Thoughts on Oysters Changes to the bilingual program - opinions from parents in the school???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't get me wrong, IB is terrific. The schools that are planning on going IB (Cooke, Shepherd, Thomson and Deal) are all held back by the lack of funding by the Chancellor. Deal has been paying their IB coordinator out of some other funds. Thomson has a grant that they are using to pay their coordinator.

The Chancellor talks a great deal about attracting "middle class" families to DCPS. I think it's great that schools are trying to implement the IB. It's attractive to all sorts of parents. It would just be fantastic though, if she would actually back a bit of the talk with funds.

Is this true? Shepherd and Cooke don't have the funding in place for IB? And Deal having to use creative accounting? And Thompson is using a grant (which will run out, as all grants do)? I ask because it takes 3 to 4 years to get approved as an IB school. Just a one year commitment or a quick shot of funding isn't going to be enough.

Honestly I would have thought Oyster would be a much better IB candidate than Cooke - that school is combination of inexperienced and old mess.

Back to my original point of 'don't set special programs up to fail'. They should be measured by a different yardstick, in every way, if the school system believes in them. The point is, this school system is very one size fits all, and every special program from Oyster to an IB need to eke out on the side to make up for the fact that their delivery of the program simply costs more. That is the point I have been making over and over. Yes, Oyster has done quite well for itself. But what it offers in terms of staffing etc. is on par (and since I have had direct experience and can make a comparison) at times below other small NW DC schools. It's funding allotment for two teachers was based on a 30 year old formula from a grant, it relies heavily on exchange teachers from Spain that it is not even allowed to keep for more than three years.... Set up to fail! I would like to see Chancellor Rhee BACK some of these special programs more, AS WELL AS work on raising achievement in the lowest performing schools. Every success in the city is a success to celebrate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The middle school counselor left during the school year, it was not planned. Schools should take advice from downtown when downtown is trying to work with them. That was the case in the example I cited. From what I understand about other DCPS schools, they are comparable to Oyster as far as art, PE, library and other resources. If any of them come out ahead, more power to them. I was an Oyster parent for many years. The school has been trying to figure out what to become for nearly a decade. I hope the community figures that out.

Of course it was not planned; it was the result of shoddy HR. And, the counselors for the past three years have not actually been sitting down and counseling children or running group character education as is their prerogative. They have been handling the administration of high stakes testing. Why? Because the admin is understaffed. Understaffing is a vicious, vicious circle and it ends up impacting the children.

[Anonymous]

12:51 Yes, DCPS schools in general are understaffed at the administrative level. I'm surprised Chancellor Rhee hasn't made that a priority. (If she has, I have not seen it articulated anywhere.) Every school needs enough people power at the top (principal, administrators, counselors, curriculum specialists, etc.) to serve the children. For counselors, I would think there would be a working ratio in education circles, like one full-time counselor per 200 students or some such.

[Anonymous]

Deal's coordinator is in the school's budget as a teacher - not a creative outside funding source.

[Anonymous]

As a teacher wearing two hats, or as a teacher whose sole duty is to administer IB? Not being snotty--just confused