DCI?

[Anonymous]

I'm not the PP but we are at a DCI feeder. Also very interested and don't know parents at DCI. We are in younger grades. Def not trying to stir pot, why assume that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Still trolling and trying to stir the pot?? If you're really at a feeder why don't you ask the feeder parents and the school's administration (who serve on the DCI Board).

NP. Relax, why do you automatically assume she's trolling? I'm a YY parent, and I'd love to hear how it's going. I don't happen to know any 6th & 7th grade parents or I'd ask them. I'm assuming all is going well, but I'd be interested to hear more specifics. The Principal is probably busy enough with the 500+ students at YY, so she'd probably prefer I don't ring her up with my questions. If anyone at DCI can share information, it would be welcome!

[Anonymous]

Plus the DCI parents are not even at our fewer schools anymore unless they have younger sibs. So please do tell!

[Anonymous]

random question. say you are bilingual, can you go to dci or just if you come from a feeder?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:random question. say you are bilingual, can you go to dci or just if you come from a feeder?

Doesn't matter if you are bilingual or not, if you aren't at a feeder you will only be able to enter in 6th or 9th grade through the lottery, and there will be limited spots in those grades, and likely many applicants. There is no benefit to being bilingual, they can't offer set aside spots other than for siblings and founders in the lottery (and maybe staff kids if the PCSB proposal goes through).

[Anonymous]

if the staff proposal goes through, i bet that zero spots will be available for DCI outside of feeders

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:random question. say you are bilingual, can you go to dci or just if you come from a feeder?

Doesn't matter if you are bilingual or not, if you aren't at a feeder you will only be able to enter in 6th or 9th grade through the lottery, and there will be limited spots in those grades, and likely many applicants. There is no benefit to being bilingual, they can't offer set aside spots other than for siblings and founders in the lottery (and maybe staff kids if the PCSB proposal goes through).

No advantage to being bilingual re: getting in, but once you're in it's possible they will let you take various subjects at your grade level with feeder school kids if you're truly bilingual in a DCI language.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:random question. say you are bilingual, can you go to dci or just if you come from a feeder?

Doesn't matter if you are bilingual or not, if you aren't at a feeder you will only be able to enter in 6th or 9th grade through the lottery, and there will be limited spots in those grades, and likely many applicants. There is no benefit to being bilingual, they can't offer set aside spots other than for siblings and founders in the lottery (and maybe staff kids if the PCSB proposal goes through).

No advantage to being bilingual re: getting in, but once you're in it's possible they will let you take various subjects at your grade level with feeder school kids if you're truly bilingual in a DCI language.

thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:if the staff proposal goes through, i bet that zero spots will be available for DCI outside of feeders

The staff proposal is "the lessor of 10% of the student population or 20 seats." That's hardly a killer, but thanks for contributing to the drama.

[Anonymous]

Is that per grade or for the whole school?

[Anonymous]

DCI feeders are already warning that there may not be enough seats for all siblings. Staff preference, even if it's "just" 20 seats, will ensure that DCI is entirely closed to the public.

(And it might be more than 20 seats. Isn't DCI legally five schools? So each DCI feeder gets 20 seats for staff preference, distributed over all the grades in which they admit students. It's plausible that DCI could wind up with more than 20 reserved seats.)

[Anonymous]

Tea, lounge, chromebooks? And the DCPS schools don't even have A/C.

This is public funding, how do they make this work? Do they pay their teacher's significantly less than DCPS (which may be possible b/c of the unions?).

It's a little frustrating that in order to attend DCI you must already win the charter lotteries for the feeder schools; it basically locks students out if they don't win early on. Talk about the cycle of poverty....

[Anonymous]

Good investment of all those resources into language immersion, best us of DCPS funds ever.

http://freakonomics.com/2014/03/06/is-learning-a-foreign-language-really-worth-it-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tea, lounge, chromebooks? And the DCPS schools don't even have A/C.

This is public funding, how do they make this work? Do they pay their teacher's significantly less than DCPS (which may be possible b/c of the unions?).

It's a little frustrating that in order to attend DCI you must already win the charter lotteries for the feeder schools; it basically locks students out if they don't win early on. Talk about the cycle of poverty....

To answer the bolded, yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It's a little frustrating that in order to attend DCI you must already win the charter lotteries for the feeder schools; it basically locks students out if they don't win early on. Talk about the cycle of poverty....

You mean like Stokes, which is 69% free and reduced meal students? Or DC Bilingual, which is 85%?

The other schools have a higher percentage of middle and higher income families, yes, but none of them are below 30% FARM. There is this pernicious idea that these schools are somehow only for middle class families. They may have a higher demand from middle class families than other schools, so their pool of lottery applicants is more heavily tilted in that direction. But that doesn't mean they don't have major appeal for lower income families also.