Charter school choice: 2 Rivers vs. EL Haynes vs. Cap City

[Anonymous]

If just starting out in pre K, and if you got in all 3, which is the better choice? All 3 are in rough type neighborhoods but all 3 are metro/bus accessible. Haynes is year round. So I'm just wondering are there any strong positives or negatives between them. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

DID you get into all three? Because, if not, it seems silly to worry about this problem...most people I know did not get into any of them much less all three!

[Anonymous]

I do not believe you got into all three. I think you are just looking to stir up trouble.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I'm not looking to stir up trouble. I was really just wondering since those 3 seem to be the charters of choice, which one was better overall? But if this is too sensitive of a question or going to incite a riot, then ignore the question.

[Anonymous]

I think Two Rivers and Cap Cities are comparable, do not know about Haynes but I would not want year-round for my child. I would think location would also be a factor, no?

[Anonymous]

Cap City is generally thought to the "best" and EL Haynes is a close second. Two Rivers uses the same method as Cap City, but has only recently made AYP and is known for having classroom management issues. Nice building though. I'd search the archives to get a sense of what DCUM posters have said about these 3 charters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cap City is generally thought to the "best" and EL Haynes is a close second. Two Rivers uses the same method as Cap City, but has only recently made AYP and is known for having classroom management issues. Nice building though. I'd search the archives to get a sense of what DCUM posters have said about these 3 charters.

Generally = by you. This your opinion. You speak only for yourself. There is no consensus on this issue. OP selected very generalized charter programs. I can think of several hot charters that she didn't even mention. If you want a classical Latin curriculum & an upscale neighborhood there is only one: Washington Latin. If you want Mandarin language immersion & I.B. there is only one: Yu Ying. If you want an all-girls school there is only one: Excel Academy. If you want a choice of French & Spanish immersion there is only one: Elsie Whitlow Stokes. If you want Spanish immersion Montessori there is only one: LAMB.

There are not enough charter schools to go around for all the applicants. They are all popular schools. Some of them get applicants whose only other interest is private school. Or whose applicants home school is west of the park (Janney/Lafayette/Mann/Murch/etc.). There is no need to create a false hierarchy. It is not helpful.

[Anonymous]

Hey 13:30, angry much?

OP asked, I answered regarding the three schools mentioned. Did you read the question? Do you really think she should send a 3 year old to Latin?

For the record, my child attends a charter that neither of you mentioned.

Whee!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If just starting out in pre K, and if you got in all 3, which is the better choice?

For pre-k there are even more options than these 3. You can't say which is "better" since it depends on your preference for school environment within the building. That's sort of like asking which is the "best" private school in DC. Which is a really heated a debate. lol

If you're not at least somewhat comfortable with "rough" areas, then don't even consider these and look for DCPS in areas you are comfortable with. (Although rough is debatable as well. IMHO Columbia Hts and Petworth aren't exactly war zones.)

Whatever you think is "best", probably is.

[Anonymous]

I hate when we beat up posters who ask questions. That is supposed to be the purpose of the forums.

For the record, the lottery for E.L. Haynes is this am at 10 am (the 4th)....so the poster obviously did not get into all 3 but sounds like she is seeking information. (The other 2 Lotteries have passed)

OP - I am truly hoping that my son gets into EL. Though it is all a long shot. I feel like alot of what I hear on this forum is the frustration. I think we are all in a big baby boom without enough resources. There are waiting lists to do so many things including school.

I love the year round model and the building is brand new.. built from the ground up and alot of detail to kid friendly atmosphere has been paid attention to. I have met several staff and have been impressed.

Not even sure if you are looking for this upcoming school year or not. But know that the competition is great. I suggest that you attend the Open Houses for all three. Good Luck with your search!

[Anonymous]

OP, you would be lucky to get into any of the schools mentioned in this thread (including Washington Latin - when the time comes, of course). Have you seen the [url=http://fightforchildren.org/page05.html#chooser
]school chooser document[/url]? There are a number of great charter schools and the worst thing you could say about so many of them is that there aren't enough schools & spaces for all our children. If only DCPS and the Mayor's office would hurry up and hand over their surplus buildings maybe there would be more (but I can see why they are afraid of the competition).

It's been well established that charter schools are doing a better job than regular DCPS schools of educating children of dis-advantaged socio-economic backgrounds. Those are the children who are "hardest to educate" and who DCPS has historically served so poorly. The charters that are lucky enough to have a diverse mix of students from all races and all social strata are high performing schools in so many ways. Good luck getting into one or more schools of your choice.

[Anonymous]

2nd try:

OP, you would be lucky to get into any of the schools mentioned in this thread (including Washington Latin - when the time comes, of course). Have you seen the school chooser document? There are a number of great charter schools and the worst thing you could say about so many of them is that there aren't enough schools & spaces for all our children. If only DCPS and the Mayor's office would hurry up and hand over their surplus buildings maybe there would be more (but I can see why they are afraid of the competition).

It's been well established that charter schools are doing a better job than regular DCPS schools of educating children of dis-advantaged socio-economic backgrounds. Those are the children who are "hardest to educate" and who DCPS has historically served so poorly. The charters that are lucky enough to have a diverse mix of students from all races and all social strata are high performing schools in so many ways. Good luck getting into one or more schools of your choice.

[Anonymous]

Wow, charter parent here, but the previous poster's statement that, "It's been well established that charter schools are doing a better job than regular DCPS schools of educating children of dis-advantaged socio-economic backgrounds."

is quite the stretch. Every school that's been mentioned in this thread has a much lower percentages of children on a free or reduced price lunch that DCPS as a whole. Washington Latin has around 10% free and reduced price lunch. They didn't make AYP last year because this segment of children did not do well on the test.

Charters are great, but they aren't doing any better with the toughest kids to teach. Charters are better at attracting and retaining involved parents though.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it HAS been established that charters are doing a better job than DCPS of educating students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The Washington Post did an expose on this last December. Here is an interview with the authors:

Washington, D.C.: Why is everyone in love with charter schools when the average D.C. CAS test scores for all charter is no better then the average for DCPS?

Dan Keating: Good question.

The overall score gets very caught up in demographics because kids from advantaged backgrounds are much more likely to have success in school.

Since educating kids from disadvantaged backgrounds is the key challenge for ending DC's reputation as one of the worst school district's in the nation, we analyzed just performance of poor kids. That's where we saw that charters are having more success than the traditional public schools.

As we said -- and showed in a graphic the scores are still below national average, but they are much closer.

A lot of people have said there's no way to have success with disadvantaged kids, but the combination of high standards, consistently enforced behavior standards (doing it, not just saying it), safe environments and cohesive environments seems to be making a big difference.

full transcript here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2008/12/12/DI2008121203256.html

(another tidbit, just FYI)

Arlington, Va.: Not a question but a comment. My daughter went to the Stokes charter school in D.C. from K-2 grades. We then moved to Arlington and took her to Claremont (another dual-language immersion school). When my husband and I went to enroll we were treated rudely and told that they wanted to retain her because "D.C. schools really don't compare" based on absolutely nothing but the fact that she came from D.C. She ended up being sent to the county office for academic testing and then being tested again by the principal. At the end of her tests she not only tested on grade level but above grade level in math -- meaning they sent her on to the third grade. She was placed in the highest level reading group in her English class and her first report card was full of A's and B's.

[Anonymous]

PP ----now there is a testimony. That is a great story. Good Lucj!