB too. There are plenty of spots, albeit still a shortage. I have no idea what a FARMS preference is.

It is totally fine, the teachers are generally good and there are no screens. Apparently the snacks are good. Outdoor time everyday, and free dance, yoga, art. Can pay extra for soccer and music classes. It is $110/wk but my kids enjoy going.

There are not plenty of spots as 60% of the school was shut out due to mismanagement. We ended up pulling our kid out last year because there was no supervision, many altercations, and my child ended up injured. Right now we are struggling to handle pickup but I’m not going through that again. I do understand they let the main director go, so things might have changed this year.

I'm sorry to hear this was your child's experience. My kid loves aftercare at LAMB. I haven't heard of any altercations in any of the primary classes, I don't have enough experience with the higher grades. While there is a waitlist, and I get not having guaranteed aftercare year after year is stressful, it's nowhere near 60% of the school - more like 15-20%. Still too high--I get it--but no need to grossly exaggerate.

I can’t wait until you hit lower el and upper el and actually see what’s going on. And yes it really is close to 60%.

There are 575 students at LAMB. The waitlist for aftercare is ~100 kids. 100/575=17.4% of students are on the waitlist. Even assuming there are kids who would were "shut out" but aren't on the waitlist, there are ~350 kids enrolled in BASE, which is 60% of the school. So, no, it is not "close to 60%" that was shut out. Your inability to admit facts makes your vague threats about lower and upper el carry a lot less weight.

Every kid is different, but my kids have enjoyed aftercare at LAMB (and we've done lower and upper el aftercare with multiple kids now). It's not amazing, but my kids seem to like it. They get a snack, they have quiet reading/homework time, then (if the weather is decent) they play outside or (if the weather is not) they have various arts and crafts/board games inside. It's not winning any awards, but there don't seem to be any screens, my kids are happy when I pick them up, it provides the coverage I need (afterschool, half days, and some days off), and it's convenient. I would be interested to know the final WL numbers because we know a lot of families that were WL for aftercare that ultimately got a spot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m jealous of all of you. We are at lamb. Aftercare is terrible and almost no one gets in after teacher preference and FARMS Preference. It costs 500 for before and aftercare and 440 for just aftercare. Glorified babysitting at best. Terrible!

We are at LAMB too. There are plenty of spots, albeit still a shortage. I have no idea what a FARMS preference is.

It is totally fine, the teachers are generally good and there are no screens. Apparently the snacks are good. Outdoor time everyday, and free dance, yoga, art. Can pay extra for soccer and music classes. It is $110/wk but my kids enjoy going.

There are not plenty of spots as 60% of the school was shut out due to mismanagement. We ended up pulling our kid out last year because there was no supervision, many altercations, and my child ended up injured. Right now we are struggling to handle pickup but I’m not going through that again. I do understand they let the main director go, so things might have changed this year.

I'm sorry to hear this was your child's experience. My kid loves aftercare at LAMB. I haven't heard of any altercations in any of the primary classes, I don't have enough experience with the higher grades. While there is a waitlist, and I get not having guaranteed aftercare year after year is stressful, it's nowhere near 60% of the school - more like 15-20%. Still too high--I get it--but no need to grossly exaggerate.

I can’t wait until you hit lower el and upper el and actually see what’s going on. And yes it really is close to 60%.

There are 575 students at LAMB. The waitlist for aftercare is ~100 kids. 100/575=17.4% of students are on the waitlist. Even assuming there are kids who would were "shut out" but aren't on the waitlist, there are ~350 kids enrolled in BASE, which is 60% of the school. So, no, it is not "close to 60%" that was shut out. Your inability to admit facts makes your vague threats about lower and upper el carry a lot less weight.

Oh no! You think my comments don’t carry a lot of weight! I won’t be able to sleep at night now! The horror!

What you’re not adding in is the amount of people who have removed themselves from the waitlist entirely because they are used to a new provider. Those people number around 200. You’re also not factoring in the people who started at lamb and don’t even bother putting their names on a double digit waitlist. So yeah that would be closer to 60%.

