Shining Stars

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SSMA parent here. Still loving it. Our son is learning so much, the Spanish program is going great and the community association is working great with the administration. Just so that people know, most of those parents that left are all white, so make your conclusions with that in mind. All seats were filled and no financial danger for the school, even if haters want to build fear in those who don’t know

Aside from the spurious racial argument, the point about seats being filled is incredibly misleading. We're a pk3 family at SSMA and the primary classes are not balanced by grade, a critical element of a Montessori school. The class my son is in is about 1/2 pk3, 1/4 pk4 and 1/4 k. This will likely impact their numbers going forward as they won't have enough kindergartners becoming 1st graders, etc. They will this have to keep taking large numbers of new students which long term impacts test scores and retention rates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SSMA parent here. Still loving it. Our son is learning so much, the Spanish program is going great and the community association is working great with the administration. Just so that people know, most of those parents that left are all white, so make your conclusions with that in mind. All seats were filled and no financial danger for the school, even if haters want to build fear in those who don’t know

Aside from the spurious racial argument, the point about seats being filled is incredibly misleading. We're a pk3 family at SSMA and the primary classes are not balanced by grade, a critical element of a Montessori school. The class my son is in is about 1/2 pk3, 1/4 pk4 and 1/4 k. This will likely impact their numbers going forward as they won't have enough kindergartners becoming 1st graders, etc. They will this have to keep taking large numbers of new students which long term impacts test scores and retention rates.

I can see that there's basically nobody on the waitlist at all. https://www.myschooldc.org/short-waitlists Do the classrooms even have the right number of kids, total?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SSMA parent here. Still loving it. Our son is learning so much, the Spanish program is going great and the community association is working great with the administration. Just so that people know, most of those parents that left are all white, so make your conclusions with that in mind. All seats were filled and no financial danger for the school, even if haters want to build fear in those who don’t know

Latinx family here. I don't appreciate your erasure of my family, and it's rather telling that you don't seem to notice or care that families that look like mine left.

The Spanish program was definitely not "great" last year, the Montessori and classroom instruction was lacking, but the most troubling aspect is that there was a far from fair process for participation in the program. There was a bizarre secret waitlist that Dr. R revealed at the end of last year she had been maintaining, but there was no clear process to get on it.

I doubt that the community association is working "great" with the administration, but rather "held hostage." It wasn't until we switched schools that I understood what a healthy and productive parent/teacher/school community really looks like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SSMA parent here. Still loving it. Our son is learning so much, the Spanish program is going great and the community association is working great with the administration. Just so that people know, most of those parents that left are all white, so make your conclusions with that in mind. All seats were filled and no financial danger for the school, even if haters want to build fear in those who don’t know

Latinx family here. I don't appreciate your erasure of my family, and it's rather telling that you don't seem to notice or care that families that look like mine left.

The Spanish program was definitely not "great" last year, the Montessori and classroom instruction was lacking, but the most troubling aspect is that there was a far from fair process for participation in the program. There was a bizarre secret waitlist that Dr. R revealed at the end of last year she had been maintaining, but there was no clear process to get on it.

I doubt that the community association is working "great" with the administration, but rather "held hostage." It wasn't until we switched schools that I understood what a healthy and productive parent/teacher/school community really looks like.

Wow. Are secret internal waitlists even allowed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SSMA parent here. Still loving it. Our son is learning so much, the Spanish program is going great and the community association is working great with the administration. Just so that people know, most of those parents that left are all white, so make your conclusions with that in mind. All seats were filled and no financial danger for the school, even if haters want to build fear in those who don’t know

Latinx family here. I don't appreciate your erasure of my family, and it's rather telling that you don't seem to notice or care that families that look like mine left.

The Spanish program was definitely not "great" last year, the Montessori and classroom instruction was lacking, but the most troubling aspect is that there was a far from fair process for participation in the program. There was a bizarre secret waitlist that Dr. R revealed at the end of last year she had been maintaining, but there was no clear process to get on it.

I doubt that the community association is working "great" with the administration, but rather "held hostage." It wasn't until we switched schools that I understood what a healthy and productive parent/teacher/school community really looks like.

At the open house last year Dr. R said there would be a lottery for the Spanish immersion, which I found odd since other schools with an immersion strand use MSDC rather than an internal lottery. There was no further explanation given about the program itself or the process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SSMA parent here. Still loving it. Our son is learning so much, the Spanish program is going great and the community association is working great with the administration. Just so that people know, most of those parents that left are all white, so make your conclusions with that in mind. All seats were filled and no financial danger for the school, even if haters want to build fear in those who don’t know

Latinx family here. I don't appreciate your erasure of my family, and it's rather telling that you don't seem to notice or care that families that look like mine left.

The Spanish program was definitely not "great" last year, the Montessori and classroom instruction was lacking, but the most troubling aspect is that there was a far from fair process for participation in the program. There was a bizarre secret waitlist that Dr. R revealed at the end of last year she had been maintaining, but there was no clear process to get on it.

I doubt that the community association is working "great" with the administration, but rather "held hostage." It wasn't until we switched schools that I understood what a healthy and productive parent/teacher/school community really looks like.

Wow. Are secret internal waitlists even allowed?

