do you know a lot of people who are leaving DCPS next year?

[Anonymous]

DCPS gets federal per pupil funding. If enough people pull their kids out of the system, they will feel it. Their budget will feel it. Do what is best for your kids and don’t look back. Kids only have one shot at K-12 education. A third interrupted school year is unacceptable. There is no excuse. Get vaccinated and get back to life! The WTU is a disgrace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And today’s emails from Deal just made me even happier I was leaving.

IPL now, but only some days a week and wait for it... bring a laptop and headphones !

So IPL is kids sitting in a room watching a virtual class?

God I hate DCPS so much now.

yep, me too.
We are pulling 2 from Deal next year.

I know, I know. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out".

But that is two less pupils that DCPS gets funding for. Plus the $1K/kid I've given Deal each year at the "raise the paddle" auction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We took a 4.5 day/week 5th grade in-person spot where most of the kids have IEPs for a kid without and the experience has been a lot better than 100% DL.

There are only 10 kids in the group, meaning that the teacher who's coming in to teach can differentiate much better than in a normal classroom. Better experience than I expected. Kid's motivation has increased a lot since 100% DL ended.

We're on the fence about leaving for the burbs for next year. Our DCPS is only around 5% at-risk, and we expect enrollment to drop. Impossible to predict how much enrollment will drop, but the principal sounds serious about re-opening 5 days a week. I wouldn't rule out her renting extra space for classrooms, outdoor classrooms in tents, morning and afternoon shifts, anything that works to offer 5-day week school.

Maddening that ES DCPS principals still play an outsize role in deciding who gets to attend school for how long. This is not the case in Arlington, MoCo, Fairfax etc. No wonder that some DCPS parents of means are searching for greener pastures....more certainty and fair pandemic attendance policies.

I couldn’t agree more.

Right. Your child may or may not get an education based on the random and totally unscientific whim of a principal. Absurd.

I thought everyone loved this because it was the only way to get schools to open. Now you don't like the super local control your school has.

Over the winter, some of us argued on DCUM for delayed openings as a bridge to re-opening across the board for hybrid. This is mostly what's happened in the burbs: nobody could attend school in January, but everybody can attend at least two days a week from March with teachers in classrooms. The whim-of-principals approach to re-opening has outstayed its welcome for all but a lucky minority, along with DL at school masquerading as bona fide in-person learning. We're fed up with Ferebee's cynical, timid, lazy ass prerogative to get bragging rights to across-the-board reopening.

Well, what should now be happening as the next step in the “whims of principals” approach is that DCPS should be guiding the lagging schools to adopt the solutions used by the successful schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And today’s emails from Deal just made me even happier I was leaving.

IPL now, but only some days a week and wait for it... bring a laptop and headphones !

So IPL is kids sitting in a room watching a virtual class?

God I hate DCPS so much now.

yep, me too.
We are pulling 2 from Deal next year.

I know, I know. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out".

But that is two less pupils that DCPS gets funding for. Plus the $1K/kid I've given Deal each year at the "raise the paddle" auction.

How do you know? The call is tonight. As my 8th grader pointed out, assignments are probably done online to cut down on germ transmission of passing/handing stuff in.

[Anonymous]

I yanked my kid out of a WOTP DCPS last year and moved to private. Best move I ever made. Fortunately, I can swing it financially, but many are not as fortunate given the high cost of living in this area. I bought my house in a top DC neighborhood a long time ago so switching to private makes most sense than going into huge debt for a more expensive house in the area.

I do know that most of the parents in my neighborhood are going nowhere. They're patiently waiting for things to go back to normal. Frankly, they have nowhere to go even f they wanted to. They could sell their houses in a matter of hours of course, but there's no inventory (let alone affordable options) in areas with good schools such as McLean, Great Falls or Bethesda to buy. All in all, most DC homeowners will stay put unless they are leaving the area all together and going to a cheaper location. The severe real estate bubble around the country is limiting options for many.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I yanked my kid out of a WOTP DCPS last year and moved to private. Best move I ever made. Fortunately, I can swing it financially, but many are not as fortunate given the high cost of living in this area. I bought my house in a top DC neighborhood a long time ago so switching to private makes most sense than going into huge debt for a more expensive house in the area.

