Anonymous
Post 02/21/2014 11:54     Subject: Re:J.O. Wilson or Ludlow Taylor?
Anonymous wrote:IB LT parents -- you should reach out on MOTH to other families who are thrilled (yes, thrilled) with the school. We would be glad to chat with you about everything we love about the school. Our family turned down Peabody earlier this year b/c the ECE kids at LT seem to be MUCH happier than many at Peabody, which seems to have some pretty hit-or-miss teachers. And then you end up at Watkins!


What is ECE?
Anonymous
Post 02/21/2014 11:50     Subject: J.O. Wilson or Ludlow Taylor?
Anonymous wrote:Thoughts from other IB Ludlow parents... are you ranking it and where? It's 5 for us.


It's three for us. Would be very pleased to get in.
Anonymous
Post 02/21/2014 11:42     Subject: Re:J.O. Wilson or Ludlow Taylor?
IB LT parents -- you should reach out on MOTH to other families who are thrilled (yes, thrilled) with the school. We would be glad to chat with you about everything we love about the school. Our family turned down Peabody earlier this year b/c the ECE kids at LT seem to be MUCH happier than many at Peabody, which seems to have some pretty hit-or-miss teachers. And then you end up at Watkins!
Anonymous
Post 02/21/2014 11:33     Subject: J.O. Wilson or Ludlow Taylor?
Anonymous wrote:Thoughts from other IB Ludlow parents... are you ranking it and where? It's 5 for us.


8. But we have no chance at several of the schools above it (Maury, Peabody, etc).
Anonymous
Post 02/21/2014 10:57     Subject: J.O. Wilson or Ludlow Taylor?
My daughter's in her third year at LT. I saw the same thing when we went on a tour before enrolling -- the principal wasn't clear on how lunch worked for the EEC kids, for example.

But my daughter has had a WONDERFUL 2.5 years at LT. All of her teachers have been excellent. I love the energy and spirit of the school -- no one on staff is going through the motions for a paycheck, they are all dedicated.

Also, it's a smaller school (<300 kids, where JO Wilson is >400), and the teachers and kids all seem to know each other. (I don't know anyone, but whenever I introduce myself as "[DD's] mom," I hear "Oh, yes! I know [DD].") I attended small private schools myself, and I appreciated that family feeling -- I like knowing my daughter is getting the same thing at LT.

Anonymous
Post 02/21/2014 10:50     Subject: Re:J.O. Wilson or Ludlow Taylor?
Anonymous wrote:NP here. We are in our 2nd year at LT and not planning to lottery here. I will not lie and say that Cobbs is the warmest person out there. She is not. She genuinely has trouble communicating with parents, and lacks whatever the educator's equivalent of a "bedside manner" is. That said, this has ABSOLUTELY no bearing on her management of the school. Every teacher she hires is more wonderful than the last, she has incredibly high educational standards, and each classroom is a happy, enriching environment -- and as the PP said, the DC-CAS scores are very impressive given the FARMs rate. My daughter loves the school and we really couldn't be happier. So what if I don't want to do shots with the principal? She does her job well. Also, the parent community at LT is awesome. I dare you to find a cooler group of parents anywhere in DC.


I've posted some misgivings about the principal, but I don't want to take away from the great experiences parents and kids are having at this school.

I encourage everyone to listen to the parents who currently attend first because they have better knowledge. I can only talk about my experiences during an evening open house with students and most teachers were not there. It's likely a lovely school.

Again, I do not want to represent the school. My child does not go there.
Anonymous
Post 02/21/2014 10:47     Subject: J.O. Wilson or Ludlow Taylor?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I went to open house at LT recently and was appalled by some of the things the principal said. It was pretty incredible - in a negative way.


The part where she said that each student could choose up to 5 schools in the lottery?!? Then when someone corrected her to say that each student could choose 12 schools, she said essentially dismissed them and said "so, let's just say there were 100 schools you could pick..." Then, she got other facts wrong. Instead of saying she didn't know, she gave misinformation and then put down the folks that were trying to help her out. That part??


Here goes the Cobbs bashing again. So, should she be more focused on the day to day operations of the school or the lottery? Is she the most eloquent or effective speaker? No. Does she hire very good teachers, yes. I didn't hear you say anything about the physical plant of the school, continued improvement in test scores, quality of the teachers, etc. All we get from you is how APPALLED you are by incorrect facts about the lottery. I'm sure you never get anything incorrect. Obviously your uber-brilliant & advanced 3 year old could never attend this school. Probably should burn the place down and start from scratch.


FWIW, this was my first experience with the principal. I ignored previous "bashing" and was completing excited about liking the school. I was genuinely surprised by her actions. Yes, she may just not be good with people, but is good with managing a school (and hopefully teachers).



What did she say that was very negative beside the lottery part? I am starting to be scared of this Cobbs person reading this forum.
Also IB for LT here, though my DC is just 2 now.


