Middle Schools for Cap Hill

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2015 data. LOL.

Brent is less than 70% IB now, so I actually think it’s likely correct to say that 5th grade has very few IBers given that PK is obviously fully IB and the lower grades have very few OOBs students.

Most of the OOB students at Brent live on Capitol Hill, many just a few blocks outside the school's boundary. BS that the 5th grade has very few IBers this year. It's mostly IBers again. It is correct to say that there are hardly any poor kids left at Brent, around 5% at risk.

For Brent to be less than 70% IB, it is nearly mathematically impossible for it to be the case that 5th grade in “mostly” IB students given the demographics of the younger grades.

Huh? This year's 5th grade at Brent is definitely mostly in boundary students. I know because I have a child in 5th grade. My child started at Brent with most of these kids, in the early childhood years, which were 100% in boundary.

What's happening is that more OOB seats are opening in the lower grades with each passing year mainly because in boundary 3-bedroom houses have become so pricey, and inventory so low, that fewer young families are moving into the Brent district with every passing year.

[Anonymous]

The OOB statistics can be somewhat misleading. There are always by late elementary some long-time students who at-some point moved into the next school zone but stayed at their first school etc. (family bought a larger house etc.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2015 data. LOL.

Brent is less than 70% IB now, so I actually think it’s likely correct to say that 5th grade has very few IBers given that PK is obviously fully IB and the lower grades have very few OOBs students.

Most of the OOB students at Brent live on Capitol Hill, many just a few blocks outside the school's boundary. BS that the 5th grade has very few IBers this year. It's mostly IBers again. It is correct to say that there are hardly any poor kids left at Brent, around 5% at risk.

For Brent to be less than 70% IB, it is nearly mathematically impossible for it to be the case that 5th grade in “mostly” IB students given the demographics of the younger grades.

Huh? This year's 5th grade at Brent is definitely mostly in boundary students. I know because I have a child in 5th grade. My child started at Brent with most of these kids, in the early childhood years, which were 100% in boundary.

What's happening is that more OOB seats are opening in the lower grades with each passing year mainly because in boundary 3-bedroom houses have become so pricey, and inventory so low, that fewer young families are moving into the Brent district with every passing year.

I was gonna call B.S. because conventional wisdom (read: DCUM) says that isn't so. I figured before I replied maybe I should check the published data. Darned if what you said doesn't track with the data. They have been making WL offers in elementary grades for a number of years. Now there is no way to know for sure how many seats they needed to fill based on the WL offers made, but it stands to reason that Brent didn't have to make 50 WL offers to fill only one spot for K. And any WL offers in K+ are OOB kids. Interestingly, over the past few years Maury has gone to the WL less frequently and for fewer WL kids than has Brent. Or even Ludlow for that matter.

Your theory about housing (scarcity, I agree, is the issue) seems logical to me. I think also that as SH has improved and more IB feeder kids stay, combined with Latin and Basis as MS and HS options, combined with application schools with enhanced reputations, that parents with perspective beyond just needs of 3 or 4 year olds might be thinking longer term and making school decisions with a longer time horizon than just "I need to be IB for Brent".

Very interesting trend and data. Thanks for pointing out and making me re-think what I "knew" from reading DCUM common wisdom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2015 data. LOL.

Brent is less than 70% IB now, so I actually think it’s likely correct to say that 5th grade has very few IBers given that PK is obviously fully IB and the lower grades have very few OOBs students.

Most of the OOB students at Brent live on Capitol Hill, many just a few blocks outside the school's boundary. BS that the 5th grade has very few IBers this year. It's mostly IBers again. It is correct to say that there are hardly any poor kids left at Brent, around 5% at risk.

For Brent to be less than 70% IB, it is nearly mathematically impossible for it to be the case that 5th grade in “mostly” IB students given the demographics of the younger grades.

Huh? This year's 5th grade at Brent is definitely mostly in boundary students. I know because I have a child in 5th grade. My child started at Brent with most of these kids, in the early childhood years, which were 100% in boundary.

What's happening is that more OOB seats are opening in the lower grades with each passing year mainly because in boundary 3-bedroom houses have become so pricey, and inventory so low, that fewer young families are moving into the Brent district with every passing year.

