Brightwood Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sure they did. Tracked and differentiated is not the same as on grade level/behind grade level data. Either way, your anecdotal “it made a huge difference” is the point. You don’t actually know that it did, but you think it did, which is the only metric that actually matters to you because you know best for all of us.

The tracking was much more granular than "on grade level/behind", because we had actual test-in gifted programs. And I'm not claiming to know what's best for your kids, just mine. Maybe the level of instruction that DCPS offers is totally appropriate for your kids, I have no idea and I would not claim to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Last time I looked at Wells PARCC scores they were very bad. Did they improve?

New Poster- 33% of students meets or exceeds in ELA and 11% for math. That means 60+ kids in each grade for English and 20+ for math. So overall are the scores amazing? No. But the school also has tons of ELL students for example. Since there is tracking (honors/advanced) for many classes though there is a sufficient cohort of students for me to feel comfortable sending my student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just a quick note to say it would be great if someone who says that Wells is not doing well could provide actual specifics instead of what sounds like 14th hand information.

And also, how many of you so insistent about the importance of how many students were/were not on grade level at the elementary schools you attended when you were younger? Did you see the data? Did your parents? Seems like you still perceive yourself as being smart. Or that maybe your experience of your “good” school and education is just not dependent on this one story line? Lots of smart kids go to schools you’d never consider and there are plenty of other whose parents have made them so entitled they think their teacher should be one-on-one with them at all times, but it doesn’t matter how smart or challenged they are because at the end of the day they will have a huge safety net should they stumble one day.

My parents definitely knew the data for my school when they chose their neighborhood. They cared about their children's education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just a quick note to say it would be great if someone who says that Wells is not doing well could provide actual specifics instead of what sounds like 14th hand information.

And also, how many of you so insistent about the importance of how many students were/were not on grade level at the elementary schools you attended when you were younger? Did you see the data? Did your parents? Seems like you still perceive yourself as being smart. Or that maybe your experience of your “good” school and education is just not dependent on this one story line? Lots of smart kids go to schools you’d never consider and there are plenty of other whose parents have made them so entitled they think their teacher should be one-on-one with them at all times, but it doesn’t matter how smart or challenged they are because at the end of the day they will have a huge safety net should they stumble one day.

boy talk about privilege! personally I think my child actually needs to be taught and prepared. I’m not willing to say “oh, school doesn’t matter - he has a safety net!” crazy attitude and terrible argument to get people to buy into DCPS schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a quick note to say it would be great if someone who says that Wells is not doing well could provide actual specifics instead of what sounds like 14th hand information.

And also, how many of you so insistent about the importance of how many students were/were not on grade level at the elementary schools you attended when you were younger? Did you see the data? Did your parents? Seems like you still perceive yourself as being smart. Or that maybe your experience of your “good” school and education is just not dependent on this one story line? Lots of smart kids go to schools you’d never consider and there are plenty of other whose parents have made them so entitled they think their teacher should be one-on-one with them at all times, but it doesn’t matter how smart or challenged they are because at the end of the day they will have a huge safety net should they stumble one day.

My parents definitely knew the data for my school when they chose their neighborhood. They cared about their children's education.

Yea, I'm surprised that people think prior generations didn't do this. My parents chose our neighborhood for the schools. That being said, my parents didn't really have the resources to supplement in the way that a lot of DCUM-ers do (or claim to do at least), so our schools were their only option. I think a lot of UMC families in DC have more wiggle room in that regard and it makes them willing to experiment a little more with schools. I'm not sure many of them even realize how privileged that is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last time I looked at Wells PARCC scores they were very bad. Did they improve?

New Poster- 33% of students meets or exceeds in ELA and 11% for math. That means 60+ kids in each grade for English and 20+ for math. So overall are the scores amazing? No. But the school also has tons of ELL students for example. Since there is tracking (honors/advanced) for many classes though there is a sufficient cohort of students for me to feel comfortable sending my student.

