How bad is Miner Elementary?

[Anonymous]

I bet the prek is excellent and I would not hesitate to send my kid to Miner (or Tyler or Payne for that matter). Preschool is preschok. My bigger concern would actually be the quality of after care, which I know very little about.

[Anonymous]

Pre-school isn't always full of angels. Some kids in pre-school are already violent. Check before you go, and always ask your kid about how school went and whether anyone was giving him/her a hard time. You got to constantly ask, because kids at that age for some reason don't like to talk about those things.

[Anonymous]

The most honest review I ever had of Miner was a little 3rd grader I met at the rec ctr. I asked her how she liked it and she said "It's a damn shame how disrespectful most them kids are. One teacher cannot control her class in anyway, I hear her - I'm in the class next door."

hmm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The most honest review I ever had of Miner was a little 3rd grader I met at the rec ctr. I asked her how she liked it and she said "It's a damn shame how disrespectful most them kids are. One teacher cannot control her class in anyway, I hear her - I'm in the class next door."

hmm.

How long ago was this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most honest review I ever had of Miner was a little 3rd grader I met at the rec ctr. I asked her how she liked it and she said "It's a damn shame how disrespectful most them kids are. One teacher cannot control her class in anyway, I hear her - I'm in the class next door."

hmm.

How long ago was this?

Last summer.

[Anonymous]

Diversity is key...if there's no white kids in the school then it is doomed. How come DCPS headquarters hasn't figured that out yet? We need an all out blitz to recruit white kids to DCPS....I am open up for ideas

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Diversity is key...if there's no white kids in the school then it is doomed. How come DCPS headquarters hasn't figured that out yet? We need an all out blitz to recruit white kids to DCPS....I am open up for ideas

Are you serious? PLEASE go away.

I wish there were way to discuss the Hill schools without these kinds of racially clueless/hostile comments.

I live on the Hill and would totally consider Miner, Tyler, or Payne for Pre-K 3 or 4 if they were convenient and I was confident in the aftercare. (For me, aftercare is actually the sticking point with these schools.) With small classes and high ratios, the fact is that most pre-K classes are going to be good places as long as they have good teachers. There just isn't a need for "differentiation" for THREE YEAR OLDS - three year olds all pretty much have the same needs. If anything, the less advantaged 3 year olds might benefit from more exposure to books & pre-literacy activities, which would benefit all the kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Diversity is key...if there's no white kids in the school then it is doomed. How come DCPS headquarters hasn't figured that out yet? We need an all out blitz to recruit white kids to DCPS....I am open up for ideas

Are you serious? PLEASE go away.

I wish there were way to discuss the Hill schools without these kinds of racially clueless/hostile comments.

I live on the Hill and would totally consider Miner, Tyler, or Payne for Pre-K 3 or 4 if they were convenient and I was confident in the aftercare. (For me, aftercare is actually the sticking point with these schools.) With small classes and high ratios, the fact is that most pre-K classes are going to be good places as long as they have good teachers. There just isn't a need for "differentiation" for THREE YEAR OLDS - three year olds all pretty much have the same needs. If anything, the less advantaged 3 year olds might benefit from more exposure to books & pre-literacy activities, which would benefit all the kids.

I'll bite - this is true, about 3 year olds, but I'm not sure you should justify your "free daycare" if you wouldn't deign to attend the school after PK. So while you're parting yourself on the back for being racially sensitive, what you're really doing is advocating a scene that will pop up all over the city soon - a repeat of Ludlow-Taylor the last 5 years, where all the little kids are white and the rest of the school is black. How does this help - since you're so clued-in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Diversity is key...if there's no white kids in the school then it is doomed. How come DCPS headquarters hasn't figured that out yet? We need an all out blitz to recruit white kids to DCPS....I am open up for ideas

Are you serious? PLEASE go away.

I wish there were way to discuss the Hill schools without these kinds of racially clueless/hostile comments.

I live on the Hill and would totally consider Miner, Tyler, or Payne for Pre-K 3 or 4 if they were convenient and I was confident in the aftercare. (For me, aftercare is actually the sticking point with these schools.) With small classes and high ratios, the fact is that most pre-K classes are going to be good places as long as they have good teachers. There just isn't a need for "differentiation" for THREE YEAR OLDS - three year olds all pretty much have the same needs. If anything, the less advantaged 3 year olds might benefit from more exposure to books & pre-literacy activities, which would benefit all the kids.

