Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Exactly- they do this effectively. I haven’t heard of many DC charters doing it well and consistently. In some larger schools there are even group (meaning multiple family) parent/guardian-teacher conferences due to time constraints. I appreciate that Sela is able to spend time with each family and meet student needs.

The group conferences we have had have been great. An hour or more to dig into data and understand how our kid is doing relative to the whole class and how we can support her. Much more effective than shorter individual conferences.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just reviewed the data in more detail. Sela’s academic achievement is quite good on the statewide assessments. It’s the growth scores that bring them down on the report card. It’s also easier to have growth when people need lots of improvement in subject areas. Personally, I find achievement quite important. Every family needs to weigh these points for themselves.

Agree. The growth metric is a weird one. I won't name the school because it will sidetrack this discussion, but one of the empirically best performing schools in DC has middling growth stats because there's very little room for growth and the relatively small population of kids for whom growth is theoretically possible may have hit their ceiling for classroom achievement.

Every family needs to weigh these points for themselves.

Anonymous wrote:I just reviewed the data in more detail. Sela’s academic achievement is quite good on the statewide assessments. It’s the growth scores that bring them down on the report card. It’s also easier to have growth when people need lots of improvement in subject areas. Personally, I find achievement quite important. Every family needs to weigh these points for themselves.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you imagine being so privileged that among your top concerns is building a new playground??? Out of curiosity I looked at the report card (https://dcpcsb.org/sites/default/files/media/file/DC%20Report%20Card_Sela%20PCS.pdf), first of all this is a Ward 4 school that has a lot of upper-middle-class white and (probably???) Jewish families. They are 22% at risk, which is really LOW for a DC Charter School. They have a 4/5 star rating! And their enrollment is actually growing, even if by small amounts. This might as well have been signed as "Concerned Karen's who want to speak to your manager" LOL

Why don't you fill us in on the academic data here.
https://schoolreportcard.dc.gov/lea/174/school/197/report

There's some very weird data in this report card. More than 50% of ECE students and nearly a third of other students were chronically absent? There is a bizarre gap in male/female ELA achievement which is not at all representative of DC wide data. The growth data is awful (3.5 points out of 50?!?).

It's only weird if you don't look at the overall data for DC : https://schoolreportcard.dc.gov/state/report#measure-102

46.7% of Pre-K students were chronically absent, meaning they were absent for more than 10 percent of school days.
39.9% of students were chronically absent, meaning they missed more than 10 percent of school days.

Right but it's weird in light of Sela's at-risk percentage which is well below the city average.

Anonymous wrote:I dunno, I think the writing's on the wall (so to speak). A downwards enrollment spiral is very hard to pull out of, and PCSB attention to financial problems is elevated due to the Eagle Academy debacle.

You do see, right, that the enrollment problem drives the staffing and the playground problems, right? Because they're all financial things.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a former Sela parent who moved outside of DC, but my child had an excellent time in the early elementary grades.

In my opinion, the biggest issue at Sela is the lack of retention in the older grades. It would be an option for folks in early elementary but then they would seek other paths. My sense is that it was for a mix of reasons: lack of a middle school feeder, pursuing private school, trying to get into a "stronger" charter. I always thought that the lack of retention was a self-perpetuating problem; if we hadn't moved, I also wasn't sure that I would have wanted for my child to stay with such a small cohort.

Because of this, I always thought that judging the school by solely academic performance was tricky. Since DC testing begins in third grade, it was really measuring the academic experience of about 22% of the school since enrollment is skewed so heavily to the younger grades. For what it's worth, my child became an excellent reader, in part thanks to the teaching at Sela. That experience isn't going to be reflected in the data.

Finally, I was very involved with the school community, and there was a small group of parents who complained about everything (and I mean everything!). At times, their concerns were legitimate and sometimes they were not, but the feedback was always presented in the most negative/over-the-top way possible. I would be willing to bet that some of these folks are involved in this petition and take it with a grain of salt. The number of signatures is quite telling.

Sometimes, my husband and I see the issues at our current elementary in a large public school district and have a chuckle about how that group of Sela parents would react. I hope these parents either get more meaningfully involved in the school or find another school that may suit their needs better. But having attended many Sela PTSA meetings, something tells me they will be unhappy everywhere they go.

Ok, it's attrition, and the middle school issue is baked in I agree. But you can't just say "oh, it's attrition" without addressing the reasons for the attrition, which come right back to quality issues at Sela. Why did people want a "stronger" charter? Probably because they didn't think Sela was strong. Why did they want private school? Because they didn't feel Sela was meeting their needs. See?

