26-27 Lottery data up

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All Spanish track students on the waitlist (45) will not get in this year, there is not space for them. There will be more waitlisted students as the feeders complete their growth.

I’m not anxious or worried. I have a child at a Spanish feeder and I would like to understand what middle school language options they will have. Can charter school students lottery in to the Spanish programs at DCPS middle schools? Do they just have to put Macfarland or CHEC on the lottery list or is there a separate process to get in the language track?

The real answer is that MacFarland and CHEC are so weak that you don’t need to bother with a formal process. List them in the lottery then tell them you want the Spanish track. Then panic when you simultaneously hear the stories your sixth grader comes home with and realize they aren’t learning a thing. And if you think things will miraculously change in the few years you have until middle school, go talk to the people on the Hill arguing about middle schools.

MacFarland bilingual school graduate family who did not continue to MacFarland for the reasons above.

This is one of the funniest but also saddest responses I’ve heard on this forum in a long time. It should be mandatory reading for all people considering middle school in dc.

Honestly what's crazy to me is the the Hill still doesn't have a viable high school equivalent to JR, although it's been gentrified and home to families for decades, longer than the upper NW. I am sure there is a history there, and I am hoping someone here can link out to a nice detailed article about it (or book!)...

First step to a viable HS is high quality MS feeders. The feeder pattern on the Hill and NoMa divides high performing cohorts into 3 different MS. This was DC at its most DC. The optics of having multiple gentrifying MS feed into the same MS was deemed offensive. The result was not to create 3 good MS that in turn would feed the HS. It was to encourage MS families to flee for charters or other MS options (that also came with HS paths).

Did this actually happen? And if so, when? During the 2013 boundary study?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All Spanish track students on the waitlist (45) will not get in this year, there is not space for them. There will be more waitlisted students as the feeders complete their growth.

I’m not anxious or worried. I have a child at a Spanish feeder and I would like to understand what middle school language options they will have. Can charter school students lottery in to the Spanish programs at DCPS middle schools? Do they just have to put Macfarland or CHEC on the lottery list or is there a separate process to get in the language track?

The real answer is that MacFarland and CHEC are so weak that you don’t need to bother with a formal process. List them in the lottery then tell them you want the Spanish track. Then panic when you simultaneously hear the stories your sixth grader comes home with and realize they aren’t learning a thing. And if you think things will miraculously change in the few years you have until middle school, go talk to the people on the Hill arguing about middle schools.

MacFarland bilingual school graduate family who did not continue to MacFarland for the reasons above.

This is one of the funniest but also saddest responses I’ve heard on this forum in a long time. It should be mandatory reading for all people considering middle school in dc.

Honestly what's crazy to me is the the Hill still doesn't have a viable high school equivalent to JR, although it's been gentrified and home to families for decades, longer than the upper NW. I am sure there is a history there, and I am hoping someone here can link out to a nice detailed article about it (or book!)...

First step to a viable HS is high quality MS feeders. The feeder pattern on the Hill and NoMa divides high performing cohorts into 3 different MS. This was DC at its most DC. The optics of having multiple gentrifying MS feed into the same MS was deemed offensive. The result was not to create 3 good MS that in turn would feed the HS. It was to encourage MS families to flee for charters or other MS options (that also came with HS paths).

Did this actually happen? And if so, when? During the 2013 boundary study?

It wasn’t even 3. It was Brent pushing hard to get into the Stuart-Hobson field alongside Watkins, which were then the #s 1 & 2 on the Hill. It’s really a shame, because Brent would have routed kids to SH and routes almost no one to Jefferson now and that might have stabilized Watkins a bit. With the later rise of L-T, the addition of Brent to that feed could have been a game changer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All Spanish track students on the waitlist (45) will not get in this year, there is not space for them. There will be more waitlisted students as the feeders complete their growth.

I’m not anxious or worried. I have a child at a Spanish feeder and I would like to understand what middle school language options they will have. Can charter school students lottery in to the Spanish programs at DCPS middle schools? Do they just have to put Macfarland or CHEC on the lottery list or is there a separate process to get in the language track?

