SWS Open House Impressions & Info, 1/31

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If SWS has the regular walking distance preference, with the school in the middle of a square, then the preference boundary wouldn't touch Trinidad.

That's right, it's technically "walking distance" proximity, not a straight radius/measurement proximity. I doubt that even traditionally illogical DCPS would consider a neighborhood separated from the Hill by crazy Florida Ave. within walking distance for young children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LT is in the middle of a renovation. DCPS isn't going to shut it.

Probably not shut the building, but I wouldn't rule out DCPS closing LT eventually. Other recently renovated schools have changed hands, soon to include Prospect Learning Center, SWS' new home. The LT building could get folded into another school down the track, particularly if SWS wins proximity preference and LT's IB population dips even further in the next few years as a result.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If SWS has the regular walking distance preference, with the school in the middle of a square, then the preference boundary wouldn't touch Trinidad.

That's right, it's technically "walking distance" proximity, not a straight radius/measurement proximity. I doubt that even traditionally illogical DCPS would consider a neighborhood separated from the Hill by crazy Florida Ave. within walking distance for young children.

PP here
Look at a map and do the math. Granted it would be southern portion of Trinidad or the northernmost extreme of the Hill -- we talking real neighborhood lines or realtor speak? -- my bigger point is that a significant portion of Hill residents would be excluded while some smaller population of near Hill residents would gain proximity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If SWS has the regular walking distance preference, with the school in the middle of a square, then the preference boundary wouldn't touch Trinidad.

That's right, it's technically "walking distance" proximity, not a straight radius/measurement proximity. I doubt that even traditionally illogical DCPS would consider a neighborhood separated from the Hill by crazy Florida Ave. within walking distance for young children.

PP here
Look at a map and do the math. Granted it would be southern portion of Trinidad or the northernmost extreme of the Hill -- we talking real neighborhood lines or realtor speak? -- my bigger point is that a significant portion of Hill residents would be excluded while some smaller population of near Hill residents would gain proximity.

The walking distance is calculated by putting the school in the middle of a square that has 3000-foot sides, so the borders of the walking distance boundary would be about 1500 feet from 9th and F, which would exclude Trinidad.

[Anonymous]

FYI, in his presentation, the principal said that, this year, they're only going to admit kids whose parents put SWS as their top DCPS choice for PreS3. Something about having no boundary/IB population to work with at present and hundreds of applications expected for 15-18 spots means that only those who put SWS as #1 have a chance. I didn't quite follow his logic, but the message was clear.

There's another open house Feb 6th, 6:00. It's interesting to see what they do at Logan, even if SWS is out of reach for IB Hill parents unprepared to risk their good chance of pinning down a neighborhood PreS3 spot by putting their IB school as second choice (e.g. at Ludlow-Taylor, Maury, Brent, Tyler SI).

[Anonymous]

+1. Thanks for spreading the word, PP. SWS sounds like a shot in the dark for everybody w/out a sibling there. No point in applying though if you knock yourself out before you've started by putting it as 2nd choice (which I was just about to do).

DCPS, we need more early es programs like this one!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FYI, in his presentation, the principal said that, this year, they're only going to admit kids whose parents put SWS as their top DCPS choice for PreS3. Something about having no boundary/IB population to work with at present and hundreds of applications expected for 15-18 spots means that only those who put SWS as #1 have a chance. I didn't quite follow his logic, but the message was clear.

There's another open house Feb 6th, 6:00. It's interesting to see what they do at Logan, even if SWS is out of reach for IB Hill parents unprepared to risk their good chance of pinning down a neighborhood PreS3 spot by putting their IB school as second choice (e.g. at Ludlow-Taylor, Maury, Brent, Tyler SI).

Say what? How is this even possible? This goes completely against how DCPS has explained the lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1. Thanks for spreading the word, PP. SWS sounds like a shot in the dark for everybody w/out a sibling there. No point in applying though if you knock yourself out before you've started by putting it as 2nd choice (which I was just about to do).

DCPS, we need more early es programs like this one!

I would really love to get clarification on this, because this is NOT how the lottery is supposed to work. You only get "knocked out" if you get in to your first choice. So what is the principal trying to say? That he is only putting the names who ranked SWS into the lottery at all? Because if so, that's complete BS. I am shocked that no one at the open house challenged him on this point.

[Anonymous]

PP here-- I meant to say "he is only putting the names of people who ranked SWS *first* into the lottery".