Schools without a middle feeder aren't meeting the needs of many families but that doesn't mean that families who leave aren't satisfied with their schools. Nor does it mean that quality is the issue. Sela tested 35 3rd graders and 12 5th graders. There are middle/high programs that start at 5th grade. For some families the most responsible decision is to move their children for 5th grade. This is clearly happening at Sela where there were nearly 3 times as many students tested in the 3rd grade versus in the 5th grade. These parents didn't just become unhappy with Sela at the end of 4th. They weren't running from Sela; they were running to a middle school through high school opportunity.

Plus if you look at the achievement scores for White students in math, Sela is the third highest performing elementary after Marie Reed and Maury. For Black students in math, it is the 9th highest. The only higher elementary charters for Black student performance in math are LAMB and a Friendship campus.

Ok, so why are the growth scores so low?

No one here can answer that question. You have as much access to the data on that as anyone else, so why don't you tell us? And it's been thoroughly explained why there's so much attrition after pre-k. Maybe try spreading your trolling around some other schools.

Has it though? All we know is some people think other charters are "stronger" (but apparently those people are wrong?), some people wanted private school (despite Sela being perfectly fine, I guess?), and that they want a middle/high school path. The last is a very compelling reason but the first two don't really indicate that all is well at Sela. It has not been thoroughly explained. People have *reasons* for what they do, they don't just randomly lottery or apply to and pay for private school without a rationale.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“ Seems unlikely that the parents who are actively rooting against its existence and success are AT the school now, though, no?”
1) why not? It’s a solid local option so it could attract parents for whom the Hebrew is an annoying add-on, rather than a selling point
2) what about this bravely anonymous note convinced you this was authored by the parent of an enrolled student, as opposed to a very motivated troll, or someone with an enrolled student in their orbit who isn’t an actual parent?

Seems crazy to enroll your kid in a school that teaches a language you don't want them to learn and a culture you actively dislike, I guess?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a former Sela parent who moved outside of DC, but my child had an excellent time in the early elementary grades.

In my opinion, the biggest issue at Sela is the lack of retention in the older grades. It would be an option for folks in early elementary but then they would seek other paths. My sense is that it was for a mix of reasons: lack of a middle school feeder, pursuing private school, trying to get into a "stronger" charter. I always thought that the lack of retention was a self-perpetuating problem; if we hadn't moved, I also wasn't sure that I would have wanted for my child to stay with such a small cohort.

Because of this, I always thought that judging the school by solely academic performance was tricky. Since DC testing begins in third grade, it was really measuring the academic experience of about 22% of the school since enrollment is skewed so heavily to the younger grades. For what it's worth, my child became an excellent reader, in part thanks to the teaching at Sela. That experience isn't going to be reflected in the data.

Finally, I was very involved with the school community, and there was a small group of parents who complained about everything (and I mean everything!). At times, their concerns were legitimate and sometimes they were not, but the feedback was always presented in the most negative/over-the-top way possible. I would be willing to bet that some of these folks are involved in this petition and take it with a grain of salt. The number of signatures is quite telling.

Sometimes, my husband and I see the issues at our current elementary in a large public school district and have a chuckle about how that group of Sela parents would react. I hope these parents either get more meaningfully involved in the school or find another school that may suit their needs better. But having attended many Sela PTSA meetings, something tells me they will be unhappy everywhere they go.

Ok, it's attrition, and the middle school issue is baked in I agree. But you can't just say "oh, it's attrition" without addressing the reasons for the attrition, which come right back to quality issues at Sela. Why did people want a "stronger" charter? Probably because they didn't think Sela was strong. Why did they want private school? Because they didn't feel Sela was meeting their needs. See?

Schools without a middle feeder aren't meeting the needs of many families but that doesn't mean that families who leave aren't satisfied with their schools. Nor does it mean that quality is the issue. Sela tested 35 3rd graders and 12 5th graders. There are middle/high programs that start at 5th grade. For some families the most responsible decision is to move their children for 5th grade. This is clearly happening at Sela where there were nearly 3 times as many students tested in the 3rd grade versus in the 5th grade. These parents didn't just become unhappy with Sela at the end of 4th. They weren't running from Sela; they were running to a middle school through high school opportunity.

Plus if you look at the achievement scores for White students in math, Sela is the third highest performing elementary after Marie Reed and Maury. For Black students in math, it is the 9th highest. The only higher elementary charters for Black student performance in math are LAMB and a Friendship campus.

