If this location holds and they produce a 10 year lease I would be willing go back to the school. I really loved our time there, but their temp location was unworkable at the time so we moved to a DCPS that is great, but not necessarily for my child.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Meh. Good for them but I am pretty irritated. Looks like we will have to struggle to stay in private because we want Montessori but don't want to trek across North Capitol. This sucks. (No need to chime in with "if u can afford private then save the charters for those who can't--I pay my taxes just like the rest so I have every right to hope for a charter--or DCPS Montessori--that is convenient and has a program I want for my child).

Sure you can hope but you can't expect.

It looks like Breakthrough will land at Bridges location in Petworth.

Anonymous wrote:Meh. Good for them but I am pretty irritated. Looks like we will have to struggle to stay in private because we want Montessori but don't want to trek across North Capitol. This sucks. (No need to chime in with "if u can afford private then save the charters for those who can't--I pay my taxes just like the rest so I have every right to hope for a charter--or DCPS Montessori--that is convenient and has a program I want for my child).

Sure you can hope but you can't expect.

Meh. Good for them but I am pretty irritated. Looks like we will have to struggle to stay in private because we want Montessori but don't want to trek across North Capitol. This sucks. (No need to chime in with "if u can afford private then save the charters for those who can't--I pay my taxes just like the rest so I have every right to hope for a charter--or DCPS Montessori--that is convenient and has a program I want for my child).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is fine to announce they are in final negotiations. In the past they said buildings were a done deal before the lease was signed - that was the problem.

SS is a great school and that is a great location. If there is any sour grapes, it is from people who would have loved that location for their still homeless charter (me!). Maybe SS will struggle to pay for it/pay for the renovations. Maybe they were lucky to negotiate it down. In any case, we all should just wish them well.

+1 a win for SS is a win for the citywide charter students. Congrats SS. Hope everything pans out.

Your ward 5 charter neighbors

+2 from a Lee parent who personally would have loved that location.

Anonymous wrote:Debacle troll. Wish them well and go back to your school.what others turned it down? Were you one of them ? Sounds a little like sour grapes or envy. Please do tell. SMH.

I'm the PP you are responding to. I was part of that debacle and you have your head in the sand if you can't recognize what it was. Appalling mistakes were made that question the competence of the school. Horrific mismanagement. Sure, they have moved forward but I was way too burned to consider them again and the fact that they are announcing a location while in final negotiations seems very foolish particularly given their history.

Anonymous wrote:I think it is fine to announce they are in final negotiations. In the past they said buildings were a done deal before the lease was signed - that was the problem.

SS is a great school and that is a great location. If there is any sour grapes, it is from people who would have loved that location for their still homeless charter (me!). Maybe SS will struggle to pay for it/pay for the renovations. Maybe they were lucky to negotiate it down. In any case, we all should just wish them well.

+1 a win for SS is a win for the citywide charter students. Congrats SS. Hope everything pans out.

Your ward 5 charter neighbors

I think it is fine to announce they are in final negotiations. In the past they said buildings were a done deal before the lease was signed - that was the problem.

SS is a great school and that is a great location. If there is any sour grapes, it is from people who would have loved that location for their still homeless charter (me!). Maybe SS will struggle to pay for it/pay for the renovations. Maybe they were lucky to negotiate it down. In any case, we all should just wish them well.

I agree . We also prefer to focus on the positive and the future. Looking forward to next year at Shining Stsrs.

SS Parent

Anonymous wrote:Debacle troll. Wish them well and go back to your school.what others turned it down? Were you one of them ? Sounds a little like sour grapes or envy. Please do tell. SMH.

Not PP but you, "There was no debacle! Ignore the Debacle!" troll are actually hurting SS far more than helping it. By denying what happened before or acting like it's trolling to bring it up, you are making others like me wonder if you represent the general thinking at SS that it wasn't a big deal. If so, no way would I come near the school with a 10 ft pole.

Fortunately, I know several very cool SS parents, and none of them pretend the debacle wasn't a debacle. It was, it stung them, and if they could have jumped ship and found an equal or better school for their kids, they would have been gone. But they do believe in the school itself, even if the Administration has made some awful decisions and miscommunications around this whole location thing.

I don't know the details of any current plans, but if it's true that they are announcing a location without a signed and sealed contract, that would be the last straw for me if I was there. It's a very fair question to ask whether they learned anything at all from before.

If it's NOT true, I hope someone will set that straight pronto, because SS has so much going for it, it would be awful for that rumor to be out there like this.

Debacle troll. Wish them well and go back to your school.what others turned it down? Were you one of them ? Sounds a little like sour grapes or envy. Please do tell. SMH.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Shining Stars team is pretty savvy. I think that they have the financing for this in hand. From what i can see (as a parent) this is being handled quite professionally and strategically. Maybe the other suitors didn't present as financially viable as our school. The administration always talks about Shining Stars being a 'small school by design', and growing very slowly.

You understand how it is hard to see this given the mess from last year. Taylor St, Glover Park, Chillum Pl - all within a month?

After the debacle last time I don't understand why they would announce this before the contract is signed. Didn't they learn anything? This doesn't show that they are savvy, it suggests they are cutting corners, overpaying on the lease at a school that others turned down because Howard inflated the cost.

Anonymous wrote:What a nice building. Wondering why this wasn't taken earlier by other Charters.


https://www.google.com/maps/place//@38.9383116,-76.9887357,3a,66.8y,4.36h,100.22t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s55mpsoRAj2NbV7ChL4nfsA!2e0

Other charters spent months negotiating with Howard with no success. Shining Stars must have been willing to pay more or not to require similar upgrades or repairs.

Anonymous wrote:I really wish their was a space in Ward 3 just for a balance.

Sounds like a fair trade- you can have CHM@L and you can put Deal in Logan's current location.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Shining Stars team is pretty saavy. I think that they have the financing for this in hand. From what i can see (as a parent) this is being handled quite professionally and strategically. Maybe the other suitors didn't present as financially viable as our school. The administration always talks about Shining Stars being a 'small school by design', and growing very slowly.

I doubt MV had planned to grow as quickly as it did.

Yes, I would say that if you are at all interested in Montessori, ss should go on your list. The only way to pay for expensive buildings is with students, so this is a good year to get into SS.