I was gonna call B.S. because conventional wisdom (read: DCUM) says that isn't so. I figured before I replied maybe I should check the published data. Darned if what you said doesn't track with the data. They have been making WL offers in elementary grades for a number of years. Now there is no way to know for sure how many seats they needed to fill based on the WL offers made, but it stands to reason that Brent didn't have to make 50 WL offers to fill only one spot for K. And any WL offers in K+ are OOB kids. Interestingly, over the past few years Maury has gone to the WL less frequently and for fewer WL kids than has Brent. Or even Ludlow for that matter.

Your theory about housing (scarcity, I agree, is the issue) seems logical to me. I think also that as SH has improved and more IB feeder kids stay, combined with Latin and Basis as MS and HS options, combined with application schools with enhanced reputations, that parents with perspective beyond just needs of 3 or 4 year olds might be thinking longer term and making school decisions with a longer time horizon than just "I need to be IB for Brent".

Very interesting trend and data. Thanks for pointing out and making me re-think what I "knew" from reading DCUM common wisdom.

I think its not because of housing within Brent, but because other schools, like LT, have become just as attractive. More housing/schools to pick from, not less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reading this is so depressing. The answer is clear and it's right in front of all of us: send all of our kids to the inboundary public middle school and then high school. The end. The quality of the public schools in our neighborhoods depend on the families that attend. You want better ones? Join the PTO and make the school more attractive.

I hear a lot of people on here saying there aren't tracked classes and then that tracked classes are in name only and no one is prepared for the next level. Well, then tracking isn't the solution. Just get a commitment from your other parent friend circles to attend. And do it! The end. That's what happened at Hardy and now all of y'all are salivating over it. Just do it in your own neighborhood.

I know groups of Hill families who have tried to do this, at least for S-H, but it has not worked out. People chicken out and it doesn't take long for everyone else to bail too. No one wants to be the one family that sticks to the plan only to have everyone else flee for charters, privates, and suburbs -- they you'll really feel like you failed your kids because not only has your plan to improve the IB MS fallen apart, now all their friends are elsewhere.

I think one reason it worked at Hardy but you see so people on the Hill struggling is that there are actually a number of viable options for Hill families for MS outside the IB. Two Rivers, ITS, CHML, Basis, Latin. All of these are more viable for Hill families than for Hardy. Plus PPs are right that having the Hill divided among three MS also undercuts the ability to create a cohort. One thing I've seen happen is that people get influenced by what their friends at other schools are doing. So for instance if you have friends at Brent and they aren't even looking at Jefferson as a possibility (common) and eyeing Basis instead, then even if your feeder is S-H, that is going to make you give Basis a harder look than if they were just going to Jefferson. So it's not just that any cohort is split between 3 schools, it's that dissatisfaction with Jeffersion and EH seems to spill over into S-H families because there is a lot of mixing among families on the Hill outside of school boundaries. As another PP pointed out, people tend to put a lot of faith in what their friends with older kids have done, too, because as a parent it's hard to chart a new path.

But anyway, I don't think people on the Hill "salivate" over Hardy that much. I think the main envy is Wilson. And Wilson was already established as a good option before Hardy started retaining more students, because Deal was already established. But Eastern doesn't have a feeder like Deal. Eastern is an incredibly tough sell for any family who is invested in their kid going to college. It's really hard for me to imagine sending my kid there even if we do stick with the plan to go to S-H. Eastern is the problem.

I think another issue is that Charter schools to their admissions in 5th grade, which is crazy to me. Essentially folks have to make a decision on Charters a year pre-DCPSes. If they're IB, they can always opt back in to, e.g., SH if the Charter doesn't work out... in fact, they won't even miss the entry year... but the reverse isn't true. Usually the Charter works well enough that there's no point in then disrupting their kid's education again to opt back into DCPS. It's insane that it's set up like that.

Agree. I also think one reason MS is such a cluster in DC in general is that it's so short and they are critical years for kids. With ES, families can and do feel comfortable trying one option knowing there is time to make a different choice. So families can give their IB DCPS a try and they always have the option of moving to a charter in 1st or 2nd if they aren't happy or are worried about the MS feed. I also know people who have gone the other way -- gone to a charter for PK (sometimes because they wanted immersion or Montessori, sometimes because they couldn't get into their IB for PK, sometimes just because they were afraid of the IB) and then decide the commute and charter environment isn't right for their family and decided to give the IB a try. With young kids, you can switch schools without totally disrupting their social lives, and ES is long enough that you can switch in the middle and they can still settle in, make friends, and get comfortable.

