Lol. Those families may go to Peabody but they won’t go to Watkins. |
No, but DCPS is not going to care more about your kids just because they are rich. |
Watkins is nearby and has OOB lottery spaces available in most grades. Some families will suffer the commute to Meyer. Some will go private or move. But others will lottery out for other Capitol Hill area elementary schools and some are very likely end up Watkins. |
Will? The commute to Meyer isn't set in stone, not yet. Things could change in the next 18 months. I'm taking a wait and see attitude. |
The 26th Street NE space being used by JO Wilson is not a ton closer. |
It's a much easier commute across the Hill, and while there is rush hour traffic on the Hill, it's nothing like what you will run into between Brent and Meyer. With no traffic, Meyer is only about 5 minutes longer. But with traffic, you are talking about around 20 minutes for the 26th street space versus 40 or more minutes for Meyer. I could also see families IB for Brent who didn't want to use the buses figuring out some carpool options if they WFH or have a SAHP or part-time parent. Or doing the bus in the morning but then picking up their kids at 26th street in the afternoon to take them to activities. None of that is possible if the kids are at Meyer. There is kind of a mental obstacle people have to get over with swing spaces, no matter where they are. Especially with younger kids. But that mental obstacle is easier to get over when the swing space is at least sort of in the same neighborhood. It's very hard for people to get used to the idea of sending small children across town on a bus. By upper elementary and middle, this relaxes a bit, but it's understandable that ECE parents aren't enthusiastic about it. |
^^^ gets it. There's no reason your council rep has to have actual responsibility for governance of an issue to advocate on your behalf. |
Have you tried driving through the carpool line at drop off and pick up? The 26th St space is maybe closer for OOB families who lotteried into Brent. But not closer or faster for IB families who could take 695 and be parked at Meyer in 20 mins. |
Why are we even talking about the 26th st space? Didn’t DCPS say that it’s too small for Brent? |
Amidon field is about 8 minutes away in an area without a lot of traffic. Both schools could use the swing space. It is in no way further than the Meyer. It is much much closer to Brent than any of the alternatives mentioned thus far. |
Isn’t Amidon field regularly used for sports teams? |
Something's got to give. Sinking Brent for years with the Meyer swing space set up will come at a high price for the Hill. |
Setting aside whether the swing space is ill designed, this is a silly take. How so? Are people going to sell their homes (in a high interest rate environment!) because of a temporary commute? Are people in IB for Brent going to send their kids somewhere besides their brand new school when Brent returns? Even if Brent kids get distributed to other Hill ES, is having more UMC kids in area schools a bad thing? Make it make sense. You are the poster child for the myopathy of parents of ES school age kids and why they should not be provided an outsized voice in decisions that guide long term needs and planning. |
+1, I fully understand Brent families opposing this swing space because it's a miserable commute for the kids. I think arguing that two years in a NW swing space, after which the school will have a brand new facility, will "sink" the school is silly. There may be incoming IB families who choose to lottery into another Hill school (or pay for private PK) for the PK years to avoid putting their 3 yr olds on buses, and there may be families of older kids who decide the move isn't worth it given how little (if any) time their kids will spend in the new building. But do you honestly think families IB for Brent will stay at places like the Cluster or TR or Appletree and not move into Brent's nice new building for K? Please. In the long run, the renovation will be great for Brent. Not as good as a terrific MS feed, but good. In the short run, it's a thorny but temporary issue for current and incoming families. |
I’m the PP. I was saying Amidon is much further from MEYER than Brent is from Meyer. Amidon is also scheduled to swing to Meyer; the point is that their situation is tougher than Brent’s. |