Ok, so why are the growth scores so low?

No one here can answer that question. You have as much access to the data on that as anyone else, so why don't you tell us? And it's been thoroughly explained why there's so much attrition after pre-k. Maybe try spreading your trolling around some other schools.

Has it though? All we know is some people think other charters are "stronger" (but apparently those people are wrong?), some people wanted private school (despite Sela being perfectly fine, I guess?), and that they want a middle/high school path. The last is a very compelling reason but the first two don't really indicate that all is well at Sela. It has not been thoroughly explained. People have *reasons* for what they do, they don't just randomly lottery or apply to and pay for private school without a rationale.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a former Sela parent who moved outside of DC, but my child had an excellent time in the early elementary grades.

In my opinion, the biggest issue at Sela is the lack of retention in the older grades. It would be an option for folks in early elementary but then they would seek other paths. My sense is that it was for a mix of reasons: lack of a middle school feeder, pursuing private school, trying to get into a "stronger" charter. I always thought that the lack of retention was a self-perpetuating problem; if we hadn't moved, I also wasn't sure that I would have wanted for my child to stay with such a small cohort.

Because of this, I always thought that judging the school by solely academic performance was tricky. Since DC testing begins in third grade, it was really measuring the academic experience of about 22% of the school since enrollment is skewed so heavily to the younger grades. For what it's worth, my child became an excellent reader, in part thanks to the teaching at Sela. That experience isn't going to be reflected in the data.

Finally, I was very involved with the school community, and there was a small group of parents who complained about everything (and I mean everything!). At times, their concerns were legitimate and sometimes they were not, but the feedback was always presented in the most negative/over-the-top way possible. I would be willing to bet that some of these folks are involved in this petition and take it with a grain of salt. The number of signatures is quite telling.

Sometimes, my husband and I see the issues at our current elementary in a large public school district and have a chuckle about how that group of Sela parents would react. I hope these parents either get more meaningfully involved in the school or find another school that may suit their needs better. But having attended many Sela PTSA meetings, something tells me they will be unhappy everywhere they go.

Ok, it's attrition, and the middle school issue is baked in I agree. But you can't just say "oh, it's attrition" without addressing the reasons for the attrition, which come right back to quality issues at Sela. Why did people want a "stronger" charter? Probably because they didn't think Sela was strong. Why did they want private school? Because they didn't feel Sela was meeting their needs. See?

Schools without a middle feeder aren't meeting the needs of many families but that doesn't mean that families who leave aren't satisfied with their schools. Nor does it mean that quality is the issue. Sela tested 35 3rd graders and 12 5th graders. There are middle/high programs that start at 5th grade. For some families the most responsible decision is to move their children for 5th grade. This is clearly happening at Sela where there were nearly 3 times as many students tested in the 3rd grade versus in the 5th grade. These parents didn't just become unhappy with Sela at the end of 4th. They weren't running from Sela; they were running to a middle school through high school opportunity.

Plus if you look at the achievement scores for White students in math, Sela is the third highest performing elementary after Marie Reed and Maury. For Black students in math, it is the 9th highest. The only higher elementary charters for Black student performance in math are LAMB and a Friendship campus.

Ok, so why are the growth scores so low?

No one here can answer that question. You have as much access to the data on that as anyone else, so why don't you tell us? And it's been thoroughly explained why there's so much attrition after pre-k. Maybe try spreading your trolling around some other schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a former Sela parent who moved outside of DC, but my child had an excellent time in the early elementary grades.

In my opinion, the biggest issue at Sela is the lack of retention in the older grades. It would be an option for folks in early elementary but then they would seek other paths. My sense is that it was for a mix of reasons: lack of a middle school feeder, pursuing private school, trying to get into a "stronger" charter. I always thought that the lack of retention was a self-perpetuating problem; if we hadn't moved, I also wasn't sure that I would have wanted for my child to stay with such a small cohort.

Because of this, I always thought that judging the school by solely academic performance was tricky. Since DC testing begins in third grade, it was really measuring the academic experience of about 22% of the school since enrollment is skewed so heavily to the younger grades. For what it's worth, my child became an excellent reader, in part thanks to the teaching at Sela. That experience isn't going to be reflected in the data.

Finally, I was very involved with the school community, and there was a small group of parents who complained about everything (and I mean everything!). At times, their concerns were legitimate and sometimes they were not, but the feedback was always presented in the most negative/over-the-top way possible. I would be willing to bet that some of these folks are involved in this petition and take it with a grain of salt. The number of signatures is quite telling.

