Leaving DC Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Inside of DC's classroom is great, the teachers are highly trained, innovative and committed professionals. However, the school administration and 1/2 of the families are a mess. No clear direction for the school, denial about dysfunctional processes, and too many parents satisfied with the status quo. I guess I drank the Kool-Aid but after 3 years I do not see any hope of improvement on the horizon.

If inside my child's classroom is great, the teachers are super, and the child is happy and learning, then I personally wouldn't mind as much about administrative challenges - or would be motivated to get involved and figure out how to work with them. But my own priority is feeling like my kid is having a good experience. Of course, I don't know what kind of dysfunction you mean and how it might impact your kid down the line.

As someone dealing with something similar, you may have missed the "1/2 of the families are a mess" line. It may sound terrible to outsiders, but when you have to deal with it in person it is a challenge. It means that you cannot have an effective PTA to support the school. It means that half the kids are unprepared every day, which means that the quality of instruction your DC receives suffers as a result. It increases the daily struggle significantly and it means a lot more than people recognize. And when that is the situation you are faced with, the only outcome you can control is to leave. We are going to do it too.

1/2 of the families are a mess can mean:
Your child will be exposed to an increase in aggressive behavior (seen siblings beat the crap out of each other while the mom sat there and said nothing) or K student being sucker punched by a peer
daily fights - this is happening at a Tier 1 charter MS as the "Scholars" are figuring out the new social order

If you have a child who can tune it out - great. But why - if given the option would you put your child in the environment daily?

It depends how bad it is and how the administration is working to fix it.

We had some negative behavior (class disruption, pushing, hitting) in our elementary school last year. The principal was on it and made some pretty notable staffing changes. A couple of teachers are gone and there's now a new dean of students who works both directly with the students and with teachers on classroom management. So far this year it's been much better.

Why would I do that? My kids will learn to be resilient and not give up / run at the first sign of trouble. And I have no idea what kind of problems are beneath the surface at whatever new school I could choose and I don't know if the principal and teachers will be as open to working on the issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Inside of DC's classroom is great, the teachers are highly trained, innovative and committed professionals. However, the school administration and 1/2 of the families are a mess. No clear direction for the school, denial about dysfunctional processes, and too many parents satisfied with the status quo. I guess I drank the Kool-Aid but after 3 years I do not see any hope of improvement on the horizon.

So it's about you and your needs.

[Anonymous]

I feel you OP. We are in an EOTP DCPS school and it's fine for PK. But there is no diversity, the scores are terrible and the parents who are motivated or have options jump ship by first grade so the school is not retaining the high income kids. The "PTA" has no ability to raise money and seems only focused on making Spanish speaking families fee good. It's a shame because kid loves the school but at some point academics matter. The "closing the achievement gap" in DCPS in genera (at least outside of ward 3 means holding back some kids.

[Anonymous]

Interesting take on 1/2 the families being a mess. I interpreted it as families who drunk on the Kool-Aid and unwilling to believe there was room for improvement. At least that was the case at our old school, maybe OP can clarify?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Inside of DC's classroom is great, the teachers are highly trained, innovative and committed professionals. However, the school administration and 1/2 of the families are a mess. No clear direction for the school, denial about dysfunctional processes, and too many parents satisfied with the status quo. I guess I drank the Kool-Aid but after 3 years I do not see any hope of improvement on the horizon.

So it's about you and your needs.

np: er, yes, that's exactly what someone's decisions about school would be about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Inside of DC's classroom is great, the teachers are highly trained, innovative and committed professionals. However, the school administration and 1/2 of the families are a mess. No clear direction for the school, denial about dysfunctional processes, and too many parents satisfied with the status quo. I guess I drank the Kool-Aid but after 3 years I do not see any hope of improvement on the horizon.

So it's about you and your needs.

np: er, yes, that's exactly what someone's decisions about school would be about.

