ITS changed first day of school

[Anonymous]

It's so weird how the IFA (the parent organization) is determinedly refusing to engage on this issue. They keep telling us to email the school leadership directly, which is fine, but they refuse to do anything else. I'm not expecting them to agree with any one person's opinion pro or con, but isn't the purpose of a parent organization to facilitate discussion and feedback between the parents and the school?

I won't be donating this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's so weird how the IFA (the parent organization) is determinedly refusing to engage on this issue. They keep telling us to email the school leadership directly, which is fine, but they refuse to do anything else. I'm not expecting them to agree with any one person's opinion pro or con, but isn't the purpose of a parent organization to facilitate discussion and feedback between the parents and the school?

I won't be donating this year.

Just reading this thread for the first time. No kids at ITS. We are at another charter but yes, that is how things work at our school. There is a collaborative, working relationship between the parent organization and administration. The parent organization brings any concerns to leadership who is open to parent feedback. Then admin either addresses the issues to the parents satisfaction, explains why things can’t be done that way, or asks for time to see if they can work something out.

If your IFA is not facilitating or advocating for the parents, why don’t you vote in people who can or are willing to do that?

Also why isn’t leadership there at least apologizing and taking accountability for their mistake at least?

Lastly, how can you do 1/2 day Wednesday’s without offering childcare??? That is crazy. It’s difficult enough for families to get coverage for school days off and now find coverage for 1/2 days regularly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's so weird how the IFA (the parent organization) is determinedly refusing to engage on this issue. They keep telling us to email the school leadership directly, which is fine, but they refuse to do anything else. I'm not expecting them to agree with any one person's opinion pro or con, but isn't the purpose of a parent organization to facilitate discussion and feedback between the parents and the school?

I won't be donating this year.

We are an ITS family and while I am not on the IFA, the parents who are work extremely hard and are very appreciated by the school community. The school leadership has addressed this several times, likely due to IFA & direct parent communication, apologized for their mistake, assured the community that some form of aftercare should be in place on 1/2 days. I its a shame that often those who give the most get the most criticism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's so weird how the IFA (the parent organization) is determinedly refusing to engage on this issue. They keep telling us to email the school leadership directly, which is fine, but they refuse to do anything else. I'm not expecting them to agree with any one person's opinion pro or con, but isn't the purpose of a parent organization to facilitate discussion and feedback between the parents and the school?

I won't be donating this year.

We are an ITS family and while I am not on the IFA, the parents who are work extremely hard and are very appreciated by the school community. The school leadership has addressed this several times, likely due to IFA & direct parent communication, apologized for their mistake, assured the community that some form of aftercare should be in place on 1/2 days. I its a shame that often those who give the most get the most criticism.

Where exactly did they apologize for their mistake? I only see them minimizing the impact and scolding us for expressing opinions. Why would "trust" them to consider parents' needs when they just laid a major inconvenience on us?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's so weird how the IFA (the parent organization) is determinedly refusing to engage on this issue. They keep telling us to email the school leadership directly, which is fine, but they refuse to do anything else. I'm not expecting them to agree with any one person's opinion pro or con, but isn't the purpose of a parent organization to facilitate discussion and feedback between the parents and the school?

I won't be donating this year.

We are an ITS family and while I am not on the IFA, the parents who are work extremely hard and are very appreciated by the school community. The school leadership has addressed this several times, likely due to IFA & direct parent communication, apologized for their mistake, assured the community that some form of aftercare should be in place on 1/2 days. I its a shame that often those who give the most get the most criticism.

Where exactly did they apologize for their mistake? I only see them minimizing the impact and scolding us for expressing opinions. Why would "trust" them to consider parents' needs when they just laid a major inconvenience on us?

Well we are clearly reading the follow-up email differently. You are right that the word 'apologize' is not actually there but they very clearly state that the inconvenience is recognized and that they will work with families who already have made plans for these dates. I personally don't read anything combative or scolding in either email sent by admin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's so weird how the IFA (the parent organization) is determinedly refusing to engage on this issue. They keep telling us to email the school leadership directly, which is fine, but they refuse to do anything else. I'm not expecting them to agree with any one person's opinion pro or con, but isn't the purpose of a parent organization to facilitate discussion and feedback between the parents and the school?