Putting out there- a 100 student waitlist for aftercare with NO ALTERNATIVES PRESENTED is completely f*cked up. Some people cannot use Brillando because they’re too old, Casa Lala because it’s too far, and the other alternatives are generally geared towards younger kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m jealous of all of you. We are at lamb. Aftercare is terrible and almost no one gets in after teacher preference and FARMS Preference. It costs 500 for before and aftercare and 440 for just aftercare. Glorified babysitting at best. Terrible!

We are at LAMB too. There are plenty of spots, albeit still a shortage. I have no idea what a FARMS preference is.

It is totally fine, the teachers are generally good and there are no screens. Apparently the snacks are good. Outdoor time everyday, and free dance, yoga, art. Can pay extra for soccer and music classes. It is $110/wk but my kids enjoy going.

There are not plenty of spots as 60% of the school was shut out due to mismanagement. We ended up pulling our kid out last year because there was no supervision, many altercations, and my child ended up injured. Right now we are struggling to handle pickup but I’m not going through that again. I do understand they let the main director go, so things might have changed this year.

I'm sorry to hear this was your child's experience. My kid loves aftercare at LAMB. I haven't heard of any altercations in any of the primary classes, I don't have enough experience with the higher grades. While there is a waitlist, and I get not having guaranteed aftercare year after year is stressful, it's nowhere near 60% of the school - more like 15-20%. Still too high--I get it--but no need to grossly exaggerate.

I can’t wait until you hit lower el and upper el and actually see what’s going on. And yes it really is close to 60%.

There are 575 students at LAMB. The waitlist for aftercare is ~100 kids. 100/575=17.4% of students are on the waitlist. Even assuming there are kids who would were "shut out" but aren't on the waitlist, there are ~350 kids enrolled in BASE, which is 60% of the school. So, no, it is not "close to 60%" that was shut out. Your inability to admit facts makes your vague threats about lower and upper el carry a lot less weight.

Every kid is different, but my kids have enjoyed aftercare at LAMB (and we've done lower and upper el aftercare with multiple kids now). It's not amazing, but my kids seem to like it. They get a snack, they have quiet reading/homework time, then (if the weather is decent) they play outside or (if the weather is not) they have various arts and crafts/board games inside. It's not winning any awards, but there don't seem to be any screens, my kids are happy when I pick them up, it provides the coverage I need (afterschool, half days, and some days off), and it's convenient. I would be interested to know the final WL numbers because we know a lot of families that were WL for aftercare that ultimately got a spot.

I’m glad it worked out for you. Sorry it didn’t work out for so many at lamb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m jealous of all of you. We are at lamb. Aftercare is terrible and almost no one gets in after teacher preference and FARMS Preference. It costs 500 for before and aftercare and 440 for just aftercare. Glorified babysitting at best. Terrible!

We are at LAMB too. There are plenty of spots, albeit still a shortage. I have no idea what a FARMS preference is.

It is totally fine, the teachers are generally good and there are no screens. Apparently the snacks are good. Outdoor time everyday, and free dance, yoga, art. Can pay extra for soccer and music classes. It is $110/wk but my kids enjoy going.

There are not plenty of spots as 60% of the school was shut out due to mismanagement. We ended up pulling our kid out last year because there was no supervision, many altercations, and my child ended up injured. Right now we are struggling to handle pickup but I’m not going through that again. I do understand they let the main director go, so things might have changed this year.

I'm sorry to hear this was your child's experience. My kid loves aftercare at LAMB. I haven't heard of any altercations in any of the primary classes, I don't have enough experience with the higher grades. While there is a waitlist, and I get not having guaranteed aftercare year after year is stressful, it's nowhere near 60% of the school - more like 15-20%. Still too high--I get it--but no need to grossly exaggerate.

I can’t wait until you hit lower el and upper el and actually see what’s going on. And yes it really is close to 60%.

There are 575 students at LAMB. The waitlist for aftercare is ~100 kids. 100/575=17.4% of students are on the waitlist. Even assuming there are kids who would were "shut out" but aren't on the waitlist, there are ~350 kids enrolled in BASE, which is 60% of the school. So, no, it is not "close to 60%" that was shut out. Your inability to admit facts makes your vague threats about lower and upper el carry a lot less weight.

Oh no! You think my comments don’t carry a lot of weight! I won’t be able to sleep at night now! The horror!

