Reply to Is 2.0 bad enough that I should move to DC instead of Bethesda?

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Reply to "Is 2.0 bad enough that I should move to DC instead of Bethesda?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

Have I gotten misinformation?  Or are some of the people posting here just misinformed or unaware of these charter schools?  I'm trying to be objective here, and I have no stake in either side, but most of the parents that I know whose kids are at the best DC charters seem to be some of the smartest people around, with "resources" to go elsewhere, and I was assuming that the top DC charters could actually be better than some Maryland public schools, such as those around Silver Spring.  [/quote]

Charter language immersion schools are the closest thing DC offers to "gifted" programs for advanced learners.  That said, PTAs in DCPS schools are free to raise funds to pay for extra staff, unlike their MD counterparts.   Parents at our Capitol Hill elementary school, Brent, pays for a part-time math teacher who runs pullout groups for advanced learners.   It's common for families to hand the the PTA $1,000+ annually to support enrichment programs, saying "hey, cheaper that Sidwell."  In the 10 or so DCPS schools where the kids are mostly upper-middle-class (yes, that tends to mean white in DC), your kid can in fact get an ES education to comparable to MoCo, at least if you supplement with museum time on weekends (easily done with the Smitihsonians a mile away) and home inputs.  I would certainly not argue this for middle school, and I'm not sold on the charters.

Even the best charter elementary schools, like Two Rivers and Yu Ying, are sadly geared toward test prep for low-incomed and lower-middle-class AA students poorly served by DCPS neighborhood schools from 3rd grade on.   Moreover, the charters don't officially allow any sort of "cherry picking" of students, running a single admissions lottery each, meaning that the language immersion schools are loaded with families with no connection to the target languages, and no real interest in them, there just to escape crappy neighborhood schools.  If you look on the DC schools DCUM link you'll find one thread after another discussing serious problems with the charters popular with middle-class families, especially YY.  Draw your own conclusions, but we wouldn't bother with any DC ES after K but one EotP (East of Rock Creek Park) or our IB school.
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