s/o: DCPS boundary and assignment rules that really need to change

[Anonymous]

We live a couple blocks from Wells/Coolidge and take the kids to Lafayette to ride bikes. Even on the weekends with no traffic it's not close and there wouldn't be any reasonable metro option.

Are middle schools and high schools across the city that far from people's homes or are you just trying to be upsetting to Lafayette parents.

I think Wells/Coolidge will be appealing to those of us in the neighborhood overtime and like the idea of peers living close by.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live a couple blocks from Wells/Coolidge and take the kids to Lafayette to ride bikes. Even on the weekends with no traffic it's not close and there wouldn't be any reasonable metro option.

Are middle schools and high schools across the city that far from people's homes or are you just trying to be upsetting to Lafayette parents.

I think Wells/Coolidge will be appealing to those of us in the neighborhood overtime and like the idea of peers living close by.

middle schools across the city are far from peoples houses.

https://dcps.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dcps/publication/attachments/SY19-20%20Middle%20School%20Boundary%20Map_0.pdf

[Anonymous]

Push all you want, you won't be heard. Back in 2013-14, some of us on Cap Hill spend a good deal of time and energy pushing for a Pan Ward 6 middle school, perhaps with two campus, one at Stuart Hobson, the other at Eliot-Hine. There was broad support for our proposal at the grassroots, but were totally ignored by Ward 6 and DCPS. As a result, most of the 4th graders at the majority IB DCPS elementary schools in Ward 6 don't return for 5th grade. The families run to Washington Latin or BASIS to get on viable a 5th-12th grade track. The politicians don't, and never did, give a damn. That's the sad reality of the situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Make the entry year the same for all schools. (Looking at you, BASIS and Latin.) At risk preference in the lottery. Don’t let the issues of the Wilson feeder pattern distract from the different issues in other wards, especially 7/8. Wilson issues: oob cheating, overcrowding, property values. Rest of the city: instability, creaming, middle school quality.

And SWW@FS, Oyster-Adams, CHML, Cap City, EL Haynes, and KIPP. This isn't a one-sector issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live a couple blocks from Wells/Coolidge and take the kids to Lafayette to ride bikes. Even on the weekends with no traffic it's not close and there wouldn't be any reasonable metro option.

Are middle schools and high schools across the city that far from people's homes or are you just trying to be upsetting to Lafayette parents.

I think Wells/Coolidge will be appealing to those of us in the neighborhood overtime and like the idea of peers living close by.

middle schools across the city are far from peoples houses.

https://dcps.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dcps/publication/attachments/SY19-20%20Middle%20School%20Boundary%20Map_0.pdf

And there is no policy saying they cannot be. The 1-mile or less rule only applies to elementary school. For example, the hike from Brightwood ES to Wells long, and and also requires students to cross Georgia (not particularly safe). LSB isn't much better. There aren't even logical buses routes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live a couple blocks from Wells/Coolidge and take the kids to Lafayette to ride bikes. Even on the weekends with no traffic it's not close and there wouldn't be any reasonable metro option.

Are middle schools and high schools across the city that far from people's homes or are you just trying to be upsetting to Lafayette parents.

I think Wells/Coolidge will be appealing to those of us in the neighborhood overtime and like the idea of peers living close by.

I'm a Lafayette parent, and I agree that Wells sounds like it could be an appealing option for MS given the size of Deal. But I am also concerned with exactly the point you raised. My child could walk to Deal from our home and easily take a city bus. But getting to Wells would be a long distance, and you can't walk/ride bike...Military is the only viable through road and it doesn't have sidewalks in some sections across the park.

(And I will just stop the trolls in their tracks...No, Lafayette parents aren't all so rich that they can afford a nanny to chauffeur their middle school students. Sometimes the hyperbole about the obscene wealth in the NW makes me chuckle.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Make the entry year the same for all schools. (Looking at you, BASIS and Latin.) At risk preference in the lottery. Don’t let the issues of the Wilson feeder pattern distract from the different issues in other wards, especially 7/8. Wilson issues: oob cheating, overcrowding, property values. Rest of the city: instability, creaming, middle school quality.

