Chisholm Elementary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Enrollment is SY21/22: 492, SY22/23: 510, SY34/24: 565, SY24/25: 542.
So upward enrollment trends for the previous 3 years with a small drop this past year. Not really "significant", but fine. There is also a good chance that parents are looking to enroll at other schools right now because of the upcoming modernization and the inconveniences of commuting to a swing space.
Reminder, Chisholm is a title 1 school and serves a large number of students from nearby public housing.
"Equity" does not always have to refer to race. When advocating for the middle school, the argument is around geographic equity since all of the current dual-language middle schools are located in NW DC.
Adding dual-language at EH would be awesome, but they really don't have the capacity to serve large amounts of dual-language students from both Chisholm and Houston unfortunately (they actually decreased their building capacity during their modernization which seems silly). The Jefferson principal has said that she does not see a full dual-language program as part of her future vision for the school. But trust, this option has been explored, because we agree, it's a good option! Maybe she will change her mind. Would love to hear other ideas!
And one final thought, the two lead parents on the campaign are not likely to still be in DC by the time their kids go to middle school. They aren't doing it for selfish reasons, they're doing it because they think ALL children deserve these types of opportunities.

EH takes a lot of OOB students so I feel like it is really not out of the question to start a school-within-school that is dual language. Presumably would be around 150 kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New poster. The poster above sounds like a crazy privileged white woman.

Curious, where are you and the other person going to send their kids to middle school?

Re: comment on equity. How is it geographically equitable for families who live in NE, like about 20 minutes or so away? They are clearly privileged if they have the resources and time to drive their kids to Chisholm. We need to take care of our kids, who happen to be minorities, that live in areas that aren't accessible. Wake up, equity is about race. Clearly you are white if you are preaching that it is about geographic. Get off your high horse.

This ... doesn't make sense? The whole point is that dual language students at Chisholm and Houston do not have a viable middle school dual language option. They're instead told to go to MacFarland, which is an hour away from Chisholm by Metro, and even further from Houston. All of the dual language DCPS middle schools are in or convenient to NW. Houston and Chisholm are both Title I immersion schools that deserve a middle school dual language option for their students. I don't really understand why this seems like a "crazy" or "privileged" position to take, no matter what race you are.

[Anonymous]

Has Chisolm always had a dual-language track? Why? And what led to the decision to go fully dual language?

All the other dual-language schools in DCPS are located in areas with a high percentage of Spanish speakers. My understanding was that in those places, dual language options were created both as an opportunity for the native Spanish speakers to succeed in their native language and as an opportunity for others to benefit from learning a second language. In practice it doesn't seem to always play out this way (i.e., the Spanish speaking population got priced out of the neighborhood or "dual language" instead became a signal for school quality or peer group), but it does seem like the original intention. In contrast, the neighborhood around Chisolm doesn't have, and as far as I know has never had, a sizeable Spanish speaking population.

From what I've heard, now that Chisolm is fully dual language, many of the lower-income families zoned for Chisolm are opting to attend Chisolm's sister school, Payne, because they don't want Spanish. If true, I'm not sure a new middle school option is a good or equitable use of DCPS's limited resources.

[Anonymous]

Also, the logistics of hiring a bunch of new bilingual teachers is a serious challenge. I know several bilingual teachers, at Chisholm and another unnamed school, and their Spanish language skills are not impressive. Like, first gen born in the US, and they speak Spanglish.

I know a nonprofit that has a really hard time recruiting bilingual social workers in DC. The workforce of Spanish teachers is just not here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, the logistics of hiring a bunch of new bilingual teachers is a serious challenge. I know several bilingual teachers, at Chisholm and another unnamed school, and their Spanish language skills are not impressive. Like, first gen born in the US, and they speak Spanglish.

I know a nonprofit that has a really hard time recruiting bilingual social workers in DC. The workforce of Spanish teachers is just not here.

When we were at Tyler (many years back, to be fair - 2015ish), the teachers in the Spanish program were from Spanish speaking countries, but had terrible classroom management skills.

[Anonymous]

Chisholm has long had a Spanish strand program. It only recently went fully bilingual. I think it makes sense to add a program at a nearby middle school where kids continue to take advanced spanish and some of their other classes in spanish while otherwise fully mixing with the other students for their other classes. Maybe Jefferson, maybe EH (the sister school Payne already feeds there), maybe Kelley Miller or another middle school in ward 7 near Houston.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Chisholm has long had a Spanish strand program. It only recently went fully bilingual. I think it makes sense to add a program at a nearby middle school where kids continue to take advanced spanish and some of their other classes in spanish while otherwise fully mixing with the other students for their other classes. Maybe Jefferson, maybe EH (the sister school Payne already feeds there), maybe Kelley Miller or another middle school in ward 7 near Houston.

Jefferson is offering advanced Spanish for 6th graders and a Spanish humanities class next year. I know that’s different from immersion, but it’s the most Spanish currently offered by a Hill MS. I imagine as more kids are graduating from the full immersion program at Chisholm, and if enough of those kids attend Jefferson, there could be more opportunities there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the white parents are claiming equitable reasons for the middle school, when the reality is that they want their own kids to benefit. They are the ones who are selfishly doing this. We should invest in our title one schools. Also a lot of parents from Chisholm live far in northeast and drive like 20 minutes so it’s not all local hill people.

Black Chisholm parent here, with a fluent daughter we had to turn down OA do the drive. Maybe it’s hard for you to believe but not only White parents want a path forward for their children

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has Chisolm always had a dual-language track? Why? And what led to the decision to go fully dual language?