Not about the kid and the kid's needs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Inside of DC's classroom is great, the teachers are highly trained, innovative and committed professionals. However, the school administration and 1/2 of the families are a mess. No clear direction for the school, denial about dysfunctional processes, and too many parents satisfied with the status quo. I guess I drank the Kool-Aid but after 3 years I do not see any hope of improvement on the horizon.

So it's about you and your needs.

np: er, yes, that's exactly what someone's decisions about school would be about.

Not about the kid and the kid's needs?

Sure, but OP was talking about her kids' needs. I believe that eye-roller's "you" was intended as plural.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:bye felicia

How do I report this user? It's so aggressive -- pretending to know people on DCUM and bullying them and they are NEVER right. I've see this a lot lately. And at least within my HRCS, I think I know the nasty person who does it.

Um, you know "bye felicia" is a saying and they aren't actually referring to a parent named Felicia?

LMGTFY: https://www.bustle.com/articles/52505-what-does-bye-felicia-mean-why-are-people-saying-it-all-of-a-sudden

current meme -- original comes from a Chris Tucker line in Friday

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Inside of DC's classroom is great, the teachers are highly trained, innovative and committed professionals. However, the school administration and 1/2 of the families are a mess. No clear direction for the school, denial about dysfunctional processes, and too many parents satisfied with the status quo. I guess I drank the Kool-Aid but after 3 years I do not see any hope of improvement on the horizon.

If inside my child's classroom is great, the teachers are super, and the child is happy and learning, then I personally wouldn't mind as much about administrative challenges - or would be motivated to get involved and figure out how to work with them. But my own priority is feeling like my kid is having a good experience. Of course, I don't know what kind of dysfunction you mean and how it might impact your kid down the line.

As someone dealing with something similar, you may have missed the "1/2 of the families are a mess" line. It may sound terrible to outsiders, but when you have to deal with it in person it is a challenge. It means that you cannot have an effective PTA to support the school. It means that half the kids are unprepared every day, which means that the quality of instruction your DC receives suffers as a result. It increases the daily struggle significantly and it means a lot more than people recognize. And when that is the situation you are faced with, the only outcome you can control is to leave. We are going to do it too.

1/2 of the families are a mess can mean:
Your child will be exposed to an increase in aggressive behavior (seen siblings beat the crap out of each other while the mom sat there and said nothing) or K student being sucker punched by a peer
daily fights - this is happening at a Tier 1 charter MS as the "Scholars" are figuring out the new social order

If you have a child who can tune it out - great. But why - if given the option would you put your child in the environment daily?

Agreed. I am finding that a lot of parents on this forum think that the most important thing for their high SES kid is to be in a classroom with poor black children so they can feel good about their diverse and progressive choices. it matters not if the majority of their classmates are two grades behind and the teachers is teaching down to the entire class, it matters not that there are often very significant behaviral problems from kids who come from high poverty/transient kids who witness abuse and neglect daily. I don't get it. At some point, I want my kid to be challenged academically in a safe and relatively calm environment, I don't want her around 5 and 6 years old screaming "F you" and the N word at each other (and yes I see that almost daily on the playground near the school). I am will put my kids needs ahead of my own progressive/liberal utopian dreams if thats what I have to do. Other parents believe their kids needs to learn "resiliance" in urban schools which is insulting in and of itself.



It depends how bad it is and how the administration is working to fix it.

We had some negative behavior (class disruption, pushing, hitting) in our elementary school last year. The principal was on it and made some pretty notable staffing changes. A couple of teachers are gone and there's now a new dean of students who works both directly with the students and with teachers on classroom management. So far this year it's been much better.

Why would I do that? My kids will learn to be resilient and not give up / run at the first sign of trouble. And I have no idea what kind of problems are beneath the surface at whatever new school I could choose and I don't know if the principal and teachers will be as open to working on the issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Inside of DC's classroom is great, the teachers are highly trained, innovative and committed professionals. However, the school administration and 1/2 of the families are a mess. No clear direction for the school, denial about dysfunctional processes, and too many parents satisfied with the status quo. I guess I drank the Kool-Aid but after 3 years I do not see any hope of improvement on the horizon.

