CHARTERS MAY MERGE AT WALTER REED (The DC International School, IB Diploma Programme)

[Anonymous]

It's no secret that YY has actually done a thorough job of alienating the DC Chinese community, mainly by failing to hire an ethnic administrator (duh), but I don't see what that has to do w/this topic. Could we return to it, please?

One PP mentioned that DCI will have around 1,000 students - where does this figure come from? This means roughly 200 kids in each grade for 5th through 8th? How do you arrive at these figures w/only 90-100 students total coming out of the several feeder schools from 4th, and some percentage (half? a third?) moving on to other middle schools, including DCPS, privates, and other charters.

Does that mean that it's safe to assume that a lottery will provide MOST of the DCI students? Do you think that parents at the feeder schools will be OK w/that arrangement? The immersion schools function as the closest thing to gifted and talented education that DC public schools offer for elementary. So I'm having trouble imagining a lot of parents at the merging schools wanting their middle schoolers to be in class w/many randomly selected kids who haven't experienced the same sort of rigor yet. Anybody else?

Another issue is that the feeder schools attract an unually high percentage of upper middle class families for charters, and such families have a long tradition of peeling off from DCPS elementaries for independents and the burbs, even in Upper NW. Now a good many jump ship from DC Charter - look at Latin threads for a discussion of why it happens. All this is slowly changing, but it's been an uphill struggle even for Deal/Wilson and Latin to attract and keep many affluent families for middle school and high school. Are posters convinced that DCI will somehow reverse the trend as soon as it opens, or maybe that this will take a number of years?

Somebody mentioned that w/such a big school, several levels of math could (and would?) be offered. But where's the tradition of extensive ability grouping in charter middle schools? Wouldn't that require some sort of policy change? To my knowledge, Latin only differentiates for 2 subjects, algebra in 8th grade and "get-up-to-speed" Latin for kids who lottery in after 5th, and Two Rivers doesn't differentiate at all (correct me if I'm wrong). It's Deal that does the most ability grouping/tracking, alone in offering a full year of 7th grade algebra. Basis pledges to track for math, perhaps extensively, but the school is untested and many PPs predict trouble brewing there if tracking falls largely along race and class lines.

Thanks for the input

[Anonymous]

It will be 6th through 12th, not 5th-8th.

[Anonymous]

The 1,000 figure is when the school is 6th to 12th, with roughly 150 in each grade level.

In the early years, because Lamb having a MS is a new thing and YY is just new, I would predict those 2 schools send around 50 combined. Stokes has around 40. So if half go to DCI, 90 / 2 = 45, then about a third of the class will come from feeder elementaries, and 2/3 will lottery in.

I imagine students with Deal as an option would head there.

[Anonymous]

I think the DCI will get off to a very rocky start, as the number of students from feeder elementaries is very low. There is a "herd" mentatlity, in that families want to know their student will be in a MS with other strong and prepared students. Given the choice between a brand new DCI with at least 1/3 random lottery entrants, and Latin, Deal, Basis, I think many students will begin entering those other schools, starting with YY 5th graders (there were only 32 4th this year). Fewer remain, more leave. EL Hayes and Cap City and Washington Latin examples show it take about 6 yrs, then maybe folks stay.

[Anonymous]

One of the things YY has done to retain 5th graders is planned a 2 week, $3500 China trip for 5th graders. It will probably take place during the school year (last 2 weeks of May) so is not an "optional" trip during the summer or spring break.

At info sessions in the early years of the school (before DCI when YY was planning standalone to 8th grade), the concept had been a China trip in 8th grade.

[Anonymous]

7:35, how exactly does this very, very expensive field trip "retain" 5th graders?

I know my family can't afford this trip and my child will likely be stuck behind while while the rest of the class goest to China.

I have no idea how I'm going to explain this to my child and I'm sick thinking about it.

[Anonymous]

I can't imagine why the school is taking 5th graders abroad for 2 weeks. They plan on fundraising but with 9 months to go, good luck! Need $100k.

The only reason I can imagine pushing the trip to 5th is to make it part of the PYP experience, before MS starts. Students who would peel off to Basis, Latin, which start at 5th, beg to stay for the trip?

It makes us MORE likely to leave because I think it is inappropriate and unaffordable. We'd rather be somewhere else than explain why he can't go. (even if it was free, our 11 yr old son is not going to Asia for 2 weeks without a parent, and his parents aren't taking 2 valuable vacation weeks for a school trip).

[Anonymous]

How will this $3500 trip to China be
paise for? I was just about to write this when I saw the next poster worrying about paying for it. I would assume that parents can't be responsible if it's not optional.

How does Stokes finance its trips? Think there is a trip to Panama and somewhere French-speaking for sixth graders.

[Anonymous]

Excuse me, paid for. Silly phone. Cross posting and I have to say fifth grade seems young to go so far away without parents regardless of cost.

[Anonymous]

8:44, I agree about having significant concerns about letting my child go to China without a parent.

This is a school that lost a child at the Smithsonian on a field trip last summer. They really don't inspire confidence.

[Anonymous]

What happened at the Smithsonian??

[Anonymous]

Stokes takes kids to Latin America when they are in 6th grade. I look at this and see an amazing opportunity. A trip to China! I am certain that the PA and parents will fundraise for this and it will be paid for in full. I personally don't have a child in that grade, but will donate to someone's child to go. If you don't want your kid to go to China on a school trip, that is your issue, not the school's. The crabs in a bucket mentality--I want to pull down others, instead of pushing everyone else up, is strange to me.

[Anonymous]

This is just the principal pushing for this because her son will get to go and she will be one of the 2 chaperones. It is ideal for her, really. Unfortunately, everyone in the community was going with the assumption that it would be in 8th grade as it had been announced in prior years. Then it was announced for this year. She is pushing the fundraising very hard, but it is ludicrous to the think that anyone can fundraise that much money for a school trip in that short of time. Presuming they fall short on their goal of fully funding all 35 kids, I'm curious how it'll be decided who will get the money they raise. Is if for kids who can't afford to go at all? Kids who may be able to contribute some but not all of the cost? Merit based?

[Anonymous]

How about the aid goes the kids who are the best at Mandarin?

After all, the principal is going to need an interpreter when she gets there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is just the principal pushing for this because her son will get to go and she will be one of the 2 chaperones. It is ideal for her, really. Unfortunately, everyone in the community was going with the assumption that it would be in 8th grade as it had been announced in prior years. Then it was announced for this year. She is pushing the fundraising very hard, but it is ludicrous to the think that anyone can fundraise that much money for a school trip in that short of time. Presuming they fall short on their goal of fully funding all 35 kids, I'm curious how it'll be decided who will get the money they raise. Is if for kids who can't afford to go at all? Kids who may be able to contribute some but not all of the cost? Merit based?

I'm a YY parent and I know I'm not well-connected, but: how has this been announced to the school community? This is the first I'd heard of it. (I'm happy to make a small donation to help kids who can't afford it go.)