Best Cap Hill elementary to middle?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Give us a break. Brent students don't score as high on PARCC as schools in Upper NW mainly because those schools got a 25-year head start in serving UMC communities. Brent does darn well for an EotP school that went from having fewer than 200 students, almost all low SES, to having almost 500 students and being overwhelmingly high SES in a little over a decade. Also, Brent offers 5 specials - most DCPS programs offer 3 or 4. Good.

Hmmm ok, then why don’t Brent kids score as high as Inspired Teaching kids? Haven’t they only been open for like 6-7 years???? Stop with the excuses, your $400k pta funds haven’t helped enough with pull outs. OP, choose Maury. They are a 5 star school (94% grade). Brent is 4 star (65%). 30 point difference is HUGE! Maury serves a more diverse population as well.

People, stop with the drama and pettiness. IST scores well because most the kids are from UMC families just like Brent. But ITS does not do any tracking while at Brent I know they do with math.

Yes, the point is Brent should be doing better. They are a mediocre school who’s population is not performing the same as their counterparts across the city. It should be concerning, especially since Brent doesn’t have a back up plan for middle and High like wotp and are predominantly relying on Basis and SWW (of which you need to pass parcc). As it stands, only 3/4 of its UMC white students would even be even be eligible to apply.

You're right, but then Brent's K classes are 100% in-boundary, or close. The market isn't responding to the mediocrity. Bummer, I know.

You don't need to submit PARCC scores to apply to SWW. Applicants applying from private schools haven't taken the PARCC. Any applicant can submit PSAT or SAT scores instead.

If you are at a DCPS school (and possibly DCPCS too) my school dc has your PARCC scores, there is no submitting them. Also, if your kids cannot score a 4 on the PARCC I think they Re going to have trouble passing the entrance exam. I say this to say check before you rely on an anonymous internet poster to say that PARCC doesn’t matter for SWW (or other application schools).

They don't have your kid's PARCC scores if you opted out. We opt out at an EotP school every year without difficulty. The reality is that Cap HIll parents are starting to behave more like WotP parents. Opting out of a bad test making money for super rich Pearson executives and shareholders isn't unusual in Upper NW.

As for SWS becoming more "diverse." Yes, the school is becoming more internationally diverse, with more UMC parents from Europe, Canada/Mexico, South America, Asia, Australia and even Africa turning up every year. Boo to "diversity" merely being a mix AAs and whites.

But are you going to have difficulty if you opt out in middle school and your kid wants to go to Banneker, SWW, or another school that requires PARCC?

[Anonymous]

I doubt it, not if the kid's grades are high, along with SAT scores for his or her age. Our older child has already taken the SAT for entrance to a summer academic program, and surprisingly well for a 7th grader.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I doubt it, not if the kid's grades are high, along with SAT scores for his or her age. Our older child has already taken the SAT for entrance to a summer academic program, and surprisingly well for a 7th grader.

Application schools require PARCC or "standardized test". Not sure what qualifies as met or exceeded expectations for a 13 year old taking SAT considering it's not designed for that purpose at all. The schools must offer guidance on which standardized tests are acceptable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This whole discussion is so tired. My kids have gone to one of the less desirable cap hill elementary schools for the past 4 years and guess what - its been great. I won't lie and say its been perfect but when we finally "won" the lottery and had the option to switch we declined. Most of the people on this board have little to no recent experience with most of these schools and have no idea what they are talking about.

So your kid is finishing 1st? Write back when your child is in upper elementary.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:SWS = Super White School

How can SWS be a “super white” school in a citywide school? Aren’t there a significant number of nonwhites that apply to the school in the lottery? Even if it is predominantly White, don’t they teach all students well with the Reggio method—especially those that start at preK?

I feel like DME needs to send in a researcher - McKinsey type, or a PhD, somebody with a social science bent, to figure out how the highest demand, nominally citywide schools keep ending up being whiter and richer than the city.

It’s not some big secret. UMC parents can afford to drive across the city for a good school and they have their act together enough to search for the best options. Many of these schools are far from wards 7 and 8 and don’t offer transportation. Combine that with things like no free before care and expensive aftercare.

Some charters try hard to recruit from lower income communities. But those applications are buried in a mountain of UMC applications. It’s a numbers problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I doubt it, not if the kid's grades are high, along with SAT scores for his or her age. Our older child has already taken the SAT for entrance to a summer academic program, and surprisingly well for a 7th grader.

Application schools require PARCC or "standardized test". Not sure what qualifies as met or exceeded expectations for a 13 year old taking SAT considering it's not designed for that purpose at all. The schools must offer guidance on which standardized tests are acceptable.

Johns Hopkins CTY camps require SAT scores for applicants entering 8th grades+. Kid scored in the 500s with no prep. Not bad. He's looking forward to an English lit focused CTY camp. He's at Stuart Hobson because we didn't get into Latin and we didn't care for the crappy BASIS facilities. SH is just OK, but better than moving and eating up our college fund for a private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SWS = Super White School

How can SWS be a “super white” school in a citywide school? Aren’t there a significant number of nonwhites that apply to the school in the lottery? Even if it is predominantly White, don’t they teach all students well with the Reggio method—especially those that start at preK?

