Latin replication pulled from PCSB agenda

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There has been A LOT of discussion about Latin not serving at-risk kids, but what I am looking at seems to show that Latin is not able to educate brown kids who are NOT at risk. In other words, Latin is NOT working for black and brown kids who are middle class. WTF? This is what needs to be looked at. Why are the black kids at Latin who are MIDDLE CLASS and UMC not benefiting from this school that is supposedly so great? How could we even consider letting Latin try to educate at-risk kids when they are FAILING kids of color who have advantages and educated parents? DC makes no sense - and Latin’s record is making no sense.

This. What the heck is going on here and why are Latin parents okay with it?

Come on, AA students don't perform as well collectively as white students across socioeconomic strata. This outcome has been proven in study after study for over half a century. It's worth remembering that blacks are still fairly new to the middle class as a group (generally only in their second or third generation). They're still catching up to whites on various measures of academic achievement, prosperity and health.

This is true, but why is the gap narrower at other non- Title 1 schools in the city?

PARCC scores don't begin to tell the whole story. Latin doesn't prep kids obsessively for PARCC like KIPP, DC Prep and other programs. It also doesn't grind them down with an unhealthy amount of homework and test pressure in MS like BASIS.

PARCC scores ARE the main story here (so are discipline practices and successful outreach to get a more diverse student body).

You don’t care about PARCC. But every charter signs a contract that says it will be judged by the PMF, which is significantly compromised of PARCC data. WL does fine on the PMF when it uses averages; but its achievement gap is persistently larger than other Tier 1 schools.

They will need to change that or convert to a private school.

[Anonymous]

1-Latin was never at risk of closing or anything dramatic happening.
2-It asked to replicate. In order to do so, the PCSB said it needed to do more to help two subgroups of students which have persistently been underperforming their peers.
3-WL and the PCSB negotiated several conditions it needs to address prior to final approval (final approval already depends on securing a new location)
4-Had WL wanted to walk away and keep doing what it's doing, it could have.

[Anonymous]

If they get a new location in Wards 1, 4 or 6 you know they aren’t serious about any change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If they get a new location in Wards 1, 4 or 6 you know they aren’t serious about any change.

If they wind up in the very southern part of Ward 4 within a block of Georgia Ave (Center City PCS and Paul PCS territory) that might meet the criteria. Not that high SES students can't commute there, but because they'd be smack in the middle of a 50:50 Latino and Black neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they get a new location in Wards 1, 4 or 6 you know they aren’t serious about any change.

If they wind up in the very southern part of Ward 4 within a block of Georgia Ave (Center City PCS and Paul PCS territory) that might meet the criteria. Not that high SES students can't commute there, but because they'd be smack in the middle of a 50:50 Latino and Black neighborhood.

That's not good enough. The biggest problem these "too-white" (relative to city demographics) schools face in recruitment is that there are too many white kids lotterying for their seats. If Latin chooses a replication site that's an easy commute for white kids, the new school will be just as white as the current one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they get a new location in Wards 1, 4 or 6 you know they aren’t serious about any change.

If they wind up in the very southern part of Ward 4 within a block of Georgia Ave (Center City PCS and Paul PCS territory) that might meet the criteria. Not that high SES students can't commute there, but because they'd be smack in the middle of a 50:50 Latino and Black neighborhood.

That's not good enough. The biggest problem these "too-white" (relative to city demographics) schools face in recruitment is that there are too many white kids lotterying for their seats. If Latin chooses a replication site that's an easy commute for white kids, the new school will be just as white as the current one.

Then add Ward 7 to the no-go list. As Stokes EE and Lee show, the white people will go that far.

[Anonymous]

It's not a question of whether white people will go that far, but whether white people comprise overwhelming demand that allows them to take most available slots.

Lee has already cleared their waitlist (PK3 and PK4) for next school year - any kid who lives nearby who submits a post-lottery application has a good chance to get in. Stokes East End cleared their waitlist last year - same situation. For both of these schools, this means that targeted neighborhood recruitment efforts SHOULD yield a more diverse student body - if they can prove that they are serving all kids well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they get a new location in Wards 1, 4 or 6 you know they aren’t serious about any change.

If they wind up in the very southern part of Ward 4 within a block of Georgia Ave (Center City PCS and Paul PCS territory) that might meet the criteria. Not that high SES students can't commute there, but because they'd be smack in the middle of a 50:50 Latino and Black neighborhood.

That's not good enough. The biggest problem these "too-white" (relative to city demographics) schools face in recruitment is that there are too many white kids lotterying for their seats. If Latin chooses a replication site that's an easy commute for white kids, the new school will be just as white as the current one.

