Snapshots of the old schools

Found these pics of the two old schools. Sad, the architecture we've lost in the city. The top image is The Ludlow School. The second is The Taylor School. On a related subject, Tim Krepp and I have been writing stories about several of the Capitol Hill Schools for The Hill is Home. He's done two so far. The first was about Brent and the second about Peabody. My first was about Ludlow-Taylor which I posted here. Last week my second story about Lovejoy ran.

Ms. Murray's Spanish Program at LTES

Here's a submission by Tom Hamilton about Ms. Murray's Spanish Program.

Buenos Dias. Como esta usted? Bien, Gracias. So begins another class with Ms. Tanya Murray, head of the Spanish language program at Ludlow-Taylor Elementary School.

Ms. Murray was raised in Quebec, learning both English and French as she grew up. This was important, according to Ms. Murray. If you don’t learn a second language by the time you are five, the part of the brain dedicated to language-learning may never be fully developed. Because Ms. Murray was already fluent in two languages, she quickly became fluent in Spanish after she moved to Guatemala, where she lived for three years.

Ludlow-Taylor students receive their introduction to Spanish well before their fifth year. Pre-K and kindergarten students meet twice a week for half an hour. First through fifth graders meet once a week for forty-five minutes.

The Spanish language program is an integral part of the arts integration emphasis at Ludlow-Taylor. “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See?” is read – in Spanish, of course -- and acted out by the students in a unique dramatization. Spanish-themed art is produced and Spanish-themed music is performed by the students.

For each month Ms. Murray explores a different learning theme. Last October the theme was food. This month the theme is celebrations, e.g. Dia de los Muertos and Dia de Gracias. In April the theme will be the environment and in June the theme will be “what I like.” What most students will like is this rich and diverse Spanish adventure.

Learning Spanish aids in learning other subjects as well, according to Ms. Murray. The fact that Spanish is Latin-based means that the students will have a big assist in vocabulary development. And because teaching language requires addressing multiple learning styles, the students will be familiar with various approaches to learning.

Ms. Murray looked at a number of D.C. schools. She liked what she saw at Ludlow-Taylor; she liked the arts integration program and she liked the palpable, dynamic forward movement. She applied to Ludlow, interviewed with the principal, Ms. Carolyn Cobbs, and in short measure began to contribute to the overall success of this terrific neighborhood school.

When asked what support she would like to see from the community, Ms. Murray suggested first that neighbors simply come on over, attend open houses, get informed. And then maybe get involved, volunteer, share your skills and talents and avocations.

Bienvenidos!

This article was written by Tom Hamilton

Capitol Hill Public School Parent Organization

Last evening my wife, Nadine, attended the Capitol Hill Public School Parent Organization meeting that was held at Watkins Elementary. Most of us had no idea this group existed. They were overjoyed that someone from Ludlow-Taylor was in attendance.

Here are the basics of the meeting.

The mission statement of this organization is to promote cooperation among the parent organizations of the public schools on Capitol Hill in order to imporve the education received by all children attending our schools.

This month's agenda included:

1. A discussion of Middle and High School Programs both on the Hill and off. Our discussion centered around contacting middle and high school principal’s for information gathering: What does each program currently include? What could be added to make schools more “attractive” prospective students? If is school is already in demand—why is it? What makes a student prepared when entering Middle or High School from the principal’s point of view? From the Principal’s point of view, what are the “need trends” for their school?

2. A report of the most recent meeting of the Eastern High School Coomunity Forum. Eastern High School is considering pursuing a 3 program model that will answer the needs of students in the community: One centered around the medical field, one around the legal field and one around International Studies.

3. Discussion about the MOTH School Information Night on December 3rd at St. Peter's Church at 2nd and C Street SE--Volunteers for table.

4. School Yard Greening Updates from all schools with representatives present at the meeting—Tyler and Brent reported.

PTA Meeting - more complete notes

Rachel Klein took better notes than I and wrote the following report which she has allowed me to post.

Hi everyone,
For those who weren't able to make it, I thought I'd post the highlights of last night's PTA meeting.

