When will schools like Janney step up and do their fair share to take at-risk kids??

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I am in my 10th year as a DCPS parent and have had two kids go all the way through JKLM and currently have one at Deal and one at Walls.

My observation is that current parents want a good school for their own kids much more than they have some underlying desire to keep either at risk or more generally disadvantaged kids out. Meaning, they buy in boundary for good schools to ensure that their kids go to good schools, they are moving to these neighborhoods for access, not exclusivity. This means that they are fine with their kids attending school with at risk and disadvantaged kids so long as the in boundary kids continue to get a good education. My kids have had numerous OOB friends and classmates (all bright and successful kids and I only know where families live because of birthday parties and such) and I have never heard a negative comment towards or about such students.

Here is what I think could help (not solve) the problem. More well-resourced elementary schools in boundary for the currently oversubscribed schools and a plan to make set aside seats available to at risk students with appropriate support. That includes transportation and other supports to make getting to these schools feasible so these students can show up rested and ready to learn.

Also, add another middle school that is also well resourced and fed by successful elementary schools. Spread the same students out across more schools where the parents can be assured their kids are going to school with a majority prepared cohort and strong academics where there is also space for all the students coming up through the expanded feeders.

My point is, most of the parents do not require perfect, we live in DC and send our kids to DCPS by choice, we live in a diverse city by choice and want solid schools but we are not Fairfax county families stressing over AAP programs and gunning for TJ.

The problem is that the city isn’t going to build new schools WOTP. Bad optics.

That’s why people zoned for Lafayette go bananas when someone suggests they feed to Wells and the Coolidge.

DC has a system of neighborhood schools. Students should attend the schools that they are zoned for. It’s nuts to keep building Ward 3 schools bigger and bigger so that they can take more students who have to cross the city.

It's not only nuts, it's shameful.

What's shameful is a system that makes it so you can only go to a good school if you can afford to buy a house in a neighborhood zoned for one.

We have a school lottery. We don't live in a wealthy neighborhood, and my DC goes to one of the best schools in the city, thanks to the lottery.

That some people get extraordinarily lucky in the lottery doesn't mean the overall system of education and housing segregation in this country is good.

In virtually every city in this country, where you live determines where you go to school. We are lucky to have the lottery system. It doesn't fix everything, but it helps. Most cities don't bother with lotteries.

In D.C., where you live also mostly determines where you go to school -- and it certainly determines whether you can go to many of the schools that many metrics rank highly. It's true that charters and the possibility of out-of-bounds enrollment in DCPS schools mitigates that a little, but it's effectively not possible to go to Janney (since that's the school this thread is about) unless you live in-bounds.

Janney is only a great school because it's located in ground zero for DC overachievers. I've sent 3 kids to the school. I can count on one hand the number of parents I've met who don't have a graduate degree, the vast majority from elite institutions. It's the land of successful people and Ivy league grads. Successful people have successful kids. Smart people have smart kids. I don't think those of you who don't attend know exactly what it's like. Almost everyone is at or near the top of their field and moved to DC for some important job. It's the entire school. Aside from the kids with learning differences it's a very, very easy group of kids to teach.

I say this as a non-high achiever who went to a state school and works an unimpressive job. I'm decidedly a minority there and always have been.

But really. There is nothing magical about the Janney soil. It could have the worse teachers in the world, no supplies and horrible administration and it would still turn out successful kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You want the Janney principal to break boundary rules to let in at risk kids?

Ok.

No you idiot it's called the lottery

[Anonymous]

What makes a school good? Not all NW schools (obviously some are good because of staff) However coming from the perspective of a DCPS teacher there’s a few things that sets 5 star NW schools up for success.

1. Greater parental involvement, I’ve worked at title 1 and not. And lemme tell you, the parental involvement vastly differs. As well as their ability to fundraise, which in turn gives the school itself an advantage for resources.
More accountability, their children will be more likely to do their HW and parents will be more likely to advocate for them.

