The Sojourner Truth School - possible new public middle and high school option

[JLessek]

Hi all,

Thanks for all of the interest regarding our plans for Truth. The questions are great ones, and each has been a focus with our various design and leadership teams.

For those that are interested and have some time, our charter application can be found here and has chapters devoted both to our academic model and the need and demand for a public Montessori middle and high school in D.C. We also have a few info sessions in the next couple of weeks, and these will be great opportunities for questions and answers around some of the concerns raised above (and also any others):

· Thursday, April 4th at 7pm at the Woodridge Public Library (1801 Hamlin St NE)
· Tuesday, April 9th at 7:30pm at the Petworth Public Library (4200 Kansas Ave NW)
· Wednesday, April 10th at 6:30pm at the Francis Gregory Public Library (3660 Alabama Ave SE)

Our hope is to open with both a 6th and 7th grade class. Most (with some exceptions) Montessori upper elementary programs go through the 6th grade, and so our incoming 6th graders would largely be students without prior Montessori experience and many of our incoming 7th graders may arrive with some experience. One of our goals is to make the Montessori approach more accessible to families without prior experience, and so much of our promotion and outreach thus far has been outside of the current Montessori community. We have been working hard to build relationships with counselors, administrators, and families from non-Montessori public schools around all 8 wards of the city to inform them of our model and our hope to be an option for their students in the fall of 2020. These efforts will continue, and please don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly ([e-mail]) if you would like to arrange an info session or connect me to a group or community that you think would be interested.

Our leadership team has a great deal of experience serving in Title I public middle and high schools in D.C. and serving students with diverse needs – including English learners, those that have disconnected from high school, students with disabilities, those performing significantly below grade level on standardized metrics, and those performing at or above. We are eager to do the same at The Sojourner Truth School, and to following the Montessori Method’s personalized tenet of always “following the child.” To that end, we have developed a competency-based model and approach that will allow the focus to remain on each individual learner’s needs rather than just age or grade level. The competency framework includes not only traditional and standards-aligned academic skills, but also social-emotional facets. We are excited to bring a model that puts as much emphasis on the development of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, healthy relationships, and responsible decision-making (CASEL’s five pillars of social emotional learning) as it does on traditional academic skills. We know that students arrive to middle and high school with varying needs with respect to these skills, just like they do with math or reading, and that a deliberate and intentional approach to their development is most effective.

We are proud of the Board of Directors that has been brought together, and particularly the diverse skills and experience that the members bring. Multiple Board members have committed their careers to effectively promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in schools, and we’re leveraging their expertise in order to recruit equitably and to create a culture, environment, and curriculum where everyone who walks onto campus feels welcomed and experiences both windows and mirrors in our coursework and staff.

We have chosen a bold namesake in Sojourner Truth. She was a forceful advocate for abolition, women’s suffrage, and prison reform throughout her life, making an example of fostering community, identifying injustice, actively pursuing positive change, and always evolving as an individual. She is the ultimate embodiment of our school’s four core values: (1) honor self-development, (2) design for positive impact, (3) pursue justice everywhere, and (4) challenge the mind, body, and soul. We do not take the namesake lightly, and by incorporating these values into our instructional model and competency framework we aim to honor her legacy daily and directly.

As has been mentioned above, legislation would currently be required for a feeder pattern and there is no preference in public charter schools for Montessori experience. Our team believes strongly that Truth’s model and approach will be transformative for students regardless of Montessori experience, and that the school’s success will not be contingent on the establishment of any kind of pattern. We acknowledge, however, the deep investment that families at public Montessori elementary schools have made in a Montessori education, and we do want to be an option for them – and for all families of DC - that would like a personalized, Montessori approach through the 12th grade.

We look forward to serving at-risk students, and would absolutely welcome an at-risk preference. Since that is not a possibility under current charter regulations, however, we will continue to enthusiastically recruit and promote among all populations, including those most under-resourced and at-risk.

