Hill Middle Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the record, the waitlist at Jefferson consistently exceeds the number of offers made. If the building is “half empty” (whatever that means), then it’s due to a DCPS decision to limit enrollment. It’s certainly not due to a lack of demand.

But it definitely is due to a lack of demand from those with a right to attend. They *could* fill up the building if they were actually interested in attending.

Anybody else fed up with a tiny coterie of pro-Jefferson high SES in-boundary parents defending the lousy arrangement? Please tell us how many of the current in-boundary 5th graders at Brent are en route to Jefferson? By my count, half a dozen out of a cohort that supplied Brent with more than 60 IB 4th graders. Pre-Covid, there were at least a dozen in-boundary 5th graders heading to Jefferson.

When is the political day of reckoning for this train wreck coming? Lack of demand is a growing problem of epic proportions that isn't discussed in public fora let alone addressed in any meaningful way. Why should voters settle for IB middle schools in name only, schools fed almost entirely by demand from some of the city's poorest neighborhoods here in 2023? None of it makes good sense.

No. I’m sure they’re irritating but they aren’t wrong: if y’all just sent your kids, the academics would follow. Teachers and admins aren’t stupid by and large - they would adjust to ensure the advanced math etc was there if enough kids needed it. Could DCPS do more to get IB parents, sure. But you should not act like the parents are wrong to point out the collective action problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the record, the waitlist at Jefferson consistently exceeds the number of offers made. If the building is “half empty” (whatever that means), then it’s due to a DCPS decision to limit enrollment. It’s certainly not due to a lack of demand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the record, the waitlist at Jefferson consistently exceeds the number of offers made. If the building is “half empty” (whatever that means), then it’s due to a DCPS decision to limit enrollment. It’s certainly not due to a lack of demand.

But it definitely is due to a lack of demand from those with a right to attend. They *could* fill up the building if they were actually interested in attending.

Anybody else fed up with a tiny coterie of pro-Jefferson high SES in-boundary parents defending the lousy arrangement? Please tell us how many of the current in-boundary 5th graders at Brent are en route to Jefferson? By my count, half a dozen out of a cohort that supplied Brent with more than 60 IB 4th graders. Pre-Covid, there were at least a dozen in-boundary 5th graders heading to Jefferson.

When is the political day of reckoning for this train wreck coming? Lack of demand is a growing problem of epic proportions that isn't discussed in public fora let alone addressed in any meaningful way. Why should voters settle for IB middle schools in name only, schools fed almost entirely by demand from some of the city's poorest neighborhoods here in 2023? None of it makes good sense.

It isn’t coming. The ship has sailed for a generation at least. All 3 MS have been renovated. There is no way they are going to shut one down or adjust the boundaries to move more IB students into the smallest MS. There is no “fix” to this unless you can elect a mayor that would do something about it. Even then, I have a hard time believing they would do anything to weaken a school that they just put $80M into.

Honestly, the only thing that would “fix” these MSs is kids showing up. That’s how you raise test scores. Most Hill parents would love to get into Hardy. If Hill kids showed up, there would be 3 schools close to Hardy.

So I guess those are your answers, send your kids there (I know, a crazy thought) or organize and elect a new mayor. Good luck.

Agree they aren't going to shut down any of the three. I think the best odds would be for the elementaries to redo their feeder patterns. Feed EH from the schools closest to it and keep the IB middle years program to prepare kids for Eastern, and have the rest go to SH for 5th and 6th and JA for 7th and 8th (or vice versa). It would better align with Latin and BASIS starting at 5th. It would allow for more ECE classrooms, where the waitlists are currently longest. It would create a bigger group of on-grade and above-grade-level students for honors classes. There'd be enough kids for more extracurriculars. And I think it would create more momentum for in-bounds families to enroll in Eastern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the record, the waitlist at Jefferson consistently exceeds the number of offers made. If the building is “half empty” (whatever that means), then it’s due to a DCPS decision to limit enrollment. It’s certainly not due to a lack of demand.

But it definitely is due to a lack of demand from those with a right to attend. They *could* fill up the building if they were actually interested in attending.

Jefferson has the highest percentage of in-bound students of the three middle schools serving Ward 6. And I don’t think that increasing the number of in-bound students would increase the total number of kids at the school. Rather, the school would presumably just admit fewer OOB applicants than it already does. As I said, its waitlist consistently exceeds the number of offers made. Demand is not an issue.

[Anonymous]

Demand....isn't an issue? So why bother with neighborhood schools in Ward 6, where IB demand is weak after ES? Why not scrap local by-right schools if OOB demand is all that matters? Why is it OK that only a tiny fraction of UMC parents in a catchment area sends their teens year after year, at a time when SES families with school-age children are the majority in the Eastern feeder population?

