SWS Open House Impressions & Info, 1/31
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Anonymous
I was there and he DID NOT say this and, because of the central computer system, he CAN NOT DO THIS, besides! It's a shame he muddled the message, but 17:08's claim is the type of thing which creates bad blood and suspicion, yet again, about SWS and is completely unfair in this case. |
Anonymous
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The changes to the lottery mean that schools will have 'true' wait lists for the first time. In order to have an 'impressive' waitlist, schools now need to be ranked 1st or 2nd or at some spot before a child gets accepted somewhere (that is if a child gets in at their fourth-preferred school, the child will only count on the wait lists of the first three preferred schools and not count on the wait lists for the 4th and 5th). So schools like Payne, Miner, JO Wilson, Ludlow-Taylor, etc will likely see their waitlists shrink considerably. Also - DCPS will likely find that a far lower percentage of people are getting into their first and second choices.
By telling people to rank SWS first, the principal was effectively trying to make sure that his school can boast of a long wait list. You don't have to rank SWS first in order to be considered for a spot - you do have to rank it higher though than a sure thing school (that is if your 'safety' school is ranked 5th, then you need to rank SWS 1-4). Like other posters have said elsewhere, the new lottery method means that people really need to be sure about their preferences and then rank the schools accordingly. As long as you do that, you will be fine. |
Anonymous
| I was wondering what it meant when people asked if a person had "walking distance preference" to a certain school since I hadn't seen this defined before. If walking distance preference really is 1500 ft in each direction, then it would be a fairly high SES area of the Hill (with lots of families with babies right now) and overlap with the current IB areas of both Maury and Peabody, and also some kids now districted into Miner and LT. It would go one or two blocks across FL Ave in one direction, but would really be centered on the NE side of the Hill proper. So, while it would impact the LT catchment, it would actually cover kids IB to quite a few school and still not include all LT kids. This might make it easier to sell to DCPS because it would not completely disrupt IB populations at just one school and kids IB to Maury and Peabody might very well not choose SWS over their IB choice. |
Anonymous
| I am pretty sure that walking distance is actually 3,000 feet in each direction. Can anyone confirm? |
Anonymous
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from dcps website:
*DC Municipal Regulations B 2106.3 defines “reasonable walking distance” to be a theoretical square oriented north-south with the school in the center and the sides measuring 3000 feet for elementary schools and education campuses and 5000 feet for middle Schools. |
Anonymous
If you don't understand the lottery, you might have found it confusing. But what he said is what I have read on DCUM and elsewhere. Put your true first choice first. Don't try to game the system. He didnt' say anything about admitting only kids whose parents put SWS first. That is completely fabricated. |
Anonymous
So, it sounds like 1500 ft to me. If it is a square instead of a circle, then it actually wouldn't reach across FL Ave. Trinidad wouldn't get clipped and neither would the immediate Stanton Park area. |
Anonymous
| I disagree with PP, because of this statement "the sides measuring 3000 feet". But I am not sure. I may give DCPS a call today since I have a personal interest in this it would be good to know. I will update with anything I find out. |
Anonymous
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If you don't understand the lottery, you might have found it confusing. But what he said is what I have read on DCUM and elsewhere. Put your true first choice first. Don't try to game the system. He didnt' say anything about admitting only kids whose parents put SWS first. That is completely fabricated. I was also there and the guy did make it sound like parents who didn't put SWS first wouldn't get in, although that's not necessarily the case. Easy to see how a lottery greenhorn may have arrived at that (erroneous) conclusion. DCPS should do a much better job explaining how the lottery works to help parents strategize in settling on up to six choices. |
Anonymous
It's absolutely the case that the school needs to be approximately 1500 feet away from your house. I live less than 2000 feet from Peabody but do not have a proximity preference because I'm outside the square. |
Anonymous
If you don't understand the lottery, you might have found it confusing. But what he said is what I have read on DCUM and elsewhere. Put your true first choice first. Don't try to game the system. He didnt' say anything about admitting only kids whose parents put SWS first. That is completely fabricated. I was also there and the guy did make it sound like parents who didn't put SWS first wouldn't get in, although that's not necessarily the case. Easy to see how a lottery greenhorn may have arrived at that (erroneous) conclusion. DCPS should do a much better job explaining how the lottery works to help parents strategize in settling on up to six choices. PPs are worked up about the way the lottery works, and what proximity preference may mean, because four of the six elementary schools on the North Hill don't appeal to most high-SES families after preschool. LT loses almost all the high-SES kids by age 5. Peabody, which is great, albeit on the large side, feeds into Watkins, which loses most high-SES families by age 7 or 8. JO Wilson attract but a handful of high-SES for preschool, although the neighborhood is brimming with them, and none beyond. It's really difficult to get into the Logan Montessori at age 3, and next to impossible after that. Maury is the only solid option from preschool on up (probably, since great majority of upper middle-class families still leave before 5th). North Hill parents want SWS from start to finish, period. What they're really hot under the collar about are the bad odds of being admitted, however you slice it. |
Anonymous
| Besides the statements about the lottery and lack of proximity preference, any other impressions about the school? |
Anonymous
The closest thing to a pricey early elementary education private school program in DCPS. I toured Georgetown Day recently, visiting the "junior kindergarten" room (just $35,000 to spend an academic year in there!) and honestly think that SWS' was better. The PreK4 teacher and classroom aid both seemed more on the ball at this school. They had most of the same construction toys as at GD, many donated by parents, and the Emilio Reggio curriculum seemed terrific for the kids. Really decent kid art was hanging absolutely everywhere, yet the classroom was super organized. The kids were happily working on a hands-on project related to the Anacostia River, which they often visit, something about river plants. The room looked more like a Montessori than I expected, piled high with puzzles and games that kids can work on individually. It's a stunningly white scene, more than GD. A litle hard to understand how they've "got away with it" for the last 15 years. |
Anonymous
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i was struck by how hard the head and teachers obviously try to take the good from DCPS without getting bogged down by the mediocre and bad. they'll explain to you how they creatively work the common core standards into the curriculum (although it was clear that they'd rather dispense with them), and how they take liberties using the not-so-great DCPS assessment/report card formats they're stuck with for K and 1st. i got the impression that the teaching staff was topnotch, as good as at a prestigious private.
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Anonymous
Less of the northern Hill will be served by proximity than you may think. It's a microsection that covers a fraction of the LT, Wilson, Miner and Maury boundaries. Due west that reaches to about 5th and F St NE. Proximity is behind all SWS sibs, whethere they entered old IB or new citywide. There will be an influx of new families and their sibs will follow. ... and Potomac Gardens residents overwhelming enroll at Tyler and have never had proximity to SWS or Peabody -- only Watkins |