Win-win solutions for Brent?

[Anonymous]

So I've been thinking a bit about the potential Brent overcrowding-redistricting this year dilemma (we're on the waitlist at Brent), and I was trying to think of potential win-win changes that could be made if the redistricting process was flexible and allowed community input. One pie-in-the-sky idea I had was merging the Tyler and Brent catchments with both schools being inbounds (getting in decided by lottery) and at the same time, shifting Tyler to all or mostly Spanish immersion (starting with the next class). I could see benefits of:

1) Keeping Brent diverse but still good
2) Having more language immersion slots on the Hill (it seemed that some of the Brent parents in the lottery put Tyler Spanish above Brent or not far below)
3) Improving Tyler's "desirability"

I could see downsides if the numbers didn't work out (too many/too few kids) or if there is a strong, historic Tyler community that would fiercely resent this. But since Tyler seems like it's largely out of bounds, perhaps this isn't a problem. I don't know.

Anyway, I turn to DC Urban Moms and Dads to blow holes in this idea and tell me I'm elitist/racist/simpleminded/etc.

And are there any other pie-in-the-sky ideas? Some sort of arrangement with Van Ness is bandied about, but I don't have a vision for it.

[Anonymous]

Sounds a little like "clusters" at the elementary school level. Seeing the "optimal" school size creep up to 400, that seems like a very crafty solution. Throw a Maury-Miner cluster into the mix, same problems, same solution. What do you all think?

[Anonymous]

I should have added another worthwhile consideration that - admittedly is maybe a little Machiavellic but beneficial in many ways: The solution you propose would probably "buy" Brent (and Maury) renewed Title I status. That's good and bad for a school's interest (more $$$ but also more challenges). But, for the broader community, it would stem some of the re-segregating effects the loss of Title I entails (loss of support, loss of afterschool care, loss of access to free or affordable enrichment etc.).

[Anonymous]

I'm a Brent parent (and IB for Brent), and I like the idea. Maybe bring it up at the PTA meeting tomorrow night?

[Anonymous]

The PTA meeting tomorrow is addressed to K-5 school plan for next year.

[Anonymous]

Most Brent parents will hate the idea.

Tyler has taken a long time to be acceptable to many on the Hill even the SI program.

When my oldest child started preschool (in 2007), Brent and Tyler were about equally desirable, both more desirable than Maury. Tyler has progressed way more slowly.

[Anonymous]

A lot of upside for students IB for Tyler, not so much for Brent and IB students who might lose out in the lottery. Oh, have you bothered to look at Tyler's proficiency rates? Have you spoken to any parents familiar with the non-SI program at Tyler and the challenges faced by the Potomac Gardens population?

Did you even apply to either Tyler program this year? If not, then try again next year.

[Anonymous]

I'm the OP. A couple of thoughts:
- As far as I can tell from the lottery results, there really isn't a whole lot of inbounds population in the Tyler catchment. It is a mostly OOB school. Am I wrong? Does it become more inbounds population in Kindergarten and up? Since the IB Brent population has grown, the IB population of a merged catchment would be largely what is currently Brent. And a lot of the Tyler kids are closer to the demographics of Brent than Potomac Gardens.

- My initial though is that there isn't a "losing" the lottery if the choice is between Spanish immersion and Brent.

- If we accept that things are going to change with the upcoming redistricting, one option is to just fight any changes (and potentially lose) or find win-win solutions. I'm all ears to other ones.

[Anonymous]

Tyler's capacity is about 500 students. It's hard to imagine that there is sufficient demand for an in bounds spanish immersion program to fill the school. Most language immersion programs only admit new students through K (or 1st?) grade.

Brent's building capacity is 325 (although there are around 350 students now). While I am sure there are some parents in bounds for Brent who would prefer Tyler's SI, I don't imagine there are sufficient numbers to solve Brent's overcrowding problem even if no additional catchement area was included.

From DCPS's standpoint, wouldn't it make more sense to shift the boundaries a block or two to solve overcrowding as opposed to this proposal which might give the impression that DCPS is favoring some over-entitled parents on Capitol Hill. A win-win solution needs to work for Brent, Tyler and DCPS more broadly to have any chance.

[Anonymous]

Other thought:

- This would have to be something phased in over time starting with incoming classes if it were to fly. Definitely agree that this would go badly if schools just merged today.

Anyway, just thoughts on ways to tackle future overcrowding issues aside from trailers in the playground and no preschool.

[Anonymous]

13:33 Thanks for the numbers. Good point that Spanish immersion might not peel enough folks away willingly. I can see where Brent parents who are guaranteed relatively uniform high-SES Brent in K (overcrowded or not) would oppose.

[Anonymous]

Would a Spanish immersion program fill with other relatively high SES families from the rest of Capitol Hill, Brookland, Capitol Quarter, etc.? Seems like Tyler might want to go all Spanish immersion anyway since there is such high demand for that and relatively low demand for the Traditional program. This could be a pressure valve for Brent even without a formal relationship.

[Anonymous]

Using DCPS numbers as an approximate, there are about 120 IB students who attend Tyler. The other 250 or so are OOB. Also, the IB numbers may be somewhat misleading as my understanding is that there is a fair amount of attrition post-PK in both Tyler programs. OP's idea only works if Tyler's IB population is comparable to Brent's percentage wise. Otherwise, Tyler remains a majority OOB school, just like the Hill middle schools.

In any event, the Brent community has spent years making investments that are just now beginning to pay dividents in the form of academic excellence. Moreover, houses in the catchment are now routinely selling for $800,000 plus, with many topping $1.1 million. Call it elitism or whatever else you like, and notwithstanding that many parents love the SI early childhood program at Tyler, the program has too far to go to catch up to Brent to make this "cluster" concept anything but another DCPS clusterf**k. Does anyone know, for example, the amounts raised by the Tyler PTA?

Right now, VanNess is the wild card in terms of Brent and parents such as OP should be demanding answers from DCPS.

[Anonymous]

I've posted further up and wanted to reiterate the thought I tacked on here to not think as much in terms of boundaries but rather in terms of mergers. If you frame it as a merger issue, then - so the Francis-Stevens - experience shows, then it may be less contentious. Economies of scale, blah, blah, blah. Now, that would still leave you to deal with quite a bit.

On an aside, don't forget that OOB can mean many different things. Watkins as well as Brent, have a significant number of kids classified as OOB but who really don't live far, certainly with in the broader Capitol Hill area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would a Spanish immersion program fill with other relatively high SES families from the rest of Capitol Hill, Brookland, Capitol Quarter, etc.? Seems like Tyler might want to go all Spanish immersion anyway since there is such high demand for that and relatively low demand for the Traditional program. This could be a pressure valve for Brent even without a formal relationship.

Some of the IB population now served by Tyler might feel differently about converting the entire school to SI. Proficiency rates also suggest that there may be a problem mastering fundamentals in English