To answer your question, I was uncomfortable that she provided misinformation instead of saying "I don't know. I'll find out." The negative part was when she had an attitude with a parent in the audience provided her with the correct information. Instead of saying, "Oh, thank you!" she seemed to throw digs at the person trying to help. To me, it's an issue of integrity. I found it to be negative.
Anonymous
Post 02/21/2014 09:57     Subject: Re:J.O. Wilson or Ludlow Taylor?
I mean not planning to lottery NEXT YEAR
Anonymous
Post 02/21/2014 09:56     Subject: Re:J.O. Wilson or Ludlow Taylor?
NP here. We are in our 2nd year at LT and not planning to lottery here. I will not lie and say that Cobbs is the warmest person out there. She is not. She genuinely has trouble communicating with parents, and lacks whatever the educator's equivalent of a "bedside manner" is. That said, this has ABSOLUTELY no bearing on her management of the school. Every teacher she hires is more wonderful than the last, she has incredibly high educational standards, and each classroom is a happy, enriching environment -- and as the PP said, the DC-CAS scores are very impressive given the FARMs rate. My daughter loves the school and we really couldn't be happier. So what if I don't want to do shots with the principal? She does her job well. Also, the parent community at LT is awesome. I dare you to find a cooler group of parents anywhere in DC.
Anonymous
Post 02/21/2014 09:54     Subject: Re:J.O. Wilson or Ludlow Taylor?
There is lots of information about Cobbs on this forum and I won't go into most of it (although I do agree with it) but she is just out of touch with the school...when we were at the open house she didn't know what time school started and ended, which service provided the lunches, the required uniform colors, etc. These are things that a person of average intelligence who comes to work every day should know. It has nothing to do with not being a good speaker.
Anonymous
Post 02/21/2014 04:35     Subject: J.O. Wilson or Ludlow Taylor?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I went to open house at LT recently and was appalled by some of the things the principal said. It was pretty incredible - in a negative way.


The part where she said that each student could choose up to 5 schools in the lottery?!? Then when someone corrected her to say that each student could choose 12 schools, she said essentially dismissed them and said "so, let's just say there were 100 schools you could pick..." Then, she got other facts wrong. Instead of saying she didn't know, she gave misinformation and then put down the folks that were trying to help her out. That part??


Here goes the Cobbs bashing again. So, should she be more focused on the day to day operations of the school or the lottery? Is she the most eloquent or effective speaker? No. Does she hire very good teachers, yes. I didn't hear you say anything about the physical plant of the school, continued improvement in test scores, quality of the teachers, etc. All we get from you is how APPALLED you are by incorrect facts about the lottery. I'm sure you never get anything incorrect. Obviously your uber-brilliant & advanced 3 year old could never attend this school. Probably should burn the place down and start from scratch.


FWIW, this was my first experience with the principal. I ignored previous "bashing" and was completing excited about liking the school. I was genuinely surprised by her actions. Yes, she may just not be good with people, but is good with managing a school (and hopefully teachers).



What did she say that was very negative beside the lottery part? I am starting to be scared of this Cobbs person reading this forum.
Also IB for LT here, though my DC is just 2 now.
Anonymous
Post 02/21/2014 00:41     Subject: J.O. Wilson or Ludlow Taylor?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:JO Wilson was a nice school when I attended many moons ago, so I am biased. Is Mr. Martinez still there?


I'm curious, what schools did you attend after JO Wilson and in what professional field do you work in?


You're "curious"?
Anonymous
Post 02/21/2014 00:28     Subject: J.O. Wilson or Ludlow Taylor?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I went to open house at LT recently and was appalled by some of the things the principal said. It was pretty incredible - in a negative way.


The part where she said that each student could choose up to 5 schools in the lottery?!? Then when someone corrected her to say that each student could choose 12 schools, she said essentially dismissed them and said "so, let's just say there were 100 schools you could pick..." Then, she got other facts wrong. Instead of saying she didn't know, she gave misinformation and then put down the folks that were trying to help her out. That part??


Here goes the Cobbs bashing again. So, should she be more focused on the day to day operations of the school or the lottery? Is she the most eloquent or effective speaker? No. Does she hire very good teachers, yes. I didn't hear you say anything about the physical plant of the school, continued improvement in test scores, quality of the teachers, etc. All we get from you is how APPALLED you are by incorrect facts about the lottery. I'm sure you never get anything incorrect. Obviously your uber-brilliant & advanced 3 year old could never attend this school. Probably should burn the place down and start from scratch.


FWIW, this was my first experience with the principal. I ignored previous "bashing" and was completing excited about liking the school. I was genuinely surprised by her actions. Yes, she may just not be good with people, but is good with managing a school (and hopefully teachers).
Anonymous
Post 02/21/2014 00:16     Subject: J.O. Wilson or Ludlow Taylor?
Thoughts from other IB Ludlow parents... are you ranking it and where? It's 5 for us.
Anonymous
Post 02/21/2014 00:02     Subject: J.O. Wilson or Ludlow Taylor?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I attended the open house and thought that the classrooms were beautiful. I also liked the dance room.


Can you specify a bit more?
We are IB for LT, not applying this year but next for PK4. I am new to the area.


Sure, but I agree with PP that a tour is preferred if you are able to schedule it.

In each of the PS/PK rooms they have beautiful table/chairs and a matching, climbing loft structure that is movable. The teachers seem to use it in different ways. One used it as a tree house. One used it as a rocket. It has stairs that you can climb up and is pretty cool.

The rooms in general were spacious and very nicely decorated. Just beautiful.

There was also a dance room with wall to wall mirrors and a ballet bar that all of the children use for a dance special.

I just went on a tour and do not go to the school, so someone who goes there can probably provide more info.