The real answer is that MacFarland and CHEC are so weak that you don’t need to bother with a formal process. List them in the lottery then tell them you want the Spanish track. Then panic when you simultaneously hear the stories your sixth grader comes home with and realize they aren’t learning a thing. And if you think things will miraculously change in the few years you have until middle school, go talk to the people on the Hill arguing about middle schools.

MacFarland bilingual school graduate family who did not continue to MacFarland for the reasons above.

This is one of the funniest but also saddest responses I’ve heard on this forum in a long time. It should be mandatory reading for all people considering middle school in dc.

Honestly what's crazy to me is the the Hill still doesn't have a viable high school equivalent to JR, although it's been gentrified and home to families for decades, longer than the upper NW. I am sure there is a history there, and I am hoping someone here can link out to a nice detailed article about it (or book!)...

First step to a viable HS is high quality MS feeders. The feeder pattern on the Hill and NoMa divides high performing cohorts into 3 different MS. This was DC at its most DC. The optics of having multiple gentrifying MS feed into the same MS was deemed offensive. The result was not to create 3 good MS that in turn would feed the HS. It was to encourage MS families to flee for charters or other MS options (that also came with HS paths).

Did this actually happen? And if so, when? During the 2013 boundary study?

It wasn’t even 3. It was Brent pushing hard to get into the Stuart-Hobson field alongside Watkins, which were then the #s 1 & 2 on the Hill. It’s really a shame, because Brent would have routed kids to SH and routes almost no one to Jefferson now and that might have stabilized Watkins a bit. With the later rise of L-T, the addition of Brent to that feed could have been a game changer.[/quote]


And they would have kicked JO Wilson out of the feed to do it. But with JO getting a remodel you may see even more neighborhood buy-in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All Spanish track students on the waitlist (45) will not get in this year, there is not space for them. There will be more waitlisted students as the feeders complete their growth.

I’m not anxious or worried. I have a child at a Spanish feeder and I would like to understand what middle school language options they will have. Can charter school students lottery in to the Spanish programs at DCPS middle schools? Do they just have to put Macfarland or CHEC on the lottery list or is there a separate process to get in the language track?

The real answer is that MacFarland and CHEC are so weak that you don’t need to bother with a formal process. List them in the lottery then tell them you want the Spanish track. Then panic when you simultaneously hear the stories your sixth grader comes home with and realize they aren’t learning a thing. And if you think things will miraculously change in the few years you have until middle school, go talk to the people on the Hill arguing about middle schools.

MacFarland bilingual school graduate family who did not continue to MacFarland for the reasons above.

This is one of the funniest but also saddest responses I’ve heard on this forum in a long time. It should be mandatory reading for all people considering middle school in dc.

Honestly what's crazy to me is the the Hill still doesn't have a viable high school equivalent to JR, although it's been gentrified and home to families for decades, longer than the upper NW. I am sure there is a history there, and I am hoping someone here can link out to a nice detailed article about it (or book!)...

First step to a viable HS is high quality MS feeders. The feeder pattern on the Hill and NoMa divides high performing cohorts into 3 different MS. This was DC at its most DC. The optics of having multiple gentrifying MS feed into the same MS was deemed offensive. The result was not to create 3 good MS that in turn would feed the HS. It was to encourage MS families to flee for charters or other MS options (that also came with HS paths).

Yes - a Deal-like middle school on cap hill is a political non-starter. The equity folks would howl and not (entirely) unjustifiably so.

I mean, how unfair and inequitable would it be for there to be a MS on the Hill that provided a quality education to all of its students? We can't have that. We'll just ignore the more than 50% of the kids who will be POC and the 30% who will be ED that will benefit from a quality MS. Because the SJW don't care about those kids.

Right - if too many of the “wrong” folks (ie, white folks) are benefitting, it can’t happen.

