S/o next great white hope: Breakthrough Montessori

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's strange when people say that Montessori school = white students. Shining stars has more black and Latinos than white. Lee is pretty much 50/50 and has AA families driving all the way from ward 7 and 8.

OP thought s/he was cute with the great white hope reference.

Shining Stars and Lee have relatively low % of low income students, 28% and 20%. The model appears to appeal to a certain demographic.

I think you're going to continue to see that. There are more and more middle class families (of all colors) in the city. Proven schools like KIPP, DC Prep, Two Rivers, Capital City and Haynes will continue to pull low income families while new schools will attract families that are willing to take risks (more likely middle income). I don't think it's a reflection on any school, just a fact.

AA mom that was once low income

[Anonymous]

Isn't someone from the Breakthrough Foundation on the PCSB?

[Anonymous]

All I know is that I didn't move to DC so that I could be sitting in a car driving halfway across town to drop my kid off at school everyday. I might as well live in the suburbs for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All I know is that I didn't move to DC so that I could be sitting in a car driving halfway across town to drop my kid off at school everyday. I might as well live in the suburbs for that.

Well a lot of folks been doing it before you moved here. What makes you so special?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're IB for a well-regarded Ward 6 school but are planning on moving if we get into Breakthrough or one of the other Montessori charters (which we ranked 1, 2, 3). I'm sure our DD would do just fine at our IB school or one of the other DCPS schools nearby (many of which we did rank lower down on our list) but I just think she'd do even better in Montessori. We didn't apply for any immersion programs, etc. But I visited a "Tools of the Mind" program in a local DCPS school and I just found it to be way more academic than I think is developmentally appropriate for a 3 year old (e.g. the tour guides boasting that even the PK3s were writing their play plans by the end of the year, not even just drawing pictures anymore). I'm very grateful for all the options DC offers for ECE, and obviously TotM is much much better for young brains than no PK or low-quality care, but at the same time I think we can still do better.

You were given a poor description of Tools. The kids are not actually writing plans.

+1

FWIW, it's common in Montessori for kids to write before they read because writing is close to drawing and symbol based.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All I know is that I didn't move to DC so that I could be sitting in a car driving halfway across town to drop my kid off at school everyday. I might as well live in the suburbs for that.

You'd probably send your kids on a school bus in the suburbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All I know is that I didn't move to DC so that I could be sitting in a car driving halfway across town to drop my kid off at school everyday. I might as well live in the suburbs for that.

Well a lot of folks been doing it before you moved here. What makes you so special?

Sending your kids across town to school in DC is at least as old as I am. Did you talk to anyone about how schools work here before you chose DC as a place to start your "urban lifestyle?" Sorry to burst your bubble...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's strange when people say that Montessori school = white students. Shining stars has more black and Latinos than white. Lee is pretty much 50/50 and has AA families driving all the way from ward 7 and 8.

OP thought s/he was cute with the great white hope reference.

Shining Stars and Lee have relatively low % of low income students, 28% and 20%. The model appears to appeal to a certain demographic.

It's true Montessori has a specific demographic appeal, but it's not necessarily a "white" appeal (lee is 50% aa, and SS has always been amazingly diverse racially). Those looking for a non-tradiational education for their kids are going to be those comfortable enough educationally that they aren't worried about not being able to secure a traditional education for their kids. This cuts out a lot of at-risk families who don't feel like they can take educational chances with a "hippy dippy" curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. You're very mean.

New poster here.
Nope, OP is not mean, just honest.
Please, everyone, get real.
Charters are there for people who feel they need to avoid their neighborhood dcps schools. State the truth. Really, if you lived next door to a JKLM you wouldn't give a rat ass about a "Green World"or for your child to be in a montessori setting with kids of multiple ages in the same class. Be honest with yourself at least .

We lived inbounds for a JKLM and still go to a charter. I really think you don't know what you are talking about.

there are very, very few of you though. This is a fact that has remained constant for the past decade.

