Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The welcome event for new families was well-attended this past weekend with several committed families and many that are still making decisions. These are families that have questions, maybe one foot in the water...people that really want this to work and are seriously excited by the proposed curriculum. Parents came out in real life and put a lot of pressure on HOS and other admin regarding some of the same issues that DCUMers have been crying about from the comfort of the virtual peanut gallery since story in WaPo. HOS was asked about everything from divisional sports and PE to visual and performing arts to whether or not the system Whittle is using to track student progress was a market ed product or developed specifically for this school. Language immersion, class size, travel abroad opportunities, the middle school teacher that's coming over from Sidwell, the interdisciplinary blocks of study, expedition days, etc. It was all there.

And, yes, construction.

And no, I'm not an evil marketing consultant.

And yes I'm a parent. Washington is robust with great legacy institutions but I've never seen anything like what this school is proposing.

Hope it works. If for NOTHING else, than to shut this Keyboarding Club UP.

There is literally nothing about this school that doesn't already exist in DC. To say you have never seen anything like what this school is proposing means you simply haven't looked.

As a parent that looked at most of the DC privates, charters, and public schools in the area, including a lot of time with Whittle, ( and NO I don't work for any of the schools ) I can say that to think Whittle isn't unique is just factually wrong. It might be significantly over promising...that's fair...we will see...find me the school in DC that has a sister school in China and more to come on several continents potentially. Find the school in DC that allows students to dive deep into a passion and take each Wednesday as an experience day. Find the the school in DC that has the resources to build a far more sophisticated maker lab than one sees in most colleges, find me the school in DC that is offering immersion along with all those qualities PK-12. Find me the school in DC that along with all that--- is doing intense lengthy personal advisory each day with each student and then customizing the homework each night to that student's abilities. Maybe a few schools are doing bits and pieces ( Lowell seems to do good advisory, there are Chinese programs all over, WIS is project based, Fusion is highly personalized..) but I don't know of one doing all of this intentionally which is why I think they are disruptive and triggering so much defensiveness on the part of posters on this board. It's fantastic for parents that significant competition is coming into the area --It will be a wake up call for lots of schools to up their game and all of us will benefit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The welcome event for new families was well-attended this past weekend with several committed families and many that are still making decisions. These are families that have questions, maybe one foot in the water...people that really want this to work and are seriously excited by the proposed curriculum. Parents came out in real life and put a lot of pressure on HOS and other admin regarding some of the same issues that DCUMers have been crying about from the comfort of the virtual peanut gallery since story in WaPo. HOS was asked about everything from divisional sports and PE to visual and performing arts to whether or not the system Whittle is using to track student progress was a market ed product or developed specifically for this school. Language immersion, class size, travel abroad opportunities, the middle school teacher that's coming over from Sidwell, the interdisciplinary blocks of study, expedition days, etc. It was all there.

And, yes, construction.

And no, I'm not an evil marketing consultant.

And yes I'm a parent. Washington is robust with great legacy institutions but I've never seen anything like what this school is proposing.

Hope it works. If for NOTHING else, than to shut this Keyboarding Club UP.

There is literally nothing about this school that doesn't already exist in DC. To say you have never seen anything like what this school is proposing means you simply haven't looked.

Anonymous wrote:The welcome event for new families was well-attended this past weekend with several committed families and many that are still making decisions. These are families that have questions, maybe one foot in the water...people that really want this to work and are seriously excited by the proposed curriculum. Parents came out in real life and put a lot of pressure on HOS and other admin regarding some of the same issues that DCUMers have been crying about from the comfort of the virtual peanut gallery since story in WaPo. HOS was asked about everything from divisional sports and PE to visual and performing arts to whether or not the system Whittle is using to track student progress was a market ed product or developed specifically for this school. Language immersion, class size, travel abroad opportunities, the middle school teacher that's coming over from Sidwell, the interdisciplinary blocks of study, expedition days, etc. It was all there.

And, yes, construction.

And no, I'm not an evil marketing consultant.

And yes I'm a parent. Washington is robust with great legacy institutions but I've never seen anything like what this school is proposing.

Hope it works. If for NOTHING else, than to shut this Keyboarding Club UP.

