Capital city or Mundo verde

[Anonymous]

Which would you choose? I realize the obvious deciding factor is wether we want language. The answer is, we definitely do, but we really like the expeditionary approach. Does capital city do that better? If you were to take the language out of the equation, which school is better? If it matters kid is pk4 and commute is basically the same either way. Want to be prepared if we get a wait list offer.

[Anonymous]

Is it P St or 8th?

[Anonymous]

Capital City is better run and more stable than either MV location. A kid with involved, engaged parents will do equally well at either. If you don't want start up turmoil (assuming 8th) and aren't fully committed to the language, then I'd go with Cap City. Bonus is the guaranteed middle school path.

[Anonymous]

Cap City has far superior green space, playgrounds and fields.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it P St or 8th?

OP here, it's 8th

[Anonymous]

MV is a hot mess and looks to be getting worse.

[Anonymous]

A few years ago I observed both early education classes. They expeditionary learning that both schools did were strong. MV was coached by the long term PreK teacher from Cap City.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A few years ago I observed both early education classes. They expeditionary learning that both schools did were strong. MV was coached by the long term PreK teacher from Cap City.

And?

[Anonymous]

I have heard similar concerns about each school, that they have dedicated and talented teachers who get burnt out. Is it because it's hard to do EL with integrity? Because testing culture + EL means that teachers have a lot on their plates? I do not know.

Our child is at MV and he has had dedicated teachers who have helped him as a learner and as a person. I do not know anything from the parent perspective about Cap City.

Did I love how the expansion was communicated at MV? No. Do I think the expansion is happening because of a lot of financial incentive from the charter board instead of an organic readiness to grow? I do. But my child has been learning and really coming into his own at MV, the parent community is strong and very supportive, and the teachers are skilled and really caring.

My caveat with MV is that I have heard some very tough stories from families with kids who have learning differences / IEPs. If you think that is something you might be dealing with, find a few other families and ask them very pointed questions. (I know the MV teachers / staff are trying to shift things on the student services front, but I don't know where that will land.)

[Anonymous]

My oldest is in 2nd grade at MV. Expositionary learning isn't really integrated into the curriculum the way I was hoping it would be and the way they described it during the tours. For older grades the expo is just one period during the day. My kids have liked some of the more science-oriented expos (ex: composting) but others (ex: community) seemed random and not that well thought through. So if that is important to you, I would choose Cap City. Also, I think next year will be a rough year for the school with the expansion and the administration getting used to a union if one forms and dealing with the hurt feelings if a union doesn't form.

[Anonymous]

Capital City - it is solid.

[Anonymous]

Do folks think MV is really going to be that bad? We are at an ok but not great on paper neighborhood dcps and weighing our low waitlist number at P st.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do folks think MV is really going to be that bad? We are at an ok but not great on paper neighborhood dcps and weighing our low waitlist number at P st.

No MV is not going to be really that bad. Yes it’s a new campus but the curriculum, etc.. will all be the same. The families that will be at MV8 will likely be similar to families at MVP. PARCC scores are not the be all, end all but if you want some objective measure:

MV - Almist 50% students with a PARCC 4 in both ELA and math. Greater than 65% PARCC 3 in ELA and math

Cap city - 30% students PARCC 4 in both ELA and math. About 55% PARCC 3 in ELA and math


So look up your neighborhood DCPS numbers and compare to MV. If you are thinking of staying in the city past elementary, I would also compare the middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have heard similar concerns about each school, that they have dedicated and talented teachers who get burnt out. Is it because it's hard to do EL with integrity? Because testing culture + EL means that teachers have a lot on their plates? I do not know.

Our child is at MV and he has had dedicated teachers who have helped him as a learner and as a person. I do not know anything from the parent perspective about Cap City.

Did I love how the expansion was communicated at MV? No. Do I think the expansion is happening because of a lot of financial incentive from the charter board instead of an organic readiness to grow? I do. But my child has been learning and really coming into his own at MV, the parent community is strong and very supportive, and the teachers are skilled and really caring.

My caveat with MV is that I have heard some very tough stories from families with kids who have learning differences / IEPs. If you think that is something you might be dealing with, find a few other families and ask them very pointed questions. (I know the MV teachers / staff are trying to shift things on the student services front, but I don't know where that will land.)

We were at Cap City with an IEP. For our child they did not have the resources to fully support our child's needs. I am not sure if the challenges are charter related? where the teachers may have less experience working with IEPs? or the year over year teacher transition adds complexities to supporting the learning of students - but we decided to go through DCPS as we had a decent option.

[Anonymous]

I don’t understand. You ranked MV because you want Spanish immersion. If that’s the case, then go with MV. If Spanish immersion now is not so important to you, then go to Cap city so another family who really wants Spanish immersion has the opportunity.