DME Meeting at SWS June 5th

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What a misery the SWS proximity fight has become. Of course the underlying problem is that DCPS offers but four matter-of-right elementary programs most in-boundary residents are happy with (Peabody, Brent, Maury and Tyler Spanish Immersion), of 10 total (with Payne, L-T, Watkins, Miner, JO Wilson, Tyler Traditional), and no middle school or high school programs. The bickering won't stop, and neither will the exodus of Hill families with school-age children, on as long as demand for high SES friendly programs outstrips supply by a wide margin. Ech.

Errr. speak for yourself. I and many other parents are perfectly happy with being in-bounds for Ludlow-Taylor and almost all will be registering at LT again in the fall. It's a terrific school. Don't lump it if you don't know it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the school you go to because you don't want to go to your IB school. Not because you're invested in the model. You could care less about RE, but you know you'll move before you put up with that damn Cobbs.

+1,000

signed "Angry" + "Sockpuppet/Dittohead with little to no knowledge about SWS or its community.

No, I know a lot about SWS. I know even more about the parents who are agitating for proximity, and this describes them to a T.

The Cobbs hater knows nothing. She's actually been an effective principal and has test scores to back it up. FYI, Cobbs is leaving to take a job in Colorado as educational superintendent for 13 schools and to be closer to her daughters. I guess you'll have to find some other idiot reason to hate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is there no scope for compromise on the proximity vs. citywide lottery issue at SWS? How about proximity preference for a minority of PreS3 to K seats, after sibling preference, say 25%? Done. Nothing earth-shattering, or unreasonable. I'd probably get the preference, but wouldn't take the spots anyway. We've lotteried in elsewhere.

Really? Where are you going? I'm curious where neighborhood folks go now that Brent, Maury and Peabody aren't options anymore.

Proximity preference was a non-starter. Now that Cobbs is leaving, there's no excuses for parents not to go to LT.

What do you mean that Brent, Maury and Peabody aren't options anymore? Some of us have lotteried in OOB, just not for prek3. You need luck, granted, but a few OOB spots are still available at in-demand neighborhood schools for prek (just not for Brent this year) on up. You'd be surprised who they will call in the 11th hour right before Count Day.

No dog in this fight, but Brent had a few spots for OOB students at grades K and above in the preceding two lotteries. If my memory serves me right, there were something like six spots for K open for next year, largely because the school is adding another class for K. I assume some of these seats went to siblings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree that there's a high likelihood of bias. Hopefully those who want it to stay citywide will reach out to the DME and let her know.

If you want it to stay citywide, please move it out of Capitol Hill so we can use the space for a neighborhood school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that there's a high likelihood of bias. Hopefully those who want it to stay citywide will reach out to the DME and let her know.

If you want it to stay citywide, please move it out of Capitol Hill so we can use the space for a neighborhood school.

Huh? You can't swing a cat on the Hill without hitting a neighborhood elementary school, and most of those are full of out-of-bounds kids. There's absolutely no need for yet another school for Hill kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the question of why people with kids are still leaving the Hill. Here's my take. We are in PS3 at a public school on the Hill and people seem pretty happy there. A number of our classmates' parents have expressed to me they plan to move in a few years. But they don't mention the school as a reason, it's more of a "we'd like more space," or we want to move closer to family, type of thing. We have a lot of classmates whose parents have lived in their rowhouses since they were first married, or before. Maybe you can stick it out in that little house, and save some money until your first child is in K or 1st. Then you want to upgrade. You may love the Hill and love your school but at that point, it doesn't make sense to buy another house on the HIll without more certainty about MS. If you are entertaining ideas of leaving DC at some point anyhow (and most of us do, right?), not having a great MS/HS option is just one more factor leading you to make the choice to move off the Hill. So while I don't think people are necessarily leaving the HIll in droves exclusively because of schools, the MS/HS situation certainly doesn't help matters, and I still think we are in a situation where only the truly committed stay. And since DC folks are more transient than most of our countryfolk by nature, it's easier for us to make a move. I do feel like if we had a good MS/HS option, inertia would kick in and more people would decide to stay.

+1. I might add that Watkins blows so that's not helping the neighborhood situation either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that there's a high likelihood of bias. Hopefully those who want it to stay citywide will reach out to the DME and let her know.

If you want it to stay citywide, please move it out of Capitol Hill so we can use the space for a neighborhood school.

Now you're really showing your crazy. You have a neighborhood school, Ludlow-Taylor. You're also more clearly indicating that it is about gerrymandering a school boundary for your child that does not involve FARMs or black children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What a misery the SWS proximity fight has become. Of course the underlying problem is that DCPS offers but four matter-of-right elementary programs most in-boundary residents are happy with (Peabody, Brent, Maury and Tyler Spanish Immersion), of 10 total (with Payne, L-T, Watkins, Miner, JO Wilson, Tyler Traditional), and no middle school or high school programs. The bickering won't stop, and neither will the exodus of Hill families with school-age children, on as long as demand for high SES friendly programs outstrips supply by a wide margin. Ech.

