I have read this chain of comments as another parent possibly interested in sending my kid to Key. This is, by far, among the most helpful comments in the thread. Thank you poster.

Most of the other comments are accusatory, divisive, and plain saddening. Geez folks -- whatever happened to civil discourse?

For the OP--Don't know if you're still considering Key, but we are an OOB family and have felt very welcomed.

Aftercare is complicated; there are few spots that come open. We've made do with adding an after-school sitter and taking the school up on enrichment activities (although those don't go consistently weekly through the school calendar), so it's a little bit of spit and duct tape.

Sorry I can't speak to the SN/IEP issue.

I've been impressed by how the social/emotional learning has been woven into the curriculum by the teachers. Our class last year was especially warm and communal, and that's not accidental--the teachers are working well to make that happen.

The principal mishandled the situation at the school, without a doubt. What doesn't get represented on this board is that there *were* parents who spoke up at school meetings against the continuance of the principal and that it's clear the school needs to do some serious work on race/diversity/inclusion in the coming year. And the other thing that doesn't get mentioned is that this is a school where the teachers feel like they have solid support from the admins, and I've gotten the sense that they have much more leeway than teachers in other DCPS schools (which means they feel trusted, which in turn makes for good teaching), and if keeping the bumbling principal in exchange for keeping teachers and staving against whatever wildcard DCPS would throw at the school as a principal, then that's a tradeoff some families were willing to take.

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Anonymous wrote:Sorry to say it, but I suspect your "not a good fit" excuse about your IB is just a veil for your racism. Let me guess...you're IB is Bancroft but there are too many latino kids for your liking. Or Shepherd, too many black kids for your liking. Just stay put at your charter, OP.

+1.

+2, I also guessed it was one of these schools based on her OP, and follow-up posts saying she's "fighting for the school" but it's "not an option" for her own kids.

white savior syndrome

+1 and this whole "fight to improve it" is sickening. OP, be honest with yourself and embrace your prejudice.

Except the OP's children are already in a bilingual charter, which generally means considerable diversity (unless it's Stokes).

Thank you. OP here. Yes, my kids go to a very diverse charter school (not Stokes). I'm surprised that some posters overlooked my questions regarding the special needs program and jumped to the conclusion that I must be racist if I don't send my kids to our IB DCPS. Our IB DCPS has a terrible SN program, as many parents (most who are POC) warned me about. That's why it's not a good fit. There are lots of reasons a school might not be a good fit for a particular child. I also clearly stated that I'm not willing to fight for our IB DCPS.

Thanks to the poster who mentioned that if we go to Key then they could move us to any DCPS if they can't/won't meet DC's special needs. This is very helpful information.

If I was just looking for a whiter school then I would have jumped at the chance to go to Key without first trying to determine if it would be a better fit than our charter school.

Both special ed teachers and the school psychologist who oversaw IEPs left Key at the end of year - so not sure what we're getting yet for this coming year... I'd say our experience has been mixed with SNs at the school. It also depends on the needs.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry to say it, but I suspect your "not a good fit" excuse about your IB is just a veil for your racism. Let me guess...you're IB is Bancroft but there are too many latino kids for your liking. Or Shepherd, too many black kids for your liking. Just stay put at your charter, OP.

+1.

+2, I also guessed it was one of these schools based on her OP, and follow-up posts saying she's "fighting for the school" but it's "not an option" for her own kids.

white savior syndrome

+1 and this whole "fight to improve it" is sickening. OP, be honest with yourself and embrace your prejudice.

Except the OP's children are already in a bilingual charter, which generally means considerable diversity (unless it's Stokes).

Thank you. OP here. Yes, my kids go to a very diverse charter school (not Stokes). I'm surprised that some posters overlooked my questions regarding the special needs program and jumped to the conclusion that I must be racist if I don't send my kids to our IB DCPS. Our IB DCPS has a terrible SN program, as many parents (most who are POC) warned me about. That's why it's not a good fit. There are lots of reasons a school might not be a good fit for a particular child. I also clearly stated that I'm not willing to fight for our IB DCPS.

Thanks to the poster who mentioned that if we go to Key then they could move us to any DCPS if they can't/won't meet DC's special needs. This is very helpful information.

If I was just looking for a whiter school then I would have jumped at the chance to go to Key without first trying to determine if it would be a better fit than our charter school.

Not sure what the bolded means, but here's what you said.

Our IB school isn't a good fit and we're not willing to send our kids there and hope we can fight to improve it.

Yeah OP, be careful how you wore things because you made it sound likes it’s a bad school all around.