Charter expo- which schools impressed you (not)?

[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.

You probably met the marketing and development director then. Good luck....maybe we'll run into each other next year!

[Anonymous]

Liking Meridian here near 13th and U. Lots of resources and plans to move up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

or not...this is how you can control your population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

or not...this is how you can control your population.

From what I understood in past years, they basically just accepted the first kids that apply. The last couple of years they pretty much just accepted you on the spot as soon as you said you were interested, then called you to get you to submit all your paperwork. While this may have been an OK method for them when they had extra slots, if they indeed become a more "desirable" school, I don't think this is a kosher way of running things. But maybe this will be the year they need to run a lottery for the first time.

I believe DC Bilingual also requires you to come in with all your paperwork (birth certificate, proof of residency, etc) in order to apply as well. That did keep me from applying, mostly because at the time I could not put my hands on my kid's birth certificate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

or not...this is how you can control your population.

From what I understood in past years, they basically just accepted the first kids that apply. The last couple of years they pretty much just accepted you on the spot as soon as you said you were interested, then called you to get you to submit all your paperwork. While this may have been an OK method for them when they had extra slots, if they indeed become a more "desirable" school, I don't think this is a kosher way of running things. But maybe this will be the year they need to run a lottery for the first time.

I believe DC Bilingual also requires you to come in with all your paperwork (birth certificate, proof of residency, etc) in order to apply as well. That did keep me from applying, mostly because at the time I could not put my hands on my kid's birth certificate.

This doesn't make sense. Lotteries generally happen in late March/early April and residency paperwork may not even be turned in until after April 1. Its also not legal for schools to ask information that would identify race or birthplace or other protected issues upon applying (information that would be on a birth certificate for example).

[Anonymous]

We only looked at a few schools-
Inspired Teaching
Sela
Capital City
Two Rivers wasn't there apparently.

Only spent a brief amount of time with the Head of Capital City. We were alreay planning to attend the Open House later in the week. (And have applied)

Talking with the Head of Sela for a while (There were only a couple of parents at the table when I was threre). He seemed pretty knowlegable about curriculum, Common Core and was able to offer a logical reason as to why a child who isn't Jewish would benefit from learning Hebrew. Unfortunately I have a child entering grade three and they will only have PK-1 next year. I will apply for a space for my son who will be entering K.

My husband and I talked to the Director of Inspired Teaching for a very long time. She was great. She seemed to be well-informed about the strengths and weaknesses of the school, had a plan of action for improvement and was willing to discuss the low test scores from last year. We've applied there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

or not...this is how you can control your population.

From what I understood in past years, they basically just accepted the first kids that apply. The last couple of years they pretty much just accepted you on the spot as soon as you said you were interested, then called you to get you to submit all your paperwork. While this may have been an OK method for them when they had extra slots, if they indeed become a more "desirable" school, I don't think this is a kosher way of running things. But maybe this will be the year they need to run a lottery for the first time.

I believe DC Bilingual also requires you to come in with all your paperwork (birth certificate, proof of residency, etc) in order to apply as well. That did keep me from applying, mostly because at the time I could not put my hands on my kid's birth certificate.

This doesn't make sense. Lotteries generally happen in late March/early April and residency paperwork may not even be turned in until after April 1. Its also not legal for schools to ask information that would identify race or birthplace or other protected issues upon applying (information that would be on a birth certificate for example).

DC Bilingual asked for a copy of my child's birth certificate before they would place him in the lottery. We chose to apply elsewhere. You are right in that none of the other schools asked for that information pre-lottery. A BC was required at time of registration. I think all of these schools do what the he'll they want until they get caught, i.e., LAMB with thier two separate lotteries.

[Anonymous]

A single charter school application would help to make things more consistent, but most parents seem to like the flexibility of applying all over the place. Once you start accepting spots, you will need to have thousands of copies of their birth certificate, SSN and myriad health and dental forms, so you might as well dig all that out now.

[Anonymous]

I believe DC Bilingual also requires you to come in with all your paperwork (birth certificate, proof of residency, etc) in order to apply as well. That did keep me from applying, mostly because at the time I could not put my hands on my kid's birth certificate.

You don't need to submit a birth certificate to apply to DC bilingual. I applied this week via fax without a birth certificate, and received an email confirmation within an hour or two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I believe DC Bilingual also requires you to come in with all your paperwork (birth certificate, proof of residency, etc) in order to apply as well. That did keep me from applying, mostly because at the time I could not put my hands on my kid's birth certificate.

You don't need to submit a birth certificate to apply to DC bilingual. I applied this week via fax without a birth certificate, and received an email confirmation within an hour or two.

Well then they have changed their policy from what it was two years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We only looked at a few schools-
Inspired Teaching
Sela
Capital City
Two Rivers wasn't there apparently.

Only spent a brief amount of time with the Head of Capital City. We were alreay planning to attend the Open House later in the week. (And have applied)

Talking with the Head of Sela for a while (There were only a couple of parents at the table when I was threre). He seemed pretty knowlegable about curriculum, Common Core and was able to offer a logical reason as to why a child who isn't Jewish would benefit from learning Hebrew. Unfortunately I have a child entering grade three and they will only have PK-1 next year. I will apply for a space for my son who will be entering K.

My husband and I talked to the Director of Inspired Teaching for a very long time. She was great. She seemed to be well-informed about the strengths and weaknesses of the school, had a plan of action for improvement and was willing to discuss the low test scores from last year. We've applied there.

Two Rivers was there. A few parents were at the booth. If there were teachers or admin, I didn't see them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I believe DC Bilingual also requires you to come in with all your paperwork (birth certificate, proof of residency, etc) in order to apply as well. That did keep me from applying, mostly because at the time I could not put my hands on my kid's birth certificate.

You don't need to submit a birth certificate to apply to DC bilingual. I applied this week via fax without a birth certificate, and received an email confirmation within an hour or two.

It's good to know that they have changed. When we applied four years ago, a birth certificate was required.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I believe DC Bilingual also requires you to come in with all your paperwork (birth certificate, proof of residency, etc) in order to apply as well. That did keep me from applying, mostly because at the time I could not put my hands on my kid's birth certificate.

You don't need to submit a birth certificate to apply to DC bilingual. I applied this week via fax without a birth certificate, and received an email confirmation within an hour or two.

It's good to know that they have changed. When we applied four years ago, a birth certificate was required.

Yes, we applied two years ago and a bc was definitely required.