Anonymous
Post 03/02/2023 13:24     Subject: Cap City Lower or Breakthrough Montessori for PK-3?
Anonymous wrote:We have CapCity Lower 12th on our list.

Can someone explain what COVID did to that school versus others to where it seems to have "ruined" it?

Cap City community had some of the early DC deaths associated with COVID.
The school's response to masking and opening clearly was influenced by the needs of the broader school community.
I am uncertain of how many other schools had parent deaths related to COVID in the 2019/2020 school year.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2023 13:10     Subject: Cap City Lower or Breakthrough Montessori for PK-3?
Breakthrough, by comparion, was managed with extrememly high professionalism throughout COVID. (And I'm saying that as someone who disagreed with many of the decisions because I thought schools should have opened fully in Sep. 2020.)
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2023 13:00     Subject: Cap City Lower or Breakthrough Montessori for PK-3?
Anonymous wrote:We have CapCity Lower 12th on our list.

Can someone explain what COVID did to that school versus others to where it seems to have "ruined" it?



Would love to hear more on this, but I am assuming that a significant COVID impact was the HOS’s refusal to offer in person learning for far longer than DCPS or other schools.
For those of you new to the DC educational landscape, many DC charters refused to offer in person learning for longer than nearly any school system in the entire country. My DS was at one such charter (not Cap City) and he’s still trying to make up for learning loss. Do I remain bitter? Absolutely.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2023 11:45     Subject: Cap City Lower or Breakthrough Montessori for PK-3?
We have CapCity Lower 12th on our list.

Can someone explain what COVID did to that school versus others to where it seems to have "ruined" it?
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2023 11:42     Subject: Cap City Lower or Breakthrough Montessori for PK-3?
A kid from Cap City who is a student rep on the state board of ed just got named a coca-cola scholar ($20k scholarship) and is the National Association of Urban Debate Leagues debater of the year. A kid like that would likely do well anywhere, but the fact that she chose to stay at Cap City is a promising sign to me. I don't know anything about Breakthrough and my last conversation with anyone at Cap City was a pre-pandemic MySchoolDC fair (where I did get a positive impression) so this is just a minor anecdote.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2023 11:23     Subject: Cap City Lower or Breakthrough Montessori for PK-3?
Do you have a middle/high school option? Cap City goes thru HS where Breakthrough is only elementary.

Don't know if that impacts your decision.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2023 10:23     Subject: Re:Cap City Lower or Breakthrough Montessori for PK-3?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Cap city basically disintegrated during COVID and has not recovered at all. Their HOS is finally leaving after this year, but it will take a long time for them to come back from the damage she did, if they ever can. It’s very sad.

The HOS founded the school.
Cap City was one of the 1st charters in DC and had to navigate a lot and create the model for the rest of the charters. (LAMB came the following year)
The school has graduated many 1st generation High School graduates and we all know that the predictor of academic success is the level of education of the parents.

I do not agree with all of the decisions of the HOS - but she has also been a pioneer for Charters in DC.


Irrelevant to current school quality, unfortunately. As i said, it’s very sad. She should have left years ago.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2023 09:49     Subject: Re:Cap City Lower or Breakthrough Montessori for PK-3?
Anonymous wrote:Cap city basically disintegrated during COVID and has not recovered at all. Their HOS is finally leaving after this year, but it will take a long time for them to come back from the damage she did, if they ever can. It’s very sad.

The HOS founded the school.
Cap City was one of the 1st charters in DC and had to navigate a lot and create the model for the rest of the charters. (LAMB came the following year)
The school has graduated many 1st generation High School graduates and we all know that the predictor of academic success is the level of education of the parents.

I do not agree with all of the decisions of the HOS - but she has also been a pioneer for Charters in DC.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2023 08:46     Subject: Re:Cap City Lower or Breakthrough Montessori for PK-3?
People seem positive about the new Head of School, but we've lost a lot of faith in the school since Covid and are looking at our options this year.
Anonymous
Post 03/01/2023 14:34     Subject: Re:Cap City Lower or Breakthrough Montessori for PK-3?
Cap city basically disintegrated during COVID and has not recovered at all. Their HOS is finally leaving after this year, but it will take a long time for them to come back from the damage she did, if they ever can. It’s very sad.
Anonymous
Post 03/01/2023 14:01     Subject: Cap City Lower or Breakthrough Montessori for PK-3?
We are trying to make this a same decision, albeit two years later than this thread was started. Why are the Capital City test scores so incredibly low? That's my only hesitation.
Anonymous
Post 06/02/2021 17:07     Subject: Re:Cap City Lower or Breakthrough Montessori for PK-3?
Another happy Breakthrough family here.
Anonymous
Post 06/01/2021 08:32     Subject: Cap City Lower or Breakthrough Montessori for PK-3?
Anonymous wrote:You should look at Cap City’s re-opening plan and then decide. No skin in this game but we have been at a couple of different charters and going to. Charter that is new is not for the faint of heart. Cap City for sure misstepped by not opening in this final quarter, but I am not convinced that there is a LS exodus that is a problem, based on my friends there. Their LS kids have had teachers who have been there multiple years and are solid teachers and the re-entry plan says they are hiring more LS teachers because they are resulting down the size of their classrooms, so going from two classes per grade to three. In 1st - 4th grade, the will have two lead teachers in each room. This sounds good to me, especially after the year the kids have all had of so little school. My family and friends in education say this is a great idea. Montessori is just a completely different model - and new and untested. But I also know from my years as a public school parent that parents here in DC equate more white students with a better school so if Breakthrough is “whiter” than Cap City (I don’t actually know) that is where DCUM parents will flock regardless of whether the school is right for them or their kids.


They are using the right words (they have had a full year of no work to refine them), but when the rubber hits the road there I fear that there will be little action to actually benefit the kids. We have been at Capital City for years. The children of our family and our friends families suffered immensely at the lack of accountability and effort that the school displayed throughout the pandemic. I would not risk it again. We are leaving. We are not leaving for more white people. We are leaving for more accountability.
Anonymous
Post 06/01/2021 07:10     Subject: Cap City Lower or Breakthrough Montessori for PK-3?
You should look at Cap City’s re-opening plan and then decide. No skin in this game but we have been at a couple of different charters and going to. Charter that is new is not for the faint of heart. Cap City for sure misstepped by not opening in this final quarter, but I am not convinced that there is a LS exodus that is a problem, based on my friends there. Their LS kids have had teachers who have been there multiple years and are solid teachers and the re-entry plan says they are hiring more LS teachers because they are resulting down the size of their classrooms, so going from two classes per grade to three. In 1st - 4th grade, the will have two lead teachers in each room. This sounds good to me, especially after the year the kids have all had of so little school. My family and friends in education say this is a great idea. Montessori is just a completely different model - and new and untested. But I also know from my years as a public school parent that parents here in DC equate more white students with a better school so if Breakthrough is “whiter” than Cap City (I don’t actually know) that is where DCUM parents will flock regardless of whether the school is right for them or their kids.
Anonymous
Post 05/31/2021 23:31     Subject: Re:Cap City Lower or Breakthrough Montessori for PK-3?
My impression after doing a lot of research is that Breakthrough is getting very good feedback from parents and it’s getting harder and harder to lottery into. Hopefully we’ll get offered a spot but DC has a high waitlist number. Any news on how the waitlist is moving this year?