Top 5 for K on WL at CCPCS, Stokes, Creative Minds and IT - Pros - Cons?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I agree that every learning model is not for every student and yes, you have to know what works best for your individual kid. Where traditional schools drill and cram information into students (often not such a bad thing for some), other models such as the expeditionary model create an atmosphere where the student actually takes the time to "learn" the material. The problem is the "time" factor--actually learning the information takes time. If the teacher travels down too many rabbit holes and does not focus on the most important parts of the curriculum, the students will fall behind their cohorts in more traditional learning programs. The key is in the execution which is why you have to research carefully the operators of the program to make sure they know what the heck they are doing.

+1. Also supplement at home as necessary -- it is much more important to me that DC become a critical thinker and is happy in her learning environment than that she be able to spit out factoids. I anticipate supplementing a good bit of DC's education no matter what schools DC attends, to me that's part of being a parent.

[Anonymous]

I have a third grader who is in her first year at an expeditionary school. The first several months, I thought she was falling behind in math. Then one day she came home multiplying and dividing in her head. She was also very clear about how to apply the concept of multiplication and division in a word problem. I stopped worrying after that and realized that this model of learning was kind of like watching new construction. At first, all you see is a big old hole in the ground and some guys moving some dirt around--nothing tangible. Then one day you turn the corner and the framework for a building has sprung out of the ground and they're in the midst of installing dry wall.

She is so enjoying her school experience and she just didn't have this same level of excitement at the highly sought after OOB traditional school she was in last year. I do supplement with an online tuturing program (but I did that last year, as well). I think no matter where your child goes, a little extra help on the side never hurts. If you read some of the private school forums, some folk are paying 40k plus shelling out extra dollars for tutors.

I'm sure this model may not work for every child, but it has been a wonderful experience for my family.

[Anonymous]

Well said PP.
The execution and the actual learning process are sometimes so "child- unfriendly" in the name of innovation, that the projects are looking more like out of focus pictures to the children as they are trying to figure out what the activity is, what needs to be done and how to get there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the Annex building at IT's new space? I'd that where Booker T Washington High School is now?

There's a smaller building in the back of the alley that is semi-attached. Shining Stars Montessori is moving there next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We all know DC's wealthy families go private. While there are higher income people in U St, most do not have school aged children. There are more low income students like the ones who attend Garrison. IT will pull from all areas but wants to enroll more FARMS and ELL and is hoping the new location will be more convenient for them.

Thanks I didn't know all of DC's wealthy families went private b/c we didn't. Our kids are at Cap City. There are many kids from those "wealthy white families" who walk their kids to Capital City everyday.

[Anonymous]

Why does wealthy=white PP?

[Anonymous]

Simmer down. No one mentioned "all" or "white". Wealthy is a pretty subjective term but truly wealthy families are rare no matter the community.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We all know DC's wealthy families go private. While there are higher income people in U St, most do not have school aged children. There are more low income students like the ones who attend Garrison. IT will pull from all areas but wants to enroll more FARMS and ELL and is hoping the new location will be more convenient for them.

Thanks I didn't know all of DC's wealthy families went private b/c we didn't. Our kids are at Cap City. There are many kids from those "wealthy white families" who walk their kids to Capital City everyday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For a PP the figure for FARMS at IT is right around the 20% mark. I don't know the figure for ELL, if I had to guess the most common non English language I would guess Amharic. Yes, 20% FARMS sounds really low but in my opinion that doesn't truly reflect the school. A huge population of the parents are teachers. While a teacher's salary would exclude them from qualifying for FARMS it doesn't mean there's nothing but wealthy families at the school. IMHO the school is very diverse in many ways.

But when someone is asking about performance - of course IT is going to hit it out of the park (or at least should be expected to). The number of low-income and ELL are much lower than the rest of DCPS and most of the charters (of course except for Yu Ying).

Don't be so sure.