Ludlow Taylor - Choose It over Watkins for 1st Grade ?????

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^. Yeah, that's the point... It feels like those are the only two possibilities. What percentage IB wold you say your class is right now?

Because, you know, only IB kids are smart and only IB parents are involved and worth getting to know...you wouldn't want to be exposed to any OOB cooties.

Why don't you ask if the kids and parents from the class are bright and nice in general? Why make the distinction between IB and OOB at all?

Different poster here: Respecfully, OP, you miss the point. IB kids are more likely to be neighbors who'll say DC in the park, playgrounds and playdates after school and on weekends. It's nice to know kids across the street and around the corner who say "Hi, X" and "Hi, X's mom" when walking to Eastern Market on Sunday morning. OOB kids are less likely to play pickup soccer games in the park on Saturday afternoon. These things count. Maybe they shouldn't, but they do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm an OOB LT parent (in Ward 6, but in-bounds for Payne).

I have to admit I get really tired of hearing how OOB families (or too much PTA/principal deference to them) is such a terrible thing.

I am the parent of a child at LT, and as such, I think I am entitled to just as much consideration as any other LT parent, regardless of my address.

I think it would be terribly inappropriate for a PTA or principal to respond to parents differently on the basis of whether they are IB or OOB.

I think when people are talking about "OOB" they are really referencing the "Ward 9" families more than anything else.

As a mom who grew up in what is now referred to as Ward 9 but now lives on Cap Hill, let me inform you that such cliches are mutable (i.e., subject to change). I'm now a lawyer living IB to a now-fashionable ES that was not so popular at the turn of this century. That said, very few OOB families are secretly PG county parents stealing spots. If you're so fixated, start a S/O thread. Everybody, OOB can be a few blocks away or a few miles. The question is whether OP's DC will be happy at LT, OP has to find some criteria to measure that. If OOB is one criterion, that's valid, but the great question is what makes LT a better choice.

[Anonymous]

+1. It's popular to paint with too broad a brush on OOB issues. We kept an open mind about LT until the open house we got to. Principal Cobbs did nothng to persuade us that she was determined to create an upper grades-friendly program for upper middle income Hill families. DC doesn't make friends easily and we don't want her bouncing around between elementary schools. Fortunately we had lottery luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^. Yeah, that's the point... It feels like those are the only two possibilities. What percentage IB wold you say your class is right now?

Because, you know, only IB kids are smart and only IB parents are involved and worth getting to know...you wouldn't want to be exposed to any OOB cooties.

Why don't you ask if the kids and parents from the class are bright and nice in general? Why make the distinction between IB and OOB at all?

Different poster here: Respecfully, OP, you miss the point. IB kids are more likely to be neighbors who'll say DC in the park, playgrounds and playdates after school and on weekends. It's nice to know kids across the street and around the corner who say "Hi, X" and "Hi, X's mom" when walking to Eastern Market on Sunday morning. OOB kids are less likely to play pickup soccer games in the park on Saturday afternoon. These things count. Maybe they shouldn't, but they do.

Oh for heaven's sake. We are OOB at LT. We take our daughter to Garfield Park (which is also OOB for LT) and run into her classmates who are OOB for LT.

DC has always had tons of kids traveling all over to go to school, whether OOB or private or (more recently) charter. It may not be what folks who grew up elsewhere are used to, but it's funny to me that the purported lack of IB kids at LT is held up as this huge problem, while at the Highly Regarded Charter of your choice *everyone* is OOB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^. Yeah, that's the point... It feels like those are the only two possibilities. What percentage IB wold you say your class is right now?

Because, you know, only IB kids are smart and only IB parents are involved and worth getting to know...you wouldn't want to be exposed to any OOB cooties.

Why don't you ask if the kids and parents from the class are bright and nice in general? Why make the distinction between IB and OOB at all?

Different poster here: Respecfully, OP, you miss the point. IB kids are more likely to be neighbors who'll say DC in the park, playgrounds and playdates after school and on weekends. It's nice to know kids across the street and around the corner who say "Hi, X" and "Hi, X's mom" when walking to Eastern Market on Sunday morning. OOB kids are less likely to play pickup soccer games in the park on Saturday afternoon. These things count. Maybe they shouldn't, but they do.

Oh for heaven's sake. We are OOB at LT. We take our daughter to Garfield Park (which is also OOB for LT) and run into her classmates who are OOB for LT.

DC has always had tons of kids traveling all over to go to school, whether OOB or private or (more recently) charter. It may not be what folks who grew up elsewhere are used to, but it's funny to me that the purported lack of IB kids at LT is held up as this huge problem, while at the Highly Regarded Charter of your choice *everyone* is OOB.

Then you have nothing to worry about. Relax. You're taking it way too personally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^. Yeah, that's the point... It feels like those are the only two possibilities. What percentage IB wold you say your class is right now?

Because, you know, only IB kids are smart and only IB parents are involved and worth getting to know...you wouldn't want to be exposed to any OOB cooties.

Why don't you ask if the kids and parents from the class are bright and nice in general? Why make the distinction between IB and OOB at all?

Different poster here: Respecfully, OP, you miss the point. IB kids are more likely to be neighbors who'll say DC in the park, playgrounds and playdates after school and on weekends. It's nice to know kids across the street and around the corner who say "Hi, X" and "Hi, X's mom" when walking to Eastern Market on Sunday morning. OOB kids are less likely to play pickup soccer games in the park on Saturday afternoon. These things count. Maybe they shouldn't, but they do.

