Another Brent question

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Overall, liberal parents but less so as the school continues to improve with every passing year. We're pretty middle of the road and wouldn't have bought in-bounds this year if the school had a strong "hippie" flavor. Watkins/Cluster parents are more liberal than Brent, and,hence, less interested in programs to challenge advanced learners (ability grouping). More and more parents could afford privates or St. Peter for ES but stay in DCPS on a year-to-year basis, partly to save for middle school, high school, college. Some of us are quietly glad to see the school become less "diverse" and more in-bounds in a city that won't support gifted and talented elementary programs. We can't see how our kids would be challenged in the upper grades any other way. We're not conservatives, we're pragmatists. Brent is retaining more high-SES families past 2nd grade than other Hill schools and that benefits the low-SES kids in various ways (PTA insisting on good principal,teachers, facilities).

Wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Overall, liberal parents but less so as the school continues to improve with every passing year. We're pretty middle of the road and wouldn't have bought in-bounds this year if the school had a strong "hippie" flavor. Watkins/Cluster parents are more liberal than Brent, and,hence, less interested in programs to challenge advanced learners (ability grouping). More and more parents could afford privates or St. Peter for ES but stay in DCPS on a year-to-year basis, partly to save for middle school, high school, college. Some of us are quietly glad to see the school become less "diverse" and more in-bounds in a city that won't support gifted and talented elementary programs. We can't see how our kids would be challenged in the upper grades any other way. We're not conservatives, we're pragmatists. Brent is retaining more high-SES families past 2nd grade than other Hill schools and that benefits the low-SES kids in various ways (PTA insisting on good principal,teachers, facilities).

Wow.

Totally agree with Wow - it's statements like the bolded that have the folks that originally revitalized Brent wondering what monster they've created.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Overall, liberal parents but less so as the school continues to improve with every passing year. We're pretty middle of the road and wouldn't have bought in-bounds this year if the school had a strong "hippie" flavor. Watkins/Cluster parents are more liberal than Brent, and,hence, less interested in programs to challenge advanced learners (ability grouping). More and more parents could afford privates or St. Peter for ES but stay in DCPS on a year-to-year basis, partly to save for middle school, high school, college. Some of us are quietly glad to see the school become less "diverse" and more in-bounds in a city that won't support gifted and talented elementary programs. We can't see how our kids would be challenged in the upper grades any other way. We're not conservatives, we're pragmatists. Brent is retaining more high-SES families past 2nd grade than other Hill schools and that benefits the low-SES kids in various ways (PTA insisting on good principal,teachers, facilities).

Wow.

Totally agree with Wow - it's statements like the bolded that have the folks that originally revitalized Brent wondering what monster they've created.

3rd the wow, but this is too idiotic to overlook. Liberals don't want to see their kids challenged? Stop by a school sponsored event at [insert one of about 8 Bethesda elementary schools] and tell me the political leanings of that group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Overall, liberal parents but less so as the school continues to improve with every passing year. We're pretty middle of the road and wouldn't have bought in-bounds this year if the school had a strong "hippie" flavor. Watkins/Cluster parents are more liberal than Brent, and,hence, less interested in programs to challenge advanced learners (ability grouping). More and more parents could afford privates or St. Peter for ES but stay in DCPS on a year-to-year basis, partly to save for middle school, high school, college. Some of us are quietly glad to see the school become less "diverse" and more in-bounds in a city that won't support gifted and talented elementary programs. We can't see how our kids would be challenged in the upper grades any other way. We're not conservatives, we're pragmatists. Brent is retaining more high-SES families past 2nd grade than other Hill schools and that benefits the low-SES kids in various ways (PTA insisting on good principal,teachers, facilities).

Wow.

Totally agree with Wow - it's statements like the bolded that have the folks that originally revitalized Brent wondering what monster they've created.

As one who was in the revitalization group, you are right. Holy crap. This is not the Brent I or my kids know. I'm very conservative but am definitely not rejoicing that the school is becoming less diverse. I do like that we know have sessions for advanced reading and math. Go figure my middle class out-of-bounds African American son is in both. I will continue fighting to ensure that the attituded above is not what will become the norm at Brent.

