Washington City Paper article on picking a school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with some of you people. This was an article written as letters from a father to his daughter, NOT a doctoral thesis on educational options in DC. sheesh!

+1

It resonated with me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with some of you people. This was an article written as letters from a father to his daughter, NOT a doctoral thesis on educational options in DC. sheesh!

+1

It resonated with me.

This. We've been researching schools for DS and the choices really make us feel sick. Far too many mediocre choices, desperate salespeople, smug incumbents, and the few schools that seem promising to us for less than $25k a year are unattainably competitive.

You people are total twits for wasting energy trying to figure out what schools he was clearly trying not to reference. It doesn't matter, as your comments reveal they are clearly interchangeable. I guess it's true that DC really has little appreciation for art / creativity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with some of you people. This was an article written as letters from a father to his daughter, NOT a doctoral thesis on educational options in DC. sheesh!

+1

It resonated with me.

This. We've been researching schools for DS and the choices really make us feel sick. Far too many mediocre choices, desperate salespeople, smug incumbents, and the few schools that seem promising to us for less than $25k a year are unattainably competitive.

You people are total twits for wasting energy trying to figure out what schools he was clearly trying not to reference. It doesn't matter, as your comments reveal they are clearly interchangeable. I guess it's true that DC really has little appreciation for art / creativity.

I guess the larger question I have is, did people really not know this before either moving to DC with kids or having kids in DC? I do understand that before you have a kid, these things are not as "real" or important and most people do not pay as close attention. But some of the comments and this guy's blog make it sound like people saw some DC Office of Tourism ad on t.v. that said "Come to DC! Our schools are awesome and free and your kid will definitely get in!" and then that didn't happen.

I had heard nothing but how awful DC public schools are, then I heard/saw that there were a few new promising schools in the pipeline, then all I heard was both how awful DC public schools still were but how everyone wanted in to like 3 special schools... it feels like it's been an evolving story but a very public one for so long.

So where is what comes across as suprise at all this coming from?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with some of you people. This was an article written as letters from a father to his daughter, NOT a doctoral thesis on educational options in DC. sheesh!

+1

It resonated with me.

This. We've been researching schools for DS and the choices really make us feel sick. Far too many mediocre choices, desperate salespeople, smug incumbents, and the few schools that seem promising to us for less than $25k a year are unattainably competitive.

You people are total twits for wasting energy trying to figure out what schools he was clearly trying not to reference. It doesn't matter, as your comments reveal they are clearly interchangeable. I guess it's true that DC really has little appreciation for art / creativity.

I guess the larger question I have is, did people really not know this before either moving to DC with kids or having kids in DC? I do understand that before you have a kid, these things are not as "real" or important and most people do not pay as close attention. But some of the comments and this guy's blog make it sound like people saw some DC Office of Tourism ad on t.v. that said "Come to DC! Our schools are awesome and free and your kid will definitely get in!" and then that didn't happen.

I had heard nothing but how awful DC public schools are, then I heard/saw that there were a few new promising schools in the pipeline, then all I heard was both how awful DC public schools still were but how everyone wanted in to like 3 special schools... it feels like it's been an evolving story but a very public one for so long.

So where is what comes across as suprise at all this coming from?[/quote]

ITA. Even before moving here prekids, I've always heard DCPS is the worst or second to worst (Detroit being #1) urban school system in the whole country. Knew moving here that DCPS was never a possibility at all: It was a pleasant surprise that DC actually has public schools and charters that any highly educated parents would have no qualms about sending their kids to. All bonus and gravy that private school was NOT a must.

[Anonymous]

I really liked this piece. I think the first school is Bancroft. My DC is there. I feel the same way he does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really liked this piece. I think the first school is Bancroft. My DC is there. I feel the same way he does.

Then why do you send your DC there? Free preschool?

[Anonymous]

I did not take this piece as about any particular school, but rather an ironic commentary on all the contradictictory inclinations of hipster parenthood in DC. Most of us recognized some part of our school/house hunt in this piece. Why worry about what school may be, maybe instead we need to think if the system that is, is really what this city needs and advocate for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did not take this piece as about any particular school, but rather an ironic commentary on all the contradictictory inclinations of hipster parenthood in DC. Most of us recognized some part of our school/house hunt in this piece. Why worry about what school may be, maybe instead we need to think if the system that is, is really what this city needs and advocate for it.