But what does the tracking actually look like? You can tell that for algebra they're doing what a lot of DCPS middle schools do, which is to put all the kids approaching grade level in algebra. Basically, the differentiation between 8th grade math and algebra is "profoundly behind kids" vs. "everyone else." Is it different for other subjects? Is there differentiation across different sections of algebra? (Also, it was 8% or 38 total kids last year proficient in math, so about 13 per grade, not 20+.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last time I looked at Wells PARCC scores they were very bad. Did they improve?

New Poster- 33% of students meets or exceeds in ELA and 11% for math. That means 60+ kids in each grade for English and 20+ for math. So overall are the scores amazing? No. But the school also has tons of ELL students for example. Since there is tracking (honors/advanced) for many classes though there is a sufficient cohort of students for me to feel comfortable sending my student.

But what does the tracking actually look like? You can tell that for algebra they're doing what a lot of DCPS middle schools do, which is to put all the kids approaching grade level in algebra. Basically, the differentiation between 8th grade math and algebra is "profoundly behind kids" vs. "everyone else." Is it different for other subjects? Is there differentiation across different sections of algebra? (Also, it was 8% or 38 total kids last year proficient in math, so about 13 per grade, not 20+.)

Not sure it’s worth anonymously arguing the difference between 8% and 11% but the DC report card website lists 11.7% for the 2022-2023 school year. Don’t know where you are getting the 8% from.

https://schoolreportcard.dc.gov/lea/1/school/1071/report/explore/100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a quick note to say it would be great if someone who says that Wells is not doing well could provide actual specifics instead of what sounds like 14th hand information.

And also, how many of you so insistent about the importance of how many students were/were not on grade level at the elementary schools you attended when you were younger? Did you see the data? Did your parents? Seems like you still perceive yourself as being smart. Or that maybe your experience of your “good” school and education is just not dependent on this one story line? Lots of smart kids go to schools you’d never consider and there are plenty of other whose parents have made them so entitled they think their teacher should be one-on-one with them at all times, but it doesn’t matter how smart or challenged they are because at the end of the day they will have a huge safety net should they stumble one day.

boy talk about privilege! personally I think my child actually needs to be taught and prepared. I’m not willing to say “oh, school doesn’t matter - he has a safety net!” crazy attitude and terrible argument to get people to buy into DCPS schools.

Lol. It’s the audacity of people who come in here say stuff like this “I actually care” as if parents making different choices from them don’t. And no one’s asking you to buy in, it just might be nice if you stop talking about an experience you actually know nothing about and not assume you know so much about other people who make different choices than you do.

And “my parents moved to the neighborhood for the schools” - no one said this was new. In fact it just has a new name/face now vs. when our parents were kids, when our grandparents were…. It’s called racism, and everyone on this forum knows all the lingo that hides it but most turn a blind eye to the history and context so they can be convinced they’re getting the “best” of everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last time I looked at Wells PARCC scores they were very bad. Did they improve?

New Poster- 33% of students meets or exceeds in ELA and 11% for math. That means 60+ kids in each grade for English and 20+ for math. So overall are the scores amazing? No. But the school also has tons of ELL students for example. Since there is tracking (honors/advanced) for many classes though there is a sufficient cohort of students for me to feel comfortable sending my student.

But what does the tracking actually look like? You can tell that for algebra they're doing what a lot of DCPS middle schools do, which is to put all the kids approaching grade level in algebra. Basically, the differentiation between 8th grade math and algebra is "profoundly behind kids" vs. "everyone else." Is it different for other subjects? Is there differentiation across different sections of algebra? (Also, it was 8% or 38 total kids last year proficient in math, so about 13 per grade, not 20+.)

Not sure it’s worth anonymously arguing the difference between 8% and 11% but the DC report card website lists 11.7% for the 2022-2023 school year. Don’t know where you are getting the 8% from.

https://schoolreportcard.dc.gov/lea/1/school/1071/report/explore/100

8% is for PARCC data. You can see here:

https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Ida+B.+Wells+Middle+School

The schoolreportcard site is reporting students who tested proficient on the MSAA as well. The MSAA is for kids with very significant cognitive disabilities.

