Inspired teaching question

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ITS parent here --

Lee parents, you are obviously new to the charter school experience, and with all due respect, you have a lot to learn. There are all KINDS of inconveniences you will have to deal with as a result of not yet having your own building, and as a result of being a charter school.

In ITS's location for the last 2 years we were next to high school and had to ask them to give up their parking lot to provide us with playspace for our kids. The high school power-washed the space, ITS parent volunteers painted playspaces, ITS/IFA pooled resources to provide big soft playground blocks and other playground equipment, and we shared that space with the high schoolers, whose language and sometimes actions were often not the kind of thing you would want young kids to hear. Our admin and staff also worked over the summer to prepare our previous location/building for our kids, which was not at all configured in any way as a school. Some spaces could not be optimally adapted at all, so we worked with them as best we could.

Yes, you are paying to lease a space, but quite frankly you are LUCKY to be leasing a space that is being adapted so quickly to our kids' needs. You are LUCKY to be leasing a space that has been outfitted as a proper school on another school's dime. You are LUCKY to be starting off in an environment where so many of your needs are already met that you have the time and energy to spend entire threads discussing whether or not your kids should be eating pizza or lentils and quinoa for lunch. You are LUCKY to be inconvenienced by an event that will benefit your kids for the rest of the school year.

If you're not happy as a leasing tenant about the inconvenience of what it takes for another school to build a playground on its home property that your kids will actually get to use, discuss it with your admin. See if you can raise the funds amongst yourselves to move early and/or find a better temporary location for your kids. Good luck with both of those efforts.

In the meantime, despite all your complaining here, welcome to our building. We're happy to have your kids as our neighbors. Not sure how we feel about the parents yet ...

Wow! I hope the rest of the IT parents are more pleasant than you.

School closing for random unspecified reasons outside of the admins control is completely different from putting up with space or other problems. I can't speak for other Lee parents but I'm delighted that the playground is being built now, but it really isn't a hardship at all to walk to the current playground. In fact, I wouldn't think a new playground at the school is that much of a priority at this point. But keeping the school open for its regular hours is.

I hope the rest of the Lee parents are less entitled than the folks posting here.

"Entitled" to what exactly? Regular school hours for their kids? I think most of us are very understanding but when you're kept in the dark about reasons why your kid can't go to school (when you have to have a last minute scramble for childcare) you can expect some speculation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ITS parent here --

Lee parents, you are obviously new to the charter school experience, and with all due respect, you have a lot to learn. There are all KINDS of inconveniences you will have to deal with as a result of not yet having your own building, and as a result of being a charter school.

In ITS's location for the last 2 years we were next to high school and had to ask them to give up their parking lot to provide us with playspace for our kids. The high school power-washed the space, ITS parent volunteers painted playspaces, ITS/IFA pooled resources to provide big soft playground blocks and other playground equipment, and we shared that space with the high schoolers, whose language and sometimes actions were often not the kind of thing you would want young kids to hear. Our admin and staff also worked over the summer to prepare our previous location/building for our kids, which was not at all configured in any way as a school. Some spaces could not be optimally adapted at all, so we worked with them as best we could.

Yes, you are paying to lease a space, but quite frankly you are LUCKY to be leasing a space that is being adapted so quickly to our kids' needs. You are LUCKY to be leasing a space that has been outfitted as a proper school on another school's dime. You are LUCKY to be starting off in an environment where so many of your needs are already met that you have the time and energy to spend entire threads discussing whether or not your kids should be eating pizza or lentils and quinoa for lunch. You are LUCKY to be inconvenienced by an event that will benefit your kids for the rest of the school year.

If you're not happy as a leasing tenant about the inconvenience of what it takes for another school to build a playground on its home property that your kids will actually get to use, discuss it with your admin. See if you can raise the funds amongst yourselves to move early and/or find a better temporary location for your kids. Good luck with both of those efforts.

In the meantime, despite all your complaining here, welcome to our building. We're happy to have your kids as our neighbors. Not sure how we feel about the parents yet ...

I get where you're coming from, ITS parent. But you sound pretty overlord-y and it doesn't seem like you realize your kid and Lee kids are equals with the same rights and statuses. It's kind of messed up that a school who leases to another school has any power over that school or its students at all. That's not how public schooling should work in any form.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ITS parent here --

Lee parents, you are obviously new to the charter school experience, and with all due respect, you have a lot to learn. There are all KINDS of inconveniences you will have to deal with as a result of not yet having your own building, and as a result of being a charter school.

In ITS's location for the last 2 years we were next to high school and had to ask them to give up their parking lot to provide us with playspace for our kids. The high school power-washed the space, ITS parent volunteers painted playspaces, ITS/IFA pooled resources to provide big soft playground blocks and other playground equipment, and we shared that space with the high schoolers, whose language and sometimes actions were often not the kind of thing you would want young kids to hear. Our admin and staff also worked over the summer to prepare our previous location/building for our kids, which was not at all configured in any way as a school. Some spaces could not be optimally adapted at all, so we worked with them as best we could.

Yes, you are paying to lease a space, but quite frankly you are LUCKY to be leasing a space that is being adapted so quickly to our kids' needs. You are LUCKY to be leasing a space that has been outfitted as a proper school on another school's dime. You are LUCKY to be starting off in an environment where so many of your needs are already met that you have the time and energy to spend entire threads discussing whether or not your kids should be eating pizza or lentils and quinoa for lunch. You are LUCKY to be inconvenienced by an event that will benefit your kids for the rest of the school year.

If you're not happy as a leasing tenant about the inconvenience of what it takes for another school to build a playground on its home property that your kids will actually get to use, discuss it with your admin. See if you can raise the funds amongst yourselves to move early and/or find a better temporary location for your kids. Good luck with both of those efforts.

