Trajectory for Shepherd Elementary?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of the EOTP schools have uniforms. Some of it is a holdover from when the demographics were different; some of it is parents in gentrifying neighborhoods liking uniforms for a variety of reasons. Brent has uniforms and has a sub 10% FARMS rate. Maury has uniforms at about 20%. It's pretty ingrained in their cultures at this point.

I think OP's point is that SP/CV is not a gentrifying neighborhood. However, until recently, it was mostly OOB. I heard it was mostly IB, but then became mostly OOB related to some issues that happened during Michelle Rhee's tenure. A neighbor told me that during this turmoil, there were like 6 principals in 2 years. There was a big split about the direction of the school, with some families wanting it to become dual-language and others wanting the International Bacc. program, and a lot of IB families pulled their kids out for private or WOTP schools. The reputation has continued to suffer until the last few years, when there's been renewed interest from IB families with young kids buying in the neighborhood. Some details of the Rhee situation here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/16/AR2008101604350.html

OP here. Yes, thank you, I meant that SP/CV is and has been a higher SES neighborhood. And thanks for the background info regarding how we got here. Five principals in one year? No wonder there's been strife.

I didn't understand why Shepherd Elementary has many attributes of a lower-SES school such as low test scores, lack of progressive educational models, uniforms, etc. I think these attributes would need to change to attract more in boundary families who would stay through the upper grades, which would then raise the test scores.

But as some PP's indicated, it looks like the general feeling is that current Shepherd parents are happy with the status quo. I greatly appreciate this information as I likely wouldn't be.

I'm very concerned regarding the situation described with 10-12 warnings per day to a child. From my perspective, this indicates either a lack of effective teaching capabilities or unmet special needs (which goes back to a lack of effective teaching capabilities). In my experience, schools that do SPED well are also schools that generally do social emotional development well in general. I've heard several tales from current and past parents that indicate that Shepherd Elementary doesn't do social emotional development well. I'm so sorry to hear this isn't changing and that there's no push for this to change.

I'm also not comfortable sorting for SES to decipher test scores, and just leaving the lower SES OOB children with a less optimal education. It's better to have a high-performing peer group, and students who aren't up to grade level cause a lot of problems for the peer group, especially in the upper grades.

Another poster directed me to Lowell for more progressive teaching methodologies. I have to question why we can't demand these same methodologies for our public schools?

I'll add that Shepherd Elementary isn't just for current Shepherd parents; it's for all the in boundary families it's failing to serve too. But as I mentioned, I'm not willing to fight that uphill battle. Thanks to everyone for the information.

No DCPS schools have this, just FYI. Also, Shepherd's scores align with the number of disadvantaged/at risk kids, and are comparable to or higher than many popular charters--CMI, ITS, etc.

Even more so. Shepherd has twice as many low income students than CMI and it’s test scores are twice as better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of the EOTP schools have uniforms. Some of it is a holdover from when the demographics were different; some of it is parents in gentrifying neighborhoods liking uniforms for a variety of reasons. Brent has uniforms and has a sub 10% FARMS rate. Maury has uniforms at about 20%. It's pretty ingrained in their cultures at this point.

I think OP's point is that SP/CV is not a gentrifying neighborhood. However, until recently, it was mostly OOB. I heard it was mostly IB, but then became mostly OOB related to some issues that happened during Michelle Rhee's tenure. A neighbor told me that during this turmoil, there were like 6 principals in 2 years. There was a big split about the direction of the school, with some families wanting it to become dual-language and others wanting the International Bacc. program, and a lot of IB families pulled their kids out for private or WOTP schools. The reputation has continued to suffer until the last few years, when there's been renewed interest from IB families with young kids buying in the neighborhood. Some details of the Rhee situation here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/16/AR2008101604350.html

OP here. Yes, thank you, I meant that SP/CV is and has been a higher SES neighborhood. And thanks for the background info regarding how we got here. Five principals in one year? No wonder there's been strife.

I didn't understand why Shepherd Elementary has many attributes of a lower-SES school such as low test scores, lack of progressive educational models, uniforms, etc. I think these attributes would need to change to attract more in boundary families who would stay through the upper grades, which would then raise the test scores.