If inside my child's classroom is great, the teachers are super, and the child is happy and learning, then I personally wouldn't mind as much about administrative challenges - or would be motivated to get involved and figure out how to work with them. But my own priority is feeling like my kid is having a good experience. Of course, I don't know what kind of dysfunction you mean and how it might impact your kid down the line.

As someone dealing with something similar, you may have missed the "1/2 of the families are a mess" line. It may sound terrible to outsiders, but when you have to deal with it in person it is a challenge. It means that you cannot have an effective PTA to support the school. It means that half the kids are unprepared every day, which means that the quality of instruction your DC receives suffers as a result. It increases the daily struggle significantly and it means a lot more than people recognize. And when that is the situation you are faced with, the only outcome you can control is to leave. We are going to do it too.

1/2 of the families are a mess can mean:
Your child will be exposed to an increase in aggressive behavior (seen siblings beat the crap out of each other while the mom sat there and said nothing) or K student being sucker punched by a peer
daily fights - this is happening at a Tier 1 charter MS as the "Scholars" are figuring out the new social order

If you have a child who can tune it out - great. But why - if given the option would you put your child in the environment daily?

Agreed. I am finding that a lot of parents on this forum think that the most important thing for their high SES kid is to be in a classroom with poor black children so they can feel good about their diverse and progressive choices. it matters not if the majority of their classmates are two grades behind and the teachers is teaching down to the entire class, it matters not that there are often very significant behaviral problems from kids who come from high poverty/transient kids who witness abuse and neglect daily. I don't get it. At some point, I want my kid to be challenged academically in a safe and relatively calm environment, I don't want her around 5 and 6 years old screaming "F you" and the N word at each other (and yes I see that almost daily on the playground near the school). I am will put my kids needs ahead of my own progressive/liberal utopian dreams if thats what I have to do. Other parents believe their kids needs to learn "resiliance" in urban schools which is insulting in and of itself.



It depends how bad it is and how the administration is working to fix it.

We had some negative behavior (class disruption, pushing, hitting) in our elementary school last year. The principal was on it and made some pretty notable staffing changes. A couple of teachers are gone and there's now a new dean of students who works both directly with the students and with teachers on classroom management. So far this year it's been much better.

Why would I do that? My kids will learn to be resilient and not give up / run at the first sign of trouble. And I have no idea what kind of problems are beneath the surface at whatever new school I could choose and I don't know if the principal and teachers will be as open to working on the issues.

I am finding that a lot of parents on this forum think that the most important thing for their high SES kid is to be in a classroom with poor black children so they can feel good about their diverse and progressive choices. it matters not if the majority of their classmates are two grades behind and the teachers is teaching down to the entire class, it matters not that there are often very significant behaviral problems from kids who come from high poverty/transient kids who witness abuse and neglect daily. I don't get it. At some point, I want my kid to be challenged academically in a safe and relatively calm environment, I don't want her around 5 and 6 years old screaming "F you" and the N word at each other (and yes I see that almost daily on the playground near the school). I am will put my kids needs ahead of my own progressive/liberal utopian dreams if thats what I have to do. Other parents believe their kids needs to learn "resiliance" in urban schools which is insulting in and of itself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I am finding that a lot of parents on this forum think that the most important thing for their high SES kid is to be in a classroom with poor black children so they can feel good about their diverse and progressive choices. it matters not if the majority of their classmates are two grades behind and the teachers is teaching down to the entire class, it matters not that there are often very significant behaviral problems from kids who come from high poverty/transient kids who witness abuse and neglect daily. I don't get it. At some point, I want my kid to be challenged academically in a safe and relatively calm environment, I don't want her around 5 and 6 years old screaming "F you" and the N word at each other (and yes I see that almost daily on the playground near the school). I am will put my kids needs ahead of my own progressive/liberal utopian dreams if thats what I have to do. Other parents believe their kids needs to learn "resiliance" in urban schools which is insulting in and of itself.