We elected the remaining officers on the PTA Executive Board and the Parent LSRT (Local School Restructuring Team) Representatives. So, in addition to Ms. Champion (President) and Ms. King (VP), the PTA Board now includes:
Nadine Henderson (Secretary)
Stephanie Mullette (Financial Secretary)
Anthony Allard (Treasurer)

Parent LSRT members are: Mike Showalter, Crystal Carpenter, Terry Franklin, and Ms. Simon.

It was a very lively meeting that lasted much longer than PTA meetings are normally. Parents asked numerous questions about the PTA budget and how it is meant to be spent; oversight of students at recess and aftercare; and concerns about Ms. Cobbs visibility with parents; and of course, how the PTA works and what membership means.

One important change regarding PTA membership is that until now, Ludlow-Taylor's PTA has had family memberships rather than individual memberships. The DC-PTA President was in attendance at the meeting to answer questions about PTA, and informed us that we need to change our system to individual memberships so that every person who votes has a membership card.

Although you may have missed last night's meeting, it's not too late to get involved with the PTA. Now that there is a full Executive Board, the PTA will undoubtedly be planning many great activities for the school this year, as well as reaching out to increase membership and family participation. As Ms. Cobbs astutely pointed out last night, the PTA is what the members make of it. We haven't had the most active PTA at Ludlow-Taylor in recent years, but we can change that and make it a driving force to support Ms. Cobbs efforts to make Ludlow-Taylor the best school on Capitol Hill. (And although I hope we all join the PTA, remember that you don't have to be a paid member to attend meetings or participate on committees or in school-related activities.)

Hope to see you all at the next meeting on Dec. 8!
Rachel

Holy Cow, We successfully had PTA elections!

Last week I wrote about William Ludlow and posted a photo of his grave at Arlington Cemetery. Coincidentally, one of his permanent neighbors in section 3 is United States Army Brigadier General Henry Martyn Robert. Tonight we had our PTA meeting and I was reminded of his contribution to public meetings. While living in New Bedford, MA he found himself frustrated by the fact that he couldn't effectively control a church meeting for a local Baptist Church. In response he wrote Robert's Rules of Order for Deliberate Assemblies.
I would STRONGLY urge anyone on any public board to familiarize themselves with this book. Our local ANC uses them and anyone who doesn't enjoy endless disorganized meetings should consider their adoption.
That said, after an excruciating amount of time at tonight's PTA meeting we actually accomplished a lot.
A member of the DC PTA answered some questions.
Bylaws are decided by the National PTA though there is some tweaking by the individual PTAs. Each parent pays dues and each parent gets a vote. The DC PTA can help us establish our non-profit status.
These were the biggies. If anyone else remembers more of them, feel free to post.

We held elections and I must say I couldn't be happier about the positions that were filled. Although I don't know the full names of each person elected, I do have at least their last name:

LSRT
Mr. Michael Showalter (Child in Pre3)
Ms. Simon
Mr. Franklin
Ms. Carpenter

Treasurer
Mr. Allard (Child in Pre3)

Secretary
Ms. Nadine Henderson (Child in Pre3)

Financial Secretary
Ms. Stephanie Mullette (Child in Pre3)

Each person elected expressed enthusiasm and an interest in organization. I personally asked each of the new members how they felt about future meetings. Each expressed a desire to adhere to a tighter agenda and keep the meeting concise. YEA!!!

There is a spot for a community member on the LSRT however it is chosen by those members of the LSRT and not an elected position. Anyone interested can contact me or any of us listed on the LSRT or the Principal, Ms. Cobbs.

Who the heck was Ludlow?