And SWW@FS, Oyster-Adams, CHML, Cap City, EL Haynes, and KIPP. This isn't a one-sector issue.

One thing Michelle Rhee did was to move all DCPS to the same entry years. This is the reason why Middle Schools had been such a mess. There were a combination model of Educational Campuses (through 8th) and Elementary / Middle Schools.

I believe there are only 3 schools across DCPS that no longer are in the traditional entry year models:
1 - CHML
2 - SWW@FW
3 - Oyster-Adams

Each of these schools has a logical reason why they are still in the model through 8th grade. DCPS does not and should not align to the charter model unless there is a city wide reason for 5th graders to be middle schoolers. Most parents I have spoken with prefer their 5th graders to still be in Elementary School.

[Anonymous]

Lafayette to Wells makes no sense geographically. On the other hand, Shepherd to Wells makes a lot of sense.
According to the Google, the mileages are:

Deal Wells
Lafayette 1.4 3.3
Shepherd 4.3 2.0

From a logical and geographic perspective, Lafayette belongs in the Deal/Wlson pyramid. Shepherd belongs in the Wells/Coolidge pyramid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With the next boundary/assignment/feeder review only a few years away, I've started keeping a list of things I think should change. There's probably something to piss off everyone here but I do think all of this would be an improvement. Do others want to share what they'll be pushing for?

End rule that you get to stay in DCPS school once you move OOB (unless foster care, homelessness, or other reasons why DCPS is legally obligated to let you stay--and centralize the process of granting those exemptions as much as possible, with less discretion for principals and registrars). Just let kids finish out the school year if they move.

End rule that getting in to an elementary school or middle school OOB gives you the right to continue on to its destination middle/high school. It just gets you through the terminal grade at the school you got into. There could be a destination school preference in the middle and high school lotteries, but I’d rather not.

Money follows the kid--if kid changes school before the end of the year, the new school gets a percentage of the per-pupil funding. Since school year is 10 months long, I’d say 10% for each month they’re at a given school. Round to the nearest month.

All bilingual elementary schools (and bilingual programs at schools like Marie Reed and Tyler that have bilingual tracks) have programmatic feeder into MacFarland and Roosevelt (that’s right, Oyster and Bancroft lose their Deal/Wilson feeds). Oyster becomes a PK3-5 school, with younger grades at Oyster and older grades at Adams. More kids in each grade, and more PK classes.

Lafayette and Shepherd to Wells and Coolidge. For folks who say it won’t fit, there is room at Coolidge. Make an 8th grade academy in the Coolidge building and use Wells for just 6th and 7th if necessary.

Francis-Stevens drops the SWW name, gets its own principal, and becomes a PK3-5 school. Schools that feed there for middle go to Cardozo for middle along with the schools that already feed into Cardozo. Cardozo middle gets its own principal too (ideally someone well-liked from Francis-Stevens who can bring along a lot of the teachers there), along with some enrichment classes and extracurriculars that make more IB and middle class families take a closer look.

CHML becomes PK3-5. This creates more PK spots on Capitol Hill (though open to everyone). DCPS offers Montessori middle school program at Brookland middle (closer to Montessori charters and is centrally located with CHML, Langdon, and Nalle (all of which would have programmatic feeder rights to the BMS program).

Schools that currently use Fillmore take their art classes in-house (with fewer kids after the rules change for moving OOB, there should be some room), or DCPS uses some of the Ellington classrooms if they must bus kids to art. Fillmore becomes an early childhood school like Stevens. Sweeten the pot for families losing Fillmore by giving them a preference for Fillmore spots, right below an at-risk preference.

I think about this one a LOT. Because, if you're really trying ot focus on bilingual education, you need a smart, focused feeder pattern to enable bilingual PK3-12. You'd need an out school - for kids who decide not to continue bilingual. That seems fair.

However, on the other hand, what is the difference between a smart, focused bilingual track and segregation? How do look at overall diversity when you've created this master bilingual sector? Is this an issue? It's not an issue I think if the bilingual sector is attractive, appealing, and successful at educating kids.