Facilities procurement, as many of you probably know, is one of the biggest challenges for public charter schools. As far as a location, we are considering and have toured sites all over the city. The current Montessori elementary schools are mainly in Ward 5, and so this is an area we are looking at closely. We are eager to recruit outside of this Montessori community as well, however, and so accessibility for families from all around the District is a priority.

Thank you once again for the interest and questions, and I do hope that some of you will consider joining for one of our upcoming info sessions! I will check DCUM every so often, but if you have a question or feedback, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly at [e-mail].

Justin

[Anonymous]

JLessek wrote:Hi all,

Thanks for all of the interest regarding our plans for Truth. The questions are great ones, and each has been a focus with our various design and leadership teams.

For those that are interested and have some time, our charter application can be found here and has chapters devoted both to our academic model and the need and demand for a public Montessori middle and high school in D.C. We also have a few info sessions in the next couple of weeks, and these will be great opportunities for questions and answers around some of the concerns raised above (and also any others):

· Thursday, April 4th at 7pm at the Woodridge Public Library (1801 Hamlin St NE)
· Tuesday, April 9th at 7:30pm at the Petworth Public Library (4200 Kansas Ave NW)
· Wednesday, April 10th at 6:30pm at the Francis Gregory Public Library (3660 Alabama Ave SE)

Our hope is to open with both a 6th and 7th grade class. Most (with some exceptions) Montessori upper elementary programs go through the 6th grade, and so our incoming 6th graders would largely be students without prior Montessori experience and many of our incoming 7th graders may arrive with some experience. One of our goals is to make the Montessori approach more accessible to families without prior experience, and so much of our promotion and outreach thus far has been outside of the current Montessori community. We have been working hard to build relationships with counselors, administrators, and families from non-Montessori public schools around all 8 wards of the city to inform them of our model and our hope to be an option for their students in the fall of 2020. These efforts will continue, and please don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly ([e-mail]) if you would like to arrange an info session or connect me to a group or community that you think would be interested.

Our leadership team has a great deal of experience serving in Title I public middle and high schools in D.C. and serving students with diverse needs – including English learners, those that have disconnected from high school, students with disabilities, those performing significantly below grade level on standardized metrics, and those performing at or above. We are eager to do the same at The Sojourner Truth School, and to following the Montessori Method’s personalized tenet of always “following the child.” To that end, we have developed a competency-based model and approach that will allow the focus to remain on each individual learner’s needs rather than just age or grade level. The competency framework includes not only traditional and standards-aligned academic skills, but also social-emotional facets. We are excited to bring a model that puts as much emphasis on the development of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, healthy relationships, and responsible decision-making (CASEL’s five pillars of social emotional learning) as it does on traditional academic skills. We know that students arrive to middle and high school with varying needs with respect to these skills, just like they do with math or reading, and that a deliberate and intentional approach to their development is most effective.

We are proud of the Board of Directors that has been brought together, and particularly the diverse skills and experience that the members bring. Multiple Board members have committed their careers to effectively promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in schools, and we’re leveraging their expertise in order to recruit equitably and to create a culture, environment, and curriculum where everyone who walks onto campus feels welcomed and experiences both windows and mirrors in our coursework and staff.

We have chosen a bold namesake in Sojourner Truth. She was a forceful advocate for abolition, women’s suffrage, and prison reform throughout her life, making an example of fostering community, identifying injustice, actively pursuing positive change, and always evolving as an individual. She is the ultimate embodiment of our school’s four core values: (1) honor self-development, (2) design for positive impact, (3) pursue justice everywhere, and (4) challenge the mind, body, and soul. We do not take the namesake lightly, and by incorporating these values into our instructional model and competency framework we aim to honor her legacy daily and directly.

