Reply to LAMB Enrollment Increase

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I will definitely be filing a comment recommending that they not be allowed to expand unless they open their school to grades beyond PK-4.  Even if it's only to those with previous montessori experience.  It's insane that they are the only school that doesn't do this.  Anyone else who feels this way should too.  While there will be retention, there is also attrition and those seats remain open (even though there are families and children interested).  [/quote]What a sour grades point-of-view! I'm hoping you're not a current parent. You sound like a gem...NOT! LAMB is a fantastic school looking to serve children in the District with a stellar program. As Montessori, it is alike all others in not permitting admission beyond Pre-K 4 (I understand they've *thought* about extending to K for last admission). Someone compared this to Jedi night training in another thread a long time ago, which I remember. You have to start the kid early before the anger sets in. The style of learning needs it's roots to be laid early. Older children cannot adapt. Not to mention the added layer of bilingual. With respect to granting admission to kids with prior Montessori, LAMB IS NOT ALLOWED TO DO THIS! Charter law prevents it. So, instead of trying to put a monkey wrench into their expansion efforts, but don't you lobby the Charter Board to change this. Including having a provision to allow kids with prior language experience to enter immersion schools at higher grades. MV and YY would love to give priority admission to native Spanish and Mandarin speakers, etc..., but they've been disallowed due to short-sighted rules. Why don't you do something positive and steer your energy to changing that?[/quote]

LOL...  I am a gem, actually.  Hey I did all the hard work for you (Logan Montessori below)
 Children are accepted at 3 years of age for the Primary Program (ages 3–6). Depending on space availability, transfer students are accepted for all grades from Pre-school through Grade 7 (and 8 grade beginning in school year 2015-2016), if the child transferring is from an accredited Association of Montessori Internationale school or program.[/quote]NP. OMG, you're so stupid. Logan is a DC public school, operating under more permissive rules denied to charter schools. Talk about being loud and wrong! So glad you're not at LAMB![/quote]

JEEZ.  New poster here, but it seems the only nasty/crazy one is the LAMB one.  Seek help for yourself

JEE[/quote]

Agree.  And she's wrong too.  Other Montessori schools take kids past PK4, without Montessori experience including Lee and SSMA.[/quote]

I'm the PP LAMB alum parent (who I hope isn't being lumped in with the other LAMB parent).

FWIW LAMB has argued in the past that the combination of Spanish immersion + Montessori makes it very difficult for an older child to catch up to. Perhaps either catching up on Spanish or Montessori is possible but not both.

I"m not sure that argument has ever been tested and think it's untenable for them to get 'special treatment' much longer. They could try it and if it is a disaster then appeal for a return to their current charter language. But who would want their kid to be that guinea pig? I wouldn't.

[/quote]

NP here.

YY's charter finalizes its entry year at 2nd grade, and everyone seems to understand why that makes sense.  For those who don't: If you enter YY at 2nd grade with no Mandarin, you simply won't be able to catch up.  The class a student would be entering would have had two full years of immersion (PS3 & PK4) and then two years of 1/2 English & 1/2 Mandarin (K & 1st).  It's unfair to a child to bring them into an environment where they're going to be so far behind their classmates - the psychological repercussions would probably be even more severe than the academic ones of losing half a year of instruction (presumably they'd continue to learn in English, but be utterly lost in Chinese).  FWIW, this is rarely of issue, because the retention rate is so high that there are rarely any open seats anyway.  YY's entry classes are almost completely filled with siblings.

This is relevant, because a school's curriculum is part of its charter.  When outsiders start demanding changes to the charter, they are unlikely to understand the repercussions to the curriculum and how their good faith attempts to make change can undermine the good work inside the school.  I'm using the YY example because some people might find it easier to understand what a challenge a language like Chinese introduces.

LAMB's situation is in fact similarly specialized.  Not only are they teaching the Montessori method, they're also immersing the students in another language.  It's easy to demand from the outside that they revamp their charter and curriculum to suit someone's angry whims.  It's a lot more to try to understand the ramifications in the classroom and to the educations of several hundred other students in the program.

I suspect you can complain to the PCSB and vent your spleen on DCUM, but at the end of the day, nobody is interested in trying to "fix" a school like LAMB, which clearly is not broken in the first place.[/quote]

Thank you for this excellent post. I totally agree. [/quote]

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