Boundary study question

[Anonymous]

Our school - which I really love - has been struggling with enrollment because of its location. I know there's a boundary study coming up. Does anyone expect schools might be closed? And if so - where would those children go? Would families have some sort of lottery preference at nearby schools? We are attending our school OOB and our IB (also struggling with enrollment because it's in a similar location) is not an option.

[Anonymous]

It's a complicated question to predict what will happen to a specific school. I think people aren't expecting major changes in this round, overall.

Is this an elementary school? A few key points:

DCPS has to provide everyone with an IB school option. So if your IB school were closed, you would be reassigned to a different school and be IB there. Everyone has an IB school at all times. If you are OOB at a school that is being closed, you have the option of your IB or playing the lottery. If your school is "merged" rather than closed, that means all the kids at your school would be offered a seat at the other merging school, or that some other school would be merged into your building.

DCPS tries to give everyone a school within a certain distance of their home-- I think it's half or three-quarters of a mile for elementary.

Closing schools seldom happens in the past 10 years or so. It can only be done if there is a nearby school (or schools) that has room for every one of the kids. And because DCPS enrollment is trending upwards, they're reluctant to close schools if they think they might need to open them again.

If a school is struggling with enrollment, sometimes they make the boundary of the school bigger to give it more IB kids. They don't have to close a school just because it isn't utilizing its entire building. They can just hire less staff. If your enrollment is dropping, they are likely to replace the principal.

[Anonymous]

Is your school a DCPS school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is your school a DCPS school?

OP here. It's a DCPS Title I elementary. Wonderful experienced staff and long-serving administration but not located in an area with a lot of families with littles so no way to really rally the "community" around the school - it's pretty tiny. To be clear, no one has told me they are in danger of closing so I may just be paranoid. Would rather not give the name.

It is not my IB, which is frankly, a very poorly performing school I've basically never seen mentioned on DCUM. So if that's where we are sent, it's lottery or burbs. This forum has many many flaws but thanks to DCUM I have an excellent idea of where I'd try to get in. I'd just rather stay put.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is your school a DCPS school?

OP here. It's a DCPS Title I elementary. Wonderful experienced staff and long-serving administration but not located in an area with a lot of families with littles so no way to really rally the "community" around the school - it's pretty tiny. To be clear, no one has told me they are in danger of closing so I may just be paranoid. Would rather not give the name.

It is not my IB, which is frankly, a very poorly performing school I've basically never seen mentioned on DCUM. So if that's where we are sent, it's lottery or burbs. This forum has many many flaws but thanks to DCUM I have an excellent idea of where I'd try to get in. I'd just rather stay put.

I get the reluctance to name the school, but it's very hard to give targeted thoughts without knowing! I think there are people on the committee who sometimes peruse this site, so if you name it, you may be able to get intell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is your school a DCPS school?

OP here. It's a DCPS Title I elementary. Wonderful experienced staff and long-serving administration but not located in an area with a lot of families with littles so no way to really rally the "community" around the school - it's pretty tiny. To be clear, no one has told me they are in danger of closing so I may just be paranoid. Would rather not give the name.

It is not my IB, which is frankly, a very poorly performing school I've basically never seen mentioned on DCUM. So if that's where we are sent, it's lottery or burbs. This forum has many many flaws but thanks to DCUM I have an excellent idea of where I'd try to get in. I'd just rather stay put.

I get the reluctance to name the school, but it's very hard to give targeted thoughts without knowing! I think there are people on the committee who sometimes peruse this site, so if you name it, you may be able to get intell.

OP here. Thanks. I appreciate that it's hard to give targeted thoughts without the name. I'd still rather not except to say it's not regularly mentioned on DCUM.

The principal has been there for over a decade, is committed to the school, very respected by the district, and beloved by parents. Very few teachers leave because they love working for her. I do not want her replaced. No one does.

The falling enrollment has absolutely nothing to do with her and everything to do with changes to the location during the pandemic. (School is probably pretty obvious by this point if you know DCPS well, but I don't want to confirm anyone's guess). I would love to see its boundary expanded, though not sure where they'd draw from. What are other possibilities for a school with a strong track record, desirable middle school feeder, but falling enrollment?

[Anonymous]

If they like your principal and the PARCC scores are okay, they won't close it. They'll bear with you through location issues if it's due to renovation.

Boundary expansions would draw from the neighboring schools' boundaries.

I think the most likely outcome is they just cut your budget commensurate with your enrollment numbers.

