Mundo Verde principal resigning

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As non DC resident, notice tons of MV drama on Listserve.....

Huh???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCI is really good and getting better every year! It appears to take a couple of years for the kids from a couple of the feeders to settle into IB and behavioral norms. It's tough--lots of differences between the feeders and then the joys of middle schoolers to boot....The real success is seen at the HS level: the kids have adapted to a big school, IB, and adolescence! Our child has thrived there and wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

I have to ask... which feeders seem to have more issues at DCI and what are they?

[Anonymous]

[vimeo]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MV told us they are are philosophically opposed to providing accelerated instruction.

Sounds like DCPS. And then admin wonders why they can’t rwtain the top students or why the test scores won’t budge? They should do everything they can to retain advanced students.

[Anonymous]

They should. We should be holding all the schools in DC accountable for not finding an equitable way to provide accelerated instruction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCI is really good and getting better every year! It appears to take a couple of years for the kids from a couple of the feeders to settle into IB and behavioral norms. It's tough--lots of differences between the feeders and then the joys of middle schoolers to boot....The real success is seen at the HS level: the kids have adapted to a big school, IB, and adolescence! Our child has thrived there and wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

Come on, we're always mired in relativism in DC public. I once taught at the Richard Montgomery IB Diploma program in Rockville, which is so far ahead of DCI in offering challenge to the strongest students that there's really no basis for comparison.

If your metric for measuring DCI's high school performance is the performance of the in-boundary DCPS programs the students are avoiding, OK, you win. Real success.

[Anonymous]

Ugh. We got into MV @ P St for PK4, and I couldn't believe our luck. But now I am seriously doubting our decision to put the kid there - and we listed MV so incredibly high (#4) on our application.

But I welcome the gossip. If we end up there, I'd rather have my eyes wide open.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCI is really good and getting better every year! It appears to take a couple of years for the kids from a couple of the feeders to settle into IB and behavioral norms. It's tough--lots of differences between the feeders and then the joys of middle schoolers to boot....The real success is seen at the HS level: the kids have adapted to a big school, IB, and adolescence! Our child has thrived there and wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

I'm glad your kid is thriving and happy. But since DCI hasn't graduated any students yet, perhaps it's too early to say that's where the real success is being seen.

The biggest complaint my DCI parent friends (kids entering 8/9/10) have is unevenness in teaching skills and experience. Some teachers are great but they've had more that are not. These are parents who have been at charters all the way through, and are just about done with hearing 'we're working on it' and 'bear with us' when they raise concerns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI is really good and getting better every year! It appears to take a couple of years for the kids from a couple of the feeders to settle into IB and behavioral norms. It's tough--lots of differences between the feeders and then the joys of middle schoolers to boot....The real success is seen at the HS level: the kids have adapted to a big school, IB, and adolescence! Our child has thrived there and wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

Come on, we're always mired in relativism in DC public. I once taught at the Richard Montgomery IB Diploma program in Rockville, which is so far ahead of DCI in offering challenge to the strongest students that there's really no basis for comparison.

If your metric for measuring DCI's high school performance is the performance of the in-boundary DCPS programs the students are avoiding, OK, you win. Real success.

Reality is DCI is a hell of a lot better than almost all public middle and non test in high school in the city. One could argue about Deal & Wilson but they have major problems now with overcrowding, large class sizes, and honors for all in Wilson which is a mess and counter to differentiating kids. Unfortunately that’s the reality of things

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI is really good and getting better every year! It appears to take a couple of years for the kids from a couple of the feeders to settle into IB and behavioral norms. It's tough--lots of differences between the feeders and then the joys of middle schoolers to boot....The real success is seen at the HS level: the kids have adapted to a big school, IB, and adolescence! Our child has thrived there and wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

I'm glad your kid is thriving and happy. But since DCI hasn't graduated any students yet, perhaps it's too early to say that's where the real success is being seen.

The biggest complaint my DCI parent friends (kids entering 8/9/10) have is unevenness in teaching skills and experience. Some teachers are great but they've had more that are not. These are parents who have been at charters all the way through, and are just about done with hearing 'we're working on it' and 'bear with us' when they raise concerns.

Sure but try putting your kid in their neighborhood school. I can guarantee you it’s 10 times worst.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI is really good and getting better every year! It appears to take a couple of years for the kids from a couple of the feeders to settle into IB and behavioral norms. It's tough--lots of differences between the feeders and then the joys of middle schoolers to boot....The real success is seen at the HS level: the kids have adapted to a big school, IB, and adolescence! Our child has thrived there and wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

I'm glad your kid is thriving and happy. But since DCI hasn't graduated any students yet, perhaps it's too early to say that's where the real success is being seen.

The biggest complaint my DCI parent friends (kids entering 8/9/10) have is unevenness in teaching skills and experience. Some teachers are great but they've had more that are not. These are parents who have been at charters all the way through, and are just about done with hearing 'we're working on it' and 'bear with us' when they raise concerns.

Sure but try putting your kid in their neighborhood school. I can guarantee you it’s 10 times worst.

