LAMB South Dakota families

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These people are crazy. So multiple kids, multiple drop offs, round trip to new campus over 1 hour and 15 min plus. Good luck with that.

We can barely get 1 child to school and back, cook dinner, clean up, bath, get DC ready for bed, etc...

People are underestimating the hell that is double drop off. No East would i make that harder than necessary, unless you are Montessori AND Spanish or bust. Too many other Spanish and Montessori options to choose from.

Lamb parent here. I would LOVE to slam the door shut on lamb and never look back. Please let me know of all these great Spanish Montessori options and I’ll happily lottery for them. Since I know there are exactly ZERO other options, I’ll do what I can to get my kids to the best option out there.

Hopefully there will be a bus. Hope hope hope.

You sound Spanish AND Montessori OR BUST. That's fine, inconvenience yourself to your heart's content. But if you'd love to slam the door on LAMB, then the parents who aren't 100% set on having both shouldn't prioritize both over lifestyle. Unless your kid has special needs (and a preference for Montessori isn't that), no school is worth forcing your kid into an extra long school day or waking up at the crack of dawn. Let alone your time! Why live in the city if you're going to commute for hours a day? It seems like crazy, short sighted priorities for MOST families, speaking as someone who's been in the system for a few years and has seen families go nuts with bad commutes.

Also there aren’t good Spanish immersion options in dc. Sorry. Maybe to your ears there are, but the rest are not good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These people are crazy. So multiple kids, multiple drop offs, round trip to new campus over 1 hour and 15 min plus. Good luck with that.

We can barely get 1 child to school and back, cook dinner, clean up, bath, get DC ready for bed, etc...

People are underestimating the hell that is double drop off. No East would i make that harder than necessary, unless you are Montessori AND Spanish or bust. Too many other Spanish and Montessori options to choose from.

Lamb parent here. I would LOVE to slam the door shut on lamb and never look back. Please let me know of all these great Spanish Montessori options and I’ll happily lottery for them. Since I know there are exactly ZERO other options, I’ll do what I can to get my kids to the best option out there.

Hopefully there will be a bus. Hope hope hope.

You sound Spanish AND Montessori OR BUST. That's fine, inconvenience yourself to your heart's content. But if you'd love to slam the door on LAMB, then the parents who aren't 100% set on having both shouldn't prioritize both over lifestyle. Unless your kid has special needs (and a preference for Montessori isn't that), no school is worth forcing your kid into an extra long school day or waking up at the crack of dawn. Let alone your time! Why live in the city if you're going to commute for hours a day? It seems like crazy, short sighted priorities for MOST families, speaking as someone who's been in the system for a few years and has seen families go nuts with bad commutes.

Also there aren’t good Spanish immersion options in dc. Sorry. Maybe to your ears there are, but the rest are not good.

You want good Spanish immersion, go to Bruce Monroe or some other DCPS with a high percent of ELE kids. I promise your kid will come out speaking much better Spanish than at LAMB.

- Native Spanish speaker who’s ears are just fine, thanks.

[Anonymous]

I'm also a parent with experience at Bruce Monroe and a Spanish-immersion charter. From my experience, the kids at BM often speak Spanish to each other during class, on the playground, during aftercare, etc. At our charter, I rarely (if ever) see kids speak Spanish outside of their instructional time or directly to their teachers. I do think it makes a different in language development when many of your classmates are native speakers. So, just something to think about if the language is the more important aspect to you, rather than the montessori.

[Anonymous]

Hi all, clarifying question here. My kiddo will be entering K next year. Will the South Dakota campus serve PK3-K only the next three years, or will those classes age at that campus? In other words, if we were lucky enough to get a spot in the South Dakota families for kindergarten, would she automatically move to Kingsbury for 1st grade? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi all, clarifying question here. My kiddo will be entering K next year. Will the South Dakota campus serve PK3-K only the next three years, or will those classes age at that campus? In other words, if we were lucky enough to get a spot in the South Dakota families for kindergarten, would she automatically move to Kingsbury for 1st grade? Thanks!

She will automatically move to Kingsbury for 1st. As of the current plan, there will be no classes above K at South Dakota.

[Anonymous]

LAMB is an amazing school. There's a reason why they get 700 applicants for 25 pre-K slots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LAMB is an amazing school. There's a reason why they get 700 applicants for 25 pre-K slots.

Are you an admin?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm also a parent with experience at Bruce Monroe and a Spanish-immersion charter. From my experience, the kids at BM often speak Spanish to each other during class, on the playground, during aftercare, etc. At our charter, I rarely (if ever) see kids speak Spanish outside of their instructional time or directly to their teachers. I do think it makes a different in language development when many of your classmates are native speakers. So, just something to think about if the language is the more important aspect to you, rather than the montessori.

Opinions on which schools (DCPS vs. charter) do language better are going to vary. For us, any language exposure is better than none, and LAMB does so many things very well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm also a parent with experience at Bruce Monroe and a Spanish-immersion charter. From my experience, the kids at BM often speak Spanish to each other during class, on the playground, during aftercare, etc. At our charter, I rarely (if ever) see kids speak Spanish outside of their instructional time or directly to their teachers. I do think it makes a different in language development when many of your classmates are native speakers. So, just something to think about if the language is the more important aspect to you, rather than the montessori.

Opinions on which schools (DCPS vs. charter) do language better are going to vary. For us, any language exposure is better than none, and LAMB does so many things very well.

