Brent Pre-K

[Anonymous]

I have a few questions about pre-K if someone would be willing to answer. I am pregnant with my second child and couldn’t make any open houses, my husband went to one and forgot some questions or doesn’t remember.

How long is nap time? I know they do mixed age and usually for Pre-K 3 they get 1.5 hours -how does it work having both? My child as of now is a heavy napper and naps over 2 hours haha.

What does the general schedule look like? -I know they have 2 recess times.

How communicative are the teachers with parents?

Are there any teachers who really stand out -ones that parents sometimes specifically request?

And the last is more a curiosity but why are most of the staff members white?
I get Brent is about 67% white but it seems like the staff is 98% white.

Just wondering if this reflects how staff and/or parents view non-white or mixed people or maybe it’s simply other ethnicities don’t apply.

[Anonymous]

I believe nap time was an hour, the teacher my child had was pretty communicative and posted things 1-2x a week.

I’m not sure why so many staff members are white in comparison to the demographics. But I do think some parents are a tad prejudiced…

[Anonymous]

Do you live in-bounds for Brent? If you live in-bounds, you should already know the dynamic of the community. Brent is a neighborhood school. Although, with the new building, they are supposed to increase enrollment which will bring more out-of-bound students in. Also, don't be fooled by the current out-of-bound rates because most have proximity preference so a very similar vibe.

[Anonymous]

What a weird question about “why” the staff members are white. Do you think there’s some answer, like someone on here will tell you “oh yes, at Brent they only hire white teachers, they have an exception from DCPS rules so that they can be racist.”

And they don’t let you request teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you live in-bounds for Brent? If you live in-bounds, you should already know the dynamic of the community. Brent is a neighborhood school. Although, with the new building, they are supposed to increase enrollment which will bring more out-of-bound students in. Also, don't be fooled by the current out-of-bound rates because most have proximity preference so a very similar vibe.

We just moved to the neighborhood not too long ago. I do like it here so far. I just heard a rumor or two and I was curious about general racial dynamics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What a weird question about “why” the staff members are white. Do you think there’s some answer, like someone on here will tell you “oh yes, at Brent they only hire white teachers, they have an exception from DCPS rules so that they can be racist.”

And they don’t let you request teachers.

I am asking why are they all mostly white, not why there are white staff members in general. DCPS itself literally states they try to match the teacher with the demographics of the school. The school isn’t 98% white.

And my best friend is a DCPS teacher, yes racism, accent bias, and the like exists in hiring practices (black, white, etc.).

I’m not sure why the question triggered you and you didn’t answer anything else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I believe nap time was an hour, the teacher my child had was pretty communicative and posted things 1-2x a week.

I’m not sure why so many staff members are white in comparison to the demographics. But I do think some parents are a tad prejudiced…

Thank you.

Do you know the general schedule?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What a weird question about “why” the staff members are white. Do you think there’s some answer, like someone on here will tell you “oh yes, at Brent they only hire white teachers, they have an exception from DCPS rules so that they can be racist.”

And they don’t let you request teachers.

I am asking why are they all mostly white, not why there are white staff members in general. DCPS itself literally states they try to match the teacher with the demographics of the school. The school isn’t 98% white.

And my best friend is a DCPS teacher, yes racism, accent bias, and the like exists in hiring practices (black, white, etc.).

I’m not sure why the question triggered you and you didn’t answer anything else.

But I did answer something else. You can’t request teachers. Also, your question is still silly. You have a vague feeling that the teachers are “98% white” based on a tour. And you want an answer about why they are not 68% white. Nobody would be able to answer that question for you even if you were correct about the 98%, which you are not.

Look, I get that you only have one very young kid so far but you’ll have to take it down a few notches if you want to survive, and maybe even enjoy, having a kid in a DCPS school. Chill out and stop looking for problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What a weird question about “why” the staff members are white. Do you think there’s some answer, like someone on here will tell you “oh yes, at Brent they only hire white teachers, they have an exception from DCPS rules so that they can be racist.”

And they don’t let you request teachers.

I am asking why are they all mostly white, not why there are white staff members in general. DCPS itself literally states they try to match the teacher with the demographics of the school. The school isn’t 98% white.

And my best friend is a DCPS teacher, yes racism, accent bias, and the like exists in hiring practices (black, white, etc.).

I’m not sure why the question triggered you and you didn’t answer anything else.

But I did answer something else. You can’t request teachers. Also, your question is still silly. You have a vague feeling that the teachers are “98% white” based on a tour. And you want an answer about why they are not 68% white. Nobody would be able to answer that question for you even if you were correct about the 98%, which you are not.

