Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lee is still going through its PK3 WL too. A friend just turned down a spot (but only because she got an offer for another nearby charter she wanted at the same time).

The K waitlist started moving late August/early September but has stopped (both campuses). As a K parent, now I'm curious if there is more likely to be space next year for 1st given this situation. Some of the criticism worries me, but also my kid already knows how to read and loves math so it might not apply in our situation.

I wonder if they'll just reduce the number of classrooms.

The question becomes, do you want your reading and math-doing child to be an outlier in their classroom, academically speaking? And are you willing to waive this stuff away as a feature of Montessori, or does it say something about the quality of the teaching? Because there are other Montessori schools that don't have test scores quite so bad.

What makes you think that PP’s child won’t be an outlier in their underperforming IB?

There's no need to go to an underperforming IB, then. There are plenty of other neighborhood schools and charters that aren't too hard to get into for lower elementary grades.

Being an outlier in Montessori can be great when you're one of the youngest kids in the classroom, but to be an academically advanced 3rd grader in a room of mostly below grade level 1st and 2nd graders is... well, you'd have to really really love Montessori to be okay with that.

PP here and right now we are at our "underperforming IB." I don't really consider it underperforming -- it serves a very high percentage of FARMS kids and they do a phenomenal job. But they have a ton of attrition before the upper grades that leaves mostly below-grade level kids in the PARCC grades. We're part of a prisoner's dilemma because we love the school and want to stay but not if half my child's classmates are going to decamp for other schools in the next three years (which they almost certainly will, just like us).

Lee is not our first choice but it is something we are looking at. We don't mind "supplementing" (or whatever people want to call it, I don't care) as much as others seem to. I think probably because our child started in DCPS shortly after Covid and I feel like at this point we're just used to doing a lot more than we ever expected we'd need to do in order to get our kid educated. The main reason she knows how to read is because I taught her how.

Dude, the exact same thing will happen at Lee! That is why they have no waitlist and open seats in 1st and 2nd! That is why their test scores are so low. If you're comparing between Lee and your IB, the difference is that they both have bad PARCC scores but Lee has higher-income kids. Lee is not winning that comparison.

If your IB is tolerable this year, I'd say hold out for something that actually is a top choice for you.

PP and you aren't telling me something I don't already know, but Lee was on our lottery list this year which is why I am following this thread and curious about trends. In DC you don't automatically get a "top choice" so we gather info and make the best decision we can. We are not getting off the waitlist for Lee this year anyway so this is just info-gathering for next year. You can't know what makes the most sense for us since you don't know the full situation. But thanks for the advice.

Don’t use dcum to gather info, use your neighbors or real people. DCUM people have an agenda.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lee is still going through its PK3 WL too. A friend just turned down a spot (but only because she got an offer for another nearby charter she wanted at the same time).

The K waitlist started moving late August/early September but has stopped (both campuses). As a K parent, now I'm curious if there is more likely to be space next year for 1st given this situation. Some of the criticism worries me, but also my kid already knows how to read and loves math so it might not apply in our situation.

I wonder if they'll just reduce the number of classrooms.

The question becomes, do you want your reading and math-doing child to be an outlier in their classroom, academically speaking? And are you willing to waive this stuff away as a feature of Montessori, or does it say something about the quality of the teaching? Because there are other Montessori schools that don't have test scores quite so bad.

What makes you think that PP’s child won’t be an outlier in their underperforming IB?

There's no need to go to an underperforming IB, then. There are plenty of other neighborhood schools and charters that aren't too hard to get into for lower elementary grades.

Being an outlier in Montessori can be great when you're one of the youngest kids in the classroom, but to be an academically advanced 3rd grader in a room of mostly below grade level 1st and 2nd graders is... well, you'd have to really really love Montessori to be okay with that.

PP here and right now we are at our "underperforming IB." I don't really consider it underperforming -- it serves a very high percentage of FARMS kids and they do a phenomenal job. But they have a ton of attrition before the upper grades that leaves mostly below-grade level kids in the PARCC grades. We're part of a prisoner's dilemma because we love the school and want to stay but not if half my child's classmates are going to decamp for other schools in the next three years (which they almost certainly will, just like us).