[Anonymous]

If by "location changes" you mean they used a swing space during modernization, it's unlikely they would close a building they just modernized. More likely they would expand the boundaries whichever way possible.

If you care about your school and want to help it thrive, stop pinning everything on the location rationale. In DCPS you have to have eyes wide open about everything. Even if you really like the school just as it is, you need to be looking for and addressing the concerns of others if you want it to grow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If by "location changes" you mean they used a swing space during modernization, it's unlikely they would close a building they just modernized. More likely they would expand the boundaries whichever way possible.

If you care about your school and want to help it thrive, stop pinning everything on the location rationale. In DCPS you have to have eyes wide open about everything. Even if you really like the school just as it is, you need to be looking for and addressing the concerns of others if you want it to grow.

Thanks for the responses. Not a swing space. We are in a non-residential area of DC.

As a parent, my power to "address the concerns of others" in order for the school to grow is limited. I can make suggestions, sure, but I don't get to decide what the school does -it's up to the principal and staff to do what they think will best serve the kids already there, first and foremost, then figure out what might bring in other kids. At least that's how I understand it. Does it work differently where you are?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If by "location changes" you mean they used a swing space during modernization, it's unlikely they would close a building they just modernized. More likely they would expand the boundaries whichever way possible.

If you care about your school and want to help it thrive, stop pinning everything on the location rationale. In DCPS you have to have eyes wide open about everything. Even if you really like the school just as it is, you need to be looking for and addressing the concerns of others if you want it to grow.

Thanks for the responses. Not a swing space. We are in a non-residential area of DC.

As a parent, my power to "address the concerns of others" in order for the school to grow is limited. I can make suggestions, sure, but I don't get to decide what the school does -it's up to the principal and staff to do what they think will best serve the kids already there, first and foremost, then figure out what might bring in other kids. At least that's how I understand it. Does it work differently where you are?

Well, yes my experience has been different, you seem to be more on the passive side and some Title I parents are more assertive because they believe it's necessary to the functioning of the school. Ideally in a DCPS Title I you'd have a small but active parent organization that does its own efforts which may or may not increase enrollment (and that doesn't have to be a primary goal). These are things the school administration is okay with but doesn't actively manage, such as you might host social events or a uniform donation/giveaway. The parent group also provides feedback and partners with the administration on finding and implementing mutually desirable changes. So if, for example, you'd like to have a stronger sense of community, the PTO could host a picnic or something. If you don't have before-care and that's putting people off, the parents can provide that feedback to the school and do some of the legwork on finding a provider. Those are just some examples, maybe you're already doing those things. If the school is concerned about maintaining its enrollment, it should want constructive parent feedback.

It sounds like you're concerned about the future of your school, and you're putting the blame for declining enrollment on the location change. I'm suggesting to you that there may be other reasons, and that you should try to identify those reasons and take them seriously even if they aren't bothering you or your child as individuals. It's rare for a school with a strong principal and a decent middle school feed to have a decline in enrollment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If by "location changes" you mean they used a swing space during modernization, it's unlikely they would close a building they just modernized. More likely they would expand the boundaries whichever way possible.

If you care about your school and want to help it thrive, stop pinning everything on the location rationale. In DCPS you have to have eyes wide open about everything. Even if you really like the school just as it is, you need to be looking for and addressing the concerns of others if you want it to grow.

Thanks for the responses. Not a swing space. We are in a non-residential area of DC.

As a parent, my power to "address the concerns of others" in order for the school to grow is limited. I can make suggestions, sure, but I don't get to decide what the school does -it's up to the principal and staff to do what they think will best serve the kids already there, first and foremost, then figure out what might bring in other kids. At least that's how I understand it. Does it work differently where you are?

Well, yes my experience has been different, you seem to be more on the passive side and some Title I parents are more assertive because they believe it's necessary to the functioning of the school. Ideally in a DCPS Title I you'd have a small but active parent organization that does its own efforts which may or may not increase enrollment (and that doesn't have to be a primary goal). These are things the school administration is okay with but doesn't actively manage, such as you might host social events or a uniform donation/giveaway. The parent group also provides feedback and partners with the administration on finding and implementing mutually desirable changes. So if, for example, you'd like to have a stronger sense of community, the PTO could host a picnic or something. If you don't have before-care and that's putting people off, the parents can provide that feedback to the school and do some of the legwork on finding a provider. Those are just some examples, maybe you're already doing those things. If the school is concerned about maintaining its enrollment, it should want constructive parent feedback.

