Committee on overcrowding in the Wilson feeder pattern

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2 Deal made 2 offers to 6th graders on its wait list this year.

Last year by October they had made 26 calls to 6th graders on the WL.

Meanwhile the Wilson problem will hit crisis mode next fall when Deal will send many/most of its 545 8th graders to Wilson meaning 9th grade alone could be close to 700 kids. There appears to be no plan for how to have enough classrooms or teachers for those kids.

Where are you getting that number will attend Wilson? I believe the number is like 70% from deal attend Wilson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Um, I'm not sticking up for Lafayette.

Basically - set up the zoning based on proximity and capacity. Overfilled Wilson and underfilled Coolidge and Roosevelt are part of one system.

The reason that Deal and Wilson are over-crowded is that more kids have the right to attend than the schools can hold. Nobody is admitted through the lottery to either. So the solution is simple: reduce the number of kids who have the right to attend. There are two ways that you can get the right to attend: either live in-boundary, or attend a feeder school. You can reduce the number of kids who attend by-right either by shrinking the boundaries or by restricting feeder school rights. (You could also reduce the number of kids in the feeder schools either by shrinking their boundaries or by moving schools out of the feeder pattern, but that will take longer to have an impact). The problem is that nobody wants to be the one who loses out, as the discussion on this thread indicates.

Until DCPS can offer alternatives that are as-good or even almost-as-good they're not going to be able to take anyone out of either school.

Ten pages of angst and hand-wringing summed up nicely in one post. Well done.

This is also the reason we opted out of the DCPS system - it's going to be in constant flux, and factors that have nothing to do with what is best for the school system are going to have an outsized influence on the process.

[Anonymous]

These threads always make me sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Bought your house in reliance on Wilson access" is not a property right. Even if it was, I want it taken away for the good of the rest of us. Move if you want. I want those kids in Ward 1 or 4 schools, or if (when, right PP!?!) you move away, to have your replacements put their kids there.

You realize this same mentality applies to kids at Lafayette, right? You want "those kids" gone but you think your feeder rights are sacrosanct.

Exactly - for some reason it was easy for some to suggest that eotp kids don't belong (despite their neighborhoods having long been zoned for Deal and Wilson - which, by the way IS in ward 4), but the idea of Lafayette families giving up Wilson is unthinkable.... Um, and I never said it was a "property right" (however that matters).

What's ok for 16th street heights, crestwood, etc, ought to be ok for those families in Chevy Chase DC too.

Hold on there. It was PP at 14:31 who suggested the Lafayette kids be moved but that families who bought EOTP would keep their rights to Deal/Wilson. How is that any more fair than the other way around?

I wasn't suggesting that moving one group of kids or another is any more fair. What I was saying is that Lafayette kids are no more entitled to Wilson than the EOTP families that have zoned for Wilson since the time of desegregation. All of those families bought homes in those neighborhoods for access to the Deal/Wilson path, and it is no more fair to drop one group than the other.
That's why I focused on the solution that works best. Split the white/rich Wilson group up, Since Lafayette is in the far north and is a large population of wealthy families, create a new "desirable" school path through a far north MS/HS (Coolidge and its accompanying MS). All of a sudden, we will have two MS/HS paths with great socioeconomic and performance diversity - not just one at Deal/Wilson.

Cutting relatively small numbers of EOTP park families out of Deal/Wilson doesn't accomplish this. You need to bigger diversion of wealthy, white and politically powerful families to create a second desirable HS track in DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about using Fillmore as a PK-only building and taking PK out of all the overcrowded elementary schools? Just offer preference to all the families IB for schools that are losing their PK. Those schools can then turn one PK classroom into an art room, or use other space for art (I just heard Lafayette has a "peace room" whatever that is so don't tell me there's no room) or DCPS can make Ellington share some of its space and bus the kids who currently go to Fillmore there.

A different idea--what if Ellington expanded downwards and took middle schoolers (or even just 8th grade)? It would help with the issue that they allegedly can't find enough talented high schoolers in DC, would take some kids out of Deal and Hardy, and would better fill up its nice new building. The kids could have different schedules and other ways to keep middle and high schoolers separate. And just like BASIS and Latin have an advantage by starting at 5th when other schools start at 6th, Ellington could have an advantage if it started at 8th instead of 9th.

The elementary schools in Ward 3 are not overcrowded - they are large and some people may not like that but they are not overcrowded.