I feel like DME needs to send in a researcher - McKinsey type, or a PhD, somebody with a social science bent, to figure out how the highest demand, nominally citywide schools keep ending up being whiter and richer than the city.

It’s not some big secret. UMC parents can afford to drive across the city for a good school and they have their act together enough to search for the best options. Many of these schools are far from wards 7 and 8 and don’t offer transportation. Combine that with things like no free before care and expensive aftercare.

Some charters try hard to recruit from lower income communities. But those applications are buried in a mountain of UMC applications. It’s a numbers problem.

No direct knowledge but I also think many lower income parents, who tend to be less educated, also do not choose language immersion schools which are some of the better charters and/or DCPS school.

[Anonymous]

The immersion language debate has played out in an interesting way at Tyler ES on the Hill. In the last few years, parents with children on the "traditional track" (heavily low SES AA) have fought a movement launched by well-meaning high SES neighborhood families to make the whole school Spanish immersion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The immersion language debate has played out in an interesting way at Tyler ES on the Hill. In the last few years, parents with children on the "traditional track" (heavily low SES AA) have fought a movement launched by well-meaning high SES neighborhood families to make the whole school Spanish immersion.

Because it's likely not spoken at home and learning a second language may be an undue burden for families stretched to make ends meet. It may be seen as having value but not a top priority, plus it's seen as a top priority for gentrifiers which will compete for resources. Not as a comment on the value of dual language, but there's a level of entitlement to assume it's a priority for an entire community with a sizable at risk population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The immersion language debate has played out in an interesting way at Tyler ES on the Hill. In the last few years, parents with children on the "traditional track" (heavily low SES AA) have fought a movement launched by well-meaning high SES neighborhood families to make the whole school Spanish immersion.

If I’m not mistaken, a similar effort was launched at Cleveland ES a couple of years ago and caused a lot of upheaval and mistrust amongst PTO, larger parent community, and staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The immersion language debate has played out in an interesting way at Tyler ES on the Hill. In the last few years, parents with children on the "traditional track" (heavily low SES AA) have fought a movement launched by well-meaning high SES neighborhood families to make the whole school Spanish immersion.

Because it's likely not spoken at home and learning a second language may be an undue burden for families stretched to make ends meet. It may be seen as having value but not a top priority, plus it's seen as a top priority for gentrifiers which will compete for resources. Not as a comment on the value of dual language, but there's a level of entitlement to assume it's a priority for an entire community with a sizable at risk population.

There's also the racism element...AA don't want to learn Spanish. These two populations historically do not get along that well, shall we say? I don't think AA families see a reason to study Spanish in order to communicate with a lower income immigrant population, and may not be convinced of other educational benefits to language learning. Whether or not it actually impedes or helps other kinds of learning is besides the point; it's cultural.

[Anonymous]

This is true. I sometimes wonder if Spanish immersion was a good choice for Tyler ES a decade back. Payne's prospects look brighter to me, with a snazzy renovation a few years ago, strong new leadership, greater community buy-in in the lower grades all the time, and hundreds of new residential units going up in the Payne District.

[Anonymous]

Why can’t the Spanish program remain a school within a school? Add another language, too. Continue the traditional school concept for those that want it. Many parents don’t want their kids in immersion programs but may welcome foreign language classes for an hour or whatever a day.

[Anonymous]

Are Brent, SWS, and Maury considered by some to be the best schools in the greater Capital Hill area and the biggest difference is what middle school they feed to? Demographics seem to be the same. Isn’t the DC government working to strengthen Elliot-Hine and Jefferson? Aren’t most of the elementary schools steadily improving and have something appealing about their school? One of the bad things about the Ward 6 schools is the need for parking when visiting a school for more than the two hours allowed with the residential parking restrictions. Haven’t most of the schools been renovated or scheduled soon?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The immersion language debate has played out in an interesting way at Tyler ES on the Hill. In the last few years, parents with children on the "traditional track" (heavily low SES AA) have fought a movement launched by well-meaning high SES neighborhood families to make the whole school Spanish immersion.

Because it's likely not spoken at home and learning a second language may be an undue burden for families stretched to make ends meet. It may be seen as having value but not a top priority, plus it's seen as a top priority for gentrifiers which will compete for resources. Not as a comment on the value of dual language, but there's a level of entitlement to assume it's a priority for an entire community with a sizable at risk population.

There's also the racism element...AA don't want to learn Spanish. These two populations historically do not get along that well, shall we say? I don't think AA families see a reason to study Spanish in order to communicate with a lower income immigrant population, and may not be convinced of other educational benefits to language learning. Whether or not it actually impedes or helps other kinds of learning is besides the point; it's cultural.

Dude are you for real? It was parents that wanted Houston to be a dual language school!