Bancroft Elementary open house January 20 9:30 am

[Anonymous]

Bancroft Elementary School's next open house will be this Thursday, January 20
at 9:30 am in the library. Bancroft's web site: bancroftelementary.org

Also: I'm a preschool parent at Bancroft. We're really happy with the school,
but I'm concerned that many of the middle class families now in preS/preK/K are
still leaving by 3rd grade. Some of us want to organize a discussion
with other preS/preK/K parents to talk about our thoughts about the school. We would try to include some teachers and
parents of kids in upper grades.

Any interest out there in such a meeting? Maybe some prospective parents would
want to come, too.

[Anonymous]

I am not a current parent at Bancroft but I am applying for a preschool spot for my little one. If we get a spot I would love to be apart of the meeting. Where ever my liitle one get a spot I hope/plan on staying. I prefer to save for college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bancroft Elementary School's next open house will be this Thursday, January 20
at 9:30 am in the library. Bancroft's web site: bancroftelementary.org

Also: I'm a preschool parent at Bancroft. We're really happy with the school,
but I'm concerned that many of the middle class families now in preS/preK/K are
still leaving by 3rd grade. Some of us want to organize a discussion
with other preS/preK/K parents to talk about our thoughts about the school. We would try to include some teachers and
parents of kids in upper grades.

Any interest out there in such a meeting? Maybe some prospective parents would
want to come, too.

Do you know where they're going, OP? Are the moving, going private, or having luck getting into better OOB schools or charters? This phenomenon happens on the Hill too, families usually go private.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I think it's a combination of the above, but I don't know for sure--it's hard to get a sense as a preschool parent just getting to know the school.

I do know that 5 years ago, a group of middle class parents in the neighborhood banded together and sent their kids to Bancroft for preschool. Only a few are left. A parent from that group told me that many left for reasons unrelated to the school--they were transferred for work, they moved to the suburbs or out of state, etc. At least one family's kid didn't do well in the dual immersion program and left for that reason.

I don't yet have a good sense for what has happened to subsequent cohorts. As for my child's class, it has a great mix of families, income levels, native Spanish and native English. But I suspect that some families are using it for free daycare for preschool and they will leave if they get a spot in pre-K in a better public school or a charter. If only they would stay!

[Anonymous]

I'd definitely be interested in the meeting about why people plan to keep their kids/not keep their kids at Bancroft. We're in-boundaries, and we'll be applying for PS for the fall, with the idea that we'd be moving on by K. That said, I'd love to have a reason to stay!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd definitely be interested in the meeting about why people plan to keep their kids/not keep their kids at Bancroft. We're in-boundaries, and we'll be applying for PS for the fall, with the idea that we'd be moving on by K. That said, I'd love to have a reason to stay!

Out of curiosity (not flaming here) where would you be planning to go?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd definitely be interested in the meeting about why people plan to keep their kids/not keep their kids at Bancroft. We're in-boundaries, and we'll be applying for PS for the fall, with the idea that we'd be moving on by K. That said, I'd love to have a reason to stay!

Out of curiosity (not flaming here) where would you be planning to go?

OOB DCPS school, public charter...or possibly moving if need be.

For us, it's not an issue of proportion of middle class parents in the school; it's an issue of whether the school is performing well academically. (And yes, I know that there's high correlation in many schools, and the race/ethnicity/class/academic performance issues is a very complex one with lots of historical determinants, etc., etc.) In an ideal world, we'd like a school with racial/ethnic and economic diversity...in which the vast majority of students are performing at or above grade level. That's not happening currently at Bancroft.

For PS/PK, we're not especially concerned about academics. We'd just like to find a school with a warm, nurturing environment that helps kiddos develop social skills and sets the stage for elementary school.

[Anonymous]

Post on here if you end up having a meeting. I've got a 2nd grader at Bancroft and would be interested in this discussion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
OOB DCPS school, public charter...or possibly moving if need be.

For us, it's not an issue of proportion of middle class parents in the school; it's an issue of whether the school is performing well academically. (And yes, I know that there's high correlation in many schools, and the race/ethnicity/class/academic performance issues is a very complex one with lots of historical determinants, etc., etc.) In an ideal world, we'd like a school with racial/ethnic and economic diversity...in which the vast majority of students are performing at or above grade level. That's not happening currently at Bancroft.

For PS/PK, we're not especially concerned about academics. We'd just like to find a school with a warm, nurturing environment that helps kiddos develop social skills and sets the stage for elementary school.

If you look at the breakdown of DC-CAS scores for Bancroft (admittedly a time-consuming exercise), you might find some surprises*. Overall 40% of the kids met or exceeded reading standards in 2010. But for non-English learners, it was 67%; for non-economically disadvantaged, 77%. This compares to 75% overall for the vaunted Oyster-Adams.

For math in 2010, overall 45%. Non-English learners, 66%. Non-economically disadvantaged, 68%. Oyster has 72% overall.

From what I've learned from some of the incredibly sharp and dedicated middle-class parents at Bancroft, the biggest problem that their kids in higher grades face is a lack of peers at the same reading or math level. That problem would be solved if a critical mass of middle class families stayed. At the same time, obviously the school has some big challenges (largely kids from Latino, low-income families). I don't think any middle class family who stays would do so if they didn't also care about those kids and helping the school figure out how to meet their academic needs.

*I didn't double check these figures.

[Anonymous]

This a conflict with Capital City PCS's open house. Is Bancroft having another open house soon?

We are raising our children bilingually English/Spanish and are quite interested in Bancroft. I have also heard the same about kids leaving by third grade and would love to hear more about how parents are mobilizing here.

OP, please keep posting updates! There are so many open houses but would really appreciate this information.

TIA!

[Anonymous]

OP here. I think there will be one more open house in Feb. I'll post the info when I know the details.

[Anonymous]

Stick with Bancroft, you will feed right into Oyster-Adams. There is plenty of space after 5th grade!

[Anonymous]

Bancroft doesn't feed into Oyster-Adams right now, at least not officially. Is this a change in the works?

[Anonymous]

Unofficially, it is clearly on that path. Woodley Park families who live in boundary for Deal are choosing that MS by 6th, while Oyster-Adams goes through 8th. The trend seems to be continuing freeing up about 50% of grade 6-8 seats, and recently the principal has been leading tours for kids from bilingual charters and publics. Families should rally to make Oyster a school of right, esp. Bancroft and Reed!

[Anonymous]

Did anyone go to the Bancroft open house yesterday? Wondering what people's impressions were.