Does anyone on Capitol Hill send their kid to an elementary in upper NW?

[Anonymous]

OP, my kids were at a CH school some years ago for pre k/K and I LOVED it. But even though the I loved their teachers and classmates, I didn't like the behavior, language, and activity I was seeing from some of the kids in the upper grades (4-5/6), so I applied out for private. I thought about waiting a few years, but I figured they had a better chance of getting accepted to the lower grades.

They both got in to great schools and I haven't regretted the decision at all, not even once. The commute isn't great, but its a sacrifice I chose to make and one that won't last forever. Good luck to you in whatever you decide to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So their peer group is good enough to live around but not attend school with? Man are some of you rationalizing for the privilege of a cute 1200 Sqft rowhome and a Hill address which is just about all of DC east of North/South Captiol st these days.

spare me. our Hill MS is like 60% OOB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lottery for SWS, too. Plenty of Watkins refugees, and it's not impossible to get into in the older grades.

OP here, and yes, SWS is at the top of our lottery list. But we know the odds are long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lottery for SWS, too. Plenty of Watkins refugees, and it's not impossible to get into in the older grades.

OP here, and yes, SWS is at the top of our lottery list. But we know the odds are long.

You are wise to look at various options now. The behavior issues and disruptions will only get worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So their peer group is good enough to live around but not attend school with? Man are some of you rationalizing for the privilege of a cute 1200 Sqft rowhome and a Hill address which is just about all of DC east of North/South Captiol st these days.

You don't "live around" the peer group at some of these Hill schools. The peer group is coming from rougher neighborhoods. Which is actually great, because it means their parents care enough to try to send their kids to a better school.

It's not even about the peer group, because obviously these are just little elementary kids. The problem is, DCPS does a bad job when they have kids of very mixed resources. They are singularly focused on "closing the gap," and at many schools, that means not putting any resources into at-or-above grade level kids. As OP explained, that's fine for pre-k, but at a certain point, you start to question whether your kid is getting a good enough education.

Agree except for the bolded. In the beginning you "question" but at some point you KNOW your kid is getting a sub-par education because too much of the class is so far behind. At that point you decide whether your liberal guilt will cause you to stay to get your "Woke and Proud" sticker or whether you prioritize your kid's education and future. My kid's school prioritized being "anti-racist" over all else (it was even listed first on the webpage!). Then it was "equity" (a term they couldn't define but was used alternatively as a shield and sword against anyone who questioned crappy leadership and poor educational outcomes). At some point way down the list was "education" and "learning". Funny part was that the first kids to leave for private or other schools were the POC; they figured it out before Larla's parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So their peer group is good enough to live around but not attend school with? Man are some of you rationalizing for the privilege of a cute 1200 Sqft rowhome and a Hill address which is just about all of DC east of North/South Captiol st these days.

What does this even mean? Are you suggesting that families who live on CH are doing playdates and hanging out with low-SES kids but unwilling to go to school with them? That's not how it works. Setting aside what others have explained to you (that the schools in question are OOB so your argument fails immediately), merely living on the same street or walking past people does not require sharing a vision for acceptable behavior or focus on education. I live around lots of people I say "hello" to, but my kids aren't at their houses playing because "eff this" and "mother effer" that and eating marshmallows for breakfast is not something I'm ok with, regardless of race. My kids also don't go to houses of people who are Trump fans that espouse openly racist beliefs. I don't want my kids in a classroom where somehow people like you rationalize poor classroom management and poor educational outcomes as somehow being "equity" or in furtherance of some progressive agenda. It is regressive to suggest that poor behavior or bad educational outcomes are somehow a badge of honor for the black community. Talk about rationalizing!

I can live wherever the heck I want. I don't need to apologize or rationalize for the privilege to live where I want and send my kids to schools where I want. I'm betting you spend a lot of time around white folks who ask you how to be an ally and kiss your a** and tell you how your mangled equity quotes motivate them. I ain't that woman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So their peer group is good enough to live around but not attend school with? Man are some of you rationalizing for the privilege of a cute 1200 Sqft rowhome and a Hill address which is just about all of DC east of North/South Captiol st these days.

What does this even mean? Are you suggesting that families who live on CH are doing playdates and hanging out with low-SES kids but unwilling to go to school with them? That's not how it works. Setting aside what others have explained to you (that the schools in question are OOB so your argument fails immediately), merely living on the same street or walking past people does not require sharing a vision for acceptable behavior or focus on education. I live around lots of people I say "hello" to, but my kids aren't at their houses playing because "eff this" and "mother effer" that and eating marshmallows for breakfast is not something I'm ok with, regardless of race. My kids also don't go to houses of people who are Trump fans that espouse openly racist beliefs. I don't want my kids in a classroom where somehow people like you rationalize poor classroom management and poor educational outcomes as somehow being "equity" or in furtherance of some progressive agenda. It is regressive to suggest that poor behavior or bad educational outcomes are somehow a badge of honor for the black community. Talk about rationalizing!