All the other dual-language schools in DCPS are located in areas with a high percentage of Spanish speakers. My understanding was that in those places, dual language options were created both as an opportunity for the native Spanish speakers to succeed in their native language and as an opportunity for others to benefit from learning a second language. In practice it doesn't seem to always play out this way (i.e., the Spanish speaking population got priced out of the neighborhood or "dual language" instead became a signal for school quality or peer group), but it does seem like the original intention. In contrast, the neighborhood around Chisolm doesn't have, and as far as I know has never had, a sizeable Spanish speaking population.

From what I've heard, now that Chisolm is fully dual language, many of the lower-income families zoned for Chisolm are opting to attend Chisolm's sister school, Payne, because they don't want Spanish. If true, I'm not sure a new middle school option is a good or equitable use of DCPS's limited resources.

Not true only 2 families transferred to Payne, please don’t spread this narrative if you don’t have facts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also want to add that the parents promoting the school have no idea about ieps and 504 plans. Chisholm serves a large population of these students. The parents have no idea.

Incorrect AGAIN, Black parent here whose child has an IEP at Chisholm, who still wants a middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the white parents are claiming equitable reasons for the middle school, when the reality is that they want their own kids to benefit. They are the ones who are selfishly doing this. We should invest in our title one schools. Also a lot of parents from Chisholm live far in northeast and drive like 20 minutes so it’s not all local hill people.

Black Chisholm parent here, with a fluent daughter we had to turn down OA do the drive. Maybe it’s hard for you to believe but not only White parents want a path forward for their children

You want a "path forward" for your child. As a parent of a child at another Jefferson feeder, so do I. I don't understand why you think so much of DCPS's limited resources should be shifted toward making a new school for a small subset of students and not toward making Jefferson better for all students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the white parents are claiming equitable reasons for the middle school, when the reality is that they want their own kids to benefit. They are the ones who are selfishly doing this. We should invest in our title one schools. Also a lot of parents from Chisholm live far in northeast and drive like 20 minutes so it’s not all local hill people.

Black Chisholm parent here, with a fluent daughter we had to turn down OA do the drive. Maybe it’s hard for you to believe but not only White parents want a path forward for their children

However, you are the minority in this group of parents that is only thinking in the best interest of your child. What about the kids that are currently attending Chisholm but aren’t enrolled in the dual language program or the kids that are enrolled but aren’t thriving?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has Chisolm always had a dual-language track? Why? And what led to the decision to go fully dual language?

All the other dual-language schools in DCPS are located in areas with a high percentage of Spanish speakers. My understanding was that in those places, dual language options were created both as an opportunity for the native Spanish speakers to succeed in their native language and as an opportunity for others to benefit from learning a second language. In practice it doesn't seem to always play out this way (i.e., the Spanish speaking population got priced out of the neighborhood or "dual language" instead became a signal for school quality or peer group), but it does seem like the original intention. In contrast, the neighborhood around Chisolm doesn't have, and as far as I know has never had, a sizeable Spanish speaking population.

From what I've heard, now that Chisolm is fully dual language, many of the lower-income families zoned for Chisolm are opting to attend Chisolm's sister school, Payne, because they don't want Spanish. If true, I'm not sure a new middle school option is a good or equitable use of DCPS's limited resources.

Not true only 2 families transferred to Payne, please don’t spread this narrative if you don’t have facts

I’m pretty sure it’s been more than two families that have transferred to Payne and you stop trying to share the narrative you want that seems better.

Living in a district with many options, a nice percentage of families have fled in the last years to other schools besides Payne as the lottery has opened that door for opportunity.

So what they may not have all gone to Payne but they’ve definitely left.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also want to add that the parents promoting the school have no idea about ieps and 504 plans. Chisholm serves a large population of these students. The parents have no idea.

Incorrect AGAIN, Black parent here whose child has an IEP at Chisholm, who still wants a middle school.

Is your child on the dual language track or creative arts track? Are they passing the district wide assessments? Is the dual language program really beneficial to them? Are they in lower elementary or upper?

All of these things are important to the conversation and help guide it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has Chisolm always had a dual-language track? Why? And what led to the decision to go fully dual language?

All the other dual-language schools in DCPS are located in areas with a high percentage of Spanish speakers. My understanding was that in those places, dual language options were created both as an opportunity for the native Spanish speakers to succeed in their native language and as an opportunity for others to benefit from learning a second language. In practice it doesn't seem to always play out this way (i.e., the Spanish speaking population got priced out of the neighborhood or "dual language" instead became a signal for school quality or peer group), but it does seem like the original intention. In contrast, the neighborhood around Chisolm doesn't have, and as far as I know has never had, a sizeable Spanish speaking population.

From what I've heard, now that Chisolm is fully dual language, many of the lower-income families zoned for Chisolm are opting to attend Chisolm's sister school, Payne, because they don't want Spanish. If true, I'm not sure a new middle school option is a good or equitable use of DCPS's limited resources.

Not true only 2 families transferred to Payne, please don’t spread this narrative if you don’t have facts

I’m pretty sure it’s been more than two families that have transferred to Payne and you stop trying to share the narrative you want that seems better.

Living in a district with many options, a nice percentage of families have fled in the last years to other schools besides Payne as the lottery has opened that door for opportunity.

So what they may not have all gone to Payne but they’ve definitely left.

It is fewer than 10 to Payne per the Edscape data: https://edscape.dc.gov/page/enrollments-dcps-boundary-00 For what it's worth, Chisolm's boundary participation rate (50%) is in the top quarter of DCPS elementary schools and has held pretty steady over time.

But only 26% of Chisolm students live in boundary. That puts them at or near the very bottom of all DCPS elementary schools for this metric. (It was second from last in SY23-24).