[Anonymous]

The principal isn't putting anyone in the lottery, the parents are! He was just trying to explain the new system to a bunch of uninformed first-timers. Nothing evil was intended.

The only portion of Hill residnts that are going to be "exluded" are the ones IB for the Cluster without siblings. The proximity preference will enable a lot of young Hill families north of Stanton Park to go to SWS, should this be added in 2014. Trinidad is not walking distance, and Potomac Gardens no longer has preferecnce, either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The principal isn't putting anyone in the lottery, the parents are! He was just trying to explain the new system to a bunch of uninformed first-timers. Nothing evil was intended.

The only portion of Hill residnts that are going to be "exluded" are the ones IB for the Cluster without siblings. The proximity preference will enable a lot of young Hill families north of Stanton Park to go to SWS, should this be added in 2014. Trinidad is not walking distance, and Potomac Gardens no longer has preferecnce, either.

Well then count me among the "uninformed." How can he only accept people who put SWS as their first choice? That's not the way it's supposed to work.

Let's say there's 15 non-sibling spots for PS3 and 400 people apply for those spots. All those people go in the lottery. Doesn't matter what number preference they placed SWS. The top 15 people get the spots, unless they ALSO get into a school that they ranked higher. Then they would get their higher ranked school and would not get the SWS spot.

In other words, if I got a PS3 spot at SWS and ranked it 6th, but was waitlisted at my 1-5 ranked school, then I get the SWS spot. That's how the lottery works.

There may not have been "evil intent" but if the principal explained this the way it was presented by the PP, then he is misleading people.

[Anonymous]

HE doesn't put anyone in, the DCPS main computer does! If you rank other schools before SWS and get into one, SWS and any other school lower on the list gets dropped off. This is not how it used to be -- each school was dealt with as a separate entity instead of your list as a whole being considered.

Last year, if you put in for 6 schools, you could have gotten into your first choice and still had waitlist spots on the second through sixth choice. This year, if you put in for 6 schools, and get chosen at your third pick, you would still get waitlist spots in numbers one and two, but not in numbers 4-6 at all.

They did this to stop the major shuffling that would happen when everyone had 6 slot still potentially held open close the beginning of the school year. The assumption this year is that you rank the schools in the true order in which you would accept a slot, so you would not care if your "lesser" picks get dropped. Of course you could have six waitlist spots if you don't get into any school straightout.

The principal was emphasizing that, if SWS is your first pick, make it your first lottery pick. How is this misleading?

[Anonymous]

New poster. I heard what the guy had to say about playing the lottery. It was a muddled statement, confusing to veteran lottery playing parents and the unitiated an uninformed (which would include my spouse and me) alike.

He didn't make prospects sound at all good for those putting SWS below first choice, then left the basement at Ebenezers. The parent presenters who followed him made it clear that they weren't there to answer lottery related questons. I left scratching my head myself. If anybody goes to the next open house, please see what more you can learn about the lottery as it relates to this unique year at SWS (no IB population or boundaries) and post the info here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HE doesn't put anyone in, the DCPS main computer does! If you rank other schools before SWS and get into one, SWS and any other school lower on the list gets dropped off. This is not how it used to be -- each school was dealt with as a separate entity instead of your list as a whole being considered.

Last year, if you put in for 6 schools, you could have gotten into your first choice and still had waitlist spots on the second through sixth choice. This year, if you put in for 6 schools, and get chosen at your third pick, you would still get waitlist spots in numbers one and two, but not in numbers 4-6 at all.

They did this to stop the major shuffling that would happen when everyone had 6 slot still potentially held open close the beginning of the school year. The assumption this year is that you rank the schools in the true order in which you would accept a slot, so you would not care if your "lesser" picks get dropped. Of course you could have six waitlist spots if you don't get into any school straightout.

The principal was emphasizing that, if SWS is your first pick, make it your first lottery pick. How is this misleading?

Read what 17:38 said:

"this year, they're only going to admit kids whose parents put SWS as their top DCPS choice[i] for PreS3"

Unless this poster is misquoting the principal, which s/he may very well be, this is NOT how the lottery works. Yes, I get that IF YOU GET IN to a higher ranked choice, then the other schools are taken off your list. However, if I rank SWS #2 and get in, but get waitlisted at my #1 choice, then the principal CAN NOT deny admission to my child.

So if the principal did indeed say "they are only admitting kids whose parents put SWS as their top choice"... he is being misleading at best.

[Anonymous]

*sorry, I meant 17:08, not 17:38.