What schools would Obama consider for her daughters?

[Anonymous]

She's liberal, but not so informal. I think she had a fairly formal secondary education.

[Anonymous]

I found out the Obama transition team called my daughters school a couple months ago to ask about admission- I know they decided on Sidwell, but I think it says a lot that they called a DC public charter!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I found out the Obama transition team called my daughters school a couple months ago to ask about admission- I know they decided on Sidwell, but I think it says a lot that they called a DC public charter!

There are some very compelling public charters, PP. Which one does your daughter attend?

[Anonymous]

Excel Academy- It is fabulous!

[Anonymous]

why would they be interested in a school that currently only serves girls ages 3, 4, and 5 which opened only in August 2008?!

[Anonymous]

Maybe they'd heard it was an all-girls school and liked the idea and called to find out more. Not very many people outside DC really understand how charters work. Come to think of it, there are a lot of people INSIDE DC that don't understand them that well either.

My DD doesn't go to Excel, but I'm still glad the option is out there - the more competitive school offerings, the better as I see it.

Thanks for sharing, PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:why would they be interested in a school that currently only serves girls ages 3, 4, and 5 which opened only in August 2008?!

Well- actually, that is precisely what the transition team was told when they called... that the school will only be adding 1 grade per year (til 8th) and so, unfortunately was not able to accommodate the Obama girls.... and I think 11:32 got it spot on- they had heard about the school- and wanted to find out more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why would they be interested in a school that currently only serves girls ages 3, 4, and 5 which opened only in August 2008?!

Well- actually, that is precisely what the transition team was told when they called... that the school will only be adding 1 grade per year (til 8th) and so, unfortunately was not able to accommodate the Obama girls.... and I think 11:32 got it spot on- they had heard about the school- and wanted to find out more.

I doubt very seriously that the school couldn't accommodate the Obama girls if the Obamas actually wanted to attend. I also doubt that the Obamas were seriously considering any public school. Of course it was important for the Obamas to appear to give consideration to a public school, but that's about the sum of it -- appearances.

[Anonymous]

Youre saying the school would have added fifth grade a few years early just for the Obamas? I had no idea DCPS was so accomodating!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Youre saying the school would have added fifth grade a few years early just for the Obamas? I had no idea DCPS was so accomodating!

The point was "IF the Obamas actually wanted to attend", which I think we all can guess that they didn't. I'm sure the transition team knew before they called that the school was young and currently enrolls 3, 4, and 5 year olds. That tells you that they weren't serious about Excel Academy "when they called", according to PP. I'm sure if the Obamas were truly interested in an all-girls school Holton, NCS and Madeira would have been far better choices than Excel, even if the school could "accommodate" them. The Obamas were obviously just making some calls to say that they looked at the public schools. Anyone that thinks the Obamas considered enrolling the girls in ANY public school is not dealing in reality. They "checked the box" to be respectful of Rhee and to cool any heat that they might have receive for choosing private.

[Anonymous]

With all due respect, PP, I seriously doubt that you have an inside track on what the Obamas considered or didn't consider. I suspect you are right that they were likely to choose private from the get-go, and in my opinion that was a logical/reasonable choice from the standpoint of their girls' privacy and security. Nonetheless, they appear to be thoughtful, data-driven people who would collect additional information, particularly since they have the option to delegate that task. I find the tone of your post totally annoying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With all due respect, PP, I seriously doubt that you have an inside track on what the Obamas considered or didn't consider. I suspect you are right that they were likely to choose private from the get-go, and in my opinion that was a logical/reasonable choice from the standpoint of their girls' privacy and security. Nonetheless, they appear to be thoughtful, data-driven people who would collect additional information, particularly since they have the option to delegate that task. I find the tone of your post totally annoying.

ITA

[Anonymous]

With all due respect, PP, I seriously doubt that you have an inside track on what the Obamas considered or didn't consider. I suspect you are right that they were likely to choose private from the get-go, and in my opinion that was a logical/reasonable choice from the standpoint of their girls' privacy and security. Nonetheless, they appear to be thoughtful, data-driven people who would collect additional information, particularly since they have the option to delegate that task. I find the tone of your post totally annoying.

"Data-driven" in the context of a DCPS discussion sounds very familiar...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Youre saying the school would have added fifth grade a few years early just for the Obamas? I had no idea DCPS was so accomodating!

The point was "IF the Obamas actually wanted to attend", which I think we all can guess that they didn't. I'm sure the transition team knew before they called that the school was young and currently enrolls 3, 4, and 5 year olds. That tells you that they weren't serious about Excel Academy "when they called", according to PP. I'm sure if the Obamas were truly interested in an all-girls school Holton, NCS and Madeira would have been far better choices than Excel, even if the school could "accommodate" them. The Obamas were obviously just making some calls to say that they looked at the public schools. Anyone that thinks the Obamas considered enrolling the girls in ANY public school is not dealing in reality. They "checked the box" to be respectful of Rhee and to cool any heat that they might have receive for choosing private.

Wow, what a snotty attitude - and you really have nothing to base it on. "Checking the box" of a DC Charter school isn't respectful of Rhee anyway, so that doesn't even make sense. Michelle Obama has been known to make quite a point of being the product of public schools and for whatever reason she may have heard of this one and been interested. That's really not such a stretch to anyone except those who are so mentally married to the concept of private schools (due to the dollars they've flushed down them) that you're blind to the fact that many of us seeing their glaring inferiorities. Some of us see their inferiorities and get past them, but that's not true of everyone. Your attitude certainly does nothing to help!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Wow, what a snotty attitude - and you really have nothing to base it on. "Checking the box" of a DC Charter school isn't respectful of Rhee anyway, so that doesn't even make sense. Michelle Obama has been known to make quite a point of being the product of public schools and for whatever reason she may have heard of this one and been interested. That's really not such a stretch to anyone except those who are so mentally married to the concept of private schools (due to the dollars they've flushed down them) that you're blind to the fact that many of us seeing their glaring inferiorities. Some of us see their inferiorities and get past them, but that's not true of everyone. Your attitude certainly does nothing to help!

Actually PP, your attitude is quite snotty -- and you seem to be an independent school player hater. Why the need to insult those who have chosen private school?