FOCUS DC News Wire 2/21/13

 

In D.C., public school for 3-year-olds is already the norm [AppleTree PCS mentioned]

The Washington Post

By Susan Svrluga

February 20, 2012

 

Tricia Pietravalle remembers her days in preschool: Playing in the sandbox, doing some painting, listening to stories. So when she met with her son’s preschool teachers, she was taken aback when they showed her “this whole grid of how they’re evaluating him, academically, socially, emotionally.”

 

Joseph was learning letters and numbers in full-day classes and making connections she didn’t expect from a 3-year-old. “It was overwhelming — in a good way,” she said.

For generations, children have started school with kindergarten, when they’re 5. Not in the District. For most families in the city, school now starts at 3.

 

In his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama called for a dramatic shift in early childhood education: free public preschool for all low- and moderate-income 4-year-olds. Opponents voiced concern about increased spending and ineffective government programs. Supporters argued that the initiative could jump-start learning, using the latest brain research to erase some of the disadvantages faced by children from low-income families.

 

The District is already doing something more ambitious. Nearly 13,000 of the city’s roughly 15,000 3- and 4-year-olds are attending public preschool.

“Any 3-year-old in the District is guaranteed a spot to be at a full-day preschool program. That’s basically unheard-of,” said Daphna Bassok, an assistant professor at the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia.

So as national and state leaders consider a major expansion of public education, the city offers an example of how that that can play out on the ground.

 

Inside Amidon-Bowen Elementary School, where an AppleTree Early Learning public charter school has taken over a couple of classrooms, 3-year-olds were buzzing about happily one recent morning. Some were playing with blocks; some had puppets and were making shadows. Pietravalle’s daughter Lucy and several other children sat at a small table, and teacher Briana Bourne asked, “What do you want to know about outer space?”

When Lucy said she wanted to learn about planets, Bourne asked, “What sounds do you hear in the word ‘planet’?”

Lucy wrote a P on her paper, and Bourne gave her a high-five. “What other sounds do you hear in PLLAANNETT?”

 

It’s a rare opportunity for the city, said Jack McCarthy of the AppleTree Institute for Education Innovation, which runs public preschools at seven sites in the District, including the one in Southwest Washington that two of Pietravalle’s children attend.

 

“Here is a place where funding is in place, universal preschool is policy,” McCarthy said. If the quality could be improved and ensured for all students, he said, “we could close the achievement gap here in five years.”

The president’s call — outlined last week without any funding plan — reflects a growing national movement to enroll children in public school before kindergarten. Federal Head Start programs have been available for low-income children for decades, and many special education students start school before kindergarten. But more states are adding classes for 4-year-olds.

 

 

Spelling Bee Starts to Identify its Champions [Howard University School of Math and Science and Friendship Public Charter School mentioned]

The Washington Informer

By Michelle Phipps-Evans

February 20, 2013

 

In what's become a rite of passage for many school-aged children in the District, the local spelling bee identified 32 of the city's top spellers who will move to the next level – the regional competition. This leads to the national finals in Prince George's County, Md.

 

Young spellers like Gregory Jones and Linnea Byrne-Kvalsvik who spelled words like gorgeous and formidable, will seek bragging rights to be named the country's top speller in the 86th Scripps National Spelling Bee at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Md., from May 26 to June 1.

"I'm excited and glad, even though I was a little scared," said Gregory, 10, a 5th grader from Shepherd Elementary School in Northwest, who won second place on Feb. 11. "But once I started spelling, the words came to me." His mother was "extremely proud of him."

 

"He made it to the regional spelling bee in the 4th grade," said Patrice Jones, who lives in Northwest. "We were talking about how this was an improvement."

Linnea, a 4th grader from Lafayette Elementary School in Northwest, is a "big reader," said her father Erik Kvalsvik. She snagged first place among her public school peers.

In a rigorous two-day competition, the city sought its top spellers among D.C. Public School's 4th through 8th graders on Feb. 11, and spellers in private, charter, parochial and home schools the following day.

Donovan Rolle, an 8th grader at Howard University School of Math and Science in Northwest, gave his mother, Stenise Rolle Sanders, her best birthday gift on Feb. 12 when he spelled his way to first place after a close round with Samuel Joyce, an 8th grader from Holy Trinity School in Northwest.

 

"My husband usually helps him prepare," said Rolle Sanders, 35. "He stays on top of him." This go-around was his second, she said.

These four top spellers and 28 other winners, who participated in The Washington Informer's Scripps National Spelling Bee, will meet other top spellers from the metropolitan area at NBC4's studios in Northwest on March 9. The top two champions will then advance to the National Spelling Bee.

 

Overall, the children's performance in the public, and private and charter schools seemed equitable, said pronouncer, Elizabeth Primas, who's been involved in the spelling bee since 2004. She is the director for literacy at Friendship Public Charter School since June, after more than 33 years with District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS).

"Kids are still spelling like they did [years ago]," said Primas. "They've been doing phenomenal jobs." The afternoon session with DCPS spellers ended after more than 62 rounds. "I do see fewer schools participating, but kids are still spelling at high levels."

 

Since the early 1980s, The Washington Informer sponsored the local spelling bee after the weekly newspaper overcame obstacles preventing it from becoming a sponsor. Initially, dailies sponsored the spelling bee. After the original sponsor went out of business, the District's spelling bee was without one for more than 14 years; although national and international spellers continued to visit for the annual competition.

After the Washington Post turned down the opportunity, The Informer's founder and publisher Dr. Calvin W. Rolark was approached and he agreed to become the sponsor.

