Charter expo- which schools impressed you (not)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sure, kids need time to play and be kids - but should school be the primary venue for that? When I was growing up, we did all of our playing and bing kids after school and over summers and breaks.

I can almost guarantee you werent in a full time school when you were 3 or 4. Probably not even 5. What is perfectly appropriate for a 6 year old is not right for a 3 year old.

[Anonymous]

My dd is a 3-year-old at AppleTree and there is not a lot of sitting around, being forced to listen. There is a lot of center time, including dramatic play, art, etc. But my daughter has also learned how to write--and she loves it.

Don't you remember how when you were little you loved to play school? I think that's what it's like, at least for kids like my daughter. She is proud of what she's learned. I never, ever make her practice writing or reading at home, but she does it voluntarily for loooong stretches. Learning, even learning stuff like proper pencil grip, letter sounds, etc., is fun for little kids. Especially if their teachers are warm and attentive.

[Anonymous]

^^ never said it wasn't fun. Developmentally appropriate is a different matter. And you never played school with a bunch of adults. Very different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ never said it wasn't fun. Developmentally appropriate is a different matter. And you never played school with a bunch of adults. Very different.

You clearly have no understanding of the Appletree model. You seem to think that the kids are sitting in rows chanting all day, learning sums by rote. I challenge you to actually go and look at how their methods work and how their typical day runs and then come back and say that it's "not developmentally appropriate". Take a look and see how their learning experiences ARE play based. Take a look at how the kids learn and how excited they are to write letters just as they are excited to role play new concepts in dramatic play. And how the kids that aren't ready for that yet are supported. Until you've done that I suggest you just stop talking about something that you have no idea about because your ill informed views are not useful for people who are trying to find out more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ again. You are obviously Not an educator. If you ask any seasones, professional, highly educated teacher or administrator they will tell you that a 3,4 or 5 year old child is most appropriately taught in a play based setting, be it at home or in a preschool setting. Doesn't matter if it is free or comes with a hefty tuition. What is BEST for children developmentally is not in dispute. It is public policy and non educators who think they know better who get in the way. Plus a public that demands academic preschools ( out of ignorance ) will get them, best practice or not.

(Different PP here) Not really. The tacit assumption in the discussion above is that the two only options are: play-based, non play based. But "play" itself is a big word, it can mean both random activity or thoughtfully scaffolded one. Parents need to look beyond the typical labels.

[Anonymous]

Good grief 15:02. WE GET IT. I, for one, am interested to hear about the experiences of parents who actually have children at the school. I think your point of view has been made crystal clear. There's really no need to shout down every single post that doesn't align with your world view.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good grief 15:02. WE GET IT. I, for one, am interested to hear about the experiences of parents who actually have children at the school. I think your point of view has been made crystal clear. There's really no need to shout down every single post that doesn't align with your world view.

X 1,000

[Anonymous]

What about Montessori? It's academic.

[Anonymous]

Dear educator, please name one DCPS and/or charter school that doesn't do themes or teach like this. Everyone we visited did.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Little kids love dinos and space AND can create imaginative worlds around them.

Anonymous wrote:Look, it is not about what the curriculum includes. It is about what it leaves out in order to push stuff ( dinosaurs, space ) that is not really meaningful or vital to a small child. It is all heady stuff. What about the hearty and handy stuff. What about learning to create imaginative worlds rather than learning about what already exists through books. Written words and printed pictures can be limiting. Why push books and limit creativity so early. They can learn about the facts of dinosaurs and space anytime. But the imagination and creativity can be shut down and hard to get back.

h

Less likely if they are spending their precious time being sat down to read books about them, and then asked to draw a picture of one and then asked to sort them into categories. Get the difference?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good grief 15:02. WE GET IT. I, for one, am interested to hear about the experiences of parents who actually have children at the school. I think your point of view has been made crystal clear. There's really no need to shout down every single post that doesn't align with your world view.

X 1,000

+2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was my first expo as a parent. I used to work the DCPS expo when I was in high school.

I was most let down by LAMB. I get all of my "buzz" about the schools from this website, so I was expecting something...more. If I hadn't done my own research, I would've gotten absolutely nothing from the person at the desk. I also got the feeling of "our reputation precedes us."

I thought it was funny when I told the woman from Yu Ying that I'd heard about them on this site. She responded with, "Uh oh. I've seen some of the things they say on there."

Creative Minds impressed me with just how much they were willing to share. I had a chance to talk to someone who may end up being DD's teacher and she walked me through most of the day to day, then she handed me off to someone else who explained the extended day programs.

Ditto for Inspired Teaching. I was impressed with their parent turnout. It really showed that they're passionate about that place. They went on and on about it, but it didn't seem like a plea for enrollment.

Meridian seemed most prepared in the marketing dept. They were handing out folders, handbags, water bottles and the woman I spoke with rattled off facts and statistics like she was studying for a test. I was impressed with the presentation.

I started looking at some "safety schools" that won't be named because that would be wrong, but I was a little discouraged by what I saw. Some of them seemed like they just sent a few people out with a science project board and a candy dish. They weren't really prepared to answer many questions. A few asked me to wait until someone else showed up later.

All in all, I enjoyed it. I got in at the open and was out by 1:00. Some of them really have given my DCPS choices a run for their money.