As has been mentioned above, legislation would currently be required for a feeder pattern and there is no preference in public charter schools for Montessori experience. Our team believes strongly that Truth’s model and approach will be transformative for students regardless of Montessori experience, and that the school’s success will not be contingent on the establishment of any kind of pattern. We acknowledge, however, the deep investment that families at public Montessori elementary schools have made in a Montessori education, and we do want to be an option for them – and for all families of DC - that would like a personalized, Montessori approach through the 12th grade.

We look forward to serving at-risk students, and would absolutely welcome an at-risk preference. Since that is not a possibility under current charter regulations, however, we will continue to enthusiastically recruit and promote among all populations, including those most under-resourced and at-risk.

Facilities procurement, as many of you probably know, is one of the biggest challenges for public charter schools. As far as a location, we are considering and have toured sites all over the city. The current Montessori elementary schools are mainly in Ward 5, and so this is an area we are looking at closely. We are eager to recruit outside of this Montessori community as well, however, and so accessibility for families from all around the District is a priority.

Thank you once again for the interest and questions, and I do hope that some of you will consider joining for one of our upcoming info sessions! I will check DCUM every so often, but if you have a question or feedback, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly at [e-mail].

Justin

Thanks for your transparency. It's refreshing.

[Anonymous]

Gotta rethink Ward 5 if you are serious about underserved students and not just your current feeder families.

6th graders can commute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish all the people proposing new charters - that aren’t serving a diverse population now - would publicly go to the Council and beg for an at-risk preference and commit to using it and not opening until they get it.

They have leverage. The city wants more “quality seats.” Let the schools walk the talk they include in their charters about wanting to serve all.

Personally I’d make at-risk the first preference for 5th through 12th, given that drop off and pickups isn’t an issue for older kids who can and do commute via public transit.

I listened to Lee representatives talk at both the November and December DCPCSB board meetings, and heard them advocate for exactly this both times. FWIW, my connection to Lee is that my PK3 kid just matched to their new location, so I'm in a "learn as much as I can" mode.

November Board meeting video, transcript

Starting at Page 14, Line 13, or at 10:57 in the video.

"In that time, we've learned a lot. In addition to solidifying ourselves as a high-quality Tier 1 school, we've really seen the impact of diversity. We've seen that both positively and negatively. To start with the drawbacks, it means an enrollment challenge, in that for every seat that we open, we see two applications from a low income family and eight from middle and upper income families. Without an at-risk preference or an income based preference, that means that we're serving fewer low income families than we intended and, in my opinion, too few. We'd like that number to be at around 40 percent, or at least 40 percent. Currently, our low income number is at about 25 percent."

[Anonymous]

^^ The question is what are they doing to change their pipeline, both at Lee and the other feeders — since they want 60% of feeder student to get the seats.

Door to door canvasses? Transit advertising? Seeking free media stories in the minority’s media outlets? Going and visiting pastors and community leaders at AA churches? Tabling at community fairs and events in Ward 7 and 8? Direct mail? Seeking advice and chance to present at Ward 7 and 8 ANC meetings? Seeking help or advice in getting the word out from Vince Gray and Trayvon White?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ The question is what are they doing to change their pipeline, both at Lee and the other feeders — since they want 60% of feeder student to get the seats.

Door to door canvasses? Transit advertising? Seeking free media stories in the minority’s media outlets? Going and visiting pastors and community leaders at AA churches? Tabling at community fairs and events in Ward 7 and 8? Direct mail? Seeking advice and chance to present at Ward 7 and 8 ANC meetings? Seeking help or advice in getting the word out from Vince Gray and Trayvon White?

I'm a Lee parent and I've personally done door to door canvasses, church meetings and community fairs. I did Ward 8 but others signed up for other opportunities. This was for Lee East, but I think it reflects the mission of the whole Lee team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish all the people proposing new charters - that aren’t serving a diverse population now - would publicly go to the Council and beg for an at-risk preference and commit to using it and not opening until they get it.

They have leverage. The city wants more “quality seats.” Let the schools walk the talk they include in their charters about wanting to serve all.

