Brent K class size

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, just because the K classes are likely to be on the large side this fall doesn't mean that your child would be lost in the shuffle for K, or any other year at Brent.

PTA funds are used to hire half a dozen floating "teacher partners" (classroom aides) to improve the adult: kid ratio at least part of the school day. Some classes have full-time practice teachers on board. The higher you go in the school, the smaller the classes tend to be. Many parents work in the House of Representatives office buildings nearby, and some will return to their state when their Rep is voted out or whatever.

We haven't found that Brent is a disorganized school (and we could afford private). There are many strong teachers, including all the specials teachers. Brent offers more specials than most other public schools (Spanish, art, music, science, PE).

Good luck w/your choice.

To clarify, teacher:student ratios will be good in K even if a class has 25 or 26 students because each K class gets a teacher and full-time teachers aide courtesy of DCPS. After K, PTAs pay for aides.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We left after Brent Kindergarten 2 years ago as it was pretty chaotic at all times-classroom, recess, field trips -and were not impressed with the school. K is not a strong year at Brent, teachers are average at best although I hear the new principal is great. GL.

Take this comment with a grain of salt, PP.

K was a very strong year for us at Brent for the past two years. Both our older and younger children (spaced close together) had the new K teacher, who rocks. Things have improved at Brent since you bailed. The recess situation is much less chaotic. The weakest K teacher retired.
The K OOB WL is a mile long.

Hello, Brent is a public school. Let me guess, you left for a tony private because, let's face it, DC public schools are chaotic places for parents who don't want the best for their kids, or are slackers who can't afford privates.

Just goes to show how much opinions vary - we had the so-called "weakest" K teacher referenced above (who retired) and thought she was fantastic (head and shoulders above the other two).

[Anonymous]

Agree. Parents tend to love or hate the Brent K teachers, other than perhaps the newest (generally liked).

As for the "chaos" at Brent, we tried Inspired Teaching and a JKLM first. Believe it or not, Brent proved better run than our previous DC public schools this past school year.

If you crave more order or personal attention for your child than Brent offers, you'd better pay for a private. Alternatively, go for a bootcamp charter like KIPP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The incoming K class is huge at all the Hill schools. It was a weird year.

There has been a massive influx of people and a baby boom on the Hill, starting about 6 years ago. The incoming K class won't be an outlier. DCPS reacts verrrry slowly to population changes.

This is an especially big year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We left after Brent Kindergarten 2 years ago as it was pretty chaotic at all times-classroom, recess, field trips -and were not impressed with the school. K is not a strong year at Brent, teachers are average at best although I hear the new principal is great. GL.

Take this comment with a grain of salt, PP.

K was a very strong year for us at Brent for the past two years. Both our older and younger children (spaced close together) had the new K teacher, who rocks. Things have improved at Brent since you bailed. The recess situation is much less chaotic. The weakest K teacher retired.
The K OOB WL is a mile long.

Hello, Brent is a public school. Let me guess, you left for a tony private because, let's face it, DC public schools are chaotic places for parents who don't want the best for their kids, or are slackers who can't afford privates.

Just goes to show how much opinions vary - we had the so-called "weakest" K teacher referenced above (who retired) and thought she was fantastic (head and shoulders above the other two).

I couldn't agree more with this as we had same experience, she was fantastic. She has been the best teacher we have had at Brent so far and I have a 3rd grader.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are considering moving to DC and looking at Capitol Hill neighborhood-Specifically Brent for K. I understand this might be one of the largest K classes with possibility of 30 kids in a class. Is this normal for DCPS or just a bad year? That seems large to me and a bit concerning.

Keep in mind that you'll have to move by the time your child finishes 4th grade. There is no decent MS on the Hill, and the city is not interested in creating one.

[Anonymous]

While I'm sure Brent is great, this thread makes me appreciate SWS' relatively small class size: largest class thus far has had 21 kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While I'm sure Brent is great, this thread makes me appreciate SWS' relatively small class size: largest class thus far has had 21 kids.

I think the point of the thread is that NEXT year there is a bumper crop of K kids (I don't know whether this is true, but that seems to be the operative premise of OP). WRT past years, my kid's k-2 grade classes at Brent have been 21-23 kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While I'm sure Brent is great, this thread makes me appreciate SWS' relatively small class size: largest class thus far has had 21 kids.

That's nice. We were #324 on the PreS4 WL at SWS. So we rented in-boundary for Brent and are coming for K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are considering moving to DC and looking at Capitol Hill neighborhood-Specifically Brent for K. I understand this might be one of the largest K classes with possibility of 30 kids in a class. Is this normal for DCPS or just a bad year? That seems large to me and a bit concerning.

Keep in mind that you'll have to move by the time your child finishes 4th grade. There is no decent MS on the Hill, and the city is not interested in creating one.

Troll. Ignore.

Who's moving? We'll find a public alternative in DC, maybe BASIS, or Wash Latin campus #2, or DCI, or Two Rivers, or Stuart Hobson or Hardy if we lottery in OOB. Heck, we may even be OK with Jefferson Academy.

Move by the time your child finishes 4th grade is BS. This year's Brent 5th grade cohort has 3 dozen students, up from 9 just two years ago. The two Brent 5th grade teachers are excellent.

[Anonymous]

Same old, nobody can post about Brent without PPs trying to turn the discussion to the middle school feed situation. Please start your own thread on that (or better yet, don't bother).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are considering moving to DC and looking at Capitol Hill neighborhood-Specifically Brent for K. I understand this might be one of the largest K classes with possibility of 30 kids in a class. Is this normal for DCPS or just a bad year? That seems large to me and a bit concerning.

Keep in mind that you'll have to move by the time your child finishes 4th grade. There is no decent MS on the Hill, and the city is not interested in creating one.

Stop it. Brent will have the largest 5th Grade cohort in years. And Basis seems to be able to absorb those who want to leave after Fourth.

[Anonymous]

+100.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are considering moving to DC and looking at Capitol Hill neighborhood-Specifically Brent for K. I understand this might be one of the largest K classes with possibility of 30 kids in a class. Is this normal for DCPS or just a bad year? That seems large to me and a bit concerning.

Keep in mind that you'll have to move by the time your child finishes 4th grade. There is no decent MS on the Hill, and the city is not interested in creating one.

Troll. Ignore.

Who's moving? We'll find a public alternative in DC, maybe BASIS, or Wash Latin campus #2, or DCI, or Two Rivers, or Stuart Hobson or Hardy if we lottery in OOB. Heck, we may even be OK with Jefferson Academy.

Move by the time your child finishes 4th grade is BS. This year's Brent 5th grade cohort has 3 dozen students, up from 9 just two years ago. The two Brent 5th grade teachers are excellent.

are you new hear? Jefferson academy is decades away from being viable. I also don't believe you have 3 dozen 5th graders? are they the top perfoming cohort?

[Anonymous]

Not new, at Brent for years, on the Hill for decades. 36 currently registered for 5th grade at Brent, including several 4th graders who took 6th grade math in 4th. More than half the 4th grade class is returning for 5th for the first time since Washington Latin opened its doors.

Sounds like you're out of date.