First year Meridian parent here. You probably met the principal, Dr. Robinette Breedlove. She is fabulous, and she and her administrative team are dedicated to continuous, steady and meaningful improvement for the whole school. We are in PS3 and have been so pleased with our experience and our child's lead teacher. I will fully admit to being skeptical in the beginning - the school was not our first choice. However, our child is learning new academic and social skills every day. The beginning of the year is mostly geared toward social learning and the academic concepts increase as the year goes by, with an emphasis on the building blocks for reading and number skills. The early childhood grades seem to the be the most diverse and I think the school will continue to diversify and draw from nearby residents in U Street, Logan, Shaw and Petworth. The new facility is wonderful. I have been pleased with the parental involvement, too - on a recent field trip I attended there were parents from a variety of ethnicities and socioeconomic classes who attended - and everyone was very friendly. If you value the basic building blocks of education, a strong social curriculum and diversity, you should strongly consider the school as an option. If you want a tour you can call and they are very accomodating.

I don't think that was her, because she mentioned the principal a few times. Whoever it was, she did a fantastic job. At first, the lazy person in me was put off by the fact that I actually have to go to the school to apply, but the more that I think about, I like that. It weeds out SOME of the people who are blindly applying and it gives me an opportunity to see the school and ask additional questions. My daughter will be in PS3, so it's nice to hear from someone who has kid(s) in there now. I'm going up there this week to drop off my application. Thanks for the additional info.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was my first expo as a parent. I used to work the DCPS expo when I was in high school.

I was most let down by LAMB. I get all of my "buzz" about the schools from this website, so I was expecting something...more. If I hadn't done my own research, I would've gotten absolutely nothing from the person at the desk. I also got the feeling of "our reputation precedes us."

I thought it was funny when I told the woman from Yu Ying that I'd heard about them on this site. She responded with, "Uh oh. I've seen some of the things they say on there."

Creative Minds impressed me with just how much they were willing to share. I had a chance to talk to someone who may end up being DD's teacher and she walked me through most of the day to day, then she handed me off to someone else who explained the extended day programs.

Ditto for Inspired Teaching. I was impressed with their parent turnout. It really showed that they're passionate about that place. They went on and on about it, but it didn't seem like a plea for enrollment.

Meridian seemed most prepared in the marketing dept. They were handing out folders, handbags, water bottles and the woman I spoke with rattled off facts and statistics like she was studying for a test. I was impressed with the presentation.

I started looking at some "safety schools" that won't be named because that would be wrong, but I was a little discouraged by what I saw. Some of them seemed like they just sent a few people out with a science project board and a candy dish. They weren't really prepared to answer many questions. A few asked me to wait until someone else showed up later.

All in all, I enjoyed it. I got in at the open and was out by 1:00. Some of them really have given my DCPS choices a run for their money.

First year Meridian parent here. You probably met the principal, Dr. Robinette Breedlove. She is fabulous, and she and her administrative team are dedicated to continuous, steady and meaningful improvement for the whole school. We are in PS3 and have been so pleased with our experience and our child's lead teacher. I will fully admit to being skeptical in the beginning - the school was not our first choice. However, our child is learning new academic and social skills every day. The beginning of the year is mostly geared toward social learning and the academic concepts increase as the year goes by, with an emphasis on the building blocks for reading and number skills. The early childhood grades seem to the be the most diverse and I think the school will continue to diversify and draw from nearby residents in U Street, Logan, Shaw and Petworth. The new facility is wonderful. I have been pleased with the parental involvement, too - on a recent field trip I attended there were parents from a variety of ethnicities and socioeconomic classes who attended - and everyone was very friendly. If you value the basic building blocks of education, a strong social curriculum and diversity, you should strongly consider the school as an option. If you want a tour you can call and they are very accomodating.

I don't think that was her, because she mentioned the principal a few times. Whoever it was, she did a fantastic job. At first, the lazy person in me was put off by the fact that I actually have to go to the school to apply, but the more that I think about, I like that. It weeds out SOME of the people who are blindly applying and it gives me an opportunity to see the school and ask additional questions. My daughter will be in PS3, so it's nice to hear from someone who has kid(s) in there now. I'm going up there this week to drop off my application. Thanks for the additional info.

Agree. Online applications make it to easy for everyone to apply everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Thank goodness for online applications. We are Washington DC residents and taxpayers, and were sent abroad by the U.S. government for a several month period that included the deadline for most charter school applications. Thankfully, we were able to apply online, won the lottery, and we were back in DC by the time school began.

We would have been at a real disadvantage had there been some requirement for us to personally show up at a school to apply. A lot of people in this town get sent overseas for a term by one agency or another. It is essential that online registration be available for such families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank goodness for online applications. We are Washington DC residents and taxpayers, and were sent abroad by the U.S. government for a several month period that included the deadline for most charter school applications. Thankfully, we were able to apply online, won the lottery, and we were back in DC by the time school began.

We would have been at a real disadvantage had there been some requirement for us to personally show up at a school to apply. A lot of people in this town get sent overseas for a term by one agency or another. It is essential that online registration be available for such families.

it is also a great disadvantage to those who work multiple jobs who have to get there during school hours - or the teen mom who brings her child with her to school - to get to there for an open house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank goodness for online applications. We are Washington DC residents and taxpayers, and were sent abroad by the U.S. government for a several month period that included the deadline for most charter school applications. Thankfully, we were able to apply online, won the lottery, and we were back in DC by the time school began.

We would have been at a real disadvantage had there been some requirement for us to personally show up at a school to apply. A lot of people in this town get sent overseas for a term by one agency or another. It is essential that online registration be available for such families.

it is also a great disadvantage to those who work multiple jobs who have to get there during school hours - or the teen mom who brings her child with her to school - to get to there for an open house.

In cases like this I'm sure you could call or write and explain your situation.