Personally I’d make at-risk the first preference for 5th through 12th, given that drop off and pickups isn’t an issue for older kids who can and do commute via public transit.

I listened to Lee representatives talk at both the November and December DCPCSB board meetings, and heard them advocate for exactly this both times. FWIW, my connection to Lee is that my PK3 kid just matched to their new location, so I'm in a "learn as much as I can" mode.

November Board meeting video, transcript

Starting at Page 14, Line 13, or at 10:57 in the video.

"In that time, we've learned a lot. In addition to solidifying ourselves as a high-quality Tier 1 school, we've really seen the impact of diversity. We've seen that both positively and negatively. To start with the drawbacks, it means an enrollment challenge, in that for every seat that we open, we see two applications from a low income family and eight from middle and upper income families. Without an at-risk preference or an income based preference, that means that we're serving fewer low income families than we intended and, in my opinion, too few. We'd like that number to be at around 40 percent, or at least 40 percent. Currently, our low income number is at about 25 percent."

If they wanted to serve more than 40% low income, they never should have located in ward 5. I suspect that they want to serve somewhere between 40% and 50% lower income and, rightly predicted that opening across the river would mean that few middle income families would have taken a chance on them as a new school in a far away neighborhood. Now they run into the opposite problem - lower income students crowded out in lottery by higher SES students. I think the goal of a truly economically diverse school with 40-50% lower income is commendable, but it's hard to find because middle income families in DC move in packs and they either ignore your school or flock to it in droves and crowd others out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish all the people proposing new charters - that aren’t serving a diverse population now - would publicly go to the Council and beg for an at-risk preference and commit to using it and not opening until they get it.

They have leverage. The city wants more “quality seats.” Let the schools walk the talk they include in their charters about wanting to serve all.

Personally I’d make at-risk the first preference for 5th through 12th, given that drop off and pickups isn’t an issue for older kids who can and do commute via public transit.

I listened to Lee representatives talk at both the November and December DCPCSB board meetings, and heard them advocate for exactly this both times. FWIW, my connection to Lee is that my PK3 kid just matched to their new location, so I'm in a "learn as much as I can" mode.

November Board meeting video, transcript

Starting at Page 14, Line 13, or at 10:57 in the video.

"In that time, we've learned a lot. In addition to solidifying ourselves as a high-quality Tier 1 school, we've really seen the impact of diversity. We've seen that both positively and negatively. To start with the drawbacks, it means an enrollment challenge, in that for every seat that we open, we see two applications from a low income family and eight from middle and upper income families. Without an at-risk preference or an income based preference, that means that we're serving fewer low income families than we intended and, in my opinion, too few. We'd like that number to be at around 40 percent, or at least 40 percent. Currently, our low income number is at about 25 percent."

If they wanted to serve more than 40% low income, they never should have located in ward 5. I suspect that they want to serve somewhere between 40% and 50% lower income and, rightly predicted that opening across the river would mean that few middle income families would have taken a chance on them as a new school in a far away neighborhood. Now they run into the opposite problem - lower income students crowded out in lottery by higher SES students. I think the goal of a truly economically diverse school with 40-50% lower income is commendable, but it's hard to find because middle income families in DC move in packs and they either ignore your school or flock to it in droves and crowd others out.

I am supportive of more school options and truly supportive of this school. But let's be real -- a charter that really wanted to serve more at-risk kids would open where there are more at-risk kids -- Ward 8 or at least Ward 7. The truth is these charters know that it's easier to open and have high performance in a highly gentrified area and then expand with a good reputation, than to risk performance and reputation by starting with a more at-risk population. Truly believe in your model? Start in Ward 8 and let's see it work.

[Anonymous]

PP they can only go where they find space. Ward 5 has more surplus buildings. You can’t just magically pick a locafionnandbhope the building appears.
Real estate 101

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish all the people proposing new charters - that aren’t serving a diverse population now - would publicly go to the Council and beg for an at-risk preference and commit to using it and not opening until they get it.

