New to looking at Capitol Hill DCPS. Any majority high SES schools?

[Anonymous]

CHDS

[Anonymous]

OP, look at the "Is Brent the Best School on Capitol Hill" thread from earlier this year to learn all about Brent.

When we were house hunting 5 years ago, we went as far as attending PTA meetings at Watkin, Maury and Brent. Maury is keeping more high-SES families every year, but they still lose more than Brent after 2nd. Brent and Maury both have such a problem with their middle school feeders (Eliot-Hine) that their 5th grades are entirely AA.

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/246031.page#2567031

[Anonymous]

Just FYI for the "discriminating set". All AA most certainly does not mean low SES. And you are completely wrong about the makeup of the 5th grade at Brent and have been for the last 3 years. You are clueless and make lots of assumptions.

[Anonymous]

Also, guess what? AA parents have as much a problem with the feeder pattern at Brent as the white, Asian and Hispanic parents do. If they are at Brent in 5th they are most likely going private, Stuart Hobson or hardy for middle school.

[Anonymous]

and about half of last year's 5th grade went straight to Basis for 6th.

[Anonymous]

We are talking about public elementary schools?

[Anonymous]

here is the inside scoop for Brent.

the boundry actually includes a lot of low income housing, but the housing does not look like traditional "public housing." There is a soup kitchen just around the block from Brent and and two others within three blocks, that I know of. There is a homeless shelter and a home for battered women-- but again, they are not obvious from the outside. The neighborhood is generally appalled that it is becoming so difficult for working class people to afford to live in the neighborhood and is working very hard to ensure more low to moderate income housing stock is added to the area.

Regarding whether Brent is majority high SES, it depends on how you define high SES.

I will note that at the publishing party for my son's class, I felt that the child with the very best project was one that I know lives in subsidized housing in the Brent area.

In sum, I think Brent is not a good fit for your family. There are plenty of families eager to attend Brent because it enjoys an economically diverse student population.

[Anonymous]

^^^ yes! I am a Brent parent and I feel this shopping for schools by ses status of the parents deeply creepy. I feel even worse that Brent is seen as a "winner" in this category. As the poster above mentioned, many many parents at Brent are dismayed by the emerging lack of diversity ( of all kinds ) at the school and wish it could be managed. One suggestion way back was to maybe expand over to the empty Van Ness building and become a cluster school, I.e. an early childhood campus and an upper grade campus. Never panned out for various reasons. At least we still have kids budding in from Bolling Air Force Base and some slots reserved for NCLB students. But who knows how long that will last?

[Anonymous]

FWIW, BASIS seems to have become a de-facto "feeder" for the better Capitol Hill schools like Brent and St. Peters - though it needs to be at 5th grade. I believe BASIS won't be accepting many if any at the higher grades.

[Anonymous]

OP, you really might want to look at the long earlier thread - the discussion about diversity issues in the school community on it is thoughtful, hard-hitting and informative.

It's not quite true that the 5th grades at Brent or Maury are entirely low-SES and AA, but nearly.

With high SES Hill families able to vote with their feet to escape both SH and EH, the great majority do for now. As things stand, Latin, BASIS, the burbs and privates attract almost all the high-SES Brent 3rd and 4th graders (and Jefferson Academy attracting most of the low-SES 5th graders) leaving a small, one-class 5th grade full of poor kids.

But up to 4th, you should be fine at Brent, and very welcome for wanting to be part of a community that is diverse yet mostly high SES. Many Brent parents think like you, OP. If the bleak middle school feeder doesn't concern you, and you can find a house you can afford and like in the small Brent district, go for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thanks for the replies. What boundaries/ demographics will SWS serve now that they have moved? If they go to lottery likely the quality will decline.

SWS will be neighborhood school for Hill.

"go to a lottery"? every DCPS school participates in lottery for ECC and OOB K-12. Lottery spaces are allocated based on projected enrollment and popular programs readily fill IB. If by "lottery" you really mean magnet school with open enrollment, that really has no bearing on the quality of the school. It could impact the demographics but that's not necessarily an issue.

What I find disconcerning about your post -- you make no distinction between the curriculum or quality of the school and your perceived value of affluence. There are plenty of wealthy but utterly disengaged parents with kids who act accordingly. Don't judge the school by the value of the car you see at drop off. Do you see those parents volunteering and engaged in their school community? Can the intelligently discuss the school's educational philosophy and sell both its strengths and address its weaknesses (yes -- even Yu Ying has weaknesses ;-) ). Do you see drive by parents, excessive dependency on nannies/non-parent caregivers, etc (honestly, I see this more in MoCo and upper NW than the Hill)? Don't assume that someone's affluence or education level makes them a better or somehow more engaged parent.

But I digress. SWS will be neighborhood school. It will likely be located at the soon to close Prospect Learning Center or the closed Van Ness, but the final location and boundaries have yet to be determined.

[Anonymous]

+1. If you can't afford a house in the Brent District, really want to live on the Hill, and have a kid under age 6, buy in the Maury District, And don't let the hippy dippy liberals touting diversity at any cost get you down. Without DCPS-funded programs for advanced learners/gifted kids, you need mostly high-SES schools, with their vigilant PTAs, to provide appropriate challenge for a bright high SES kids who stay after around 2nd grade!

[Anonymous]

10:10 Where exactly is this "a lot" of low income housing located -- that is, other than the Ellen Wilson development? Are you suggesting that Capitol Quarter is "low income"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you really might want to look at the long earlier thread - the discussion about diversity issues in the school community on it is thoughtful, hard-hitting and informative.

It's not quite true that the 5th grades at Brent or Maury are entirely low-SES and AA, but nearly.

With high SES Hill families able to vote with their feet to escape both SH and EH, the great majority do for now. As things stand, Latin, BASIS, the burbs and privates attract almost all the high-SES Brent 3rd and 4th graders (and Jefferson Academy attracting most of the low-SES 5th graders) leaving a small, one-class 5th grade full of poor kids.

But up to 4th, you should be fine at Brent, and very welcome for wanting to be part of a community that is diverse yet mostly high SES. Many Brent parents think like you, OP. If the bleak middle school feeder doesn't concern you, and you can find a house you can afford and like in the small Brent district, go for it.


Arrrrhggghh! This is just not true. There are like 19 kids at Brent in the 5th grade. Very small but not poor and not all one race. And circa 5 Brent students went to Jefferson Academy last year. Count on one hand.

[Anonymous]

. . . assuming that south of Virginia Avenue was inbound?