Maury?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is my first reply on this thread but I think it is totally rational for parents to jump ship on a school if they think the middle school
Prospects are no good and not likely to get better. Pp mentions private school as an option. It is not an option for us with our nonprofit salaries (and skillsets).

Sure. But not to advocate it as some sort of normative decision for parents of a child in kindergarten. I wish I had a nickel for every comment on DCUM where it was held up as axiomatic that you have to leave for the 'burbs now, while your child is 3, because middle-school may be a problem. Not rational.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is my first reply on this thread but I think it is totally rational for parents to jump ship on a school if they think the middle school
Prospects are no good and not likely to get better. Pp mentions private school as an option. It is not an option for us with our nonprofit salaries (and skillsets).

Sure. But not to advocate it as some sort of normative decision for parents of a child in kindergarten. I wish I had a nickel for every comment on DCUM where it was held up as axiomatic that you have to leave for the 'burbs now, while your child is 3, because middle-school may be a problem. Not rational.

But it has been a "normative" decision for Capitol Hill parents to leave elementary schools well before fifth grade on account of weak middle schools. In the 70s Cap Hill students headed to NW or elsewhere for greener pastures, and it is still happening today. It may be delayed a year or two, but the exodus is still happening. There is no reason to assume Ward Six will have a critical mass of proficient students or that Ward Six will have a viable middle class middle school outside of the cluster for three years, and maybe longer. Watkins and Brent are the only schools with a critical mass in the testing grades, and their cohorts are not headed to Eliot Hine or Jefferson.

Moving to the burbs is a cautionary reference for those who might get too attached to the wonderfulness that is life with kids on the Hill. Things are going fine, and your kids are making friends, but then the reality of crappy middle schools becomes more than some vague point in the distance. Even if you manage to hang on with Latin or whatever, it's not the cozy little bubble that is imagined and expectations need to be adjusted. It sucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is my first reply on this thread but I think it is totally rational for parents to jump ship on a school if they think the middle school
Prospects are no good and not likely to get better. Pp mentions private school as an option. It is not an option for us with our nonprofit salaries (and skillsets).

Sure. But not to advocate it as some sort of normative decision for parents of a child in kindergarten. I wish I had a nickel for every comment on DCUM where it was held up as axiomatic that you have to leave for the 'burbs now, while your child is 3, because middle-school may be a problem. Not rational.

But it has been a "normative" decision for Capitol Hill parents to leave elementary schools well before fifth grade on account of weak middle schools. In the 70s Cap Hill students headed to NW or elsewhere for greener pastures, and it is still happening today. It may be delayed a year or two, but the exodus is still happening. There is no reason to assume Ward Six will have a critical mass of proficient students or that Ward Six will have a viable middle class middle school outside of the cluster for three years, and maybe longer. Watkins and Brent are the only schools with a critical mass in the testing grades, and their cohorts are not headed to Eliot Hine or Jefferson.

Moving to the burbs is a cautionary reference for those who might get too attached to the wonderfulness that is life with kids on the Hill. Things are going fine, and your kids are making friends, but then the reality of crappy middle schools becomes more than some vague point in the distance. Even if you manage to hang on with Latin or whatever, it's not the cozy little bubble that is imagined and expectations need to be adjusted. It sucks.

As I said before, things stay the same until they change. Sorry you were here too early.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is my first reply on this thread but I think it is totally rational for parents to jump ship on a school if they think the middle school
Prospects are no good and not likely to get better. Pp mentions private school as an option. It is not an option for us with our nonprofit salaries (and skillsets).

Sure. But not to advocate it as some sort of normative decision for parents of a child in kindergarten. I wish I had a nickel for every comment on DCUM where it was held up as axiomatic that you have to leave for the 'burbs now, while your child is 3, because middle-school may be a problem. Not rational.

But it has been a "normative" decision for Capitol Hill parents to leave elementary schools well before fifth grade on account of weak middle schools. In the 70s Cap Hill students headed to NW or elsewhere for greener pastures, and it is still happening today. It may be delayed a year or two, but the exodus is still happening. There is no reason to assume Ward Six will have a critical mass of proficient students or that Ward Six will have a viable middle class middle school outside of the cluster for three years, and maybe longer. Watkins and Brent are the only schools with a critical mass in the testing grades, and their cohorts are not headed to Eliot Hine or Jefferson.

Moving to the burbs is a cautionary reference for those who might get too attached to the wonderfulness that is life with kids on the Hill. Things are going fine, and your kids are making friends, but then the reality of crappy middle schools becomes more than some vague point in the distance. Even if you manage to hang on with Latin or whatever, it's not the cozy little bubble that is imagined and expectations need to be adjusted. It sucks.