MS is so unforgiving by contrast. We are on the Hill and feel so much anxiety about the MS decision. Our feed is S-H and that's been our plan from the start -- we like public schools, we like neighborhood schools, we like our DCPS ES. But MS is 3 years, HS will be here before you know it, we don't want to try and change gears in the middle (we will if we have to, it would just really suck). Getting into a charter MS in 7th or 8th can be a crapshoot. Plus then your kid is entering into a social scene where the kids all know each other and friendships are already established. It's not impossible (lots of people have done it), but of course you worry about your own kid and you don't want to hamstring them just because you couldn't get your sh!t together and figure out how to approach their education. It's your job, and I hate feeling wishy washy on it.

I totally get why people look at the MS situation in DC and just decamp for the burbs. Of, if they can afford, for a private, even a less expensive private like parochial school. It's not even just about the quality of the schools, it's about the absolutely insane process that seems designed to cause anxiety for kids and parents and make the already stressful tween and early teen years even harder. No one wants to be worrying about lottery results or HS feeds (or HS applications for the application schools) at the same time that your kid is dealing with hormonal changes and friendship drama. Whyyyyy? Why do they do this to us?

My kid was in a DCPS ES that fed into SH. Nearly everyone played the lottery, and I learned that only 2 of his friends in the entire grade were staying for 5th at the elementary. That's the real rub. Nearly everyone exits after 4th grade.

Yup. I think it's sad for the kids. They get dispersed after elementary and many essentially start all over socially in middle. This isn't unique to the Hill or even public school families in DC. We have friends zoned for Brookland Middle who deal with the same issues (though so many people in Brookland have been in charters since early elementary that you hear less talk about it -- they are headed to ITS middle or DCI and know it from early on). Even private school families aren't immune. We know some who did private elementary and then have to regroup for upper school, especially if they have multiple kids and start doing the math on private MS/HS/college.

And that's why people envy the Wilson pyramid. Not because Hardy and Deal are so amazing, but because it's straightforward. Your kid can go straight through with the same cohort, you don't have to re-lottery with each subsequent sibling, you don't have to make decisions in 4th grade to ensure certain opportunities in 9th. To people in other parts of the country, that' just normal. Heck, to people in most to the MD/VA suburbs, that's the assumed path. That's why we're jealous.

I don't think going straight through is all that great, tbh. DC is transient, so there are always best friends moving away, new friends coming in. The benefit of playing the lottery made me focus on the right school for each of my kids, which is probably something I'd never have paid attention to if I didn't have to do it. I've learned a lot from the process, and am glad I was forced into it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2015 data. LOL.

Brent is less than 70% IB now, so I actually think it’s likely correct to say that 5th grade has very few IBers given that PK is obviously fully IB and the lower grades have very few OOBs students.

Most of the OOB students at Brent live on Capitol Hill, many just a few blocks outside the school's boundary. BS that the 5th grade has very few IBers this year. It's mostly IBers again. It is correct to say that there are hardly any poor kids left at Brent, around 5% at risk.

For Brent to be less than 70% IB, it is nearly mathematically impossible for it to be the case that 5th grade in “mostly” IB students given the demographics of the younger grades.

Huh? This year's 5th grade at Brent is definitely mostly in boundary students. I know because I have a child in 5th grade. My child started at Brent with most of these kids, in the early childhood years, which were 100% in boundary.

What's happening is that more OOB seats are opening in the lower grades with each passing year mainly because in boundary 3-bedroom houses have become so pricey, and inventory so low, that fewer young families are moving into the Brent district with every passing year.

I was gonna call B.S. because conventional wisdom (read: DCUM) says that isn't so. I figured before I replied maybe I should check the published data. Darned if what you said doesn't track with the data. They have been making WL offers in elementary grades for a number of years. Now there is no way to know for sure how many seats they needed to fill based on the WL offers made, but it stands to reason that Brent didn't have to make 50 WL offers to fill only one spot for K. And any WL offers in K+ are OOB kids. Interestingly, over the past few years Maury has gone to the WL less frequently and for fewer WL kids than has Brent. Or even Ludlow for that matter.