Rachel Klein and I have been planning our first Open House, which I'm proud to say has been scheduled for November 24th at 6:30pm and posted on the DCPS website. It's been a fun distraction from everything else but one thing has been bugging me ever since I started taking an interest in our school--Who the heck is Ludlow? So a couple of weeks ago I took the time to make a couple of trips downtown to find out.
Let me start by saying that DCPS has a wonderful rich and interesting history that not many people take the time to learn of. You can find out many things by visiting the DCPS Archives which is located in the old M Street School/Sumner School at 17th and M, NW across the street from the headquarters of National Geographic. This building has a rich history of it's own. Historically, some of the teachers tie directly into our local and national civil rights movement and reach all the way back to the end of the Civil War and the abolition of Slavery…but that's a completely different subject.
For whom was our school named? According to Wikipedia, William Ludlow was a Major General in the Civil War, fought in the Spanish-American War and led a scientific exploration examining the natural wonders of Yellowstone National Park. I love how written history can often sum up something extraordinary like "led a scientific exploration examining the natural wonders of Yellowstone National Park" into such a quick phrase that it almost seems an after thought. What an exciting adventure that must have been.
Believe it or not, he actually shows up in a very famous film. We were all just too blinded by the stardom of Brad Pitt to remember that the father character played by Anthony Hopkins in Legends of the Fall was William Ludlow--though the screenplay seems to have taken some creative license regarding his rank and time of death.
However it is for none of these reasons that our school is named for him. It is for one small line in his bio that his name graces our school's doors. "During 1886-88 was Engineer Commissioner of Washington, D.C." This is important to us as Washingtonians because it reminds us of the ridiculous lack of representation in the nation's capitol and the bizarre and varied forms of city governance. After the controversial tenure of Boss Shepherd, congress abolished the short lived territorial government of Washington DC in favor of a three-member Board of Commissioners, which remained in charge of the District for over a century. As school's were constructed in the nation's capitol, the board named them after presidents of the United States. Once they ran out of these names, they turned to the names of city commissioners. William Ludlow only had the job for two years and even then he was only one of a set of three that simultaneously held that position. Thank goodness he went on to do some other interesting things.
After finishing a recent tour of Arlington Cemetery I hiked over to Section 3. Section 3 is one of the more prestigious sections of the cemetery. There are quite a number of famous names in United States Army History on the headstones found in that section, Walter Reed, Daniel Sickles, Vinnie Ream (Hoxie), Thomas Selfridge and would-be
President William Rosencrans to name a few. Among the headstones of all of these stands the tall stone cross that marks the grave of Major General William Ludlow.
Our school was built three years after his death in 1901. His exciting life and short connection to our city obviously made him an excellent candidate for the naming of a school though few know of him now.

For a full bio of William Ludlow, try these links. There are several on the web.
Wikipedia Bio
Unofficial Arlington Cemetery

Happy Halloween

On April 28, 1935, the Washington Post could have been printing stories about the lingering Great Depression, the escalation of fascism in Europe or the dust storms enveloping the great plains states. However a little research for my other hobby revealed what they felt their readers really wanted to read--Ghost stories.

The story references some of the more well-known haunted houses in Washington DC. There are a few paragraphs on the Tayloe House, better know to us as the Octagon. The author, Ms. Gaeta Wold Boyer, in very flowery language describes the numerous hauntings and poltergeists of that building before moving on to the Key Mansion. The home of Francis Scott Key was still standing at the time of her article. It was well known to contain the ghosts of several Key family members and, oh yeah, the ceiling was known to bleed from time to time which I'm sure hurt the resale value.

It's the initial section of her article I found most interesting. Ms. Boyer interviews the pastor of a church called "The First Spiritualist Church", who was living at 131 C Street NE where the Dirksen Senate Office Building now stands. Mysterious foot steps, doors inexplicably opening and shutting by themselves and floor boards that would creak throughout the night seem to be regular entertainment at his household. No wonder they tore it down. He then goes on to tell of the house in which he grew up and here's how his story unfolds.

When still a small boy he was sitting on the porch one night with his parents at his home on G Street NE. His father went into the dining room. They heard him strike a match to light the gas and then they heard a startled exclamation. The gas light flared up a moment, then slowly grew dim again, and the older Terry called his wife. The boy hurried in with her and there in the dim light he saw plainly the figure of a woman stretched at length on the couch, her long hair hanging over the head rest. He knew at once the woman was dead. As his father turned up the light to a full flame the figure vanished but as the light was dimmed it reappeared. As it reappeared came the distinct odor of gas fumes.
The Terrys started inquiries the next day and learned that many years before a young woman had committed suicide in that room by turning on the gas.**

Who knows whether or not that house is still standing. Only three blocks of G Street NE are not part of the Ludlow-Taylor Neighborhood so even though the article does not cite the address, it seems highly likely that it would be in our "in bounds" area. Who knows, it might even be your house.

