best in-boundary potential for improvement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What is so wrong about wanting to have decent neighborhood schools to send your kids to? First of all, a lot of us bought houses/condos well before we had children. Second, these neighborhoods are ideal for a lot of working parents - a 15 minute commute (vs 45 minutes to an hour in the burbs) adds up to a lot more time spent with your kids. Third, what is wrong with wanting to live in a fun, hip place where you don't have to get in your car to go everywhere? I grew up in the burbs and it was so boring.

This thread is largely built on wishful thinking as to how life would be better if more of "our kind" sent their kids to the public schools and the spoken or unspoken correlary that lower-income kids no longer either had so many OOB options or, better yet, were shipped off to some other "out of sight, out of mind" jurisdiction like PG.

But it's OK, really. Lots of folks thought Sun City was a fun, hip place, too. And many Parisians are quite happy that the poor among them live in the banlieus, rather than the arondissements.

so you are equating the fact that I live downtown and want my child to go to a school that doesn't have miserable test scores to apartheid?? seriously??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you're saying Haynes is only doing well teaching the white kids?

No, I think she's saying that Haynes does a better job of teaching white kids than anybody other than Murch.

This. And a PP pointed out they do a good job teaching the poor and non-white kids too.

[Anonymous]

The difference is that many of the advanced JKLM students switch to private or move out of DC while the Haynes students are more likely to stay. So the % of advanced students at JKLM would be higher but they left so not really a valid comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The difference is that many of the advanced JKLM students switch to private or move out of DC while the Haynes students are more likely to stay. So the % of advanced students at JKLM would be higher but they left so not really a valid comparison.

I was under the impression that more kids were staying all the way through in schools that feed to Deal (and that many Oyster families with a Deal option were taking it). So JLM and some O?

Sorry, OP, your thread has taken a serious turn.

[Anonymous]

Why did you choose not to go and why did those families leave? It will help us make a more informed decision.

Anonymous wrote:

I know a double Ivy family, each parent has a law degree, and their children are thriving at Haynes. They can afford to be anywhere, and chose to not only attend Haynes, but join the Board of Directors. Think about what THAT implies about your assumptions.

(Hint: it rhymes with "zignorance")

No, it's just different people's experiences and values. It's wonderful that they are so involved in their kids school.

We got into Haynes by lottery but did not go. Several families in our neighborhood had left, some midyear, and we factored that in, not everything is the right fit for everyone. For people who live in Columbia Heights or Petworth and who value almost year round care/school, it's especially great. We made another choice. Everyone is doing the best they can for their kids. I wonder how much we are all looking for "hidden gems" in a pile of otherwise fairly unattractive options compared to MD or NoVA. It's a problem of urban school districts, and IMHO there is only so much any one family can do to impact it. Others may value a more urban pioneer stakeholder role.

Another Ivy 2 JD family here, not sure why that matters and not sure why you think name calling is enlightening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
so you are equating the fact that I live downtown and want my child to go to a school that doesn't have miserable test scores to apartheid?? seriously??

Absolutely. When the thrust of the thread is what steps could be taken to improve the learning environment at DC schools for all the current students, rather than what school's test scores stand to increase the most if there is a "takeover" of the school by the offspring of dual-Ivy parents and if OOB options are curtailed for poor kids, I might have a different perspective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What is so wrong about wanting to have decent neighborhood schools to send your kids to? First of all, a lot of us bought houses/condos well before we had children. Second, these neighborhoods are ideal for a lot of working parents - a 15 minute commute (vs 45 minutes to an hour in the burbs) adds up to a lot more time spent with your kids. Third, what is wrong with wanting to live in a fun, hip place where you don't have to get in your car to go everywhere? I grew up in the burbs and it was so boring.

This thread is largely built on wishful thinking as to how life would be better if more of "our kind" sent their kids to the public schools and the spoken or unspoken correlary that lower-income kids no longer either had so many OOB options or, better yet, were shipped off to some other "out of sight, out of mind" jurisdiction like PG.

But it's OK, really. Lots of folks thought Sun City was a fun, hip place, too. And many Parisians are quite happy that the poor among them live in the banlieus, rather than the arondissements.

so you are equating the fact that I live downtown and want my child to go to a school that doesn't have miserable test scores to apartheid?? seriously??

Posted by someone who hates the burbs and wants you to "pay" with your kids' education for not hating your lifestyle as much. Don't feed the troll. ALL kids deserve strong schools. Even those whose parents eat Jamaican curry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the PP who has never met anyone who sends their kids to Garrison, you should email the new PTA President [e-mail] and find out when you might be able to. Garrison really surprised me. I've been on quite a few school tours over the last few months and it is actually much higher on my list than I was expecting it to be.