 

The first Informer-sponsored spelling bee was 31 years ago at Bertie Backus Junior High School. However, since the competition wasn't sponsored by a daily newspaper, the District's winner wasn't allowed to compete at the nationals. Since the paper was the only black newspaper sponsoring a spelling bee, Rolark surmised that racial discrimination may have been behind it. He and his wife, attorney and D.C. Council member, Wilhelmina J. Rolark, threatened to file an injunction blocking Scripps from holding the bee in the District until it allowed weeklies to become sponsors.

Each year, about 2,000 children from nearly 200 public, private, charter, parochial and home schools participate in the spelling bee.

 

Washington Informer publisher Denise Rolark Barnes, Rolark's daughter, said her late father would be pleased to know the newspaper he started is continuing to sponsor the spelling bee.

"If my dad were here, he would be overjoyed that The Washington Informer is continuing a tradition that he started. The Informer sponsorship of the bee was important to him because the District had been out of the national competition for nearly 20 years," Rolark Barnes said. "My dad believed that education was fundamental to the success of young people and spelling is critical to that success. Our newspaper is proud to be associated with the education of our local children who truly are our future."

 

Washington Latin Public Charter to kick off $23M campus build [Washington Latin Public Charter School mentioned]

The Washington Business Journal

By Michael Neibauer

February 20, 2013

 

It’s all coming together for Washington Latin Public Charter School. The 6-year-old school was issued a permit Tuesday to renovate the former Rudolph Elementary School at 5200 Second St. NW in Petworth for 720 students from the fifth through 12th grades and 115 staffers.

 

The 75,000-square-foot facility has more than double the space that Washington Latin currently occupies at 4115 16th St. NW.

 

On Thursday, the school is expected to close on a $17 million loan package, including New Market Tax Credits, withBank of America Corp. and City First Bankof D.C. The total build-out is projected to cost upward of $23 million, and Washington Latin has started a capital campaign to fill the gap, minus a $1 million grant from the D.C. State Superintendent of Education.

The new campus will open in August.

 

School choice and kids’ safety: Preventing bullying: Educational freedom not just about academics

The Washington Times

By Andrew Campanella

February 21, 2013

 

When people think of school choice, they think of parents selecting new, rigorous, challenging schools for their children.

 

For some parents, though, the need for choice isn’t just about academics. It’s about the safety — both physical and emotional — of their children.

 

Through my work, I’ve met parents who fall into every camp — parents who yearn for more academically challenging schools for their children, parents who want to remove their children from persistently violent schools and parents who recognize that without switching schools for their kids, their children will be emotionally tortured — bullied — by mean kids.

 

Robust school choice can help children escape bullying, and it’s time for people who are engaged in our national discussion about this issue to embrace meaningful, bold and unrestrained school choice for all families.

Parents should have the option to send their children to a great traditional public school, a public charter school, a private school, a magnet school or an online academy. The bottom line is this: No children should ever be forced to attend schools that don’t work for them. Even if a school works for 99 percent of the students attending it, if it doesn’t work for your child — you deserve options.

 

When parents can select the right schools for their children, they can put their children in a caring, nurturing, safer environment. They can make it clear to school administrators that they want their children looked after, treated with respect and dignity. In the process, as schools begin competing for children, administrators will be forced to address the concerns of parents more quickly on issues that directly impact the well-being of young people, like bullying or violence.

 

School choice doesn’t just help kids who are being bullied. It can actually provide a lifeline for kids who are, for whatever reason, mistreating others. I’ve heard from families about how taking a seemingly violent child out of one school and providing him or her individualized attention in another environment can change a child’s life and encourage kindness and compassion.

 

Is school choice the only solution to bullying or to school violence? No. Still, it is one solution.

 

Ruthanne Johnson’s story is what made me think about this issue anew, and made me realize that bullying isn’t just the latest Hollywood issue du jour.

Ruthanne spoke recently at National School Choice Week’s whistle-stop tour event in Toledo, Ohio. She spoke eloquently and poignantly about how she was bullied by a cadre of mean kids. Ruthanne is a sweet, beautiful girl with a loving family. She’s outgoing and friendly. For some reason, she was targeted.

 

My heart broke for Ruthanne and her mom. In reality, she and her family don’t need or want pity. They’re tackling this challenge — the need to end bullying and empower children to stand up for themselves — together. Ruthanne took her experience and created a nonprofit, the Be You Foundation, to educate and inspire other children who are facing tough times at school, and to speak out in favor of educational choice for families.

Aside from their own unique courage and ability to turn around a challenging situation, what kept hope alive for Ruthanne’s family was the fact that they had sway over their school, and their school’s administration, because of Ohio’s robust and diverse school choice policies. Ruthanne’s parents could have switched schools for her, but her situation got better — because her parents had leverage.

 

Now, Ruthanne is speaking out, empowering kids and families, and supporting an expansion of school choice for children. As Ruthanne says, it’s hard to “be you” if you’re in a school that doesn’t work for you. I couldn’t agree more.

 

There are hundreds of thousands of children who are bullied in our country, who aren’t treated by their classmates with the dignity and respect that every human being deserves.

When parents have greater power over the schools their children attend, kids have hope. With empowered parents come empowered children like Ruthanne, who are willing to take obstacles, overcome them and empower others. For the sake of our future, America needs more Ruthanne Johnsons. We need more adults who are willing to recognize that robust school choice can provide an essential solution to a crisis that plagues many families. We have no greater calling.