EW Stokes Brookland vs Powell

[Anonymous]

Looking to hear from parents from both schools to find out pro and cons of Stokes vs Powell. Our kid would be entering prek3 and speaks Spanish (due to one spouse being Spanish dominant). Our kid also does better in an environment that would be willing to put in the work for individualized care since they can be pretty sensitive (but thrives with the right teacher). I’ve seen so much different feedback on Stokes regarding how strong they are in Spanish and academics that I am having trouble figuring out if it’s truly a fit for our family or not. Unfortunately, we missed the open house so any first hand feedback would be great. TIA!

[Anonymous]

Do Powell, you can get into Stokes again later if you change your mind. Stokes is weak in math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do Powell, you can get into Stokes again later if you change your mind. Stokes is weak in math.

They can also get into Powell at anytime.

[Anonymous]

Did you kid get a spot at Stoke? If that is the case you can ask the school to put you in contact with parents at the school. I don’t think DCUM is the best place to ask these questions.

[Anonymous]

I’d stick with Powell.

[Anonymous]

So we're a longtime Powell family and I'll try to give it to you quickly. Really liked teachers at each grade. Of course, they can change. The school really works at dual language, at least in my opinion, and is one of the most Hispanic and Spanish-speaking schools in DC, mostly central American, and I say this to contrast with other dual language schools where most families speak English, the Spanish speakers are World Bank expats or heritage speakers and the kids are only passive speakers at best (a stereotype but you should get the point). This matters a lot to us because we want our kids to speak Spanish, for culture/family/etc., not just as a cute party trick or something.

The relationship between staff and management has been a bit obscure, moreso when a pandemic keeps parents out of the schools, and probably isn't that positive - the longtime and at least to us super-beloved AP who really spoke Spanish went to Bancroft this year.

Nothing on Stokes for you. Hope it's good.

[Anonymous]

Wow Ms. RC left?! That’s a huge loss for Powell. Anyhow, we left Powell for Bancroft when our oldest was entering 4th grade. What I really liked about Powell was the parent community and teachers. The administration not so much as the new Principal policies, etc. were skewed from the school she previously lead. A lot of staff left due to this. This was back in 2018/2019 but not sure if much has changed.

Bancroft on the other hand has all the great qualities of Powell, great administration and of course a stronger student body.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So we're a longtime Powell family and I'll try to give it to you quickly. Really liked teachers at each grade. Of course, they can change. The school really works at dual language, at least in my opinion, and is one of the most Hispanic and Spanish-speaking schools in DC, mostly central American, and I say this to contrast with other dual language schools where most families speak English, the Spanish speakers are World Bank expats or heritage speakers and the kids are only passive speakers at best (a stereotype but you should get the point). This matters a lot to us because we want our kids to speak Spanish, for culture/family/etc., not just as a cute party trick or something.

The relationship between staff and management has been a bit obscure, moreso when a pandemic keeps parents out of the schools, and probably isn't that positive - the longtime and at least to us super-beloved AP who really spoke Spanish went to Bancroft this year.

Nothing on Stokes for you. Hope it's good.

Disagree that other DL schools in the area speak mostly English. Bruce Monroe is a great school and has very similar demographics to Powell. I think the relationship between staff and management is better at Bruce Monroe than at Powell, based on feedback from families that have attended both schools.

[Anonymous]

I said other not all other and you can guess where I’m talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow Ms. RC left?! That’s a huge loss for Powell. Anyhow, we left Powell for Bancroft when our oldest was entering 4th grade. What I really liked about Powell was the parent community and teachers. The administration not so much as the new Principal policies, etc. were skewed from the school she previously lead. A lot of staff left due to this. This was back in 2018/2019 but not sure if much has changed.

Bancroft on the other hand has all the great qualities of Powell, great administration and of course a stronger student body[b].

Op if you are care about this, you will get a stronger student body at Stokes than Powell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So we're a longtime Powell family and I'll try to give it to you quickly. Really liked teachers at each grade. Of course, they can change. The school really works at dual language, at least in my opinion, and is one of the most Hispanic and Spanish-speaking schools in DC, mostly central American, and I say this to contrast with other dual language schools where most families speak English, the Spanish speakers are World Bank expats or heritage speakers and the kids are only passive speakers at best (a stereotype but you should get the point). This matters a lot to us because we want our kids to speak Spanish, for culture/family/etc., not just as a cute party trick or something.

The relationship between staff and management has been a bit obscure, moreso when a pandemic keeps parents out of the schools, and probably isn't that positive - the longtime and at least to us super-beloved AP who really spoke Spanish went to Bancroft this year.

Nothing on Stokes for you. Hope it's good.

Disagree that other DL schools in the area speak mostly English. Bruce Monroe is a great school and has very similar demographics to Powell. I think the relationship between staff and management is better at Bruce Monroe than at Powell, based on feedback from families that have attended both schools.

The IB participation rate at BM is super low, only 26.1%. At least Powell has a 38.5 % IB participation rate.

Op you can see here where kids go to school.

https://dme.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dme/page_content/attachments/SY2122_Public%20School%20Enrollments%20per%20DCPS%20Boundary_0.xlsx

[Anonymous]

Stronger student body is coded language as we all know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So we're a longtime Powell family and I'll try to give it to you quickly. Really liked teachers at each grade. Of course, they can change. The school really works at dual language, at least in my opinion, and is one of the most Hispanic and Spanish-speaking schools in DC, mostly central American, and I say this to contrast with other dual language schools where most families speak English, the Spanish speakers are World Bank expats or heritage speakers and the kids are only passive speakers at best (a stereotype but you should get the point). This matters a lot to us because we want our kids to speak Spanish, for culture/family/etc., not just as a cute party trick or something.

The relationship between staff and management has been a bit obscure, moreso when a pandemic keeps parents out of the schools, and probably isn't that positive - the longtime and at least to us super-beloved AP who really spoke Spanish went to Bancroft this year.

Nothing on Stokes for you. Hope it's good.

Disagree that other DL schools in the area speak mostly English. Bruce Monroe is a great school and has very similar demographics to Powell. I think the relationship between staff and management is better at Bruce Monroe than at Powell, based on feedback from families that have attended both schools.

It’s obvious you both don’t know many educated, high income Hispanics families fluent in an English. They are not speaking English in the home. They are speaking Spanish and these families are speaking a higher level Spanish in terms of grammar and vocabulary. They also place a much higher priority on Spanish than ESL families who care more about their kids learning English to not only help them navigate this country but to also assimilate into it.

[Anonymous]

For years we drove past Powell (our in-bound) for Stokes. 100% worth it.

[Anonymous]

Im PP- most of my neighbors who went to Powell left it for private or moved by 3rd grade.