You should come over to the VA boards, where people sneer at North Arlington and McLean schools all the time for lack of diversity. But schools like Miner make the VA schools look like the fucking rainbow coalition by comparison.

Some of these DC schools are nearly 100% black. Complete lack of diversity. Pointing that out, and noting that it makes it an undesirable school as a result, is fair game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Diversity is key...if there's no white kids in the school then it is doomed. How come DCPS headquarters hasn't figured that out yet? We need an all out blitz to recruit white kids to DCPS....I am open up for ideas

Are you serious? PLEASE go away.

I wish there were way to discuss the Hill schools without these kinds of racially clueless/hostile comments.

I live on the Hill and would totally consider Miner, Tyler, or Payne for Pre-K 3 or 4 if they were convenient and I was confident in the aftercare. (For me, aftercare is actually the sticking point with these schools.) With small classes and high ratios, the fact is that most pre-K classes are going to be good places as long as they have good teachers. There just isn't a need for "differentiation" for THREE YEAR OLDS - three year olds all pretty much have the same needs. If anything, the less advantaged 3 year olds might benefit from more exposure to books & pre-literacy activities, which would benefit all the kids.

I'll bite - this is true, about 3 year olds, but I'm not sure you should justify your "free daycare" if you wouldn't deign to attend the school after PK. So while you're parting yourself on the back for being racially sensitive, what you're really doing is advocating a scene that will pop up all over the city soon - a repeat of Ludlow-Taylor the last 5 years, where all the little kids are white and the rest of the school is black. How does this help - since you're so clued-in?

I don't know but pretty sure it's better than acting like black 3 year olds are untouchables.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Diversity is key...if there's no white kids in the school then it is doomed. How come DCPS headquarters hasn't figured that out yet? We need an all out blitz to recruit white kids to DCPS....I am open up for ideas

Are you serious? PLEASE go away.

I wish there were way to discuss the Hill schools without these kinds of racially clueless/hostile comments.

I live on the Hill and would totally consider Miner, Tyler, or Payne for Pre-K 3 or 4 if they were convenient and I was confident in the aftercare. (For me, aftercare is actually the sticking point with these schools.) With small classes and high ratios, the fact is that most pre-K classes are going to be good places as long as they have good teachers. There just isn't a need for "differentiation" for THREE YEAR OLDS - three year olds all pretty much have the same needs. If anything, the less advantaged 3 year olds might benefit from more exposure to books & pre-literacy activities, which would benefit all the kids.

You should come over to the VA boards, where people sneer at North Arlington and McLean schools all the time for lack of diversity. But schools like Miner make the VA schools look like the fucking rainbow coalition by comparison.

Some of these DC schools are nearly 100% black. Complete lack of diversity. Pointing that out, and noting that it makes it an undesirable school as a result, is fair game.

Dont be an idiot.

[Anonymous]

Miner is diverse in the Preschool/ Prek classes. There are, believe it or not, some high SES families in kindergarten and one in first, the Spanish population is also growing. There are multiple highly effective teachers throughout the building and the new principle has already made steps to diversify the staff, which was a problem under previous leadership. Talking with some of the teachers it also seems like the school is more instructionally focused than before. While they share the issues title 1 schools have, Miner is changing and has a lot of potential to be a great school. However the community's overall negative opinion of the school is the school's biggest hurdle in improving. Btw I know this from talking with some of the students and staff when their glee club performed at Hilloween this year.

[Anonymous]

The yelling from staff that goes on during recess is troublesome. It sounds more like boot-camp than elementary school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The yelling from staff that goes on during recess is troublesome. It sounds more like boot-camp than elementary school.

This thread is starting to sound harsher than a Ludlow-Taylor one. PP, the drill sergeant tactics are better than a lax attitude; with the former your kid will probably be safe, and with the latter there'll be chaos and your kid might get beat on - I'd take the drill sergeant atmosphere myself. There're usually very good reasons why teachers have developed certain practices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pre-school isn't always full of angels. Some kids in pre-school are already violent. Check before you go, and always ask your kid about how school went and whether anyone was giving him/her a hard time. You got to constantly ask, because kids at that age for some reason don't like to talk about those things.

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