Good Morning, Councilmembers. I am Sandra Moscoso, the parent of a 5th grader at Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan, the parent of an 8th grader at BASISDC Charter School, and member of the Capitol Hill Public Schools Parent Organization.  I’m here to:  

1. describe our school and remind you of why Montessori is an opportunity for DCPS,
2. ask for support in giving our teachers the autonomy to deliver instruction via the Montessori framework,
3. encourage you, DCPS, Chancellor Wilson, and OSSE to support our students with an accountability framework that meets student and family demand, and
4. to advocate for authentic parent-school partnerships based on transparency and sharing of data

When I enrolled my son in 2006, I didn’t know much about Montessori, other than that I liked the idea of a school where an energetic three year old could move, explore, and learn.

Today, I know the Montessori values of grace and courtesy create an environment where children focus on learning and community; I know the materials used in pre-K enable children to have physical experience with concepts they’ll learn in elementary and middle school; and I know that giving students the space to choose work until they master it, produces kids who love learning, think critically and are engaged members of any community.

In a city that values choice, Montessori represents DCPS’ willingness to provide choice. Montessori meets parent demand for child centered, time-tested approaches to learning. It’s worth noting the Charter School Board has responded to this demand by opening 4 Montessori schools. But don’t take my word for it – in the 2015 school lottery, 1480 applications were submitted for 93 CHML seats.

This sought-after program is implemented by our insanely dedicated teachers and staff. Like their peers across the city, they face the pressure that comes with high stakes testing, while being constantly bombarded by blanket initiatives and training which do not add to learning, but rather, distract and disrupt instruction. I implore DCPS and Chancellor Wilson to give our educators the flexibility to implement common core the Montessori way.

Similarly, we need DCPS support in shaping the city’s Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) framework. Parents across the city are asking for evidence of school success far beyond PARCC results – the current proposed framework does not reflect this. Chancellor Wilson, in his confirmation hearing testimony highlighted meaningful data we should consider like student mobility, discipline and suspension rates, and social and emotional development indicators. I join fellow parents in asking DCPS and the Chancellor to engage and to urge OSSE to not rush, but give the community until September to forge a plan.

Finally, I support Chancellor Wilson’s expressed commitment to transparency. DCPS’ current approach is inconsistent. Budget allocation data was released this week, for example, missing critical information like at-risk funding breakouts. Parents want to be true partners and to best support our schools, we need access to information and data.

In summary, we need DCPS to grant our educators flexibility, lead the ESSA discussion, and share data. Thank You.

Addendum: Thank you, Councilmembers and Grosso for speaking up in support of transgender student rights. DCPS has led the nation in implementing  inclusion policies that protect our children. They need our support more than ever.

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Testimony of Sandra Moscoso – DCPS Oversight Hearing

Parent at Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan

February 23, 2017

My name is Todd Cochran, and I am a parent of two second graders and a PK4 child at Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan (“CHML”). In addition, I am in my second term as the Vice President of our school’s PTSO, and I am a Ward 6 resident. Thank you to Chairman Grosso and the Committee for the opportunity to testify today.
Parents and schools need better communications with DCPS. In fact, we demand it. But we should not have to make such demands. As the consumers of the public school system in the District, providing us with complete, timely, and relevant information should be a priority for DCPS. But, unfortunately, far too often we are left with insufficient information concerning decisions – or lack of decisions – affecting our children and schools, and we have to repeatedly ask for the information and then follow-up, prod, and beg to get any information at all.

As an example, as this Committee is well aware, CHML was the first school to discover that a number of the water sources in our school tested above the allowable threshold for lead. But neither DCPS nor DGS notified our community or school administration, and we independently discovered the failed tests months later. We had to constantly request information from DCPS and the other involved agencies and schedule regular meetings to effectively project manage the remediation of this issue.  

And then again, just this month, one of our water sources in a PK3-Kindergarten classroom tested above the District-set threshold. The DCPS COO sent a letter to CHML staff and parents notifying us of the results (but the link to the testing results was incorrect in the letter sent to CHML and all other schools that tested above the threshold). Subsequently, the sink remained out of service for two weeks without any communication from DCPS or any other agency. So, we inquired about its status with the DCPS COO, and the only response we received was a generic statement that the safety of students comes first. So, again, we asked DCPS about the status of the sink, and we did not receive any response at all. Eventually, DGS – who we had also requested information from concerning the sink – provided us with a substantive response, but only after our PTSO pushing for answers. Why did DCPS not provide us with information or a contact at DGS so that we could get answers if this was how the process was going to work?

This example represents a systematic problem in which DCPS is serving as the communicator, but it does not have any substantive knowledge about the topic. And we are not supposed to reach out to DGS, and relatedly DGS is not supposed to communicate with parents; yet DGS and its subject matter experts hold all the substantive knowledge. This disjointed communication must be fixed.

Also, just last week, a pipe in our cafeteria backed up, resulting in RAW SEWAGE in the kitchen and food service area, causing obvious concern over the quality of the food served and forcing children to eat in their classrooms. Our maintenance staff and principal put in an emergency work request, shortly after the problem was discovered, at 10:50 am. DGS sent one staff member to CHML in the mid-afternoon, but DCPS and DGS did not provide us any information. By late afternoon, parents had to resort to repeated emails to the DME and other city and agency leaders asking for any information on when this would be resolved, and only then was the immediate issue resolved overnight. Yet, parents had to ask again when a full assessment would be undertaken to address this repeated problem. At 9:07 pm, we heard from the Director of DGS to tell us that they were assessing the problem, and DGS, DCPS, and the DME would update us once they identified the cause. Two days later, we were told that we would have to wait until after the holiday weekend for an update.