No, that is not what "a lot of parents" on this forum think. The most important thing for me is that my child goes to a school that is meeting her needs. I was not and continue not to be willing to decide that a school cannot meet her needs because there are many poor black children who attend the school. Everyone wants what's best for their kids.

I'm sure that your experience of the children who are several grade levels behind who also have significant behavioral problems and come from high poverty homes who are abused and/or neglected regularly is valid, since why on earth would you make something like that up, but I will say that my experience with a child at a Title 1 school EOTP that gets little love on this board has included one child with behavioral problems who comes from a middle class home and not ever seeing/hearing kindergartners swearing and assaulting each other. I have literally never seen that. My child has never reported that. She said that one time, a girl she knows said a bad word and that all the other kids were shocked by it and told her that was not appropriate.

DD is in first grade at this school. We haven't seen any of the things you witnessed in the whole time we've been there. I'm really sorry for what you've seen - mostly for the children experiencing those things because I care more about them than I do about you - but don't sit here and pretend that the problem is "liberal" parents who don't care about their own children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Inside of DC's classroom is great, the teachers are highly trained, innovative and committed professionals. However, the school administration and 1/2 of the families are a mess. No clear direction for the school, denial about dysfunctional processes, and too many parents satisfied with the status quo. I guess I drank the Kool-Aid but after 3 years I do not see any hope of improvement on the horizon.

If inside my child's classroom is great, the teachers are super, and the child is happy and learning, then I personally wouldn't mind as much about administrative challenges - or would be motivated to get involved and figure out how to work with them. But my own priority is feeling like my kid is having a good experience. Of course, I don't know what kind of dysfunction you mean and how it might impact your kid down the line.

As someone dealing with something similar, you may have missed the "1/2 of the families are a mess" line. It may sound terrible to outsiders, but when you have to deal with it in person it is a challenge. It means that you cannot have an effective PTA to support the school. It means that half the kids are unprepared every day, which means that the quality of instruction your DC receives suffers as a result. It increases the daily struggle significantly and it means a lot more than people recognize. And when that is the situation you are faced with, the only outcome you can control is to leave. We are going to do it too.

1/2 of the families are a mess can mean:
Your child will be exposed to an increase in aggressive behavior (seen siblings beat the crap out of each other while the mom sat there and said nothing) or K student being sucker punched by a peer
daily fights - this is happening at a Tier 1 charter MS as the "Scholars" are figuring out the new social order

If you have a child who can tune it out - great. But why - if given the option would you put your child in the environment daily?

Agreed. I am finding that a lot of parents on this forum think that the most important thing for their high SES kid is to be in a classroom with poor black children so they can feel good about their diverse and progressive choices. it matters not if the majority of their classmates are two grades behind and the teachers is teaching down to the entire class, it matters not that there are often very significant behaviral problems from kids who come from high poverty/transient kids who witness abuse and neglect daily. I don't get it. At some point, I want my kid to be challenged academically in a safe and relatively calm environment, I don't want her around 5 and 6 years old screaming "F you" and the N word at each other (and yes I see that almost daily on the playground near the school). I am will put my kids needs ahead of my own progressive/liberal utopian dreams if thats what I have to do. Other parents believe their kids needs to learn "resiliance" in urban schools which is insulting in and of itself.



It depends how bad it is and how the administration is working to fix it.

We had some negative behavior (class disruption, pushing, hitting) in our elementary school last year. The principal was on it and made some pretty notable staffing changes. A couple of teachers are gone and there's now a new dean of students who works both directly with the students and with teachers on classroom management. So far this year it's been much better.

Why would I do that? My kids will learn to be resilient and not give up / run at the first sign of trouble. And I have no idea what kind of problems are beneath the surface at whatever new school I could choose and I don't know if the principal and teachers will be as open to working on the issues.

