Anonymous
Post 06/03/2014 11:31     Subject: DME Meeting at SWS June 5th
The feeder pattern could have an impact on the neighborhood -- or at least the Hill. It would be a shame to have all these involved parents flee to private/charters.
Anonymous
Post 06/03/2014 11:31     Subject: DME Meeting at SWS June 5th
The feeder pattern could have an impact on the neighborhood -- or at least the Hill. It would be a shame to have all these involved parents flee to private/charters.
Anonymous
Post 06/03/2014 11:30     Subject: DME Meeting at SWS June 5th
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The reasons that SWS does not have proximity are lame and anachronistic. There are enough Reggio inspired schools -LT- around that are neighborhood schools. What makes SWS so much different to keep that OOB status alive?


SWS is significantly different in that they are extending the Reggio approach through 5th. All other programs are preschool only. So big difference.


they are not extending the Reggio approach beyond K or 1. After that it'll be a different learning approach, yet to be determined. Maybe Expeditionary Learning. So no big difference.


Not true.
Anonymous
Post 06/03/2014 11:28     Subject: DME Meeting at SWS June 5th
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The reasons that SWS does not have proximity are lame and anachronistic. There are enough Reggio inspired schools -LT- around that are neighborhood schools. What makes SWS so much different to keep that OOB status alive?


SWS is significantly different in that they are extending the Reggio approach through 5th. All other programs are preschool only. So big difference.


they are not extending the Reggio approach beyond K or 1. After that it'll be a different learning approach, yet to be determined. Maybe Expeditionary Learning. So no big difference.


are you just making stuff up?
Anonymous
Post 06/03/2014 11:26     Subject: DME Meeting at SWS June 5th
I think it is ok for the school to have its own internal discussions on this. Others with interest are able to voice their opinions in many different ways including DCPS, DME and council members. A school community is perfectly within reason having its own process and meetings and communications on behalf of its current students and families
Anonymous
Post 06/03/2014 11:22     Subject: DME Meeting at SWS June 5th
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The reasons that SWS does not have proximity are lame and anachronistic. There are enough Reggio inspired schools -LT- around that are neighborhood schools. What makes SWS so much different to keep that OOB status alive?


SWS is significantly different in that they are extending the Reggio approach through 5th. All other programs are preschool only. So big difference.


they are not extending the Reggio approach beyond K or 1. After that it'll be a different learning approach, yet to be determined. Maybe Expeditionary Learning. So no big difference.
Anonymous
Post 06/03/2014 11:19     Subject: DME Meeting at SWS June 5th
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:SWS parent as well.

Clearly there are varied opinions internally about the proximity question. I think we can all agree that this is a special program that we enjoy being a part of and where many of our children are thriving and being cared for.

Whether this "uniqueness" is due to the curriculum, the teachers, or to the involved and inclusive community more than any other particular factor is up for debate. Whether proximity would have a negative effect on any of these components is also debatable.

I appreciate that we have managed to stay out of-the-weeds on this anonymous board and I hope we can continue that.


I am a pp and you are absolutely right. We should continue the conversation face to face at the meeting and not here on an anonymous board. Thanks for the reminder.


Keeping the discussion in-house is all well and good, but what about all the people potentially affected by this change that don't know about this meeting because it wasn't advertised broadly or who are unable to attend?


Are you referring to non-SWS families?
Anonymous
Post 06/03/2014 11:12     Subject: DME Meeting at SWS June 5th
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:SWS parent as well.

Clearly there are varied opinions internally about the proximity question. I think we can all agree that this is a special program that we enjoy being a part of and where many of our children are thriving and being cared for.

Whether this "uniqueness" is due to the curriculum, the teachers, or to the involved and inclusive community more than any other particular factor is up for debate. Whether proximity would have a negative effect on any of these components is also debatable.

I appreciate that we have managed to stay out of-the-weeds on this anonymous board and I hope we can continue that.


