Breakthrough Montessori: And so it begins...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have no fear, people, Breakthrough will become HRCS and an upper middle class enclave in no time.

I don't think the prospect of "upper middle class enclave" is good, I actually find this post quite appalling... If you are so worried about low income families (which Lee for instance has quite a lot), then you are very welcome to go ahead and find some posh private school that they cannot afford, and I really do hope you will do so

Being ironic. Look at the HRCS and what they've become (in terms of demographics) vs. how they sold themselves to the charter board.

Parents will sort and self-select their way into schools where they'll be peers with other parents. That's just how the system works (and the cynical among would say how it's designed to work).

And it tends to be schools that get a lot of attention on DCUM that go through this trend. Sure there are start up troubles, but once word gets out to all the middle class families looking for some -- any -- escape from their own awful neighborhood DCPS, then it becomes the next hot school with exclusive waitlists...and shortly after that a HRCS.

[Anonymous]

I for one would not even consider sending my child to a school that has mostly "upper middle class" kids. School is for learning how to navigate real life, not the distorted version that those families see. I would however out up with several of those, alongside several of very poor ones and so with the rest.. This is why it makes sense to mix people so that nobody gets drawn away.. If "upper middle class" or richer people find this uncomfortable, please go ahead and send your kids to really expensive private schools that nobody else can afford, and leave the rest of us enjoy the real life

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I for one would not even consider sending my child to a school that has mostly "upper middle class" kids. School is for learning how to navigate real life, not the distorted version that those families see. I would however out up with several of those, alongside several of very poor ones and so with the rest.. This is why it makes sense to mix people so that nobody gets drawn away.. If "upper middle class" or richer people find this uncomfortable, please go ahead and send your kids to really expensive private schools that nobody else can afford, and leave the rest of us enjoy the real life

Ok - so one less person vying for a JKLMSHS, YY, LAMB, IT, CMI, SSMA or Lee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I for one would not even consider sending my child to a school that has mostly "upper middle class" kids. School is for learning how to navigate real life, not the distorted version that those families see. I would however out up with several of those, alongside several of very poor ones and so with the rest.. This is why it makes sense to mix people so that nobody gets drawn away.. If "upper middle class" or richer people find this uncomfortable, please go ahead and send your kids to really expensive private schools that nobody else can afford, and leave the rest of us enjoy the real life

Ok - so one less person vying for a JKLMSHS, YY, LAMB, IT, CMI, SSMA or Lee.

Lee does have a lot of low SES families, not sure about the rest. Where to find these demographics (I know MSDC has demographics by race, which is, sadly, correlated with SES, but still, any other source?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I for one would not even consider sending my child to a school that has mostly "upper middle class" kids. School is for learning how to navigate real life, not the distorted version that those families see. I would however out up with several of those, alongside several of very poor ones and so with the rest.. This is why it makes sense to mix people so that nobody gets drawn away.. If "upper middle class" or richer people find this uncomfortable, please go ahead and send your kids to really expensive private schools that nobody else can afford, and leave the rest of us enjoy the real life

I don't need my kids' classmates to be all upper middle class, but I'd like to send them to school with the kids of parents who can write a coherent sentence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I for one would not even consider sending my child to a school that has mostly "upper middle class" kids. School is for learning how to navigate real life, not the distorted version that those families see. I would however out up with several of those, alongside several of very poor ones and so with the rest.. This is why it makes sense to mix people so that nobody gets drawn away.. If "upper middle class" or richer people find this uncomfortable, please go ahead and send your kids to really expensive private schools that nobody else can afford, and leave the rest of us enjoy the real life

I don't need my kids' classmates to be all upper middle class, but I'd like to send them to school with the kids of parents who can write a coherent sentence.

English is not my first language, and I speak four languages. I bet you speak just one...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I for one would not even consider sending my child to a school that has mostly "upper middle class" kids. School is for learning how to navigate real life, not the distorted version that those families see. I would however out up with several of those, alongside several of very poor ones and so with the rest.. This is why it makes sense to mix people so that nobody gets drawn away.. If "upper middle class" or richer people find this uncomfortable, please go ahead and send your kids to really expensive private schools that nobody else can afford, and leave the rest of us enjoy the real life

Ok - so one less person vying for a JKLMSHS, YY, LAMB, IT, CMI, SSMA or Lee.

Lee does have a lot of low SES families, not sure about the rest. Where to find these demographics (I know MSDC has demographics by race, which is, sadly, correlated with SES, but still, any other source?)