Your theory about housing (scarcity, I agree, is the issue) seems logical to me. I think also that as SH has improved and more IB feeder kids stay, combined with Latin and Basis as MS and HS options, combined with application schools with enhanced reputations, that parents with perspective beyond just needs of 3 or 4 year olds might be thinking longer term and making school decisions with a longer time horizon than just "I need to be IB for Brent".

Very interesting trend and data. Thanks for pointing out and making me re-think what I "knew" from reading DCUM common wisdom.

Maury's boundary increased in size just a few years ago, so they won't need to go to the WL for a while (though they did just last year, I think because of the pandemic?). I know they are now worried that they won't be able to fit everyone, even though they have a huge capacity with their renovation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2015 data. LOL.

Brent is less than 70% IB now, so I actually think it’s likely correct to say that 5th grade has very few IBers given that PK is obviously fully IB and the lower grades have very few OOBs students.

Most of the OOB students at Brent live on Capitol Hill, many just a few blocks outside the school's boundary. BS that the 5th grade has very few IBers this year. It's mostly IBers again. It is correct to say that there are hardly any poor kids left at Brent, around 5% at risk.

For Brent to be less than 70% IB, it is nearly mathematically impossible for it to be the case that 5th grade in “mostly” IB students given the demographics of the younger grades.

Huh? This year's 5th grade at Brent is definitely mostly in boundary students. I know because I have a child in 5th grade. My child started at Brent with most of these kids, in the early childhood years, which were 100% in boundary.

What's happening is that more OOB seats are opening in the lower grades with each passing year mainly because in boundary 3-bedroom houses have become so pricey, and inventory so low, that fewer young families are moving into the Brent district with every passing year.

I was gonna call B.S. because conventional wisdom (read: DCUM) says that isn't so. I figured before I replied maybe I should check the published data. Darned if what you said doesn't track with the data. They have been making WL offers in elementary grades for a number of years. Now there is no way to know for sure how many seats they needed to fill based on the WL offers made, but it stands to reason that Brent didn't have to make 50 WL offers to fill only one spot for K. And any WL offers in K+ are OOB kids. Interestingly, over the past few years Maury has gone to the WL less frequently and for fewer WL kids than has Brent. Or even Ludlow for that matter.

Your theory about housing (scarcity, I agree, is the issue) seems logical to me. I think also that as SH has improved and more IB feeder kids stay, combined with Latin and Basis as MS and HS options, combined with application schools with enhanced reputations, that parents with perspective beyond just needs of 3 or 4 year olds might be thinking longer term and making school decisions with a longer time horizon than just "I need to be IB for Brent".

Very interesting trend and data. Thanks for pointing out and making me re-think what I "knew" from reading DCUM common wisdom.

I think its not because of housing within Brent, but because other schools, like LT, have become just as attractive. More housing/schools to pick from, not less.

I have actually long thought that the LT IB is the most desirable on the Hill location-wise, especially if you take into account price. As H St has exploded, I think the cute residential area between it & Stanton Park is basically the ideal spot to live on the Hill. So the crazy rate of gentrification there doesn't surprise me at all. (And check the stats, the rate of gentrification is crazy. LT was T1 2 years ago and now is 9% less economically disadvantaged than Watkins, which I think lost T1 status like 3-4 years before that.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2015 data. LOL.

Brent is less than 70% IB now, so I actually think it’s likely correct to say that 5th grade has very few IBers given that PK is obviously fully IB and the lower grades have very few OOBs students.

Most of the OOB students at Brent live on Capitol Hill, many just a few blocks outside the school's boundary. BS that the 5th grade has very few IBers this year. It's mostly IBers again. It is correct to say that there are hardly any poor kids left at Brent, around 5% at risk.

For Brent to be less than 70% IB, it is nearly mathematically impossible for it to be the case that 5th grade in “mostly” IB students given the demographics of the younger grades.

Huh? This year's 5th grade at Brent is definitely mostly in boundary students. I know because I have a child in 5th grade. My child started at Brent with most of these kids, in the early childhood years, which were 100% in boundary.

What's happening is that more OOB seats are opening in the lower grades with each passing year mainly because in boundary 3-bedroom houses have become so pricey, and inventory so low, that fewer young families are moving into the Brent district with every passing year.

