Has Bancroft's rapid gentrification ruined its chances to have its current feeder rights preserved?

[Anonymous]

Wondering if this is a fair assumption and want to engage others in discussion, as Bancroft losing rights to Deal and J-R is a serious concern amongst Mt. Pleasant parents. The school has lost its Title 1 status for SY23-24 due to shifting demographics.

I have 2 kids at Bancroft, FWIW.

[Anonymous]

It seems like Bancroft parents are thinking it's a foregone conclusion that they will lose feeder rights. Is there a basis for this, other than simply looking at a map and seeing that geographically it's an outlier in feeding to Deal when Marfarland and CHEC are closer? Has anyone in charge suggested this will happen?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems like Bancroft parents are thinking it's a foregone conclusion that they will lose feeder rights. Is there a basis for this, other than simply looking at a map and seeing that geographically it's an outlier in feeding to Deal when Marfarland and CHEC are closer? Has anyone in charge suggested this will happen?

...hence OP's question. Bancroft is and has always been a geographical outlier. The previous argument of Bancroft adding Latino students to Deal/J-R is diminished now due to Bancroft becoming a richer, "whiter" school than it was 10 years ago.

[Anonymous]

This idea that access to Wilson, now Jackson-Reed, was premised on the "diversity" that crosstown commuter students offered has always been so patronizing and so easily manipulated by upper class people pointing at their neighbors while seeking benefits for themselves.

The Jackson-Reed catchment area is rich and white. It just is. If the school is rich and white it's a result of residential segregation. Why is there a need to create a Garden of Cultivated Diversity at Jackson-Reed for the benefit of its student body who don't see those people in the rest of their lives? Please explain. And please explain why the rest of us are props for your fancy people lives, maybe even "props with benefits."

If the idea is that the District needs a place for students to thrive who are wilting among their dumbass neighbors' children, why are criteria for entry being set around residential segregation, e.g., "Bancroft access?" Why isn't it family income or test scores or something else?

Residence-based access to a crosstown school, with the requirement of enrollment for at least a few days in a school in a particular neighborhood, is such a ridiculous approach to solving schooling problems.

[Anonymous]

It was mentioned at the open house by employees that it was a possibility Bancroft might not feed into Deal in the future.

[Anonymous]

FWIW, Bancroft was 24% White in 2021-2022. 64% Latino. (Last year DCPS shows the demographics.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was mentioned at the open house by employees that it was a possibility Bancroft might not feed into Deal in the future.

+1. I was also told this at an open house earlier this spring. Seems like the staff are internally planning for this change as well.

[Anonymous]

With Powell students having Marfarland as their MS and with the Bancroft cohort, I think it’ll be a strong school in due time and a valuable option for dual-language.

I say this as a former Powell parent who got into Bancroft as an OOB family three years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was mentioned at the open house by employees that it was a possibility Bancroft might not feed into Deal in the future.

This is helpful to know. As an outsider watching Bancroft families' anxiety over this, I wondered if it was speculation or based in actual information.

[Anonymous]

There is a ceiling, though, to how upper-middle class Bancroft will become, and it may have hit it. There are FAR more subsidized apartments and affordable apartments in the Bancroft geography than there are million-dollar plus row houses. The Woodner alone has more families than the rowhouses do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a ceiling, though, to how upper-middle class Bancroft will become, and it may have hit it. There are FAR more subsidized apartments and affordable apartments in the Bancroft geography than there are million-dollar plus row houses. The Woodner alone has more families than the rowhouses do.

This.

If Bancroft is fed to MacFarland, MacFarland will be awesome.

[Anonymous]

Unclear. But, since it only occurs once a decade, DCPS is going to be thinking long-term at the boundary reassessment. I expect they will this round be looking for ways to better integrate schools where that geographically makes sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a ceiling, though, to how upper-middle class Bancroft will become, and it may have hit it. There are FAR more subsidized apartments and affordable apartments in the Bancroft geography than there are million-dollar plus row houses. The Woodner alone has more families than the rowhouses do.

This.

If Bancroft is fed to MacFarland, MacFarland will be awesome.

Why would they send their kids there when the existing IB families don't? I'm zoned for MacFarland and Bancroft kids would just be more kids to compete with getting into Latin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unclear. But, since it only occurs once a decade, DCPS is going to be thinking long-term at the boundary reassessment. I expect they will this round be looking for ways to better integrate schools where that geographically makes sense.

They didn’t really do that last time. They caved to political pressure from the rich parents who go to Bancroft, Shepherd, etc.

[Anonymous]

But they even 10 years ago removed some other neighborhoods much further away which were then zoned not for Deal but for Wilson (JR). We do not know if there will or will not be significant changes this round. You are in denial if you think Deal feeders that are actually closer to another DCPS middle school are not going to at least be somewhat scrutinized.