Lee is not our first choice but it is something we are looking at. We don't mind "supplementing" (or whatever people want to call it, I don't care) as much as others seem to. I think probably because our child started in DCPS shortly after Covid and I feel like at this point we're just used to doing a lot more than we ever expected we'd need to do in order to get our kid educated. The main reason she knows how to read is because I taught her how.

Dude, the exact same thing will happen at Lee! That is why they have no waitlist and open seats in 1st and 2nd! That is why their test scores are so low. If you're comparing between Lee and your IB, the difference is that they both have bad PARCC scores but Lee has higher-income kids. Lee is not winning that comparison.

If your IB is tolerable this year, I'd say hold out for something that actually is a top choice for you.

PP and you aren't telling me something I don't already know, but Lee was on our lottery list this year which is why I am following this thread and curious about trends. In DC you don't automatically get a "top choice" so we gather info and make the best decision we can. We are not getting off the waitlist for Lee this year anyway so this is just info-gathering for next year. You can't know what makes the most sense for us since you don't know the full situation. But thanks for the advice.

I'd consider better performing DCPSes that are also easy to get into in the middle ES grades way before Lee. I wouldn't trek WOTP, but I would look at the solid EOTP IB DCPSes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lee is still going through its PK3 WL too. A friend just turned down a spot (but only because she got an offer for another nearby charter she wanted at the same time).

The K waitlist started moving late August/early September but has stopped (both campuses). As a K parent, now I'm curious if there is more likely to be space next year for 1st given this situation. Some of the criticism worries me, but also my kid already knows how to read and loves math so it might not apply in our situation.

I wonder if they'll just reduce the number of classrooms.

The question becomes, do you want your reading and math-doing child to be an outlier in their classroom, academically speaking? And are you willing to waive this stuff away as a feature of Montessori, or does it say something about the quality of the teaching? Because there are other Montessori schools that don't have test scores quite so bad.

What makes you think that PP’s child won’t be an outlier in their underperforming IB?

There's no need to go to an underperforming IB, then. There are plenty of other neighborhood schools and charters that aren't too hard to get into for lower elementary grades.

Being an outlier in Montessori can be great when you're one of the youngest kids in the classroom, but to be an academically advanced 3rd grader in a room of mostly below grade level 1st and 2nd graders is... well, you'd have to really really love Montessori to be okay with that.

PP here and right now we are at our "underperforming IB." I don't really consider it underperforming -- it serves a very high percentage of FARMS kids and they do a phenomenal job. But they have a ton of attrition before the upper grades that leaves mostly below-grade level kids in the PARCC grades. We're part of a prisoner's dilemma because we love the school and want to stay but not if half my child's classmates are going to decamp for other schools in the next three years (which they almost certainly will, just like us).

Lee is not our first choice but it is something we are looking at. We don't mind "supplementing" (or whatever people want to call it, I don't care) as much as others seem to. I think probably because our child started in DCPS shortly after Covid and I feel like at this point we're just used to doing a lot more than we ever expected we'd need to do in order to get our kid educated. The main reason she knows how to read is because I taught her how.

Dude, the exact same thing will happen at Lee! That is why they have no waitlist and open seats in 1st and 2nd! That is why their test scores are so low. If you're comparing between Lee and your IB, the difference is that they both have bad PARCC scores but Lee has higher-income kids. Lee is not winning that comparison.

If your IB is tolerable this year, I'd say hold out for something that actually is a top choice for you.

PP and you aren't telling me something I don't already know, but Lee was on our lottery list this year which is why I am following this thread and curious about trends. In DC you don't automatically get a "top choice" so we gather info and make the best decision we can. We are not getting off the waitlist for Lee this year anyway so this is just info-gathering for next year. You can't know what makes the most sense for us since you don't know the full situation. But thanks for the advice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lee is still going through its PK3 WL too. A friend just turned down a spot (but only because she got an offer for another nearby charter she wanted at the same time).

The K waitlist started moving late August/early September but has stopped (both campuses). As a K parent, now I'm curious if there is more likely to be space next year for 1st given this situation. Some of the criticism worries me, but also my kid already knows how to read and loves math so it might not apply in our situation.

I wonder if they'll just reduce the number of classrooms.

The question becomes, do you want your reading and math-doing child to be an outlier in their classroom, academically speaking? And are you willing to waive this stuff away as a feature of Montessori, or does it say something about the quality of the teaching? Because there are other Montessori schools that don't have test scores quite so bad.