Thank you.

In a nutshell, you just described why middle-class newcomers to their gentrifying areas of the district refuse to invest in the neighborhood schools. Too much work to change the course of a dying school. Otoh, it's so much more rewarding to find a charter with an attractive and ambitions program, and invest.

Virtuous cycle.

[Anonymous]

DD would be in-boundary for Maury this coming year (PreS-3). Although a bilingual program is ideal, we're considering Maury for its proximity. Does anyone have info on PreS-3 in particular?

Thanks for the open house info!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had one jump out this year, 4th grade, after school began and hope to have another one out next year via lottery again. I think Maury is fine for the younger ages. We are 1.5 years away from middle school. I don't think either SH or EH will be acceptable to us by that time. Right now we are in a Hardy feeder. Hedging our bets there.

You must be referring to a different school or maybe you never even started at Maury. Myself a 4th grade parent, I have the Maury 4th grade class list in front of me and see nothing but continuity between 2nd, 3rd, and the current 4th grade.

[Anonymous]

Just noticing that Maury people come off as really defensive in this thread. One has to wonder why.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just noticing that Maury people come off as really defensive in this thread. One has to wonder why.

Maybe because folks are giving it crap about things that it has no control over!! I imagine that would be pretty frustrating!

If you aren't interested in Maury, fine-- there is a very long waitlist to accommodate those that are.

PS-- Maury has one of the best preK 3 teachers in DC- actually I wouldn't be surprised if her experience and credentials make her the very best!

[Anonymous]

DD would be in-boundary for Maury this coming year (PreS-3). Although a bilingual program is ideal, we're considering Maury for its proximity. Does anyone have info on PreS-3 in particular?

what kind of information do you want? it's a wonderful neighborhood school. i have a small child there and i don't know any parents who are pulling their kids out before 5th grade. maybe it's just my own group of parents (kids in 1st grade and below) who are committed to the end. but i don't know anyone freaking out about the middle school years (or at least the next 5).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just noticing that Maury people come off as really defensive in this thread. One has to wonder why.

First of all, who are you referring to? I'm not sure everyone who gets defensive about middle-school is necessarily a Maury parent. Secondly, the obvious explanation is that "Maury people" like their school, send their kids to it, are fond of the community, and don't like hearing anonymous folks on the Internet gratuitously slandering it. This holds for threads about just about any other topic.

Does that make sense?

[Anonymous]

Maury has 3 fabulous pre-k teachers
Mr. Scott was rated "highly effective" and has been described to me by multiple sources as "genius" when it comes to leading the early childhood team. My son was in his class last year and it was nothing short of amazing.
Ms. Levin spent many years at Brent and is one of the most energetic and playful teachers I've ever seen in the classroom. Her kids are engaged and having a blast.
Ms. Timmons is one of the best teachers I've seen at combining play and learning in the classroom. The student work that I see coming out of her classroom is amazing. Michelle Rhee observed her and raved that she is "solid, just solid".

While no one would likely rave about pre-k, my son is having a fabulous year as did my daughter before him. And the Kindergarten teachers are something very special. We've made it to first grade and have no intention of going anywhere else. Nor do our classmates.

[Anonymous]

I'd be interested in hearing about why Ms. Levine left Brent for Maury. I had understood that she was instrumental in helping Brent re-connect with the neighborhood families.

[Anonymous]

Ms. Levin left Brent to work as a Master Educator with central office for a year. Then she returned to teaching at Maury.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ms. Levin left Brent to work as a Master Educator with central office for a year. Then she returned to teaching at Maury.

Both of my kids had ms. Levin at Brent. Although she was FAnastic at Brent, I believe it was best choice for her and for the city at large for her to go to Maury. Brent was very lucky to hAve her as long as it did, but Maury needed her more than Brent. She is like a Mary Poppins figure and will likely float along to a new school after she has shared her gifts with Maury. I hope she stays therE for a long time as I have lots of inbounds Maury friends that are looking forward to working with ms. Levin-- although it sounds Like she has some stellar collegues!

[Anonymous]

Again it all boils down to the ratio of whites to blacks when it is time for the middle schools and high school selections. Let's be honest the neighborhood lure loses the luster when everyone reaches middle school and high school. As I said before the diversity in pre-k gives everyone comfort. But when the incoming 9th grade class due to school boundaries has Capitol Hill interacting with Benning Heights, all of sudden the moving vans are arriving.