Errr. speak for yourself. I and many other parents are perfectly happy with being in-bounds for Ludlow-Taylor and almost all will be registering at LT again in the fall. It's a terrific school. Don't lump it if you don't know it.

No, you speak for yourself. We were there for preschool. We left and so did most of the other high SES families we started with, at least by 1st grade. LT didn't feel like a neighborhood school to us. I'm glad that LT has been renovated, and that Cobbs is going. but if you're arguing that most in-boundary residents are happy with the current arrangement you're full of it. Everybody tries to lottery into SWS. Admit it, you did, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that there's a high likelihood of bias. Hopefully those who want it to stay citywide will reach out to the DME and let her know.

If you want it to stay citywide, please move it out of Capitol Hill so we can use the space for a neighborhood school.

Now you're really showing your crazy. You have a neighborhood school, Ludlow-Taylor. You're also more clearly indicating that it is about gerrymandering a school boundary for your child that does not involve FARMs or black children.

Your grammar sucks - "your crazy" (sic). Go back to SWS for yourself, not your kid. Go to school in your own neighborhood, and get off the Hill. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Your crazy, as in "your craziness" -- why is that so hard to decipher? I am a new poster btw. I was just going to chime in about how patently self-serving the "give us a new ES" poster is when this gem appeared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What a misery the SWS proximity fight has become. Of course the underlying problem is that DCPS offers but four matter-of-right elementary programs most in-boundary residents are happy with (Peabody, Brent, Maury and Tyler Spanish Immersion), of 10 total (with Payne, L-T, Watkins, Miner, JO Wilson, Tyler Traditional), and no middle school or high school programs. The bickering won't stop, and neither will the exodus of Hill families with school-age children, on as long as demand for high SES friendly programs outstrips supply by a wide margin. Ech.

Errr. speak for yourself. I and many other parents are perfectly happy with being in-bounds for Ludlow-Taylor and almost all will be registering at LT again in the fall. It's a terrific school. Don't lump it if you don't know it.

No, you speak for yourself. We were there for preschool. We left and so did most of the other high SES families we started with, at least by 1st grade. LT didn't feel like a neighborhood school to us. I'm glad that LT has been renovated, and that Cobbs is going. but if you're arguing that most in-boundary residents are happy with the current arrangement you're full of it. Everybody tries to lottery into SWS. Admit it, you did, too.

What are you talking about? I'm not the PP, but there are lots of people who are happy with L-T. Sure, everyone lotteries for SWS, just like they lottery for Mundo Verde and Stokes if they can make the commute. The specialized programs are designed to draw interested families from all over the city. If you're familiar at all with DC schools, you know how things can change dramatically year to year, so this year's PK3 families are having a much different experience than did the families of kids who are currently second and third graders.

I agree that most in-boundary families haven't been thrilled with Ludlow-Taylor, but a big part of that is breathtaking arrogance and a culture of what can truly be described as well-poisoning on the part of some neighbors. Nowhere else in the city have I witnessed such an unbelievable attitude of entitlement as the in-bounds L-T gentrifiers. Hopefully the renovation and a new principal, coupled with a decision on the future of SWS, will help the neighborhood unite behind their school.

[Anonymous]

+1. The same goes for this year's PK4 families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your crazy, as in "your craziness" -- why is that so hard to decipher? I am a new poster btw. I was just going to chime in about how patently self-serving the "give us a new ES" poster is when this gem appeared.

Ah, you don't know grammar either. Adjectives vs. verbs? There is a difference. Come on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your crazy, as in "your craziness" -- why is that so hard to decipher? I am a new poster btw. I was just going to chime in about how patently self-serving the "give us a new ES" poster is when this gem appeared.

Ah, you don't know grammar either. Adjectives vs. verbs? There is a difference. Come on.

Different poster. No, crazy as a noun, not a verb. You obviously don't get out much.

Also nitpicking grammar is the classic sign on DCUM that you are not able to make a valid point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your crazy, as in "your craziness" -- why is that so hard to decipher? I am a new poster btw. I was just going to chime in about how patently self-serving the "give us a new ES" poster is when this gem appeared.

Ah, you don't know grammar either. Adjectives vs. verbs? There is a difference. Come on.

Different poster. No, crazy as a noun, not a verb. You obviously don't get out much.

Also nitpicking grammar is the classic sign on DCUM that you are not able to make a valid point.

No, I can make a point. Take your school with no proximity preference and move it somewhere else so we can use the space for a neighborhood school. Thank you very much.