best in-boundary potential for improvement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I think they're piloting it at a number of schools next year - maybe 8 was the #. For sure Garrison & Powell are getting it. Marie Reed might get it. Not sure where else.

[Anonymous]

Powell is utilizing it now. I wasn't fond of it-I only saw the kids in action 1 time during an open house.

[Anonymous]

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.

Like I said, enjoy your hookah bars and retro hip dance hall bowling alley vintage mens suits shops. I still enjoy those kinds of things myself so I'm not "bitter" about not living next door to the experimental theater in the church basement.

My original screed was in response to some whiner who told those of us who live inboundary for the better DCPS that we were tiresome. I find it tiresome to keep listening to those of you who made a conscious choice to live near schools you don't like too much. Not talking about the families with no choice whatsoever, PPs. No, just the ones who prioritized X over Y and now complain BITTERly that their Y blows.

[Anonymous]

Some of you use very unattractive language.

[Anonymous]

"My original screed was in response to some whiner who told those of us who live inboundary for the better DCPS that we were tiresome."

I am not the PP complaining about the folks whos live in boundary for the better DCPS schools. Most of my friends live in-boundary for probably the best East of the park school or in the burbs. My family live in boundary for a not-so-great DCPS school that is nowhere near a hookah bar (although it was mentioned on this thread as a school with potential for improvement) - we bought our house a long time ago before I was pregnant with my first kid. It does irk me on DCUM when parents who live in boundary for good schools or who send their kids to private imply those of us who aren't doing this are horrible, ignorant, neglectful, selfish parents. My friends don't do this judgemental crap (unless they are doing it incognito on DCUM).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"My original screed was in response to some whiner who told those of us who live inboundary for the better DCPS that we were tiresome."

I am not the PP complaining about the folks whos live in boundary for the better DCPS schools. Most of my friends live in-boundary for probably the best East of the park school or in the burbs. My family live in boundary for a not-so-great DCPS school that is nowhere near a hookah bar (although it was mentioned on this thread as a school with potential for improvement) - we bought our house a long time ago before I was pregnant with my first kid. It does irk me on DCUM when parents who live in boundary for good schools or who send their kids to private imply those of us who aren't doing this are horrible, ignorant, neglectful, selfish parents. My friends don't do this judgemental crap (unless they are doing it incognito on DCUM).

Here, here! Also, doncha think that we'd all love to have enough income to live in-boundary for one of the really good schools? This may come as a shock, but we don't all bring in 400k a year!

[Anonymous]

Like I said, enjoy your hookah bars and retro hip dance hall bowling alley vintage mens suits shops. I still enjoy those kinds of things myself so I'm not "bitter" about not living next door to the experimental theater in the church basement.

My original screed was in response to some whiner who told those of us who live inboundary for the better DCPS that we were tiresome. I find it tiresome to keep listening to those of you who made a conscious choice to live near schools you don't like too much. Not talking about the families with no choice whatsoever, PPs. No, just the ones who prioritized X over Y and now complain BITTERly that their Y blows.


honestly, i'm trying not to take your bait b/c i find it hard to believe you're serious. what is the logical outcome of your argument? all of the college-educated yuppie types should move to your neighborhood and leave the downtown schools with miserable test scores to only low income kids?

[Anonymous]

I don't think trying to improve your local school is the same thing as just complaining about it. We live in boundary for Garrison in a place DH bought before we were married. If we have to move fine, but I'd prefer to be part of an effort to improve my local school so that it is a place where all students can learn.

[Anonymous]

Also, as someone who lives in Shaw and went to the Garrison neighborhood meeting, I did not find the principal to be "dickish" at all. I thought he was enthusiastic and warm. If you have actual criticisms of the school or the principal that might be constructive and useful for parents to hear, then please state them. But namecalling is not getting this conversation anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Garrison actually has higher test scores than Bancroft or HD Cooke, which both get a decent amount of play here on DCUM. Test scores aren't everything, of course, but if you're considering one of those, you might give Garrison a look.

And yeah, the principal seemed nice to me.

[Anonymous]

When we had to leave our building (nearby DCPS) due to smoke, we went to Garrison as has always been the plan.

The principal told us we needed to find another place. (You know it's super easy to find a spot to shelter 300 plus students in an emergency.)

He's a dick.

[Anonymous]

"My original screed was in response to some whiner who told those of us who live inboundary for the better DCPS that we were tiresome. I find it tiresome to keep listening to those of you who made a conscious choice to live near schools you don't like too much. Not talking about the families with no choice whatsoever, PPs. No, just the ones who prioritized X over Y and now complain BITTERly that their Y blows."