Kind of like America writ large; we can’t have social programs that would help everyone because too many of the “wrong” people will benefit too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UMC parents who can pay for private are at better odds to try SH or EH knowing that if Walls doesn't pan out, they can send their kid to private high school school. I think a lot of the BASIS/Latin boosters from the Hill are people who cannot pay for private and want to secure the path to 12th grade without the stress of trying to get into Walls and know that Eastern isn't going to cut it.

DCUM is so weird sometimes. The demographic data on these schools is published. Your gut is wrong. By the numbers SH is much, less affluent than BASIS or Latin. And has a much higher at risk populations. Plus, only 28% of SH is actually in boundary.

The reality is affluent parents are able to see the really bad quality of DCPS middle schools like SH and go to a charter or move. They have choices.

Why would affluence affect charter selection? What now?

As a family with the funds to move, I can tell you right now there is no way I would send my kid to a dcps middle. Any dcps middle. If my kid got into a solid charter path (basis, dci, latin) I would stay unless I felt that charter didn’t meet my kids needs.

Wow, you really went out on a limb there. To summarize, you'd keep your kid at a school...unless it didn't meet your needs?

Your bravery is laudable.

Brave since there are many who want to bash charters - until they need one. It’s like a badge of courage to choose your DCPS elementary school while criticizing others who choose charters. All that noise stops around middle school, when the formerly DCPS-righteous refuse to even give a DCPS middle a chance and start jumping ship for charters.

+1. So true. I’ll add that these people even jump ship sooner in upper elementary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All Spanish track students on the waitlist (45) will not get in this year, there is not space for them. There will be more waitlisted students as the feeders complete their growth.

I’m not anxious or worried. I have a child at a Spanish feeder and I would like to understand what middle school language options they will have. Can charter school students lottery in to the Spanish programs at DCPS middle schools? Do they just have to put Macfarland or CHEC on the lottery list or is there a separate process to get in the language track?

The real answer is that MacFarland and CHEC are so weak that you don’t need to bother with a formal process. List them in the lottery then tell them you want the Spanish track. Then panic when you simultaneously hear the stories your sixth grader comes home with and realize they aren’t learning a thing. And if you think things will miraculously change in the few years you have until middle school, go talk to the people on the Hill arguing about middle schools.

MacFarland bilingual school graduate family who did not continue to MacFarland for the reasons above.

This is one of the funniest but also saddest responses I’ve heard on this forum in a long time. It should be mandatory reading for all people considering middle school in dc.

Honestly what's crazy to me is the the Hill still doesn't have a viable high school equivalent to JR, although it's been gentrified and home to families for decades, longer than the upper NW. I am sure there is a history there, and I am hoping someone here can link out to a nice detailed article about it (or book!)...

First step to a viable HS is high quality MS feeders. The feeder pattern on the Hill and NoMa divides high performing cohorts into 3 different MS. This was DC at its most DC. The optics of having multiple gentrifying MS feed into the same MS was deemed offensive. The result was not to create 3 good MS that in turn would feed the HS. It was to encourage MS families to flee for charters or other MS options (that also came with HS paths).

Did this actually happen? And if so, when? During the 2013 boundary study?

It wasn’t even 3. It was Brent pushing hard to get into the Stuart-Hobson field alongside Watkins, which were then the #s 1 & 2 on the Hill. It’s really a shame, because Brent would have routed kids to SH and routes almost no one to Jefferson now and that might have stabilized Watkins a bit. With the later rise of L-T, the addition of Brent to that feed could have been a game changer.[/quote]


And they would have kicked JO Wilson out of the feed to do it. But with JO getting a remodel you may see even more neighborhood buy-in.