Maybe. But we don't know how many minorities actually entered the lottery for WL vs how many were able to secure one of the 40-50 seats that are available after the siblings are in. When MSDC ran experiements to see how an at-risk preference would change things. IT didn't do much because of sibling preferences. That's why there is a lot of debate about creating an at-risk preference AND making it the strongest preference, ahead of sibling.

So it would be something like at-risk w/sibling enrolled; at-risk w/sibling accepted; at-risk; sibling enrolled; sibling accepted; general pool. I'm not sure where a staff preference would fall in this scenario.

[Anonymous]

If you are a minority do you want your kid to go to a school where minorities and at-risk kids don't perform well AND are disciplined at a much higher rate?

What does it say when the buses from wealthy neighborhoods have significantly more stops than ones from EOTR?

If you are Latino, how do you feel about a school that doesn't even offer Spanish as a foreign language option (in addition to Latin)? Note - this is going to change but not sure when.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not a question of whether white people will go that far, but whether white people comprise overwhelming demand that allows them to take most available slots.

Lee has already cleared their waitlist (PK3 and PK4) for next school year - any kid who lives nearby who submits a post-lottery application has a good chance to get in. Stokes East End cleared their waitlist last year - same situation. For both of these schools, this means that targeted neighborhood recruitment efforts SHOULD yield a more diverse student body - if they can prove that they are serving all kids well.

Or maybe they aren't really trying, because they want to say they tried but not actually succeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are a minority do you want your kid to go to a school where minorities and at-risk kids don't perform well AND are disciplined at a much higher rate?

What does it say when the buses from wealthy neighborhoods have significantly more stops than ones from EOTR?

If you are Latino, how do you feel about a school that doesn't even offer Spanish as a foreign language option (in addition to Latin)? Note - this is going to change but not sure when.

Buses? No idea what you're talking about.

Give us a break, urban public schools don't have to be the be and end all to families to be good schools. Most of us are just glad to access a decent DC public school to help us stay in the City. We're not white and no public school in the City teaches the language we speak, read and write at home. We speak, read and write the language well anyway. I'd be thrilled if my rising 4th grader gets a winning lottery spot at either Latin campus in the spring.

[Anonymous]

This thread has taken such a bizarre, unproductive turn - as most do on this site. My kids go to Latin and most of their rockstar, high performing classmates are black and brown. Check out the homepage for a picture of the class of 2019. I'm confused by the folks here claiming the school fails all but white kids.

My own kids would like to see discipline meted out equally regardless of race - something they complain about at home and with their peers.

The student body is determined by a lottery. Names have to be entered in that lottery to be selected. Not sure how else the school is supposed to engineer the student body to be different than it is.

More MS kids are staying for high school - which was not the original school model. In some regard, that fact is a referendum on DCPS for failing to attract Latin middle schoolers to enroll in their in-boundary or application only high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are a minority do you want your kid to go to a school where minorities and at-risk kids don't perform well AND are disciplined at a much higher rate?

What does it say when the buses from wealthy neighborhoods have significantly more stops than ones from EOTR?

If you are Latino, how do you feel about a school that doesn't even offer Spanish as a foreign language option (in addition to Latin)? Note - this is going to change but not sure when.

Buses? No idea what you're talking about.

Give us a break, urban public schools don't have to be the be and end all to families to be good schools. Most of us are just glad to access a decent DC public school to help us stay in the City. We're not white and no public school in the City teaches the language we speak, read and write at home. We speak, read and write the language well anyway. I'd be thrilled if my rising 4th grader gets a winning lottery spot at either Latin campus in the spring.

Latin has buses from certain neighborhoods. Surprise, not from low-income areas. Almost as if they would rather have the higher income kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are a minority do you want your kid to go to a school where minorities and at-risk kids don't perform well AND are disciplined at a much higher rate?

What does it say when the buses from wealthy neighborhoods have significantly more stops than ones from EOTR?

If you are Latino, how do you feel about a school that doesn't even offer Spanish as a foreign language option (in addition to Latin)? Note - this is going to change but not sure when.

Buses? No idea what you're talking about.

Give us a break, urban public schools don't have to be the be and end all to families to be good schools. Most of us are just glad to access a decent DC public school to help us stay in the City. We're not white and no public school in the City teaches the language we speak, read and write at home. We speak, read and write the language well anyway. I'd be thrilled if my rising 4th grader gets a winning lottery spot at either Latin campus in the spring.

Latin has buses from certain neighborhoods. Surprise, not from low-income areas. Almost as if they would rather have the higher income kids.

Is the Anacostia bus pickup gone?

[Anonymous]

They have a bus pickup in Anacostia and the bus is free for kids who qualify for free and reduced price lunch.