[Anonymous]

As one who was in the revitalization group, you are right. Holy crap. This is not the Brent I or my kids know. I'm very conservative but am definitely not rejoicing that the school is becoming less diverse. I do like that we know have sessions for advanced reading and math. Go figure my middle class out-of-bounds African American son is in both. I will continue fighting to ensure that the attituded above is not what will become the norm at Brent.

Totally disagree. You guys are being harsh, and myopic. This PP makes an excellent point, without rejoicing. Without formal G/T in DCPS, or the sort of institutional support for advanced learners routinely provided at suburban public schools (screening, pullout groups, entire programs for G/T kids) it's DCPS that motivates pragmatic, high-SES parents to cluster around schools like Brent. To my knowledge, Brent is essentially the only Hill school systematically providing challenge for advanced learners. This topic comes up more and more on DCUM and isn't going away.

It's knee jerk to blame parents looking for challenge. We left a CA school, for Brent, where great diversity was dandy because a well-established G/T program would serve our kids from 2nd grade up. We wouldn't have gone for Watkins either.

This poster is just being honest, while many others pay lip service to diversity while quietly worrying that their bright kids (including low-SES kids) will fall behind suburban peers, and pulling out when they start to. This attitude is not a problem at Brent; the problem is DCPS being more than happy to hold high-performing kids back by failing to provide them with appropriate services. I applaud anybody willing to call a spade a space on the issue because poor kids don't benefit when the affluent vote with their feet. Not a bit.

[Anonymous]

AA Brent parent, high-SES, who thinks that 17:08 is right on. We left the Cluster because bleeding hearts there weren't serious about ensuring that bright kids were challenged. The Cluster has had SINCE THE EARLY 90s to provide challenge but never gets around to it, explaining the high rate of IB attrition in the upper grades at Watkins, and between Watkins and SH.

If you're going to "fight" anything, fight the boneheaded DCPS/ultra liberal view that differentiated learning in the classroom is all that advanced learners need in diverse schools. It's a false dogma which still fuels white/high-SES flight. Don't fight parents who candidly reject mushy-minded thinking on the issue, of whatever race, wherever they may stand on the political, and socioeconomic, spectrum.

[Anonymous]

+1. yea, save your tiresome wows for a spectacularly short-sighted dcps. brent could use some more centrists, and even some dyed in the wool conservatives. when the 2012 cas results are broken down by grade, race and class, we'll have a better idea what the real deal is.

[Anonymous]

"Brent is essentially the only Hill school systematically providing challenge for advanced learners."

Brent talks about this a lot, but really hasn't nailed it down yet.

There is still a great deal of activity at Brent that revolves around standardized testing and other activities that do little to engage advanced learners, or for that matter, just regular upper middle class kids.

This summer time and effort is being devoted to reading logs to stop the "summer slide." Somehow Brent missed the research that says high SES kids tend to make reading GAINS over the summer.

Instead of wasting everyone's time on this little project, why not have the literacy specialist focus on dedicated pull-outs for advanced readers? I know my child was bored to tears in her reading group last year. She wasn't the only one.

Brent is in a transition phase right now. If it can gain the level of autonomy that some of the upper NW DCPS elementary have, then I think they have a shot at retaining students in the upper grades.

As long as a large chunk of the school year is devoted 4 practice tests, the DCCAS and other DCPS sorts of things, I think parents will peel off for the suburbs, privates and charters in the upper grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1. yea, save your tiresome wows for a spectacularly short-sighted dcps. brent could use some more centrists, and even some dyed in the wool conservatives. when the 2012 cas results are broken down by grade, race and class, we'll have a better idea what the real deal is.