2. 99% of non title 1 schools do not have self-contained special education programs which can mean higher seeming scores for the school over all. The schools who do have self contained are ‘high functioning’ which is not a term I’d ever use but the term the program uses. It only accepts students with a certain IQ.


3. You may not want to hear this but way less at risk students. When you have students who have their basic needs met they are way easier to teach. It’s much harder to focus on math when you are not homeless or going through some kind of trauma.
Which in turn can mean less challenging behavior. There are way less kids cursing you out, stabbing you with a pencil, etc.


Janey is not a magical school. I work in a NE school and we are a 4 star school, we have already won countless awards for closing the gap, etc. Our at risk percentage is over 70%.
So I feel your complaint is not a solution to the real issue. Most of the time it is because of the 3 categories I listed above.
Can’t tell you how many parents walk in high, drunk, on drugs, or wearing almost nothing. That says a lot about what kind of environment some of the students have to deal with.

If you want better schools we also need a better community. Which means more parents in those communities have to be involved. And DCPS needs to fund those schools. DC needs to help those communities instead of helping gentrification.

As a parent, I get it. My child doesn’t go to the school I work at not because the school isn’t great, it absolutely is. But the sheer amount of students who lash out because of their circumstances can be too much.
My school faces greater inequity. DCPS didn’t even finish the renovations all the way (literally we have a whole wing boarded up as we become over capacity) while Maury got a whole new building. Says a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am in my 10th year as a DCPS parent and have had two kids go all the way through JKLM and currently have one at Deal and one at Walls.

My observation is that current parents want a good school for their own kids much more than they have some underlying desire to keep either at risk or more generally disadvantaged kids out. Meaning, they buy in boundary for good schools to ensure that their kids go to good schools, they are moving to these neighborhoods for access, not exclusivity. This means that they are fine with their kids attending school with at risk and disadvantaged kids so long as the in boundary kids continue to get a good education. My kids have had numerous OOB friends and classmates (all bright and successful kids and I only know where families live because of birthday parties and such) and I have never heard a negative comment towards or about such students.

Here is what I think could help (not solve) the problem. More well-resourced elementary schools in boundary for the currently oversubscribed schools and a plan to make set aside seats available to at risk students with appropriate support. That includes transportation and other supports to make getting to these schools feasible so these students can show up rested and ready to learn.

Also, add another middle school that is also well resourced and fed by successful elementary schools. Spread the same students out across more schools where the parents can be assured their kids are going to school with a majority prepared cohort and strong academics where there is also space for all the students coming up through the expanded feeders.

My point is, most of the parents do not require perfect, we live in DC and send our kids to DCPS by choice, we live in a diverse city by choice and want solid schools but we are not Fairfax county families stressing over AAP programs and gunning for TJ.

The problem is that the city isn’t going to build new schools WOTP. Bad optics.

That’s why people zoned for Lafayette go bananas when someone suggests they feed to Wells and the Coolidge.

DC has a system of neighborhood schools. Students should attend the schools that they are zoned for. It’s nuts to keep building Ward 3 schools bigger and bigger so that they can take more students who have to cross the city.

It's not only nuts, it's shameful.

What's shameful is a system that makes it so you can only go to a good school if you can afford to buy a house in a neighborhood zoned for one.

We have a school lottery. We don't live in a wealthy neighborhood, and my DC goes to one of the best schools in the city, thanks to the lottery.

That some people get extraordinarily lucky in the lottery doesn't mean the overall system of education and housing segregation in this country is good.

In virtually every city in this country, where you live determines where you go to school. We are lucky to have the lottery system. It doesn't fix everything, but it helps. Most cities don't bother with lotteries.

In D.C., where you live also mostly determines where you go to school -- and it certainly determines whether you can go to many of the schools that many metrics rank highly. It's true that charters and the possibility of out-of-bounds enrollment in DCPS schools mitigates that a little, but it's effectively not possible to go to Janney (since that's the school this thread is about) unless you live in-bounds.