Anonymous wrote:The welcome event for new families was well-attended this past weekend with several committed families and many that are still making decisions. These are families that have questions, maybe one foot in the water...people that really want this to work and are seriously excited by the proposed curriculum. Parents came out in real life and put a lot of pressure on HOS and other admin regarding some of the same issues that DCUMers have been crying about from the comfort of the virtual peanut gallery since story in WaPo. HOS was asked about everything from divisional sports and PE to visual and performing arts to whether or not the system Whittle is using to track student progress was a market ed product or developed specifically for this school. Language immersion, class size, travel abroad opportunities, the middle school teacher that's coming over from Sidwell, the interdisciplinary blocks of study, expedition days, etc. It was all there.

And, yes, construction.

And no, I'm not an evil marketing consultant.

And yes I'm a parent. Washington is robust with great legacy institutions but I've never seen anything like what this school is proposing.

Hope it works. If for NOTHING else, than to shut this Keyboarding Club UP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem is that for that amount of tuition people want a track record and proven results.

Do you think it's unreasonable for families to want a track record of proven results for that amount of tuition?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know one child that apllied and haven’t heard of one child going there. Did they accept anyone or is it too much of an unknown to open up this fall?

I know three kids who are enrolled and going in the fall.

I'm curious. Are they all in the same family? What was the motivation of the families?

No. Three separate families. During the info sessions, they said all of the right things. If you're a parent that is willing to take the risk and it works out then you've gotten in on the ground floor of something transformative. What's the worst that can happen? It is an accredited place and the students will not lose anything by attending for a year. If it doesn't work out then you find another school the following year. Some people are willing to jump in with both feet and others are not. I think it's that simple.

My children are not attending Whittle. I did attend many info sessions and I met a lot of the people who will be working there. They are all smart, engaged and committed educators. The Head of School is the real deal. Many of them have uprooted their lives and left really good, comfortable positions to follow the light. The problem is that for that amount of tuition people want a track record and proven results.

I hope they succeed and put some pressure on some of the schools to reevaluate how they approach education.

It cannot possibly be accredited.

A simple google search will solve that for you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem is that for that amount of tuition people want a track record and proven results.

Do you think it's unreasonable for families to want a track record of proven results for that amount of tuition?

Not at all. Where did I say that? I understand the reservations and I also understand the person that says, "what do we have to lose." I don't have to jump on the bash Whittle bandwagon to make people feel good. I 100% get why people are skeptical. Chris Whittle has a spotty past.

I personally think that the model is awesome and I hope it works.

Anonymous wrote:Wait, how can you be accredited before you open?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know one child that apllied and haven’t heard of one child going there. Did they accept anyone or is it too much of an unknown to open up this fall?

I know three kids who are enrolled and going in the fall.

I'm curious. Are they all in the same family? What was the motivation of the families?

No. Three separate families. During the info sessions, they said all of the right things. If you're a parent that is willing to take the risk and it works out then you've gotten in on the ground floor of something transformative. What's the worst that can happen? It is an accredited place and the students will not lose anything by attending for a year. If it doesn't work out then you find another school the following year. Some people are willing to jump in with both feet and others are not. I think it's that simple.

My children are not attending Whittle. I did attend many info sessions and I met a lot of the people who will be working there. They are all smart, engaged and committed educators. The Head of School is the real deal. Many of them have uprooted their lives and left really good, comfortable positions to follow the light. The problem is that for that amount of tuition people want a track record and proven results.

I hope they succeed and put some pressure on some of the schools to reevaluate how they approach education.

It cannot possibly be accredited.

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Simmer down. Hope it works out for you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know one child that apllied and haven’t heard of one child going there. Did they accept anyone or is it too much of an unknown to open up this fall?

I know three kids who are enrolled and going in the fall.

I'm curious. Are they all in the same family? What was the motivation of the families?

No. Three separate families. During the info sessions, they said all of the right things. If you're a parent that is willing to take the risk and it works out then you've gotten in on the ground floor of something transformative. What's the worst that can happen? It is an accredited place and the students will not lose anything by attending for a year. If it doesn't work out then you find another school the following year. Some people are willing to jump in with both feet and others are not. I think it's that simple.

My children are not attending Whittle. I did attend many info sessions and I met a lot of the people who will be working there. They are all smart, engaged and committed educators. The Head of School is the real deal. Many of them have uprooted their lives and left really good, comfortable positions to follow the light. The problem is that for that amount of tuition people want a track record and proven results.

I hope they succeed and put some pressure on some of the schools to reevaluate how they approach education.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any prospective families able to share the updates from the school?

They say that they’re working with state and city and seem cconfident they will open on Sept 3rd. They don’t explicitly promise to open in the building but strongly imply it.