And with the shift of Eaton to Hardy there should be enough middle school seats WOTP for the foreseeable future too.

The problem has always been Wilson - Deal alone is now sending enough students to completely fill Wilson.

You should easily be able to replicate the SES mix at Deal and Wilson by bundling Mt Pleasant, Crestwood, 16th Street Heights, Brightwood, Shepherd Park & Colonial Village into Coolidge or Roosevelt.

I don't think some of the people in these discussions realize how diverse Deal and Wilson are today - sometimes it feels like these Upper NW parents think Deal and Wilson look Sidwell when the reality is far from that.

BTW it is 3.4 miles from Lafayette to Coolidge and 1.5 miles from Lafayette to Wilson - but remember much of the Lafayette district is east of the actual school so there addresses within Lafayette's boundaries that are probably more like 2.5 miles from Coolidge and 2 miles from Wilson. I doubt too many students from Lafayette are walking to Wilson or even taking the bus so going across the park isn't really such a burden.

It is not logistically hard to overnight change the student mix at Coolidge to one that should be palatable for those parents, assuming those parents are ok with the current mix at Wilson which is only 34% white.

Um, if you took out Mt Pleasant, Crestwood, 16th Street Heights, Brightwood, Shepherd Park & Colonial Village from Deal/Wilson, (and presumably OTB families), the SES and racial diversity of DEAL/Wilson would drastically decline. But I guess that suits WOTP families just fine?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Bought your house in reliance on Wilson access" is not a property right. Even if it was, I want it taken away for the good of the rest of us. Move if you want. I want those kids in Ward 1 or 4 schools, or if (when, right PP!?!) you move away, to have your replacements put their kids there.

You realize this same mentality applies to kids at Lafayette, right? You want "those kids" gone but you think your feeder rights are sacrosanct.

Exactly - for some reason it was easy for some to suggest that eotp kids don't belong (despite their neighborhoods having long been zoned for Deal and Wilson - which, by the way IS in ward 4), but the idea of Lafayette families giving up Wilson is unthinkable.... Um, and I never said it was a "property right" (however that matters).

What's ok for 16th street heights, crestwood, etc, ought to be ok for those families in Chevy Chase DC too.

Hold on there. It was PP at 14:31 who suggested the Lafayette kids be moved but that families who bought EOTP would keep their rights to Deal/Wilson. How is that any more fair than the other way around?

Because the PP at 14:31 brought that up specifically because it would shift a big enough cohort of high-SES kids at once to create a viable high-achieving second DCPS feeder pattern. Just kicking out the grandfathered kids in the Gold Coast and erasing Shepherd feeder rights would be a much smaller cohort and would not move the needle in the same way -- and that's not why DCUM always reverts to kicking out "those kids." If you want to talk about fairness at least compare apples to oranges. 14:31 was trying to come up with a politically disastrous idea that would theoretically result in an additional good school for kids to attend. The "get rid of all those EOTP kids" people are not at all interested in improving outcomes for "those kids."

Yup, this is exactly what I meant. Thank you for saying it more clearly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about using Fillmore as a PK-only building and taking PK out of all the overcrowded elementary schools? Just offer preference to all the families IB for schools that are losing their PK. Those schools can then turn one PK classroom into an art room, or use other space for art (I just heard Lafayette has a "peace room" whatever that is so don't tell me there's no room) or DCPS can make Ellington share some of its space and bus the kids who currently go to Fillmore there.

A different idea--what if Ellington expanded downwards and took middle schoolers (or even just 8th grade)? It would help with the issue that they allegedly can't find enough talented high schoolers in DC, would take some kids out of Deal and Hardy, and would better fill up its nice new building. The kids could have different schedules and other ways to keep middle and high schoolers separate. And just like BASIS and Latin have an advantage by starting at 5th when other schools start at 6th, Ellington could have an advantage if it started at 8th instead of 9th.

The elementary schools in Ward 3 are not overcrowded - they are large and some people may not like that but they are not overcrowded.

And with the shift of Eaton to Hardy there should be enough middle school seats WOTP for the foreseeable future too.

The problem has always been Wilson - Deal alone is now sending enough students to completely fill Wilson.

You should easily be able to replicate the SES mix at Deal and Wilson by bundling Mt Pleasant, Crestwood, 16th Street Heights, Brightwood, Shepherd Park & Colonial Village into Coolidge or Roosevelt.

