Why Does Van Ness Elementary School Not Have a Boundary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Middle-upper class families (however you define the term) will not be climbing over one another for the chance to buy a luxury condo in Near Southeast just to send their child to Van Ness. Even with a shiny new Vida Fitness and Whole Foods, your aren't living in the Upper West Side for chrissakes.

The Vida is adamantly adult only (no kids allowed) fwiw

How is my high-SES nine-year old going to do cardio?

He or she will listen to her personal trainer.

[Anonymous]

David Catania has just been persuaded by supporters of Van Ness Elementary School to support keeping the $15 Million slated for the reopening and modernization of Van Ness Elementary school in the Fiscal Year 2015 budget! Van Ness Elementary School is still on track to open for the 2015 - 2016 School Year!

[Anonymous]

Jeez, people. Such hate toward your fellow residents.

I always assumed that those new condos were there so the workaholic singles could eventually pair off and move to Arlington. Are some of them actually considering having children BEFORE they move to the burbs? None of those towers look very child-friendly (although having the now high-end liquor store in such proximity is no doubt helpful to the having of children, if not the raising of them).

Face it. Those condos are the high-rise version of Clarendon, without the national chains but with better Metro service.

And yes I know there are (lots of) kids in the CQ townhouses, and I know some of those house owners console themselves with the thought that their neighborhood is diverse because of those few corner rental units (which fool no one, BTW).

Please. An $800K townhouse is middleclass in exactly no one's world...

If you were really amenable to "diverse", you would be welcoming the kids from James Creek and Syphax, trying to boost them, and using them to broaden your snowflake's experiences -- not trying to keep them out.

You moved to SE for a reason.

What was it again?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jeez, people. Such hate toward your fellow residents.

I always assumed that those new condos were there so the workaholic singles could eventually pair off and move to Arlington. Are some of them actually considering having children BEFORE they move to the burbs? None of those towers look very child-friendly (although having the now high-end liquor store in such proximity is no doubt helpful to the having of children, if not the raising of them).

Face it. Those condos are the high-rise version of Clarendon, without the national chains but with better Metro service.

And yes I know there are (lots of) kids in the CQ townhouses, and I know some of those house owners console themselves with the thought that their neighborhood is diverse because of those few corner rental units (which fool no one, BTW).

Please. An $800K townhouse is middleclass in exactly no one's world...

If you were really amenable to "diverse", you would be welcoming the kids from James Creek and Syphax, trying to boost them, and using them to broaden your snowflake's experiences -- not trying to keep them out.

You moved to SE for a reason.

What was it again?

"If you were really amenable to "diverse", you would be welcoming the kids from James Creek and Syphax, trying to boost them, and using them to broaden your snowflake's experiences -- not trying to keep them out."

People use the word "diverse" to mean a lot of different things. You have economic diversity and racial diversity. Far too often those two terms are used interchangeably when they shouldn't. Black does not equal poor and White does not equal rich. I live in the Capitol Riverfront, and I welcome racial diversity. Yet, I will not allow my children to go to a school with a high FARM rate. The reality is that most children in DC who come from households living in public housing come from families that do not put a high value on education. I would not want to have my children be surrounded by that in school. My children benefit from being surrounded by children who come from families emphasize the importance of education, regardless of race. This way my children will see for themselves that Black does not equal poor and White does not equal rich.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The goal isn't to reduce the number of OOB students at A-B, but rather to get as many students as possible into a school where they can learn. A-B doesn't seem to be working well for many of its students. Maybe Van Ness would be an improvement for some of them.

Exactly. So the Capitol Quarter crew who would like to exclude them needs to understand exactly what they would be doing. It's unbecoming, not to mention fruitless.

You seem like a mean person. Where do your kids go to school and how committed are you to surrounding your kids with econ disadvantaged kids are you? Please provide details.

It's real easy to take cheap shots at parents who want a school that is predominantly middle class.