Look, I get that you only have one very young kid so far but you’ll have to take it down a few notches if you want to survive, and maybe even enjoy, having a kid in a DCPS school. Chill out and stop looking for problems.

You answered a part of another question, I wanted to know if there’s teachers in particular some like.

They have a list and photos of teachers on their website. And the white question is not me freaking out, I am really just curious.

I mostly wanted to get a general idea of the schedule.

But thank you for the advice, this may not be an excuse but I am very pregnant and a tad stressed about my first baby going to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What a weird question about “why” the staff members are white. Do you think there’s some answer, like someone on here will tell you “oh yes, at Brent they only hire white teachers, they have an exception from DCPS rules so that they can be racist.”

And they don’t let you request teachers.

I am asking why are they all mostly white, not why there are white staff members in general. DCPS itself literally states they try to match the teacher with the demographics of the school. The school isn’t 98% white.

And my best friend is a DCPS teacher, yes racism, accent bias, and the like exists in hiring practices (black, white, etc.).

I’m not sure why the question triggered you and you didn’t answer anything else.

But I did answer something else. You can’t request teachers. Also, your question is still silly. You have a vague feeling that the teachers are “98% white” based on a tour. And you want an answer about why they are not 68% white. Nobody would be able to answer that question for you even if you were correct about the 98%, which you are not.

Look, I get that you only have one very young kid so far but you’ll have to take it down a few notches if you want to survive, and maybe even enjoy, having a kid in a DCPS school. Chill out and stop looking for problems.

DC Report Card has demographic information about teachers. 76% white.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What a weird question about “why” the staff members are white. Do you think there’s some answer, like someone on here will tell you “oh yes, at Brent they only hire white teachers, they have an exception from DCPS rules so that they can be racist.”

And they don’t let you request teachers.

I am asking why are they all mostly white, not why there are white staff members in general. DCPS itself literally states they try to match the teacher with the demographics of the school. The school isn’t 98% white.

And my best friend is a DCPS teacher, yes racism, accent bias, and the like exists in hiring practices (black, white, etc.).

I’m not sure why the question triggered you and you didn’t answer anything else.

But I did answer something else. You can’t request teachers. Also, your question is still silly. You have a vague feeling that the teachers are “98% white” based on a tour. And you want an answer about why they are not 68% white. Nobody would be able to answer that question for you even if you were correct about the 98%, which you are not.

Look, I get that you only have one very young kid so far but you’ll have to take it down a few notches if you want to survive, and maybe even enjoy, having a kid in a DCPS school. Chill out and stop looking for problems.

DC Report Card has demographic information about teachers. 76% white.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the responses, if anyone can give me a general schedule idea I’d appreciate it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the responses, if anyone can give me a general schedule idea I’d appreciate it.

PP was a bit harsh but not totally wrong either.

This is a level of detail you really don't need to know and can't expect to know more than a few weeks before school starts. Your child's teacher will reach out.

[Anonymous]

10 years ago, and the right before COVID, my kids napped for over an hour. Kids that don’t nap do quite activities. Yes, 2 recesses, and lots of organized indoor sessions where kids pick out the activity they want. It is in Reggio Emilia play based learning. My boys went towards many different activities daily. My concern with the new building is 600+ kids on the small site.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the responses, if anyone can give me a general schedule idea I’d appreciate it.

PP was a bit harsh but not totally wrong either.

This is a level of detail you really don't need to know and can't expect to know more than a few weeks before school starts. Your child's teacher will reach out.

I’m the harsh PP and, yeah, fair point. Apologies.

We’ve had a good experience at Brent. We found the transition from daycare into PK3 to be totally unremarkable. I don’t remember the schedule but it seems to work just fine for most 3-4 year olds. It’s still six months away for you so your child could be on a totally different schedule by then. They might drop naps for good though I hope for your sake your kid is like mine and holds on to naps until age 4-5. But kids are super adaptable and are capable of far more than we sometimes think.

We have often thought of Brent as having three different schools with it: PK/K, 1-3, and 4-5. Each of those groups of grades has a distinct vibe. The youngest is very nurturing and they are a little separate from the rest of the school. They don’t intermingle with the upper grades all that much except for book buddies and now on the bus to the swing space. (There are bus monitors and assigned seats in the front for the little kids because they have harnesses). Again, overall, it really didn’t feel that different to me than our daycare’s preschool room. A little more actual teaching going on but it’s still mostly play based. Our kiddo was happy there for sure. I just would try not to stress too much about the schedule. It is what it is and your child will adapt and, hopefully, thrive.