No question that he is a hipster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really liked this piece. I think the first school is Bancroft. My DC is there. I feel the same way he does.


Then why do you send your DC there? Free preschool?


I am a tax payer. I pay for it. Do I not have a right to be outraged that my IB school is mediocre?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with some of you people. This was an article written as letters from a father to his daughter, NOT a doctoral thesis on educational options in DC. sheesh!

+1

It resonated with me.

This. We've been researching schools for DS and the choices really make us feel sick. Far too many mediocre choices, desperate salespeople, smug incumbents, and the few schools that seem promising to us for less than $25k a year are unattainably competitive.

You people are total twits for wasting energy trying to figure out what schools he was clearly trying not to reference. It doesn't matter, as your comments reveal they are clearly interchangeable. I guess it's true that DC really has little appreciation for art / creativity.

I guess the larger question I have is, did people really not know this before either moving to DC with kids or having kids in DC? I do understand that before you have a kid, these things are not as "real" or important and most people do not pay as close attention. But some of the comments and this guy's blog make it sound like people saw some DC Office of Tourism ad on t.v. that said "Come to DC! Our schools are awesome and free and your kid will definitely get in!" and then that didn't happen.

I had heard nothing but how awful DC public schools are, then I heard/saw that there were a few new promising schools in the pipeline, then all I heard was both how awful DC public schools still were but how everyone wanted in to like 3 special schools... it feels like it's been an evolving story but a very public one for so long.

So where is what comes across as suprise at all this coming from?

I agree with this to a point. I think where the confusion/anger comes from is looking around my neighborhood and seeing that it has gotten so much better so quickly and the schools remain terrible. It's hard to pay so much for a house and be surrounded by so much development and have a school where fewer than a third of the kids can read or do math at grade level. And I completely understand why and how this is the case and can swallow my unhappiness about the situation, but there is still an undercurrent of it and I get why others have it too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:




Anonymous wrote:I really liked this piece. I think the first school is Bancroft. My DC is there. I feel the same way he does.


Then why do you send your DC there? Free preschool?


I am a tax payer. I pay for it. Do I not have a right to be outraged that my IB school is mediocre?

Really? You are "outraged" that the school is mediocre. So what are you doing about it? Did you join the PTA? Are you talking to the administration? Are you volunteering in your child's classroom? Are you donating money to the school for extras? Or do you expect someone else to solve everything? I mean, I get from your post that you believe your tax money entitles you to an excellent school. But since that's not reality, what do you do about it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:




Anonymous wrote:I really liked this piece. I think the first school is Bancroft. My DC is there. I feel the same way he does.


Then why do you send your DC there? Free preschool?


I am a tax payer. I pay for it. Do I not have a right to be outraged that my IB school is mediocre?

Really? You are "outraged" that the school is mediocre. So what are you doing about it? Did you join the PTA? Are you talking to the administration? Are you volunteering in your child's classroom? Are you donating money to the school for extras? Or do you expect someone else to solve everything? I mean, I get from your post that you believe your tax money entitles you to an excellent school. But since that's not reality, what do you do about it?

Plus this family has taken a spot from a family who planned to stay and work to improve the school. (Few middle class families are going to start a dual language program at a low income school in K.)

[Anonymous]

Well I took it at face value, the hipster part, the bleeding liberal part, the fact that my husband can say things that I could never say without being called a racist because he is Hispanic and I am lily white, and posted - and my basically real name came up and now I am terrified that someone will see it. Sorry my kids are slightly older. Sorry I ever considered this. Please someone say that this was not as bad as I think it was - or don't say anything at all....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well I took it at face value, the hipster part, the bleeding liberal part, the fact that my husband can say things that I could never say without being called a racist because he is Hispanic and I am lily white, and posted - and my basically real name came up and now I am terrified that someone will see it. Sorry my kids are slightly older. Sorry I ever considered this. Please someone say that this was not as bad as I think it was - or don't say anything at all....

What???

[Anonymous]

I wrote a letter to Isadora on the City Paper site but did not realize it would use my name I am a luddite at least I did not bash the school I'm at