Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't want Spanish because it is trendy, I'm sorry if it sounded that way. My husband and I both speak some Spanish but neither of us speak fluently. I have been close a few times (time in Spain, Spanish classes, etc.) and although my parents are from the U.S., they were living in a Spanish speaking country when I was born so I have always regretted not being able to speak Spanish fluently. My daughter's daycare is Spanish speaking so she has some Spanish already and I'd hate for her to lose that. I think there are a lot of benefits to being bilingual. I loved Mundo Verde when I visited it. I liked the sustainability focus, the idea of expeditionary learning, and the Spanish immersion. I also loved Inspired Teaching. I have a master's degree in education and the inquiry based education style of Inspired Teaching seems a lot like the style taught in my favorite ed class. Both schools have a lot of positives in my mind, which is why I was looking for comments from people who have experience with both. The first two responses I have received seem to be common in terms of the difference in tone between the two schools, with the IT poster really trying to be helpful and able to be positive about both schools, while the MV poster doesn't seem to have any helpful comparison and is not very friendly. It makes me a bit concerned about the MV parent culture. I know that this is one reason getting information from DCUM may not be the best idea, but after looking at the websites and going to the open houses, it is the only other place that I know of to get more information.

I am not sure what you expected from the previous MV poster. Did you want them to jump up and down with joy when yet another parent with no background or previous real interest in Spanish wants to enroll their special snowflake? The previous posters asked real questions to you, which you did not answer or address. Are you prepared to support the language since neither you nor your husband speak Spanish? Are you ready to hire the appropriate people? Aside from some vague mentions of a nice trip to Spain (also - Spain only? You live in the US and haven't bothered to take your family to Latin America despite your burning wish that your child speak Spanish?), you do not show any interest in teaching your child Spanish that I can see.

Let me be clear - kids whose parents have limited to no Spanish can and do thrive at MV. But they are willing and able to do what they can to help their child along with the Spanish. I do not see many people torn between two schools like Inspired Teaching and MV because frankly the schools are quite different. Their only similarity is that they're favorably perceived on DCUM and at the playground.

From everything you've written here, I think your choice is clear. Stick with Inspired Teaching since it seems the best fit for your family. And don't worry - lots of people will be jealous of your school.

Anonymous wrote:We don't want Spanish because it is trendy, I'm sorry if it sounded that way. My husband and I both speak some Spanish but neither of us speak fluently. I have been close a few times (time in Spain, Spanish classes, etc.) and although my parents are from the U.S., they were living in a Spanish speaking country when I was born so I have always regretted not being able to speak Spanish fluently. My daughter's daycare is Spanish speaking so she has some Spanish already and I'd hate for her to lose that. I think there are a lot of benefits to being bilingual. I loved Mundo Verde when I visited it. I liked the sustainability focus, the idea of expeditionary learning, and the Spanish immersion. I also loved Inspired Teaching. I have a master's degree in education and the inquiry based education style of Inspired Teaching seems a lot like the style taught in my favorite ed class. Both schools have a lot of positives in my mind, which is why I was looking for comments from people who have experience with both. The first two responses I have received seem to be common in terms of the difference in tone between the two schools, with the IT poster really trying to be helpful and able to be positive about both schools, while the MV poster doesn't seem to have any helpful comparison and is not very friendly. It makes me a bit concerned about the MV parent culture. I know that this is one reason getting information from DCUM may not be the best idea, but after looking at the websites and going to the open houses, it is the only other place that I know of to get more information.

Anonymous wrote:I honesty think it comes down to whether you want language. Children are thriving at both schools, they are both pretty diverse. IT seems to have less economic diversity. MV has more expensive aftercare, MV has 4 classes per grade, IT 2. As an IT parent I can count on one hand the number of people that have left IT for MV. I don't think I know one family that has left MV for IT. So the chances that one of the 4-5 families that have experience at both are reading DCUM are probably slim. Sorry I can't help with the comparison.

I can tell you I have a close friend at MV. One in 3rd and one in K. K kid is loving it and thriving. 3rd grade not so much. They are sticking with it for now. I also have 3-4 friends at IT that are leaving this year. Some for DCI feeder, and 2 because they aren't happy, got into another middle school option, or got into a Deal feeder. This year was a bad year for 4th grade so there are some unhappy folks. But for every 1 unhappy family you will meet 20 that are extremely happy. I think you're going to get that everywhere. You're also going to have a year with a teacher you're not raving about. Although after 4 years of teachers at IT I can say every one has been a 9.5 or 10 on scale of 10.

If you have a specific question about IT, i'd be happy to try to answer.

Anonymous wrote:Reread your post OP. You do not give any reason for wanting MV other than fear of missing out.