No, Lee has very few.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I for one would not even consider sending my child to a school that has mostly "upper middle class" kids. School is for learning how to navigate real life, not the distorted version that those families see. I would however out up with several of those, alongside several of very poor ones and so with the rest.. This is why it makes sense to mix people so that nobody gets drawn away.. If "upper middle class" or richer people find this uncomfortable, please go ahead and send your kids to really expensive private schools that nobody else can afford, and leave the rest of us enjoy the real life

Ok - so one less person vying for a JKLMSHS, YY, LAMB, IT, CMI, SSMA or Lee.

Lee does have a lot of low SES families, not sure about the rest. Where to find these demographics (I know MSDC has demographics by race, which is, sadly, correlated with SES, but still, any other source?)

Lee is 20% economically disadvantaged - which is low when you consider the city-wide population.

Learndc.org is best, one stop source has this info (for 14-15, no one has it yet for 15-16). Search a school and click equity report / need. You can also see special needs students and ELL there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I for one would not even consider sending my child to a school that has mostly "upper middle class" kids. School is for learning how to navigate real life, not the distorted version that those families see. I would however out up with several of those, alongside several of very poor ones and so with the rest.. This is why it makes sense to mix people so that nobody gets drawn away.. If "upper middle class" or richer people find this uncomfortable, please go ahead and send your kids to really expensive private schools that nobody else can afford, and leave the rest of us enjoy the real life

I don't need my kids' classmates to be all upper middle class, but I'd like to send them to school with the kids of parents who can write a coherent sentence.

English is not my first language, and I speak four languages. I bet you speak just one...

No, I'm actually not a native speaker either, and I'm fluent in three languages. Less than you, but enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I for one would not even consider sending my child to a school that has mostly "upper middle class" kids. School is for learning how to navigate real life, not the distorted version that those families see. I would however out up with several of those, alongside several of very poor ones and so with the rest.. This is why it makes sense to mix people so that nobody gets drawn away.. If "upper middle class" or richer people find this uncomfortable, please go ahead and send your kids to really expensive private schools that nobody else can afford, and leave the rest of us enjoy the real life

I don't need my kids' classmates to be all upper middle class, but I'd like to send them to school with the kids of parents who can write a coherent sentence.

English is not my first language, and I speak four languages. I bet you speak just one...

No, I'm actually not a native speaker either, and I'm fluent in three languages. Less than you, but enough.

Good for you!
Polyglots are usually more open-minded about things as unimportant as structure of a sentence on DCUM, this is not some official channel of communication, or at least I do not consider it so

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I for one would not even consider sending my child to a school that has mostly "upper middle class" kids. School is for learning how to navigate real life, not the distorted version that those families see. I would however out up with several of those, alongside several of very poor ones and so with the rest.. This is why it makes sense to mix people so that nobody gets drawn away.. If "upper middle class" or richer people find this uncomfortable, please go ahead and send your kids to really expensive private schools that nobody else can afford, and leave the rest of us enjoy the real life

Ok - so one less person vying for a JKLMSHS, YY, LAMB, IT, CMI, SSMA or Lee.

Lee does have a lot of low SES families, not sure about the rest. Where to find these demographics (I know MSDC has demographics by race, which is, sadly, correlated with SES, but still, any other source?)

Lee is 20% economically disadvantaged - which is low when you consider the city-wide population.

Learndc.org is best, one stop source has this info (for 14-15, no one has it yet for 15-16). Search a school and click equity report / need. You can also see special needs students and ELL there.

This is a great resource! Thank you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have no fear, people, Breakthrough will become HRCS and an upper middle class enclave in no time.

I don't think the prospect of "upper middle class enclave" is good, I actually find this post quite appalling... If you are so worried about low income families (which Lee for instance has quite a lot), then you are very welcome to go ahead and find some posh private school that they cannot afford, and I really do hope you will do so

Being ironic. Look at the HRCS and what they've become (in terms of demographics) vs. how they sold themselves to the charter board.

Parents will sort and self-select their way into schools where they'll be peers with other parents. That's just how the system works (and the cynical among would say how it's designed to work).

And it tends to be schools that get a lot of attention on DCUM that go through this trend. Sure there are start up troubles, but once word gets out to all the middle class families looking for some -- any -- escape from their own awful neighborhood DCPS, then it becomes the next hot school with exclusive waitlists...and shortly after that a HRCS.

I think geographic location and outreach matter a LOT. I'd like to see the DC charter board start requiring geographic AND programmatic diversity in new charters. Why should Ward 7 and 8 only have "no excuses" charters, and the progressive charters be located in places with little public transportation? I'd also like to see the DC charter board take an active role in assessing outreach to all DC neighborhoods and populations.

