Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I'm not sure why this principal feels the need to hijack the school and move it. She should feel free to open her own charter wherever she wants.

This.

+1000. This principal should leave OA and start her own charter, since she clearly has no commitment to improving the school where it is currently. If she's so concerned about language balance, she should stop letting in kids she knows are not Spanish dominant. I have first hand knowledge of two families who were accepted OOB on the Spanish dominant side. Neither of these kids has a Spanish speaking parent at home (they just attended bilingual preschools). This principal is an absolute failure!

omg, if they had a good principal replace the stale one who has charged this ship since the combining of campuses it could be a HUGE SUCCESS. THIS is what must change, people.

Has anyone suggested that Oyster revert back to its original status as a preK-5th grades elementary school? Part of the problem appears to be that many english-dominant speakers peel off for privates or Deal (I am getting this from the article, but it has also been my experience as an Oyster parent to witness this), and part of the reason why that happens is because the middle school is abysmal. Of course, that is only my opinion, based on what I have seen first-hand. They've had three years to get it together and it remains a very weak offering to any student who has a choice. Now, you may argue that perhaps there should not be a choice--if you are going to attend that school, then there is no other option for middle school even if you are in-boundary for Deal. The Principal has made decisions that encourage many families to vacate for other options: 1. no differentiation in math, 2. only one "choice" for language, which is Chinese, 3. poor response of administration to remedy repeated classroom behavior disruptions. When kids leave for other schools, the article reports that it then becomes impossible to replace them with english dominant speakers because of the demographics of the boundaries. Most incoming replacement students are Spanish dominant--thereby tilting the balance even more.

It appears Oyster Adams can't get the balance they want in any grade. In the past, it was a very strong elementary school. It wants to have a strong middle school, but that probably is only going to happen with new leadership. Why can't DCPS just close the Adams "middle school" they way they have closed other schools? Funds could be used to expand the lower grades to accommodate the rise of English speakers and balance them with Spanish speakers, until 5th grade. They have two buildings, it can be done. Not sure why the middle school needs to be saved at the expense of everything else.

Anonymous wrote:
I'm not sure why this principal feels the need to hijack the school and move it. She should feel free to open her own charter wherever she wants.

This.

Oyster can still be a bilingual school without OOB kids. There's no reason why the same curriculum cannot continue with IB students only other than the fact no one wants to talk about it for fear of sounding sounding racist or elitist.

And before anyone interjects how unfair it is and how privileged the school would be, take a look at all the schools in wealthy neighborhoods in NW that accept no OOB students. How would this be different?

I think it is going to be tough to wrest Oyster out of Woodley Park. What happens if the principal somehow is able to move it somewhere and make it lottery only? Would IB kids go somewhere else, like Eaton or Marie Reed? Does DCPS open a new school like JKLM in the Oyster building? Where do all the kids go who attend there now? I cannot see leadership having an opinion about these questions other than to have endless meetings with parents about the "challenges" the community faces and how we can work together to "find workable solutions." Please.

I'm not sure why this principal feels the need to hijack the school and move it. She should feel free to open her own charter wherever she wants.

Anonymous wrote:The issue is two-fold, I think. One is that the lower grades are bursting at the seams even after they've already moved grades 4-6 to the Adams campus. The other is that making it a neighborhood school with current boundaries is interfering with the original model & mission of the school as a dual language program based on 50% English-dominant/ 50% Spanish-dominant population. The vast majority of in-boundary families are English-dominant (mostly English-only) families. The younger grades skew heavily towards English dominant. The school is having a more difficult time adding Spanish-dominant kids to the population. This results in the model being diluted to a "bilingual light." To compound the problem, the English dominant families tend to take their kids out between grades 4 and 6, leading to a de-population and lack of support for the middle school bilingual program. By the later grades, the school skews heavily Hispanic.

IMHO, for the Oyster dual language to truly work, the school should not be a neighborhood school, but rather an application-only magnet. Only that way can it truly maintain the benefits of the 50/50 program and ensure a population that is truly committed to bilingualism through 8th grade.

This. Also, the immersion charters should be able to modify their charters to allow preference for native speakers.

The issue is two-fold, I think. One is that the lower grades are bursting at the seams even after they've already moved grades 4-6 to the Adams campus. The other is that making it a neighborhood school with current boundaries is interfering with the original model & mission of the school as a dual language program based on 50% English-dominant/ 50% Spanish-dominant population. The vast majority of in-boundary families are English-dominant (mostly English-only) families. The younger grades skew heavily towards English dominant. The school is having a more difficult time adding Spanish-dominant kids to the population. This results in the model being diluted to a "bilingual light." To compound the problem, the English dominant families tend to take their kids out between grades 4 and 6, leading to a de-population and lack of support for the middle school bilingual program. By the later grades, the school skews heavily Hispanic.

IMHO, for the Oyster dual language to truly work, the school should not be a neighborhood school, but rather an application-only magnet. Only that way can it truly maintain the benefits of the 50/50 program and ensure a population that is truly committed to bilingualism through 8th grade.

OA needs new leadership. Period.

so, tee up the issue: is it that Oyster needs a new in-boundary facility for higher grades to accommodate more students in those grades?

must not be a big problem. nobody's posting!

some background here (lower right article on front page)

http://www.currentnewspapers.com/admin/uploadfiles/NW%2002-06-2013%201.pdf

I've heard there's an issue of how many Spanish-speaking families stay through middle school.

Isn't there a growing disconnect between Oyster location and the number of Spanish vs. English families IB?

Anonymous wrote:As suggested, this is a new thread on future of Oyster-Adams to avoid further hijacking of SPED pre-k post. (GL OP. The SN forum may be more help.)

So. The status quo seems untennable purely from the facilities standpoint of providing an in boundary PK-8. Even without the middle school grades, the two building setup doesn't work optimally. (For those who aren't aware, the Oyster building only holds through 3rd grade. 4th and 5th are on 19th St at Adams.) There are three assistant principals now. Two in Adams.

Other than the KEEP IT THE WAY IT IS AND FREEZE TIME FOREVER histrionics, any other ideas? (Unlike Marie Reed, O -A principal doesn't read DCUM)

Signed, IB bilingual family that has not drunk any flavor of Kool-Aid yet.

TIA

Could you provide more background here? This end-of-the-story post will just draw a bunch of WFTs without it. TIA!

As suggested, this is a new thread on future of Oyster-Adams to avoid further hijacking of SPED pre-k post. (GL OP. The SN forum may be more help.)

So. The status quo seems untennable purely from the facilities standpoint of providing an in boundary PK-8. Even without the middle school grades, the two building setup doesn't work optimally. (For those who aren't aware, the Oyster building only holds through 3rd grade. 4th and 5th are on 19th St at Adams.) There are three assistant principals now. Two in Adams.

Other than the KEEP IT THE WAY IT IS AND FREEZE TIME FOREVER histrionics, any other ideas? (Unlike Marie Reed, O -A principal doesn't read DCUM)

Signed, IB bilingual family that has not drunk any flavor of Kool-Aid yet.

TIA