New to looking at Capitol Hill DCPS. Any majority high SES schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not?

The demographics are not there. There is no critical mass of Hill families sufficient to fill an MS. Hence, the only path to a high-performing MS is a city-wide solution but G&T programs will not be implemented by DCPS, because the optics would be politically challenging (there would be too many white & asian kids). Ergo, the only way to do it is for charters to come in that are challenging enough, such that anyone who is not academically high-performing will drop out. Latin, Basis, DCI... but nothing from DCPS.

I don't disbelieve you, but I don't understand DCPS enough to get why this is true. If the early grades at the Cluster, Brent, SWS, Maury, Miner, Ludlow-Taylor, Tyler, Logan, JO Wilson, even Payne (what else am I forgetting?) are totally maxed out, doesn't that mean that those kids would stay through middle school if there were a good option on the Hill? Speaking only for my family, we would love, love, love to keep our kids in public school on the Hill all the way through high school. (We are all set through 5th grade, and our kids will definitely stay at our current school through then.) Shouldn't DCPS take a bit of a risk and create a great neighborhood middle school that would serve all those students? Most of those schools can't feed into S-H because it is overfull.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not?

The demographics are not there. There is no critical mass of Hill families sufficient to fill an MS. Hence, the only path to a high-performing MS is a city-wide solution but G&T programs will not be implemented by DCPS, because the optics would be politically challenging (there would be too many white & asian kids). Ergo, the only way to do it is for charters to come in that are challenging enough, such that anyone who is not academically high-performing will drop out. Latin, Basis, DCI... but nothing from DCPS.

I don't disbelieve you, but I don't understand DCPS enough to get why this is true. If the early grades at the Cluster, Brent, SWS, Maury, Miner, Ludlow-Taylor, Tyler, Logan, JO Wilson, even Payne (what else am I forgetting?) are totally maxed out, doesn't that mean that those kids would stay through middle school if there were a good option on the Hill? Speaking only for my family, we would love, love, love to keep our kids in public school on the Hill all the way through high school. (We are all set through 5th grade, and our kids will definitely stay at our current school through then.) Shouldn't DCPS take a bit of a risk and create a great neighborhood middle school that would serve all those students? Most of those schools can't feed into S-H because it is overfull.

The only numbers that show anything are whether or not the first grade classrooms are maxed out, because many families use DCPS as a place to put their kids before private and parochial, which don't have all day ps3 and pk4 and often redshirt 5 year olds, too. If the first grade classrooms at the abovementioned schools are majority middle-high SES, then there's a chance that the current crop of infants might have a chance at a decent Hill MS. It takes a long time to gain enough buy-in from families who are gambling with their 3rd, 4th, 5th graders' (and up) education.

[Anonymous]

Brent is maxed @ approx. 60 first grade students and 60 K students, with no anticipated decrease for at least three years.

[Anonymous]

Yes, we know Brent is special -- how about Payne, Miner, Ludlow-Taylor, JO Wilson? Btw, Logan doesn't factor into this as it takes students citywide.

[Anonymous]

The Brent gentrification phenomenon, since it's maxing out will spill over. Either to replicate itself in another school, or more likely, to a charter if DCPS is not preparing itself for that.

[Anonymous]

Maury is there. I have to think Ludlow-Taylor is next.

[Anonymous]

So that makes Brent, Maury, SWS. All have significant waiting lists, too, for 1st grade, right? And there might be more. I think that knowing there would be a really strong middle school option would keep almost all of those kids, plus many from all those other schools, from fleeing. I mean, we don't plan to flee anyway. But we also aren't going to send our kids to Brown Educational Campus, which is our zoned middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So that makes Brent, Maury, SWS. All have significant waiting lists, too, for 1st grade, right? And there might be more. I think that knowing there would be a really strong middle school option would keep almost all of those kids, plus many from all those other schools, from fleeing. I mean, we don't plan to flee anyway. But we also aren't going to send our kids to Brown Educational Campus, which is our zoned middle school.

As happened last year at Brent, the likelihood is that few fourth graders will stick around for fifth grade - especially in-bounds kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So that makes Brent, Maury, SWS. All have significant waiting lists, too, for 1st grade, right? And there might be more. I think that knowing there would be a really strong middle school option would keep almost all of those kids, plus many from all those other schools, from fleeing. I mean, we don't plan to flee anyway. But we also aren't going to send our kids to Brown Educational Campus, which is our zoned middle school.

As happened last year at Brent, the likelihood is that few fourth graders will stick around for fifth grade - especially in-bounds kids.

where do they go? why not stay through 5th?

[Anonymous]

Charters that start in 5th or else other elementary schools that feedi nto Deal, Hardy or Stuart Hobson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Charters that start in 5th or else other elementary schools that feedi nto Deal, Hardy or Stuart Hobson.

Quite a few of the Brent 4th graders peeled off to BASIS for 5th+

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not?