It sounds like you're concerned about the future of your school, and you're putting the blame for declining enrollment on the location change. I'm suggesting to you that there may be other reasons, and that you should try to identify those reasons and take them seriously even if they aren't bothering you or your child as individuals. It's rare for a school with a strong principal and a decent middle school feed to have a decline in enrollment.

Thanks for this. Location has not changed - we are in the same space. But appreciate the response!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If by "location changes" you mean they used a swing space during modernization, it's unlikely they would close a building they just modernized. More likely they would expand the boundaries whichever way possible.

If you care about your school and want to help it thrive, stop pinning everything on the location rationale. In DCPS you have to have eyes wide open about everything. Even if you really like the school just as it is, you need to be looking for and addressing the concerns of others if you want it to grow.

Thanks for the responses. Not a swing space. We are in a non-residential area of DC.

As a parent, my power to "address the concerns of others" in order for the school to grow is limited. I can make suggestions, sure, but I don't get to decide what the school does -it's up to the principal and staff to do what they think will best serve the kids already there, first and foremost, then figure out what might bring in other kids. At least that's how I understand it. Does it work differently where you are?

Well, yes my experience has been different, you seem to be more on the passive side and some Title I parents are more assertive because they believe it's necessary to the functioning of the school. Ideally in a DCPS Title I you'd have a small but active parent organization that does its own efforts which may or may not increase enrollment (and that doesn't have to be a primary goal). These are things the school administration is okay with but doesn't actively manage, such as you might host social events or a uniform donation/giveaway. The parent group also provides feedback and partners with the administration on finding and implementing mutually desirable changes. So if, for example, you'd like to have a stronger sense of community, the PTO could host a picnic or something. If you don't have before-care and that's putting people off, the parents can provide that feedback to the school and do some of the legwork on finding a provider. Those are just some examples, maybe you're already doing those things. If the school is concerned about maintaining its enrollment, it should want constructive parent feedback.

It sounds like you're concerned about the future of your school, and you're putting the blame for declining enrollment on the location change. I'm suggesting to you that there may be other reasons, and that you should try to identify those reasons and take them seriously even if they aren't bothering you or your child as individuals. It's rare for a school with a strong principal and a decent middle school feed to have a decline in enrollment.

Not OP but I get what she is saying about the location being an issue. Our DCPS elementary also struggles being in a location where not many people are moving because it's a commercial corridor (people do move there, but most of the available housing is condos so not a ton of people with kids) and this impacting enrollment. I don't think our school is in danger of being closed, but I can relate to the challenges this poses. We rely a lot on OOB students coming (my family is actually OOB) and a committed group of IB families who live in the small amount of SF housing in the boundary. And relying on OOB students can make it hard to gain traction in DC, because many prospective families view that as a mark of low quality. But in our case it's actually a compliment -- despite having few families within boundary, our school attracts students from nearby boundaries who prefer it to their IB.

It sounds to me like OP's school doesn't necessarily have glaring flaws, but many just be in a difficult boundary that as evolved more towards non-family residents. I think you may not understand the nature of the issue.

[Anonymous]

This sounds like Strong John Thomson Elementary, and what with downtown emptying out, I'm guessing they are losing some Out of Boundary Students. It's a solid school though.

[Anonymous]

Oh... same location, but less people coming to the location due to the pandemic.

You'll be fine, they can't close Thomson because they would never give up a building in such a central location, and there isn't room for all your kids in the neighboring zones. They can't send you to Walker-Jones and they know it, people would flip out. Seaton and Garrison's enrollments are growing, so you could eventually get a few blocks from their boundaries or some shut-out PK3s. SWW@FS seems to be shrinking a little but still has plenty of kids.

If it's Amidon-Bowen or Van Ness, they can't close them because there aren't other DCPS schools close enough to send people to within the guidance of how far kids are needing to travel to school.

The other thing they can do if a school has extra physical space is put some self-contained classrooms in. I'm not sure how they decide where those go, but obviously having physical space is a factor.

In any case, they seldom close schools in this day and age, so I wouldn't sweat it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This sounds like Strong John Thomson Elementary, and what with downtown emptying out, I'm guessing they are losing some Out of Boundary Students. It's a solid school though.

Totally sounds like Thomson (city, good middle school, lots of room for OOB). I really doubt they will close it.

A decade ago, the city planned to close Garrison due to low enrollment, and send the kids to Seaton instead .Neighbors got together and advocated to keep it open, and now the school really seems to be thriving and growing in enrollment every year (as is Seaton). So there is room to advocate after they make an announcement.