Sometimes, my husband and I see the issues at our current elementary in a large public school district and have a chuckle about how that group of Sela parents would react. I hope these parents either get more meaningfully involved in the school or find another school that may suit their needs better. But having attended many Sela PTSA meetings, something tells me they will be unhappy everywhere they go.

Ok, it's attrition, and the middle school issue is baked in I agree. But you can't just say "oh, it's attrition" without addressing the reasons for the attrition, which come right back to quality issues at Sela. Why did people want a "stronger" charter? Probably because they didn't think Sela was strong. Why did they want private school? Because they didn't feel Sela was meeting their needs. See?

Schools without a middle feeder aren't meeting the needs of many families but that doesn't mean that families who leave aren't satisfied with their schools. Nor does it mean that quality is the issue. Sela tested 35 3rd graders and 12 5th graders. There are middle/high programs that start at 5th grade. For some families the most responsible decision is to move their children for 5th grade. This is clearly happening at Sela where there were nearly 3 times as many students tested in the 3rd grade versus in the 5th grade. These parents didn't just become unhappy with Sela at the end of 4th. They weren't running from Sela; they were running to a middle school through high school opportunity.

Plus if you look at the achievement scores for White students in math, Sela is the third highest performing elementary after Marie Reed and Maury. For Black students in math, it is the 9th highest. The only higher elementary charters for Black student performance in math are LAMB and a Friendship campus.

Ok, so why are the growth scores so low?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a former Sela parent who moved outside of DC, but my child had an excellent time in the early elementary grades.

In my opinion, the biggest issue at Sela is the lack of retention in the older grades. It would be an option for folks in early elementary but then they would seek other paths. My sense is that it was for a mix of reasons: lack of a middle school feeder, pursuing private school, trying to get into a "stronger" charter. I always thought that the lack of retention was a self-perpetuating problem; if we hadn't moved, I also wasn't sure that I would have wanted for my child to stay with such a small cohort.

Because of this, I always thought that judging the school by solely academic performance was tricky. Since DC testing begins in third grade, it was really measuring the academic experience of about 22% of the school since enrollment is skewed so heavily to the younger grades. For what it's worth, my child became an excellent reader, in part thanks to the teaching at Sela. That experience isn't going to be reflected in the data.

Finally, I was very involved with the school community, and there was a small group of parents who complained about everything (and I mean everything!). At times, their concerns were legitimate and sometimes they were not, but the feedback was always presented in the most negative/over-the-top way possible. I would be willing to bet that some of these folks are involved in this petition and take it with a grain of salt. The number of signatures is quite telling.

Sometimes, my husband and I see the issues at our current elementary in a large public school district and have a chuckle about how that group of Sela parents would react. I hope these parents either get more meaningfully involved in the school or find another school that may suit their needs better. But having attended many Sela PTSA meetings, something tells me they will be unhappy everywhere they go.

Ok, it's attrition, and the middle school issue is baked in I agree. But you can't just say "oh, it's attrition" without addressing the reasons for the attrition, which come right back to quality issues at Sela. Why did people want a "stronger" charter? Probably because they didn't think Sela was strong. Why did they want private school? Because they didn't feel Sela was meeting their needs. See?

Schools without a middle feeder aren't meeting the needs of many families but that doesn't mean that families who leave aren't satisfied with their schools. Nor does it mean that quality is the issue. Sela tested 35 3rd graders and 12 5th graders. There are middle/high programs that start at 5th grade. For some families the most responsible decision is to move their children for 5th grade. This is clearly happening at Sela where there were nearly 3 times as many students tested in the 3rd grade versus in the 5th grade. These parents didn't just become unhappy with Sela at the end of 4th. They weren't running from Sela; they were running to a middle school through high school opportunity.

Plus if you look at the achievement scores for White students in math, Sela is the third highest performing elementary after Marie Reed and Maury. For Black students in math, it is the 9th highest. The only higher elementary charters for Black student performance in math are LAMB and a Friendship campus.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a former Sela parent who moved outside of DC, but my child had an excellent time in the early elementary grades.

In my opinion, the biggest issue at Sela is the lack of retention in the older grades. It would be an option for folks in early elementary but then they would seek other paths. My sense is that it was for a mix of reasons: lack of a middle school feeder, pursuing private school, trying to get into a "stronger" charter. I always thought that the lack of retention was a self-perpetuating problem; if we hadn't moved, I also wasn't sure that I would have wanted for my child to stay with such a small cohort.