Happy Halloween everyone!

**Gaeta Wold Boyer. "Old Washington Houses Harbor Many a Friendly Ghost of By-Gone Days." The Washington Post, April 28, 1935: FS3.

The Fillmore School at Ludlow-Taylor Elementary School

On Thursday I went to school and observed the 3-year-old program during their weekly arts classes. Twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, four teachers from the Fillmore School come to our school to give instruction on Visual Arts, Music, Dance and Drama. This is the second year for this program. Each class gets one hour with each subject. Thursday is the day the 3-year-olds take part. Rather than be discovered by my son, I tagged along with Ms. Sutherland's class to learn a bit of what my son is doing.

The Art teacher, Ms. Hsu began the class by taking them outside to find leaves. The goal of today's lesson was to explore texture. The class went out and gathered leaves and then returned to their classroom. They sat at long tables in a huge room on the second floor. Ms. Hsu handed out blank pages then had them draw colors on them. Once they had drawn shapes she squirted glue on to their images and handed out the clumps of leaves. The students then placed the leaves onto the drawings.

After a short time of using leaves, Ms. Hsu pulled out the pièce de résistance, a can of small sticks. She passed them out and the kids added them to their works of art.

She then gathered the children into a circle and spoke briefly about texture allowing them to touch sticks and leaves and feel the contrast between the rough textures and smoother textures like coloring markers. As they touched the different pieces, she used descriptive words like smooth and rough and bumpy to help them grasp the concept.

As a parent who is always around my child, I tend to focus on my method of helping him understand things. Watching a whole room full of three-year-olds create art, you can see all levels of comprehension. They're all learning different things in different ways and at different speeds. Some kids just scribble in big straight lines, some make tiny shapes. Some kids are developing a real sense of color and what combinations they like. Some kids are already showing a desire for specific details. As we lined up to leave, one student stayed at her table studiously trying to put tiny last minute shapes around in the corner of her project. That was fun to see.

Next it was on to music. I ducked into an empty room in order for my son not to see me as they traded classrooms. The room I popped into was the autism room. There are two teachers for autistic children at Ludlow-Taylor: one teacher for the lower grades and the teacher I met, who teachers the upper grades. She has 6 children in her class.

Convinced I was undetected I slipped into the music room and met Ms. Janice Gill, the music teacher. She began class by having the children clap a steady beat by patting their lap twice then clapping their hands twice. Then she sang a repetition song based on African syllables. This is pretty hard to do for adults but easier for children. If children can learn while young to feel constant rhythm in their bodies, they can focus on more complex musical ideas without having to focus on the steady beat. Like anything, it takes practice which is why they do it over and over again.

The best part about music class was hearing the music teacher sing in the range of the children. As adults, we forget that children's voices are pitched higher than ours. Since singing takes a back seat so often in daily life, adults, out of laziness, often sing in a range that is too low even for them, much less children. But enough of my musical soapbox.

The teacher then led the class in singing Eensy Weensy Spider. She asked each child if they had ever seen a spider and for each child that said yes, she led a new song for that child. Then we sang the clapping rhythm song again and then finished the hour with a tip-toe-hopping song.

Each of these classes lasted a full hour. This is a really long time for three-year-olds to focus on one subject. In speaking with all of the teachers, including drama and dance, it seemed that all felt they would modify the program in weeks to come to accomodate the shorter attention span of the three-year-olds.

I then headed upstairs to speak with the dance instructor. Her name is Eliza Derick. We saw her work on Back to School Night. She had a lot to say about the topic of arts and education. So much in fact that I want to do a second blog post next week as "Fillmore - Part II".