The Brent families did not help the cause. I'm white and even I bristled at the stuff coming out of Brent families' mouths. They were preternaturally focused on what was "really the Hill". A concept no one but 75 year old, double knit wearing real estate agents cared about. Somewhere along the way someone told Brent families it was a winning argument to try and isolate "those people" north of H Street. Go look at the threads. Brent families argued proximity to SH but didn't want to hear that JOW was actually closer. Their argument was that JOW wasn't actually part of the neighborhood so even though it was closer to SH than Brent, it wasn't culturally close. It was icky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UMC parents who can pay for private are at better odds to try SH or EH knowing that if Walls doesn't pan out, they can send their kid to private high school school. I think a lot of the BASIS/Latin boosters from the Hill are people who cannot pay for private and want to secure the path to 12th grade without the stress of trying to get into Walls and know that Eastern isn't going to cut it.

DCUM is so weird sometimes. The demographic data on these schools is published. Your gut is wrong. By the numbers SH is much, less affluent than BASIS or Latin. And has a much higher at risk populations. Plus, only 28% of SH is actually in boundary.

The reality is affluent parents are able to see the really bad quality of DCPS middle schools like SH and go to a charter or move. They have choices.

Why would affluence affect charter selection? What now?

As a family with the funds to move, I can tell you right now there is no way I would send my kid to a dcps middle. Any dcps middle. If my kid got into a solid charter path (basis, dci, latin) I would stay unless I felt that charter didn’t meet my kids needs.

Wow, you really went out on a limb there. To summarize, you'd keep your kid at a school...unless it didn't meet your needs?

Your bravery is laudable.

I was criticizing the people who put their kids in dcps schools and pretend they’re getting a halfway good education. I put my kids first.

I would go to Vegas and bet all my money on the fact that your kids will go no contact with you in adulthood. This is exactly the way people speak when they don’t put their kids first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UMC parents who can pay for private are at better odds to try SH or EH knowing that if Walls doesn't pan out, they can send their kid to private high school school. I think a lot of the BASIS/Latin boosters from the Hill are people who cannot pay for private and want to secure the path to 12th grade without the stress of trying to get into Walls and know that Eastern isn't going to cut it.

DCUM is so weird sometimes. The demographic data on these schools is published. Your gut is wrong. By the numbers SH is much, less affluent than BASIS or Latin. And has a much higher at risk populations. Plus, only 28% of SH is actually in boundary.

The reality is affluent parents are able to see the really bad quality of DCPS middle schools like SH and go to a charter or move. They have choices.

Why would affluence affect charter selection? What now?

As a family with the funds to move, I can tell you right now there is no way I would send my kid to a dcps middle. Any dcps middle. If my kid got into a solid charter path (basis, dci, latin) I would stay unless I felt that charter didn’t meet my kids needs.

Wow, you really went out on a limb there. To summarize, you'd keep your kid at a school...unless it didn't meet your needs?

Your bravery is laudable.

I was criticizing the people who put their kids in dcps schools and pretend they’re getting a halfway good education. I put my kids first.

I would go to Vegas and bet all my money on the fact that your kids will go no contact with you in adulthood. This is exactly the way people speak when they don’t put their kids first.

Losing all your money in Vegas is a great way to put all your kids first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The Brent families did not help the cause. I'm white and even I bristled at the stuff coming out of Brent families' mouths. They were preternaturally focused on what was "really the Hill". A concept no one but 75 year old, double knit wearing real estate agents cared about. Somewhere along the way someone told Brent families it was a winning argument to try and isolate "those people" north of H Street. Go look at the threads. Brent families argued proximity to SH but didn't want to hear that JOW was actually closer. Their argument was that JOW wasn't actually part of the neighborhood so even though it was closer to SH than Brent, it wasn't culturally close. It was icky.

That's VERY different from "make one giant middle school with all the Eastern feeders"

I think you could make the case for consolidating into two middle schools, but it's really hard to do in a geographically logical way with the gerrymandered Peabody/Watkins boundary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UMC parents who can pay for private are at better odds to try SH or EH knowing that if Walls doesn't pan out, they can send their kid to private high school school. I think a lot of the BASIS/Latin boosters from the Hill are people who cannot pay for private and want to secure the path to 12th grade without the stress of trying to get into Walls and know that Eastern isn't going to cut it.