What you’re not adding in is the amount of people who have removed themselves from the waitlist entirely because they are used to a new provider. Those people number around 200. You’re also not factoring in the people who started at lamb and don’t even bother putting their names on a double digit waitlist. So yeah that would be closer to 60%.

Putting out there- a 100 student waitlist for aftercare with NO ALTERNATIVES PRESENTED is completely f*cked up. Some people cannot use Brillando because they’re too old, Casa Lala because it’s too far, and the other alternatives are generally geared towards younger kids.

If 60% of students are enrolled (350/575), then there cannot be 60% who were shut out. I'm not saying the waitlist isn't a problem, but I can calculate percentages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m jealous of all of you. We are at lamb. Aftercare is terrible and almost no one gets in after teacher preference and FARMS Preference. It costs 500 for before and aftercare and 440 for just aftercare. Glorified babysitting at best. Terrible!

We are at LAMB too. There are plenty of spots, albeit still a shortage. I have no idea what a FARMS preference is.

It is totally fine, the teachers are generally good and there are no screens. Apparently the snacks are good. Outdoor time everyday, and free dance, yoga, art. Can pay extra for soccer and music classes. It is $110/wk but my kids enjoy going.

There are not plenty of spots as 60% of the school was shut out due to mismanagement. We ended up pulling our kid out last year because there was no supervision, many altercations, and my child ended up injured. Right now we are struggling to handle pickup but I’m not going through that again. I do understand they let the main director go, so things might have changed this year.

I'm sorry to hear this was your child's experience. My kid loves aftercare at LAMB. I haven't heard of any altercations in any of the primary classes, I don't have enough experience with the higher grades. While there is a waitlist, and I get not having guaranteed aftercare year after year is stressful, it's nowhere near 60% of the school - more like 15-20%. Still too high--I get it--but no need to grossly exaggerate.

I can’t wait until you hit lower el and upper el and actually see what’s going on. And yes it really is close to 60%.

There are 575 students at LAMB. The waitlist for aftercare is ~100 kids. 100/575=17.4% of students are on the waitlist. Even assuming there are kids who would were "shut out" but aren't on the waitlist, there are ~350 kids enrolled in BASE, which is 60% of the school. So, no, it is not "close to 60%" that was shut out. Your inability to admit facts makes your vague threats about lower and upper el carry a lot less weight.

Oh no! You think my comments don’t carry a lot of weight! I won’t be able to sleep at night now! The horror!

What you’re not adding in is the amount of people who have removed themselves from the waitlist entirely because they are used to a new provider. Those people number around 200. You’re also not factoring in the people who started at lamb and don’t even bother putting their names on a double digit waitlist. So yeah that would be closer to 60%.

Putting out there- a 100 student waitlist for aftercare with NO ALTERNATIVES PRESENTED is completely f*cked up. Some people cannot use Brillando because they’re too old, Casa Lala because it’s too far, and the other alternatives are generally geared towards younger kids.

Please stop. If you hate LAMB this much, please disenroll. That’s totally fine. Two of my kids thrived there. One did not. A Montessori bilingual program is not for every child or family. That’s ok.

But please stop spewing made up nonsense about after care of all things. If you’d like a recommendation of a great aftercare alternative for older kids, the boys and girls club program in petworth is terrific and very affordable. There is a bus from LAMB. It is only for kids age 6 and up.

Honestly, I wish you best of luck and hope that you and your kids kindly find a great place at your inbound school, or whatever school is right for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m jealous of all of you. We are at lamb. Aftercare is terrible and almost no one gets in after teacher preference and FARMS Preference. It costs 500 for before and aftercare and 440 for just aftercare. Glorified babysitting at best. Terrible!

We are at LAMB too. There are plenty of spots, albeit still a shortage. I have no idea what a FARMS preference is.

It is totally fine, the teachers are generally good and there are no screens. Apparently the snacks are good. Outdoor time everyday, and free dance, yoga, art. Can pay extra for soccer and music classes. It is $110/wk but my kids enjoy going.

There are not plenty of spots as 60% of the school was shut out due to mismanagement. We ended up pulling our kid out last year because there was no supervision, many altercations, and my child ended up injured. Right now we are struggling to handle pickup but I’m not going through that again. I do understand they let the main director go, so things might have changed this year.

