Russian charter - Tolstoy Academy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Greetings all,

I randomly put in a search Tolstoy academy, and saw this. I am the only who has posted on Ward 4 listservs and there are others who have spread the message around Columbia Heights and other lists. I am a volunteer and have nothing to gain from this except actual Russian school for my daughter. To answer a few questions/observations:
1) Why German? All Germans speak perfect English because very few people study German. Guess what, if an American wants to be an astronaut, what language is required?.
2) There are many Russians in DC, in addition to Rockville and VA, and more staying and coming. The idea is not only to target Russians (its a charter NOT a private school) but the community as a whole. I personally moved from VA to DC, without knowing about this school, and am happy I did...DC also has public Chinese and French schools, and plenty bilingual Spanish ones
3) There have been 2 meetings already and more coming, its work in progress and yes, to meet the deadline for application in March 2018.

Want to know more and get engaged? Please 'like" Tolstoy Academy in DC on FB. or email me at [e-mail]

Poka and thanks for this exciting exchange!

Best of luck to you! When presenting to the Charter Board, one suggestion is to learn to speak the language they like to hear. You can meet with their staff ahead of time to get help tailoring your application to their interests. They will rubber stamp anything with the right spin on it. You can watch the testimony of other "successful" charters on their website. They are not big on substance.

Hi Randi Whinegarten. It's really bothering you that charters have better educational results in DC than traditional public schools. We see you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The challenge for any language school is finding and keeping native speaker-level teachers. Not just ones who can teach language grammar. They have to teach multiple subjects in the target language. The ethnicity of families is less important.

Where would Tolstoy get its Russian teachers?

Based on the information shared at the community meetings, the search has been going on and there are qualified teachers in the area as well as across the US who would consider moving for this opportunity. Feel free to inquire further with the organizers.

[snegrust]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a US-born person of East European descent, and have lived and worked in Russia for years. I think this charter could be great, if it integrated the best parts of Russian literary, artistic, and academic cultures.

The language piece is kind of secondary to high academic standards, and wanting your child to grow up highly literate.

I'm not sure who the target audience is, though, as there is already a Russian-language school run through the Russian Embassy.

Could you please share more info on this? I thought it only serves embassy kids and not open to the public.

PP of the first post upthread here. I've known non-Embassy kids to attend, but I think they had to really work at admission. It's also, as another PP said, a very specific curriculum.

We didn't seek it for our kids because I'd heard the overall attitude was less than nurturing. Which doesn't surprise me, having interacted with the Russian school system. I wanted something a little less rigid for the early elementary years. But you can't argue with success. The Russian education system works - unless it burns you out.

Thank you for mentioning the nurturing part - I would not want to give it up, even for an excellent education.

To the point, interesting article on what Tolstoy did not necessarily appreciate about Russian education.
https://www.rbth.com/literature/2013/03/20/how_tolstoy_wanted_to_reform_russian_education_24069.html