In the meantime, despite all your complaining here, welcome to our building. We're happy to have your kids as our neighbors. Not sure how we feel about the parents yet ...

No one is unhappy about the "inconvenience" of the playground being built. That's been happening all week while they kids have been at school. Some people may be unhappy because the school is closed for reasons unrelated to the building of the playground but related to a media opportunity. How do you not get that? Safety or security of kids? Yes, a good reason to close the school. Construction of a new playground? Ok, if it's essential. A press event that we're not even invited to/told about? Well, for my family, with flexible schedules we're fine, but for others it's a huge inconvenience and costly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ITS parent here --

Lee parents, you are obviously new to the charter school experience, and with all due respect, you have a lot to learn. There are all KINDS of inconveniences you will have to deal with as a result of not yet having your own building, and as a result of being a charter school.

In ITS's location for the last 2 years we were next to high school and had to ask them to give up their parking lot to provide us with playspace for our kids. The high school power-washed the space, ITS parent volunteers painted playspaces, ITS/IFA pooled resources to provide big soft playground blocks and other playground equipment, and we shared that space with the high schoolers, whose language and sometimes actions were often not the kind of thing you would want young kids to hear. Our admin and staff also worked over the summer to prepare our previous location/building for our kids, which was not at all configured in any way as a school. Some spaces could not be optimally adapted at all, so we worked with them as best we could.

Yes, you are paying to lease a space, but quite frankly you are LUCKY to be leasing a space that is being adapted so quickly to our kids' needs. You are LUCKY to be leasing a space that has been outfitted as a proper school on another school's dime. You are LUCKY to be starting off in an environment where so many of your needs are already met that you have the time and energy to spend entire threads discussing whether or not your kids should be eating pizza or lentils and quinoa for lunch. You are LUCKY to be inconvenienced by an event that will benefit your kids for the rest of the school year.

If you're not happy as a leasing tenant about the inconvenience of what it takes for another school to build a playground on its home property that your kids will actually get to use, discuss it with your admin. See if you can raise the funds amongst yourselves to move early and/or find a better temporary location for your kids. Good luck with both of those efforts.

In the meantime, despite all your complaining here, welcome to our building. We're happy to have your kids as our neighbors. Not sure how we feel about the parents yet ...

I get where you're coming from, ITS parent. But you sound pretty overlord-y and it doesn't seem like you realize your kid and Lee kids are equals with the same rights and statuses. It's kind of messed up that a school who leases to another school has any power over that school or its students at all. That's not how public schooling should work in any form.

Agree with you about ITS parent's attitude and that Lee students have just as many rights as ITS, but let's not jump to blame ITS for Lee closing this afternoon. The event seems to really be about Kaboom and National Service Corps. I doubt that ITS required Lee to close though the Secret Service might have.

[Anonymous]

Wow. ITS should be embarrassed by the attitudes exhibited here. No kid should be denied access to school for your media opportunity. They have rights too, even if thuey don't have a voice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, can I just say that I called it!

You guys are awesome. I would have blithely just assumed it was, after all, construction. Now why did we have to leave at noon. I don't mind not being invited to their crappy ceremony, but what about letting us leave at the close of day at 4:00?

[Anonymous]

You must be new to the area if you think that everyone is informed well ahead of time and/or invited to press events that involve the President or First Lady. The White House and Secret Service call the shots completely, and you are often expressly instructed not to publicize the attendees in advance. Obviously it's a huge coup for Kaboom, IT and DC charter schools to have the Obamas come, so nobody was going to say no!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. ITS should be embarrassed by the attitudes exhibited here. No kid should be denied access to school for your media opportunity. They have rights too, even if thuey don't have a voice.

The last sentence gets a bit histrionic, but +1000 on the first two sentences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You must be new to the area if you think that everyone is informed well ahead of time and/or invited to press events that involve the President or First Lady. The White House and Secret Service call the shots completely, and you are often expressly instructed not to publicize the attendees in advance. Obviously it's a huge coup for Kaboom, IT and DC charter schools to have the Obamas come, so nobody was going to say no!

You know, if word gets out that a school had to close so the president could hold a photo op, it's gonna look bad. Just dumb!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, can I just say that I called it!

You guys are awesome. I would have blithely just assumed it was, after all, construction. Now why did we have to leave at noon. I don't mind not being invited to their crappy ceremony, but what about letting us leave at the close of day at 4:00?

I guess there will be a secret service sweep of the building this afternoon? The traffic involved in pick up at 4pm might be too close to the prep for them arriving - the street is meant to be clear 11am to 7pm. IT is probably ok because they finish earlier. Perhaps Lee could have stayed open a little later but breaking at lunch made more sense for the admins than interrupting nap time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You must be new to the area if you think that everyone is informed well ahead of time and/or invited to press events that involve the President or First Lady. The White House and Secret Service call the shots completely, and you are often expressly instructed not to publicize the attendees in advance. Obviously it's a huge coup for Kaboom, IT and DC charter schools to have the Obamas come, so nobody was going to say no!

Definitely not new to the area, and this is exactly why I knew what was going on! They actually did a pretty good job of being vague on the construction reasons.

[Anonymous]

So will ITS dismiss early too or will they be there when the Obamas are there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So will ITS dismiss early too or will they be there when the Obamas are there?

ITS aftercare has a hard stop at 5:00 today -- all kids must be picked up by then.

[Anonymous]

If the WH schedule posted above is correct, Obamas will be there around 5:20. ITS will not be there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So will ITS dismiss early too or will they be there when the Obamas are there?

well, you can't have a photo-op at a school without at least some kids, right?! Seriously, Obama critics will have a field day with this.