DCUM is so weird sometimes. The demographic data on these schools is published. Your gut is wrong. By the numbers SH is much, less affluent than BASIS or Latin. And has a much higher at risk populations. Plus, only 28% of SH is actually in boundary.

The reality is affluent parents are able to see the really bad quality of DCPS middle schools like SH and go to a charter or move. They have choices.

Why would affluence affect charter selection? What now?

As a family with the funds to move, I can tell you right now there is no way I would send my kid to a dcps middle. Any dcps middle. If my kid got into a solid charter path (basis, dci, latin) I would stay unless I felt that charter didn’t meet my kids needs.

Wow, you really went out on a limb there. To summarize, you'd keep your kid at a school...unless it didn't meet your needs?

Your bravery is laudable.

I was criticizing the people who put their kids in dcps schools and pretend they’re getting a halfway good education. I put my kids first.

I would go to Vegas and bet all my money on the fact that your kids will go no contact with you in adulthood. This is exactly the way people speak when they don’t put their kids first.

Losing all your money in Vegas is a great way to put all your kids first.

My family has way more money collectively than just mine. I’m also 100% confident I’m right and your kids already low key hate you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The Brent families did not help the cause. I'm white and even I bristled at the stuff coming out of Brent families' mouths. They were preternaturally focused on what was "really the Hill". A concept no one but 75 year old, double knit wearing real estate agents cared about. Somewhere along the way someone told Brent families it was a winning argument to try and isolate "those people" north of H Street. Go look at the threads. Brent families argued proximity to SH but didn't want to hear that JOW was actually closer. Their argument was that JOW wasn't actually part of the neighborhood so even though it was closer to SH than Brent, it wasn't culturally close. It was icky.

That's VERY different from "make one giant middle school with all the Eastern feeders"

I think you could make the case for consolidating into two middle schools, but it's really hard to do in a geographically logical way with the gerrymandered Peabody/Watkins boundary.

I know breaking up the Cluster is probably a total non-starter, but reviewing the Hill elementary boundaries and not having Peabody/Watkins zig zag from from Congressional Cemetery to Union Station would be a good start. There's one spot where the boundary is a mere 2 blocks wide! Although Watkins, Payne, and Chisholm all being so close together is a whole different set of challenges when it comes to drawing boundaries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The Brent families did not help the cause. I'm white and even I bristled at the stuff coming out of Brent families' mouths. They were preternaturally focused on what was "really the Hill". A concept no one but 75 year old, double knit wearing real estate agents cared about. Somewhere along the way someone told Brent families it was a winning argument to try and isolate "those people" north of H Street. Go look at the threads. Brent families argued proximity to SH but didn't want to hear that JOW was actually closer. Their argument was that JOW wasn't actually part of the neighborhood so even though it was closer to SH than Brent, it wasn't culturally close. It was icky.

That's VERY different from "make one giant middle school with all the Eastern feeders"

I think you could make the case for consolidating into two middle schools, but it's really hard to do in a geographically logical way with the gerrymandered Peabody/Watkins boundary.

I know breaking up the Cluster is probably a total non-starter, but reviewing the Hill elementary boundaries and not having Peabody/Watkins zig zag from from Congressional Cemetery to Union Station would be a good start. There's one spot where the boundary is a mere 2 blocks wide! Although Watkins, Payne, and Chisholm all being so close together is a whole different set of challenges when it comes to drawing boundaries.

My dream is that Jefferson become a 6th grade academy for all Eastern feeders. A ton of electives, field trips, extracurriculars, social-emotional learning...but also tracked classes and a focus on developing study skills and executive function. Make it a really special, exciting year that bonds the kids and gets them excited about the next 6 years of their education. Grand Rapids has 6th grade academies that are a good model of this.

