Woodland Hills Response to Charters: Imitation

Woodland Hills is moving ahead with plans for a new Academy (most recent article here) that borrows heavily from Propel Schools (longer day, longer year, uniforms, etc). The superintendent there of course denies this, but with so many families choosing Propel (350 at the school and more than 500 on a waiting list) it seems like a reasonable and obvious response.

What's most interesting is the somewhat tepid response from parents. Part of this may be deep seated doubt that a school district like Woodland Hills can pull it off. But another part is a misread of how parents choose schools. Parents don't choose schools because of longer days and years; they warm to how classrooms feel and how adults at a school treat parents and children. Replicating that kind of culture is a lot harder than lengthening the school day or adopting a new science curriculum.