Up and coming DCPS schools
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Anonymous
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I'm getting ready for next years lottery. I know this is really early! In considering some safety schools, which ones do you believe have a real chance of turning the corner? It's like buying real estate before the market gets hot. I think my strategy will be listing mostly schools that are considered safeties but with real potential to rise. I'm going to give up entirely on the sought after schools.
What schools meet this criteria and why. |
Anonymous
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This is a great question, PP. Three come to mind immediately:
1) HD Cooke. It has a lot going for it, including a fully renovated building, a great International Baccalaureate curriculum (with Creative Curriculum for early childhood), and some fantastic teachers, particularly for early childhood (my primary focus). However, the principal who is leaving did not focus on test scores and rejected parent participation. For this coming year, though, the school has a new principal who is fantastic--a former AP at Hearst who also spent 12 years at Ross, during which time it transformed from a primarily OOB school to a school almost entirely made up of IB students. She will bring a clear focus on increasing the quality of instruction within the IB framework and reaching out to the community/parents to make it a school of choice for the neighborhood. I think that it will become much harder to get in out of boundary in the coming years. 2) Marie Reed. We checked out this school this year reluctantly, having been by and seen the truly awful facilities. However, we loved the principal, and the test scores at the school are much better than at, say, a school like Cooke. It is getting harder to get in out of boundary, though it's certainly not impossible. I am worried, though, that what really attracted me and other families to the school was the dynamic principal. He unfortunately is leaving to become an instructional superintendent at Reed. I am feeling grateful we didn't get in there, since really our interest was 100% principal-driven. 3) Seaton. Seaton is a school that did not fill its PK3 classes in the first lottery, and for the life of me I cannot figure out why. It is not far from Garrison, and many people are IB for both right now, but saw quite a few behavior problems at Garrison and NOTHING like that at Seaton. They have a fantastic principal at Seaton, and the instruction seems top-notch. I would definitely check it out, especially if the Shaw location is convenient for you. Best of luck! I'm curious what other schools might be on this list. |
Anonymous
| ^^ PP again. I meant to say that the Reed principal left to become an instructional superintendent at DCPS. I have not yet heard who the school's next principal will be, but it would be hard to find someone equally good, in my view. |
Anonymous
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I've heard Janney is on the rise. The principal is great and there is a really committed group of parents there in PK4, who are planning to stay together. I think by the time your kid is in first grade, OP, it could become a decent option. The only downside is that it's in a pretty sketchy neighborhood, and that's not likely to change anytime soon. But I've personally not had any problems walking there during the day provided you cross to the other side of the street when you get near Guapo's.
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Anonymous
| My money is on Ludlow-Taylor especially now that they are getting a new principal. I don't think I can take another 1,000 post thread on the school (read some of the older ones), but the principal (love her or hate her) has seemed to be a barrier to getting neighborhood families in. So if they get a more welcoming (or perceived to be welcoming) principal, it could become a primarily upper middle-class school (be that good or bad) fairly quickly. I do think the old principal has set the school up well with high quality teachers and a school atmosphere that is conducive to learning. (No rumors of extreme intra-school discipline/behavior/violence problems that are surfacing about Watkins.) |
Anonymous
| I would agree with Seaton, would argue L-T is already "up" and add Burroughs. |
Anonymous
| This is OP. I really think the only way to have a chance at a decent DCPS is to list 12 up-and-coming schools and hope for the best. Not sure if I can identify 12 that show enough promise to make it on my list. It's a gamble in that there is no guarantee that the school I get matched to will ever get over that hump, but its no more of a gamble than trying to lottery for a highly sought after school. |
Anonymous
Curiou what behavior problems you witnessed at Garrison and what grade were those kids? |
Anonymous
| ^^I saw a teacher frustratingly yelling at a kid in the hallway. Older child--maybe 4th or 5th grade. |
Anonymous
| I'm sorry is it really "quite a few behavior problems" at Garrison? Or just one incident and some excited kids in the PK classrooms? This is how parents start whisper campaigns against one school while trying to move excitement to another. Also, if you saw something done by a teacher you should have mentioned it to Principal Hill. |
Anonymous
| Garrison boosters can say what they want. I've talked to several families that toured and saw behavior problems. That is why we did not apply. It's great that the school works for some families; it is not a good fit for us. |
Anonymous
Wait, a prospective parent has the responsibility to mention problems with the teachers to the principal? How does the principal have so little control that he is not aware of what is going on in his school? |
Anonymous
| Can we get back to the original question by OP--what are up and coming schools? |
Anonymous
| Not to report it to him. But to let him knew that you saw it and that it made you concerned enough to not go |
Anonymous
| What about Barnard ES? We toured it and fell in love! Test scores look good- on the rise, admin team seems great, and good diversity. Do others have experience with this school? |