What makes you think that PP’s child won’t be an outlier in their underperforming IB?

There's no need to go to an underperforming IB, then. There are plenty of other neighborhood schools and charters that aren't too hard to get into for lower elementary grades.

Being an outlier in Montessori can be great when you're one of the youngest kids in the classroom, but to be an academically advanced 3rd grader in a room of mostly below grade level 1st and 2nd graders is... well, you'd have to really really love Montessori to be okay with that.

PP here and right now we are at our "underperforming IB." I don't really consider it underperforming -- it serves a very high percentage of FARMS kids and they do a phenomenal job. But they have a ton of attrition before the upper grades that leaves mostly below-grade level kids in the PARCC grades. We're part of a prisoner's dilemma because we love the school and want to stay but not if half my child's classmates are going to decamp for other schools in the next three years (which they almost certainly will, just like us).

Lee is not our first choice but it is something we are looking at. We don't mind "supplementing" (or whatever people want to call it, I don't care) as much as others seem to. I think probably because our child started in DCPS shortly after Covid and I feel like at this point we're just used to doing a lot more than we ever expected we'd need to do in order to get our kid educated. The main reason she knows how to read is because I taught her how.

Dude, the exact same thing will happen at Lee! That is why they have no waitlist and open seats in 1st and 2nd! That is why their test scores are so low. If you're comparing between Lee and your IB, the difference is that they both have bad PARCC scores but Lee has higher-income kids. Lee is not winning that comparison.

If your IB is tolerable this year, I'd say hold out for something that actually is a top choice for you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lee is still going through its PK3 WL too. A friend just turned down a spot (but only because she got an offer for another nearby charter she wanted at the same time).

The K waitlist started moving late August/early September but has stopped (both campuses). As a K parent, now I'm curious if there is more likely to be space next year for 1st given this situation. Some of the criticism worries me, but also my kid already knows how to read and loves math so it might not apply in our situation.

I wonder if they'll just reduce the number of classrooms.

The question becomes, do you want your reading and math-doing child to be an outlier in their classroom, academically speaking? And are you willing to waive this stuff away as a feature of Montessori, or does it say something about the quality of the teaching? Because there are other Montessori schools that don't have test scores quite so bad.

What makes you think that PP’s child won’t be an outlier in their underperforming IB?

There's no need to go to an underperforming IB, then. There are plenty of other neighborhood schools and charters that aren't too hard to get into for lower elementary grades.

Being an outlier in Montessori can be great when you're one of the youngest kids in the classroom, but to be an academically advanced 3rd grader in a room of mostly below grade level 1st and 2nd graders is... well, you'd have to really really love Montessori to be okay with that.

PP here and right now we are at our "underperforming IB." I don't really consider it underperforming -- it serves a very high percentage of FARMS kids and they do a phenomenal job. But they have a ton of attrition before the upper grades that leaves mostly below-grade level kids in the PARCC grades. We're part of a prisoner's dilemma because we love the school and want to stay but not if half my child's classmates are going to decamp for other schools in the next three years (which they almost certainly will, just like us).

Lee is not our first choice but it is something we are looking at. We don't mind "supplementing" (or whatever people want to call it, I don't care) as much as others seem to. I think probably because our child started in DCPS shortly after Covid and I feel like at this point we're just used to doing a lot more than we ever expected we'd need to do in order to get our kid educated. The main reason she knows how to read is because I taught her how.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lee is still going through its PK3 WL too. A friend just turned down a spot (but only because she got an offer for another nearby charter she wanted at the same time).

The K waitlist started moving late August/early September but has stopped (both campuses). As a K parent, now I'm curious if there is more likely to be space next year for 1st given this situation. Some of the criticism worries me, but also my kid already knows how to read and loves math so it might not apply in our situation.

I wonder if they'll just reduce the number of classrooms.

The question becomes, do you want your reading and math-doing child to be an outlier in their classroom, academically speaking? And are you willing to waive this stuff away as a feature of Montessori, or does it say something about the quality of the teaching? Because there are other Montessori schools that don't have test scores quite so bad.

What makes you think that PP’s child won’t be an outlier in their underperforming IB?