You have some preconceived ideas about how kids and families interact on the Hill. In our circle the IB is FAR less important than the working parent(s) using aftercare vs stay at home picking up at 3. Proximity to classmates doesn't make play dates happen if my kid is in aftercare and my neighbor's kid comes home after school. NOBOBY plays pick up soccer, but lots of kids play in Soccer on the Hill (both from the Hill and beyond and representing pretty much all of the nearby schools). Kids play together in community activities, church/religious groups, scouts, random meetups at parks like Garfield, Turtle, Watkins, Yards Park. My child sees kids he knows all over the place, and if you're plugged into Hill life at all it will be in a variety of contexts and include kids from multiple schools. The nearborhood IB has little bearing on the opportunities to meet and interact with other kids.

[Anonymous]

Let's not beat around the bush. OOB is often used as dog whistle code for many on this board. Brent is 50 percent OOB and doesn't seem to be worse off for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^. Yeah, that's the point... It feels like those are the only two possibilities. What percentage IB wold you say your class is right now?

Because, you know, only IB kids are smart and only IB parents are involved and worth getting to know...you wouldn't want to be exposed to any OOB cooties.

Why don't you ask if the kids and parents from the class are bright and nice in general? Why make the distinction between IB and OOB at all?

Different poster here: Respecfully, OP, you miss the point. IB kids are more likely to be neighbors who'll say DC in the park, playgrounds and playdates after school and on weekends. It's nice to know kids across the street and around the corner who say "Hi, X" and "Hi, X's mom" when walking to Eastern Market on Sunday morning. OOB kids are less likely to play pickup soccer games in the park on Saturday afternoon. These things count. Maybe they shouldn't, but they do.

Couldn't agree more with you, PP! Neighborhood buy-in is important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^. Yeah, that's the point... It feels like those are the only two possibilities. What percentage IB wold you say your class is right now?

Because, you know, only IB kids are smart and only IB parents are involved and worth getting to know...you wouldn't want to be exposed to any OOB cooties.

Why don't you ask if the kids and parents from the class are bright and nice in general? Why make the distinction between IB and OOB at all?

Different poster here: Respecfully, OP, you miss the point. IB kids are more likely to be neighbors who'll say DC in the park, playgrounds and playdates after school and on weekends. It's nice to know kids across the street and around the corner who say "Hi, X" and "Hi, X's mom" when walking to Eastern Market on Sunday morning. OOB kids are less likely to play pickup soccer games in the park on Saturday afternoon. These things count. Maybe they shouldn't, but they do.

You have some preconceived ideas about how kids and families interact on the Hill. In our circle the IB is FAR less important than the working parent(s) using aftercare vs stay at home picking up at 3. Proximity to classmates doesn't make play dates happen if my kid is in aftercare and my neighbor's kid comes home after school. NOBOBY plays pick up soccer, but lots of kids play in Soccer on the Hill (both from the Hill and beyond and representing pretty much all of the nearby schools). Kids play together in community activities, church/religious groups, scouts, random meetups at parks like Garfield, Turtle, Watkins, Yards Park. My child sees kids he knows all over the place, and if you're plugged into Hill life at all it will be in a variety of contexts and include kids from multiple schools. The nearborhood IB has little bearing on the opportunities to meet and interact with other kids.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1. Principal Cobbs did nothng to persuade us that she was determined to create an upper grades-friendly program for upper middle income Hill families.

What would that involve. I would really like to know the specifics of what makes a school "an upper grades-friendly program for upper middle income Hill families"

[Anonymous]

seriously. what does that even mean?

[Anonymous]

Exactly, I want to know too

We already know that the principal hires good teachers and treats her staff well and is serious about education (these things not being denied even by the critics). What else is she supposed to do ?

[Anonymous]

Court IB parents to stay past 1st Grade by increasing academic rigor and offering differentiated learning (pull-outs for reading and math, etc.), as happened at Brent not all that long ago. Unlike Brent, LT has a glidepath to Stuart-Hobson. It's really not that complex people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let's not beat around the bush. OOB is often used as dog whistle code for many on this board. Brent is 50 percent OOB and doesn't seem to be worse off for it.

Dog whistle code? For what? AA? FARMs? Is that one category or two?

Brent isn't 50% OOB anymore. There are 29 in-boundary kids on the PreK4 WL, and a dozen on the PreS3 WL. Scores of familes of fetuses, babies and toddlers have bought homes in-boundary since around 2009, partly to acces Brent from K, if not before. Brent will need 3 classes for almost every grade but 5th shortly, without the room. A few years ago, some of the grades below 5th had but 1 class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's not beat around the bush. OOB is often used as dog whistle code for many on this board. Brent is 50 percent OOB and doesn't seem to be worse off for it.

Dog whistle code? For what? AA? FARMs? Is that one category or two?

Brent isn't 50% OOB anymore. There are 29 in-boundary kids on the PreK4 WL, and a dozen on the PreS3 WL. Scores of familes of fetuses, babies and toddlers have bought homes in-boundary since around 2009, partly to acces Brent from K, if not before. Brent will need 3 classes for almost every grade but 5th shortly, without the room. A few years ago, some of the grades below 5th had but 1 class.

Families of fetuses?