The demographics are not there. There is no critical mass of Hill families sufficient to fill an MS. Hence, the only path to a high-performing MS is a city-wide solution but G&T programs will not be implemented by DCPS, because the optics would be politically challenging (there would be too many white & asian kids). Ergo, the only way to do it is for charters to come in that are challenging enough, such that anyone who is not academically high-performing will drop out. Latin, Basis, DCI... but nothing from DCPS.

This is just silly. You're telling me that if Brent, Maury, and the Cluster were all feeders to the same middle school, they couldn't fill Stuart-Hobson? That's just objectively wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not?

The demographics are not there. There is no critical mass of Hill families sufficient to fill an MS. Hence, the only path to a high-performing MS is a city-wide solution but G&T programs will not be implemented by DCPS, because the optics would be politically challenging (there would be too many white & asian kids). Ergo, the only way to do it is for charters to come in that are challenging enough, such that anyone who is not academically high-performing will drop out. Latin, Basis, DCI... but nothing from DCPS.

I don't disbelieve you, but I don't understand DCPS enough to get why this is true. If the early grades at the Cluster, Brent, SWS, Maury, Miner, Ludlow-Taylor, Tyler, Logan, JO Wilson, even Payne (what else am I forgetting?) are totally maxed out, doesn't that mean that those kids would stay through middle school if there were a good option on the Hill? Speaking only for my family, we would love, love, love to keep our kids in public school on the Hill all the way through high school. (We are all set through 5th grade, and our kids will definitely stay at our current school through then.) Shouldn't DCPS take a bit of a risk and create a great neighborhood middle school that would serve all those students? Most of those schools can't feed into S-H because it is overfull.

The only numbers that show anything are whether or not the first grade classrooms are maxed out, because many families use DCPS as a place to put their kids before private and parochial, which don't have all day ps3 and pk4 and often redshirt 5 year olds, too. If the first grade classrooms at the abovementioned schools are majority middle-high SES, then there's a chance that the current crop of infants might have a chance at a decent Hill MS. It takes a long time to gain enough buy-in from families who are gambling with their 3rd, 4th, 5th graders' (and up) education.

I notice you're moving the goalposts. You claimed that there were not enough high-SES students on the Hill to fill a middle-school. Now you're essentially arguing that high-SES students don't stay in the ES' long enough to get to middle-school. The obvious reason for this is that there's no viable middle-school option. Either circular or disingenuous. Tutt tutt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not?

The demographics are not there. There is no critical mass of Hill families sufficient to fill an MS. Hence, the only path to a high-performing MS is a city-wide solution but G&T programs will not be implemented by DCPS, because the optics would be politically challenging (there would be too many white & asian kids). Ergo, the only way to do it is for charters to come in that are challenging enough, such that anyone who is not academically high-performing will drop out. Latin, Basis, DCI... but nothing from DCPS.

I don't disbelieve you, but I don't understand DCPS enough to get why this is true. If the early grades at the Cluster, Brent, SWS, Maury, Miner, Ludlow-Taylor, Tyler, Logan, JO Wilson, even Payne (what else am I forgetting?) are totally maxed out, doesn't that mean that those kids would stay through middle school if there were a good option on the Hill? Speaking only for my family, we would love, love, love to keep our kids in public school on the Hill all the way through high school. (We are all set through 5th grade, and our kids will definitely stay at our current school through then.) Shouldn't DCPS take a bit of a risk and create a great neighborhood middle school that would serve all those students? Most of those schools can't feed into S-H because it is overfull.

The only numbers that show anything are whether or not the first grade classrooms are maxed out, because many families use DCPS as a place to put their kids before private and parochial, which don't have all day ps3 and pk4 and often redshirt 5 year olds, too. If the first grade classrooms at the abovementioned schools are majority middle-high SES, then there's a chance that the current crop of infants might have a chance at a decent Hill MS. It takes a long time to gain enough buy-in from families who are gambling with their 3rd, 4th, 5th graders' (and up) education.

I notice you're moving the goalposts. You claimed that there were not enough high-SES students on the Hill to fill a middle-school. Now you're essentially arguing that high-SES students don't stay in the ES' long enough to get to middle-school. The obvious reason for this is that there's no viable middle-school option. Either circular or disingenuous. Tutt tutt.

Different poster here. I don't know enough to say whether there are sufficient middle class families to fill a middle school but I do know that not so long ago we'd be having the discussion as to whether there were enough middle-class families to make some of these schools an option even at the pre-K level. I never thought I would see middle class families choosing Tyler, for example, for any grade but now they do. I can't predict the future but I wouldn't rule out the possibility that these families will stay in the system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not?

The demographics are not there. There is no critical mass of Hill families sufficient to fill an MS. Hence, the only path to a high-performing MS is a city-wide solution but G&T programs will not be implemented by DCPS, because the optics would be politically challenging (there would be too many white & asian kids). Ergo, the only way to do it is for charters to come in that are challenging enough, such that anyone who is not academically high-performing will drop out. Latin, Basis, DCI... but nothing from DCPS.

This is just silly. You're telling me that if Brent, Maury, and the Cluster were all feeders to the same middle school, they couldn't fill Stuart-Hobson? That's just objectively wrong.

That would work, but how?