I don't think some of the people in these discussions realize how diverse Deal and Wilson are today - sometimes it feels like these Upper NW parents think Deal and Wilson look Sidwell when the reality is far from that.

BTW it is 3.4 miles from Lafayette to Coolidge and 1.5 miles from Lafayette to Wilson - but remember much of the Lafayette district is east of the actual school so there addresses within Lafayette's boundaries that are probably more like 2.5 miles from Coolidge and 2 miles from Wilson. I doubt too many students from Lafayette are walking to Wilson or even taking the bus so going across the park isn't really such a burden.

It is not logistically hard to overnight change the student mix at Coolidge to one that should be palatable for those parents, assuming those parents are ok with the current mix at Wilson which is only 34% white.

Um, if you took out Mt Pleasant, Crestwood, 16th Street Heights, Brightwood, Shepherd Park & Colonial Village from Deal/Wilson, (and presumably OTB families), the SES and racial diversity of DEAL/Wilson would drastically decline. But I guess that suits WOTP families just fine?

Just FYI, most of these neighborhoods have already been removed; they are only grandfathered for now. The only ones that will remain IB for Deal/Wilson after grandfathering are Mt. Pleasant and Shepherd Park/Colonial Village.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about using Fillmore as a PK-only building and taking PK out of all the overcrowded elementary schools? Just offer preference to all the families IB for schools that are losing their PK. Those schools can then turn one PK classroom into an art room, or use other space for art (I just heard Lafayette has a "peace room" whatever that is so don't tell me there's no room) or DCPS can make Ellington share some of its space and bus the kids who currently go to Fillmore there.

A different idea--what if Ellington expanded downwards and took middle schoolers (or even just 8th grade)? It would help with the issue that they allegedly can't find enough talented high schoolers in DC, would take some kids out of Deal and Hardy, and would better fill up its nice new building. The kids could have different schedules and other ways to keep middle and high schoolers separate. And just like BASIS and Latin have an advantage by starting at 5th when other schools start at 6th, Ellington could have an advantage if it started at 8th instead of 9th.

The elementary schools in Ward 3 are not overcrowded - they are large and some people may not like that but they are not overcrowded.

And with the shift of Eaton to Hardy there should be enough middle school seats WOTP for the foreseeable future too.

The problem has always been Wilson - Deal alone is now sending enough students to completely fill Wilson.

You should easily be able to replicate the SES mix at Deal and Wilson by bundling Mt Pleasant, Crestwood, 16th Street Heights, Brightwood, Shepherd Park & Colonial Village into Coolidge or Roosevelt.

I don't think some of the people in these discussions realize how diverse Deal and Wilson are today - sometimes it feels like these Upper NW parents think Deal and Wilson look Sidwell when the reality is far from that.

BTW it is 3.4 miles from Lafayette to Coolidge and 1.5 miles from Lafayette to Wilson - but remember much of the Lafayette district is east of the actual school so there addresses within Lafayette's boundaries that are probably more like 2.5 miles from Coolidge and 2 miles from Wilson. I doubt too many students from Lafayette are walking to Wilson or even taking the bus so going across the park isn't really such a burden.

It is not logistically hard to overnight change the student mix at Coolidge to one that should be palatable for those parents, assuming those parents are ok with the current mix at Wilson which is only 34% white.

Um, if you took out Mt Pleasant, Crestwood, 16th Street Heights, Brightwood, Shepherd Park & Colonial Village from Deal/Wilson, (and presumably OTB families), the SES and racial diversity of DEAL/Wilson would drastically decline. But I guess that suits WOTP families just fine?

Just FYI, most of these neighborhoods have already been removed; they are only grandfathered for now. The only ones that will remain IB for Deal/Wilson after grandfathering are Mt. Pleasant and Shepherd Park/Colonial Village.

You mean the rezoning as of 18 month ago? That's been put on hold indefinitely, precisely because it was a non-solution. Those kids are still attending Deal and Wilson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Bought your house in reliance on Wilson access" is not a property right. Even if it was, I want it taken away for the good of the rest of us. Move if you want. I want those kids in Ward 1 or 4 schools, or if (when, right PP!?!) you move away, to have your replacements put their kids there.

You realize this same mentality applies to kids at Lafayette, right? You want "those kids" gone but you think your feeder rights are sacrosanct.