The full data with both is here: https://osse.dc.gov/assessmentresults2023 (at the school-level data).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a quick note to say it would be great if someone who says that Wells is not doing well could provide actual specifics instead of what sounds like 14th hand information.

And also, how many of you so insistent about the importance of how many students were/were not on grade level at the elementary schools you attended when you were younger? Did you see the data? Did your parents? Seems like you still perceive yourself as being smart. Or that maybe your experience of your “good” school and education is just not dependent on this one story line? Lots of smart kids go to schools you’d never consider and there are plenty of other whose parents have made them so entitled they think their teacher should be one-on-one with them at all times, but it doesn’t matter how smart or challenged they are because at the end of the day they will have a huge safety net should they stumble one day.

boy talk about privilege! personally I think my child actually needs to be taught and prepared. I’m not willing to say “oh, school doesn’t matter - he has a safety net!” crazy attitude and terrible argument to get people to buy into DCPS schools.

Lol. It’s the audacity of people who come in here say stuff like this “I actually care” as if parents making different choices from them don’t. And no one’s asking you to buy in, it just might be nice if you stop talking about an experience you actually know nothing about and not assume you know so much about other people who make different choices than you do.

And “my parents moved to the neighborhood for the schools” - no one said this was new. In fact it just has a new name/face now vs. when our parents were kids, when our grandparents were…. It’s called racism, and everyone on this forum knows all the lingo that hides it but most turn a blind eye to the history and context so they can be convinced they’re getting the “best” of everything.

It is not racist to not want to send your kids to a school with a negligible number of grade level students. Continue to think you're a mind reader and get mad at people who care about their children's school if you want, but you sound like an idiot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a quick note to say it would be great if someone who says that Wells is not doing well could provide actual specifics instead of what sounds like 14th hand information.

And also, how many of you so insistent about the importance of how many students were/were not on grade level at the elementary schools you attended when you were younger? Did you see the data? Did your parents? Seems like you still perceive yourself as being smart. Or that maybe your experience of your “good” school and education is just not dependent on this one story line? Lots of smart kids go to schools you’d never consider and there are plenty of other whose parents have made them so entitled they think their teacher should be one-on-one with them at all times, but it doesn’t matter how smart or challenged they are because at the end of the day they will have a huge safety net should they stumble one day.

boy talk about privilege! personally I think my child actually needs to be taught and prepared. I’m not willing to say “oh, school doesn’t matter - he has a safety net!” crazy attitude and terrible argument to get people to buy into DCPS schools.

Lol. It’s the audacity of people who come in here say stuff like this “I actually care” as if parents making different choices from them don’t. And no one’s asking you to buy in, it just might be nice if you stop talking about an experience you actually know nothing about and not assume you know so much about other people who make different choices than you do.

And “my parents moved to the neighborhood for the schools” - no one said this was new. In fact it just has a new name/face now vs. when our parents were kids, when our grandparents were…. It’s called racism, and everyone on this forum knows all the lingo that hides it but most turn a blind eye to the history and context so they can be convinced they’re getting the “best” of everything.

It is not racist to not want to send your kids to a school with a negligible number of grade level students. Continue to think you're a mind reader and get mad at people who care about their children's school if you want, but you sound like an idiot.

+1. Seriously, the above poster is an idiot. All parents want the best schools for their kids and overwhelming majority of schools in this country is neighborhood based. So what neighborhood you live in dictates what school your child goes to. Now not all parents can afford the neighborhood they want.

But to say that this is racist is complete nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last time I looked at Wells PARCC scores they were very bad. Did they improve?

New Poster- 33% of students meets or exceeds in ELA and 11% for math. That means 60+ kids in each grade for English and 20+ for math. So overall are the scores amazing? No. But the school also has tons of ELL students for example. Since there is tracking (honors/advanced) for many classes though there is a sufficient cohort of students for me to feel comfortable sending my student.

