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Re: Learning Community Charter School
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I requested a classroom observation - I wanted to sit in the rear of a class for 20-30 minutes to gain some perspective on what was going on inside the walls. Two requests were denied with, "we don't allow that sort of thing here."

I sat outside the school and watched afternoon pick up for a few days - disciplinary issues spilling onto the sidewalks.

I spoke with a friend who's served on their board of director's for the past several years - she reminded me that test scores are linked to funding and drilling for test taking starts 90 days before an exam period. She shared that the school was underfunded, there had been many changes from the top down - some for the better and some for the worst.

Lastly, I spoke with a Kindergarden teacher at Golden Door Charter School who filled me in on a typical work day there - kids coming to school knowing way to much about grown up issues, i.e. Domestic abuse, hunger, alcoholism, etc. She also reinforced the attention to test prep - state funding is a constant element.


I assume your child is in private school because most of your intel is true for ANY public school. Only private schools have the luxury of ignoring standardized testing. And all the charters are underfunded, it's a long nasty story why, but even with less funds LCCS produces better results than the district schools. BTW, what does Golden Door have to do with LCCS? They're a perennially failing school with little in common with LCCS. Or is she saying that's the situation at LCCS?

Posted on: 2017/1/27 3:18
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Re: Learning Community Charter School
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A year ago I entered the lottery drawing on the very last day that it was offered. It was the first time I had applied and I was hoping to gain admission to Kindergarden. Priority is given to siblings of children already in attendance and the likelihood of gaining admission was something like 3%.

Guess what? We won.
Guess where my daughter goes to school today? Same school that she had been attending previously.

I requested a classroom observation - I wanted to sit in the rear of a class for 20-30 minutes to gain some perspective on what was going on inside the walls. Two requests were denied with, "we don't allow that sort of thing here."

I sat outside the school and watched afternoon pick up for a few days - disciplinary issues spilling onto the sidewalks.

I spoke with a friend who's served on their board of director's for the past several years - she reminded me that test scores are linked to funding and drilling for test taking starts 90 days before an exam period. She shared that the school was underfunded, there had been many changes from the top down - some for the better and some for the worst.

Lastly, I spoke with a Kindergarden teacher at Golden Door Charter School who filled me in on a typical work day there - kids coming to school knowing way to much about grown up issues, i.e. Domestic abuse, hunger, alcoholism, etc. She also reinforced the attention to test prep - state funding is a constant element.

In the end we decided to decline and give our seat to a family that genuinely wanted to get out of whatever school they were currently enrolled in. Friends said that we were crazy - many families hold parties when they finally land a coveted slot in the school system. It was the right decision for us and I am sure that another family was thrilled.

Posted on: 2017/1/27 3:06
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Re: Learning Community Charter School
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Personally, I think this whole race discussion illustrates why I believe any authority asking your race is itself racist. The N African Arab or Afrikaner cases are good examples of "but you're not who we mean", but there's plenty of others, notably mixed races like the pale white skinned blue eyed blonde whose has a legitimate African American identity, or the incredible number of mixed races of all varieties that attend JC schools. I've joked that my kids could apply to college as Latinos, since my grandfather emigrated from Brazil, I have the 95 year old papers. Does it matter he was born in Ukraine?

I love Elizabeth Warren, but my takeaway from her case is it's ridiculous and racist to assign meaning to someone having some tiny fraction of some ethnicity. Twain's 'Puddinhead Wilson' is ever relevant.

FWIW, Jackson Weaver in science contest thread is one of only 3 white boys in his class of ~180. Clearly a lot of Middle Eastern and Asian kids put "White" on their applications to increase their chances. Good for them for disrespecting a disrespectful question.

Posted on: 2017/1/27 0:52
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Re: Learning Community Charter School
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I know you don't mean to Jerseymom, unfortunately you are playing into the hands of racists with their apocryphal stories of white kids from South Africa being 'unfairly' denied places at college.

Robin.

Posted on: 2017/1/26 20:06
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Re: Learning Community Charter School
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tern wrote:
Don't be willfully obtuse, you all know very well that the phrase "African American" has come to have a different meaning than a literal interpretation of the words.

Robin.


Which is incorrect, divisive, culturally insensitive, and robs children from Africa - or with parents who are African - the ability to claim their legitimate racial heritage without a ridiculous lecture of what the "true" meaning of "African" is from all-knowing westerners.

Posted on: 2017/1/26 19:56
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Re: Learning Community Charter School
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Don't be willfully obtuse, you all know very well that the phrase "African American" has come to have a different meaning than a literal interpretation of the words.

Robin.

Posted on: 2017/1/26 19:45
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Re: Learning Community Charter School
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You also get things like Egyptian kids filling out the form as African-American.


Not to be confrontational as I'm interested in your experiences. But kids from Egypt are African. Why wouldn't any child with an African mother or father fill out an application accordingly? Are they not African?


Would that also apply to a white kid born in Zimbabwe (aka Rhodesia)?


Yup. Why would the color of your skin determine the validity of your birthplace? (And I don't want to hijack this important educational thread - really.)

Posted on: 2017/1/26 19:40
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Re: Learning Community Charter School
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You also get things like Egyptian kids filling out the form as African-American.


Not to be confrontational as I'm interested in your experiences. But kids from Egypt are African. Why wouldn't any child with an African mother or father fill out an application accordingly? Are they not African?


Would that also apply to a white kid born in Zimbabwe (aka Rhodesia)?

Posted on: 2017/1/26 19:14
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Re: Learning Community Charter School
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You also get things like Egyptian kids filling out the form as African-American.