What's the point of repeatedly declaring "Well, all that has to happen is that many high SES families elect to send their children to these schools to improve them" when that hasn't happened, and, pretty clearly, never will without monumental change. You can judge high-income parents who vote with their feet to charters, privates and the burbs repeatedly, slam them for their uncharitable views on classicism and racism/desegregating schools ad nauseum without changing their behavior one ioda. Hint: Einstein's definition of madness, doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result.

Thriving, popular, diverse urban neighborhood middle and high schools are desirable. Myopically dismiss them as unimportant to the detriment of the city in question, this one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Demand....isn't an issue? So why bother with neighborhood schools in Ward 6, where IB demand is weak after ES? Why not scrap local by-right schools if OOB demand is all that matters? Why is it OK that only a tiny fraction of UMC parents in a catchment area sends their teens year after year, at a time when SES families with school-age children are the majority in the Eastern feeder population?

What's the point of repeatedly declaring "Well, all that has to happen is that many high SES families elect to send their children to these schools to improve them" when that hasn't happened, and, pretty clearly, never will without monumental change. You can judge high-income parents who vote with their feet to charters, privates and the burbs repeatedly, slam them for their uncharitable views on classicism and racism/desegregating schools ad nauseum without changing their behavior one ioda. Hint: Einstein's definition of madness, doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result.

Thriving, popular, diverse urban neighborhood middle and high schools are desirable. Myopically dismiss them as unimportant to the detriment of the city in question, this one.

LOL. I haven’t done any of the things in bold. All said is that demand isn’t an issue regarding the number of kids in the Jefferson building, which the was specific subject on which I commented. And it is clearly not, as demonstrated by the fact that the school consistently denies admission to kids on its waitlist.

Read more carefully next time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the record, the waitlist at Jefferson consistently exceeds the number of offers made. If the building is “half empty” (whatever that means), then it’s due to a DCPS decision to limit enrollment. It’s certainly not due to a lack of demand.

But it definitely is due to a lack of demand from those with a right to attend. They *could* fill up the building if they were actually interested in attending.

Anybody else fed up with a tiny coterie of pro-Jefferson high SES in-boundary parents defending the lousy arrangement? Please tell us how many of the current in-boundary 5th graders at Brent are en route to Jefferson? By my count, half a dozen out of a cohort that supplied Brent with more than 60 IB 4th graders. Pre-Covid, there were at least a dozen in-boundary 5th graders heading to Jefferson.

When is the political day of reckoning for this train wreck coming? Lack of demand is a growing problem of epic proportions that isn't discussed in public fora let alone addressed in any meaningful way. Why should voters settle for IB middle schools in name only, schools fed almost entirely by demand from some of the city's poorest neighborhoods here in 2023? None of it makes good sense.

No. I’m sure they’re irritating but they aren’t wrong: if y’all just sent your kids, the academics would follow. Teachers and admins aren’t stupid by and large - they would adjust to ensure the advanced math etc was there if enough kids needed it. Could DCPS do more to get IB parents, sure. But you should not act like the parents are wrong to point out the collective action problem.

This is such a load of hot garbage.

The only reason why high SES parents raise the average test scores are because they can afford to pay for outside tutors and enrichment.

Pushing high SES families to go to these failing schools only hurts kids who can’t afford kumon, mathnesium, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the record, the waitlist at Jefferson consistently exceeds the number of offers made. If the building is “half empty” (whatever that means), then it’s due to a DCPS decision to limit enrollment. It’s certainly not due to a lack of demand.

But it definitely is due to a lack of demand from those with a right to attend. They *could* fill up the building if they were actually interested in attending.

Jefferson has the highest percentage of in-bound students of the three middle schools serving Ward 6. And I don’t think that increasing the number of in-bound students would increase the total number of kids at the school. Rather, the school would presumably just admit fewer OOB applicants than it already does. As I said, its waitlist consistently exceeds the number of offers made. Demand is not an issue.

Jefferson had the highest IB attendance because it feeds from the crappiest on average neighborhoods filled with folks who have lower standards.

Brent doesn’t belong in that feed.

-Not a Brent parent

[Anonymous]

parent of child at a non-Brent Jefferson feeder and find the above post offensive

[Anonymous]

EH has roughly the same in-bound percentage as Jefferson. SH draws about 12% of its students from the EH and Jefferson boundaries. That statistic is pretty much a wash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the record, the waitlist at Jefferson consistently exceeds the number of offers made. If the building is “half empty” (whatever that means), then it’s due to a DCPS decision to limit enrollment. It’s certainly not due to a lack of demand.

