Are DCPS Principals' REALLY Responsible for Attracting In-Boundary Parents?

[Anonymous]

I read on another thread to my great surprise that this was a job requirement. Is it reallly?? I know principals are supposed conduct outreach and engage parents but that does not say to me that they are accountable for developing an effective strategy for increasing the number of in-boundary parents.

[Anonymous]

Not sure what you're trying to say here. But, yes, I'd say that trying to attract neighborhood families to a neighborhood school should be a priority. It's definitely a sign of the health of a school system.

[Anonymous]

I would say yes also in that is the best way to guarantee that their enrollment is high enough to sustain a teaching staff. Schools significantly below capacity are closed. They closed two more this year.

[Anonymous]

OP, here. Yes, but do they really get evaluated on this?

[Anonymous]

Who else would have this responsibility? In a DC full of school choice, I'm glad to hear this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, here. Yes, but do they really get evaluated on this?

Yes they do, and if you are in diverse neighborhood there is also a conversation about how many middle class white parents you can attract and keep.

[Anonymous]

Yes, they should be held accountable to a certain degree. Think about it, if a principal can be dinged for being a leader of a dropout factory, then it is only right to be held accountable for attracting students to their schools.

How many times do parents make decisions on the mere fact of who's the principal? An interaction can promote an attraction or not in certain cases.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Can responders please share how they know that this is true? I'm still skeptical...

[Anonymous]

I think you would have to be a principal or instructional superintendent to answer definitively. However, what I do know is the DCPS, from the Chancellor on down, in trying to get more people to attend their in-boundary school. Right now about 50% of DCPS students are out-of-boundary. They are also trying to get people who have opted out of DCPS -- whether for private or charter -- to return. Taken together these two factors put a lot of emphasis on principals to attract in-boundary families.

I do know that the principal at my elementary told me he drives around the neighborhood looking for families he doesn't know and trying to talk them into coming to his school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you would have to be a principal or instructional superintendent to answer definitively. However, what I do know is the DCPS, from the Chancellor on down, in trying to get more people to attend their in-boundary school. Right now about 50% of DCPS students are out-of-boundary. They are also trying to get people who have opted out of DCPS -- whether for private or charter -- to return. Taken together these two factors put a lot of emphasis on principals to attract in-boundary families.

I do know that the principal at my elementary told me he drives around the neighborhood looking for families he doesn't know and trying to talk them into coming to his school.

If they want principals to attract people, there needs to be less principal turn-over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you would have to be a principal or instructional superintendent to answer definitively. However, what I do know is the DCPS, from the Chancellor on down, in trying to get more people to attend their in-boundary school. Right now about 50% of DCPS students are out-of-boundary. They are also trying to get people who have opted out of DCPS -- whether for private or charter -- to return. Taken together these two factors put a lot of emphasis on principals to attract in-boundary families.

I do know that the principal at my elementary told me he drives around the neighborhood looking for families he doesn't know and trying to talk them into coming to his school.

If they want principals to attract people, there needs to be less principal turn-over.

Or more, depending on the principal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you would have to be a principal or instructional superintendent to answer definitively. However, what I do know is the DCPS, from the Chancellor on down, in trying to get more people to attend their in-boundary school. Right now about 50% of DCPS students are out-of-boundary. They are also trying to get people who have opted out of DCPS -- whether for private or charter -- to return. Taken together these two factors put a lot of emphasis on principals to attract in-boundary families.

I do know that the principal at my elementary told me he drives around the neighborhood looking for families he doesn't know and trying to talk them into coming to his school.

Good point. Over 1/3 of public school students attend charters and of the remaining 2/3, half attend OOB. That means only 1/3 of DC public school students actually attend their neighborhood schools. The rest attend "schools of choice."

Now, personally, as a parent with a child in private school, I am obviously very much in favor of school choice. But I also think that should be a decision available to everyone, not just a privileged few. My neighborhood school is not an option and we would never enroll there. A brand new building would not convince me, that's just lipstick on a pig.

The phenomenon appears to be attributable to DC's gentrification faster than the schools can keep up.

[Anonymous]

We are one family who was NOT attracted to our local DCPS because of the principal. We attended the open house and the principal's responses to our questions following the program were embarassing. The principal was pleasant and polite, but also seemed passive in response to some of our questions on teacher training, etc. The principal seemed more focused on taking direction from HQ, not leading the school. We did not get into any of our OOP or charter picks, so we went private.

[Anonymous]

We are looking exclusively at charters and privates because DCPS replaced a decent principal with a horrible one. I feel like a traitor to our community in some ways, but those that hired him should feel more so. If a principal scares the students away, he is not doing his job. How can a principal not be responsible for making his school seem like a decent option for neighborhood children?

[Anonymous]

23:08, sorry what happened at your IB school.

Would you consider contacting headquarters (oh, how they love email) and saying what you said here?

They need to hear stuff like this.