I was gonna call B.S. because conventional wisdom (read: DCUM) says that isn't so. I figured before I replied maybe I should check the published data. Darned if what you said doesn't track with the data. They have been making WL offers in elementary grades for a number of years. Now there is no way to know for sure how many seats they needed to fill based on the WL offers made, but it stands to reason that Brent didn't have to make 50 WL offers to fill only one spot for K. And any WL offers in K+ are OOB kids. Interestingly, over the past few years Maury has gone to the WL less frequently and for fewer WL kids than has Brent. Or even Ludlow for that matter.

Your theory about housing (scarcity, I agree, is the issue) seems logical to me. I think also that as SH has improved and more IB feeder kids stay, combined with Latin and Basis as MS and HS options, combined with application schools with enhanced reputations, that parents with perspective beyond just needs of 3 or 4 year olds might be thinking longer term and making school decisions with a longer time horizon than just "I need to be IB for Brent".

Very interesting trend and data. Thanks for pointing out and making me re-think what I "knew" from reading DCUM common wisdom.

I think its not because of housing within Brent, but because other schools, like LT, have become just as attractive. More housing/schools to pick from, not less.

I have actually long thought that the LT IB is the most desirable on the Hill location-wise, especially if you take into account price. As H St has exploded, I think the cute residential area between it & Stanton Park is basically the ideal spot to live on the Hill. So the crazy rate of gentrification there doesn't surprise me at all. (And check the stats, the rate of gentrification is crazy. LT was T1 2 years ago and now is 9% less economically disadvantaged than Watkins, which I think lost T1 status like 3-4 years before that.)

And once JO Wilson flip, we're really of to the racist!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2015 data. LOL.

Brent is less than 70% IB now, so I actually think it’s likely correct to say that 5th grade has very few IBers given that PK is obviously fully IB and the lower grades have very few OOBs students.

Most of the OOB students at Brent live on Capitol Hill, many just a few blocks outside the school's boundary. BS that the 5th grade has very few IBers this year. It's mostly IBers again. It is correct to say that there are hardly any poor kids left at Brent, around 5% at risk.

For Brent to be less than 70% IB, it is nearly mathematically impossible for it to be the case that 5th grade in “mostly” IB students given the demographics of the younger grades.

Huh? This year's 5th grade at Brent is definitely mostly in boundary students. I know because I have a child in 5th grade. My child started at Brent with most of these kids, in the early childhood years, which were 100% in boundary.

What's happening is that more OOB seats are opening in the lower grades with each passing year mainly because in boundary 3-bedroom houses have become so pricey, and inventory so low, that fewer young families are moving into the Brent district with every passing year.

I was gonna call B.S. because conventional wisdom (read: DCUM) says that isn't so. I figured before I replied maybe I should check the published data. Darned if what you said doesn't track with the data. They have been making WL offers in elementary grades for a number of years. Now there is no way to know for sure how many seats they needed to fill based on the WL offers made, but it stands to reason that Brent didn't have to make 50 WL offers to fill only one spot for K. And any WL offers in K+ are OOB kids. Interestingly, over the past few years Maury has gone to the WL less frequently and for fewer WL kids than has Brent. Or even Ludlow for that matter.

Your theory about housing (scarcity, I agree, is the issue) seems logical to me. I think also that as SH has improved and more IB feeder kids stay, combined with Latin and Basis as MS and HS options, combined with application schools with enhanced reputations, that parents with perspective beyond just needs of 3 or 4 year olds might be thinking longer term and making school decisions with a longer time horizon than just "I need to be IB for Brent".

Very interesting trend and data. Thanks for pointing out and making me re-think what I "knew" from reading DCUM common wisdom.

I think its not because of housing within Brent, but because other schools, like LT, have become just as attractive. More housing/schools to pick from, not less.

I have actually long thought that the LT IB is the most desirable on the Hill location-wise, especially if you take into account price. As H St has exploded, I think the cute residential area between it & Stanton Park is basically the ideal spot to live on the Hill. So the crazy rate of gentrification there doesn't surprise me at all. (And check the stats, the rate of gentrification is crazy. LT was T1 2 years ago and now is 9% less economically disadvantaged than Watkins, which I think lost T1 status like 3-4 years before that.)

And once JO Wilson flip, we're really of to the racist!

