Is Brent the best school in Capitol hill?

[Anonymous]

Comparing maury, Watkins, Tyler etc?

[Anonymous]

Brent is tied for first.

[Anonymous]

Peabody and SWS might be better for preS(peabody)/pre K/ and K, but Brent is far better than Watkins or Maury for above K. Brent, Watkins and Maury are all good schools where I would send my kids happily.

[Anonymous]

Brent is whiter with a higher SES. Test scores tend to be about the same for this group across Maury, Brent, Watkins and schools in upper NW. Watkins is bigger, and offers more specials. Other two are smaller environment. Go sit in the classrooms and see where you see your kid fitting in best.

[Anonymous]

Not sure about the more specials at Watkins than Brent. Brent students currently have art, music, PE, Chinese and from 1st grade up, Science as a separate class in a separate classroom. What does Watkins have beyond that?

[Anonymous]

Oh, and weekly Library at Brent as well

[Anonymous]

Watkins specials: library, art, music, PE

5th graders: science

1st, 3rd, 4th: food prints

no foreign language

[Anonymous]

I'd say Tyler Spanish Immersion with Arts Integration! AWESOME! Best kept secret on the hill.

[Anonymous]

I'd say Tyler Spanish Immersion with Arts Integration! AWESOME! Best kept secret on the hill.

[Anonymous]

Oy.

No language immersion, no magnet-worthy math/science, and no decent MS as a destination school.

It's a pity that this is the "best" the Hill can do.

[Anonymous]

If it is the best for your child, gosh darn-it then that is all that you need to worry your brain about. Shucks, stop trying to keep up with the Jones'

If the school was the best...wouldn't the moniker be blazoned across DCPS. We all know how DCPS likes to mark their territory with slogans.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure that Brent is better than Tyler SI, Maury, or Watkins up to around 2nd grade yet, but it will be shortly.

Demographics at Brent that lend themselves to a smooth ride for teachers and administrators, a tough-minded PTA, and a new principal unafraid of catering to middle-class parents are driving change into the upper grades to a greater extent than at the other schools.

Brent knows that its math and science offerings aren't strong, but isn't dragging its feet on the issue. With a PTA that raises almost as much annually as the other schools combined, very little public housing in the district in a public school system that doesn't support gifted and talented education/curricular offerings for advanced learners," and boatloads of upper-middle-class kids entering and, increasingly, staying on until 4th grade, Brent is poised to pass the competition.

Talk to Hill realtors - they'll tell you how couples with tiny tots scramble to buy homes in the Brent District in a way that you don't see elsewhere. Almost no quality 2-3 bedroom inventory below 700K there these days that stays on the market for long.

The MS feeder situation is indeed problematic. But then half a dozen elementary schools in Upper NW have been good for decades without feeding into a MS most middle-class families were OK with until very recently, and expanding charter opportunities are filling the gap. Most of the Brent 4th graders now head to Latin or Basis, and DCI at Walter Reed will get plenty eventually, too. The Brent PTA hasn't killed itself to lobby for a Stuart Hobson feeder because the school doesn't impress as much as anything else.

[Anonymous]

Brent is like Mann in some respects, it's a good ES school without a strong MS feed.

[Anonymous]

Brent is like Brent. Stop with the comparing it with any other school in the District, what does that really do? Absolutely not one freaking thing... These are public schools of which there are some that might have more of a glimmer of hope than others but this comparison game is so 80's. Did you like Dallas over Dynasty?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Brent is like Mann in some respects, it's a good ES school without a strong MS feed.

I agree, and don't think it's pointless to compare schools. In affluent areas, like the Brent and Mann districts, a good many parents can handle independent MS and HS IF they can swing a decent public elementary first, never mind if an attractive charter or OOB MS doesn't pan out. This leaves them inclined to take ES and run. The weak MS feed doesn't scare most away, although it seems like it would.