Reply to Mundo Verde accepting late applications--PK, K, 1st & 2nd

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Reply to "Mundo Verde accepting late applications--PK, K, 1st & 2nd"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Wow. It's almost like people are holding it against "HR" charters who did next to nothing last year.[/quote]

As someone who passed up a few of those spots myself, I didn't so much hold it against them that they did nothing last year, as I learned what the education was like once you are in early and upper elementary.  It used to be viewed as a better option than the IB schools in the neighborhood (at least in the Cook campus neighborhood), but that's no longer true.[/quote]

Not to beat a dead horse (since this has been discussed ad nauseum the past few days), but we passed on MV seats in favor of a DCPS as well. Others may reasonably conclude differently, but assuming our above grade level child stays above grade level, I'd rather have credentialed teachers and a solid curriculum, then have to advocate for the differentiation or attention my child needs, than have a weaker curriculum and underqualified teachers who are actually unable to provide appropriate differentiation. We spoke to a lot of upper elementary families at all of the schools we considered, and got very different responses from the parents of older kids at MV than younger kids. And judging by the number of OOB families in my DC's class, I don't think I'm the only one that came to the same conclusions. Time will tell if this is a bigger trend, but for now I think it's good that families are considering a wider range of options and are able to choose a school they think will work best for them.[/quote]

I am a teacher and I see this concern over the credentialed teachers a fair amount.  The lead teachers in classrooms are certified teachers.  The teaching fellows are working towards certification.  Many urban schools use these types of fellows, including my school division in NOVA.[/quote]

On paper, but in practice many lead teachers have bachelor's in unrelated fields and very recent teacher certification. That was the experience in at least 3 classrooms I've known kids in and is not allowed in DCPS. It is allowed in Virginia and you have a substantial body of teachers that went into teaching as a second career (I know three teachers in VA and only one has a teaching degree). A high school science teacher with a biology degree is one thing, but if I have the choice, I want my elementary student taught by someone with a master's in education. The socioemotional development and foundational skills developed in elementary school are too important to assume everything will probably be fine. Plus MV has very high turn over, so the average teacher doesn't even have years of experience to develop the skillset they missed academically. So no, a teacher certification with 1-2 years of experience just isn't good enough for me when there's a school down the street with more rigorous qualifications and less turnover.[/quote]

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