What kind of school will Van Ness Elementary end up being? More like Brent, Maury, or Ludlow-Taylor?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just moved to the neighborhood, so I'm probably not the best one to weigh in on this, but I'll add my two cents.

I'm excited about the school. (Incidentally, my daughter is currently #1 on the wait list for PreK, and it doesn't look like we'll get in this year.) Between the great facility and staff, I believe there's a lot of potential there. One thing that strikes me as different from Brent, Maury, and the others is that there seems to be a number of kids from military families at Van Ness. Two different staff members said something along the lines of, "our student population is very transient because of the large number of military families." This is not necessarily bad, but it might mean that fewer families invest in the school for the long haul.

I'm just getting to know the neighborhood and Van Ness, but I'm hopeful that this will be a good option for my two children.

I'm a Van Ness parent. I disagree about there being a lot of military families. There are some military families, but I think teachers or staff might be confusing working for DoD as being military. There are a lot of parents, who are federal employees (DoD civilians and otherwise) there.

Not that DoD civilians aren't transient. We can be, but I don't think we're more transient than the rest of DC. Having said that, personally, Van Ness is the biggest reason for me to stay in DC and not pursue a move to the UK or somewhere else. We really enjoyed last year and are looking forward to the start of this year!

[Anonymous]

This is good to hear. Thanks for this post, PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just moved to the neighborhood, so I'm probably not the best one to weigh in on this, but I'll add my two cents.

I'm excited about the school. (Incidentally, my daughter is currently #1 on the wait list for PreK, and it doesn't look like we'll get in this year.) Between the great facility and staff, I believe there's a lot of potential there. One thing that strikes me as different from Brent, Maury, and the others is that there seems to be a number of kids from military families at Van Ness. Two different staff members said something along the lines of, "our student population is very transient because of the large number of military families." This is not necessarily bad, but it might mean that fewer families invest in the school for the long haul.

I'm just getting to know the neighborhood and Van Ness, but I'm hopeful that this will be a good option for my two children.

Not that it's necessarily an important issue but Brent also has a contingent of retired military, active duty and DOD families. In fact, there is a bus from JBAB (Bolling). My understanding is this is fairly common.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You mean Ellen Wilson? That's a mixed income project. Brent's FARMs rate has fallen into the single digits - it was 9% in SY 2015-2017. I remember when Brent was Title 1, ten short years ago.

The new Hine project will have subsidized units. Brent was still Title I five or six years ago IIRC.

Really? We are about to start our fifth year at Brent (2nd grade), and the lily-whiteness and/or universally high SES peers since day one has been astonishing/unexpected.

If you try to think back to 2011, the demographics of upper and PK or even K grades were generally very different. Younger siblings of OOB students could even get in via the lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just moved to the neighborhood, so I'm probably not the best one to weigh in on this, but I'll add my two cents.

I'm excited about the school. (Incidentally, my daughter is currently #1 on the wait list for PreK, and it doesn't look like we'll get in this year.) Between the great facility and staff, I believe there's a lot of potential there. One thing that strikes me as different from Brent, Maury, and the others is that there seems to be a number of kids from military families at Van Ness. Two different staff members said something along the lines of, "our student population is very transient because of the large number of military families." This is not necessarily bad, but it might mean that fewer families invest in the school for the long haul.

I'm just getting to know the neighborhood and Van Ness, but I'm hopeful that this will be a good option for my two children.

Not that it's necessarily an important issue but Brent also has a contingent of retired military, active duty and DOD families. In fact, there is a bus from JBAB (Bolling). My understanding is this is fairly common.

Is JBAB somehow IB for Brent, or do you mean students from there attend as OOB in upper grades?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just moved to the neighborhood, so I'm probably not the best one to weigh in on this, but I'll add my two cents.

I'm excited about the school. (Incidentally, my daughter is currently #1 on the wait list for PreK, and it doesn't look like we'll get in this year.) Between the great facility and staff, I believe there's a lot of potential there. One thing that strikes me as different from Brent, Maury, and the others is that there seems to be a number of kids from military families at Van Ness. Two different staff members said something along the lines of, "our student population is very transient because of the large number of military families." This is not necessarily bad, but it might mean that fewer families invest in the school for the long haul.

