Reply to Parent Essay critical of DCI

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]In theory, you'd promptly push back, but in practice, tangling with a school constantly is exhausting and often pointless.  '

I sympathize with the mom and think she makes valid points in her article.  In fact, I thought that the article was brave, given that it's really easy to figure out that she's writing about experiences with a DCI education.

There's far too much whitewashing of glaring rigor issues in our public middle schools, other than at BASIS, with it hopeless facilities (no real gym, stage, outdoor space or even a school library).[/quote]

DCI is printed right at the end of the article.  I appreciated her willingness to publicly call out the school.  Far too often parents are afraid of doing so.[/quote]

She was a coward. She didn’t address the problem with her kids, just wrote an article wondering why dci didn’t do her part in raising her kids.

It is exhausting to motivate kids, especially after a hard day at work, but you have to do it.  [/quote]

So what you are saying is that teachers are useless and add almost most value to in classroom education? Parents just need to supplement, make the lesson plans, choose all the reading materials, quiz their kids etc.  Teachers keep telling us how critical their job is but according to you, they are pointless. Its up to parents to do all the teaching. No degree needed.[/quote]

That’s not what I’m saying at all.

I said address the problem by speaking to the teachers about your concern and the fact that your kids aren’t motivated. If they’re not responsive, go up the chain. And as a parent, both mom and dad should be motivating their kids on their end. No one in my family went to college and I have a PhD. The kids are ultimately responsible for their lives and if they don’t understand the consequences of not working hard, then they will be the only one to pay. Writing a poorly written article about how the school is racist doesn’t help anyone. Maybe mom should focus less on her headshot and more on prodding her kids. Dad seems totally checked out. [/quote]
Did you even read the article? The parents, both of them, did speak to the teachers. They do check the assignments. She cites multiple problems: the work is not challenging, the material is not engaging, the teachers aren't holding kids accountable, and the teachers aren't bringing issues with the kids' performance to the attention of the parents in time to make corrections.

I am so grateful to the parent for this point of view--we are an upper elementary family at a DCI feeder and this article is giving me serious pause. I get that DCI needs to address the needs of kids who aren't on grade level, but there are scores of feeder kids coming up every year who ARE on grade level and are going to need more rigor and better accountability from DCI staff and administration.[/quote]

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