*races

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2015 data. LOL.

Brent is less than 70% IB now, so I actually think it’s likely correct to say that 5th grade has very few IBers given that PK is obviously fully IB and the lower grades have very few OOBs students.

Most of the OOB students at Brent live on Capitol Hill, many just a few blocks outside the school's boundary. BS that the 5th grade has very few IBers this year. It's mostly IBers again. It is correct to say that there are hardly any poor kids left at Brent, around 5% at risk.

For Brent to be less than 70% IB, it is nearly mathematically impossible for it to be the case that 5th grade in “mostly” IB students given the demographics of the younger grades.

Huh? This year's 5th grade at Brent is definitely mostly in boundary students. I know because I have a child in 5th grade. My child started at Brent with most of these kids, in the early childhood years, which were 100% in boundary.

What's happening is that more OOB seats are opening in the lower grades with each passing year mainly because in boundary 3-bedroom houses have become so pricey, and inventory so low, that fewer young families are moving into the Brent district with every passing year.

I was gonna call B.S. because conventional wisdom (read: DCUM) says that isn't so. I figured before I replied maybe I should check the published data. Darned if what you said doesn't track with the data. They have been making WL offers in elementary grades for a number of years. Now there is no way to know for sure how many seats they needed to fill based on the WL offers made, but it stands to reason that Brent didn't have to make 50 WL offers to fill only one spot for K. And any WL offers in K+ are OOB kids. Interestingly, over the past few years Maury has gone to the WL less frequently and for fewer WL kids than has Brent. Or even Ludlow for that matter.

Your theory about housing (scarcity, I agree, is the issue) seems logical to me. I think also that as SH has improved and more IB feeder kids stay, combined with Latin and Basis as MS and HS options, combined with application schools with enhanced reputations, that parents with perspective beyond just needs of 3 or 4 year olds might be thinking longer term and making school decisions with a longer time horizon than just "I need to be IB for Brent".

Very interesting trend and data. Thanks for pointing out and making me re-think what I "knew" from reading DCUM common wisdom.

I think its not because of housing within Brent, but because other schools, like LT, have become just as attractive. More housing/schools to pick from, not less.

I have actually long thought that the LT IB is the most desirable on the Hill location-wise, especially if you take into account price. As H St has exploded, I think the cute residential area between it & Stanton Park is basically the ideal spot to live on the Hill. So the crazy rate of gentrification there doesn't surprise me at all. (And check the stats, the rate of gentrification is crazy. LT was T1 2 years ago and now is 9% less economically disadvantaged than Watkins, which I think lost T1 status like 3-4 years before that.)

Yes, LT feels like it changed overnight, as did that neighborhood. We have a kind in PK4 now, not at LT, and we had originally hoped to lottery in there because when DC was born it was still considered a "borderline" school. Now it's regularly mentioned alongside Maury and Brent as the most desirable ES on the Hill. It's kind of crazy how fast that happened.

[Anonymous]

flip is a bad word. payne for one example appears to have a growing number of in-boundary families attending. it probably does have something to do with housing prices and inventory (as well as trying the school for prek and then liking it enough to stay).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2015 data. LOL.

Brent is less than 70% IB now, so I actually think it’s likely correct to say that 5th grade has very few IBers given that PK is obviously fully IB and the lower grades have very few OOBs students.

Most of the OOB students at Brent live on Capitol Hill, many just a few blocks outside the school's boundary. BS that the 5th grade has very few IBers this year. It's mostly IBers again. It is correct to say that there are hardly any poor kids left at Brent, around 5% at risk.

For Brent to be less than 70% IB, it is nearly mathematically impossible for it to be the case that 5th grade in “mostly” IB students given the demographics of the younger grades.

Huh? This year's 5th grade at Brent is definitely mostly in boundary students. I know because I have a child in 5th grade. My child started at Brent with most of these kids, in the early childhood years, which were 100% in boundary.

What's happening is that more OOB seats are opening in the lower grades with each passing year mainly because in boundary 3-bedroom houses have become so pricey, and inventory so low, that fewer young families are moving into the Brent district with every passing year.