Janney is only a great school because it's located in ground zero for DC overachievers. I've sent 3 kids to the school. I can count on one hand the number of parents I've met who don't have a graduate degree, the vast majority from elite institutions. It's the land of successful people and Ivy league grads. Successful people have successful kids. Smart people have smart kids. I don't think those of you who don't attend know exactly what it's like. Almost everyone is at or near the top of their field and moved to DC for some important job. It's the entire school. Aside from the kids with learning differences it's a very, very easy group of kids to teach.

I say this as a non-high achiever who went to a state school and works an unimpressive job. I'm decidedly a minority there and always have been.

But really. There is nothing magical about the Janney soil. It could have the worse teachers in the world, no supplies and horrible administration and it would still turn out successful kids.

But it has plenty of supplies, excellent teachers, and a good administration. And it would still be excellent if it were easier for more kids whose parents didn't have graduate degrees or go to Ivy League schools to attend.

(Also, as an Ivy League graduate whose kids go to Janney, I think you're WAY overstating the positive effects of being around Ivy League graduates. Though I only have an undergraduate degree, so maybe I'm not reliable as an expert.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Can’t tell you how many parents walk in high, drunk, on drugs, or wearing almost nothing. That says a lot about what kind of environment some of the students have to deal with.

Absolutely need to give more funding to these schools. These kids deserve and need more.

But let's be honest, we also need to help people (many are kids themselves) understand that being a parent is serious. Don't have kids if you're not ready.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am in my 10th year as a DCPS parent and have had two kids go all the way through JKLM and currently have one at Deal and one at Walls.

My observation is that current parents want a good school for their own kids much more than they have some underlying desire to keep either at risk or more generally disadvantaged kids out. Meaning, they buy in boundary for good schools to ensure that their kids go to good schools, they are moving to these neighborhoods for access, not exclusivity. This means that they are fine with their kids attending school with at risk and disadvantaged kids so long as the in boundary kids continue to get a good education. My kids have had numerous OOB friends and classmates (all bright and successful kids and I only know where families live because of birthday parties and such) and I have never heard a negative comment towards or about such students.

Here is what I think could help (not solve) the problem. More well-resourced elementary schools in boundary for the currently oversubscribed schools and a plan to make set aside seats available to at risk students with appropriate support. That includes transportation and other supports to make getting to these schools feasible so these students can show up rested and ready to learn.

Also, add another middle school that is also well resourced and fed by successful elementary schools. Spread the same students out across more schools where the parents can be assured their kids are going to school with a majority prepared cohort and strong academics where there is also space for all the students coming up through the expanded feeders.

My point is, most of the parents do not require perfect, we live in DC and send our kids to DCPS by choice, we live in a diverse city by choice and want solid schools but we are not Fairfax county families stressing over AAP programs and gunning for TJ.

The problem is that the city isn’t going to build new schools WOTP. Bad optics.

That’s why people zoned for Lafayette go bananas when someone suggests they feed to Wells and the Coolidge.

DC has a system of neighborhood schools. Students should attend the schools that they are zoned for. It’s nuts to keep building Ward 3 schools bigger and bigger so that they can take more students who have to cross the city.

It's not only nuts, it's shameful.

What's shameful is a system that makes it so you can only go to a good school if you can afford to buy a house in a neighborhood zoned for one.

We have a school lottery. We don't live in a wealthy neighborhood, and my DC goes to one of the best schools in the city, thanks to the lottery.

That some people get extraordinarily lucky in the lottery doesn't mean the overall system of education and housing segregation in this country is good.

In virtually every city in this country, where you live determines where you go to school. We are lucky to have the lottery system. It doesn't fix everything, but it helps. Most cities don't bother with lotteries.

In D.C., where you live also mostly determines where you go to school -- and it certainly determines whether you can go to many of the schools that many metrics rank highly. It's true that charters and the possibility of out-of-bounds enrollment in DCPS schools mitigates that a little, but it's effectively not possible to go to Janney (since that's the school this thread is about) unless you live in-bounds.