Along those same lines, you need a track for IB education, if you take the IB program at all seriously. IB elementary schools don't feed into the one IB middle (HD Cooke does not feed to Deal, for ex).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lafayette to Wells makes no sense geographically. On the other hand, Shepherd to Wells makes a lot of sense.
According to the Google, the mileages are:

Deal Wells
Lafayette 1.4 3.3
Shepherd 4.3 2.0

From a logical and geographic perspective, Lafayette belongs in the Deal/Wlson pyramid. Shepherd belongs in the Wells/Coolidge pyramid.

If your logic includes wanting to avoid de facto segregation at Deal and Wilson, this is not logical.

[Anonymous]

I agree that kids shouldn't get to stay in schools (past the end of the year) if they move OOB in ES & MS, but I don't think it should apply in HS. Forcing a kid to move mid-HS is too disruptive to their education and their college prospects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live a couple blocks from Wells/Coolidge and take the kids to Lafayette to ride bikes. Even on the weekends with no traffic it's not close and there wouldn't be any reasonable metro option.

Are middle schools and high schools across the city that far from people's homes or are you just trying to be upsetting to Lafayette parents.

I think Wells/Coolidge will be appealing to those of us in the neighborhood overtime and like the idea of peers living close by.

I'm a Lafayette parent, and I agree that Wells sounds like it could be an appealing option for MS given the size of Deal. But I am also concerned with exactly the point you raised. My child could walk to Deal from our home and easily take a city bus. But getting to Wells would be a long distance, and you can't walk/ride bike...Military is the only viable through road and it doesn't have sidewalks in some sections across the park.

(And I will just stop the trolls in their tracks...No, Lafayette parents aren't all so rich that they can afford a nanny to chauffeur their middle school students. Sometimes the hyperbole about the obscene wealth in the NW makes me chuckle.)

Dedicated WMATA bus. Shepherd kids have been doing reverse commute for 20+ years with no issues. Sherrill road is another avenue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lafayette to Wells makes no sense geographically. On the other hand, Shepherd to Wells makes a lot of sense.
According to the Google, the mileages are:

Deal Wells
Lafayette 1.4 3.3
Shepherd 4.3 2.0

From a logical and geographic perspective, Lafayette belongs in the Deal/Wlson pyramid. Shepherd belongs in the Wells/Coolidge pyramid.

You'd have to kick out one of the Wells feeders to make room for either or both of those schools. And Coolidge is pretty clearly headed toward a city-wide only early college school, or one with very limited options for any feeder path students who wish to attend but not apply to Early College.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live a couple blocks from Wells/Coolidge and take the kids to Lafayette to ride bikes. Even on the weekends with no traffic it's not close and there wouldn't be any reasonable metro option.

Are middle schools and high schools across the city that far from people's homes or are you just trying to be upsetting to Lafayette parents.

I think Wells/Coolidge will be appealing to those of us in the neighborhood overtime and like the idea of peers living close by.

I'm a Lafayette parent, and I agree that Wells sounds like it could be an appealing option for MS given the size of Deal. But I am also concerned with exactly the point you raised. My child could walk to Deal from our home and easily take a city bus. But getting to Wells would be a long distance, and you can't walk/ride bike...Military is the only viable through road and it doesn't have sidewalks in some sections across the park.

(And I will just stop the trolls in their tracks...No, Lafayette parents aren't all so rich that they can afford a nanny to chauffeur their middle school students. Sometimes the hyperbole about the obscene wealth in the NW makes me chuckle.)

Dedicated WMATA bus. Shepherd kids have been doing reverse commute for 20+ years with no issues. Sherrill road is another avenue.

They won't do one for the Wells students in Brightwood.

[Anonymous]

Set aside spots at DCI for DCPS bilingual feeders. Why should DCPS dual language kids have no shot at a better bilingual middle school Its incredibally unfair that a kid who got lucky in PK3 in MV gets to coast all the way through high school in bilingual charters.
Create a true test in magnet middle school