Will the PCSB move to force LAMB to back-fill after PK4?

[Anonymous]

There are some people here with an axe to grind who are content to spread lies. Reporting them and moving on.

[Anonymous]

The BFD poster is especially angry.

[Anonymous]

The bfd poster doesn't seem to understand how Montessori grades are grouped.

The short version for people who don't get it: backfilling for K will not add one additional child to lamb at any point. The lower elementary classes are 100 percent full.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

LAMB also thought they couldn't handle running their illegal dual-lottery. Once they were forced to adapt to following the law, it turns out it worked just fine. Some people do the right thing voluntarily. Obviously in LAMB's case a little arm-twisting is necessary.

Actually, the dual language aspect of the LAMB program has been significantly weakened without the dual lottery. (This is why Oyster keeps it's dual lottery). The younger LAMB cohorts have much fewer spanish dominant kids. The result is English dominance throughout the classrooms and limited opportunities for English speaker to learn from Spanish speakers.
- LAMB parent

[Anonymous]

The grouping for ages 3-6 is called Primary. Lower elementary is ages 6-9.

LAMB almost never loses students between pk4 and K, so I really don't see the point of this conversation. If This is really just about forcing a legal charter to change because an outside committee thinks it should, where does that leave the charter's autonomy? Presumably the LAMB admin that drafted, got approved, and currently implement the legal charter are in the best position to evaluate it. Please also keep in mind that the whole reason LAMB opened a second campus was to try to serve more children. They are certainly not guilty of shirking their public duty to serve DC students as well as possible.

-parent of grads and current student

[Anonymous]

I watched the video from the meeting and in fact Ms Encinas said they were very open to changing and accepting at K in the future. Maybe it was different in the room but I don't think the original characterization was accurate.

The contrast with KIPP I heard discussed at length was in the type of transition from school services KIPP is offering vs LAMB. Obviously transition services for 5th graders and 8th or 12th graders are going to be very different.

[Anonymous]

PP here who is a LAMB parent.

I see the value in admitting Kindergarteners. However, I do think that admitting Kindergartners would negatively affect how well the Primary classrooms run. The Kindergarteners who have spent two years at LAMB are expected to show leadership in the primary classroom by helping the younger children. In my child's class, Ks are paired with 3 year olds and the start of the school year and the Kindergartners become the PreK3 kids special helpers and assistants in the classroom. (This is super sweet and was lovely for my child). Also, Kindergarteners are the best at following the norms of the Montessori classroom, partially because they have been there the longest and partially because they are older. If you have a bunch of new Ks coming in with new PreK3s and 4s coming in, you will have fewer kids that can support the teachers and more kids that need to be trained in the norms of the classroom and may be creating behavioral problems. I very much doubt that the classrooms would run as well. (Also add to this the fact that most of the new Kindergarteners won't understand what the teacher is saying in Spanish......).

For the above reasons, I sincerely hope that my PK4 student gets out of the primary classroom before any change to admit Kindergarteners would be made.

Please note that the above is not LAMB's fault, this is how Montessori works. It is very different from IB, language immersion, or all of the other comparisons that are being made here. You are comparing apples with oranges -- doesn't make any sense to make those comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

LAMB also thought they couldn't handle running their illegal dual-lottery. Once they were forced to adapt to following the law, it turns out it worked just fine. Some people do the right thing voluntarily. Obviously in LAMB's case a little arm-twisting is necessary.

Actually, the dual language aspect of the LAMB program has been significantly weakened without the dual lottery. (This is why Oyster keeps it's dual lottery). The younger LAMB cohorts have much fewer spanish dominant kids. The result is English dominance throughout the classrooms and limited opportunities for English speaker to learn from Spanish speakers.
- LAMB parent

I was wondering about this. We're at a DCPS dual language school now and my daughter (who is English dominant) has learned so much and really benefited from having native Spanish speakers as classmates. They play with each other in Spanish in the classroom, on the playground, at aftercare, etc. While I know Lamb offers many unique benefits, I do worry that her exposure to Spanish won't be as strong at Lamb as in her current school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here who is a LAMB parent.

