Brent rebuild details to know before you accept that lottery spot

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some potential silver linings for the neighborhood:
-Many of Brent’s lottery spots go to kids who are zoned for the Cluster, but have proximity preference. This situation could end up being a big boost for Watkins.
-The wonderful Hill Preschool used to have waitlists. Now, they barely fill a reduced number of classes. ECE parents have this (and other options) if they really don’t want to send their kids on a bus.

Why would losing kids to Brent be a big boost for Watkins? I do think it would be a boost for OOB kids to have access to Brent.

Agree that it would be nice to have more little kids at the Hill Preschool!

Sounds like they think people who are inbounds for the Cluster that go to Brent will choose to go to Watkins over dealing with the swing space.

I’m not sure that will be the case for many but it is an option for those families.

Lol. Those families may go to Peabody but they won’t go to Watkins.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:8.45am is just what you're used to. It's not the norm.

https://www.aaastateofplay.com/the-average-school-start-times-in-every-state/

I have no dog in this fight but early school start times are a contentious issue in other districts. For example, if you just peek over at the MCPS forum, people have been trying to change the early school start times there for decades. (MCPS says they can’t because the district is too big/they have to bus kids great distances; parents rightly point out the research on sleep, health, and attentiveness in school. It’s perennially a huge issue.)

The DCPS start time is actually humane and reasonable compared to other school districts!

The general tenor of some of the comments on this thread is that making things worse for kids whose parents we think are rich is a plus.

No, but DCPS is not going to care more about your kids just because they are rich.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

The 26th Street NE space being used by JO Wilson is not a ton closer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe the Brent community should let Allen know he should fix it or they'll sign the petition en masse? Doesn't affect our family, but that distance is ridiculous.

Another uneducated voter chimes in. DCPS is under the purview and control of the Mayor...full stop. There no longer exists a stand-alone Education Committee so any oversight falls under Chair Mendelson's Committee of the Whole. Neither Charles nor any other Council Member has any control over any of this. If you actually cared you'd be targeting Bowser. But you don't. You'd rather throw an infantile temper tantrum.

P.S. You know what isn't going to help Ward 6 get fair funding? Not having a Councilmember fighting for dollars and resources. But you just go ahead with your big bad self and cut off your nose to spite your face.

Actually, if Charles wanted to make some noise on this and take up the cause, he could probably exert influence. But unfortunately he has a busy schedule of being completely useless.

He did step in on the proposed Maury cluster, despite the Council not really being involved. His support was very helpful and appreciated.

^^^ gets it. There's no reason your council rep has to have actual responsibility for governance of an issue to advocate on your behalf.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Why are we even talking about the 26th st space? Didn’t DCPS say that it’s too small for Brent?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are there any other DCPS elementary schools that have big fields next to them where trailers could go?

Amidon. Unfortunately they aren’t getting traction on that. And amidon is further from their proposed swing space (also Meyer).

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.

[Anonymous]

Isn’t Amidon field regularly used for sports teams?

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are there any other DCPS elementary schools that have big fields next to them where trailers could go?

Amidon. Unfortunately they aren’t getting traction on that. And amidon is further from their proposed swing space (also Meyer).

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.

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.