What did you like about Garrison?

The kids are happy, it seems like a nurturing place. The teachers seemed committed, competent, and prepared to deal with kids from a range of backgrounds. Many people seem committed to improving this school: DCPS central office, principal, teachers, the newly forming PTA, even the current PTA President at Ross. The principal talked a lot about the importance of laying a good foundation, especially for reading, in early childhood. The school is getting the "Tools of the Mind" curriculum for early childhood that many in DCPS seem to be very excited about. Every class goes 1/2 day per week to Fillmore for visual and performing arts. The PTA has some projects that community groups and businesses are offering to help with, which is great. As far as the physical plant goes, the school is massive and the grounds are huge. It is due for modernization in a few years, but it's actually in better shape than at least one other school I visited that is not slated for improvements. Also, I was encouraged that last year test scores went up (principal was new last year) when scores at so many DCPS went down. Still lots of work to do, of course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Reed, Garrison, Cooke, just like Ross, have oodles of well paid professionals who bought in and now want to stay in their hip, fun neighborhoods and walk to school. There are a lot of people who make decent money but not the crazy $400K HHI you read about on this board, they continue to be priced out of west of the park or even Dupont and Adams Morgan.

May I say it is so boring to keep hearing people talk about west of the park schools. For the 99% of the rest of us who are OOB and can't get in or don't want a crappy commute, that is.

May -I- say it amusing but ultimately tiresome to keep hearing this whine over and over? You and your partner made an eyes-open decision -- not under duress? -- to choose "hip, fun" over "sensible."

For the same money you spent in hipster Columbia Heights or similar, you could've chosen a smallish rental apartment OR condo in Van Ness South (Murch), the Kenwood (Murch). There are cheap, unattractive and even low-income apartments all over south Bethesda near Bradley that feed into Somerset Elementary or Bethesda Elementary -- probably two of the best ESs in the state.

So enjoy your hookah bars, Jamaican curries and vintage dress shops Some of us find it boring to keep hearing from you hipsters who won't give it up and move to an equally cheap place, and put your children first.

Funny, you can always tell the bitter ones who resent the decisions they've made in life. "SENSIBLE!!" Like a crab in a pot trying to pull the escapees back in.

Ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the PP who has never met anyone who sends their kids to Garrison, you should email the new PTA President [e-mail] and find out when you might be able to. Garrison really surprised me. I've been on quite a few school tours over the last few months and it is actually much higher on my list than I was expecting it to be.

What did you like about Garrison?

The kids are happy, it seems like a nurturing place. The teachers seemed committed, competent, and prepared to deal with kids from a range of backgrounds. Many people seem committed to improving this school: DCPS central office, principal, teachers, the newly forming PTA, even the current PTA President at Ross. The principal talked a lot about the importance of laying a good foundation, especially for reading, in early childhood. The school is getting the "Tools of the Mind" curriculum for early childhood that many in DCPS seem to be very excited about. Every class goes 1/2 day per week to Fillmore for visual and performing arts. The PTA has some projects that community groups and businesses are offering to help with, which is great. As far as the physical plant goes, the school is massive and the grounds are huge. It is due for modernization in a few years, but it's actually in better shape than at least one other school I visited that is not slated for improvements. Also, I was encouraged that last year test scores went up (principal was new last year) when scores at so many DCPS went down. Still lots of work to do, of course.

What good is the PTA President at Ross going to do??

[Anonymous]

I have to admit this is a head scratcher for me too. Garrison? Really?

The City Paper had an article about how Rhee was wooing parents to the school. Seriously, I can see Cleveland, but Garrison?

Good luck to you!

[Anonymous]

I guess I still don't understand peoples' beef with Garrison. What's the problem there?

[Anonymous]

High poverty, low test scores and a dickish principal. Really, what could go wrong? Look at it this way, you won't have to worry about getting a pk3 or 4 slot.

[Anonymous]

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/39647/michelle-rhees-campaign-to-diversify-dc-public-schools-means-wooing/full/

I have a friend who taught at Garrison a few years ago and the poverty level is high, but that is true at many of the sought after charters too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: The school is getting the "Tools of the Mind" curriculum for early childhood that many in DCPS seem to be very excited about. [re Garrison]

I've heard great things about Tools of the Mind. Is Garrison the only school getting it? What's the scoop? Thanks.