Brent or EL Haynes?

[Anonymous]

Esevdali. You've got some things right and other things wrong. 1st, there was a movement for Brent to become an educational campus (pk to 8 ) but that was quickly extinguished. Then it became about a temporary solution for Brent to "seed" a middle school program somewhere that could grow and then be placed into Jefferson once radical changes at some of the other feeder schools had a chance to take effect.

Several other scenarios to "capture" current parents were floated and rejected. Including a feed to Stuart Hobson which was rejected by dcps. Dcps wanted Brent to feed to Jefferson and wouldn't budge. Although with some intervention by public officials, Brent was allowed to also feed to Eliot Hine in case the experiment with Jefferson Academy ( devised by Rhee just before she left ) was a failure.

Parents at Brent in the upper grades are not seeing changes at Jefferson and Eliot Hine fast enough. Lower grade parents are somewhat optimistic that one of those two schools will be acceptable as far as their academic offerings and culture and climate in time for their kids. And they are willing to work and stay engaged with the middle schools while that happens.

As far as getting into Charters in 5th grade, it doesn't seem that hard. You've got Latin, KIPP, DC Prep, Howard Math and Science Charter, Two Rivers among others. And Basis starts in 5th next year.

Middle School is not a reason to reject Brent or flee to the suburbs if you want to stay in the city. Lots of people are focusing their efforts on it and it can be worked out.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I am not concerned about the middle schools now. We are planning on staying this state 5 years. But five years long time in education time. So we want good school.

[Anonymous]

In that case, OP, Brent is wonderful. I have a second grader and a preschooler there. It is a calm, orderly school with enthusiastic, creative teachers. The principal is good; the community is nice. We are out of boundary and feel very included. My children love the school. It's hard to imagine a better school.

[Anonymous]

Brent. Absolutely wonderful school (I Have a 4th grader and a 1st grader). Middle school is a LONG time away for my 1st grader.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read this thread differently. I hear Brent/Hill parents say pick Haynes because it has middle school.

I don't hear any Haynes parents say come we have a great middle school

In fact, all the families I know at Haynes have left in 4th - 5th grade, never made it as far as middle school.

Haynes parent here. Come, we have a great middle school!

I think your information is dated PP. I know lots of parents staying on through middle school. Test scores are among the best in the city and the school is getting stronger every day.

[Anonymous]

The middle school situation five or six years hence may be up in the air, but NW still has a big head start on Capitol Hill in developing neighborhood middle schools acceptable to a critical mass of middle-class families. No, it isn't difficult to get into charter middle schools, other than Latin, for the time being, but that may change as demand starts to outstrip supply. You see this with the charter elementary school on the Hill, Two Rivers and Logan Montessori. Four or five years ago, when the schools were new, no problem getting in through the lotteries. Now, each spring, the schools have waiting lists a mile long Only one person's opinion, but I'm not optimistic that either Jefferson or EH will be attracting many in-bounds Brent families five years from now, no matter what sort of heavy lifting committed parents do in the meantime. In ten years, perhaps. But these schools will surely have started to attract some upper-middle-class families by the time your kid leaves elementary. Only you know how long you plan to live in the District, how much of a risk taker you are, how much money you can put away for private middle school as a back up, how willing you would be to move to the burbs, what sort of services your kid will probably need at school (special needs? gifted?), and how willing you would be to send your kid to a middle school school that may still be fairly tough by the time your kid gets there, and how much time and effort you can and will put into PTA activities. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Which one can you walk to? For a first grader, that would be my primary question. Middle school can work itself out later.

[Anonymous]

esevdali wrote:I'm in-bounds for Brent and think that both of the schools are both fine, but since Haynes offers a viable middle school feed that many a middle-class family is comfortable with and Brent doesn't, it's a no brainer. I see no viable neighborhood middle school option emerging on the Hill in the forseeable future. In the absence of lottery luck at Latin, Brent in-bounds parents almost always leave DCPS for middle school. As you may know, Brent feeds into two middle schools that middle class families won't touch for now (Jefferson in SW and EH on the Hill), and probably won't touch in great numbers for a decade or longer. Talk to in-bounds Brent parents of 3rd-5th graders and you will be hard pressed to find a single one planning to enroll their kid(s) in either of these schools. Furthermore, no city-wide middle school academic magnets/exam schools are planned for the time being and the existing charter middle schools have no admission standards beyond lottery luck. So, if you enroll your kid at Brent for first grade, and your kid is ahead of the curve academically by 5th grade by DCPS standards, you run a high risk of being pushed to the burbs later, or left scrambling to find the funds for parochial or independent school tuition. It's a shame that Brent PTA parents have, to some extent, allowed this situation to develop by letting Rhee and Tommy Wells divide and conquer on the middle school feeder issue. As you may know, the Brent PTA tried to get DCPS to sanction a Brent-only middle school a couple years ago but the movement fell apart. Accusations of racism were hurled all too freely and many parents threw their hands in the air as a result. I'd go with Haynes if you want to continue to live in the District past 5th grade. Alternatively, get creative: if you live near a Red Line stop, stay where you are, save to buy a condo in Tacoma Park, pay taxes there and send your kid to wonderful Tacoma Park Middle School and Blair High School in Mo Co.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the Brent parents, do you consider Stuart Hobson via OOB lottery a viable option?

I am the pp with the 4th grader. No. We will toss that into the lottery mix but I don't think it will work for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which one can you walk to? For a first grader, that would be my primary question. Middle school can work itself out later.

PP with the 4th grader again. This is what we said too. Now we are really feeling the pressure. We got a spot in 3rd grade at a Deal feeding school and regret not taking it. This year we didn't get anything except Hardy feeders so we didn't take them. We will do lottery again next year and we may take a Hardy feeder just to get out. In the end, those years pass quickly and frankly I can't imagine Jefferson or EH being viable options for most of the Brent children within the next 5 years.

[Anonymous]

I am also a Brent parent and don't doubt your impressions about Jefferson, Eliot Hine and Stuart Hobson. But hope you will attend open houses and information meetings or schedule your own visits at all three so you can judge with your own experiences what is going on at those schools.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone attended open houses for Stuart-Hobson and Hardy who can compare the two? Looking at DC-CAS, the schools outcomes and demographics seem similar to me.

[Anonymous]

I'm the PP at Brent with a 1st & 4th grader. We, too, got into a Deal feeder for 3rd grader and I don't regret not taking it at all (I understand why someone else might, but I don't). Deal is great, sure, but we are just really pleased with Brent and I figure I'll worry about this year right now and the future later. It does help that we are OOB at Brent and are IB for Stuart Hobson which I certainly do see as a better option than either Jefferson or EH. I am mildly nervous, but everything else has worked out ok so far, so I will make sure I do everything we can do and not panic.

[Anonymous]

NW still has a big head start on Capitol Hill in developing neighborhood middle schools acceptable to a critical mass of middle-class families.

This sounds reasonable until you unpack it, at which point it falls apart. There is no such thing as "NW" as an entity. There are decent elementary schools (I.E. JKLM) in NW, and NW has a good middle school (i.e. Deal). But there are parts of NW that have no local elementary school option. Most parents on Capitol Hill now have an in-boundary E.S. option to send their kids to. We have friends in places like Columbia Heights, Petworth, etc, etc... who had to move from NW to Capitol Hill for the schools.

Capitol Hill is a neighborhood. One that is becoming more and more homogenously middle-class/weatlhy. "Northwest" is not.

[Anonymous]

Gee, and here I was thinking that Shaw's middle school was going to be a viable option for those of us on Capitol Hill. Thanks for clarifying.