I won't be donating this year.

Just reading this thread for the first time. No kids at ITS. We are at another charter but yes, that is how things work at our school. There is a collaborative, working relationship between the parent organization and administration. The parent organization brings any concerns to leadership who is open to parent feedback. Then admin either addresses the issues to the parents satisfaction, explains why things can’t be done that way, or asks for time to see if they can work something out.

If your IFA is not facilitating or advocating for the parents, why don’t you vote in people who can or are willing to do that?

Also why isn’t leadership there at least apologizing and taking accountability for their mistake at least?

Lastly, how can you do 1/2 day Wednesday’s without offering childcare??? That is crazy. It’s difficult enough for families to get coverage for school days off and now find coverage for 1/2 days regularly?

The IFA did meet with the leadership and then leadership sent out a follow up email, followed by two more messages from the IFA. It's true that the school's decisions weren't changed based on feedback, but not sure anyone could have expected that. We did get more info on it.

My thinking is the school wanted to get the new start date out ASAP, and realized if they didn't also tell us about the once-a-month half day schedule at the same time, everyone would be mad all over again. So they told us before they had the aftercare sorted out -- not great, but I think their follow up made it clear they are working on the Wed care it just hasn't been finalized yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's so weird how the IFA (the parent organization) is determinedly refusing to engage on this issue. They keep telling us to email the school leadership directly, which is fine, but they refuse to do anything else. I'm not expecting them to agree with any one person's opinion pro or con, but isn't the purpose of a parent organization to facilitate discussion and feedback between the parents and the school?

I won't be donating this year.

Just reading this thread for the first time. No kids at ITS. We are at another charter but yes, that is how things work at our school. There is a collaborative, working relationship between the parent organization and administration. The parent organization brings any concerns to leadership who is open to parent feedback. Then admin either addresses the issues to the parents satisfaction, explains why things can’t be done that way, or asks for time to see if they can work something out.

If your IFA is not facilitating or advocating for the parents, why don’t you vote in people who can or are willing to do that?

Also why isn’t leadership there at least apologizing and taking accountability for their mistake at least?

Lastly, how can you do 1/2 day Wednesday’s without offering childcare??? That is crazy. It’s difficult enough for families to get coverage for school days off and now find coverage for 1/2 days regularly?

The IFA did meet with the leadership and then leadership sent out a follow up email, followed by two more messages from the IFA. It's true that the school's decisions weren't changed based on feedback, but not sure anyone could have expected that. We did get more info on it.

My thinking is the school wanted to get the new start date out ASAP, and realized if they didn't also tell us about the once-a-month half day schedule at the same time, everyone would be mad all over again. So they told us before they had the aftercare sorted out -- not great, but I think their follow up made it clear they are working on the Wed care it just hasn't been finalized yet.

But the IFA was not included in the decision to change the first day, and they aren't doing anything now to facilitate discussion of people's unhappiness with the process and the school's dismissive attitude. I understand that the first day is not going to change back, but I still would like an acknowledgement that they have really created a difficult first week of school. They just tell us to email the admins directly. What is the point of a families association if not to facilitate

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's so weird how the IFA (the parent organization) is determinedly refusing to engage on this issue. They keep telling us to email the school leadership directly, which is fine, but they refuse to do anything else. I'm not expecting them to agree with any one person's opinion pro or con, but isn't the purpose of a parent organization to facilitate discussion and feedback between the parents and the school?

I won't be donating this year.

Just reading this thread for the first time. No kids at ITS. We are at another charter but yes, that is how things work at our school. There is a collaborative, working relationship between the parent organization and administration. The parent organization brings any concerns to leadership who is open to parent feedback. Then admin either addresses the issues to the parents satisfaction, explains why things can’t be done that way, or asks for time to see if they can work something out.