I am finding that a lot of parents on this forum think that the most important thing for their high SES kid is to be in a classroom with poor black children so they can feel good about their diverse and progressive choices. it matters not if the majority of their classmates are two grades behind and the teachers is teaching down to the entire class, it matters not that there are often very significant behaviral problems from kids who come from high poverty/transient kids who witness abuse and neglect daily. I don't get it. At some point, I want my kid to be challenged academically in a safe and relatively calm environment, I don't want her around 5 and 6 years old screaming "F you" and the N word at each other (and yes I see that almost daily on the playground near the school). I am will put my kids needs ahead of my own progressive/liberal utopian dreams if thats what I have to do. Other parents believe their kids needs to learn "resiliance" in urban schools which is insulting in and of itself.

You're making a lot of assumptions about me that are flat out wrong. Perhaps my kids title 1 school is just better than yours. My kids are well challenged. The teachers and principal are actually making classroom differentiation work, including pull-out time with higher grades for certain subjects. My kids aren't the only higher SES kids in their class, and some of the lower SES kids are pretty smart too.

I think the biggest down side is the amount of effort needed to get to this point. Perhaps WOTP or in certain suburban schools I could write a check to the PTA, drop the kids, and go back to the football game.

I don't see diversity as something to feel good about, and I get no rewards for the choices I make. I think it'll actually benefit my kids in the long run. But you'll probably never get that if you think diversity is just some progressive fluff. And if that's really what you think, then GTFO. Really, there's nothing good for you here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I am finding that a lot of parents on this forum think that the most important thing for their high SES kid is to be in a classroom with poor black children so they can feel good about their diverse and progressive choices. it matters not if the majority of their classmates are two grades behind and the teachers is teaching down to the entire class, it matters not that there are often very significant behaviral problems from kids who come from high poverty/transient kids who witness abuse and neglect daily. I don't get it. At some point, I want my kid to be challenged academically in a safe and relatively calm environment, I don't want her around 5 and 6 years old screaming "F you" and the N word at each other (and yes I see that almost daily on the playground near the school). I am will put my kids needs ahead of my own progressive/liberal utopian dreams if thats what I have to do. Other parents believe their kids needs to learn "resiliance" in urban schools which is insulting in and of itself.

No, that is not what "a lot of parents" on this forum think. The most important thing for me is that my child goes to a school that is meeting her needs. I was not and continue not to be willing to decide that a school cannot meet her needs because there are many poor black children who attend the school. Everyone wants what's best for their kids.

I'm sure that your experience of the children who are several grade levels behind who also have significant behavioral problems and come from high poverty homes who are abused and/or neglected regularly is valid, since why on earth would you make something like that up, but I will say that my experience with a child at a Title 1 school EOTP that gets little love on this board has included one child with behavioral problems who comes from a middle class home and not ever seeing/hearing kindergartners swearing and assaulting each other. I have literally never seen that. My child has never reported that. She said that one time, a girl she knows said a bad word and that all the other kids were shocked by it and told her that was not appropriate.

DD is in first grade at this school. We haven't seen any of the things you witnessed in the whole time we've been there. I'm really sorry for what you've seen - mostly for the children experiencing those things because I care more about them than I do about you - but don't sit here and pretend that the problem is "liberal" parents who don't care about their own children.

I agree with you PP. We're also at a Title I school EOTP and have never witnessed 5 or 6 year olds dropping the F-bomb or anything of the sort. There are rambunctious kids but that includes the kids from higher income families too. Yes, there are FARM kids that are behind but there are also FARM kids that are doing as well if not better than my kid. As in any school setting, there is a range of abilities. I would expect that from a school in WOTP too. I have to wonder if some of these posters really have any experience in Title I schools.

[Anonymous]

I get it. overall i'm fine with our Title I and enjoy doing the work, but DD witnessed a parent hitting her child inside the school and it triggered a lot of separation anxiety. I tried to get the social worker to intervene but she said it wasn't at the actionable level beyond trying to talk with the parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:bye felicia

How do I report this user? It's so aggressive -- pretending to know people on DCUM and bullying them and they are NEVER right. I've see this a lot lately. And at least within my HRCS, I think I know the nasty person who does it.

This is my new favorite post. I am still laughing!