Exactly - for some reason it was easy for some to suggest that eotp kids don't belong (despite their neighborhoods having long been zoned for Deal and Wilson - which, by the way IS in ward 4), but the idea of Lafayette families giving up Wilson is unthinkable.... Um, and I never said it was a "property right" (however that matters).

What's ok for 16th street heights, crestwood, etc, ought to be ok for those families in Chevy Chase DC too.

Hold on there. It was PP at 14:31 who suggested the Lafayette kids be moved but that families who bought EOTP would keep their rights to Deal/Wilson. How is that any more fair than the other way around?

Because the PP at 14:31 brought that up specifically because it would shift a big enough cohort of high-SES kids at once to create a viable high-achieving second DCPS feeder pattern. Just kicking out the grandfathered kids in the Gold Coast and erasing Shepherd feeder rights would be a much smaller cohort and would not move the needle in the same way -- and that's not why DCUM always reverts to kicking out "those kids." If you want to talk about fairness at least compare apples to oranges. 14:31 was trying to come up with a politically disastrous idea that would theoretically result in an additional good school for kids to attend. The "get rid of all those EOTP kids" people are not at all interested in improving outcomes for "those kids."

If that was what 14:31 was saying, he/she should not have made the fairness argument in the first sentence and negated later in the post. Make the argument about moving a large co-hort but don’t pretend it is fair. At least be honest.

What are you talking about? The entirety of the post is about how that plan would create another school that could retain high-SES families. The whole post.

Yes, creating that school by shifting Lafayette out of Deal/Wilson rather than by shifting the EOTP students because it would be unfair to shift one but not unfair to shift the other.

Because only the scenario proposed by 1431 actually shifts enough students to accomplish the goal. Shifting out the EOTP students doesn't move the needle. The issue is that 1431 was proposing a solution; you're proposing a punishment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about using Fillmore as a PK-only building and taking PK out of all the overcrowded elementary schools? Just offer preference to all the families IB for schools that are losing their PK. Those schools can then turn one PK classroom into an art room, or use other space for art (I just heard Lafayette has a "peace room" whatever that is so don't tell me there's no room) or DCPS can make Ellington share some of its space and bus the kids who currently go to Fillmore there.

A different idea--what if Ellington expanded downwards and took middle schoolers (or even just 8th grade)? It would help with the issue that they allegedly can't find enough talented high schoolers in DC, would take some kids out of Deal and Hardy, and would better fill up its nice new building. The kids could have different schedules and other ways to keep middle and high schoolers separate. And just like BASIS and Latin have an advantage by starting at 5th when other schools start at 6th, Ellington could have an advantage if it started at 8th instead of 9th.

The elementary schools in Ward 3 are not overcrowded - they are large and some people may not like that but they are not overcrowded.

And with the shift of Eaton to Hardy there should be enough middle school seats WOTP for the foreseeable future too.

The problem has always been Wilson - Deal alone is now sending enough students to completely fill Wilson.

You should easily be able to replicate the SES mix at Deal and Wilson by bundling Mt Pleasant, Crestwood, 16th Street Heights, Brightwood, Shepherd Park & Colonial Village into Coolidge or Roosevelt.

I don't think some of the people in these discussions realize how diverse Deal and Wilson are today - sometimes it feels like these Upper NW parents think Deal and Wilson look Sidwell when the reality is far from that.

BTW it is 3.4 miles from Lafayette to Coolidge and 1.5 miles from Lafayette to Wilson - but remember much of the Lafayette district is east of the actual school so there addresses within Lafayette's boundaries that are probably more like 2.5 miles from Coolidge and 2 miles from Wilson. I doubt too many students from Lafayette are walking to Wilson or even taking the bus so going across the park isn't really such a burden.

It is not logistically hard to overnight change the student mix at Coolidge to one that should be palatable for those parents, assuming those parents are ok with the current mix at Wilson which is only 34% white.

Um, if you took out Mt Pleasant, Crestwood, 16th Street Heights, Brightwood, Shepherd Park & Colonial Village from Deal/Wilson, (and presumably OTB families), the SES and racial diversity of DEAL/Wilson would drastically decline. But I guess that suits WOTP families just fine?

Just FYI, most of these neighborhoods have already been removed; they are only grandfathered for now. The only ones that will remain IB for Deal/Wilson after grandfathering are Mt. Pleasant and Shepherd Park/Colonial Village.