But it definitely is due to a lack of demand from those with a right to attend. They *could* fill up the building if they were actually interested in attending.

Anybody else fed up with a tiny coterie of pro-Jefferson high SES in-boundary parents defending the lousy arrangement? Please tell us how many of the current in-boundary 5th graders at Brent are en route to Jefferson? By my count, half a dozen out of a cohort that supplied Brent with more than 60 IB 4th graders. Pre-Covid, there were at least a dozen in-boundary 5th graders heading to Jefferson.

When is the political day of reckoning for this train wreck coming? Lack of demand is a growing problem of epic proportions that isn't discussed in public fora let alone addressed in any meaningful way. Why should voters settle for IB middle schools in name only, schools fed almost entirely by demand from some of the city's poorest neighborhoods here in 2023? None of it makes good sense.

No. I’m sure they’re irritating but they aren’t wrong: if y’all just sent your kids, the academics would follow. Teachers and admins aren’t stupid by and large - they would adjust to ensure the advanced math etc was there if enough kids needed it. Could DCPS do more to get IB parents, sure. But you should not act like the parents are wrong to point out the collective action problem.

This is such a load of hot garbage.

The only reason why high SES parents raise the average test scores are because they can afford to pay for outside tutors and enrichment.

Pushing high SES families to go to these failing schools only hurts kids who can’t afford kumon, mathnesium, etc.

These comments are not helpful or accurate. It may be hard for some people to believe, but there are plenty of kids in these schools who do well on tests and perform well in school without outside support/tutoring. There are strong teachers and good programs in many of these schools. Not sure if anybody who has not yet made up their mind is still reading this thread, but if I was to give any advice to younger parents - make your school decisions based on what your kids are learning and how they are doing - instead of opinions on here about what school is 'good'.

[Anonymous]

My guess is that average students would get along fine at the Hill middle schools, but most Hill families aren’t shooting for average students. They either think their kid is more capable (even if they are not) or that their kid could be more capable at a school with more higher achieving students (not an unreasonable assumption). Regardless, an average school with “on grade level” academics at best isn’t going to cut it for the higher SES families. Why would families who have options settle? It’s a shame that the public schools often can’t provide enough rigor for students who don’t have other options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:parent of child at a non-Brent Jefferson feeder and find the above post offensive

What I find offensive is that DCPS middle and high schools in Ward 6 don't serve Ward 6 families as well as they serve families from other wards. There are still more Ward 7 and 8 families enrolling in all three middle schools than Ward 6 families. Our city politicians and ed leaders get away with the arrangement because public school parents aren't a large, or organized, enough slice of the electoral pie to change it and have been mollified by the chance of lottery luck at distant charter middle schools. No end in sight.

[Anonymous]

I am hoping that the ever shifting standards at SWW will make it harder for Ward 6 pro-DCPS parents to use it as their escape hatch. It’s pretty rich that families are criticized by that pro-DCPS (“we believe in our neighborhood schools”) for jumping to Latin and BASIS because they are charter and then those same families avoid Eastern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the record, the waitlist at Jefferson consistently exceeds the number of offers made. If the building is “half empty” (whatever that means), then it’s due to a DCPS decision to limit enrollment. It’s certainly not due to a lack of demand.

But it definitely is due to a lack of demand from those with a right to attend. They *could* fill up the building if they were actually interested in attending.

Anybody else fed up with a tiny coterie of pro-Jefferson high SES in-boundary parents defending the lousy arrangement? Please tell us how many of the current in-boundary 5th graders at Brent are en route to Jefferson? By my count, half a dozen out of a cohort that supplied Brent with more than 60 IB 4th graders. Pre-Covid, there were at least a dozen in-boundary 5th graders heading to Jefferson.

When is the political day of reckoning for this train wreck coming? Lack of demand is a growing problem of epic proportions that isn't discussed in public fora let alone addressed in any meaningful way. Why should voters settle for IB middle schools in name only, schools fed almost entirely by demand from some of the city's poorest neighborhoods here in 2023? None of it makes good sense.

No. I’m sure they’re irritating but they aren’t wrong: if y’all just sent your kids, the academics would follow. Teachers and admins aren’t stupid by and large - they would adjust to ensure the advanced math etc was there if enough kids needed it. Could DCPS do more to get IB parents, sure. But you should not act like the parents are wrong to point out the collective action problem.

This is such a load of hot garbage.

The only reason why high SES parents raise the average test scores are because they can afford to pay for outside tutors and enrichment.

Pushing high SES families to go to these failing schools only hurts kids who can’t afford kumon, mathnesium, etc.

I was talking about the high SES families. But sure, if you think concetrated poverty is good for the poor, that’s one way to think about it.