I see the value in admitting Kindergarteners. However, I do think that admitting Kindergartners would negatively affect how well the Primary classrooms run. The Kindergarteners who have spent two years at LAMB are expected to show leadership in the primary classroom by helping the younger children. In my child's class, Ks are paired with 3 year olds and the start of the school year and the Kindergartners become the PreK3 kids special helpers and assistants in the classroom. (This is super sweet and was lovely for my child). Also, Kindergarteners are the best at following the norms of the Montessori classroom, partially because they have been there the longest and partially because they are older. If you have a bunch of new Ks coming in with new PreK3s and 4s coming in, you will have fewer kids that can support the teachers and more kids that need to be trained in the norms of the classroom and may be creating behavioral problems. I very much doubt that the classrooms would run as well. (Also add to this the fact that most of the new Kindergarteners won't understand what the teacher is saying in Spanish......).

For the above reasons, I sincerely hope that my PK4 student gets out of the primary classroom before any change to admit Kindergarteners would be made.

Please note that the above is not LAMB's fault, this is how Montessori works. It is very different from IB, language immersion, or all of the other comparisons that are being made here. You are comparing apples with oranges -- doesn't make any sense to make those comparison.

I am a LAMB parent who previously posted that it makes sense to admit Kindergartners, but you bring up an excellent point about the Montessori model. This is a critical part of how Montessori mixed age classrooms operate. I imagine it still can logistically work to allow kindergarten admittance, but it is just another example of how differently the Montessori model operates than the majority of school models and should not be taken lightly as a consideration. The work that my PK4 child does with kindergarten support is impressive. and it is one reason that Montessori classrooms can be larger in size.

[Anonymous]

Lee and Shining Stars admit in K and beyond. Seems like they do just fine with it. As PPs said, if LAMB can't admit past PK4, it says a lot about the school.

[Anonymous]

Was the meeting about whether to expand? If they want to expand, they should start admitting and backfilling in older grades.

If they want to stay the current size, I'm fine with them continuing not to backfill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was the meeting about whether to expand? If they want to expand, they should start admitting and backfilling in older grades.

If they want to stay the current size, I'm fine with them continuing not to backfill.

Yes a small expansion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here who is a LAMB parent.

I see the value in admitting Kindergarteners. However, I do think that admitting Kindergartners would negatively affect how well the Primary classrooms run. The Kindergarteners who have spent two years at LAMB are expected to show leadership in the primary classroom by helping the younger children. In my child's class, Ks are paired with 3 year olds and the start of the school year and the Kindergartners become the PreK3 kids special helpers and assistants in the classroom. (This is super sweet and was lovely for my child). Also, Kindergarteners are the best at following the norms of the Montessori classroom, partially because they have been there the longest and partially because they are older. If you have a bunch of new Ks coming in with new PreK3s and 4s coming in, you will have fewer kids that can support the teachers and more kids that need to be trained in the norms of the classroom and may be creating behavioral problems. I very much doubt that the classrooms would run as well. (Also add to this the fact that most of the new Kindergarteners won't understand what the teacher is saying in Spanish......).

For the above reasons, I sincerely hope that my PK4 student gets out of the primary classroom before any change to admit Kindergarteners would be made.

Please note that the above is not LAMB's fault, this is how Montessori works. It is very different from IB, language immersion, or all of the other comparisons that are being made here. You are comparing apples with oranges -- doesn't make any sense to make those comparison.

Certainly, a curriculum can establish any norms that it wants, but if a curriculum is too inflexible to meet the requirements of a public school, perhaps it should only be used in a private school setting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lee and Shining Stars admit in K and beyond. Seems like they do just fine with it. As PPs said, if LAMB can't admit past PK4, it says a lot about the school.

Please. You are citing schools with no track record. And you are not talking about Montesdori AND immersion. Immersion with half of the academics in target language for someone who does not speak the language would not work for the student, the other classmates or the school-- at least not lower and upper elementary.

[Anonymous]

I was very high on the WL for LAMB last year and was told that if they lose kids starting kinder they sometimes backfill those slots with more pre-k 4 kids. In the end my kid got into LAMB. To me the fact that they don't take older kids is less bad than not joining the common lottery (that decision has a net loss of utility for everyone because it leads to inefficient matching). I hope the charter board makes their expansion contingent on joining the common lottery.