No, my dear. I'm an adult; one with children who has lived in DC longer than you have, and definitely sees the landscape clearer than you do. I've watched friends navigate the DCPS/charter/private options. My family has navigated the DCPS/charter/private options. We will all continue to do so.

Believe it or not, I'm trying to help you manage your expectations, because you clearly have no clue. I am your friend, you know. I can understand how you think that buying your expensive condo entitles you to a school full of children such as the ones you have yet to enroll. Were I so new to DC, or to homeownership, or to parenting, or to DCPS, I might think the same. But I am old, wizened, and familiar with the angst-ridden nature of DC politics which underlie everything in DC (potholes, trashbins, ANC spending, dogparks, bikelanes, condo conversions, double-parking on Sundays, corruption vs. pork, the change from taxi zones to meters... I could go on, but that would be overkill).

You are getting a newly renovated school. It is attractive inside and out. It is convenient to where you live. It is convenient to metro. It will become very popular, very fast. DCPS has every reason to entice you into this school, since it expects a cohort of higher SES students. This will start the school out on the "right foot." In a way, it will open like one of the hot charter schools - with lots of enthusiasm and participation from families who will set a certain tone and level of expectations. This is a good thing. We have learned that it's easier to open a new school and attract higher SES families, than to try to convince them to attend an old one.

What you need to understand, and the sooner the better, is that you will not be allowed a little high-SES citadel. If the families don't bring their students in themselves, then DCPS is intent on re-directing them towards you. You don't have to believe me, just read some threads about Murch, Janney, Oyster Adams, Hardy, Eaton... basically schools that have a long history of being almost exclusively higher SES. These are schools in neighborhoods with considerable political clout (yours doesn't) and they are being force-fed changes to the demographics of their neighborhood schools which don't reflect the neighborhood. Why? Because the city is determined to get more lower SES students into high performing schools. We can save the debate over whether or not this a social good or bad for another time, but like it or not it is a fact. There is absolutely no chance that a brand new high SES school will open on the Hill and keep out its idea of "the untouchables."

You're getting your new school. You'll also be getting friends from other neighborhoods. I'm not mean my dear, I'm a realist.

NP here. I totally agree with you except that Van Ness and the neighborhood around is NOT Capitol Hill. That's part of the entitlement problem, I think -- some families in Capitol Quarter are bent out of shape that they are rich and live nearby, yet they can't go to Brent.

+1000. CQ is so close to Brent they can practically touch it. Some apparently think they are entitled to a Brent II without any of the hard work or growing pains simply because they paid $700,000 and up for a new townhouse. They bought into a transitional neighborhood anchored by a mixed income development and yet are getting a newly modernized school. Welcome to the real world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jeez, people. Such hate toward your fellow residents.

I always assumed that those new condos were there so the workaholic singles could eventually pair off and move to Arlington. Are some of them actually considering having children BEFORE they move to the burbs? None of those towers look very child-friendly (although having the now high-end liquor store in such proximity is no doubt helpful to the having of children, if not the raising of them).

Face it. Those condos are the high-rise version of Clarendon, without the national chains but with better Metro service.

And yes I know there are (lots of) kids in the CQ townhouses, and I know some of those house owners console themselves with the thought that their neighborhood is diverse because of those few corner rental units (which fool no one, BTW).

Please. An $800K townhouse is middleclass in exactly no one's world...

If you were really amenable to "diverse", you would be welcoming the kids from James Creek and Syphax, trying to boost them, and using them to broaden your snowflake's experiences -- not trying to keep them out.

You moved to SE for a reason.

What was it again?

"If you were really amenable to "diverse", you would be welcoming the kids from James Creek and Syphax, trying to boost them, and using them to broaden your snowflake's experiences -- not trying to keep them out."