PTA Meeting Update 10/13/09

These are not full meeting notes but a synopsis of what I felt to be the more pressing issues.
The President of the PTA Mrs. Champion called the meeting to order and announced the mission of the group. She announced the names of the current Executive Board which is as follows:
President: Ms. Champion
Vice President: Ms. King
Treasurer: Ms. Simon

Then we began to discuss the need to fill positions and to join the PTA. The gist being, there are more positions than volunteers at this meeting.
To join the PTA:
If you were not there and would like to join, we're actually still working on this. I'll post as soon as I know exactly the process. Nonetheless, the positions needed are:
Exec Board.
Financial Secretary
Secretary
Committees
Fundraising Committee
Members would meet as often as agreed upon in order to outline existing forms of fundraising as well as new possibilities. Members would seek to inform all parents, students and community members about fundraising efforts. (Mike Showalter nominated himself for this).
Greening Committee
It has a budget! YAY! Members would plan how to use the funds in order to continue the renovation work that was begun with the new playground.
Community Liaison
Members would plan the School Information Night, plan possibly 8 Open Houses for new parents, send a representative to all community meetings(anc6a, anc6c, PSA meetings, Tommy Wells community meetings, etc) and seek to have a presence at all appropriate community events (Hilloween, H Street Festival, etc.). (Rachel Klein offered to work on this committee in order to get the ball rolling)
International Day Planning Committee
Members would plan an international day for the school.

LSRT Positions Available (Local School Restructuring Team)
Parents are needed. This board advises the principal directly. It is separate from the PTA. It is made up of parents and teachers and community members. It will meet with Principal Cobbs directly to help plan the course the school takes.

Nominations: If you are interested in being a part of the LSRT team contact Ms. Cobbs directly.

Non-Profit Status
It was suggested that the PTA seek non-profit status. No volunteers came forth and though it was suggested that it fall to the fundraising committee, I think anyone who would be willing to do this for us would be welcomed and appreciated. In other words--ANYONE, PLEASE!!!!

Please join us. It was expressed that what often happens is that the chair person for a committee will take on too great a role in planning and therefore burn out. We need the support of parents and community members in order keep this body functioning at a high level.

The next agenda item was the Principal's Report.
Mrs Cobbs focused on the Arts Integration Catalyst School program and touched on Reggio-Emilio.
Many of us wanted to know how these two programs will be implemented. Here is how it's going so far according to Ms. Cobbs. There are 13 Catalyst Schools in DC. Four of them will be Arts focused. The four that were selected are Tyler, Sousa, Takoma and Ludlow Taylor. The principals of these four schools have been going to Arts focused schools to watch how music, dance and visual arts are implemented in order to make the impact of education more profound, for example, the dance that was done to the text of "Where the Wild Things Are". When the children do a corresponding activity to reading material it helps their comprehension. The teachers are using their in-service days to learn how to implement the arts more fully. Their in-service days are also being used to learn the Reggio-Emilio program as well. As anxious as we all are to hear details of the implementation of both programs, we also must bear in mind that school has been in session for only 6 weeks. However, I thought this to be the most important point. Mrs. Cobbs feels that the key to increasing enrollment is to have a niche focus and then to be excellent at the niche focus. For me, this helped alleviate my fear that Reggio Emilio would get placed on the back burner.

We had some give and take during questions and answer time. Several of us offered suggestions and volunteered to get work going in advance of the November meeting. Rachel Klein suggested that Open Houses are too important to put on hold until after committees were selected. Rachel and I then offered to organize the MotH School Information Night and the Open Houses. Nadine Henderson, Michael Showalter and Rachel Klein offered to work on that project. (I'm sure her husband Donnie will be roped in too:-))

After that we adjourned. The meeting was over by 7:45 (It started a bit late at 6:40) thus taking only barely over an hour of active meeting time. Then there was cake and much rejoicing.

Who are the people in your School's neighborhood?

I thought it would be fun to do a short bio on some of the people whom we greet each day as we pass on the way to school.
The crossing guards are part-time employees of DDOT. Their daily hours are 8:00am-10:00am and 2:00pm-4:00pm. Ludlow Taylor has two crossing guards positioned at 8th and G and positioned at 7th and G.