I'm sorry to hear this was your child's experience. My kid loves aftercare at LAMB. I haven't heard of any altercations in any of the primary classes, I don't have enough experience with the higher grades. While there is a waitlist, and I get not having guaranteed aftercare year after year is stressful, it's nowhere near 60% of the school - more like 15-20%. Still too high--I get it--but no need to grossly exaggerate.

I can’t wait until you hit lower el and upper el and actually see what’s going on. And yes it really is close to 60%.

There are 575 students at LAMB. The waitlist for aftercare is ~100 kids. 100/575=17.4% of students are on the waitlist. Even assuming there are kids who would were "shut out" but aren't on the waitlist, there are ~350 kids enrolled in BASE, which is 60% of the school. So, no, it is not "close to 60%" that was shut out. Your inability to admit facts makes your vague threats about lower and upper el carry a lot less weight.

Oh no! You think my comments don’t carry a lot of weight! I won’t be able to sleep at night now! The horror!

What you’re not adding in is the amount of people who have removed themselves from the waitlist entirely because they are used to a new provider. Those people number around 200. You’re also not factoring in the people who started at lamb and don’t even bother putting their names on a double digit waitlist. So yeah that would be closer to 60%.

Putting out there- a 100 student waitlist for aftercare with NO ALTERNATIVES PRESENTED is completely f*cked up. Some people cannot use Brillando because they’re too old, Casa Lala because it’s too far, and the other alternatives are generally geared towards younger kids.

Please stop. If you hate LAMB this much, please disenroll. That’s totally fine. Two of my kids thrived there. One did not. A Montessori bilingual program is not for every child or family. That’s ok.

But please stop spewing made up nonsense about after care of all things. If you’d like a recommendation of a great aftercare alternative for older kids, the boys and girls club program in petworth is terrific and very affordable. There is a bus from LAMB. It is only for kids age 6 and up.

Honestly, I wish you best of luck and hope that you and your kids kindly find a great place at your inbound school, or whatever school is right for you.

It is people like you that so serious harm to a school. I understand that you might not be bright enough to see the slipping academic standards, the mediocre to nonexistent spanish, the fact that lamb is one of DCI’s lowest performers, the inability to retain and keep teachers, but surely you were smart enough to question the fact that a public school claimed they could not meet the needs of one of your children? Wow.

Please stop telling people not to push the school or ask questions. Your Karen seems super strong and you are empowered enough to tell people online to shut up. But parents should always question administrators about where the school is headed and how your child is doing. And by the way, don’t presume to know my situation. I’m not sending my child to some random Boys and a Girls club. The white parents pushing for this option are allllllll gossipied about by your precious administrators behind their backs. I actually agree- wouldn’t take the place of a child in need just because lamb can’t handle basic aftercare.

PS- if aftercare is going so well, why was the director quietly fired over the summer?

PPS- you might want to look at where the Board of directors (almost entirely white) sends their kids. There has been a lot of turnover and most have pulled their kids from lamb. They’re not sending their kids to dci (knowing how lamb students fare there). Just food for thought.

[Anonymous]

There is so much nonsense in the post (e.g. the aftercare director voluntarily left because she didn’t get the director of operation role, half of the board are people of color and the chair is Black man whose son finished at LAMB).

It’s great to ask questions and push the school when needed. But some people’s behavior truly becomes toxic and nonsensical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m jealous of all of you. We are at lamb. Aftercare is terrible and almost no one gets in after teacher preference and FARMS Preference. It costs 500 for before and aftercare and 440 for just aftercare. Glorified babysitting at best. Terrible!

We are at LAMB too. There are plenty of spots, albeit still a shortage. I have no idea what a FARMS preference is.

It is totally fine, the teachers are generally good and there are no screens. Apparently the snacks are good. Outdoor time everyday, and free dance, yoga, art. Can pay extra for soccer and music classes. It is $110/wk but my kids enjoy going.

There are not plenty of spots as 60% of the school was shut out due to mismanagement. We ended up pulling our kid out last year because there was no supervision, many altercations, and my child ended up injured. Right now we are struggling to handle pickup but I’m not going through that again. I do understand they let the main director go, so things might have changed this year.