I do know that most of the parents in my neighborhood are going nowhere. They're patiently waiting for things to go back to normal. Frankly, they have nowhere to go even f they wanted to. They could sell their houses in a matter of hours of course, but there's no inventory (let alone affordable options) in areas with good schools such as McLean, Great Falls or Bethesda to buy. All in all, most DC homeowners will stay put unless they are leaving the area all together and going to a cheaper location. The severe real estate bubble around the country is limiting options for many.

At the high school level many are going Catholic or private. Of the kids I know at Deal (roughly 40?), about 60% are not going to a DCPS high school and many more applied but did not get in and are hoping a waitlist will move. This is probably up 25-50% from a typical year.
I know quite a few families who sent an older child to Wilson/Walls but the younger one is going to Catholic or private.

[Anonymous]

Agree with 11:41. But my perception is that most in upper NW are not moving to the suburbs, as many here think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree with 11:41. But my perception is that most in upper NW are not moving to the suburbs, as many here think.

yeah, I don't know anyone moving to the suburbs. MCPS and Fairfax are an unknown for next year as well. They can't be counted on to be in-person either.

I have a rising 9th grader and the vast majority of kids I know (I'd say 90% out of 25 kids I know in DCPS?) applied to private/Catholic high school. Many got in, many did not do so won't be as much of
an exodus as it may have been, had there been more spots. But no one wants their kids to start high school on Zoom and the Catholic high schools are relatively affordable and it's only 4 years.
So people applied en masse. Our Deal teachers said they wrote recs for almost everyone or it sure felt that way.

My other kid is a rising 6th grader and there was far fewer applications at this age. 1) there are less spots to move to 2) no-one wants to plan on moving their kid twice and if you move for 6th, your'e looking
at 7 years of private which is a huge commitment (vs. 4 for high school). So far more (ourselves included) will just ride out it out in DCPS for next year.

[Anonymous]

We are also pulling out of DCPS for private - MS/HS level. We would not have considered it before this year. And yes, like PP, I know no one cares. That is one thing that has been made clear since last March.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are also pulling out of DCPS for private - MS/HS level. We would not have considered it before this year. And yes, like PP, I know no one cares. That is one thing that has been made clear since last March.

And yet, the world will continue to spin without you. Imagine that.

[Anonymous]

yeah people aren't moving despite the rants on dcum
https://www.washingtonian.com/2021/03/29/inside-dcs-pandemic-fueled-real-estate-boom/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:yeah people aren't moving despite the rants on dcum
https://www.washingtonian.com/2021/03/29/inside-dcs-pandemic-fueled-real-estate-boom/

Must not have read the article. A ton of the listings were in the suburbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are also pulling out of DCPS for private - MS/HS level. We would not have considered it before this year. And yes, like PP, I know no one cares. That is one thing that has been made clear since last March.

And yet, the world will continue to spin without you. Imagine that.

Yes, as I said, that is my understanding. The DCPS world will continue to spin its wheels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are definitely leaving. DH works in DC. I work in MD and this year has been tough on our children because of our long hours and the virtual learning. We have been fortunate to get job transfers to Florida.

Oh god, I'd rather homeschool my kids for eternity than have to live in Florida. God speed.

As this pandemic goes on, and the data becomes more clear, it's becoming clear that people (and their governments) in places like Florida did a much more rational, thoughtful weighing of risks and benefits than the people in areas like DC.

My cousin's kids in Florida have been in school since August (middle schooler and high schooler). Around here, we're still trying to figure out how to give elementary school kids at least some level of in-person instuction.

Try to think rationally and objectively, and you'll realize who made the smart decisions for their children.

The governor of Florida is an abject, mouthbreathing, Trump sycophant imbecile.

"Giving me what I want" does not equal doing the right thing.

Childish insults are all people like you have left.

Florida is mostly open, its covid numbers are middle of the pack for the country as a whole, and its kids get to go to school.

Meanwhile, you’re still obsessed with Donald Trump.

Aww, good try. I don't give a damn about Donald Trump, but DeSantis and Abbott sure do. Imagine holding them and their abject failure of leadership in a pandemic as role models. LOL!

[Anonymous]

Done with DCPS, we have not been impressed with the crisis response. We are even leaving the country, feel fortunate kids can go to private school abroad