Not to be confrontational as I'm interested in your experiences. But kids from Egypt are African. Why wouldn't any child with an African mother or father fill out an application accordingly? Are they not African?

Posted on: 2017/1/26 19:09
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Re: Learning Community Charter School
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Thanks. RE McNair, how much of that is due to the racial quotas suppressing the Academy I results? Can you talk about the fundraising complaints I see online? What are the fundraising obligations that people are so up in arms about and how much worse are they than other schools?


I think the racial quota thing is overblown, in practice McNair is over 50% Asian or middle eastern. You also get things like Egyptian kids filling out the form as African-American. Personally I think asking is racism, my narrow Libertarian streak.

As for fundraising, I have no patience for affluent whiners who are getting a great free education for their kids and can't open their wallets. We won a lottery worth 1/4 million when my son got in off the waiting list (2 kids K-8 in private school), and we gave generously . I was all for publishing anonymous stats of donations to shame those who could but didn't. The successful public schools of Manhattan and Brooklyn have extensive fundraising programs. I think it's nasty that the JC District schools forbid fundraising, like if parents would like to fund a new sports program.

Posted on: 2017/1/26 18:27
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Re: Learning Community Charter School
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Honestly, my wife paid more attention than me to the kvetching and that was her opinion. There was some bizarre stuff like not letting kids carry full size backpacks around school, but sports were expanded and an attempt was made at math tracking. The school is remarkably successful given what a wide demographic it serves, both in ethnicity and income.

There's a lot of outcomes you expect, kids from educated parents do well, but a lot of kids from less wealthy but striving homes also do well. The school put great effort into steering parents through the HS application process for both magnet and private schools so kids can avoid the worst of the JC high schools.

Another thing to keep in mind is that wherever your kid attends K-4, you can apply to the AEP accelerated middle school programs at MS4 and Academy 1. What's interesting is that only half of those picked kids get into McNair, while usually at least 25% of LCCS's lottery chosen kids do.


Thanks. RE McNair, how much of that is due to the racial quotas suppressing the Academy I results? Can you talk about the fundraising complaints I see online? What are the fundraising obligations that people are so up in arms about and how much worse are they than other schools?

Posted on: 2017/1/26 17:32
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Re: Learning Community Charter School
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Amen. LCCS punches way above it's weight getting kids into the magnet schools. My kids had a great experience, both are in McNair. There's a lot of politics and "empowered moms" behind the disgruntlement. Fact is some things changed, and many of the changes were for the better.


Brewster, can you elaborate on the empowered moms and disgruntlement?

I find that review sites for charter/private schools are inherently biased and no sites seem to have recent reviews across all schools. Your posts are always fair and well-informed, so very interested in your take on LCCS and any other JC schools you have knowledge about.


Honestly, my wife paid more attention than me to the kvetching and that was her opinion. There was some bizarre stuff like not letting kids carry full size backpacks around school, but sports were expanded and an attempt was made at math tracking. The school is remarkably successful given what a wide demographic it serves, both in ethnicity and income.

There's a lot of outcomes you expect, kids from educated parents do well, but a lot of kids from less wealthy but striving homes also do well. The school put great effort into steering parents through the HS application process for both magnet and private schools so kids can avoid the worst of the JC high schools.

Another thing to keep in mind is that wherever your kid attends K-4, you can apply to the AEP accelerated middle school programs at MS4 and Academy 1. What's interesting is that only half of those picked kids get into McNair, while usually at least 25% of LCCS's lottery chosen kids do.

Posted on: 2017/1/26 17:04
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Re: Learning Community Charter School
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http://blog.nj.com/njv_tom_moran/2012 ... _top_nj_charter_scho.html


The dreaded night came on Thursday this year. The grim weather ? a chilly drizzle as night fell ? seemed fitting for what was sure to be a grim evening.

This was lottery night at Learning Community Charter School in Jersey City. The K-8 school had 30 openings to fill.

The problem: Roughly 1,000 families applied to fill them. Hundreds of them streamed into the auditorium to watch the process live, even though results soon would be posted online.

Posted on: 2017/1/26 16:50
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Re: Learning Community Charter School
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brewster wrote:
Amen. LCCS punches way above it's weight getting kids into the magnet schools. My kids had a great experience, both are in McNair. There's a lot of politics and "empowered moms" behind the disgruntlement. Fact is some things changed, and many of the changes were for the better.


Brewster, can you elaborate on the empowered moms and disgruntlement?

I find that review sites for charter/private schools are inherently biased and no sites seem to have recent reviews across all schools. Your posts are always fair and well-informed, so very interested in your take on LCCS and any other JC schools you have knowledge about.

Posted on: 2017/1/26 15:45
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Re: Learning Community Charter School
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tern wrote:
If you got in, rejoice and take the place, there are hundreds in line behind you!

Robin.


A while back I read an article there were something like 1,000 applicants for a few dozen openings.

Posted on: 2017/1/26 15:07
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Re: Learning Community Charter School
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tern wrote:
If you got in, rejoice and take the place, there are hundreds in line behind you!

Robin.


Amen. LCCS punches way above it's weight getting kids into the magnet schools. My kids had a great experience, both are in McNair. There's a lot of politics and "empowered moms" behind the disgruntlement. Fact is some things changed, and many of the changes were for the better.

Posted on: 2017/1/26 4:40
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Re: Learning Community Charter School
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If you got in, rejoice and take the place, there are hundreds in line behind you!

Robin.

Posted on: 2017/1/26 4:08
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Learning Community Charter School
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Considering sending my child to 1st grade at LCCS in the fall. Lots of reviews I've read say the school has changed with new administration and is not as good as it used to be. Anyone have feedback about the school?

Posted on: 2017/1/26 3:04
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