I'm sorry to hear this was your child's experience. My kid loves aftercare at LAMB. I haven't heard of any altercations in any of the primary classes, I don't have enough experience with the higher grades. While there is a waitlist, and I get not having guaranteed aftercare year after year is stressful, it's nowhere near 60% of the school - more like 15-20%. Still too high--I get it--but no need to grossly exaggerate.

I can’t wait until you hit lower el and upper el and actually see what’s going on. And yes it really is close to 60%.

There are 575 students at LAMB. The waitlist for aftercare is ~100 kids. 100/575=17.4% of students are on the waitlist. Even assuming there are kids who would were "shut out" but aren't on the waitlist, there are ~350 kids enrolled in BASE, which is 60% of the school. So, no, it is not "close to 60%" that was shut out. Your inability to admit facts makes your vague threats about lower and upper el carry a lot less weight.

Oh no! You think my comments don’t carry a lot of weight! I won’t be able to sleep at night now! The horror!

What you’re not adding in is the amount of people who have removed themselves from the waitlist entirely because they are used to a new provider. Those people number around 200. You’re also not factoring in the people who started at lamb and don’t even bother putting their names on a double digit waitlist. So yeah that would be closer to 60%.

Putting out there- a 100 student waitlist for aftercare with NO ALTERNATIVES PRESENTED is completely f*cked up. Some people cannot use Brillando because they’re too old, Casa Lala because it’s too far, and the other alternatives are generally geared towards younger kids.

Please stop. If you hate LAMB this much, please disenroll. That’s totally fine. Two of my kids thrived there. One did not. A Montessori bilingual program is not for every child or family. That’s ok.

But please stop spewing made up nonsense about after care of all things. If you’d like a recommendation of a great aftercare alternative for older kids, the boys and girls club program in petworth is terrific and very affordable. There is a bus from LAMB. It is only for kids age 6 and up.

Honestly, I wish you best of luck and hope that you and your kids kindly find a great place at your inbound school, or whatever school is right for you.

It is people like you that so serious harm to a school. I understand that you might not be bright enough to see the slipping academic standards, the mediocre to nonexistent spanish, the fact that lamb is one of DCI’s lowest performers, the inability to retain and keep teachers, but surely you were smart enough to question the fact that a public school claimed they could not meet the needs of one of your children? Wow.

Please stop telling people not to push the school or ask questions. Your Karen seems super strong and you are empowered enough to tell people online to shut up. But parents should always question administrators about where the school is headed and how your child is doing. And by the way, don’t presume to know my situation. I’m not sending my child to some random Boys and a Girls club. The white parents pushing for this option are allllllll gossipied about by your precious administrators behind their backs. I actually agree- wouldn’t take the place of a child in need just because lamb can’t handle basic aftercare.

PS- if aftercare is going so well, why was the director quietly fired over the summer?

PPS- you might want to look at where the Board of directors (almost entirely white) sends their kids. There has been a lot of turnover and most have pulled their kids from lamb. They’re not sending their kids to dci (knowing how lamb students fare there). Just food for thought.

I will ignore all of this, except one point that I think might benefit other families. LAMB is a Montessori Bilingual school- it has a very specific approach to education and I actually find it quite rigorous and intense. One of my children had some learning challenges related to language processing and we figured out that bilingual wasn’t a great fit for her.

Not sure what you mean about DCI- I have a child there who is doing quite well.

Best of luck with whatever the future holds for you!

[Anonymous]

Our kid is in ECE at Dorothy Height. Aftercare through the school/DCPS is free and seems to be a combination of free time in classrooms, “supper” (basically a full dinner provided free to all aftercare kids) in the cafeteria, and then playground time.

Casa Lala also hosts paid (~$575/month) ECE aftercare at Dorothy Height (mostly for Bruce-Monroe kids and a few from Truesdell, it seems) and I get the sense that Casa Lala has more robust programming. Like one day all the kids had their faces professionally painted. But they also spend a good amount of time on the Dorothy Height playground.

The spouse and I have discussed whether our kid would enjoy having a more structured afterschool experience, but so far that hasn’t been worth the $575 monthly price tag.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m jealous of all of you. We are at lamb. Aftercare is terrible and almost no one gets in after teacher preference and FARMS Preference. It costs 500 for before and aftercare and 440 for just aftercare. Glorified babysitting at best. Terrible!