You mean the rezoning as of 18 month ago? That's been put on hold indefinitely, precisely because it was a non-solution. Those kids are still attending Deal and Wilson.

PP here. My understanding is that those neighborhoods were rezoned out of Deal/Wilson in 2014, and would be grandfathered for a few more years (2022?) but that after that, kids in these neighborhoods would have to attend a different middle and high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Um, I'm not sticking up for Lafayette.

Basically - set up the zoning based on proximity and capacity. Overfilled Wilson and underfilled Coolidge and Roosevelt are part of one system.

The reason that Deal and Wilson are over-crowded is that more kids have the right to attend than the schools can hold. Nobody is admitted through the lottery to either. So the solution is simple: reduce the number of kids who have the right to attend. There are two ways that you can get the right to attend: either live in-boundary, or attend a feeder school. You can reduce the number of kids who attend by-right either by shrinking the boundaries or by restricting feeder school rights. (You could also reduce the number of kids in the feeder schools either by shrinking their boundaries or by moving schools out of the feeder pattern, but that will take longer to have an impact). The problem is that nobody wants to be the one who loses out, as the discussion on this thread indicates.

Until DCPS can offer alternatives that are as-good or even almost-as-good they're not going to be able to take anyone out of either school.

But not all kids at the elementary schools that feed Deal and Hardy have the "right" to them. I look around my child's class and I know 7 children who moved OOB after enrolling. These are the ones I know. I am sure there are more as I do not know the current home address of 100 students. So let's pretend that 10% of each class of each feeder school are children who moved OOB but stayed enrolled. These children are continuing to Deal / Wilson. Take 10% of the students out of Deal and guess what - problem mostly solved.

Who is going to ask the Principal to enforce the policy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Um, I'm not sticking up for Lafayette.

Basically - set up the zoning based on proximity and capacity. Overfilled Wilson and underfilled Coolidge and Roosevelt are part of one system.

The reason that Deal and Wilson are over-crowded is that more kids have the right to attend than the schools can hold. Nobody is admitted through the lottery to either. So the solution is simple: reduce the number of kids who have the right to attend. There are two ways that you can get the right to attend: either live in-boundary, or attend a feeder school. You can reduce the number of kids who attend by-right either by shrinking the boundaries or by restricting feeder school rights. (You could also reduce the number of kids in the feeder schools either by shrinking their boundaries or by moving schools out of the feeder pattern, but that will take longer to have an impact). The problem is that nobody wants to be the one who loses out, as the discussion on this thread indicates.

Until DCPS can offer alternatives that are as-good or even almost-as-good they're not going to be able to take anyone out of either school.

But not all kids at the elementary schools that feed Deal and Hardy have the "right" to them. I look around my child's class and I know 7 children who moved OOB after enrolling. These are the ones I know. I am sure there are more as I do not know the current home address of 100 students. So let's pretend that 10% of each class of each feeder school are children who moved OOB but stayed enrolled. These children are continuing to Deal / Wilson. Take 10% of the students out of Deal and guess what - problem mostly solved.

Who is going to ask the Principal to enforce the policy?

If that's your measure, it could be more than 10%. Some believe that 10% of the student body at Deal and Wilson resides in Maryland. And that's not ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about using Fillmore as a PK-only building and taking PK out of all the overcrowded elementary schools? Just offer preference to all the families IB for schools that are losing their PK. Those schools can then turn one PK classroom into an art room, or use other space for art (I just heard Lafayette has a "peace room" whatever that is so don't tell me there's no room) or DCPS can make Ellington share some of its space and bus the kids who currently go to Fillmore there.

A different idea--what if Ellington expanded downwards and took middle schoolers (or even just 8th grade)? It would help with the issue that they allegedly can't find enough talented high schoolers in DC, would take some kids out of Deal and Hardy, and would better fill up its nice new building. The kids could have different schedules and other ways to keep middle and high schoolers separate. And just like BASIS and Latin have an advantage by starting at 5th when other schools start at 6th, Ellington could have an advantage if it started at 8th instead of 9th.

The elementary schools in Ward 3 are not overcrowded - they are large and some people may not like that but they are not overcrowded.

And with the shift of Eaton to Hardy there should be enough middle school seats WOTP for the foreseeable future too.