Yep, as soon as we get those damn liberals and brown kids out of Brent, we'll be on to something. Right PP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

As one who was in the revitalization group, you are right. Holy crap. This is not the Brent I or my kids know. I'm very conservative but am definitely not rejoicing that the school is becoming less diverse. I do like that we know have sessions for advanced reading and math. Go figure my middle class out-of-bounds African American son is in both. I will continue fighting to ensure that the attituded above is not what will become the norm at Brent.

Totally disagree. You guys are being harsh, and myopic. This PP makes an excellent point, without rejoicing. Without formal G/T in DCPS, or the sort of institutional support for advanced learners routinely provided at suburban public schools (screening, pullout groups, entire programs for G/T kids) it's DCPS that motivates pragmatic, high-SES parents to cluster around schools like Brent. To my knowledge, Brent is essentially the only Hill school systematically providing challenge for advanced learners. This topic comes up more and more on DCUM and isn't going away.

It's knee jerk to blame parents looking for challenge. We left a CA school, for Brent, where great diversity was dandy because a well-established G/T program would serve our kids from 2nd grade up. We wouldn't have gone for Watkins either.

This poster is just being honest, while many others pay lip service to diversity while quietly worrying that their bright kids (including low-SES kids) will fall behind suburban peers, and pulling out when they start to. This attitude is not a problem at Brent; the problem is DCPS being more than happy to hold high-performing kids back by failing to provide them with appropriate services. I applaud anybody willing to call a spade a space on the issue because poor kids don't benefit when the affluent vote with their feet. Not a bit.

/quote]

I love that we have the advanced learning. My son is in both. What I disagree with is rejoicing that we are becoming less diverse. I don't want my kids to go to a lily white school that only has high SES families. I will fight that attitude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AA Brent parent, high-SES, who thinks that 17:08 is right on. We left the Cluster because bleeding hearts there weren't serious about ensuring that bright kids were challenged. The Cluster has had SINCE THE EARLY 90s to provide challenge but never gets around to it, explaining the high rate of IB attrition in the upper grades at Watkins, and between Watkins and SH.

If you're going to "fight" anything, fight the boneheaded DCPS/ultra liberal view that differentiated learning in the classroom is all that advanced learners need in diverse schools. It's a false dogma which still fuels white/high-SES flight. Don't fight parents who candidly reject mushy-minded thinking on the issue, of whatever race, wherever they may stand on the political, and socioeconomic, spectrum.

Again, not fighting the idea of providing challenges for kids. Fighting the idea that the only way to achieve that is to get low SES and African American students out of Brent. Shockingly the big push for the pull out in the upper grades for advanced math and reading was the more diverse upper grade families.

[Anonymous]

The views of this blog are extremely strong and confrontational. The statements about "getting a race and class out of Brent" is unnerving.

I always thought the cluster way was a success.

[Anonymous]

What do you mean the cluster way is a success? You know that not everyone on the hill is able to get into the cluster, right? The cluster excludes Brent, Maury, etc. neighborhoods. So if you don't live in Cluster area, what are you supposed to do? Brent parents lobbied quite hard a few years ago for cluster to allow Brent into the cluster and cluster shut out Brent. Not sure why-- possibly because at that time Brent was predominently OOB and poor.

anyway, how is the cluster a success since so few cluster kids actually end up at S-H? Wasn't that the whole point of the cluster starting up 20 so agos?-- to keep S-H as a real Hill neighborhood middle school option? What percent of S-H students actually live in boundary? And of those, how many go on to Eastern?

Brent is certainly not perfect (and the statements here that equate white with bright make me cringe) but I don't see that the cluster as any more successful as a school option.

[Anonymous]

PP here-- I looked it up. S-H is 22% inboundry. Maybe Brent wasn't included in the cluster because the founders believed all the four selected elementary schools would sufficiently feed S-H and here would not be room at the table for Brent and Maury students etc.

Anyway, at this point it is ancient history why cluster didn't include all hill elementary schools. But here and now, looking at the data, cluster doesn't seem successful to me. But I'm eager to hear otherwise. I love to hear more about successful school systems! Maybe there is something I'm just not seeing. thanks!

[Anonymous]

I love how every white, high SES parent thinks their child is gifted.