I'm just getting to know the neighborhood and Van Ness, but I'm hopeful that this will be a good option for my two children.

Not that it's necessarily an important issue but Brent also has a contingent of retired military, active duty and DOD families. In fact, there is a bus from JBAB (Bolling). My understanding is this is fairly common.

Is JBAB somehow IB for Brent, or do you mean students from there attend as OOB in upper grades?

JBAB is in bound for Leckie, so they must be OOB.

Just FYI here's an article about the early plans for the charter school to serve those families. http://wamu.org/programs/metro_connection/15/04/10/proposal_for_military_charter_school_moves_forward_in_ward_8

[Anonymous]

The military families at Brent are definitely an asset to the school community, and I imagine the same would be true at Van Ness. My DD has had a number of friends who take the bus from Bolling and my interactions with them and their families have been positive.

[Anonymous]

DC has adopted the Interstate Compact for Educational Opportunities for Military Children which allows for selective placement of students.

http://dcps.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dcps/page_content/attachments/Directive%20on%20Enrollment%20and%20Placement%20of%20Military%20Families-%20June%201016.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The military families at Brent are definitely an asset to the school community, and I imagine the same would be true at Van Ness. My DD has had a number of friends who take the bus from Bolling and my interactions with them and their families have been positive.

Ours, too. The military kids don't tend to be spoiled, and their parents are inclined to volunteer at the school, even if they're not stationed permanently in DC. Some military parents with children at Brent are highly educated - e.g. US Army, Navy and Marine lawyers and senior officers.

[Anonymous]

An elementary without a decent MS feed is a dead end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An elementary without a decent MS feed is a dead end.

Brent parents disagree. A number of IB families returned for 5th Grade after turning down a seat at Basis. There are 23 kids in the class this year. Up from 15 last year and 11 or so the year before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An elementary without a decent MS feed is a dead end.

Brent parents disagree. A number of IB families returned for 5th Grade after turning down a seat at Basis. There are 23 kids in the class this year. Up from 15 last year and 11 or so the year before.

How many of those 23 will go on to Jefferson?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An elementary without a decent MS feed is a dead end.

Brent parents disagree. A number of IB families returned for 5th Grade after turning down a seat at Basis. There are 23 kids in the class this year. Up from 15 last year and 11 or so the year before.

How many of those 23 will go on to Jefferson?

All of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just moved to the neighborhood, so I'm probably not the best one to weigh in on this, but I'll add my two cents.

I'm excited about the school. (Incidentally, my daughter is currently #1 on the wait list for PreK, and it doesn't look like we'll get in this year.) Between the great facility and staff, I believe there's a lot of potential there. One thing that strikes me as different from Brent, Maury, and the others is that there seems to be a number of kids from military families at Van Ness. Two different staff members said something along the lines of, "our student population is very transient because of the large number of military families." This is not necessarily bad, but it might mean that fewer families invest in the school for the long haul.

I'm just getting to know the neighborhood and Van Ness, but I'm hopeful that this will be a good option for my two children.

I thought all IB kids were guaranteed a spot in PK4 at Van Ness?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just moved to the neighborhood, so I'm probably not the best one to weigh in on this, but I'll add my two cents.

I'm excited about the school. (Incidentally, my daughter is currently #1 on the wait list for PreK, and it doesn't look like we'll get in this year.) Between the great facility and staff, I believe there's a lot of potential there. One thing that strikes me as different from Brent, Maury, and the others is that there seems to be a number of kids from military families at Van Ness. Two different staff members said something along the lines of, "our student population is very transient because of the large number of military families." This is not necessarily bad, but it might mean that fewer families invest in the school for the long haul.

I'm just getting to know the neighborhood and Van Ness, but I'm hopeful that this will be a good option for my two children.

I thought all IB kids were guaranteed a spot in PK4 at Van Ness?

I think you had to apply by the initial lottery deadline and/or rank it first.