DP. Hey, LAMB is a great school, don't get me wrong. But if you're the PP that said, Also there aren’t good Spanish immersion options in dc. Sorry. Maybe to your ears there are, but the rest are not good.

, then pick a side. Either you want "good Spanish immersion options", which is best done through a true two-way immersion model like at Bruce Monroe, or you want a strong school with "any language exposure", which you get at somewhere like LAMB. Or maybe you're not that PP and not making inconsistent assertions across various replies. If so, my apologies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi all, clarifying question here. My kiddo will be entering K next year. Will the South Dakota campus serve PK3-K only the next three years, or will those classes age at that campus? In other words, if we were lucky enough to get a spot in the South Dakota families for kindergarten, would she automatically move to Kingsbury for 1st grade? Thanks!

She will automatically move to Kingsbury for 1st. As of the current plan, there will be no classes above K at South Dakota.

OP, you should also know that, historically, LAMB has offered lottery seats exclusively to PK3 kids. It is my understanding that the PCSB has pushed LAMB to admit kids at PK4 and K - however, LAMB makes offers off the WL for PK4 and K very rarely. (The Montessori model allows for them to add additional PK3 kids to replace attrition at PK4 or K rather than admitting older kids into the cohort.) I think that they may occasionally offer seats off the waitlist to PK4 and K siblings of kids admitted to PK3, but again, that is rare.

(Since they weren't part of the common lottery in past years, this information is not transparently available anywhere. It was the school's policy for many years. It is possible that this has changed with new leadership - the myschooldc page says they are accepting applications for all grades. I'm happy to be corrected if I'm wrong.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi all, clarifying question here. My kiddo will be entering K next year. Will the South Dakota campus serve PK3-K only the next three years, or will those classes age at that campus? In other words, if we were lucky enough to get a spot in the South Dakota families for kindergarten, would she automatically move to Kingsbury for 1st grade? Thanks!

She will automatically move to Kingsbury for 1st. As of the current plan, there will be no classes above K at South Dakota.

OP, you should also know that, historically, LAMB has offered lottery seats exclusively to PK3 kids. It is my understanding that the PCSB has pushed LAMB to admit kids at PK4 and K - however, LAMB makes offers off the WL for PK4 and K very rarely. (The Montessori model allows for them to add additional PK3 kids to replace attrition at PK4 or K rather than admitting older kids into the cohort.) I think that they may occasionally offer seats off the waitlist to PK4 and K siblings of kids admitted to PK3, but again, that is rare.

(Since they weren't part of the common lottery in past years, this information is not transparently available anywhere. It was the school's policy for many years. It is possible that this has changed with new leadership - the myschooldc page says they are accepting applications for all grades. I'm happy to be corrected if I'm wrong.)

While this has been often the case, last year they did admit a handful of PK4 and K students, so it's possible if unlikely to get in. It's not ideal to have a class with too many of any one age even if it's possible. Above those years, the lottery will take applicants onto a wait list but they will have zero slots for them (so if your child is older than K it's not worth listing).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi all, clarifying question here. My kiddo will be entering K next year. Will the South Dakota campus serve PK3-K only the next three years, or will those classes age at that campus? In other words, if we were lucky enough to get a spot in the South Dakota families for kindergarten, would she automatically move to Kingsbury for 1st grade? Thanks!

She will automatically move to Kingsbury for 1st. As of the current plan, there will be no classes above K at South Dakota.

OP, you should also know that, historically, LAMB has offered lottery seats exclusively to PK3 kids. It is my understanding that the PCSB has pushed LAMB to admit kids at PK4 and K - however, LAMB makes offers off the WL for PK4 and K very rarely. (The Montessori model allows for them to add additional PK3 kids to replace attrition at PK4 or K rather than admitting older kids into the cohort.) I think that they may occasionally offer seats off the waitlist to PK4 and K siblings of kids admitted to PK3, but again, that is rare.

(Since they weren't part of the common lottery in past years, this information is not transparently available anywhere. It was the school's policy for many years. It is possible that this has changed with new leadership - the myschooldc page says they are accepting applications for all grades. I'm happy to be corrected if I'm wrong.)

While this has been often the case, last year they did admit a handful of PK4 and K students, so it's possible if unlikely to get in. It's not ideal to have a class with too many of any one age even if it's possible. Above those years, the lottery will take applicants onto a wait list but they will have zero slots for them (so if your child is older than K it's not worth listing).

FWIW - I have a second grader at LAMB who came in at PK4 without a sibling, and while not common as there is not at lot of attrition at that age, it does happen. I suspect this might be an interesting year in that regard given the move and all...

[Anonymous]

NP but same as above. I have a child at LAMB who also got in PK4 without a sibling. During a different year than the PP (child is not currently in 2nd grade). Not sure about whether they will take kids above K (MSDC says yes, LAMB's website says only PK3 - K) but I can vouch they have historically taken non-siblings for non-PK3 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LAMB is an amazing school. There's a reason why they get 700 applicants for 25 pre-K slots.

Are you an admin?

DC goes there. Our biggest complain with the school is the parking. The school is excellent. I wish it went through high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LAMB is an amazing school. There's a reason why they get 700 applicants for 25 pre-K slots.

Are you an admin?

DC goes there. Our biggest complain with the school is the parking. The school is excellent. I wish it went through high school.

I assume you’re at Missouri then? My experience is more mixed. but we are planning on staying.