Reply to Has anyone switched from private to public elementary school (esp. JKLM)?

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Reply to "Has anyone switched from private to public elementary school (esp. JKLM)?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Would any PP's answer change if the choice was between an EOTP elementary and an independent private school? [/quote]

One DC is at an EOTP elementary and did private in the earlier years, and have another DC who has always been in private.  We are removing DC from the EOTP DCPS and running like hell to private.  I never want to see another public school again, to be honest.  The big issue is the cohort of children.  I imagine this isn't a problem a JKLMMS.  It is definitely a problem at our Title 1 EOTP elementary especially above second grade.  Great teachers, so so administrators, but incorrigible children.  Fighting, bad language, a lot of behavioral issues and no socio-emotional curriculum to effectively deal with them.  Also, too much testing, art and music classes are a joke--and you only have them every eight days or something like that--just to say you have them.  We considered renting an apartment in bounds for a JKLMMS (criticize me all you want, this Chancellor mess and what I have experienced has given me the one man for himself attitude--screw the rules) while continuing to live in our home EOTP but the $2000 a month rent (and the stress of dealing with a lie) doesn't make economic sense when we can go to a private and pay about the same with a little financial aid AND avoid the limited recess and all the testing of the desirable DCPS.  So I would say Yes, the answer definitely does change.  Private and an EOTP elementary are night and day and if I could afford private, I would definitely switch--or move in bounds for JKLMMS (I love our neighborhood and value the diversity we have too much to move).[/quote]

I'm the OP.  Thanks for all the feedback so far.  Can anyone comment on whether the issues raised above (fighting, bad language, too much testing and not enough art/music, etc.) are problems you have seen in JKLM schools?

[/quote]

IME, "JKLM schools" (in quotes because the pool of good DC elementary schools has expanded since the acronym was created--it's more like JKLMMSER now) don't focus so much on testing.  So they take the PARCC, but the principals will openly say that they don't worry about test scores.  (And they don't, because they don't have to.  Their students are going to do fine, because so much of it is SES-driven.)   And they do have good art and music--the parents care about that stuff, and the PTAs fundraise to support the specials.

And while every school has kids who misbehave, the good elementaries are not dealing with a lot of fighting or cursing or whatever.  Again, the kids are coming to school prepared to learn.  The schools often have quite explicit SEL programs to address bullying, misbehavior, and other issues.  [/quote]

My upper elementary kids at a JKLM get tested what seems like all the time  -- ANET testing I don't know even how many times in a year, Beg/Mid/End of the year assessment through Iready, reading assessments through Lexile, worksheets to assess PARCC readiness, then there is the multi-day PARCC at the end of the year. Plus, there is a huge emphasis on 100% completion of ST Math. We are a public school family so we deal with this, and tell our children that taking tests is good practice and all the time spent on ST Math is to reinforce the concepts.

And we deal with all the other issues, bad language, bad behavior and lots of disrespectful kids who seem like they have never been disciplined at home. Kids may be programmed to learn because of the higher SES but that doesn't outweigh the behavioral issues and home environment that shapes these kids.[/quote]

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