People use the word "diverse" to mean a lot of different things. You have economic diversity and racial diversity. Far too often those two terms are used interchangeably when they shouldn't. Black does not equal poor and White does not equal rich. I live in the Capitol Riverfront, and I welcome racial diversity. Yet, I will not allow my children to go to a school with a high FARM rate. The reality is that most children in DC who come from households living in public housing come from families that do not put a high value on education. I would not want to have my children be surrounded by that in school. My children benefit from being surrounded by children who come from families emphasize the importance of education, regardless of race. This way my children will see for themselves that Black does not equal poor and White does not equal rich.

In other words, you're fine with rich people regardless of their skin color. How open-minded of you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And yes I know there are (lots of) kids in the CQ townhouses, and I know some of those house owners console themselves with the thought that their neighborhood is diverse because of those few corner rental units (which fool no one, BTW).

Please. An $800K townhouse is middleclass in exactly no one's world...

If you were really amenable to "diverse", you would be welcoming the kids from James Creek and Syphax, trying to boost them, and using them to broaden your snowflake's experiences -- not trying to keep them out.

You moved to SE for a reason.

What was it again?

"Yet, I will not allow my children to go to a school with a high FARM rate. The reality is that most children in DC who come from households living in public housing come from families that do not put a high value on education. I would not want to have my children be surrounded by that in school. My children benefit from being surrounded by children who come from families emphasize the importance of education, regardless of race. This way my children will see for themselves that Black does not equal poor and White does not equal rich.

No, but you apparently want your children to learn that rich = good and that poor = bad, which is an equally faulty assumption.

I never said anything about racial diversity in my post above.

Ambitious parents who want their children to do better than they did are certainly not restricted to the upper part of the economic spectrum, nor do they all live west of the park or east of South Cap (or even west of the river).

Cities by definition have economic diversity because everyone lives so close to each other. But some neighborhoods have more than others. Near SE still has some of it, even if not so much on a block-by-block basis any more.

And it's part of what makes this neighborhood different from parts of the suburbs (or even other parts of the city), and it's a major reason why many of us moved here in the first place.

Why did YOU move here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jeez, people. Such hate toward your fellow residents.

I always assumed that those new condos were there so the workaholic singles could eventually pair off and move to Arlington. Are some of them actually considering having children BEFORE they move to the burbs? None of those towers look very child-friendly (although having the now high-end liquor store in such proximity is no doubt helpful to the having of children, if not the raising of them).

Face it. Those condos are the high-rise version of Clarendon, without the national chains but with better Metro service.

And yes I know there are (lots of) kids in the CQ townhouses, and I know some of those house owners console themselves with the thought that their neighborhood is diverse because of those few corner rental units (which fool no one, BTW).

Please. An $800K townhouse is middleclass in exactly no one's world...

If you were really amenable to "diverse", you would be welcoming the kids from James Creek and Syphax, trying to boost them, and using them to broaden your snowflake's experiences -- not trying to keep them out.

You moved to SE for a reason.

What was it again?

"If you were really amenable to "diverse", you would be welcoming the kids from James Creek and Syphax, trying to boost them, and using them to broaden your snowflake's experiences -- not trying to keep them out."

People use the word "diverse" to mean a lot of different things. You have economic diversity and racial diversity. Far too often those two terms are used interchangeably when they shouldn't. Black does not equal poor and White does not equal rich. I live in the Capitol Riverfront, and I welcome racial diversity. Yet, I will not allow my children to go to a school with a high FARM rate. The reality is that most children in DC who come from households living in public housing come from families that do not put a high value on education. I would not want to have my children be surrounded by that in school. My children benefit from being surrounded by children who come from families emphasize the importance of education, regardless of race. This way my children will see for themselves that Black does not equal poor and White does not equal rich.

You should have moved to MD or VA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And yes I know there are (lots of) kids in the CQ townhouses, and I know some of those house owners console themselves with the thought that their neighborhood is diverse because of those few corner rental units (which fool no one, BTW).

Please. An $800K townhouse is middleclass in exactly no one's world...

If you were really amenable to "diverse", you would be welcoming the kids from James Creek and Syphax, trying to boost them, and using them to broaden your snowflake's experiences -- not trying to keep them out.

