Anonymous wrote:http://mundoverdepcs.wordpress.com/category/2do2nd/

And this answers a ton of questions. Again, thanks for the link. Wouldn't it have been nice to just have been given this link, instead of being called a troll, accused of being lazy, and lectured about my own incompetence in not researching more?

Takeaway points: Nice school, snotty, defensive parents.

Actually, I think the link should be removed. It is purposefully not publicized for the children's safety.

Experiential learning - everything is learned through a common theme, such as ants. Many field trips and projects. Lots of demonstrating. Drafts and cooperative projects are big.

Sustainability - more than just environment, but also community. Every child has coordinated gardening and cooking classes every week. It is much, much bigger than just recycling.

Many many trips to parks and gardens and other places. Field trips are very frequent. There will be lots of gardens at the new space. Composting is big. Most expeditions are science or community related and thus science is integrated in everything. Even three year olds diagram animals.

It's is 90% Spanish through kindergarten and then 50%. Science is integrated in the expeditions and is thus in English and Spanish.

It only goes through second grade so far, so I'm not sure how literature will be integrated,

Art, yoga, and soccer are constants, but there are other PE classes, including sometimes capoeira and swimming.

There are hundreds of posts about Mundo Verde. It is hard to see how, unless you don't have google, you would need this all spoonfed. Please concentrate on specific questions.

Anonymous wrote:http://mundoverdepcs.wordpress.com/category/2do2nd/

And this answers a ton of questions. Again, thanks for the link. Wouldn't it have been nice to just have been given this link, instead of being called a troll, accused of being lazy, and lectured about my own incompetence in not researching more?

Takeaway points: Nice school, snotty, defensive parents.

I called you a troll and I am 400+ on the waitlist, so please don't equate that with MV. Go back and reread your initial post in the context of having hundreds upon hundreds of people who did a lot of work outside of DCUM to get to know the school and had no luck in the lottery. You may not be a troll, but you sure sounded like one. The interpretation could pretty much be: "I know you all wanted to get into this school and had no luck in round 1, but I applied in round 2 and now it looks like I can get in! I did absolutely no work to research this school ahead of time, and now I expect you to do it for me, even though you all probably didn't get in, and I may! Please, tell me everything you know when you painstakingly went to open houses, talked to parents, went to the charter school expo, and did all the stuff that I didn't do."

Obviously, that's not what you said, but that's how I read it.

http://mundoverdepcs.wordpress.com/category/2do2nd/

And this answers a ton of questions. Again, thanks for the link. Wouldn't it have been nice to just have been given this link, instead of being called a troll, accused of being lazy, and lectured about my own incompetence in not researching more?

Takeaway points: Nice school, snotty, defensive parents.

Immersion, experiential learning and sustainability. Three equally important pillars that are integrated into every aspect of the school day. How each is integrated has been discussed at length.

Specifically, how? Is there a garden? Are the lunch trays compostable? Is there organic milk? I know the Spanish is about 50%? of the middle grades, but how does that pan out? Do they learn science in Spanish? Literature? History? What experiences do the kids have, on a day to day basis? Immersion, experiential learning and sustainability are great buzzwords. They don't actually tell me anything. Our gen ed school recycles too, and has a garden.

To the clueless PP, parents do send their kids to schools where they share the same goals such as dual language literacy and sustainability or something else entirely such as advanced academics.

Wait... you write that and I'm the troll? You're totally right. My kid is stupid and we hate the environment. Naturally, I wouldn't like anyone who speaks a second language or recycles.

But in all seriousness, I didn't find a lot of specifics on their website--specifics like, aside from the dual language, what do they have? Do they have art? Science? A library? Computers? Music? Tangibles. Theory is very nice. I was wondering about the tangibles.

I will check out the blog, thanks. I hadn't seen it linked anywhere. If it was linked on their website I missed it.

Immersion, experiential learning and sustainability. Three equally important pillars that are integrated into every aspect of the school day. How each is integrated has been discussed at length.

To the clueless PP, parents do send their kids to schools where they share the same goals such as dual language literacy and sustainability or something else entirely such as advanced academics. If your kid is doing well or can do well at your unpopular DCPS, why worry about MV or Sidwell or anywhere else?

Anonymous wrote:Okay. So... what is the vision. Our wait list number is high teens. You're right--probably not enough to get in, but I'm curious about the specifics of what we will be missing. What are the goals and aspirations?

