Janney third grade parents--what do you think of the giant class sizes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can the new Principal clean house and remove families net year who are not EITHER IB or enrolled through OOB lottery?

No. There was a recommendation in the DME boundary process that would have required people who move OOB, after having been IB, to have to apply again to stay via the lottery (and secure an OOB space or go to their new IB). So far DCPS has decided not to implement it.

Yes, but the PRINCIPAL can implement it as now it is principal discretion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

. They can't stop IB kids from enrolling, so why can't a school say 'sorry, no space this year.'

PP who doesn't "get it" .... you answered your own question right here. They can't stop IB kids from enrolling (correct). But people EOTP who are Politically Connected HAVE been able to lean on elected representatives, who lean on Central DCPS, who in turns leans on the Princpal to say "Why YES, we DO have space for your Ward 1,2 and 4 kids this year!!! "

I couldn't have answered my own question since I had no idea what your wrote was going on. Is this really happening? Are there OOB kids added to grades already full of IB kids?

Not really. Last I heard it happening at JKLM was Fenty's kids. Now there are some that get accommodations (no child left behind), but usually go to Eaton.

[Anonymous]

I am not in the Janney boundary and my kids are beyond primary school grades. However I hear that there are several families gaming the system, using addresses for out of boundary friends, etc… The whole Janney/Deal/Wilson area needs to ensure that every single enrolled student actually resides in the address on their forms.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:And if some Janney children were moved to Mann it would relieve overcrowding, both at Janney but also at Deal. But it would make Mann overcrowded and make Janney parents upset after 5th grade. Still something to consider on the margin.

In the end this is all going to be steps on the margin. Lose a few PK4 classes; tolerate larger class sizes; reduce the boundary some, moving kids to Mann and Hearst; take fewer OOB children; and sadly, likely just make the school less attractive so families will not move in. Wish them well.

I can't for the life me figure out why Hearst hasn't attracted more NW bound families. Good school with great feed and reasonable size. They might be less IB centric, but they're doing well with the kids who attend.

Do you know anyone at the school? This has changed dramatically. If they adjusted the boundaries a little bit, it would be fully IB in lower grades pretty quick. Even the PoP moved directly into boundary planning to attend. With the new physical plant the school has changed a lot. Come to the Hearst playground and you will meet many families there!

This issue is the political pushback in DC that would likely result from OOB enrollment at Hearst being squeezed down.

NP here. I don't understand this. If OOB spots are dependent upon space available after IB kids enroll, how can there be political pushback? What can politicians do if an entire entering class is filled with IB kids?

When upper NW schools like Hearst or Eaton take a lot of OOB students, over time there develop expectations that some substantial number of slots in such schools will be available to students in areas where their elem school options are perceived as lacking. In fact, this has been part of DCPS 'safety valve' strategy. Take a lot of that away, and there will be some very unhappy voters in wards that tend to decide elections for mayor.

I don't think this is the case. years ago there were a good amount of spots that were unfilled at Janney so they went to OOB. now Janney is filled to the roof and in the past few years there have been tens of IB kids waitlisted for pre-k. Murch still took a few OOB not because of the politics of DCPS but because there were spots available. if Murch had 20 IB waitlisted for pre-k at count day, no OOB would have been allowed in (other than some spots that are required to be set aside for kids transferring from some school, I understand something like that exist). A few years ago Stoddert was taking a lot of OOB and now does not even have space for IB. the percentage of IB kids at Hearst is growing exponentially and I think soon there will be no spots left at pre-k or even k for OOB. the reality is in the numbers, a lot of IB parents send their kids to their IB schools, filling them to capacity and more. nobody takes options away from OOB parents. the reality that you cannot put 1000 students in an elementary school designed for 500 is what may push OOB out of schools that until recently had OOB spots available. I am not sure what the Mayor should do, kick IB kids out of the schools? it seems to me that the safety valve now is charters.

I'm the pp who posed the question about political pushback. This makes sense to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can the new Principal clean house and remove families net year who are not EITHER IB or enrolled through OOB lottery?

No. There was a recommendation in the DME boundary process that would have required people who move OOB, after having been IB, to have to apply again to stay via the lottery (and secure an OOB space or go to their new IB). So far DCPS has decided not to implement it.

Yes, but the PRINCIPAL can implement it as now it is principal discretion.

Is this the first issue you would take on as a new Janney principal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's ultimately a boundary issue. Don't forget about the proposal to award 10 percent of lottery seats to at risk kids.

That's what the "Janney annex" (a lease at St Ann's) will be for.

[Anonymous]

Loving this thread because I would be outraged. I was in a French class that size in an urban school - couldn't hear a thing the teacher said whole class and had student next to me trying to bully me into cheating on his tests. Good thing my third grader is NOT at Janney? But I'm supposed to be jealous!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's ultimately a boundary issue. Don't forget about the proposal to award 10 percent of lottery seats to at risk kids.

That's what the "Janney annex" (a lease at St Ann's) will be for.

I thought Washington Latin was expanding into the St Ann's space (per DCUM 2 weeks ago).

[Anonymous]

There should be an entire thread devoted to "Janney Boundary Cheaters" and how to catch them. The school's so big, and class sizes so large, they can thrive in the anonymity like mice in a blanket.

[Anonymous]

What are class sizes in 2nd?

[Anonymous]

Well, I guess no school is perfect...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Loving this thread because I would be outraged. I was in a French class that size in an urban school - couldn't hear a thing the teacher said whole class and had student next to me trying to bully me into cheating on his tests. Good thing my third grader is NOT at Janney? But I'm supposed to be jealous!

Schadenfreude

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are class sizes in 2nd?

When will they run out of class rooms so that they need to do the mega class size for 2nd grade?

[Anonymous]

32 students wow, those were the class sizes at my medium sized university. No way that's ok for kids 9 and 10 where disruptions are more likely to happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are class sizes in 2nd?

When will they run out of class rooms so that they need to do the mega class size for 2nd grade?

They are 23-24-25 but will be 30+ again for
Third grade next year (they combined classes this year and went from 5 to 4).