Difference between NW parent involvement and Capitol Hill parent involvement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eastern, Jefferson and EH being unrepresentative of the neighborhood is on you all. Show up and things are instantly change.

You want it to be perfect for a good 5 years before you will even consider it. They built it - complete with IB certification - and you didn’t come.

I totally disagree. You can either be reflexively woke, or you can listen to what the community tells you about integrating the schools.

+1 you get mean when you are told by the public school system, that your rising property taxes pay for, that it is YOUR FAULT that you do not have solid IB options for middle and high school. And IB certification as done by DCPS is a joke.

NP here. So if having all the IB families enroll in the IB DCPS school is not part of the answer, then what is?

[Anonymous]

If Upper NW parents are so darn involved, why no academic tracking at Deal beyond math, and Honors for All at Wilson? Not buying that they're more engaged than CH parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eastern, Jefferson and EH being unrepresentative of the neighborhood is on you all. Show up and things are instantly change.

You want it to be perfect for a good 5 years before you will even consider it. They built it - complete with IB certification - and you didn’t come.

I totally disagree. You can either be reflexively woke, or you can listen to what the community tells you about integrating the schools.

+1 you get mean when you are told by the public school system, that your rising property taxes pay for, that it is YOUR FAULT that you do not have solid IB options for middle and high school. And IB certification as done by DCPS is a joke.

NP here. So if having all the IB families enroll in the IB DCPS school is not part of the answer, then what is?

DCPS cannot expect educated parents (of ANY race) to enroll their kids in failing middle schools that self-evidently cannot handle behavioral issues that we see every day when school starts & gets out. Accusing these parents of being racist or whatever is cynical and lazy. There IS a way to integrate Hill middle schools, and it involves creating a bigger cohort of all Hill elementary schools in one middle school. But that's been repeatedly rejected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are often more chill about schools if they have an adequate middle and high school feeder.

This. I've lived in a few different DC neighborhoods including Capitol Hill and live in an UNW Deal/Wilson feeder neighborhood now. It's so much easier to be chill when everything isn't a fight against the city and schools because you already have a good feeder path all the way through. IME, there's also a difference in how the WOTP DCPS teachers and administration behave towards parents and students. They're much more collaborative and fair. I believe it's because they understand this parent group wouldn't accept less in these established schools. I also agree with another pp who claimed that the lack of a feeder pattern drives away UMC families in otherwise good Hill DCPS schools. There's less incentive for the city and school officials to work with families when they know they're probably going to leave anyway. Just my experience, YMMV.

Or maybe there is just more time? When you have fewer high needs students and strong test scores, there is more time for parent engagement about improvements or ideas. And dealing with a gentrifying school day to day is just more complicated and parents don’t necessarily agree about what the problems or needs are. (And yes, I know Maury and Brent are more like the WOTP school). Capitol Hill schools are less alike than JKLMMEH, etc.

Maury and Brent also have upper grades that start peeling off for Wilson feeders and charters. The shuffling is worse elsewhere but it happens there too.

Maybe a decade back, but very few peel off for Wilson feeders these days. I only know a handful of families who've done this in the last few years. Hill families seldom peel off for Wilson feeders for several obvious reasons. Getting to the feeders has become more of a hassle than it once was - traffic has worsened downtown and it's become harder to find other Hill families to carpool with. These days, there are hardly any spots in Wilson feeders" OOB families who try to lottery in and almost always fail. There are more decent charter MS options, mostly far up in NE, than before. Some of the small charter middle schools are improving (e.g. ITS, Creative Minds, Two Rivers) are improving and Wash Latin will open a second campus next year.

If the Hill families are peeling off for charters for a good feeder pattern, then the issue is still the same. Lack of guaranteed rights to a solid feeder path and the community's collective voice is fractured by kids going to multiple different schools.

[Anonymous]

I know the Hill schools well. I would say that each school has a very distinct culture - and sometimes the parents at different grade levels differ. Brent has some really horrible (but well intentioned?) parents and a wonderful staff.

[Anonymous]

We've sent our kids to several different DCPS programs on the Hill in the course of a decade. The youngest is still at Brent. We haven't dealt with parents more horrible at Brent than at the other schools. Under Peter Young, a toxic environment brought out the worst in some stakeholders. Things have been much more congenial in the 2.5 years since he hit the road. From what I gather, the Upper NW schools generally seem to get more capable heads than we do EotP. Not sure why that is.

[Anonymous]

I think there is a disconnect above between the use of "IB" to mean "in-boundary" and the use in the phrase "IB certification" that refers to an International Baccalaureate program certification for the schools.

I am a NW parent of a middle schooler and a high schooler that has observed the Capital Hill parents' struggle with schools via DCUM (and the 2013 boundary review) with empathy for the past 10 years DCPS is not interested in doing what it takes to address the needs of the high performing high SES students on Capital Hill. DCPS cannot see the forest for the trees, they are afraid of the political cost of doing what it takes to create a viable feeder path as they will be seen as pandering to high SES families. Nevermind that it woudl create a better educational path for many kids, including lower SES kids.