Then have SH and EH each teach 7th and 8th grade, with kids coming out of Jefferson given the option to express a preference but only guaranteed that they will get one or the other. SH could be an arts integration model, capitalizing on its existing theater program but doing a bunch of other art forms too (writing, visual arts, music, etc.) and tying in to the Eastern arts pathway. EH would be pre-EPIC with close ties to the EPIC and IB programs at Eastern.

People might complain a bit about getting their kids across to schools that are a bit more distant for a year or two, but I think it would help with the issue of retaining kids for grades 5-12 in the Eastern pyramid, and overall provide a better education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The Brent families did not help the cause. I'm white and even I bristled at the stuff coming out of Brent families' mouths. They were preternaturally focused on what was "really the Hill". A concept no one but 75 year old, double knit wearing real estate agents cared about. Somewhere along the way someone told Brent families it was a winning argument to try and isolate "those people" north of H Street. Go look at the threads. Brent families argued proximity to SH but didn't want to hear that JOW was actually closer. Their argument was that JOW wasn't actually part of the neighborhood so even though it was closer to SH than Brent, it wasn't culturally close. It was icky.

That's VERY different from "make one giant middle school with all the Eastern feeders"

I think you could make the case for consolidating into two middle schools, but it's really hard to do in a geographically logical way with the gerrymandered Peabody/Watkins boundary.

I know breaking up the Cluster is probably a total non-starter, but reviewing the Hill elementary boundaries and not having Peabody/Watkins zig zag from from Congressional Cemetery to Union Station would be a good start. There's one spot where the boundary is a mere 2 blocks wide! Although Watkins, Payne, and Chisholm all being so close together is a whole different set of challenges when it comes to drawing boundaries.

My dream is that Jefferson become a 6th grade academy for all Eastern feeders. A ton of electives, field trips, extracurriculars, social-emotional learning...but also tracked classes and a focus on developing study skills and executive function. Make it a really special, exciting year that bonds the kids and gets them excited about the next 6 years of their education. Grand Rapids has 6th grade academies that are a good model of this.

Then have SH and EH each teach 7th and 8th grade, with kids coming out of Jefferson given the option to express a preference but only guaranteed that they will get one or the other. SH could be an arts integration model, capitalizing on its existing theater program but doing a bunch of other art forms too (writing, visual arts, music, etc.) and tying in to the Eastern arts pathway. EH would be pre-EPIC with close ties to the EPIC and IB programs at Eastern.

People might complain a bit about getting their kids across to schools that are a bit more distant for a year or two, but I think it would help with the issue of retaining kids for grades 5-12 in the Eastern pyramid, and overall provide a better education.

That's a nice idea *except* that Jefferson is really far away from people in the northern and easternmost parts of the Eastern feeder pattern. Like people zoned especially for Miner and Maury are reeeeeally far away and one of the main arguments for staying in DCPS for middle school is that most middles are walkable/bikable from homes IB.

If you were going to do a "6th grade academy" it would make more sense to make it SH, which is smack in the middle of the Eastern boundary, more or less, and then everyone would feed to Jefferson and E-H for 7th and 8th. But that won't work because SH is the one school of the three with the most traction with IB families so there won't be any interest in changing up what they are doing (and this would destroy some programming that is dearly valued, like their theater program).

The geographic logistics have always been the weak spot for any efforts to change up the MS feeder patterns on the hill. Like when people suggest feeding Maury, Brent, and L-T into the same school, this makes zero geographic sense and would result in bizarre feeder patterns that are so obviously gerrymandered to feed the most expensive real estate into one middle, while weirdly cutting off schools like Amidon Bowen, JOW, and Miner from whatever school they would ultimately be zoned for (kids would wind up crossing the "good school" boundary to reach their middle school). Like it's just insane and ignores common sense.