I can live wherever the heck I want. I don't need to apologize or rationalize for the privilege to live where I want and send my kids to schools where I want. I'm betting you spend a lot of time around white folks who ask you how to be an ally and kiss your a** and tell you how your mangled equity quotes motivate them. I ain't that woman.

The PP is a troll. Anyone who actually lives on the Hill understands all this. PP just wants to poke, as though people live on CH because they romanticize the neighborhood, i stead of because of commute, affordability, walkability, etc. There is a tiny sliver of DC where people don’t worry so much about schools, and it’s very expensive. Everyone else, including CH, has to deal with these issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to me the issues the schools have that make a school untenable by 2nd grade when it was great in ECE? Is it simply that the UMC kids leave by then or is there something else going on?

I don't know if this is true for all schools but I can share our experience. We started in PS3 at a HRCS. It was wonderful. Diverse classroom (race, socio-economic, language) and they used kindness and soft voices to communicate needs and wants to kids. That was great for several years. Then 1st or 2nd grade happened and the kindness and squishy stuff had to give way to actual learning. Our school was ill quipped. The ED hid behind "equity" as a shield and anyone who questioned the low expectations or increasing behavioral issues was softly labeled a racist. As kids got older and hormones kicked in, the ECE approach did not work, but they were so committed to "equity" and their "approach" that, absent a violent act in school, kids were left in classrooms to distract and create havoc. Admins were nowhere to be found and teachers either lacked the tools or support from the top to abate the descent. Kids figured out there were no consequences so most days pickup was stories about all of the kids who acted out or the classes that didn't teach the subject because the teachers had lost all control. Starting in 2nd or 3rd grade the black families started to leave. These were the kids at the top of the class whose parents were NOT ok with poor behavior and disrespecting school being equated with "equity". We lost POC to GDS, Sidwell and other parochial and private schools. As those kids left the backfilled kids were not steeped in the culture of the school so even that cultural backstop failed (kindness, civility, community). More often than not the kids who came in were behind, so we traded high performing kids for low performing kids. A cohort that was evenly distributed with a material group of top performers became a few (2, maybe 3) working ahead of grade level and teachers triaging behavioral issues and kids a grade or two behind. Kids at the top were put in the corner in front of educational computer programs and/or became assistant teachers. As this happened in 3rd, more kids left by 4th. The cycle accelerated. Behavioral issues got worse (hormones' kicked in harder, kids got bigger and those who got frustrated by unsuccessful academic progress acted out more regularly and were treated like 6 year old's with zero consequences). We had a kid in a class attack another kid during class and all they did was remove the attacker for a moment and then have him come back and apologize to the victim in public moments later. The school did not tell us our kids witnessed an assault in class. When the issue was raised they hid behind privacy laws. No one asked for the assailant's name, but our kids witnessed violence in the classroom and the school was concerned almost exclusively with making sure the attacker was made to feel better. Nary a thought for the kids whose concept of safe spaces was shattered. Of course the attacker was back in class that same day. I could recount similar stories from that and other grades. By 5th grade the Latin and BASIS attrition decimated what was left of the high performing cohort. At our school, anyone who suggested unchecked behavioral issues were an increasing problem was labeled a racist.

We finally escaped before MS started. The middle school that our ES fed into started this January on a staggered start with 6th, 7th and 8th graders coming back separately to try and reset the significant behavioral issues. Too little, too late.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, my kids were at a CH school some years ago for pre k/K and I LOVED it. But even though the I loved their teachers and classmates, I didn't like the behavior, language, and activity I was seeing from some of the kids in the upper grades (4-5/6), so I applied out for private. I thought about waiting a few years, but I figured they had a better chance of getting accepted to the lower grades.

They both got in to great schools and I haven't regretted the decision at all, not even once. The commute isn't great, but its a sacrifice I chose to make and one that won't last forever. Good luck to you in whatever you decide to do.

As a mom to a child starting ECE in CH, I'm just curious, what privates are CH families moving to for later elementary years? And then do you plan to stay private for MS and HS as well?

[Anonymous]

Live on CH and when our DC was entering 1st grade, lotteried into a NW ES. Someone recommended a 1 week trial of the commute at the time we would have to make it. 1 week to get a better feel for having to do it daily. Also trialing it on a rainy day or day when commute might be worse. Drive over in rush hour turned out longer than we had expected and decided to go with our local ES.
There are a few charters that run from PK3-8 that are not as far from CH as some of the NW schools (Creative Minds, Inspired Teaching).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to me the issues the schools have that make a school untenable by 2nd grade when it was great in ECE? Is it simply that the UMC kids leave by then or is there something else going on?

