Southwest to Eastern HS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am hearing talk from a few Basis middle school parents that they have no intention of allowing their students to stay at Basis for high school. They are wondering if the honors/IB Diploma program at Eastern would be doable if a whole group of them went at once. It is all questions at this point but the idea passing through their minds is a hopeful thing.

I see Eastern's prospects as a desirable neighborhood high school being poor for 5-15 years, and good after that, for the next generation of Capitol Hill denizens. That is to say the future parents currently living in group houses on the Hill . I'v been hearing talk from Maury parents that Eliot-Hine would be doable if a whole group of them went at once for several years now. Until that happens, the Basis MS parents aren't going.

I agree. BASIS families didn't choose BASIS over SH, E-H or Jefferson only to go back to Eastern. No way we'd do that. We are sticking with BASIS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It just never made sense to me that kids from SW could feed into Wilson. I understand that SW are upset that this has been taken away from them, but it makes little sense. I can, however, sympathize with the Crestwood residents. At least they are geographically closer.

Actually, Eastern and Wilson are pretty similar in distance and public transit travel time from SW. (Driving travel time is almost certainly faster to Wilson during rush hour than getting all the way across the Mall/Hill to Eastern). While redistricting SW to Eastern may help balance feeder patterns overall, it's certainly not a more obvious choice if geography's your criterion.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of what PP said is true. Additionally, between the rather ugly rhetoric from the Van Ness Parents Group about how desperate they are to exclude students from SW from that school when it reopens and the redistricting of Wilson to be sure that no kids outside affluent NW have any access, it feels very much like DCPS and the affluent parts of the city are mking every effort to constrict the educational opportunities and presence of kids in SW. Certainly there is not a single element of any of the school boundary proposals that have not left kids in SW materially worse off. We'd been thinking we'd go private all along because Amidon's still weak. But now we're really thinking about whether we want our tax dollars to go to DC at all.

If it makes you feel any better, my so-called "affluent" Northwest neighborhood is treated similarly to yours. I believe we are the only neighborhood in the entire city to lose by-right access to both Wilson and Deal (some lost access to one or the other). So, if nothing else, I feel your pain.

Thanks, it does kind of. It's just frustrating to see a set of schools that have really struggled to get closer to good and to serve a student population that doesn't get a lot of attention just have the rug yanked out from under them. I hate it because I really love the little neighborhood down here - it's friendly and neighborly and has an economically diverse set of long term residents, with little of the edge that exists in more gentrifying neighborhoods and it just feels like the city is happily tossing it aside in place of either more dramatically troubled or stridently privleged communities.

How big of a gap do you perceive to be between Wilson and Eastern and do you think there is any possibility of closing it? If so, what would it take? I don't really want to downplay anyone's concerns about proposed changes, but there are cases -- such as being moved from Deal to Hardy -- that I think are at least reasonable. Whatever performance gap there is can be closed easily. Then there are cases like Wilson to Cardozo in which the gap might be insurmountable. I tend to think of Wilson to Eastern being somewhere in between, but I don't know enough about it to know exactly where it is on the spectrum.

Eastern has scores that look a lot like Columbia Heights EC (in my speedy cut of a comparison of Wilson, Cardozo, CHEC and Eastern). It has a bunch less diversity and a lot more poverty than CHEC and is about comparable to Cardozo in that regard. Like Cardozo it's a "priority" not a "rising" school. We don't know anything abotu 4 year graduation rates yet, given the reconstitution. All of which is to say that it's probably not catastrophic but not an education I'd use for my kid and I think the trend lines for future improvement point in a couple of directions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of what PP said is true. Additionally, between the rather ugly rhetoric from the Van Ness Parents Group about how desperate they are to exclude students from SW from that school when it reopens and the redistricting of Wilson to be sure that no kids outside affluent NW have any access, it feels very much like DCPS and the affluent parts of the city are mking every effort to constrict the educational opportunities and presence of kids in SW. Certainly there is not a single element of any of the school boundary proposals that have not left kids in SW materially worse off. We'd been thinking we'd go private all along because Amidon's still weak. But now we're really thinking about whether we want our tax dollars to go to DC at all.

If it makes you feel any better, my so-called "affluent" Northwest neighborhood is treated similarly to yours. I believe we are the only neighborhood in the entire city to lose by-right access to both Wilson and Deal (some lost access to one or the other). So, if nothing else, I feel your pain.

Thanks, it does kind of. It's just frustrating to see a set of schools that have really struggled to get closer to good and to serve a student population that doesn't get a lot of attention just have the rug yanked out from under them. I hate it because I really love the little neighborhood down here - it's friendly and neighborly and has an economically diverse set of long term residents, with little of the edge that exists in more gentrifying neighborhoods and it just feels like the city is happily tossing it aside in place of either more dramatically troubled or stridently privleged communities.