But as some PP's indicated, it looks like the general feeling is that current Shepherd parents are happy with the status quo. I greatly appreciate this information as I likely wouldn't be.

I'm very concerned regarding the situation described with 10-12 warnings per day to a child. From my perspective, this indicates either a lack of effective teaching capabilities or unmet special needs (which goes back to a lack of effective teaching capabilities). In my experience, schools that do SPED well are also schools that generally do social emotional development well in general. I've heard several tales from current and past parents that indicate that Shepherd Elementary doesn't do social emotional development well. I'm so sorry to hear this isn't changing and that there's no push for this to change.

I'm also not comfortable sorting for SES to decipher test scores, and just leaving the lower SES OOB children with a less optimal education. It's better to have a high-performing peer group, and students who aren't up to grade level cause a lot of problems for the peer group, especially in the upper grades.

Another poster directed me to Lowell for more progressive teaching methodologies. I have to question why we can't demand these same methodologies for our public schools?

I'll add that Shepherd Elementary isn't just for current Shepherd parents; it's for all the in boundary families it's failing to serve too. But as I mentioned, I'm not willing to fight that uphill battle. Thanks to everyone for the information.

UGH

[Anonymous]

Is vaping a growing problem? When a fifth grader asks to borrow my vape pen, it’s over the top.

[Anonymous]

Would kill to move to SP/CV - there’s nothing under 900k. Inbound for Takoma elementary, probably will need to do charter/private. Op needs to check her extreme privilege if Shep/Deal/Wilson is too retrograde for her snowflake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would kill to move to SP/CV - there’s nothing under 900k. Inbound for Takoma elementary, probably will need to do charter/private. Op needs to check her extreme privilege if Shep/Deal/Wilson is too retrograde for her snowflake.

Ugh. I wonder if OP is new to the neighborhood, and a harbinger of things to come. We’ve been here for several years, and most people we’ve met in SP are pretty friendly and down to earth, whereas OP is even afraid to talk to her neighbors about schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would kill to move to SP/CV - there’s nothing under 900k. Inbound for Takoma elementary, probably will need to do charter/private. Op needs to check her extreme privilege if Shep/Deal/Wilson is too retrograde for her snowflake.

There are a few here, although most have been sitting for a while. One was listed yesterday--a cute 3/2 for $629K. Pretty rare to see that price these days in SP for something livable (at least from photos, it looks livable).

https://www.redfin.com/school/117590/DC/Washington-DC/Shepherd-Elementary-School/filter/property-type=house+condo+townhouse,max-price=900k,include=forsale+mlsfsbo+fsbo,status=active,viewport=38.99799:38.97628:-77.02057:-77.05503

[Anonymous]

I liked everything about Shepherd: its demographics, its test scores, its traditionalism--even its uniforms.

And it was a disaster for us. It is not the first time I have said this, but it is a deeply conventional school. Not with the teachers or the administration, but with the other families, and their expectations. If you have a child or a family that does not quite fit its mold... it is not a nice place. At all. Just in terms of the other kids. That was our experience, and one I heard from other families. I remain very pro-Shepherd because I think that the things it does well it does awesomely, but it is also a school that carries all the baggage of its time and place, and that baggage has to be accounted for. I'm not a huge fan of progressive education--I prefer the Shepherd model--but the Shepherd model had my child being attacked constantly for being different--and that was not so great.

Shepherd Elementary made me realize that DC is a very conservative town and that kids who don't fit the mold are always going to be shunned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would kill to move to SP/CV - there’s nothing under 900k. Inbound for Takoma elementary, probably will need to do charter/private. Op needs to check her extreme privilege if Shep/Deal/Wilson is too retrograde for her snowflake.

There are a few here, although most have been sitting for a while. One was listed yesterday--a cute 3/2 for $629K. Pretty rare to see that price these days in SP for something livable (at least from photos, it looks livable).

https://www.redfin.com/school/117590/DC/Washington-DC/Shepherd-Elementary-School/filter/property-type=house+condo+townhouse,max-price=900k,include=forsale+mlsfsbo+fsbo,status=active,viewport=38.99799:38.97628:-77.02057:-77.05503

I think you might need to check your own privilege, if Takoma Elementary is, sight unseen, too "rough" for your own snowflake.