Perhaps because it is a ‘pilot’ it is. But I doubt it. I am also not sure that SSMA’s charter even allows dual language. Someone should contact both MSDC and the PCSB and ask.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SSMA parent here. Still loving it. Our son is learning so much, the Spanish program is going great and the community association is working great with the administration. Just so that people know, most of those parents that left are all white, so make your conclusions with that in mind. All seats were filled and no financial danger for the school, even if haters want to build fear in those who don’t know

Latinx family here. I don't appreciate your erasure of my family, and it's rather telling that you don't seem to notice or care that families that look like mine left.

The Spanish program was definitely not "great" last year, the Montessori and classroom instruction was lacking, but the most troubling aspect is that there was a far from fair process for participation in the program. There was a bizarre secret waitlist that Dr. R revealed at the end of last year she had been maintaining, but there was no clear process to get on it.

I doubt that the community association is working "great" with the administration, but rather "held hostage." It wasn't until we switched schools that I understood what a healthy and productive parent/teacher/school community really looks like.

At the open house last year Dr. R said there would be a lottery for the Spanish immersion, which I found odd since other schools with an immersion strand use MSDC rather than an internal lottery. There was no further explanation given about the program itself or the process.

I though Cleveland had an internal lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SSMA parent here. Still loving it. Our son is learning so much, the Spanish program is going great and the community association is working great with the administration. Just so that people know, most of those parents that left are all white, so make your conclusions with that in mind. All seats were filled and no financial danger for the school, even if haters want to build fear in those who don’t know

Latinx family here. I don't appreciate your erasure of my family, and it's rather telling that you don't seem to notice or care that families that look like mine left.

The Spanish program was definitely not "great" last year, the Montessori and classroom instruction was lacking, but the most troubling aspect is that there was a far from fair process for participation in the program. There was a bizarre secret waitlist that Dr. R revealed at the end of last year she had been maintaining, but there was no clear process to get on it.

I doubt that the community association is working "great" with the administration, but rather "held hostage." It wasn't until we switched schools that I understood what a healthy and productive parent/teacher/school community really looks like.

At the open house last year Dr. R said there would be a lottery for the Spanish immersion, which I found odd since other schools with an immersion strand use MSDC rather than an internal lottery. There was no further explanation given about the program itself or the process.

It's completely opaque and the only way to get on the list for the immersion lottery is to email the principal, whose email address is not provided publicly. We got in because a friend who already was at SSMA shared the email with us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SSMA parent here. Still loving it. Our son is learning so much, the Spanish program is going great and the community association is working great with the administration. Just so that people know, most of those parents that left are all white, so make your conclusions with that in mind. All seats were filled and no financial danger for the school, even if haters want to build fear in those who don’t know

Latinx family here. I don't appreciate your erasure of my family, and it's rather telling that you don't seem to notice or care that families that look like mine left.

The Spanish program was definitely not "great" last year, the Montessori and classroom instruction was lacking, but the most troubling aspect is that there was a far from fair process for participation in the program. There was a bizarre secret waitlist that Dr. R revealed at the end of last year she had been maintaining, but there was no clear process to get on it.

I doubt that the community association is working "great" with the administration, but rather "held hostage." It wasn't until we switched schools that I understood what a healthy and productive parent/teacher/school community really looks like.

At the open house last year Dr. R said there would be a lottery for the Spanish immersion, which I found odd since other schools with an immersion strand use MSDC rather than an internal lottery. There was no further explanation given about the program itself or the process.

It's completely opaque and the only way to get on the list for the immersion lottery is to email the principal, whose email address is not provided publicly. We got in because a friend who already was at SSMA shared the email with us.

Latina PP above who mentioned the secret lottery. There’s also a secret waiting list that in a similar fashion you have to know the magic words to get added to. Saying “I’m really interested in the program” will not prompt the administration to reveal its existence or add you to the list.

[Anonymous]

You all seriously need to report this practice to PCSB and the OSSE Ombudsman office. Those emails and phone numbers are listed on their websites. You can be anonymous if you wish.

[Anonymous]

To contact the DCPCSB regarding SSMA:

Parent Complaints and Concerns: [phone] or [e-mail]

[Anonymous]

The most problematic part (because they can assign students to any classroom they want) is that you gusy don't have the principal's email?

[Anonymous]

Gail Jenkins
Principal
[e-mail]

[Anonymous]

Is SSMA still AMS accredited? I don't see them on the AMS website: https://amshq.org/Families/Find-A-School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SSMA parent here. Still loving it. Our son is learning so much, the Spanish program is going great and the community association is working great with the administration. Just so that people know, most of those parents that left are all white, so make your conclusions with that in mind. All seats were filled and no financial danger for the school, even if haters want to build fear in those who don’t know

Aside from the spurious racial argument, the point about seats being filled is incredibly misleading. We're a pk3 family at SSMA and the primary classes are not balanced by grade, a critical element of a Montessori school. The class my son is in is about 1/2 pk3, 1/4 pk4 and 1/4 k. This will likely impact their numbers going forward as they won't have enough kindergartners becoming 1st graders, etc. They will this have to keep taking large numbers of new students which long term impacts test scores and retention rates.

I can see that there's basically nobody on the waitlist at all. https://www.myschooldc.org/short-waitlists Do the classrooms even have the right number of kids, total?

Is there a way we can see how many kids per grade are at SSMA? That would be useful to understand if the classes are balanced the way they are supposed to be for Montessori of of pp above's assertion is correct.