We are at LAMB too. There are plenty of spots, albeit still a shortage. I have no idea what a FARMS preference is.

It is totally fine, the teachers are generally good and there are no screens. Apparently the snacks are good. Outdoor time everyday, and free dance, yoga, art. Can pay extra for soccer and music classes. It is $110/wk but my kids enjoy going.

There are not plenty of spots as 60% of the school was shut out due to mismanagement. We ended up pulling our kid out last year because there was no supervision, many altercations, and my child ended up injured. Right now we are struggling to handle pickup but I’m not going through that again. I do understand they let the main director go, so things might have changed this year.

I'm sorry to hear this was your child's experience. My kid loves aftercare at LAMB. I haven't heard of any altercations in any of the primary classes, I don't have enough experience with the higher grades. While there is a waitlist, and I get not having guaranteed aftercare year after year is stressful, it's nowhere near 60% of the school - more like 15-20%. Still too high--I get it--but no need to grossly exaggerate.

I can’t wait until you hit lower el and upper el and actually see what’s going on. And yes it really is close to 60%.

There are 575 students at LAMB. The waitlist for aftercare is ~100 kids. 100/575=17.4% of students are on the waitlist. Even assuming there are kids who would were "shut out" but aren't on the waitlist, there are ~350 kids enrolled in BASE, which is 60% of the school. So, no, it is not "close to 60%" that was shut out. Your inability to admit facts makes your vague threats about lower and upper el carry a lot less weight.

Oh no! You think my comments don’t carry a lot of weight! I won’t be able to sleep at night now! The horror!

What you’re not adding in is the amount of people who have removed themselves from the waitlist entirely because they are used to a new provider. Those people number around 200. You’re also not factoring in the people who started at lamb and don’t even bother putting their names on a double digit waitlist. So yeah that would be closer to 60%.

Putting out there- a 100 student waitlist for aftercare with NO ALTERNATIVES PRESENTED is completely f*cked up. Some people cannot use Brillando because they’re too old, Casa Lala because it’s too far, and the other alternatives are generally geared towards younger kids.

Please stop. If you hate LAMB this much, please disenroll. That’s totally fine. Two of my kids thrived there. One did not. A Montessori bilingual program is not for every child or family. That’s ok.

But please stop spewing made up nonsense about after care of all things. If you’d like a recommendation of a great aftercare alternative for older kids, the boys and girls club program in petworth is terrific and very affordable. There is a bus from LAMB. It is only for kids age 6 and up.

Honestly, I wish you best of luck and hope that you and your kids kindly find a great place at your inbound school, or whatever school is right for you.

It is people like you that so serious harm to a school. I understand that you might not be bright enough to see the slipping academic standards, the mediocre to nonexistent spanish, the fact that lamb is one of DCI’s lowest performers, the inability to retain and keep teachers, but surely you were smart enough to question the fact that a public school claimed they could not meet the needs of one of your children? Wow.

Please stop telling people not to push the school or ask questions. Your Karen seems super strong and you are empowered enough to tell people online to shut up. But parents should always question administrators about where the school is headed and how your child is doing. And by the way, don’t presume to know my situation. I’m not sending my child to some random Boys and a Girls club. The white parents pushing for this option are allllllll gossipied about by your precious administrators behind their backs. I actually agree- wouldn’t take the place of a child in need just because lamb can’t handle basic aftercare.

PS- if aftercare is going so well, why was the director quietly fired over the summer?

PPS- you might want to look at where the Board of directors (almost entirely white) sends their kids. There has been a lot of turnover and most have pulled their kids from lamb. They’re not sending their kids to dci (knowing how lamb students fare there). Just food for thought.

I will ignore all of this, except one point that I think might benefit other families. LAMB is a Montessori Bilingual school- it has a very specific approach to education and I actually find it quite rigorous and intense. One of my children had some learning challenges related to language processing and we figured out that bilingual wasn’t a great fit for her.

Not sure what you mean about DCI- I have a child there who is doing quite well.

Best of luck with whatever the future holds for you!

Montessori is not rigorous. It builds many skills in children but it is not known for rigor, that is the point in fact.