The crossing guard with the cheery disposition at 8th and G NE is Ms. Frieda Brooks. She's been working on behalf of our school since last April but has already begun to learn many of the students names as she greets them on their daily commute. The second most heavily used bus line in the city crosses this intersection. Also, many morning commuters who bail off of H street, use G Street as their alternative. I watch them frequently as they run the stop signs in front of my house. For these reasons it is important to have a guard posted here.

At 7th and G is Ms. Ann Kay. She has been guarding this crossing for the last four years and also knows many of the students and parents names. I'm embarrassed to say that it took me this long to learn her name. When I introduced myself and said I was interested in her work, she lit up with a bright smile and spoke quite passionately about how she views her job. She spoke of the fact that she's covered many of the surrounding intersections but felt that this was the one that needed to be guarded the most. It has the highest volume of students and car traffic. She said that when she's feeling ill she is still inspired to come to work because she worries about the safety of the students and knows that were she to call in sick, DDoT would not send a replacement for her that day. Then with a bright smile, she said that even if she wakes up not wishing to come to work, that the smiles of those she greets always brightens her spirits and she takes inspiration from that.

Each day as you walk up, you may notice a gentleman wearing a cap and greeting the kids as they hop off of the buses. I assumed wrongly that the gentleman worked for the city. This is Pastor Mark Wills. His congregation meets at the school on Sunday mornings. This year he decided that he would volunteer to greet all of the students as they arrive at school each morning. He said that community is a foundation of success in school. If a child is greeted by a warm smile and a hello, it will more likely start their day in a positive manner. Though this is the first year that he's decided to greet the students, he's been involved in various other volunteer projects. In the course of the few years that he's been working with Ludlow-Taylor, this year, he says, is different. There's a new attitude. A positive energy that he has noticed and that makes him excited for the school's future.

Last but certainly not least is Ms. Chantay Powell. She is our school's security officer. You may know of the recent issues regarding Hawk One security going belly-up. If you don't, you can read it on DCist. The contract has been settled with two new companies and Ms. Powell's job is safe -- though all of them are seeking pay not received for the two interim weeks. In spite of all of the recent security saga, Ms. Powell loves Ludlow-Taylor and loves her job. She arrives at 7:30 each morning and works until 7:00pm in the evening. She is a parent herself, though her child goes to a school closer to her home in upper NE. I was somewhat surprised to find out the length of her day. I asked if that meant she got overtime. She said no, but that it's the nature of the job and she's been doing it for nearly 10 years. Ms. Powell has been at Ludlow-Taylor for 4 years. As a parent, she knows the importance of parent involvement in a child's education. She said that she has always been involved in her son's PTA and often done fundraising for her school. In speaking with her she emphasized this point more than once. She said, "If your child goes here, this is YOUR school. How can you not be involved? The success of the school and your child's education are tied to your dedication in seeing the school succeed."

I hope everyone finds this information helpful. For me, it was a pleasure speaking with these folks. I was pleasantly surprised at how happy everyone seemed to be. We often hear negative things about DCPS in the news. I really didn't expect to meet people with such bright dispositions. I'm starting to see that we have many things to boast of at Ludlow-Taylor.

Can Prospective Parents Observe?

Today I asked Mrs. Cobbs if the parents of prospective students could come to observe. She said "absolutely." Here's what she recommended. If any parents are interested in observing, contact one of the parents or the teacher directly in advance. Give them a little heads up out of courtesy and to maintain security. Once they know to expect you, they'll make the security guard aware of your arrival. Both of the teachers for the 3-year-old program confirmed that this was the policy. You'll likely need to sign in at the security desk as well as at the office.
This is for parents only.

Lunch, Potty, Naps and Aftercare

Potty Training
My wife and I made sure that our son was potty trained before the school year began per the DCPS regulations. Believe me, by the time your child is three, it's a good idea to not be using diapers.
That is not to say that there aren't accidents. There are. Both of the 3-year-old classrooms have a bathroom IN the classroom. My 3-year-old does not have to use the bathrooms that the older children use. If my kid has an accident the teacher's aid helps change him into his spare clothes and hopefully it doesn't distract the class's proceedings.

