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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Could those of you who were able to go to the office hours and tour this morning share any feedback? Did they answer any of your questions about the new campus? My child has a low waitlist number, and I'm hoping to learn more in case we get an offer. [/quote]

We went and continue to be excited for the Fall. I didn't ask any specific questions about the concerns raised on this thread, but some of the parents asked similar. They are still figuring things out, so the people we talked to were cautious to commit to anything. But the upbeat philosophy and attitude toward the school, community and education really came through. That's enough for us at this point. We really got the sense they are working hard to make the new school as special as P street is.[/quote]

The new principal is incredibly positive.  She has seen Mundo P st. through all of the changes so she seems like a good person to get the new school up and running.  I did ask about the playground and Turkey Thicket is a possibility as is improving the existing structure.  The building will be renovated this summer.  The principal mentioned a larger renovation in three years once the building is purchased.  Opening a new school comes with many problems.  I think people need to decide if it is worth it and how flexible they are willing to be during all of the changes.[/quote]

We and our child are happy with our current school situation EOTP. Our child will be starting K in the fall. We played the lottery with just putting a few schools down to see any potential matches with a longer term strategy of middle school.  But we are fortunate because we can go private in middle if need be. We matched with MV.  I attended the open house today not expecting much and I have to say, I was very pleasantly surprised.

The new principal of 8th St is the current director of the lower school at P.  So not only does she know the curriculum well in the lower school but actively strategizes and shapes it.  She was very dynamic, articulate, and responsive to all the questions asked.  Although she has experience running a curriculum, she is young for a principal.  Some people may view that as a negative.  But I view that as a positive.  She is not set in her ways.  She seems very flexible, adaptive to changes if needed, and again very dynamic.

Yes, it’s a new school but the curriculum has already been made and tested.  There are already policies and processes in place. It’s more the logistics of starting a new school, partnering established teachers at P St moving to 8th with newer teachers, and getting a whole new cohort of kids adjusted to a new school.  One concern I had was my son only gets an hour of Spanish a week as specials now potentially being thrown into a full day of immmersion.  But the beauty of the new school is that the majority, if not all the K kids, are in the same boat.

It’s like starting at MV in preK 3 except now the kids have had 2 years of English instruction, have a wide vocabulary of words, know their letters, sounds etc..  That foundation has already been set and for my son, I’m confident his trajectory will continue.  At MV, he would need to deal with something completely different, all day, 5 days a week.  Yes, it will be challenging but the kids will all be in the same boat.  But best of all, these new intense experiences in another language will trigger an amazing growth of new neuronal networks and at this age, the kids are sponges and will absorb it all.

So now I need to have a long discussion with my husband about what we want to do.  I had not anticipated this at all, and would never have thought going to the open house and tour would put us in this position.  The big factor that changed this was the new principal.[/quote]

I forgot to add, I drove to the new school after the tour.  It’s a big building and has lots of character on the outside.  It is across the street from a nice small park like area.  The turkey thicket walk is not bad at all, much shorter than what I anticipated.[/quote]

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