Shepherd poster above, who bought in and then left. I often think we would have been happier at Takoma or West.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I liked everything about Shepherd: its demographics, its test scores, its traditionalism--even its uniforms.

And it was a disaster for us. It is not the first time I have said this, but it is a deeply conventional school. Not with the teachers or the administration, but with the other families, and their expectations. If you have a child or a family that does not quite fit its mold... it is not a nice place. At all. Just in terms of the other kids. That was our experience, and one I heard from other families. I remain very pro-Shepherd because I think that the things it does well it does awesomely, but it is also a school that carries all the baggage of its time and place, and that baggage has to be accounted for. I'm not a huge fan of progressive education--I prefer the Shepherd model--but the Shepherd model had my child being attacked constantly for being different--and that was not so great.

Shepherd Elementary made me realize that DC is a very conservative town and that kids who don't fit the mold are always going to be shunned.

I'm sorry this happened to your kid. Would you mind elaborating on what happened? What's the baggage?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I liked everything about Shepherd: its demographics, its test scores, its traditionalism--even its uniforms.

And it was a disaster for us. It is not the first time I have said this, but it is a deeply conventional school. Not with the teachers or the administration, but with the other families, and their expectations. If you have a child or a family that does not quite fit its mold... it is not a nice place. At all. Just in terms of the other kids. That was our experience, and one I heard from other families. I remain very pro-Shepherd because I think that the things it does well it does awesomely, but it is also a school that carries all the baggage of its time and place, and that baggage has to be accounted for. I'm not a huge fan of progressive education--I prefer the Shepherd model--but the Shepherd model had my child being attacked constantly for being different--and that was not so great.

Shepherd Elementary made me realize that DC is a very conservative town and that kids who don't fit the mold are always going to be shunned.

I'm sorry this happened to your kid. Would you mind elaborating on what happened? What's the baggage?

This is the “Shepherd hater” from a couple years ago, who would frequently post just this type of story with few details, other than she didn’t like the neighborhood or school and that people in SP were too traditional and snobby. She rented there for a year or two before buying in Silver Spring, from what I recall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I liked everything about Shepherd: its demographics, its test scores, its traditionalism--even its uniforms.

And it was a disaster for us. It is not the first time I have said this, but it is a deeply conventional school. Not with the teachers or the administration, but with the other families, and their expectations. If you have a child or a family that does not quite fit its mold... it is not a nice place. At all. Just in terms of the other kids. That was our experience, and one I heard from other families. I remain very pro-Shepherd because I think that the things it does well it does awesomely, but it is also a school that carries all the baggage of its time and place, and that baggage has to be accounted for. I'm not a huge fan of progressive education--I prefer the Shepherd model--but the Shepherd model had my child being attacked constantly for being different--and that was not so great.

Shepherd Elementary made me realize that DC is a very conservative town and that kids who don't fit the mold are always going to be shunned.

I'm sorry this happened to your kid. Would you mind elaborating on what happened? What's the baggage?

This is the “Shepherd hater” from a couple years ago, who would frequently post just this type of story with few details, other than she didn’t like the neighborhood or school and that people in SP were too traditional and snobby. She rented there for a year or two before buying in Silver Spring, from what I recall.

So is she telling the truth or no?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I liked everything about Shepherd: its demographics, its test scores, its traditionalism--even its uniforms.

And it was a disaster for us. It is not the first time I have said this, but it is a deeply conventional school. Not with the teachers or the administration, but with the other families, and their expectations. If you have a child or a family that does not quite fit its mold... it is not a nice place. At all. Just in terms of the other kids. That was our experience, and one I heard from other families. I remain very pro-Shepherd because I think that the things it does well it does awesomely, but it is also a school that carries all the baggage of its time and place, and that baggage has to be accounted for. I'm not a huge fan of progressive education--I prefer the Shepherd model--but the Shepherd model had my child being attacked constantly for being different--and that was not so great.

Shepherd Elementary made me realize that DC is a very conservative town and that kids who don't fit the mold are always going to be shunned.