The only statistically significant exception to this is that not-seriously-wealthy parents of multiple children who are inbound for Key or Mann do, indeed, send kids to BASIS and Latin instead of Hardy.

But very, very, very few parents skip Murch, Mann, and Janney for Flavor of the Month elementary grade charters and schlep cross-town to do so.

two in this tiny thread and another at my school. I imagine we are 10% of charters that offer something a good neighborhood school can't (Montessori, immersion, experiential with a soecial ed focus). More would be there except for the commute. If a Montessori charter opened in ward 3, it would be full of JKLM parents. Not everyone wants a "good" traditional school.

There are several at my kids' school. They drive 40 minutes + each way to get to the school and yet they could go to their JKLM a few blocks from their houses but choose not to.

[Anonymous]

There are several at my kids' school. They drive 40 minutes + each way to get to the school

Name the school.

The MySchool data map, which contains actual data of this exact type, tells us that there is only one elementary charter school (Yu Ying) that honestly draws "7-11" students from 20015, 20016 and Key/Palisades.

Otherwise, I have to call BS on the "several."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

There are several at my kids' school. They drive 40 minutes + each way to get to the school

Name the school.

The MySchool data map, which contains actual data of this exact type, tells us that there is only one elementary charter school (Yu Ying) that honestly draws "7-11" students from 20015, 20016 and Key/Palisades.

Otherwise, I have to call BS on the "several."

Lee. Yes, there are several. I assume this is replicated at other charters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

There are several at my kids' school. They drive 40 minutes + each way to get to the school

Name the school.

The MySchool data map, which contains actual data of this exact type, tells us that there is only one elementary charter school (Yu Ying) that honestly draws "7-11" students from 20015, 20016 and Key/Palisades.

Otherwise, I have to call BS on the "several."

Lee. Yes, there are several. I assume this is replicated at other charters.

That map lags a year or more. So you both are probably right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

There are several at my kids' school. They drive 40 minutes + each way to get to the school

Name the school.

The MySchool data map, which contains actual data of this exact type, tells us that there is only one elementary charter school (Yu Ying) that honestly draws "7-11" students from 20015, 20016 and Key/Palisades.

Otherwise, I have to call BS on the "several."

Lee. Yes, there are several. I assume this is replicated at other charters.

agree. I don't know that many people at Lee (busy, working mom) and know at least 2 families in good school districts who commute. I imagine that number is higher at YY and CM etc., which have lovely permanent locations. People who choose charters don't JUST choose charters because their neighborhood school sucks. It is why people in JKML pay for Aiden or WIS or waldorf. They want something different. Make my neighborhood school into the best little neighborhood school in DC, and I'll still be at lee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

There are several at my kids' school. They drive 40 minutes + each way to get to the school

Name the school.

The MySchool data map, which contains actual data of this exact type, tells us that there is only one elementary charter school (Yu Ying) that honestly draws "7-11" students from 20015, 20016 and Key/Palisades.

Otherwise, I have to call BS on the "several."

Lee. Yes, there are several. I assume this is replicated at other charters.

agree. I don't know that many people at Lee (busy, working mom) and know at least 2 families in good school districts who commute. I imagine that number is higher at YY and CM etc., which have lovely permanent locations. People who choose charters don't JUST choose charters because their neighborhood school sucks. It is why people in JKML pay for Aiden or WIS or waldorf. They want something different. Make my neighborhood school into the best little neighborhood school in DC, and I'll still be at lee.

an not because lee is better - it offers something different that I want for my kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

There are several at my kids' school. They drive 40 minutes + each way to get to the school

Name the school.

The MySchool data map, which contains actual data of this exact type, tells us that there is only one elementary charter school (Yu Ying) that honestly draws "7-11" students from 20015, 20016 and Key/Palisades.

Otherwise, I have to call BS on the "several."

Can you provide a link to this map? I'm sure that data is out of date but interested in seeing it anyway.