How big of a gap do you perceive to be between Wilson and Eastern and do you think there is any possibility of closing it? If so, what would it take? I don't really want to downplay anyone's concerns about proposed changes, but there are cases -- such as being moved from Deal to Hardy -- that I think are at least reasonable. Whatever performance gap there is can be closed easily. Then there are cases like Wilson to Cardozo in which the gap might be insurmountable. I tend to think of Wilson to Eastern being somewhere in between, but I don't know enough about it to know exactly where it is on the spectrum.

Eastern has scores that look a lot like Columbia Heights EC (in my speedy cut of a comparison of Wilson, Cardozo, CHEC and Eastern). It has a bunch less diversity and a lot more poverty than CHEC and is about comparable to Cardozo in that regard. Like Cardozo it's a "priority" not a "rising" school. We don't know anything abotu 4 year graduation rates yet, given the reconstitution. All of which is to say that it's probably not catastrophic but not an education I'd use for my kid and I think the trend lines for future improvement point in a couple of directions.

How do the Eastern black/hispanic scores compare to the black/hispanic scores at Wilson?

[Anonymous]

This ideal that SW kids are destined for Eastern is not a deal breaker, never have and never will. Merely because when Jefferson was the cream of the crop, Eastern was still fortunate to get the best students out of Jefferson. This all of sudden "why has the world forsaken me" and now we must go to Eastern is for who's benefit. Wilson and Eastern will be the first and second largest comprehensive high-schools respectively. So, if history is going to repeat itself and history will show that when Eastern and Wilson were of that caliber before both schools had strengths and weaknesses that made them unique. The popularity and the success of Eastern is remarkably surprising because many thought that the school would not achieve such lofty goals withing the allotted time period.

Again, Jefferson population was once heavily populated with FARMS and at one time the Jefferson was better than Deal in all categories. The leadership changed and so did the reputatoin and the outcome, hoping that the reinvestment will produce a stellar program.

Eastern has five feeder schools on the horizon and just be confidence that all pieces of coal that enter will become diamonds in their due t ime.

As for Eastern's IB program in comparison to the Maryland counties is null and void. But as for Eastern IB program in comparison to Wilson's IB program (ooops , my bad they don't have one). Oh! Well

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This ideal that SW kids are destined for Eastern is not a deal breaker, never have and never will. Merely because when Jefferson was the cream of the crop, Eastern was still fortunate to get the best students out of Jefferson. This all of sudden "why has the world forsaken me" and now we must go to Eastern is for who's benefit. Wilson and Eastern will be the first and second largest comprehensive high-schools respectively. So, if history is going to repeat itself and history will show that when Eastern and Wilson were of that caliber before both schools had strengths and weaknesses that made them unique. The popularity and the success of Eastern is remarkably surprising because many thought that the school would not achieve such lofty goals withing the allotted time period.

Again, Jefferson population was once heavily populated with FARMS and at one time the Jefferson was better than Deal in all categories. The leadership changed and so did the reputatoin and the outcome, hoping that the reinvestment will produce a stellar program.

Eastern has five feeder schools on the horizon and just be confidence that all pieces of coal that enter will become diamonds in their due t ime.

As for Eastern's IB program in comparison to the Maryland counties is null and void. But as for Eastern IB program in comparison to Wilson's IB program (ooops , my bad they don't have one). Oh! Well

Hi Word Salad!

[Anonymous]

Do you think Word Salad's Spidey-sense zings when Eastern pops up on DCUM?

Eastern is still very much in transition. Many IB families are happy to take Wilson's non-IB route over Eastern (yep, lots of IB Eastern kids at Wilson).

If Jefferson and EH turn around there may be hope but it is going to struggle for years to come which is sad. Adding SW into Eastern really brings nothing to the table it doesn't already have. Bridge to far still.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of what PP said is true. Additionally, between the rather ugly rhetoric from the Van Ness Parents Group about how desperate they are to exclude students from SW from that school when it reopens and the redistricting of Wilson to be sure that no kids outside affluent NW have any access, it feels very much like DCPS and the affluent parts of the city are mking every effort to constrict the educational opportunities and presence of kids in SW. Certainly there is not a single element of any of the school boundary proposals that have not left kids in SW materially worse off. We'd been thinking we'd go private all along because Amidon's still weak. But now we're really thinking about whether we want our tax dollars to go to DC at all.

If it makes you feel any better, my so-called "affluent" Northwest neighborhood is treated similarly to yours. I believe we are the only neighborhood in the entire city to lose by-right access to both Wilson and Deal (some lost access to one or the other). So, if nothing else, I feel your pain.

