Sela Open House

[Anonymous]

Any families able to attend Sela's open house today? We were unable to attend, but would like to hear any thoughts based on today's open house?

[Anonymous]

We attended today and absolutely loved it. I bet they would give you a private tour if you asked for one. Are you matched for pk3?

[Anonymous]

I matched at another school, but I attended an open house at Sela back in Feb. I was very impressed and loved how the school seemed to be so tight knit. Faculty and teachers seemed to be very engaged and they had a strong PTA involvement. Had we matched with Sela we would have been more than happy though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We attended today and absolutely loved it. I bet they would give you a private tour if you asked for one. Are you matched for pk3?

We are have a pretty good number on the waitlist for pre-k3 so we're hoping something will become available. All of our other numbers are sadly in the triple digits. What did you love about the school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We attended today and absolutely loved it. I bet they would give you a private tour if you asked for one. Are you matched for pk3?

We are have a pretty good number on the waitlist for pre-k3 so we're hoping something will become available. All of our other numbers are sadly in the triple digits. What did you love about the school?

It felt like a very warm and tight-knit community. Teachers and staff really appear to care about nurturing and, of course, educating the kids. And kids seemed happy. Just really, really liked everything about it. Hope you get in!

[Anonymous]

We love that it’s a tier one school that’s an immersion program. It’s a small school that gives individualized attention, and a sela parent at the open house commented that it feels like a private school. They also seem very appreciative of parent involvement in the PTA and happy to listen to any concerns. The kids seemed really happy and engaged. The commute can be tough, but the person leading the tour said they will start a list serv so people can carpool. I’m happy to answer any specific questions you have.

[Anonymous]

Does the school seem to be pretty diverse in terms of the student population and staff. Also, before and after care would be necessary for us. Was there any mention of that. The carpool listserv sounds like a great idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does the school seem to be pretty diverse in terms of the student population and staff. Also, before and after care would be necessary for us. Was there any mention of that. The carpool listserv sounds like a great idea.

Yes, very diverse. You can look on the website for stats of students. A number of the teachers seeemed to be Israeli but most seemed to be American (of different races too). Before and after care is guaranteed if you want it and costs are based on a sliding scale

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does the school seem to be pretty diverse in terms of the student population and staff. Also, before and after care would be necessary for us. Was there any mention of that. The carpool listserv sounds like a great idea.

Yes, very diverse. You can look on the website for stats of students. A number of the teachers seeemed to be Israeli but most seemed to be American (of different races too). Before and after care is guaranteed if you want it and costs are based on a sliding scale

You can look this up at learndc.org (for any school).

[Anonymous]

Thank you all for your responses! If there's anything else that has helped to guide your decision, please post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you all for your responses! If there's anything else that has helped to guide your decision, please post.

The qualitative site review (QSR) reports are good to read.

I also like to read the school's annual reports (you can see stats on teacher retention and median salary there) and their parent handbook, which often outlines discipline policies and so forth.

All of these are linked in the right hand column http://www.dcpcsb.org/school/sela-pcs

[Anonymous]

We matched at Sela and declined. So there's at least one spot open!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you all for your responses! If there's anything else that has helped to guide your decision, please post.

The qualitative site review (QSR) reports are good to read.

I also like to read the school's annual reports (you can see stats on teacher retention and median salary there) and their parent handbook, which often outlines discipline policies and so forth.

All of these are linked in the right hand column http://www.dcpcsb.org/school/sela-pcs

One other thing that could be helpful -- apparently several members of the Board and PTSA are hard at work figuring out some sort of plan for middle school (and maybe even high school), whether that's expanding the school, partnering with another school, etc. It probably is inspirational at best to think that will come together in the next year or so, but seems a good chance things will sort out by the time your kid is in 5th if you're in PK3 now.

[Anonymous]

You should call and just ask to visit - they will give you a tour. We called and got a same-day tour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should call and just ask to visit - they will give you a tour. We called and got a same-day tour.

Done!