Brent parents: Give me the lowdown on the school

[Anonymous]

^ Which grade? More than 30 families have been shut out of of both preschool and prek before k next year. This means that next year's k will be nearly entirely in-boundary for the first time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter (in her 3d year - just started kindergarten) is very happy there. I've started to appreciate more and more the continuity of the community - many familiar faces in her classroom this year. Very nice that it is a relatively small school - I like the fact that there are only 2-3 classrooms of kids per year (as opposed to some of the highly regarded NW elementary schools that are massive). Her K teacher really seems to have hit the ground running with the kids - they have been "writing" in their journals every day and practicing reading. Yesterday my kid came home and proudly informed me "I read half of a book!"

Great school, and living in the neighborhood is great too.

Who lives in the neighborhood? We go there and all of my child's friends live out of bounds.

Huh? You must be talking about a different school. Not a single out of bound kid that I know of in my child's K class (nor were there any OOB kids in the prior two years for PS and PK).

[Anonymous]

It's a fact, read the school's profile on DCPS website, 50% in boundary. People get in to the school and then move out of bounds-the 50%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a fact, read the school's profile on DCPS website, 50% in boundary. People get in to the school and then move out of bounds-the 50%.

This does happen, but not much. Brent is majority in-boundary now, with the percent rising every year, by around 5%. Moreover, most of the OOB kids come in from other Hill neighborhoods and are high SES. We don't mind the lack of diversity, given DCPS' aversion to GT/AAP programs. Principal Young does a decent job, better for small kids than big ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a fact, read the school's profile on DCPS website, 50% in boundary. People get in to the school and then move out of bounds-the 50%.

Almost the entire 5th grade is OOB but for preS/preK/K/1st, it's pretty much entirely IB and is very much a neighborhood school.

[Anonymous]

How many 5th graders this year? Did they combine with 4th grade or is there a 5th grade class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What did you like about it?
What didn't you like?
Is there an easy community?
How do they approach bullying?
Any other feedback?

What we like: great teachers, responsive administration, nice children, involved parents, good playground, big PTA budget for specials and extras so the school is well-equipped, neighborhood school making play dates and birthday parties convenient

What we don't: small 5th grade and no middle school option, lack of SES diversity

Serious question: why is this something you don't like?

[Anonymous]

Regarding OOB children at Brent: with the possible exception of 5th grade, most of the children who were admitted OOB still live on or near Capitol Hill. It's a neighborhood school.

In the early childhood classes, the OOB children got in by cheating on the lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How many 5th graders this year? Did they combine with 4th grade or is there a 5th grade class?

There's one small fifth grade class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Regarding OOB children at Brent: with the possible exception of 5th grade, most of the children who were admitted OOB still live on or near Capitol Hill. It's a neighborhood school.

In the early childhood classes,

the OOB children got in by cheating on the lottery.

How does one "cheat" a lottery? Does the technique apply to Megamillions? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regarding OOB children at Brent: with the possible exception of 5th grade, most of the children who were admitted OOB still live on or near Capitol Hill. It's a neighborhood school.

In the early childhood classes,

the OOB children got in by cheating on the lottery.

How does one "cheat" a lottery? Does the technique apply to Megamillions? Inquiring minds want to know.

One lies about one's address. There are many other threads on this so no need to rehash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regarding OOB children at Brent: with the possible exception of 5th grade, most of the children who were admitted OOB still live on or near Capitol Hill. It's a neighborhood school.

In the early childhood classes,

the OOB children got in by cheating on the lottery.

How does one "cheat" a lottery? Does the technique apply to Megamillions? Inquiring minds want to know.

Maybe by signing up with an IB address when you actually live OOB?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regarding OOB children at Brent: with the possible exception of 5th grade, most of the children who were admitted OOB still live on or near Capitol Hill. It's a neighborhood school.

In the early childhood classes,

the OOB children got in by cheating on the lottery.

How does one "cheat" a lottery? Does the technique apply to Megamillions? Inquiring minds want to know.

Maybe by signing up with an IB address when you actually live OOB?

We all know who the cheaters are, they don't seem to care nor does the school so unfortunately it will continue to happen.

[Anonymous]

I don't believe that happens much, or care if parents own a pricey in-boundary property they pay hefty tax on. The school isn't all that crowded and there was a big drop in preschool applications from 2013 (72) to 2014 (43).

Parents have been know to rent small in-boundary apartments to furnish in-bound addresses, and use a friends' in-boundary addresses to register. It's a small school community and fudging residency details gets complicated of course.

[Anonymous]

If you can afford to buy in bounds for Brent, you are lucky that you have found strong real estate and a good school option. GL!