Brent and SWS

[Anonymous]

Not everyone feels slighted by the lack of communication and is planning to withhold funds from the PTA. Some parents who were shut out in the lottery just want to be involved in the conversation and maybe get a better understanding of what happened in 2013 when the topic of ECE was last addressed. Given this year's lottery results, it seems that ECE is a topic that should be at least dealt with again by the LSAT/PTA/Principal.

[Anonymous]

Yes, yes, but the reality is that few rising parents come to PTA meetings, or other school events. Most don't seem to know about Tuesday News. Nothing much is being done to make the shut out group feel welcome, although it was a big group in 2013 and is again this year. Maintaining that these parents are in fact very welcome only gets Brent so far. I'm envious of SWS' parent committees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, yes, but the reality is that few rising parents come to PTA meetings, or other school events. Most don't seem to know about Tuesday News. Nothing much is being done to make the shut out group feel welcome, although it was a big group in 2013 and is again this year. Maintaining that these parents are in fact very welcome only gets Brent so far. I'm envious of SWS' parent committees.[/quote

I don't see how parent committees relate to feeling welcome . Some committees seem like they don't do much and others seem somewhat active.

[Anonymous]

At least rank and file parents at SWS seem to have a say in how their school runs. I've watched with dismay as Brent's clubby PTA has become less and less representative since Young arrived four years ago. Brent could challenge DCPS on sticking with PreK3, like the JKLM schools did years back. DCPS doesn't seem to grasp how the arrangement is creating rifts within the school community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, yes, but the reality is that few rising parents come to PTA meetings, or other school events. Most don't seem to know about Tuesday News. Nothing much is being done to make the shut out group feel welcome, although it was a big group in 2013 and is again this year. Maintaining that these parents are in fact very welcome only gets Brent so far. I'm envious of SWS' parent committees.

Do not be envious of this. Every little thing at SWS has to be talked and talked and talked about and the school always seems to need more and more volunteers. It's draining and less productive than it should be.

[Anonymous]

NP here.

At least the SWS parents get to talk!!! At Brent, we get talked at by pushy school leaders (admins and parents armed with bullet points). Oh, and we get to complete surveys designed to tease out answers supporting forgone conclusions....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Not a fan of Principal Young based on his exclusionary practices of the many families shut out of PS3/PK4. Would rather the school move towards accommodating more kids at PK4 and eliminating PS3 rather than have second class citizens.

+1

Agree with this sentiment. My family might be in the minority, but we are opting to decline enrollment at Brent as well after being shut out for the past two years. The school we attend has been welcoming since day one, both families and administration.

The feeling within the Brent community has not been welcoming, despite being neighbors, participants in the local community. The HRCS such as IT and MV have done a better job of being inclusive.


As it stands now, the policy at Brent penalizes only children (due to sibling preference) and those shut out in PS3. Those who were lucky enough to get in- and/or to have more than one child (a goal not all are able achieve, not always by choice), seem incapable of empathizing with others.

[Anonymous]

I'm not a Brent parent, but damn people. Why do you need so much hand-holding? And why do you think that parents should get a say in how the school is run? Spoiler alert: that's not your role. SMH.

[Anonymous]

I don't get the needing hand-holding accusation. The PreK3 lottery situation creates winners and losers clubs, and not just for the two years of tot exile. There's an in-crowd and an out crowd at Brent from the get go, and the fault lines won't be erased later. We got lucky two years ago; many friends and neighbors didn't. They ask us for basic info, everything from where can I buy Brent t-shirts, to can I vote in the PTA election, to who's teaching what, to prepare to join for K because they're not in the info loop and feel like chopped liver at Brent.

Is it a crisis? No. Is it good for the neighborhood and school? No.

[Anonymous]

Why doesn't Brent cut pk3 and just have pk4? Seems pretty obvious?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't get the needing hand-holding accusation. The PreK3 lottery situation creates winners and losers clubs, and not just for the two years of tot exile. There's an in-crowd and an out crowd at Brent from the get go, and the fault lines won't be erased later. We got lucky two years ago; many friends and neighbors didn't. They ask us for basic info, everything from where can I buy Brent t-shirts, to can I vote in the PTA election, to who's teaching what, to prepare to join for K because they're not in the info loop and feel like chopped liver at Brent.