This kind of slowly released, incomplete information is what continues to erode our confidence in DCPS. DCPS needs to remember that the concerns and needs of its students and their parents are important. Indeed, we are DCPS’s consumers. We are important. And DCPS should treat us as such. And we deserve to know what is happening in our schools and to our kids.

The CHML community has not closed the book on working with DCPS. We need DCPS to help educate our children. In fact, the majority of our parents – myself included – strongly believe in the public education system in the District. But we want to be partners in this process. In fact, we demand it.  

I urge the Committee to think about this issue from a consumer perspective and demand DCPS improve its communications with its consumers. I hope the Chancellor follows through on his pledge to not only visit every school, but to actively and comprehensively listen to each school’s needs, challenges, and desires. I hope he engages in a fruitful, meaningful, and long-running discussion with the students, parents, and staff at CHML. We are, of course, willing to work with and assist DCPS, but we need an open line of communication to do so.

Thank you for your time.

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TESTIMONY OF TODD J. COCHRAN

Parent and PTSO Vice President, Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan

vicepresident@capitolhillmontessorischool.org & cochran.todd@gmail.com

February 23, 2017

Good morning. I’m Danica Petroshius, parent of two at Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan (CHML), LSAT member, and member of our Ward 6 education council, Capitol Hill Public Schools Parent Organization (CHPSPO).Our community welcomes Chancellor Wilson and we are hopeful that he leads a significant improvement in critical areas in our system. Our city suffers from too many inadequate school facilities. We have a one-size-fits-all approach to curriculum and professional development even though we tout neighborhood and citywide schools that can meet unique needs of the communities. We have a history of giving low priority or no consideration to parent engagement. We have a history of sharing only data and information that the district chooses to share – and not always making it easy to get or understand. We see the hard work of parents in keeping our children in and supporting DCPS schools, yet the city keeps adding policies to favor charters over DCPS schools.

For all of these reasons, parents and teachers are skeptical about seeing significant change. But we are perennial optimists – it just can’t stay this bad for that long – and we are very committed to our public school system. It can improve. So with that optimism in mind, I offer the new Chancellor some thoughts on a vision that would appeal to our school communities and help the system succeed while accelerating growth in DCPS school enrollment:

1) Prioritize Effective Parent Engagement. We, and our school leaders and teachers, are the most knowledgeable people about the strengths and weaknesses of our schools and the system. And the more information we have the more we can help. The less we know, the less confidence and trust we have. Don’t guess at how to do it well – ask us. We are great partners when invited to the table.

2) Be Transparent. Share information and data and make it accessible, clear and full. We have had so many instances – whether lead in the water data or building assessments that never happened – where the information is incomplete, not shared or inaccurate. We know that with transparency comes challenges; more questions get asked and initiatives are criticized. But with transparency also comes trust and confidence. With trust and confidence, we can all overcome challenges to work together to succeed.

3) Support Appropriate Building Autonomy. Each neighborhood and citywide school is unique and deserves a chance to leverage the expertise of their leaders and teachers to educate students. We want all schools to deliver an education based on the same high standards for all and to be held accountable for progress. But we don’t want cookie-cutter, factory model approaches to that success. We have too many unnecessary mandates from the District that are forced on schools. Schools should be able to opt into District-supported curriculum and professional development. But they should also be able to opt out if they have a rigorous curriculum that is aligned to the DCPS standards and approved by the District and still get necessary financial support. This is especially important in schools like ours that are trying to implement a Montessori curriculum. Parents are choosing the school because it is Montessori. But this year, parents are seeing less Montessori and more District-mandated curriculum such as Eureka math and professional development like LEAP that is in conflict with the high-quality Montessori approach. Our teachers are now being asked to do two jobs in one day – a Montessori education and the District one. And our parents feel like they are being misled by a District that gave us the chance to open and grow a Montessori school. We want to be in the public system and realize that there are some parts of the system that must be standardized. But the entire curriculum and professional development a school chooses does not have to be standardized.

4) Advocate for a Robust Accountability System. I hope the Chancellor’s vision includes a request to OSSE to wait until September to finalize a plan for accountability. The Chancellor has said that he will visit every school, and I hope in doing so that he actively and fully listens to each school’s needs, challenges, desires and progress. I hope he will then use that knowledge to help shape his vision for accountability and work with OSSE to reflect that vision. Parents will hold Chancellor Wilson accountable for success – we hope he will help shape how schools will be judged.

5) Embed Modernization for All in the DCPS Vision. We need a vision and plan that recognizes the close connection that state of the buildings has on morale, safety and health, and the success of educational programming. We have too many buildings that have never been modernized or are in a state of disrepair. We are all doing our best with work-arounds and band-aids to be able to make it work. But when the building is safe, healthy and has enough space – and the right kind of space – for the wide range of teaching and learning that happens in a school day, then we can really soar. We should rush to fix these inequities so that we can get on a manageable, affordable track of maintenance and repair.  

Finally, we hope that our new Chancellor will be an ever-present and vocal advocate for a better DCPS system – whether in the Mayor’s office, in the media, in front of Council or across the country. We want full confidence that our new Chancellor is fighting alongside us to help us be our best DCPS.

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TESTIMONY OF DANICA PETROSHIUS

PARENT AT CAPITOL HILL MONTESSORY AT LOGAN

February 23, 2017