They have leverage. The city wants more “quality seats.” Let the schools walk the talk they include in their charters about wanting to serve all.

Personally I’d make at-risk the first preference for 5th through 12th, given that drop off and pickups isn’t an issue for older kids who can and do commute via public transit.

I listened to Lee representatives talk at both the November and December DCPCSB board meetings, and heard them advocate for exactly this both times. FWIW, my connection to Lee is that my PK3 kid just matched to their new location, so I'm in a "learn as much as I can" mode.

November Board meeting video, transcript

Starting at Page 14, Line 13, or at 10:57 in the video.

"In that time, we've learned a lot. In addition to solidifying ourselves as a high-quality Tier 1 school, we've really seen the impact of diversity. We've seen that both positively and negatively. To start with the drawbacks, it means an enrollment challenge, in that for every seat that we open, we see two applications from a low income family and eight from middle and upper income families. Without an at-risk preference or an income based preference, that means that we're serving fewer low income families than we intended and, in my opinion, too few. We'd like that number to be at around 40 percent, or at least 40 percent. Currently, our low income number is at about 25 percent."

If they wanted to serve more than 40% low income, they never should have located in ward 5. I suspect that they want to serve somewhere between 40% and 50% lower income and, rightly predicted that opening across the river would mean that few middle income families would have taken a chance on them as a new school in a far away neighborhood. Now they run into the opposite problem - lower income students crowded out in lottery by higher SES students. I think the goal of a truly economically diverse school with 40-50% lower income is commendable, but it's hard to find because middle income families in DC move in packs and they either ignore your school or flock to it in droves and crowd others out.

I am supportive of more school options and truly supportive of this school. But let's be real -- a charter that really wanted to serve more at-risk kids would open where there are more at-risk kids -- Ward 8 or at least Ward 7. The truth is these charters know that it's easier to open and have high performance in a highly gentrified area and then expand with a good reputation, than to risk performance and reputation by starting with a more at-risk population. Truly believe in your model? Start in Ward 8 and let's see it work.

Let’s be clear, there is no magic bullet or “model” that is going to be able to overcome the trauma, lack of home support and other challenges that low SES students have. They need wraparound services to include food, mentorship, laundry, clothing, therapy, field trips, etc. What can work are either schools that have these (expensive in money, time, and labor) services and very low student to teacher ratios, counseling, the works. Or we can create high performing schools that have a majority of students who are on or above grade level so teachers and staff can devote the appropriate time to the at-risk students that are there. You can have a great model but if you stick it in ward 8 without the wraparound resources or higher performing students, it’s doomed to fail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP they can only go where they find space. Ward 5 has more surplus buildings. You can’t just magically pick a locafionnandbhope the building appears.
Real estate 101

Ward 5 doesn’t have more buildings than Ward 7 or 8. And EOTR sites are less expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gotta rethink Ward 5 if you are serious about underserved students and not just your current feeder families.

6th graders can commute.

No way in hell I'm letting my black son commute to ward 7/8 for middle school. I want him to grow to adulthood.

[Anonymous]

Congrats to Sojourner Truth for being approved.

I thought this part of the approved application was interesting given all the talk about needing/wanting a Montessori MS for students at Lee/Shining Stars and Breakthough (not to mention LAMB).

How do elementary families feel about this not being a guarantee for their kids? The projection is for an average of 80 available seats for 6th each year, and new students being added until the high school classes reach about 120 students per grade. The K grades at Lee/Shining Stars/Breakthrough will total 220 students in a couple years. Do the founders expect just 48 of those 220 to want to continue to a MS middle?