OK, so let me get this straight: A bunch of us folks who live in bounds for EOTP schools have a thread to daydream about what would happen if people stayed in bounds as opposed to fleeing from the city. A bunch of WOTP people chime in with snarky comments about our schools, implying that we are abusing our children by staying in our neighborhoods, and that our only chance is to apply OOB to the maybe 10 OOB slots available WOTP in their aging overcrowded schools. BUT, at the same time, those WOTP parents make it clear that they don't want us in their schools because ***gasp*** we are out of boundary and are thus making their schools undesireable and causing THEM to move to private schools.

We call them on this tiresome circular logic and are then called "whiny." I did not find the EOTP parents here whiny - they seemed honestly optimistic about schools in their 'hoods. You WOTP'ers need to get a life and thank your lucky stars that we don't move into your neighborhoods to further overcrowd your schools and further lower the "tone." Oh please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Garrison actually has higher test scores than Bancroft or HD Cooke, which both get a decent amount of play here on DCUM. Test scores aren't everything, of course, but if you're considering one of those, you might give Garrison a look.

And yeah, the principal seemed nice to me.

In the case of HD Cooke, that's only because their PTA President is a big-time booster on DCUM. Most of us see right through it.

In the case of Bancroft, you've got some well-meaning new-agey types who bought into Mt. P back when it was cheap, and have a Berkeley-esque desire for a multi-culti bilingual neighborhood school. (I should know.) The problem is that Bancroft isn't an immersion school for pedagogical reasons, but rather for practical ones. Such a vast percentage of students is ESL, that it seems hip and trendy to market the school as "the next Oyster" or "the neighborhood Oyster" or whatever gets a second look. In our experience, that was all ultimately a cover for the low-level of instruction in either language. By way of example, one difference (among many) is that a higher percentage of Oyster parents are literate in their native language.

I don't know anything about Garrison aside from having heard a rumor that it would be an excellent target for closure/consolidation. Maybe that's wishful thinking on Ross's part to capture some Logan Circle families into their boundary? I don't know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Garrison actually has higher test scores than Bancroft or HD Cooke, which both get a decent amount of play here on DCUM. Test scores aren't everything, of course, but if you're considering one of those, you might give Garrison a look.

And yeah, the principal seemed nice to me.

In the case of HD Cooke, that's only because their PTA President is a big-time booster on DCUM. Most of us see right through it.

In the case of Bancroft, you've got some well-meaning new-agey types who bought into Mt. P back when it was cheap, and have a Berkeley-esque desire for a multi-culti bilingual neighborhood school. (I should know.) The problem is that Bancroft isn't an immersion school for pedagogical reasons, but rather for practical ones. Such a vast percentage of students is ESL, that it seems hip and trendy to market the school as "the next Oyster" or "the neighborhood Oyster" or whatever gets a second look. In our experience, that was all ultimately a cover for the low-level of instruction in either language. By way of example, one difference (among many) is that a higher percentage of Oyster parents are literate in their native language.

I don't know anything about Garrison aside from having heard a rumor that it would be an excellent target for closure/consolidation. Maybe that's wishful thinking on Ross's part to capture some Logan Circle families into their boundary? I don't know.

We are a former LC family who tried to get into Ross but couldn't. I don't think that Ross is going to expand due to its very limited space constraints. It is a small, single brick building with one classroom for each grade, more or less. The library is in the basement, as is the dining area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
In the case of Bancroft, you've got some well-meaning new-agey types who bought into Mt. P back when it was cheap, and have a Berkeley-esque desire for a multi-culti bilingual neighborhood school. (I should know.) The problem is that Bancroft isn't an immersion school for pedagogical reasons, but rather for practical ones. Such a vast percentage of students is ESL, that it seems hip and trendy to market the school as "the next Oyster" or "the neighborhood Oyster" or whatever gets a second look. In our experience, that was all ultimately a cover for the low-level of instruction in either language. By way of example, one difference (among many) is that a higher percentage of Oyster parents are literate in their native language.

True, there's a huge difference in economic diversity at Oyster vs. Bancroft. Oyster is 33% low income, Bancroft is 80%. I've been told many of the Latino parents at Oyster have World Bank-type jobs. Some of them even live in Mount P., which irks me--Bancroft isn't good enough for them and they can easily get into Oyster because they speak Spanish at home.

But this doesn't mean people should write off Bancroft. A critical mass of middle class families could even out the ESL imbalance and push to improve the level of education. Bancroft's principal has only been there 1.5 years--give her a chance, too.