Anonymous wrote:We were originally placed in Friendship Armstrong this year for PK3, and we were ecstatic about their Reggio program. The instructors came across as genuinely loving and enthusiastic about the work. And the projects they were having kids do looked fun and engaging. But we found out that it was difficult to get in to the after care program (a must for us). The admin staff were sort of discouraging (but honest!) about the odds of getting in and there were no plans this year to expand the number of slots. Plus they didn't open the application until mid summer so we couldn't really "wait and see." We ended up grabbing a slot at Langley when one was offered in early June. (We are super pleased with Langley for what it is worth. We didn't feel we traded down for guaranteed after care.) Anyway, I think it is a good school with lots of love and creativity, but after care is a necessity, you may want to factor that in to your equation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most charters have attrition, especially those you don't see talked about much on these boards. Families are usually trying to 'trade up' to what they perceive as a better school.

The school is Title 1 and 61% of children are considered at risk (to be considered at risk, the family must qualify them for TANF or nutrition assistance, the child is in foster care, or is homeless). That, plus the fact that 91% of students are African American or Black and 15 are white seems to scare some people off.

People don't like to address this head on but.... do you want your child to be in the minority? I'm ok with it for preschool but would love to have a more diverse school as my child moves up. I'm hoping that more families will decide to stay through early elementary.

I should hope that minority is fine, there are almost no schools with white majorities here if any. Being literally the only one ... I guess you have to feel that out as time goes by and see how it is for your child. If your race is 15% that seems fine, I think the problem is by 2nd grade it's more like .001%.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most charters have attrition, especially those you don't see talked about much on these boards. Families are usually trying to 'trade up' to what they perceive as a better school.

The school is Title 1 and 61% of children are considered at risk (to be considered at risk, the family must qualify them for TANF or nutrition assistance, the child is in foster care, or is homeless). That, plus the fact that 91% of students are African American or Black and 15 are white seems to scare some people off.

People don't like to address this head on but.... do you want your child to be in the minority? I'm ok with it for preschool but would love to have a more diverse school as my child moves up. I'm hoping that more families will decide to stay through early elementary.

Anonymous wrote:Most charters have attrition, especially those you don't see talked about much on these boards. Families are usually trying to 'trade up' to what they perceive as a better school.

The school is Title 1 and 61% of children are considered at risk (to be considered at risk, the family must qualify them for TANF or nutrition assistance, the child is in foster care, or is homeless). That, plus the fact that 91% of students are African American or Black and 15 are white seems to scare some people off.

Anonymous wrote:10:32 here. Attrition is mostly due to “trading up”; that’s what we did. If you get into a school you’ll be happy with all through elementary during your first lottery, you will be very lucky! Most people don’t, hence the trading up process. I know many families who were happy with preschool at Friendship Armstrong, but it wasn’t the first choice for any of them. (Location, reputation, interest in dual language, and/or need for more special ed services caused them to have different top choices.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most charters have attrition, especially those you don't see talked about much on these boards. Families are usually trying to 'trade up' to what they perceive as a better school.

The school is Title 1 and 61% of children are considered at risk (to be considered at risk, the family must qualify them for TANF or nutrition assistance, the child is in foster care, or is homeless). That, plus the fact that 91% of students are African American or Black and 15 are white seems to scare some people off.

Lots of schools have attrition from PK4 into K. Mundo nearby adds 48 seats for K. ITS makes a ton of K offers. And people who didn't get into their own IB for preschool can go there for K (e.g. Ross, Bruce-Monroe). So I would not sweat it.

Anonymous wrote:Most charters have attrition, especially those you don't see talked about much on these boards. Families are usually trying to 'trade up' to what they perceive as a better school.

The school is Title 1 and 61% of children are considered at risk (to be considered at risk, the family must qualify them for TANF or nutrition assistance, the child is in foster care, or is homeless). That, plus the fact that 91% of students are African American or Black and 15 are white seems to scare some people off.

Anonymous wrote:I've posted this before, but . . . my child went to PK3 at Friendship Armstrong and we were very happy with the school, teachers, Reggio program. Mixed age PK3/4 with the same teachers two years in a row. Very small class size (due in part to attrition) -- under 16 kids per class with a teacher + assistant teacher. We had no complaints about the program at all, really. It does have a longer school day (starts at 8, ends at 4pm, I think) but that was a plus for us because we could do without aftercare.