Anonymous
Post 08/23/2015 22:00     Subject: Venting just a little
Anonymous wrote:Eh. give it time. Chances are they excitement over the charter school will wane as well. My experience has been that some parents get over-enthusiastic about a school as a way to hide their concern that the school is actually not good enough, but in the end no school winds up to be good enough for their precious geniuses. I know parents who have already switched their kids 3 times by second grade.

--Signed, a parent at the "worst" Ward 3 school


See you tomorrow for lineup on the soccer field!!
Anonymous
Post 08/23/2015 21:53     Subject: Re:Venting just a little
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I feel your pain--maybe we're even at the same EOTP school. After a few years of this I'm still okay with chatting about the school by phone, but no more in person meetings for me. Like you say, such a waste of time in too many cases.


I weep about the cohort my child started with departing in a diaspora to charters. They would have made a great class at our otherwise close-to-failing DCPS, and several of our peers now realize the mistake.

The charters are literally making it impossible for high performing kids to thrive in some DCPS.


Yeah, charters are making DCPS schools fail.

I'm so sick of that argument. As someone who has lived here for close to 30 years, just shut the hell up about that. Thank GOD for charters. 30 years ago, you never would have sent your child to DCPS unless you lived WOTP.
Anonymous
Post 08/23/2015 21:45     Subject: Venting just a little
Anonymous wrote:Seems like it happens every year. I'm contacted by some acquaintance with a 3 year old who just got into my kids' neighborhood public school (one seen by many on this list as 2nd tier). They are "excited," they want to "learn all about it," and they want to know what our experience has been. So, I dutifully answer their questions and they enroll, only to bail for a charter school at the first opportunity. There seems to be an inverse relationship between their initial enthusiasm and the time their child actually spends at the school.



They are doing what they think is best for their child and themselves. There is more to life than yourself and what you think is right or wrong.....well, at least you know you're venting....
Anonymous
Post 08/23/2015 20:39     Subject: Venting just a little
Anonymous wrote:This is the generation that grew up online dating. They are convinced there will always be a school / lover out there with a better body, better job, more money and larger genitals.


Thank you for getting me to LOL after a very rough weekend
Anonymous
Post 08/23/2015 20:25     Subject: Re:Venting just a little
Anonymous wrote:I feel your pain--maybe we're even at the same EOTP school. After a few years of this I'm still okay with chatting about the school by phone, but no more in person meetings for me. Like you say, such a waste of time in too many cases.


I weep about the cohort my child started with departing in a diaspora to charters. They would have made a great class at our otherwise close-to-failing DCPS, and several of our peers now realize the mistake.

The charters are literally making it impossible for high performing kids to thrive in some DCPS.
Anonymous
Post 08/23/2015 16:27     Subject: Re:Venting just a little
I feel your pain--maybe we're even at the same EOTP school. After a few years of this I'm still okay with chatting about the school by phone, but no more in person meetings for me. Like you say, such a waste of time in too many cases.
Anonymous
Post 08/23/2015 14:33     Subject: Venting just a little
Anonymous wrote:OP here. I guess I'm never sure what the right response is to these inquiries. I feel like I have to expend energy every year reassuring these parents that their little geniuses will not die at my LRPS. After they bail, I feel like I WANT THAT TIME BACK and it colors my future dealings with them. This makes me hesitant to spend time with future ditherers, instead palming them off with some version of "I feel it was the best choice for my children but every child is different and I will support any decision you make," which is (to me) a polite "F-off and stop wasting my time when you're going to bail" message.

That being said, I do feel like sometimes (rarely) the dithering parents do turn out to wholeheartedly support the school and stay for the long haul. I just wish there was a survey or something that I could use to gauge in advance whether I should waste my time with this or that ditherer.


Stop putting yourself in the position if it makes you that unhappy. If somebody asks if they can refer somebody to you to discuss your school, just say no.
Anonymous
Post 08/23/2015 13:00     Subject: Venting just a little
OP here. I guess I'm never sure what the right response is to these inquiries. I feel like I have to expend energy every year reassuring these parents that their little geniuses will not die at my LRPS. After they bail, I feel like I WANT THAT TIME BACK and it colors my future dealings with them. This makes me hesitant to spend time with future ditherers, instead palming them off with some version of "I feel it was the best choice for my children but every child is different and I will support any decision you make," which is (to me) a polite "F-off and stop wasting my time when you're going to bail" message.

That being said, I do feel like sometimes (rarely) the dithering parents do turn out to wholeheartedly support the school and stay for the long haul. I just wish there was a survey or something that I could use to gauge in advance whether I should waste my time with this or that ditherer.
Anonymous
Post 08/23/2015 10:30     Subject: Venting just a little
People also are just constantly chasing the "best" -- and I wonder if their kids suffer from all the moving around.
Anonymous
Post 08/23/2015 09:54     Subject: Venting just a little
Anonymous wrote:This is the generation that grew up online dating. They are convinced there will always be a school / lover out there with a better body, better job, more money and larger genitals.


Ha! I was just about to write something like that. Indeed, those with the greatest enthusiasm are often the "puffiest" and a bit shallow in their expectations. Unsure of their own choices and competence, they'll be chasing the next friends' "it" in a whim.
Anonymous
Post 08/23/2015 09:37     Subject: Venting just a little
This is the generation that grew up online dating. They are convinced there will always be a school / lover out there with a better body, better job, more money and larger genitals.
Anonymous
Post 08/23/2015 00:19     Subject: Venting just a little
It will continue to happen with school choice. We got into a HRCS, but decided to stick with our up and coming DCPS.

It's a great cohort where is a few leave, there will still be a good group - not everyone can get in elsewhere.
Anonymous
Post 08/22/2015 23:23     Subject: Re:Venting just a little
That's not a surprise for a school that is rapidly improving but still not JKLM or Brent. There are several schools on the Hill that are improving at an insanely rapid rate but it will take a critical mass to get the schools to the next level. Those parents are trying to get comfortable with their uncertainty; that's good because it takes a lot of those people to get the school to the next level. And they are talking to you that way because it would be off putting to call and say, "Hey, I know you send your kid to School A. But I'm concerned it isn't good enough for my kid so I'd like to ask you some questions so I can assess whether it is good enough for me and my family."
Anonymous
Post 08/22/2015 22:52     Subject: Venting just a little
Eh. give it time. Chances are they excitement over the charter school will wane as well. My experience has been that some parents get over-enthusiastic about a school as a way to hide their concern that the school is actually not good enough, but in the end no school winds up to be good enough for their precious geniuses. I know parents who have already switched their kids 3 times by second grade.

--Signed, a parent at the "worst" Ward 3 school
Anonymous
Post 08/22/2015 22:28     Subject: Venting just a little
Seems like it happens every year. I'm contacted by some acquaintance with a 3 year old who just got into my kids' neighborhood public school (one seen by many on this list as 2nd tier). They are "excited," they want to "learn all about it," and they want to know what our experience has been. So, I dutifully answer their questions and they enroll, only to bail for a charter school at the first opportunity. There seems to be an inverse relationship between their initial enthusiasm and the time their child actually spends at the school.