The problem has always been Wilson - Deal alone is now sending enough students to completely fill Wilson.

You should easily be able to replicate the SES mix at Deal and Wilson by bundling Mt Pleasant, Crestwood, 16th Street Heights, Brightwood, Shepherd Park & Colonial Village into Coolidge or Roosevelt.

I don't think some of the people in these discussions realize how diverse Deal and Wilson are today - sometimes it feels like these Upper NW parents think Deal and Wilson look Sidwell when the reality is far from that.

BTW it is 3.4 miles from Lafayette to Coolidge and 1.5 miles from Lafayette to Wilson - but remember much of the Lafayette district is east of the actual school so there addresses within Lafayette's boundaries that are probably more like 2.5 miles from Coolidge and 2 miles from Wilson. I doubt too many students from Lafayette are walking to Wilson or even taking the bus so going across the park isn't really such a burden.

It is not logistically hard to overnight change the student mix at Coolidge to one that should be palatable for those parents, assuming those parents are ok with the current mix at Wilson which is only 34% white.

Um, if you took out Mt Pleasant, Crestwood, 16th Street Heights, Brightwood, Shepherd Park & Colonial Village from Deal/Wilson, (and presumably OTB families), the SES and racial diversity of DEAL/Wilson would drastically decline. But I guess that suits WOTP families just fine?

Don't overplay your hand. Have you seen what real estate prices are like in these areas, particularly Mt. Pleasant and Crestwood. Demographics are certainly converging with WOTP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about using Fillmore as a PK-only building and taking PK out of all the overcrowded elementary schools? Just offer preference to all the families IB for schools that are losing their PK. Those schools can then turn one PK classroom into an art room, or use other space for art (I just heard Lafayette has a "peace room" whatever that is so don't tell me there's no room) or DCPS can make Ellington share some of its space and bus the kids who currently go to Fillmore there.

A different idea--what if Ellington expanded downwards and took middle schoolers (or even just 8th grade)? It would help with the issue that they allegedly can't find enough talented high schoolers in DC, would take some kids out of Deal and Hardy, and would better fill up its nice new building. The kids could have different schedules and other ways to keep middle and high schoolers separate. And just like BASIS and Latin have an advantage by starting at 5th when other schools start at 6th, Ellington could have an advantage if it started at 8th instead of 9th.

Expanding Ellington to middle is a nice idea. Not sure if it would work, kids should still need to audition again to attend high school. But it could improve the caliber of the school if there were also an academic test as well as audition at middle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The problem has always been Wilson - Deal alone is now sending enough students to completely fill Wilson.

You should easily be able to replicate the SES mix at Deal and Wilson by bundling Mt Pleasant, Crestwood, 16th Street Heights, Brightwood, Shepherd Park & Colonial Village into Coolidge or Roosevelt.

I don't think some of the people in these discussions realize how diverse Deal and Wilson are today - sometimes it feels like these Upper NW parents think Deal and Wilson look Sidwell when the reality is far from that.

BTW it is 3.4 miles from Lafayette to Coolidge and 1.5 miles from Lafayette to Wilson - but remember much of the Lafayette district is east of the actual school so there addresses within Lafayette's boundaries that are probably more like 2.5 miles from Coolidge and 2 miles from Wilson. I doubt too many students from Lafayette are walking to Wilson or even taking the bus so going across the park isn't really such a burden.

It is not logistically hard to overnight change the student mix at Coolidge to one that should be palatable for those parents, assuming those parents are ok with the current mix at Wilson which is only 34% white.

Um, if you took out Mt Pleasant, Crestwood, 16th Street Heights, Brightwood, Shepherd Park & Colonial Village from Deal/Wilson, (and presumably OTB families), the SES and racial diversity of DEAL/Wilson would drastically decline. But I guess that suits WOTP families just fine?

Don't overplay your hand. Have you seen what real estate prices are like in these areas, particularly Mt. Pleasant and Crestwood. Demographics are certainly converging with WOTP.

Housing prices are rising of course all over the city but it's disingenuous to suggest the demographics east and west of the park are the same. There are no lower SES families and relatively few black or latino families west of the park. So if Deal and Wilson have significant diversity of that kind, it is coming from the eotp neighborhoods zoned or previously zoned for Deal/Wilson and OOB students that everyone seems to want to exclude -- just to make Deal/Wilson better/less crowded for the wotp crowd.