Why is Murch only 56% in boundary?

[Anonymous]

We are prospective parents who live in bounds. The families on our street with elementary-aged kids send kids to 6 different parochial and private schools, so I can't even ask them this question.

I understand the demographic forces in Cleveland Park that lead Eaton and Hearst to be high % OOB. However, I'm not so sure the Murch neighborhood is like that -- to my eye, it more resembles the neighborhoods that feed Janney and Lafayette. Those schools have much higher percentages of inboundary kids (90% and 87% VS. murch's 56%)

Can any Murch parents shed light on this?

[Anonymous]

I'm a Murch parent and find that number quite surprising. Where did you find it?

If it's accurate, I suspect the answer is in grade-by-grade numbers. My older child is in 1st grade, and I would guess that it's maybe 20% OOB. My younger child is in pre-K, where no kids got in OOB before the school year started; a few got off the waitlist in September. I think the older grades have higher portions of OOB kids. I'd still be shocked, though, if 56% IB is right; I suspect it's more like 75%.

All of that said, I think Murch's socioeconomic diversity is one of its strong points; to the extent that OOB attendance contributes to that, I think it's a good thing.

[Anonymous]

It's mysterious why the DCPS profile page for Murch reports 56% in-boundary. As a long-time Murch parent, I can say with certainty that this is not correct. Perhaps it's a typo.

[Anonymous]

Not a Murch parent and unfamiliar with the case at hand but just to interject that you also have to look at the actual boundary configurations. As elsewhere in the city, these configurations can be strange (particularly small or the school not at all in the center), and you may have a lot of "OOB" students who live near the school, just not formally within its boundaries.

[Anonymous]

Because there will always be a large number of wealthy people who will pay for private school even if they have an excellent public option, because they are misinformed about the dubious benefits of a private school education. This in turns opens spots for OOB students. It's really not that mysterious.

[Anonymous]

As someone who also lives in bounds for Murch, I was looking at the pre-K lottery statistics. None of the OOB children were admitted last year (unless they had a sibling there) so I have a hard time believing that the higher grades would be 44% OOB. That must be a typo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because there will always be a large number of wealthy people who will pay for private school even if they have an excellent public option, because they are misinformed about the dubious benefits of a private school education. This in turns opens spots for OOB students. It's really not that mysterious.

I don't think you understood what the OP said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because there will always be a large number of wealthy people who will pay for private school even if they have an excellent public option, because they are misinformed about the dubious benefits of a private school education. This in turns opens spots for OOB students. It's really not that mysterious.

I don't think you understood what the OP said.

I believe I did actually, thank you. OP's first line:

We are prospective parents who live in bounds. The families on our street with elementary-aged kids send kids to 6 different parochial and private schools, so I can't even ask them this question.

is the answer to her question. A school has a specific number of slots. If the neighborhood is not filling them b/c there are not enough IB kids or many attend private a parochial schools, the remainder of students in the school will be OOB. Again, what is the mystery?

[Anonymous]

^^ If she is asking why there are so many OOB I answered her question - many rich people will choose to send their kids to private no matter what, especially if they attended private themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ If she is asking why there are so many OOB I answered her question - many rich people will choose to send their kids to private no matter what, especially if they attended private themselves.

Uhm yes, except Murch is highly popular public school and a lot of parents would kill to have their kids there. You missed the point or you are clearly not familiar with DC schools. this was not a bashing on private vs. public. We are all aware that some parents choose private schools. OP's question was why 44% of the students at Murch are out of bounds when there children turned away at pre-k who live in bounds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ If she is asking why there are so many OOB I answered her question - many rich people will choose to send their kids to private no matter what, especially if they attended private themselves.

The more important point in response to OP is that there aren't that many OOB students. The statistic provided by DCPS just isn't correct. I don't know what the exact OOB percentage is at Murch, but it's closer to 15%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ If she is asking why there are so many OOB I answered her question - many rich people will choose to send their kids to private no matter what, especially if they attended private themselves.

Uhm yes, except Murch is highly popular public school and a lot of parents would kill to have their kids there. You missed the point or you are clearly not familiar with DC schools. this was not a bashing on private vs. public. We are all aware that some parents choose private schools. OP's question was why 44% of the students at Murch are out of bounds when there children turned away at pre-k who live in bounds.

Sibling preference?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are prospective parents who live in bounds. The families on our street with elementary-aged kids send kids to 6 different parochial and private schools, so I can't even ask them this question.

I understand the demographic forces in Cleveland Park that lead Eaton and Hearst to be high % OOB. However, I'm not so sure the Murch neighborhood is like that -- to my eye, it more resembles the neighborhoods that feed Janney and Lafayette. Those schools have much higher percentages of inboundary kids (90% and 87% VS. murch's 56%)

Can any Murch parents shed light on this?

I await this revelation. The way I've heard it, is that Eaton & Hearst are OOB escape-schools for families in other wards. No-one who can afford to live in those catchment areas, would even consider public school, at least not the local DCPS. Not so sure about either Murch or Lafayette, but that whole "open school" 70s thing is even stupider today then it was then. Janney might as well be in Rockthesda.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous
I await this revelation. The way I've heard it, is that Eaton & Hearst are OOB escape-schools for families in other wards. No-one who can afford to live in those catchment areas, would even consider public school, at least not the local DCPS. Not so sure about either Murch or Lafayette, but that whole "open school" 70s thing is even stupider today then it was then. Janney might as well be in Rockthesda.

With due respect, you don't know what you're talking about. We live in the John Eaton district (Cleveland Park) and chose to enroll there. Now our children are at an independent secondary school. A number of other Cleveland Parkers send their kids to Eaton also. We were generally quite happy with the education at Eaton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[quote=Anonymous
I await this revelation. The way I've heard it, is that Eaton & Hearst are OOB escape-schools for families in other wards. No-one who can afford to live in those catchment areas, would even consider public school, at least not the local DCPS. Not so sure about either Murch or Lafayette, but that whole "open school" 70s thing is even stupider today then it was then. Janney might as well be in Rockthesda.

With due respect, you don't know what you're talking about. We live in the John Eaton district (Cleveland Park) and chose to enroll there. Now our children are at an independent secondary school. A number of other Cleveland Parkers send their kids to Eaton also. We were generally quite happy with the education at Eaton.

So happy there, that you left?