If your IFA is not facilitating or advocating for the parents, why don’t you vote in people who can or are willing to do that?

Also why isn’t leadership there at least apologizing and taking accountability for their mistake at least?

Lastly, how can you do 1/2 day Wednesday’s without offering childcare??? That is crazy. It’s difficult enough for families to get coverage for school days off and now find coverage for 1/2 days regularly?

The IFA did meet with the leadership and then leadership sent out a follow up email, followed by two more messages from the IFA. It's true that the school's decisions weren't changed based on feedback, but not sure anyone could have expected that. We did get more info on it.

My thinking is the school wanted to get the new start date out ASAP, and realized if they didn't also tell us about the once-a-month half day schedule at the same time, everyone would be mad all over again. So they told us before they had the aftercare sorted out -- not great, but I think their follow up made it clear they are working on the Wed care it just hasn't been finalized yet.

But the IFA was not included in the decision to change the first day, and they aren't doing anything now to facilitate discussion of people's unhappiness with the process and the school's dismissive attitude. I understand that the first day is not going to change back, but I still would like an acknowledgement that they have really created a difficult first week of school. They just tell us to email the admins directly. What is the point of a families association if not to facilitate

The PP's question was why wasn't the IFA bringing these concerns to the administration -- I'm pointing out that they did so and it resulted in more communication from the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's so weird how the IFA (the parent organization) is determinedly refusing to engage on this issue. They keep telling us to email the school leadership directly, which is fine, but they refuse to do anything else. I'm not expecting them to agree with any one person's opinion pro or con, but isn't the purpose of a parent organization to facilitate discussion and feedback between the parents and the school?

I won't be donating this year.

Just reading this thread for the first time. No kids at ITS. We are at another charter but yes, that is how things work at our school. There is a collaborative, working relationship between the parent organization and administration. The parent organization brings any concerns to leadership who is open to parent feedback. Then admin either addresses the issues to the parents satisfaction, explains why things can’t be done that way, or asks for time to see if they can work something out.

If your IFA is not facilitating or advocating for the parents, why don’t you vote in people who can or are willing to do that?

Also why isn’t leadership there at least apologizing and taking accountability for their mistake at least?

Lastly, how can you do 1/2 day Wednesday’s without offering childcare??? That is crazy. It’s difficult enough for families to get coverage for school days off and now find coverage for 1/2 days regularly?

The IFA did meet with the leadership and then leadership sent out a follow up email, followed by two more messages from the IFA. It's true that the school's decisions weren't changed based on feedback, but not sure anyone could have expected that. We did get more info on it.

My thinking is the school wanted to get the new start date out ASAP, and realized if they didn't also tell us about the once-a-month half day schedule at the same time, everyone would be mad all over again. So they told us before they had the aftercare sorted out -- not great, but I think their follow up made it clear they are working on the Wed care it just hasn't been finalized yet.

But the IFA was not included in the decision to change the first day, and they aren't doing anything now to facilitate discussion of people's unhappiness with the process and the school's dismissive attitude. I understand that the first day is not going to change back, but I still would like an acknowledgement that they have really created a difficult first week of school. They just tell us to email the admins directly. What is the point of a families association if not to facilitate

The PP's question was why wasn't the IFA bringing these concerns to the administration -- I'm pointing out that they did so and it resulted in more communication from the school.

Yes and now some people are unhappy with the follow up communication from the school, and the IFA is refusing to engage any further.

[Anonymous]

But the IFA was not included in the decision to change the first day, and they aren't doing anything now to facilitate discussion of people's unhappiness with the process and the school's dismissive attitude. I understand that the first day is not going to change back, but I still would like an acknowledgement that they have really created a difficult first week of school. They just tell us to email the admins directly. What is the point of a families association if not to facilitate

I don't have experience with many schools here, but does the parent organization at usually have a say in when the first day of school is? That's surprising.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

But the IFA was not included in the decision to change the first day, and they aren't doing anything now to facilitate discussion of people's unhappiness with the process and the school's dismissive attitude. I understand that the first day is not going to change back, but I still would like an acknowledgement that they have really created a difficult first week of school. They just tell us to email the admins directly. What is the point of a families association if not to facilitate

I don't have experience with many schools here, but does the parent organization at usually have a say in when the first day of school is? That's surprising.

