worried about upper grades in current elem school - move now or later (or do private?)

[Anonymous]

I posted something similar in real estate but reading the responses there made me think I should really have posted here because my angst is mainly school related. Currently my kids are in kinder and 1st at a bilingual (spanish/english) DC charter. So far we have had great teachers, but we keep hearing about bad experiences in upper grades (starting in grade 2) related to challenges with discipline (school is struggling to manage bad behavior using responsive classroom) and teacher turnover (they have had several teachers leave mid-year or just before school starts). I also have concerns that my 1st grader could handle more challenging work but the current school doesn't really have any formal differentiation program (1st grade teacher finally started letting my kid do second grade math worksheets in school but his homework and instruction is all on first grade material - they just give him harder sheets and he figures them out on his own). There are also other things that nag at me - school doesn't have a playground so they walk the kids several blocks to city parks, they only have gym twice a week for half the year (and when they have it, it is instead of recess). That said, since my kids haven;t really had any bad experiences yet, I wonder if I should stay and hope we continue to luck out with teachers and other students in their classes (this is our third year at the school).

We are thinking about moving to N Arlington and trying to send our kids to Key so they can continue their spanish. When I called the school, they said they would have room for my kids next year if they passed the Spanish test. It did not sound like they could guarantee space if we waited another year (or two). We could also afford private, but the idea of being locked in to $80K of tuition each year terrifies me and would keep us from having as much freedom in our career choices.

One thing I wonder about if we stay at our current school is if our kids will fall behind (or won't be working to their full abilities) and I won't even realize it because I don't really have a great sense of what is normally taught when and then if we move to the burbs later, our kids could be behind. I also worry that my 1st grader is missing out on opportunities for more advanced math work (he is only average in reading) - but I also don't know if the suburbs offer that. My fear is that if they have a general gifted/non-gifted distinction, that he won't make it because he really isn't advanced in everything - just math. I also worry that the older they are, the harder it is socially to move. But then again, it is hard to justify the expense of moving when we haven't had any bad experiences at our current school. after all, the suburbs will always be here (although our kids may not be able to go to Key later).

For additional context, we would be looking to spend no more than $1.5M on a house, but could go at least $1.6M if needed (thanks to buying in Shaw 15+ years ago!!!). But if we pay that much for a house, we can't also afford private.

[Anonymous]

Are you currently at MV, Stokes, or another “experiential learning” school? Because my sense of that is that that’s a great environment for preschool/PK, but those deep dives aren’t as good as you get into elementary. They need to have a broad base of learning. That’s key to the common core standards, and by learning about a wide variety of subjects they learn to think critically and learn to read and understand in different contexts.

The people I know at Key love it, and Arlington is a great place to live (plus the VA public universities are great). This would be a no-brainer for me—I would look to find a place and move this summer.

[Anonymous]

PP here - you might find this thread about how to supplement (from the MD schools forum) useful, particularly if you stay at your current charter.

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/716481.page#12743522

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here - you might find this thread about how to supplement (from the MD schools forum) useful, particularly if you stay at your current charter.

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/716481.page#12743522

OP here - thanks! I am trying my best to supplement (coming up with harder math on my own and doing spelling each night because I have heard that kids at my kids' school are horrible spellers) but I don't have the bandwidth for very much supplementing. DH and I each work 60+ hours a week.

and yes, our kids are at an experiential learning charter and I do find that it isn't well integrated into the entire curriculum and have been underwhelmed with that aspect of the school.