"The Sojourner Truth School will remain in compliance with all federal anti-discrimination laws governing public schools and will be open to all students regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, nation of origin, aptitude, or ability. The leadership of the Truth School, along with the potential member-school stakeholder community, is advocating for legislation that will allow for a feeder pathway and the establishment of seats at Truth for students matriculating from the District’s public Montessori elementary schools. Because Truth also aims to expand Montessori access to all families around the District regardless of experience, if this pattern is in fact established then Truth will commit to taking a maximum of 60% of students from its feeders in any given year, thus reserving a signicant number of seats for open enrollment. Truth stresses, meanwhile, that its model and approach will be transformative for students regardless of Montessori experience, and that its success is not at all contingent on the establishment of this or any other feeder pattern.


https://dcpcsb.egnyte.com/dl/8LGGBHEHcH/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Congrats to Sojourner Truth for being approved.

I thought this part of the approved application was interesting given all the talk about needing/wanting a Montessori MS for students at Lee/Shining Stars and Breakthough (not to mention LAMB).

How do elementary families feel about this not being a guarantee for their kids? The projection is for an average of 80 available seats for 6th each year, and new students being added until the high school classes reach about 120 students per grade. The K grades at Lee/Shining Stars/Breakthrough will total 220 students in a couple years. Do the founders expect just 48 of those 220 to want to continue to a MS middle?

"The Sojourner Truth School will remain in compliance with all federal anti-discrimination laws governing public schools and will be open to all students regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, nation of origin, aptitude, or ability. The leadership of the Truth School, along with the potential member-school stakeholder community, is advocating for legislation that will allow for a feeder pathway and the establishment of seats at Truth for students matriculating from the District’s public Montessori elementary schools. Because Truth also aims to expand Montessori access to all families around the District regardless of experience, if this pattern is in fact established then Truth will commit to taking a maximum of 60% of students from its feeders in any given year, thus reserving a signicant number of seats for open enrollment. Truth stresses, meanwhile, that its model and approach will be transformative for students regardless of Montessori experience, and that its success is not at all contingent on the establishment of this or any other feeder pattern.


https://dcpcsb.egnyte.com/dl/8LGGBHEHcH/

It will be a long, long time until those schools have that many graduates, so it's fine for me. People tend to peel off Montessori in the upper grades. It is really, really hard to make a strong middle school and it will be many years before Truth is hard to get into.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Congrats to Sojourner Truth for being approved.

I thought this part of the approved application was interesting given all the talk about needing/wanting a Montessori MS for students at Lee/Shining Stars and Breakthough (not to mention LAMB).

How do elementary families feel about this not being a guarantee for their kids? The projection is for an average of 80 available seats for 6th each year, and new students being added until the high school classes reach about 120 students per grade. The K grades at Lee/Shining Stars/Breakthrough will total 220 students in a couple years. Do the founders expect just 48 of those 220 to want to continue to a MS middle?

"The Sojourner Truth School will remain in compliance with all federal anti-discrimination laws governing public schools and will be open to all students regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, nation of origin, aptitude, or ability. The leadership of the Truth School, along with the potential member-school stakeholder community, is advocating for legislation that will allow for a feeder pathway and the establishment of seats at Truth for students matriculating from the District’s public Montessori elementary schools. Because Truth also aims to expand Montessori access to all families around the District regardless of experience, if this pattern is in fact established then Truth will commit to taking a maximum of 60% of students from its feeders in any given year, thus reserving a signicant number of seats for open enrollment. Truth stresses, meanwhile, that its model and approach will be transformative for students regardless of Montessori experience, and that its success is not at all contingent on the establishment of this or any other feeder pattern.


https://dcpcsb.egnyte.com/dl/8LGGBHEHcH/

It will be a long, long time until those schools have that many graduates, so it's fine for me. People tend to peel off Montessori in the upper grades. It is really, really hard to make a strong middle school and it will be many years before Truth is hard to get into.

Where are those numbers from?

I can imagine that they had to do this in order to get approved, but wow there is going to be a big difference between those kids from feeders and those new to montessori. Having so many who are new to it could easily upend the model and reduce impact, I would imagine.