Because of this, I always thought that judging the school by solely academic performance was tricky. Since DC testing begins in third grade, it was really measuring the academic experience of about 22% of the school since enrollment is skewed so heavily to the younger grades. For what it's worth, my child became an excellent reader, in part thanks to the teaching at Sela. That experience isn't going to be reflected in the data.

Finally, I was very involved with the school community, and there was a small group of parents who complained about everything (and I mean everything!). At times, their concerns were legitimate and sometimes they were not, but the feedback was always presented in the most negative/over-the-top way possible. I would be willing to bet that some of these folks are involved in this petition and take it with a grain of salt. The number of signatures is quite telling.

Sometimes, my husband and I see the issues at our current elementary in a large public school district and have a chuckle about how that group of Sela parents would react. I hope these parents either get more meaningfully involved in the school or find another school that may suit their needs better. But having attended many Sela PTSA meetings, something tells me they will be unhappy everywhere they go.

Ok, it's attrition, and the middle school issue is baked in I agree. But you can't just say "oh, it's attrition" without addressing the reasons for the attrition, which come right back to quality issues at Sela. Why did people want a "stronger" charter? Probably because they didn't think Sela was strong. Why did they want private school? Because they didn't feel Sela was meeting their needs. See?

Schools without a middle feeder aren't meeting the needs of many families but that doesn't mean that families who leave aren't satisfied with their schools. Nor does it mean that quality is the issue. Sela tested 35 3rd graders and 12 5th graders. There are middle/high programs that start at 5th grade. For some families the most responsible decision is to move their children for 5th grade. This is clearly happening at Sela where there were nearly 3 times as many students tested in the 3rd grade versus in the 5th grade. These parents didn't just become unhappy with Sela at the end of 4th. They weren't running from Sela; they were running to a middle school through high school opportunity.

Plus if you look at the achievement scores for White students in math, Sela is the third highest performing elementary after Marie Reed and Maury. For Black students in math, it is the 9th highest. The only higher elementary charters for Black student performance in math are LAMB and a Friendship campus.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a former Sela parent who moved outside of DC, but my child had an excellent time in the early elementary grades.

In my opinion, the biggest issue at Sela is the lack of retention in the older grades. It would be an option for folks in early elementary but then they would seek other paths. My sense is that it was for a mix of reasons: lack of a middle school feeder, pursuing private school, trying to get into a "stronger" charter. I always thought that the lack of retention was a self-perpetuating problem; if we hadn't moved, I also wasn't sure that I would have wanted for my child to stay with such a small cohort.

Because of this, I always thought that judging the school by solely academic performance was tricky. Since DC testing begins in third grade, it was really measuring the academic experience of about 22% of the school since enrollment is skewed so heavily to the younger grades. For what it's worth, my child became an excellent reader, in part thanks to the teaching at Sela. That experience isn't going to be reflected in the data.

Finally, I was very involved with the school community, and there was a small group of parents who complained about everything (and I mean everything!). At times, their concerns were legitimate and sometimes they were not, but the feedback was always presented in the most negative/over-the-top way possible. I would be willing to bet that some of these folks are involved in this petition and take it with a grain of salt. The number of signatures is quite telling.

Sometimes, my husband and I see the issues at our current elementary in a large public school district and have a chuckle about how that group of Sela parents would react. I hope these parents either get more meaningfully involved in the school or find another school that may suit their needs better. But having attended many Sela PTSA meetings, something tells me they will be unhappy everywhere they go.

Ok, it's attrition, and the middle school issue is baked in I agree. But you can't just say "oh, it's attrition" without addressing the reasons for the attrition, which come right back to quality issues at Sela. Why did people want a "stronger" charter? Probably because they didn't think Sela was strong. Why did they want private school? Because they didn't feel Sela was meeting their needs. See?

Anonymous wrote:Exactly- they do this effectively. I haven’t heard of many DC charters doing it well and consistently. In some larger schools there are even group (meaning multiple family) parent/guardian-teacher conferences due to time constraints. I appreciate that Sela is able to spend time with each family and meet student needs.

Anonymous wrote:“ Seems unlikely that the parents who are actively rooting against its existence and success are AT the school now, though, no?”
1) why not? It’s a solid local option so it could attract parents for whom the Hebrew is an annoying add-on, rather than a selling point
2) what about this bravely anonymous note convinced you this was authored by the parent of an enrolled student, as opposed to a very motivated troll, or someone with an enrolled student in their orbit who isn’t an actual parent?