I am a pp and you are absolutely right. We should continue the conversation face to face at the meeting and not here on an anonymous board. Thanks for the reminder.


Keeping the discussion in-house is all well and good, but what about all the people potentially affected by this change that don't know about this meeting because it wasn't advertised broadly or who are unable to attend?
Anonymous
Post 06/03/2014 11:10     Subject: Re:DME Meeting at SWS June 5th
Anonymous wrote:SWS parent, IB for LT. Absolutely support proximity preference. Hell, I'd rather have a real boundary and be done with it.



You're not going to get it, but good luck hijacking the meeting, the point of which is to discuss feeder patterns.
Anonymous
Post 06/03/2014 11:07     Subject: DME Meeting at SWS June 5th
Anonymous wrote:The reasons that SWS does not have proximity are lame and anachronistic. There are enough Reggio inspired schools -LT- around that are neighborhood schools. What makes SWS so much different to keep that OOB status alive?


SWS is significantly different in that they are extending the Reggio approach through 5th. All other programs are preschool only. So big difference.
Anonymous
Post 06/03/2014 10:29     Subject: DME Meeting at SWS June 5th
I would be very surprised if the decision was made to punch a hole in the L-T catchment and create such an inequitable situation in the neighborhood. Not to mention that the school would become 100 percent siblings and proximity, which isn't the intent of a citywide program. There are plenty of charters in DC that manage to create a strong sense of community even with a citywide pull.

But nobody expects the chancellor or DCPS to do anything that makes sense, so there's that.
Anonymous
Post 06/03/2014 10:26     Subject: DME Meeting at SWS June 5th
Anonymous wrote:SWS parent as well.

Clearly there are varied opinions internally about the proximity question. I think we can all agree that this is a special program that we enjoy being a part of and where many of our children are thriving and being cared for.

Whether this "uniqueness" is due to the curriculum, the teachers, or to the involved and inclusive community more than any other particular factor is up for debate. Whether proximity would have a negative effect on any of these components is also debatable.

I appreciate that we have managed to stay out of-the-weeds on this anonymous board and I hope we can continue that.


I am a pp and you are absolutely right. We should continue the conversation face to face at the meeting and not here on an anonymous board. Thanks for the reminder.
Anonymous
Post 06/03/2014 10:21     Subject: DME Meeting at SWS June 5th
SWS parent as well.

Clearly there are varied opinions internally about the proximity question. I think we can all agree that this is a special program that we enjoy being a part of and where many of our children are thriving and being cared for.

Whether this "uniqueness" is due to the curriculum, the teachers, or to the involved and inclusive community more than any other particular factor is up for debate. Whether proximity would have a negative effect on any of these components is also debatable.

I appreciate that we have managed to stay out of-the-weeds on this anonymous board and I hope we can continue that.
Anonymous
Post 06/03/2014 10:21     Subject: Re:DME Meeting at SWS June 5th
Anonymous wrote:I am an SWS parent of two (PK4 and 1st) and I do not know a single parent here -- not a single one -- who is in favor of proximity preference. Maybe it's because we're already in and we no longer care, but I think for the most part we understand that it's not good for the community at large, and everyone thinks the one guy agitating for it is pretty annoying.


Here is a direct quote from the position paper created by the SWS LSAT based on a working group and a survey of parents

2. Proximity
? A majority of the parent community surveyed supports some form of proximity
preference for admissions through the DCPS lottery (~65% favored some proximity, split at ~30% for those preferring 3000 feet and ~33% for immediate neighbors). These results show, however that there is no clear consensus on what that preference should look like. Moreover, the survey questions were limited and did not provide the full array of options available.
Anonymous
Post 06/03/2014 10:08     Subject: DME Meeting at SWS June 5th
SWS parent of two. Like the idea of proximity preference. If a real boundary were set, it would skew the class sizes and ruin the pk4-k loop, due to the fact that all IB 5yos would attend by right.

Without proximity preference, SWS might as well be a charter (read -- need to scrounge even harder for appropriate levels of funding for this program).