There's no need to go to an underperforming IB, then. There are plenty of other neighborhood schools and charters that aren't too hard to get into for lower elementary grades.

Being an outlier in Montessori can be great when you're one of the youngest kids in the classroom, but to be an academically advanced 3rd grader in a room of mostly below grade level 1st and 2nd graders is... well, you'd have to really really love Montessori to be okay with that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lee is still going through its PK3 WL too. A friend just turned down a spot (but only because she got an offer for another nearby charter she wanted at the same time).

The K waitlist started moving late August/early September but has stopped (both campuses). As a K parent, now I'm curious if there is more likely to be space next year for 1st given this situation. Some of the criticism worries me, but also my kid already knows how to read and loves math so it might not apply in our situation.

I wonder if they'll just reduce the number of classrooms.

The question becomes, do you want your reading and math-doing child to be an outlier in their classroom, academically speaking? And are you willing to waive this stuff away as a feature of Montessori, or does it say something about the quality of the teaching? Because there are other Montessori schools that don't have test scores quite so bad.

What makes you think that PP’s child won’t be an outlier in their underperforming IB?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lee is still going through its PK3 WL too. A friend just turned down a spot (but only because she got an offer for another nearby charter she wanted at the same time).

The K waitlist started moving late August/early September but has stopped (both campuses). As a K parent, now I'm curious if there is more likely to be space next year for 1st given this situation. Some of the criticism worries me, but also my kid already knows how to read and loves math so it might not apply in our situation.

I wonder if they'll just reduce the number of classrooms.

The question becomes, do you want your reading and math-doing child to be an outlier in their classroom, academically speaking? And are you willing to waive this stuff away as a feature of Montessori, or does it say something about the quality of the teaching? Because there are other Montessori schools that don't have test scores quite so bad.

Anonymous wrote:Lee is still going through its PK3 WL too. A friend just turned down a spot (but only because she got an offer for another nearby charter she wanted at the same time).

The K waitlist started moving late August/early September but has stopped (both campuses). As a K parent, now I'm curious if there is more likely to be space next year for 1st given this situation. Some of the criticism worries me, but also my kid already knows how to read and loves math so it might not apply in our situation.

Lee is still going through its PK3 WL too. A friend just turned down a spot (but only because she got an offer for another nearby charter she wanted at the same time).

Anonymous wrote:People here are so pathetic, they need to trash every charter. Instead of trashing schools here, you should spend your time making your IB a better option, then people won’t leave.

Every charter does not get trashed. Lee is not being trashed. Some charters AND DCPS schools come in for more criticism than others. Ask yourself why that is.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is more food for thought from a current family. They have open spots for 1/2 grades but they also don’t have a permanent teacher for the 3rd lower elementary where these kids would potentially sit. The assistant principal is teaching that class while the hired teacher is still working out visa issues. Quite a few long term, favorite teachers left at the end of last year, including two lower elementary leads.

Why did so many teachers leave?

Do you read the news?

It's not that simple. We are at another ES in DC and lost no teachers this year, including several who are eligible for retirement but chose to come back. So if Lee (which, for the record, we are interested in and waitlisted for, but not for 1st or 2nd) lost a number of teachers, that indicates something going on specific to the school that I would like to know as a prospective parent.

Anonymous wrote:People here are so pathetic, they need to trash every charter. Instead of trashing schools here, you should spend your time making your IB a better option, then people won’t leave.

It's not that people leave, it's that they're drawn in by a nice ECE at a school like Lee so they never attend their IB at all. People catching on that the grass isn't greener is helping our IB.

People here are so pathetic, they need to trash every charter. Instead of trashing schools here, you should spend your time making your IB a better option, then people won’t leave.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is more food for thought from a current family. They have open spots for 1/2 grades but they also don’t have a permanent teacher for the 3rd lower elementary where these kids would potentially sit. The assistant principal is teaching that class while the hired teacher is still working out visa issues. Quite a few long term, favorite teachers left at the end of last year, including two lower elementary leads.

Now that is relevant information. One thing coming into a new school after the start of the year, another thing to come in to a temporary sub (though I’m sure the AP is quite capable) and have to do another transition when the permanent teacher arrives. Food for thought.

Agreed that teacher shortages are everywhere and not reflective of Lee specifically

the teacher is here.