I don't know if this is true for all schools but I can share our experience. We started in PS3 at a HRCS. It was wonderful. Diverse classroom (race, socio-economic, language) and they used kindness and soft voices to communicate needs and wants to kids. That was great for several years. Then 1st or 2nd grade happened and the kindness and squishy stuff had to give way to actual learning. Our school was ill quipped. The ED hid behind "equity" as a shield and anyone who questioned the low expectations or increasing behavioral issues was softly labeled a racist. As kids got older and hormones kicked in, the ECE approach did not work, but they were so committed to "equity" and their "approach" that, absent a violent act in school, kids were left in classrooms to distract and create havoc. Admins were nowhere to be found and teachers either lacked the tools or support from the top to abate the descent. Kids figured out there were no consequences so most days pickup was stories about all of the kids who acted out or the classes that didn't teach the subject because the teachers had lost all control. Starting in 2nd or 3rd grade the black families started to leave. These were the kids at the top of the class whose parents were NOT ok with poor behavior and disrespecting school being equated with "equity". We lost POC to GDS, Sidwell and other parochial and private schools. As those kids left the backfilled kids were not steeped in the culture of the school so even that cultural backstop failed (kindness, civility, community). More often than not the kids who came in were behind, so we traded high performing kids for low performing kids. A cohort that was evenly distributed with a material group of top performers became a few (2, maybe 3) working ahead of grade level and teachers triaging behavioral issues and kids a grade or two behind. Kids at the top were put in the corner in front of educational computer programs and/or became assistant teachers. As this happened in 3rd, more kids left by 4th. The cycle accelerated. Behavioral issues got worse (hormones' kicked in harder, kids got bigger and those who got frustrated by unsuccessful academic progress acted out more regularly and were treated like 6 year old's with zero consequences). We had a kid in a class attack another kid during class and all they did was remove the attacker for a moment and then have him come back and apologize to the victim in public moments later. The school did not tell us our kids witnessed an assault in class. When the issue was raised they hid behind privacy laws. No one asked for the assailant's name, but our kids witnessed violence in the classroom and the school was concerned almost exclusively with making sure the attacker was made to feel better. Nary a thought for the kids whose concept of safe spaces was shattered. Of course the attacker was back in class that same day. I could recount similar stories from that and other grades. By 5th grade the Latin and BASIS attrition decimated what was left of the high performing cohort. At our school, anyone who suggested unchecked behavioral issues were an increasing problem was labeled a racist.

We finally escaped before MS started. The middle school that our ES fed into started this January on a staggered start with 6th, 7th and 8th graders coming back separately to try and reset the significant behavioral issues. Too little, too late.

Oof. TR sounds like a mess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, my kids were at a CH school some years ago for pre k/K and I LOVED it. But even though the I loved their teachers and classmates, I didn't like the behavior, language, and activity I was seeing from some of the kids in the upper grades (4-5/6), so I applied out for private. I thought about waiting a few years, but I figured they had a better chance of getting accepted to the lower grades.

They both got in to great schools and I haven't regretted the decision at all, not even once. The commute isn't great, but its a sacrifice I chose to make and one that won't last forever. Good luck to you in whatever you decide to do.

As a mom to a child starting ECE in CH, I'm just curious, what privates are CH families moving to for later elementary years? And then do you plan to stay private for MS and HS as well?

Capitol Hill Day, Friends Community School for private (K-8) https://www.friendscommunityschool.org/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, my kids were at a CH school some years ago for pre k/K and I LOVED it. But even though the I loved their teachers and classmates, I didn't like the behavior, language, and activity I was seeing from some of the kids in the upper grades (4-5/6), so I applied out for private. I thought about waiting a few years, but I figured they had a better chance of getting accepted to the lower grades.

They both got in to great schools and I haven't regretted the decision at all, not even once. The commute isn't great, but its a sacrifice I chose to make and one that won't last forever. Good luck to you in whatever you decide to do.

As a mom to a child starting ECE in CH, I'm just curious, what privates are CH families moving to for later elementary years? And then do you plan to stay private for MS and HS as well?

Cap Hill Day School and St. Peter's are the only 2 truly local ES. Cap Hill DS has a MS as well. If you can make it to MS/HS, NCS & St. A's have a public bus that runs from outside Schneider's. Some other privates have buses you can pay for from the Hill (e.g., Potomac).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, my kids were at a CH school some years ago for pre k/K and I LOVED it. But even though the I loved their teachers and classmates, I didn't like the behavior, language, and activity I was seeing from some of the kids in the upper grades (4-5/6), so I applied out for private. I thought about waiting a few years, but I figured they had a better chance of getting accepted to the lower grades.

They both got in to great schools and I haven't regretted the decision at all, not even once. The commute isn't great, but its a sacrifice I chose to make and one that won't last forever. Good luck to you in whatever you decide to do.

As a mom to a child starting ECE in CH, I'm just curious, what privates are CH families moving to for later elementary years? And then do you plan to stay private for MS and HS as well?

Capitol Hill Day, Friends Community School for private (K-8) https://www.friendscommunityschool.org/

Burgundy Farms and Potomac School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, my kids were at a CH school some years ago for pre k/K and I LOVED it.

Note the "some years ago." Schools can change a lot in a few years. No, not all CH schools have improved (we left Watkins for a reason), and they vary hugely, but the landscape is far different than it was "some years ago."