No. DCPS publishes a draft calendar and asks anyone who wants to provide feedback. However, even they distributed the draft with a set in stone first day this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

But the IFA was not included in the decision to change the first day, and they aren't doing anything now to facilitate discussion of people's unhappiness with the process and the school's dismissive attitude. I understand that the first day is not going to change back, but I still would like an acknowledgement that they have really created a difficult first week of school. They just tell us to email the admins directly. What is the point of a families association if not to facilitate

I don't have experience with many schools here, but does the parent organization at usually have a say in when the first day of school is? That's surprising.

No. DCPS publishes a draft calendar and asks anyone who wants to provide feedback. However, even they distributed the draft with a set in stone first day this year.

+1. I would not expect much of a say in the regular routine, but changing the first day after is was announced and making the first week especially inconvenient, plus these half days, is different from the regular process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's so weird how the IFA (the parent organization) is determinedly refusing to engage on this issue. They keep telling us to email the school leadership directly, which is fine, but they refuse to do anything else. I'm not expecting them to agree with any one person's opinion pro or con, but isn't the purpose of a parent organization to facilitate discussion and feedback between the parents and the school?

I won't be donating this year.

Just reading this thread for the first time. No kids at ITS. We are at another charter but yes, that is how things work at our school. There is a collaborative, working relationship between the parent organization and administration. The parent organization brings any concerns to leadership who is open to parent feedback. Then admin either addresses the issues to the parents satisfaction, explains why things can’t be done that way, or asks for time to see if they can work something out.

If your IFA is not facilitating or advocating for the parents, why don’t you vote in people who can or are willing to do that?

Also why isn’t leadership there at least apologizing and taking accountability for their mistake at least?

Lastly, how can you do 1/2 day Wednesday’s without offering childcare??? That is crazy. It’s difficult enough for families to get coverage for school days off and now find coverage for 1/2 days regularly?

The IFA did meet with the leadership and then leadership sent out a follow up email, followed by two more messages from the IFA. It's true that the school's decisions weren't changed based on feedback, but not sure anyone could have expected that. We did get more info on it.

My thinking is the school wanted to get the new start date out ASAP, and realized if they didn't also tell us about the once-a-month half day schedule at the same time, everyone would be mad all over again. So they told us before they had the aftercare sorted out -- not great, but I think their follow up made it clear they are working on the Wed care it just hasn't been finalized yet.

Above makes no sense about the 1/2 day Wednesdays. Your rational is that they wanted to tell the families now so they don’t get mad again later? You don’t think families will be really more mad now with no childcare??

Making a decision so big that significantly affects families without even consulting the families AND not providing childcare tells me that it’s obvious families opinions don’t matter much to leadership. We are doing 1/2 day Wednesday and you families deal with it.

If they really thought of the challenging logistics for all working families but especially the lower income families, they would look into and find childcare before finalizing to move forward with the decision. It’s obvious that was not the case.

[Anonymous]

This thread is literally going in circles. Is there a point to this circular argument with no new info?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's so weird how the IFA (the parent organization) is determinedly refusing to engage on this issue. They keep telling us to email the school leadership directly, which is fine, but they refuse to do anything else. I'm not expecting them to agree with any one person's opinion pro or con, but isn't the purpose of a parent organization to facilitate discussion and feedback between the parents and the school?

I won't be donating this year.

^^ This is a sadly mean-spirited message, and it's also false. The head of the IFA wrote this to the family community:
"We have already reached out to the administration to see if there are ways the IFA can support the effort to secure Wednesday afternoon care, particularly options for low or no cost programs to those who need them. Please share any ideas you might have with me!
We are looking at our IFA schedule to determine if it’s possible to reconfigure our remaining planned school-wide meetings to allow for some in-person conversations between the administration and families. I appreciate your patience as we sift through our options."