But what does the tracking actually look like? You can tell that for algebra they're doing what a lot of DCPS middle schools do, which is to put all the kids approaching grade level in algebra. Basically, the differentiation between 8th grade math and algebra is "profoundly behind kids" vs. "everyone else." Is it different for other subjects? Is there differentiation across different sections of algebra? (Also, it was 8% or 38 total kids last year proficient in math, so about 13 per grade, not 20+.)

Not sure it’s worth anonymously arguing the difference between 8% and 11% but the DC report card website lists 11.7% for the 2022-2023 school year. Don’t know where you are getting the 8% from.

https://schoolreportcard.dc.gov/lea/1/school/1071/report/explore/100

8% is for PARCC data. You can see here:

https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Ida+B.+Wells+Middle+School

The schoolreportcard site is reporting students who tested proficient on the MSAA as well. The MSAA is for kids with very significant cognitive disabilities.

The full data with both is here: https://osse.dc.gov/assessmentresults2023 (at the school-level data).

7% on grade level and 1% above grade level is terrible. There is no way any advance math is being taught and likely no on grade either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a quick note to say it would be great if someone who says that Wells is not doing well could provide actual specifics instead of what sounds like 14th hand information.

And also, how many of you so insistent about the importance of how many students were/were not on grade level at the elementary schools you attended when you were younger? Did you see the data? Did your parents? Seems like you still perceive yourself as being smart. Or that maybe your experience of your “good” school and education is just not dependent on this one story line? Lots of smart kids go to schools you’d never consider and there are plenty of other whose parents have made them so entitled they think their teacher should be one-on-one with them at all times, but it doesn’t matter how smart or challenged they are because at the end of the day they will have a huge safety net should they stumble one day.

boy talk about privilege! personally I think my child actually needs to be taught and prepared. I’m not willing to say “oh, school doesn’t matter - he has a safety net!” crazy attitude and terrible argument to get people to buy into DCPS schools.

Lol. It’s the audacity of people who come in here say stuff like this “I actually care” as if parents making different choices from them don’t. And no one’s asking you to buy in, it just might be nice if you stop talking about an experience you actually know nothing about and not assume you know so much about other people who make different choices than you do.

And “my parents moved to the neighborhood for the schools” - no one said this was new. In fact it just has a new name/face now vs. when our parents were kids, when our grandparents were…. It’s called racism, and everyone on this forum knows all the lingo that hides it but most turn a blind eye to the history and context so they can be convinced they’re getting the “best” of everything.

I’m not sure if you’re racist or just stupid, but where do you get off thinking my black parents in the 80s didn’t choose where to live based on the schools at great personal sacrifice? It’s not like that information wasn’t available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't plan on doing the lottery, we will go with the local school and supplement through extracurricular activities at home.

Our daycare is really diverse and we don't care about school rankings.

Famous last words.

People like us are not myths. Many of my neighbors with kids at Takoma and Whittier made the decision not to play the lottery. Some of us now with kids in upper elementary and even Ida B Wells. I know others that did lottery out. Almost all for language immersion options.

Chiming in here as one of those very happy Wells parents!

NP and I’m curious if you will keep you kid at Coolidge when the time comes.

We all know the answer to that. Notice they aren't responding.

Different poster but we plan to go to Ida B Wells and then cast a wider net for DCPS HS. Unlike MS there are enough application options for HS that we are confident our kid will land somewhere OK. We are also keeping an eye on how the early college program at Coolidge evolves over time.

You are delusional. There are not enough spots at application high schools. Talk to all the people who did not get into SWW, or even Banneker. It’s obvious DCPS is favoring low SES students with their opaque requirements.

BTW those seats get more and more competitive every year as more families come up the chain needing spots.