Is it a crisis? No. Is it good for the neighborhood and school? No.

This whole discussion is so crazy-town. So you didn't luck into free pre-school - GET OVER IT!! I agree it sucks, but there is no vast conspiracy, there is no "winners and losers club," there is no "in-crowd" . . . WTF! Its just a freakin' local public school. I promise you, those of us "winners" in the lottery are not all getting together every week to congratulate ourselves and plot Brent domination and how to exclude latecomers. The school parent/teacher community is just like the rest of life . . . some of the parents you like, some you don't, the vast majority you are indifferent to and never exchange two words with. You will not be the "out crowd" simply because your kid doesn't start until K. NOBODY CARES who started when! There are no "fault lines" (BIG, BIG WTF upon reading that!) And, BTW, as a current parent, I don't get a constant barrage of emails from the administration, invites to meet-ups, or whatever other handholding you folks are obsessing over. None of it, nada, zip, zero. Join the Brent list serve and you'll hear when the PTA/LSAT meetings are (most of which we skip, because they are pretty long and boring). That is about the extent of the "handholding" all you dissed folks are so worked up about because you feel you are missing out.

ARRRGGGHHHH!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why doesn't Brent cut pk3 and just have pk4? Seems pretty obvious?

+1. I have no skin in this game, but this seems like the logical answer. What is/was the objection to this solution when it was discussed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get the needing hand-holding accusation. The PreK3 lottery situation creates winners and losers clubs, and not just for the two years of tot exile. There's an in-crowd and an out crowd at Brent from the get go, and the fault lines won't be erased later. We got lucky two years ago; many friends and neighbors didn't. They ask us for basic info, everything from where can I buy Brent t-shirts, to can I vote in the PTA election, to who's teaching what, to prepare to join for K because they're not in the info loop and feel like chopped liver at Brent.

Is it a crisis? No. Is it good for the neighborhood and school? No.

This whole discussion is so crazy-town. So you didn't luck into free pre-school - GET OVER IT!! I agree it sucks, but there is no vast conspiracy, there is no "winners and losers club," there is no "in-crowd" . . . WTF! Its just a freakin' local public school. I promise you, those of us "winners" in the lottery are not all getting together every week to congratulate ourselves and plot Brent domination and how to exclude latecomers. The school parent/teacher community is just like the rest of life . . . some of the parents you like, some you don't, the vast majority you are indifferent to and never exchange two words with. You will not be the "out crowd" simply because your kid doesn't start until K. NOBODY CARES who started when! There are no "fault lines" (BIG, BIG WTF upon reading that!) And, BTW, as a current parent, I don't get a constant barrage of emails from the administration, invites to meet-ups, or whatever other handholding you folks are obsessing over. None of it, nada, zip, zero. Join the Brent list serve and you'll hear when the PTA/LSAT meetings are (most of which we skip, because they are pretty long and boring). That is about the extent of the "handholding" all you dissed folks are so worked up about because you feel you are missing out.



ARRRGGGHHHH!!

Why would you suggest that the best solution is to get over it? I don't live IB for Brent so I don't really care, but it seems like the ECE program is wrong-sized for the school building. Just have it start at preK 4 and the problem of kids getting shut out is basically solved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, yes, but the reality is that few rising parents come to PTA meetings, or other school events. Most don't seem to know about Tuesday News. Nothing much is being done to make the shut out group feel welcome, although it was a big group in 2013 and is again this year. Maintaining that these parents are in fact very welcome only gets Brent so far. I'm envious of SWS' parent committees.

Do not be envious of this. Every little thing at SWS has to be talked and talked and talked about and the school always seems to need more and more volunteers. It's draining and less productive than it should be.

+1

[Anonymous]

We got a Brent PreK3 spot for the fall which I'd gladly give up for one at Van Ness or Tyler, despite sibling drop-off and pick-up hassles, if nobody in-boundary could have one. The current system is unfair and fairness matters.