That causes angst.

I love our home in upper NW. That said, if we did not have children we would not be living here, we would be on Capital Hill or Dupont Circle or somewhere else more urban.

Many of us parents in both locales are both good people and difficult to deal with when our kids' educations are at risk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there is a disconnect above between the use of "IB" to mean "in-boundary" and the use in the phrase "IB certification" that refers to an International Baccalaureate program certification for the schools.

I am a NW parent of a middle schooler and a high schooler that has observed the Capital Hill parents' struggle with schools via DCUM (and the 2013 boundary review) with empathy for the past 10 years DCPS is not interested in doing what it takes to address the needs of the high performing high SES students on Capital Hill. DCPS cannot see the forest for the trees, they are afraid of the political cost of doing what it takes to create a viable feeder path as they will be seen as pandering to high SES families. Nevermind that it woudl create a better educational path for many kids, including lower SES kids.

That causes angst.

I love our home in upper NW. That said, if we did not have children we would not be living here, we would be on Capital Hill or Dupont Circle or somewhere else more urban.

Many of us parents in both locales are both good people and difficult to deal with when our kids' educations are at risk.

+100

The Eastern feeder pattern will happen at some point. Not because of anything that DCPS is doing but instead due to increasingly larger baby booms that are happening in Ward 6. There will not be room at the "Hill Charters" for all of them.

[Anonymous]

I know Cap Hill, NW DC, and private school parents. I find most parents in DC are type-A and hyper competitive. There is so much anxiety and angst among parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there is a disconnect above between the use of "IB" to mean "in-boundary" and the use in the phrase "IB certification" that refers to an International Baccalaureate program certification for the schools.

I am a NW parent of a middle schooler and a high schooler that has observed the Capital Hill parents' struggle with schools via DCUM (and the 2013 boundary review) with empathy for the past 10 years DCPS is not interested in doing what it takes to address the needs of the high performing high SES students on Capital Hill. DCPS cannot see the forest for the trees, they are afraid of the political cost of doing what it takes to create a viable feeder path as they will be seen as pandering to high SES families. Nevermind that it woudl create a better educational path for many kids, including lower SES kids.

That causes angst.

I love our home in upper NW. That said, if we did not have children we would not be living here, we would be on Capital Hill or Dupont Circle or somewhere else more urban.

Many of us parents in both locales are both good people and difficult to deal with when our kids' educations are at risk.

+100

The Eastern feeder pattern will happen at some point. Not because of anything that DCPS is doing but instead due to increasingly larger baby booms that are happening in Ward 6. There will not be room at the "Hill Charters" for all of them.

Please show me where high SES have worse outcomes compared to high SES students in school districts where they are catered to? I would love to see actual data to back up these “feelings.”

[Anonymous]

To clarify:

Please show me where high SES DCPS students (or even big city students) have worse outcomes compared to high SES students in school districts where they are catered to? I would love to see actual data to back up these “feelings.”

[Anonymous]

are cap hill families more professionals with back grounds in lobbying on the hill. campagins etc. so maybe they just steam roll?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:are cap hill families more professionals with back grounds in lobbying on the hill. campagins etc. so maybe they just steam roll?

They try, but they are capably defeated by experienced DCPS teachers and DC bureaucrats. It's actually kind of funny to watch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there is a disconnect above between the use of "IB" to mean "in-boundary" and the use in the phrase "IB certification" that refers to an International Baccalaureate program certification for the schools.

I am a NW parent of a middle schooler and a high schooler that has observed the Capital Hill parents' struggle with schools via DCUM (and the 2013 boundary review) with empathy for the past 10 years DCPS is not interested in doing what it takes to address the needs of the high performing high SES students on Capital Hill. DCPS cannot see the forest for the trees, they are afraid of the political cost of doing what it takes to create a viable feeder path as they will be seen as pandering to high SES families. Nevermind that it woudl create a better educational path for many kids, including lower SES kids.

That causes angst.

I love our home in upper NW. That said, if we did not have children we would not be living here, we would be on Capital Hill or Dupont Circle or somewhere else more urban.

Many of us parents in both locales are both good people and difficult to deal with when our kids' educations are at risk.

You're observing via DCUM?

Lol. I can say that there is no angst that I see at our Hill elementary school along the lines of "oh noes, the feeder pattern!" None of us love the fact that we might have to move/go private/have a long commute for middle school if the lottery doesn't work out but that doesn't impact how the elementary school runs. The most angst is probably in ECE with nervous parents of small kids fighting about boloney sandwiches in aftercare, but that seems to fade away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:are cap hill families more professionals with back grounds in lobbying on the hill. campagins etc. so maybe they just steam roll?

They try, but they are capably defeated by experienced DCPS teachers and DC bureaucrats. It's actually kind of funny to watch.

This is kind of bs. DCPS teachers and bureaucrats are two entirely different entities and don't really get along with each other.

I can think of numerous instances where motivated parents steamrolled DCPS into action they would otherwise have never taken.