Lunch
Standard DCPS lunch is offered to all children at LT. Our family tries to eat organic or locally grown foods so he brings his lunch each day. There is no refrigerator in the classroom so you would need to pack accordingly.

Nap time
3-year-olds have a nap time just after lunch at around 12:45 for about an hour. If your child falls asleep(ours seldom does), a short amount of unstructured play time is immediately afterwards which allows the sleepers to catch some extra zzz's. Our experience has been that most of the children do not actually fall asleep which means you can often end up with one unhappy camper at around 7:00pm.

Movies and TV.
To my knowledge the kids have only watched TV once. It was a short film in spanish for the spanish class.

Aftercare
I hope to provide a separate post about aftercare on a later date but until then, here are some of the basics.
After care is provided from 3:15 to 6:30pm if needed. It is part of the DCPS program and costs $5 per day. Parents are currently required to commit to the entire year even if you will only be needing it sporadically. The aftercare program for the 3-year-olds takes place in their classroom and NOT with the full assembly. Each day at 3:15. All children who remain at school walk with the teacher's aid to the assembly hall for snack time. After snack time they walk back to either the playground or to the class room. There are currently no extracurricular activities for the three-year olds other than songs, organized play and free-play. Adding additional programs such as music or dance or art is something I personally, hope to change with the help of other parents down the road.

Daily logistics for me and my three-year old

Each morning after our mandatory stop at the local coffee house I bike over to school for the drop off. Security seems to be well maintained at Ludlow Taylor. A gentleman greets me at the entryway and then we walk immediately to the security desk to sign in. The security officer's name is Mrs. Powell. I have seen her interact with many of the older students and they all seem to respect her and also behave well in her presence. With the DCPS security contract up in the air, we're unsure of her future but we hope she can stay.
All adults are required to sign-in upon entering the building and after 9:00 am the school doors are locked and anyone wishing to gain entry must be buzzed in via the intercom.

Mrs. Cobbs is our principal and she and the teachers decided that instead of having the really young kids(3- and 4-year-olds) meet in the assembly hall, that they instead would go directly to their classrooms. THIS DECISION WAS HUGE! Thanks Mrs. Cobbs! Our teacher's aid greets all of the children as they enter and we hang up his spare clothes, his nap linens and lunch on his personal storage area.

Though my son eats before we arrive, free breakfast is provided/offered to all children in the program.
Once we say our good-byes the children have free-play time while they wait for the official school time to begin at 9:00am.
Parents can drop their children anytime after 8:00am. In the early weeks some flexibility was allowed in terms of acclimating to the full school day(8:45-3:15). Once the school year began and we got used to the program, we tried to tighten that up.

Disclaimer and Introduction

Disclaimer - The statements in this blog are MY observations and what I believe to be the policy. I will do my best to insure their accuracy. For official DCPS or Ludlow-Taylor policy, consult the school or the central office.

Introduction
Our local school is Ludlow-Taylor. Our school is part of our neighborhood. Because of this I believe that each resident in the vicinity of our school must take ownership and support it's progress. Each neighbor has the responsibility to work towards the school's success. It's as much a part of educational quality as it is a part of the quality of our community. This is why I chose to call this blog "LT Neighborhood". Hopefully as we continue to grow, each neighbor will feel proud to be a neighbor of our school regardless of whether or not they have a child attending.

In speaking with many of the parents of children in the Three-Year-Old Program, I believe that all of us are so very happy that we chose to stay in-bounds by sending our child to Ludlow-Taylor this year. Both teachers and teaching aids are extremely loved by the families who benefit from their care and instruction. My son often does not want to leave at the end of the day. Because of this success, I felt it would be a good idea to begin a blog to proclaim our continued successes and progress at Ludlow-Taylor. Through this I hope to encourage other parents to send their child to our school so that we may have an involved parent body and increased enrollment.

I hope to interview parents, educators and staff as well as report on current and future projects at the school. To begin, I thought I'd try to outline the average day in terms of logistics.