I was gonna call B.S. because conventional wisdom (read: DCUM) says that isn't so. I figured before I replied maybe I should check the published data. Darned if what you said doesn't track with the data. They have been making WL offers in elementary grades for a number of years. Now there is no way to know for sure how many seats they needed to fill based on the WL offers made, but it stands to reason that Brent didn't have to make 50 WL offers to fill only one spot for K. And any WL offers in K+ are OOB kids. Interestingly, over the past few years Maury has gone to the WL less frequently and for fewer WL kids than has Brent. Or even Ludlow for that matter.

Your theory about housing (scarcity, I agree, is the issue) seems logical to me. I think also that as SH has improved and more IB feeder kids stay, combined with Latin and Basis as MS and HS options, combined with application schools with enhanced reputations, that parents with perspective beyond just needs of 3 or 4 year olds might be thinking longer term and making school decisions with a longer time horizon than just "I need to be IB for Brent".

Very interesting trend and data. Thanks for pointing out and making me re-think what I "knew" from reading DCUM common wisdom.

I think its not because of housing within Brent, but because other schools, like LT, have become just as attractive. More housing/schools to pick from, not less.

I have actually long thought that the LT IB is the most desirable on the Hill location-wise, especially if you take into account price. As H St has exploded, I think the cute residential area between it & Stanton Park is basically the ideal spot to live on the Hill. So the crazy rate of gentrification there doesn't surprise me at all. (And check the stats, the rate of gentrification is crazy. LT was T1 2 years ago and now is 9% less economically disadvantaged than Watkins, which I think lost T1 status like 3-4 years before that.)

JO's efforts to increase IB population and have them stick has ben hampered by the presence of Two Rivers 4th Street. If you have ever walked that area between H and TR in the morning you see just how many IB JOW families are walking in their TR shirts to TR. My friends at TR tell me it feels in some grades like a neighborhood school. If even 1/2 of those students went to JOW then it would be closer where LT is. That issue is exacerbated by the fact that IB JOW means IB for SH so those families can have the benefit of TR in ES and then decide whether they want to head down H to the new TR MS.

(To be clear, this is not a shot at TR or charter schools or an argument for why charters are destroying DCPS. TR exists because DCPS failed for years to provide what families desired.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2015 data. LOL.

Brent is less than 70% IB now, so I actually think it’s likely correct to say that 5th grade has very few IBers given that PK is obviously fully IB and the lower grades have very few OOBs students.

Most of the OOB students at Brent live on Capitol Hill, many just a few blocks outside the school's boundary. BS that the 5th grade has very few IBers this year. It's mostly IBers again. It is correct to say that there are hardly any poor kids left at Brent, around 5% at risk.

For Brent to be less than 70% IB, it is nearly mathematically impossible for it to be the case that 5th grade in “mostly” IB students given the demographics of the younger grades.

Huh? This year's 5th grade at Brent is definitely mostly in boundary students. I know because I have a child in 5th grade. My child started at Brent with most of these kids, in the early childhood years, which were 100% in boundary.

What's happening is that more OOB seats are opening in the lower grades with each passing year mainly because in boundary 3-bedroom houses have become so pricey, and inventory so low, that fewer young families are moving into the Brent district with every passing year.

I was gonna call B.S. because conventional wisdom (read: DCUM) says that isn't so. I figured before I replied maybe I should check the published data. Darned if what you said doesn't track with the data. They have been making WL offers in elementary grades for a number of years. Now there is no way to know for sure how many seats they needed to fill based on the WL offers made, but it stands to reason that Brent didn't have to make 50 WL offers to fill only one spot for K. And any WL offers in K+ are OOB kids. Interestingly, over the past few years Maury has gone to the WL less frequently and for fewer WL kids than has Brent. Or even Ludlow for that matter.

Your theory about housing (scarcity, I agree, is the issue) seems logical to me. I think also that as SH has improved and more IB feeder kids stay, combined with Latin and Basis as MS and HS options, combined with application schools with enhanced reputations, that parents with perspective beyond just needs of 3 or 4 year olds might be thinking longer term and making school decisions with a longer time horizon than just "I need to be IB for Brent".

Very interesting trend and data. Thanks for pointing out and making me re-think what I "knew" from reading DCUM common wisdom.

I think its not because of housing within Brent, but because other schools, like LT, have become just as attractive. More housing/schools to pick from, not less.