The truth is you just have to wait/hope the middle schools get IB buy in and this builds up to the high school. You have to do it the hard way. No one likes this. It is just how it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The Brent families did not help the cause. I'm white and even I bristled at the stuff coming out of Brent families' mouths. They were preternaturally focused on what was "really the Hill". A concept no one but 75 year old, double knit wearing real estate agents cared about. Somewhere along the way someone told Brent families it was a winning argument to try and isolate "those people" north of H Street. Go look at the threads. Brent families argued proximity to SH but didn't want to hear that JOW was actually closer. Their argument was that JOW wasn't actually part of the neighborhood so even though it was closer to SH than Brent, it wasn't culturally close. It was icky.

That's VERY different from "make one giant middle school with all the Eastern feeders"

I think you could make the case for consolidating into two middle schools, but it's really hard to do in a geographically logical way with the gerrymandered Peabody/Watkins boundary.

I know breaking up the Cluster is probably a total non-starter, but reviewing the Hill elementary boundaries and not having Peabody/Watkins zig zag from from Congressional Cemetery to Union Station would be a good start. There's one spot where the boundary is a mere 2 blocks wide! Although Watkins, Payne, and Chisholm all being so close together is a whole different set of challenges when it comes to drawing boundaries.

My dream is that Jefferson become a 6th grade academy for all Eastern feeders. A ton of electives, field trips, extracurriculars, social-emotional learning...but also tracked classes and a focus on developing study skills and executive function. Make it a really special, exciting year that bonds the kids and gets them excited about the next 6 years of their education. Grand Rapids has 6th grade academies that are a good model of this.

Then have SH and EH each teach 7th and 8th grade, with kids coming out of Jefferson given the option to express a preference but only guaranteed that they will get one or the other. SH could be an arts integration model, capitalizing on its existing theater program but doing a bunch of other art forms too (writing, visual arts, music, etc.) and tying in to the Eastern arts pathway. EH would be pre-EPIC with close ties to the EPIC and IB programs at Eastern.

People might complain a bit about getting their kids across to schools that are a bit more distant for a year or two, but I think it would help with the issue of retaining kids for grades 5-12 in the Eastern pyramid, and overall provide a better education.

That's a nice idea *except* that Jefferson is really far away from people in the northern and easternmost parts of the Eastern feeder pattern. Like people zoned especially for Miner and Maury are reeeeeally far away and one of the main arguments for staying in DCPS for middle school is that most middles are walkable/bikable from homes IB.

If you were going to do a "6th grade academy" it would make more sense to make it SH, which is smack in the middle of the Eastern boundary, more or less, and then everyone would feed to Jefferson and E-H for 7th and 8th. But that won't work because SH is the one school of the three with the most traction with IB families so there won't be any interest in changing up what they are doing (and this would destroy some programming that is dearly valued, like their theater program).

The geographic logistics have always been the weak spot for any efforts to change up the MS feeder patterns on the hill. Like when people suggest feeding Maury, Brent, and L-T into the same school, this makes zero geographic sense and would result in bizarre feeder patterns that are so obviously gerrymandered to feed the most expensive real estate into one middle, while weirdly cutting off schools like Amidon Bowen, JOW, and Miner from whatever school they would ultimately be zoned for (kids would wind up crossing the "good school" boundary to reach their middle school). Like it's just insane and ignores common sense.

The truth is you just have to wait/hope the middle schools get IB buy in and this builds up to the high school. You have to do it the hard way. No one likes this. It is just how it is.

You can wait/hope or you can have one year where the kids shlep to Jefferson (which isn't that bad from parts of the Maury/Miner area because you can take the metro from Stadium-Armory to L'Enfant; Jefferson is 4 blocks from the metro). I would say that DCPS chose the wait/hope method but I don't even think that's true; having IB buyin to Eastern is not their priority in the slightest, and to the extent that it could cut off OOB access to Eastern to kids who live in-bounds for Anacostia, Ballou, Dunbar, etc. they probably see it as a negative.

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The Brent families did not help the cause. I'm white and even I bristled at the stuff coming out of Brent families' mouths. They were preternaturally focused on what was "really the Hill". A concept no one but 75 year old, double knit wearing real estate agents cared about. Somewhere along the way someone told Brent families it was a winning argument to try and isolate "those people" north of H Street. Go look at the threads. Brent families argued proximity to SH but didn't want to hear that JOW was actually closer. Their argument was that JOW wasn't actually part of the neighborhood so even though it was closer to SH than Brent, it wasn't culturally close. It was icky.

