There is the same trend at high performing schools without a MS feeder -- it's just that sometimes it increases racial diversity at those schools. |
Well yeah, that's how it works. But at schools where white families often go for ECE and then move to another school for upper grades, the percent of white students remains pretty flat. If a school is increasing the percent of white students year over year, especially if this happens consistently along a trend line, that means more white parents are keeping their kids at the school past ECE. At first it might just be 1st/2nd, but eventually might reach the 4th and 5th grades. I live on the Hill and this is precisely what happened at Brent, Maury, and L-T. There was a time when all of those schools had very small white populations despite being in neighborhoods with a lot of white people. But over time, more white families chose to stick around past PK and it grew and grew until now all of those schools consistently have high percentages of white families going into at least 4th grade (the MS issue on the Hill combined with BASIS/Latins staring at 5th changes the demographics for 5th, but even that is shifting as BASIS/Latin have become extremely tough lotteries and a lot of people strike out, and stay for 5th even if they are planning on private or moving for MS). |
Totally agree. I've had kids many years apart at L-T. My oldest was one a handful of white kids in his K class. My youngest's 4th grade class was about 40/40/20. Now only the ECE (heavily white since nearly all IB students) and the 5th grade (heavily AA, though enough white students to report scores) have very different demographics. Though it happened in small steps each year, the overall demographic change over less than 10 years was incredible. |
If you are talking about Capitol Hill schools, that trend doesn’t happen till about 4th grade because kids leave for charters. At the other schools this happens a lot earlier, starting in K and most families leave by 1st/2nd. It is absolutely because of the achievement gap and not because of the MS school feed. |
I see a lot of kids assigned to a charter school, but it looks like they are attending private therapuetic schools all over the region (not only LAB School, but also programs in Annadale, Springfield, PG County, MoCo....even one kid doing a therapeutic residential program in Arkansas).
Is it "easier" to get a private school placement for therapeutic services for SN kids via a DC charter school rather than through DCPS? I ask because we have a kid in DC PreK already with an IEP and lots of therapies, so I'm wondering if this is something we will need to consider as our child progresses through the DC system. Thanks! |
I don't understand why Brent has combined 4th and 5th grade if it has 29 5th graders. Couldn't that just be one class of 5th graders?
It's amazing to me that Anacostia HS has so few students--only 244. |
Yes it is easier I believe. The charters have more financial flexibility and less capacity to handle higher-needs students. It’s also easier to get a 1:1 aid. I know a kid who went from DCPS being pushed towards self-contained to an immediate 1:1 aid in a charter. |
When did Eaton lose grandfathering rights to Deal? Was there a big shift then (and an uptick in Hardy numbers)? |
I didn't see any numbers for Bancroft. The school is bursting at the seams. I can't see the data that all of you seem to be seeing. What are the numbers for Bancroft? |
768 students this year vs 716 the prior year (~ 7% increase) |
The only notable enrollment dip at Deal -- and it was only 4.6 percent -- happened between 2020-21 and 2021-22, and that almost certainly was because of the pandemic. Removing Eaton from the Deal path did nothing to ease Deal's enrollment. |
We're at a DCPS with an underwhelming MS feeder. What I've seen most is families that move when their oldest hits middle school. So oldest stays through fifth, middle/younger stays through middle elementary assuming a 2-3 year age gap. Of the families I know that have done this, many seem to have 3 kids. Possibly because they're outgrowing their DC rowhouse anyways, or possibly because the logistics of juggling the lottery and preferences for 3 kids is too much of a hassle. Families with 1-2 kids either leave after pre-K or K depending on their lottery luck, or stay through upper elementary and try the fifth grade lottery. |
In 2022-23 there were almost as many Anacostia-zoned students at Eastern (184) as at Anacostia (188). |
I just spent some time working around the redacted PARCC numbers for our IB elementary. I was more interested in the economic disadvantage rate by grade than race by grade (it's also easier to fill in the data blanks with 2 categories vs 4+) and was pretty blown away. Jumps from 44% in 3rd to 64% in 4th to 78% in 5th. Wow. Nearby neighborhood schools we're interested in lotterying into for upper elementary looked a lot better though still with sizeable jumps in 5th. |
Do remember if it's a gentrifying school that each grade is likely also a bit more gentrified than the one before it. So the current 3rd grade might go 44->60->70 or whatever... Whereas the current 5th may have gone 50-->68-->78... if that makes sense. That is, just make sure you remember it's not the same actual kids in each grade, so gentrification trends matter in addition to grade trends. |