I have actually long thought that the LT IB is the most desirable on the Hill location-wise, especially if you take into account price. As H St has exploded, I think the cute residential area between it & Stanton Park is basically the ideal spot to live on the Hill. So the crazy rate of gentrification there doesn't surprise me at all. (And check the stats, the rate of gentrification is crazy. LT was T1 2 years ago and now is 9% less economically disadvantaged than Watkins, which I think lost T1 status like 3-4 years before that.)

Yes, LT feels like it changed overnight, as did that neighborhood. We have a kind in PK4 now, not at LT, and we had originally hoped to lottery in there because when DC was born it was still considered a "borderline" school. Now it's regularly mentioned alongside Maury and Brent as the most desirable ES on the Hill. It's kind of crazy how fast that happened.

Universal truth of all urban gentrification: Everyone who moves in thinks they "discovered" the neighborhood or that it "changed overnight".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2015 data. LOL.

Brent is less than 70% IB now, so I actually think it’s likely correct to say that 5th grade has very few IBers given that PK is obviously fully IB and the lower grades have very few OOBs students.

Most of the OOB students at Brent live on Capitol Hill, many just a few blocks outside the school's boundary. BS that the 5th grade has very few IBers this year. It's mostly IBers again. It is correct to say that there are hardly any poor kids left at Brent, around 5% at risk.

For Brent to be less than 70% IB, it is nearly mathematically impossible for it to be the case that 5th grade in “mostly” IB students given the demographics of the younger grades.

Huh? This year's 5th grade at Brent is definitely mostly in boundary students. I know because I have a child in 5th grade. My child started at Brent with most of these kids, in the early childhood years, which were 100% in boundary.

What's happening is that more OOB seats are opening in the lower grades with each passing year mainly because in boundary 3-bedroom houses have become so pricey, and inventory so low, that fewer young families are moving into the Brent district with every passing year.

I was gonna call B.S. because conventional wisdom (read: DCUM) says that isn't so. I figured before I replied maybe I should check the published data. Darned if what you said doesn't track with the data. They have been making WL offers in elementary grades for a number of years. Now there is no way to know for sure how many seats they needed to fill based on the WL offers made, but it stands to reason that Brent didn't have to make 50 WL offers to fill only one spot for K. And any WL offers in K+ are OOB kids. Interestingly, over the past few years Maury has gone to the WL less frequently and for fewer WL kids than has Brent. Or even Ludlow for that matter.

Your theory about housing (scarcity, I agree, is the issue) seems logical to me. I think also that as SH has improved and more IB feeder kids stay, combined with Latin and Basis as MS and HS options, combined with application schools with enhanced reputations, that parents with perspective beyond just needs of 3 or 4 year olds might be thinking longer term and making school decisions with a longer time horizon than just "I need to be IB for Brent".

Very interesting trend and data. Thanks for pointing out and making me re-think what I "knew" from reading DCUM common wisdom.

I think its not because of housing within Brent, but because other schools, like LT, have become just as attractive. More housing/schools to pick from, not less.

I have actually long thought that the LT IB is the most desirable on the Hill location-wise, especially if you take into account price. As H St has exploded, I think the cute residential area between it & Stanton Park is basically the ideal spot to live on the Hill. So the crazy rate of gentrification there doesn't surprise me at all. (And check the stats, the rate of gentrification is crazy. LT was T1 2 years ago and now is 9% less economically disadvantaged than Watkins, which I think lost T1 status like 3-4 years before that.)

JO's efforts to increase IB population and have them stick has ben hampered by the presence of Two Rivers 4th Street. If you have ever walked that area between H and TR in the morning you see just how many IB JOW families are walking in their TR shirts to TR. My friends at TR tell me it feels in some grades like a neighborhood school. If even 1/2 of those students went to JOW then it would be closer where LT is. That issue is exacerbated by the fact that IB JOW means IB for SH so those families can have the benefit of TR in ES and then decide whether they want to head down H to the new TR MS.

(To be clear, this is not a shot at TR or charter schools or an argument for why charters are destroying DCPS. TR exists because DCPS failed for years to provide what families desired.)

Guilty as charged. I think that TR 4th is, in fact, more of a neighborhood school than J.O. in terms of the raw number of attendees within the JO attendance zone.

[Anonymous]

LT has a very small boundary, as does Brent. It's not exactly surprising that it was able to change so fast.