Thanks, it does kind of. It's just frustrating to see a set of schools that have really struggled to get closer to good and to serve a student population that doesn't get a lot of attention just have the rug yanked out from under them. I hate it because I really love the little neighborhood down here - it's friendly and neighborly and has an economically diverse set of long term residents, with little of the edge that exists in more gentrifying neighborhoods and it just feels like the city is happily tossing it aside in place of either more dramatically troubled or stridently privleged communities.

How big of a gap do you perceive to be between Wilson and Eastern and do you think there is any possibility of closing it? If so, what would it take? I don't really want to downplay anyone's concerns about proposed changes, but there are cases -- such as being moved from Deal to Hardy -- that I think are at least reasonable. Whatever performance gap there is can be closed easily. Then there are cases like Wilson to Cardozo in which the gap might be insurmountable. I tend to think of Wilson to Eastern being somewhere in between, but I don't know enough about it to know exactly where it is on the spectrum.

Eastern has scores that look a lot like Columbia Heights EC (in my speedy cut of a comparison of Wilson, Cardozo, CHEC and Eastern). It has a bunch less diversity and a lot more poverty than CHEC and is about comparable to Cardozo in that regard. Like Cardozo it's a "priority" not a "rising" school. We don't know anything abotu 4 year graduation rates yet, given the reconstitution. All of which is to say that it's probably not catastrophic but not an education I'd use for my kid and I think the trend lines for future improvement point in a couple of directions.

How do the Eastern black/hispanic scores compare to the black/hispanic scores at Wilson?

There are, like, two hispanic students at Eastern and the rest of the school is AA. And Wilson's a lot larger than Eastern. But there are almost exactly the same number of AA students at Wilson and Eastern, so that's a useful comparison (though, the AA students are likely somewhat poorer at Eastern). Their scores at Wilson are in the same ball park better than Eastern - about 45% of AA kids at Wilson are proficient or better on math CAS compared to 39% at Eastern. It's 49% (Wilson) and 45% in reading. And a bigger portion of that is "advanced" at Wilson. (So, I'm not sure there's a lot of students there that could fill seats in AP or IB classrooms yet, unlike Wilson). And, recall, Eastern doesn't have a 12th grade yet and an extra year of students probably won't make those scores go up. (Though, probably not down, either).

[Anonymous]

^^ and they expect me to send my "advanced' non-AA student to Eastern? Hell no.

[Anonymous]

Jefferson 8th grade graduation population was about 50 students. Eastern will probably get about 26 students at most from Jefferson. Our incoming freshmen class is extremely large and the inclusion of Jefferson doesn't amount to hill of beans.

As for Wilson vs Eastern the comparison is always raised but when the percentage points are 3 points or less then..say what, say you? It just goes to show that Eastern is making strides with their AA population. Remember Eastern relaunched and their first time out of the gate under new leadership their DCCAS scores reached a level of decent status.

There was a reason for SW kids to be routed to Wilson and it was pretty obvious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ and they expect me to send my "advanced' non-AA student to Eastern? Hell no.

Did you read the DC-CAS proficiency numbers? Eastern's proficiency levels are comparable to the Wilson's AA proficiency levels and Wilson is majority AA - and has been for decades. And it's this big sought-after school.

[Anonymous]

^^ yes, but at Wilson, my DC won't be the only non-AA student, nor the only one scoring advanced.

[Anonymous]

^^ How LOW do you want parent's expectations to be?!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It just never made sense to me that kids from SW could feed into Wilson. I understand that SW are upset that this has been taken away from them, but it makes little sense. I can, however, sympathize with the Crestwood residents. At least they are geographically closer.

Actually, Eastern and Wilson are pretty similar in distance and public transit travel time from SW. (Driving travel time is almost certainly faster to Wilson during rush hour than getting all the way across the Mall/Hill to Eastern). While redistricting SW to Eastern may help balance feeder patterns overall, it's certainly not a more obvious choice if geography's your criterion.

It will take you at least twice as long to drive to Wilson during morning rush hour. For one, Wilson is twice as far away. Two, traffic is virtually non-existent on the Hill heading east in the morning. And, even heading west, you just need to avoid the major roads that the Marylanders use. It doesn't take more than 10-15 minutes to get from the Hill to downtown in the morning. Three, why would you go by the Mall? Why not use I or M to get across SCap then head diagonal to one of the Carolinas.

Metro will also be way quicker, even if you are close to one of the green line stops.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ yes, but at Wilson, my DC won't be the only non-AA student, nor the only one scoring advanced.

With the boundary chances your DC won't be the only non-AA advanced student at Eastern -- there could be many, especially since Eastern population is small compared to Wilson. Wilson is only 20% White, remember.