You can’t have it both ways. If more families stay in DCPS then cohorts of on grade level kids will be in more schools. I am, for example, someone who would consider the IB program at Eastern if we lived on capital hill. I am not delusional simply because I have a wider view of an acceptable school than you.

This is where you are delusional. The IB program at Eastern sounds good in theory but you are still taking most of your classes with all the Eastern students not just the IB cohort. If I was interested in IB which I am not particularly interested in, I would have my kid apply to Banneker and hope they get in. I work for DCPS Central and have spent time at Eastern many times during the school day and no way would I send my kid to Eastern.
Many of you are starry eyed because your kids are younger and you don’t have much exposure to the day-to-day inside DCPS high schools. Wake up!

As a parent of a middle schooler in the Eastern feeder pattern, I wanted to share something I only recently became aware of. I cannot speak firsthand about the program, but have talked to a few parents whose kids are in 9th or 10th grade in the program. They have a 'pre-IB' application program called EPIC that offers advanced coursework. https://www.easternhighschooldcps.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=456727&type=d
Anyway - we will explore it more as our kid approaches 8th grade and compares high school options, but the impression I got at the Open House is that the program has existed for a few years, but the new principal is building it out and more kids are enrolling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't plan on doing the lottery, we will go with the local school and supplement through extracurricular activities at home.

Our daycare is really diverse and we don't care about school rankings.

Famous last words.

People like us are not myths. Many of my neighbors with kids at Takoma and Whittier made the decision not to play the lottery. Some of us now with kids in upper elementary and even Ida B Wells. I know others that did lottery out. Almost all for language immersion options.

Chiming in here as one of those very happy Wells parents!

NP and I’m curious if you will keep you kid at Coolidge when the time comes.

We all know the answer to that. Notice they aren't responding.

Different poster but we plan to go to Ida B Wells and then cast a wider net for DCPS HS. Unlike MS there are enough application options for HS that we are confident our kid will land somewhere OK. We are also keeping an eye on how the early college program at Coolidge evolves over time.

You are delusional. There are not enough spots at application high schools. Talk to all the people who did not get into SWW, or even Banneker. It’s obvious DCPS is favoring low SES students with their opaque requirements.

BTW those seats get more and more competitive every year as more families come up the chain needing spots.

You can’t have it both ways. If more families stay in DCPS then cohorts of on grade level kids will be in more schools. I am, for example, someone who would consider the IB program at Eastern if we lived on capital hill. I am not delusional simply because I have a wider view of an acceptable school than you.

This is where you are delusional. The IB program at Eastern sounds good in theory but you are still taking most of your classes with all the Eastern students not just the IB cohort. If I was interested in IB which I am not particularly interested in, I would have my kid apply to Banneker and hope they get in. I work for DCPS Central and have spent time at Eastern many times during the school day and no way would I send my kid to Eastern.
Many of you are starry eyed because your kids are younger and you don’t have much exposure to the day-to-day inside DCPS high schools. Wake up!

As a parent of a middle schooler in the Eastern feeder pattern, I wanted to share something I only recently became aware of. I cannot speak firsthand about the program, but have talked to a few parents whose kids are in 9th or 10th grade in the program. They have a 'pre-IB' application program called EPIC that offers advanced coursework. https://www.easternhighschooldcps.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=456727&type=d
Anyway - we will explore it more as our kid approaches 8th grade and compares high school options, but the impression I got at the Open House is that the program has existed for a few years, but the new principal is building it out and more kids are enrolling.

Last year, Eastern had 19 kids who scored proficient in English 1 and one scoring proficient in Algebra 1 (and zero in geometry). One! That is the problem they are dealing with here. So if they tell you that there is currently a program offering advanced coursework, and they currently enrolling more than one 10th grader, what that means is that they are putting kids who are below grade level in math in a program and they are calling it "advanced." It may still be better than the alternative. Kids who are not at grade level can be motivated and hard-working and not disruptive. But if DCPS tells you they are offering advanced coursework at a school that doesn't have a significant cohort of kids who are at grade level, you should not take their word for it.