That's VERY different from "make one giant middle school with all the Eastern feeders"

I think you could make the case for consolidating into two middle schools, but it's really hard to do in a geographically logical way with the gerrymandered Peabody/Watkins boundary.

I know breaking up the Cluster is probably a total non-starter, but reviewing the Hill elementary boundaries and not having Peabody/Watkins zig zag from from Congressional Cemetery to Union Station would be a good start. There's one spot where the boundary is a mere 2 blocks wide! Although Watkins, Payne, and Chisholm all being so close together is a whole different set of challenges when it comes to drawing boundaries.

My dream is that Jefferson become a 6th grade academy for all Eastern feeders. A ton of electives, field trips, extracurriculars, social-emotional learning...but also tracked classes and a focus on developing study skills and executive function. Make it a really special, exciting year that bonds the kids and gets them excited about the next 6 years of their education. Grand Rapids has 6th grade academies that are a good model of this.

Then have SH and EH each teach 7th and 8th grade, with kids coming out of Jefferson given the option to express a preference but only guaranteed that they will get one or the other. SH could be an arts integration model, capitalizing on its existing theater program but doing a bunch of other art forms too (writing, visual arts, music, etc.) and tying in to the Eastern arts pathway. EH would be pre-EPIC with close ties to the EPIC and IB programs at Eastern.

People might complain a bit about getting their kids across to schools that are a bit more distant for a year or two, but I think it would help with the issue of retaining kids for grades 5-12 in the Eastern pyramid, and overall provide a better education.

That's a nice idea *except* that Jefferson is really far away from people in the northern and easternmost parts of the Eastern feeder pattern. Like people zoned especially for Miner and Maury are reeeeeally far away and one of the main arguments for staying in DCPS for middle school is that most middles are walkable/bikable from homes IB.

If you were going to do a "6th grade academy" it would make more sense to make it SH, which is smack in the middle of the Eastern boundary, more or less, and then everyone would feed to Jefferson and E-H for 7th and 8th. But that won't work because SH is the one school of the three with the most traction with IB families so there won't be any interest in changing up what they are doing (and this would destroy some programming that is dearly valued, like their theater program).

The geographic logistics have always been the weak spot for any efforts to change up the MS feeder patterns on the hill. Like when people suggest feeding Maury, Brent, and L-T into the same school, this makes zero geographic sense and would result in bizarre feeder patterns that are so obviously gerrymandered to feed the most expensive real estate into one middle, while weirdly cutting off schools like Amidon Bowen, JOW, and Miner from whatever school they would ultimately be zoned for (kids would wind up crossing the "good school" boundary to reach their middle school). Like it's just insane and ignores common sense.

The truth is you just have to wait/hope the middle schools get IB buy in and this builds up to the high school. You have to do it the hard way. No one likes this. It is just how it is.

You can wait/hope or you can have one year where the kids shlep to Jefferson (which isn't that bad from parts of the Maury/Miner area because you can take the metro from Stadium-Armory to L'Enfant; Jefferson is 4 blocks from the metro). I would say that DCPS chose the wait/hope method but I don't even think that's true; having IB buyin to Eastern is not their priority in the slightest, and to the extent that it could cut off OOB access to Eastern to kids who live in-bounds for Anacostia, Ballou, Dunbar, etc. they probably see it as a negative.

No chance. The problem is that 6th grade is the worst year for this. I would not let my 6th grader commute alone to Jefferson from our house in the LT boundary. It is actually weirdly difficult to get to. A 40ish minute bus+metro or 2 metro ride when walking is only 50 minutes. Maybe by 8th I'd be comfortable with her doing it, but it's still a real schlep. The whole reason I am willing to give SH a try is because it's a 5 minute walk.