That said, I do think that the charters provide more of an opportunity for high quality schools and diversity than do neighborhood schools at this point, unless DCPS gets it together to start improving middle school options in places where elementary schools are more integrated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have no fear, people, Breakthrough will become HRCS and an upper middle class enclave in no time.

I don't think the prospect of "upper middle class enclave" is good, I actually find this post quite appalling... If you are so worried about low income families (which Lee for instance has quite a lot), then you are very welcome to go ahead and find some posh private school that they cannot afford, and I really do hope you will do so

Being ironic. Look at the HRCS and what they've become (in terms of demographics) vs. how they sold themselves to the charter board.

Parents will sort and self-select their way into schools where they'll be peers with other parents. That's just how the system works (and the cynical among would say how it's designed to work).

And it tends to be schools that get a lot of attention on DCUM that go through this trend. Sure there are start up troubles, but once word gets out to all the middle class families looking for some -- any -- escape from their own awful neighborhood DCPS, then it becomes the next hot school with exclusive waitlists...and shortly after that a HRCS.

I think geographic location and outreach matter a LOT. I'd like to see the DC charter board start requiring geographic AND programmatic diversity in new charters. Why should Ward 7 and 8 only have "no excuses" charters, and the progressive charters be located in places with little public transportation? I'd also like to see the DC charter board take an active role in assessing outreach to all DC neighborhoods and populations.

That said, I do think that the charters provide more of an opportunity for high quality schools and diversity than do neighborhood schools at this point, unless DCPS gets it together to start improving middle school options in places where elementary schools are more integrated.

Every new charter already has to outline its plans for marketing and outreach in their proposal -- and there is monitoring of their efforts.

Part of the rationale behind MySchoolDC, the Common Lottery is to improve information about all schools to all audiences.

I think I recall hearing there was a new expeditionary learning charter going through the approval process that wants to locate in Ward 7 or 8. Can't find its name now though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have no fear, people, Breakthrough will become HRCS and an upper middle class enclave in no time.

I don't think the prospect of "upper middle class enclave" is good, I actually find this post quite appalling... If you are so worried about low income families (which Lee for instance has quite a lot), then you are very welcome to go ahead and find some posh private school that they cannot afford, and I really do hope you will do so

Being ironic. Look at the HRCS and what they've become (in terms of demographics) vs. how they sold themselves to the charter board.

Parents will sort and self-select their way into schools where they'll be peers with other parents. That's just how the system works (and the cynical among would say how it's designed to work).

And it tends to be schools that get a lot of attention on DCUM that go through this trend. Sure there are start up troubles, but once word gets out to all the middle class families looking for some -- any -- escape from their own awful neighborhood DCPS, then it becomes the next hot school with exclusive waitlists...and shortly after that a HRCS.

I think geographic location and outreach matter a LOT. I'd like to see the DC charter board start requiring geographic AND programmatic diversity in new charters. Why should Ward 7 and 8 only have "no excuses" charters, and the progressive charters be located in places with little public transportation? I'd also like to see the DC charter board take an active role in assessing outreach to all DC neighborhoods and populations.

That said, I do think that the charters provide more of an opportunity for high quality schools and diversity than do neighborhood schools at this point, unless DCPS gets it together to start improving middle school options in places where elementary schools are more integrated.

Every new charter already has to outline its plans for marketing and outreach in their proposal -- and there is monitoring of their efforts.

Part of the rationale behind MySchoolDC, the Common Lottery is to improve information about all schools to all audiences.

I think I recall hearing there was a new expeditionary learning charter going through the approval process that wants to locate in Ward 7 or 8. Can't find its name now though.

Is that the one Lee's head is on the board of? Lee is invested in progrssive education for all - there is no cynical attempt to create an enclave of high SES at Lee. You can see where their heart lies when you see the principal and head of school interact with the kids. They believe in their charter mission. I think 20-30% is pretty sustainable for the school - we won't end up in the 4% like other hrch. And our racial diverity is pretty amazing. And I woudkl say we are at least 40% mses (middle ses) rather that hses though that is harder to track.

[Anonymous]

The proposed new charter is Interactive Academy - http://www.dcpcsb.org/blog/board-receives-three-new-public-charter-school-applications

Whether there's an attempt to create enclaves or not - schools develop reputations and Montessori can be a tough sell in certain communities -- even the lingo is different (manipulatives, beads, practical life, table washing, guides (not teachers).