I'm sorry this happened to your kid. Would you mind elaborating on what happened? What's the baggage?

This is the “Shepherd hater” from a couple years ago, who would frequently post just this type of story with few details, other than she didn’t like the neighborhood or school and that people in SP were too traditional and snobby. She rented there for a year or two before buying in Silver Spring, from what I recall.

So is she telling the truth or no?

NP she never explains in detail why it was a bad fit for her kid. Not every school will be a perfect fit for every kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I liked everything about Shepherd: its demographics, its test scores, its traditionalism--even its uniforms.

And it was a disaster for us. It is not the first time I have said this, but it is a deeply conventional school. Not with the teachers or the administration, but with the other families, and their expectations. If you have a child or a family that does not quite fit its mold... it is not a nice place. At all. Just in terms of the other kids. That was our experience, and one I heard from other families. I remain very pro-Shepherd because I think that the things it does well it does awesomely, but it is also a school that carries all the baggage of its time and place, and that baggage has to be accounted for. I'm not a huge fan of progressive education--I prefer the Shepherd model--but the Shepherd model had my child being attacked constantly for being different--and that was not so great.

Shepherd Elementary made me realize that DC is a very conservative town and that kids who don't fit the mold are always going to be shunned.

I'm sorry this happened to your kid. Would you mind elaborating on what happened? What's the baggage?

This is the “Shepherd hater” from a couple years ago, who would frequently post just this type of story with few details, other than she didn’t like the neighborhood or school and that people in SP were too traditional and snobby. She rented there for a year or two before buying in Silver Spring, from what I recall.

So is she telling the truth or no?

NP she never explains in detail why it was a bad fit for her kid. Not every school will be a perfect fit for every kid.

+1. Many were sympathetic at first, but after she recycles the same story for the 87th time, even after leaving the neighborhood, it gets annoying. Not to mention her frequent references to having lived in NYC, and how traditional, conservative, etc. DC is in comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would kill to move to SP/CV - there’s nothing under 900k. Inbound for Takoma elementary, probably will need to do charter/private. Op needs to check her extreme privilege if Shep/Deal/Wilson is too retrograde for her snowflake.

There are a few here, although most have been sitting for a while. One was listed yesterday--a cute 3/2 for $629K. Pretty rare to see that price these days in SP for something livable (at least from photos, it looks livable).

https://www.redfin.com/school/117590/DC/Washington-DC/Shepherd-Elementary-School/filter/property-type=house+condo+townhouse,max-price=900k,include=forsale+mlsfsbo+fsbo,status=active,viewport=38.99799:38.97628:-77.02057:-77.05503

I think you might need to check your own privilege, if Takoma Elementary is, sight unseen, too "rough" for your own snowflake.

Shepherd poster above, who bought in and then left. I often think we would have been happier at Takoma or West.

Takoma elementary is not the problem - 95% out of bounds notwithstanding - the principal is fantastic, some good teachers, walkable, newish building. The problem is the middle school/Coolidge. Considering middle school is universally heinous no matter how academically thriving your school is, I am unwilling to consign DD in her acne-prone, hormonal storming, authority-questioning (if past is prologue) phase to TEC/Coolidge. The plan is to enroll her in TEC until 5th grade and then come up with a different plan for junior high/high school. Would kill to move to SP and take the bus to work. Yep, my privilege is showing. Shepard has good scores and gets you into to Deal/Wilson. Game over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would kill to move to SP/CV - there’s nothing under 900k. Inbound for Takoma elementary, probably will need to do charter/private. Op needs to check her extreme privilege if Shep/Deal/Wilson is too retrograde for her snowflake.

There are a few here, although most have been sitting for a while. One was listed yesterday--a cute 3/2 for $629K. Pretty rare to see that price these days in SP for something livable (at least from photos, it looks livable).

https://www.redfin.com/school/117590/DC/Washington-DC/Shepherd-Elementary-School/filter/property-type=house+condo+townhouse,max-price=900k,include=forsale+mlsfsbo+fsbo,status=active,viewport=38.99799:38.97628:-77.02057:-77.05503

According to the Redfin listing details, this house is zoned for Deal and for Coolidge, not Wilson.