You moved to SE for a reason.

What was it again?

"Yet, I will not allow my children to go to a school with a high FARM rate. The reality is that most children in DC who come from households living in public housing come from families that do not put a high value on education. I would not want to have my children be surrounded by that in school. My children benefit from being surrounded by children who come from families emphasize the importance of education, regardless of race. This way my children will see for themselves that Black does not equal poor and White does not equal rich.

No, but you apparently want your children to learn that rich = good and that poor = bad, which is an equally faulty assumption.

I never said anything about racial diversity in my post above.

Ambitious parents who want their children to do better than they did are certainly not restricted to the upper part of the economic spectrum, nor do they all live west of the park or east of South Cap (or even west of the river).

Cities by definition have economic diversity because everyone lives so close to each other. But some neighborhoods have more than others. Near SE still has some of it, even if not so much on a block-by-block basis any more.

And it's part of what makes this neighborhood different from parts of the suburbs (or even other parts of the city), and it's a major reason why many of us moved here in the first place.

Why did YOU move here?

"I never said anything about racial diversity in my post above."

"If you were really amenable to "diverse", you would be welcoming the kids from James Creek and Syphax, trying to boost them, and using them to broaden your snowflake's experiences -- not trying to keep them out."

Both of these are your quotes. Do you think there are any white kids living in James Creek or Syphax? Since we all can agree that pretty much 100% of kids living in James Creek and Syphax are Black, then we can safely say that this quote is equal to the previous quote:

"If you were really amenable to "diverse", you would be welcoming the Black kids from James Creek and Syphax, trying to boost them, and using them to broaden your snowflake's experiences -- not trying to keep them out."

[Anonymous]

you really aren't helping your case. Whether the kids at James Creek and Syphaz are black or poor or whatever, ultimately, they are KIDS. Shutting them out of Van Ness because of their skin color or family income is equally horrible.

Better reasons for the South Capitol border-- 1) because crossing South Capitol is crazy scary and dangerous, 2) that is not part of the Capitol riverfront neighborhood-- one is SE and teh other is SW, and 3) A-B would lose families and money if those kids were sent to Van Ness.

These are more platable, less shockingly selfish reason reasons-- and they are true, to boot.

[Anonymous]

The three justifications you advance are flimsy at best. First, children commute all over the city for better educational opportunities. Crossing SoCap is not an insurmountable obstacle any more than the canard about Brent families being endangered by having to cross Virginia Avenue. Second, children commute all over the city for better educational opportunities. Van Ness will have a sizable OOB population for years to come. By refusing to consider having the boundary extend west of SoCap you only want to increase the odds that a greater percentage of these students will not be poor and black. Third, families who are moved from the AB district for VN will be replaced by others. Try again.

[Anonymous]

Just because other kids all over the city have to walk across dangerous streets doesn't mean it needs to be embraced for van ness. Why not actually draw a boundary where it makes logical sense? If there are areas elsewhere in town that don't make sense they souls be fixed too.

[Anonymous]

Uh, if it's truly that life threatening, I bet parents couloir another relative could drive and drop off. Welcome to the 21st Century.

[Anonymous]

Unless DCUM is full of folks looking for just-over-the-border housing projects that can be added to their child's school in order to spread the wealth, this thread reads like a bunch of people really bent out of shape that the Navy Yard is getting a modernized school and want it to be less attractive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unless DCUM is full of folks looking for just-over-the-border housing projects that can be added to their child's school in order to spread the wealth, this thread reads like a bunch of people really bent out of shape that the Navy Yard is getting a modernized school and want it to be less attractive.

Not really. I'm just an Amidon parent who thinks their tone with respect to the kids that live in my neighborhood and go to my school is kind of shitty and, furthermore, thinks the zealous drive to use zoning and other regulatory rules to exclude residents from public services based on socio-economic class to be distasteful and something well worth lambasting them for.