PP here. That's definitely true, but there are lots of good schools in DC besides Janney, and, for many of them, it doesn't matter where you live thanks to the lottery. If I were king, I'd make a whole lot more school slots in DC subject to the lottery because it sucks we as a country basically auction off most seats in the best schools in the form of housing prices. But at least there's a lottery to begin with. DC is the first place I've lived that's had one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Can’t tell you how many parents walk in high, drunk, on drugs, or wearing almost nothing. That says a lot about what kind of environment some of the students have to deal with.

Absolutely need to give more funding to these schools. These kids deserve and need more.

But let's be honest, we also need to help people (many are kids themselves) understand that being a parent is serious. Don't have kids if you're not ready.

Very true, but we can’t stop people from having kids. And what to do if you live in the cycle of poor? Not everyone makes it rich or upper middle class. Especially when they lacked those life skills. That’s why we start with the children so they will do and be better. Huge proponent of that.
I really want to help parents too but you can’t make a horse drink and all that jazz.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Can’t tell you how many parents walk in high, drunk, on drugs, or wearing almost nothing. That says a lot about what kind of environment some of the students have to deal with.

Absolutely need to give more funding to these schools. These kids deserve and need more.

But let's be honest, we also need to help people (many are kids themselves) understand that being a parent is serious. Don't have kids if you're not ready.

Very true, but we can’t stop people from having kids. And what to do if you live in the cycle of poor? Not everyone makes it rich or upper middle class. Especially when they lacked those life skills. That’s why we start with the children so they will do and be better. Huge proponent of that.
I really want to help parents too but you can’t make a horse drink and all that jazz.

But ponies! You can totally make them drink. Now if we just put the mules in with the thoroughbreds the mules will see what it is like to win a race and be compelled to run faster based on the nicer stable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Can’t tell you how many parents walk in high, drunk, on drugs, or wearing almost nothing. That says a lot about what kind of environment some of the students have to deal with.

Absolutely need to give more funding to these schools. These kids deserve and need more.

But let's be honest, we also need to help people (many are kids themselves) understand that being a parent is serious. Don't have kids if you're not ready.

Very true, but we can’t stop people from having kids. And what to do if you live in the cycle of poor? Not everyone makes it rich or upper middle class. Especially when they lacked those life skills. That’s why we start with the children so they will do and be better. Huge proponent of that.
I really want to help parents too but you can’t make a horse drink and all that jazz.

But ponies! You can totally make them drink. Now if we just put the mules in with the thoroughbreds the mules will see what it is like to win a race and be compelled to run faster based on the nicer stable.

You are absolutely abhorrent and disgusting.

Why are you so scared of at risk students entering a privileged school? We all know which children shoot up schools the most. Don’t think it’s more of a risk to add kids who may have non-fatal behavioral issues.

[Anonymous]

Youre conflating a lot of issues in a pretty horrific way PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Can’t tell you how many parents walk in high, drunk, on drugs, or wearing almost nothing. That says a lot about what kind of environment some of the students have to deal with.

Absolutely need to give more funding to these schools. These kids deserve and need more.

But let's be honest, we also need to help people (many are kids themselves) understand that being a parent is serious. Don't have kids if you're not ready.

Very true, but we can’t stop people from having kids. And what to do if you live in the cycle of poor? Not everyone makes it rich or upper middle class. Especially when they lacked those life skills. That’s why we start with the children so they will do and be better. Huge proponent of that.
I really want to help parents too but you can’t make a horse drink and all that jazz.

But ponies! You can totally make them drink. Now if we just put the mules in with the thoroughbreds the mules will see what it is like to win a race and be compelled to run faster based on the nicer stable.

You are absolutely abhorrent and disgusting.

Why are you so scared of at risk students entering a privileged school? We all know which children shoot up schools the most. Don’t think it’s more of a risk to add kids who may have non-fatal behavioral issues.

It’s a matter of just no extra spaces at the JKLM schools, plus the disproportionate diversion of teaching time and other resources. Fortunately John Eaton will the designated WOTP magnet for at-risk, shelter and non-at-risk OOB, so Ward 3 is stepping up to the plate at least.