I wish I could help, but I'm inclined to agree with you that we hear so much about how "great" it is but no-one ever really details why. This is the same with most HRCS, lots of hype and little substance.

Does your rising 3rd grader speak Spanish?

stop being lazy or at worst a troll. If you are interested, check out their website where they have a lot of information such as their curriculum, www.mundoverdepcs.org, or their blog at mundoverdepcs.wordpress.com. If not interested in learning more, stop posting.

Anonymous wrote:MV is different from your "not popular DCPS" school because they actually have goals and aspirations: Dual language literacy, sustainability, etc. Yes, there are various growing pains and issues but in less than 3 years they will have 400 students housed in a new $13 million leed certified building. The leadership has a vision unlike the typical DCPS which is a race to the bottom. The leadership also is not arrogant and is willing to listen to parents.

Vision does show in the attitudes of the staff, teachers and students. The free market speaks loud and clear about why your DCPS is not popular.

Look, I don't really have an ax to grind here, but you're still not saying much of substance here. My "neighborhood" school (which actually is located much further away than Mundo Verde is from where I live, but that's another issue entirely) also has a vision, is not arrogant and appears willing to listen to parents. The staff were also much more welcoming and accommodating when we toured than those we met at an overcrowded open house at Mundo Verde. And, when I said that I didn't see much difference -- I guess I did. The teachers at my "neighborhood" school showed more enthusiasm, energy and experience in the classroom than anything I saw at Mundo Verde. The difference is that the DCUM demographic send their kids to MV or strive to, and that they have dual language and a green focus, as I said previously.

Okay. So... what is the vision. Our wait list number is high teens. You're right--probably not enough to get in, but I'm curious about the specifics of what we will be missing. What are the goals and aspirations?

MV is different from your "not popular DCPS" school because they actually have goals and aspirations: Dual language literacy, sustainability, etc. Yes, there are various growing pains and issues but in less than 3 years they will have 400 students housed in a new $13 million leed certified building. The leadership has a vision unlike the typical DCPS which is a race to the bottom. The leadership also is not arrogant and is willing to listen to parents.

Vision does show in the attitudes of the staff, teachers and students. The free market speaks loud and clear about why your DCPS is not popular.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm really not a troll. I'm the "moving to dc" poster from a while back. And I'm happy with our ib, I'm mostly just curious. Is this like an Arts and Letters in Brooklyn kind of thing?

How can you possibly have a decent wait list number in round 2? Their round 1 wait list went into the hundreds for most grades.

If I recall correctly, this PP has a child in 3rd grade. The wait list is significantly smaller - I'm not sure if it even goes past 10.

And reading information on this forum is how we all get information about schools. Even though the school is talked about quite a bit, I couldn't really say what's so great about the school. All the praise is rather general, in the form of "we love it!" and "our DC is thriving there!"

<shrug>

There are kids in the second round with WL# of 19-30 for 3rd grade. Likely not good enough to get in but good enough to get your hopes up. Very different from PS3. My kid's spot on the K wait list has moved nearly 20 places so far, which is a lot more than I'd expect. But, there were new places for K this year. I think spots in 3rd are likely due to attrition only.

As for what people like about Mundo Verde, as far as I can tell it's because a lot of educated middle class and upper middle class families (the types that predominate on this board) get very VERY excited about the dual language part, even if some of them think the Spanish isn't very good. Throw in the "green" part and it's a recipe for success among that demographic. Whether or not the school is great at other aspects of teaching, I have no idea but it certainly gets a lot of hype on this board. Personally, we were underwhelmed at the open house and didn't see a lot that strongly distinguished it from our not very popular DCPS elementary.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm really not a troll. I'm the "moving to dc" poster from a while back. And I'm happy with our ib, I'm mostly just curious. Is this like an Arts and Letters in Brooklyn kind of thing?

How can you possibly have a decent wait list number in round 2? Their round 1 wait list went into the hundreds for most grades.

If I recall correctly, this PP has a child in 3rd grade. The wait list is significantly smaller - I'm not sure if it even goes past 10.

And reading information on this forum is how we all get information about schools. Even though the school is talked about quite a bit, I couldn't really say what's so great about the school. All the praise is rather general, in the form of "we love it!" and "our DC is thriving there!"

<shrug>