Neighborhood schools are getting better everyday so this may not be true anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI is really good and getting better every year! It appears to take a couple of years for the kids from a couple of the feeders to settle into IB and behavioral norms. It's tough--lots of differences between the feeders and then the joys of middle schoolers to boot....The real success is seen at the HS level: the kids have adapted to a big school, IB, and adolescence! Our child has thrived there and wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

I'm glad your kid is thriving and happy. But since DCI hasn't graduated any students yet, perhaps it's too early to say that's where the real success is being seen.

The biggest complaint my DCI parent friends (kids entering 8/9/10) have is unevenness in teaching skills and experience. Some teachers are great but they've had more that are not. These are parents who have been at charters all the way through, and are just about done with hearing 'we're working on it' and 'bear with us' when they raise concerns.

Sure but try putting your kid in their neighborhood school. I can guarantee you it’s 10 times worst.

Neighborhood schools are getting better everyday so this may not be true anymore.

It is true for virtually all neighborhood high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI is really good and getting better every year! It appears to take a couple of years for the kids from a couple of the feeders to settle into IB and behavioral norms. It's tough--lots of differences between the feeders and then the joys of middle schoolers to boot....The real success is seen at the HS level: the kids have adapted to a big school, IB, and adolescence! Our child has thrived there and wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

I'm glad your kid is thriving and happy. But since DCI hasn't graduated any students yet, perhaps it's too early to say that's where the real success is being seen.

The biggest complaint my DCI parent friends (kids entering 8/9/10) have is unevenness in teaching skills and experience. Some teachers are great but they've had more that are not. These are parents who have been at charters all the way through, and are just about done with hearing 'we're working on it' and 'bear with us' when they raise concerns.

Sure but try putting your kid in their neighborhood school. I can guarantee you it’s 10 times worst.

Neighborhood schools are getting better everyday so this may not be true anymore.

It is true for virtually all neighborhood high schools.

Agree and it’s true for virtually all neighborhood middle schools too..,,,,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI is really good and getting better every year! It appears to take a couple of years for the kids from a couple of the feeders to settle into IB and behavioral norms. It's tough--lots of differences between the feeders and then the joys of middle schoolers to boot....The real success is seen at the HS level: the kids have adapted to a big school, IB, and adolescence! Our child has thrived there and wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

I'm glad your kid is thriving and happy. But since DCI hasn't graduated any students yet, perhaps it's too early to say that's where the real success is being seen.

The biggest complaint my DCI parent friends (kids entering 8/9/10) have is unevenness in teaching skills and experience. Some teachers are great but they've had more that are not. These are parents who have been at charters all the way through, and are just about done with hearing 'we're working on it' and 'bear with us' when they raise concerns.

Sure but try putting your kid in their neighborhood school. I can guarantee you it’s 10 times worst.

Neighborhood schools are getting better everyday so this may not be true anymore.

What neighborhood middle and high school are you talking about????

As to elementary, prek and K might be OK but watch as most bail in the upper elementary. At least at MV you have a much higher cohort of higher performing peers so your child is not the only 2 or 3 in the higher grades and ignored. Also language immersion, as a generalization, is a more challenging curriculum because the child is learning vocabulary, reading, writing in 2 completely different languages.

We know MV is not perfect but compared to our neighborhood school EOTP, it’s light years better.

[Anonymous]

To the MV parent of 5+ years evaluating data, I want to say THANK YOU! As a fellow long term MV parent I really appreciate your efforts. I have disengaged as I have focused on trying to find my kids better alternatives but I very much appreciate parents who continue to hold the school accountable.

To the new PK parent, don’t worry too much. MV actually does Early education well. They have some exceptional teachers. The systemic problems of the leadership primarily afflict higher grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are a MV family of 5+ years, and I would advise families - if they have a choice - to go elsewhere.
I feel like we've been duped.
They constantly tout their waitlist numbers - as that is, by far, their most impressive data point.
An Academic Review Committee, comprised of parents, who are also education professionals, was formed this year, and the data that they found was mind-blowing.
As in, mind-blowingly bad.
Long story short, of the five language immersion elementary charters that feed into DCI, MV students are the lowest scoring and lowest performing.
We hope that, with the formation of the new Union, things might improve, but it will take time.
The grading system changes from year to year, so there is no comparing apples to apples longitudinally. As pathetic as it sounds, I've given up on trying to figure out how my child is performing against the Common Core standards.
It is not uncommon - at all - for teachers to leave midyear (this has happened twice for my child) - yet the school does an incredibly poor job of conveying what is happening, what has happened, and what the plan is moving forward.
And regarding the principal, she told me herself that she was leaving because of organizational culture issues.
She, herself, was a teacher at MV, prior to being appointed principal, and I'm sure walked a difficult line in understanding teachers' needs and frustrations, yet not being able to adequately serve them as a school leader. Many families feel that she was always set up for failure.
Fortunately, we have just one more year...

What data are we talking about? 5th PARCC scores? Or did the committee have access to different data that's comparable across schools that have different curricula, different language, etc.? I'm a MV parent and want to understand what data was mind-blowingly bad that hasn't been shared with the whole school community.