Anonymous wrote:We are on MOTH, but thought the anonymous nature of this forum might provide some more opputunity for sharing. And granite- I've been out of law school a few years- but your use if hearsay does not fit. So much for this thread..

HAHAHA! Granite? I really hope that was a Siri slip-up.

Anonymous wrote:Nope, not a troll. Read old posts. Was mostly baseless praise. We have the kids in the cluster schools- and everyone we talk to says to run like hell from LT. Just trying to figure out why there is such discrepancy.

I truly have no dog in this fight--my kids go elsewhere--but why do you assume all those recommendations in the LT post are baseless praise? I've read a lot of it and there is quite a bit of specificity, actually. I live in the neighborhood and know several LT parents who are very, very happy there. If you are prepared to go into it with such a negative, cynical attitude, I do think you should opt out and go elsewhere. You won't be happy.

Op here, we don't want a Watkins. We are trying to avoid it. And I'll admit I did not search the old threads, had no idea it was such a hot- and touchy topic. And the folks who are negative are speaking to the old LT and the boosters all seem very new/young. We are not at all turning the nose at LT- it's a better choice then staying at Watkins. It's just scary to possibly jump from one bad fit to another.

@19:05 (are you original poster?): Here's something to consider. The "baseless" praise you are reading (and it really is a bit obnoxious that you are asking for input and dismissing all previous praise as "baseless"; this would suggest that you are not bringing an open mind to the discussion) is primarily for the early childhood education classes at LT and a bit for the K/1st/maybe 2nd grades. I have no idea what parents of older children think of the school, and I highly doubt very many are on DCUM. The demographics of the younger classes are completely different than those of the older classes although this seems to be changing slowly as 21:24 points out.

We have a child in PS3, and the LT early childhood education program really is as good as everyone is saying it is. I have visited at least 30 programs/child care centers on Capitol Hill for 0-5 year olds, had my children in 4 different programs/child care centers on the Hill, spoken with countless friends and acquaintances ad nauseum about their experiences with various programs and schools, and read way, way too much on this forum. And I really think LT's early childhood education program is one of the best programs on the Hill. The teachers for the six neurotypical classrooms are all really good (I can't speak for the autism program), the programming is good, the array of specials the kids get is amazing, and the new facilities are beautiful. And all the other parents in the program I have spoken with seem to agree. From my conversations with parents at other schools, some of the more highly reputed programs on the Hill still seem to have some problems with deadwood teachers.

And I will admit that I have no clue about the older grades, and I have no personal dealings with the principal. School communication is adequate; certainly no worse than the other programs where I've had my kids. I find the aftercare program which is run by DCPS to be pretty weak. The teachers running it are good, but it is woefully understaffed. They basically have to kick out any kid who has any sort of problems. And I sure as hell wish there hadn't been somebody shot next to the playground last week. I do see hints of culture class between the old-timers and the newbies at the school here and there, and I imagine that there may be more substantial issues of that nature that I am not aware of. And, yes, we did play the lottery this year because we are OOB and would really love to go our IB school which is a block from our house so we don't have to commute. But since that isn't going to happen, we are very grateful to be able to participate in LT's program this year and next.

Anyway, those are my very honest semi-late night ramblings. I think LT's early childhood education program is fabulous. Feel free to dismiss this as baseless, but that is my (fairly educated) opinion.

This year's K class marks the turning point for LT, I think. Only two kids that I know of (and I know a lot of them) are leaving from PK4, and ditto for PS3 -- one to SWS and one to a different state. The principal does not place a high value on student retention, I will admit, but people are happy enough that they're staying.

Here's the thing: There are people who loathe LT (generally those who find the principal "unwelcoming" or can't get past the cheating scandal several years back or think there are too many MD license plates).

Then there are people who love LT (appreciate the principal's unwavering focus on academics and talent for hiring exceptional teachers and find the school culture very comfortable).

Depending on who you talk to, you will hear wildly divergent things about LT. None of these people are lying, they just value different things and therefore assess the school differently.

I've posted all over every LT discussion, & I probably sounds like a broken record, but we love it. My daughter's been there since PS3, she's in K now, & we're coming back for 1st next year, along with a bunch of her classmates (many of whose parents are also planning to send their younger siblings to LT).

Whether LT works for you or not will depend on what you're looking for in a school.

Anonymous wrote:Nope, not a troll. Read old posts. Was mostly baseless praise. We have the kids in the cluster schools- and everyone we talk to says to run like hell from LT. Just trying to figure out why there is such discrepancy.

No, you obviously did not read old posts because there are many people with firsthand experience who offered thoughtful criticism of the school.

I think the school is overhyped by its boosters, but it's hard to believe that "everyone" you talked to had such a strong negative view.

If you'd be willing to send your kids to Watkins, I don't see why you'd turn up your nose at LT.

We are on MOTH, but thought the anonymous nature of this forum might provide some more opputunity for sharing. And granite- I've been out of law school a few years- but your use if hearsay does not fit. So much for this thread..

Anonymous wrote:Nope, not a troll. Read old posts. Was mostly baseless praise. We have the kids in the cluster schools- and everyone we talk to says to run like hell from LT. Just trying to figure out why there is such discrepancy.

If you have kids in the cluster schools, I would recommend that you do there instead. You should get in through sibling preference. Pretty much everyone with sibling preference gets in before school starts.

I also agree that it is hard to get real information about the school. When I ask in the neighborhood I get either cryptic responses or over the top enthusiasm. Perhaps I'm not asking the right people, but I suspect it is somewhere in between. Here is a question that I've started asking people at a lot of the schools - did you play the lottery and do you plan to stay.

My opinions are now baseless praise, but you hearsay is fact? Love it, LT mom

Why don't you post on MOTH to get real people with real names to share their real experiences? There are plenty of us out there. But it's not as much fun, is it?

Nope, not a troll. Read old posts. Was mostly baseless praise. We have the kids in the cluster schools- and everyone we talk to says to run like hell from LT. Just trying to figure out why there is such discrepancy.

Clearly a troll. Any one actually looking for info would have simply read the thread containing 3,564 posts on page 2.

We got a low wait list number for LT- but were otherwise shut out of the lottery. We are sitting on the fence on whether to give LT a try- or go private. I can take school tour and the like- but would love to hear from current, former, prospective parents.
What do you think of LT?