Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 6th grader commutes to Basis solo every day. Has a cell phone in case of emergency. Most of the kids commute to school by bus or train.

When I was a kid I rode my bike to school but my mom made me carry change for a pay phone for emergencies.

That strategy doesn't work so well anymore.

If there's an emergency, your kid can use the phone in the school's front office. Stop making excuses for middle schoolers having cell phones. The middle class in this country is raising a bunch of entitled, coddled wimps!

Of course they can and they do - but during the 5-mile trip from home to school I'd like them to be able to call or text me.

If they were coddled I'd be driving them each way.

flip phone parent here as well for same reasons. NOT coddling just a safety issue - my BASIS 6th grader is 11 years old and commutes

flip phone. done.

Anonymous wrote:21:10 DCI sounds like a great fit for your family and your 70 yo parents. In my house we don't read our look at our phones at meals. I want my DC to understand that you can put down your phone for 30 minutes to focus on other things, such as eating. Again, when the kids already have access to computers during class, why do they need a phone during lunch? It sees a lot of parents don't share your support for the phone policy and would like some explanation as to the benefits of having phones.

Anonymous wrote:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/business/11digi.html?_r=0

http://hechingerreport.org/lower-test-scores-for-students-who-use-computers-frequently-in-school-31-country-study-finds/

Two links which suggest a more complicated picture. I think most parents support some use of tech but have concerns that DCI relies on tech too much and parents have questions about how tech is used in class and what evidence/research the school has used when designing their curriculum.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 6th grader commutes to Basis solo every day. Has a cell phone in case of emergency. Most of the kids commute to school by bus or train.

When I was a kid I rode my bike to school but my mom made me carry change for a pay phone for emergencies.

That strategy doesn't work so well anymore.

If there's an emergency, your kid can use the phone in the school's front office. Stop making excuses for middle schoolers having cell phones. The middle class in this country is raising a bunch of entitled, coddled wimps!

Of course they can and they do - but during the 5-mile trip from home to school I'd like them to be able to call or text me.

If they were coddled I'd be driving them each way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's amazing about this thread is we are talking about a school that is not even two academic years old, and people are acting as if it's a long-standing institution with deplorable policies rather than a place that's dealing with a temporary location, adding a new grade every year, and still, it seems to me inevitably, working out some of the kinks -- and has, in spite of this, managed to get IB accreditation at least a year before expected. I understand the impatience of parents whose kids are currently enrolled at DCI, because it's not easy being one of the pioneers when your kid's education is at stake, and I'm sure there are plenty of issues. (Although it's my impression that many of the actual DCI parents on this thread seem to like the school.) But for people whose kids are still at feeder schools and don't yet have direct experience of DCI to be articulating harsh and sweeping judgments that appear to be based mainly on information gleaned from an anonymous thread on the Internet seems a little short-sighted.

Signed, a parent at a DCI feeder who is curious to see how the school develops.

+ 1 We are feeder parents in grade 1, excited and optimistic about DCI

same here. 2nd grade feeder parent who is excited and optimistic as well. And also thankful that we aren't in the early years so they have time to work out the kinks but very confident they will find an equilibrium.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's amazing about this thread is we are talking about a school that is not even two academic years old, and people are acting as if it's a long-standing institution with deplorable policies rather than a place that's dealing with a temporary location, adding a new grade every year, and still, it seems to me inevitably, working out some of the kinks -- and has, in spite of this, managed to get IB accreditation at least a year before expected. I understand the impatience of parents whose kids are currently enrolled at DCI, because it's not easy being one of the pioneers when your kid's education is at stake, and I'm sure there are plenty of issues. (Although it's my impression that many of the actual DCI parents on this thread seem to like the school.) But for people whose kids are still at feeder schools and don't yet have direct experience of DCI to be articulating harsh and sweeping judgments that appear to be based mainly on information gleaned from an anonymous thread on the Internet seems a little short-sighted.

Signed, a parent at a DCI feeder who is curious to see how the school develops.

+ 1 We are feeder parents in grade 1, excited and optimistic about DCI

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's amazing about this thread is we are talking about a school that is not even two academic years old, and people are acting as if it's a long-standing institution with deplorable policies rather than a place that's dealing with a temporary location, adding a new grade every year, and still, it seems to me inevitably, working out some of the kinks -- and has, in spite of this, managed to get IB accreditation at least a year before expected. I understand the impatience of parents whose kids are currently enrolled at DCI, because it's not easy being one of the pioneers when your kid's education is at stake, and I'm sure there are plenty of issues. (Although it's my impression that many of the actual DCI parents on this thread seem to like the school.) But for people whose kids are still at feeder schools and don't yet have direct experience of DCI to be articulating harsh and sweeping judgments that appear to be based mainly on information gleaned from an anonymous thread on the Internet seems a little short-sighted.

Signed, a parent at a DCI feeder who is curious to see how the school develops.

+ 1 We are feeder parents in grade 1, excited and optimistic about DCI

Anonymous wrote:18:23, are these parents of current YY 5th graders or current 4th graders. Thanks.