Can anyone update me on Shaw Middle and parent involvement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone. Can anyone tell me about Cardozo for middle school?

You do not send your kid there if you care about academics and behavior. I am a cynic on middle schools in DC. I lived on the Hill back in the 90s and the "committed" parents were fighting to improve middle schools there. Cap Hil actually has good feeders (Brent especially) and their middle school options, 20 years later are mediocre at best. There is a reason the brain drain happens after 4 grade and they all head to latin, basis or private. So if the connected folks on the Hill cant turn it around, the folks in your neigbhorhood aren't either. Certainly not by the time your kid enters 6th grade. I feel the same way about McFarland Middle. A school is only as good as its feeder (ie the success of students) and the feeders to McFarland all currently have the same high SES flight by first grade. so there are no high SES families in 4th, 5th grade to feed to McFarland there won't be even from the current crop of PKers in the feeders. Sorry to be a cynic but I have been wathcing this for well over a decade. New buildings don't make a difference in academnics either (see Dunbar). Brookland Middle which is beautiful and brand new has exactly one white kid in the school, so they clearly failed to attract any diversity.

This is not true. Whether DCPS can convince the parents to buy into the yet to be articulated vision is a different question. But from West, Powell, Barnard, BMPV, etc., there are enough "high SES" families to make a go of it.

every feeder is 99% FARMS. not that it means they are actually 99% FARMS but it indicates that the majority are FARMS. It will be 10-15 years for a critical mass of high SES kids in the feeders to emerge. See Cap Hill-and even those kids are bailing for Latin and Basis and in theory they do have a critical mass. Brookland Middle was the real test on attracting gentrifiers and as long as DCPS continues to ignore what parents want and then act confused as to why the parents are bailing, what is the point?

You're assuming that everyone cares about having a class with less than 30% FARMS, and that's just not the case for some of us.

What the what?! It's the case for most of us!

Brookland Middle already failed. It didn't offer any test-in tracks, and it didn't offer a language immersion program. Instead, it offered feeders from Noyes, etc. No thank you very much.

What the what yourself. Who is this "us" you speak of?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A "baby" here from Garrison (PK4 parent) who is committed and looking forward to working with other parents on our middle school. Since there are people on this thread who say they have been in the fight for a while and gave up, I'd love to hear any lessons learned from past middle school reform efforts - other than that this is a hopeless cause.

javascript:void(0);

We say it's hopeless because we tired.

Because we stayed up night after night for years working on a dream. For some of us...it worked. Some of us built middle schools that we see you "baby" parents talk shit about on DCUM like they were nothing. You don't even realize the hard work to get some of these programs up and running that you people take for granted.

You want to start a school? You want to revamp a DCPS?

Stop posting on DCUM and bitching and join a work group, set up a meeting, write a proposal, write a grant, you should be working every second of your spare time for the next 2 years until you live and breath middle schools.

Then, 10 years from now when some PK parent comes and says "What's the deal with that place? Why couldn't they get that going?" Tell me how you feel.

Um... No. Improving a school is not my job. It's DCPS's job (which they obviously perform terribly) or a DCPCS's job. Either way, we pay our taxes and expect certain services as a result: fire, police, schools, pothole repair, garbage pick-up, etc. We don't expect to be involved in the performance of these services. We expect them to be up to high standards, or else why in the hell are you telling us that our house is worth $750K and you want us to pay property taxes to that effect?

STFU.

But you live in a city with multi-generational poverty. Because of the way the schools are assigned -- and because the poors have more kids and can't send them elsewhere -- the public schools are flooded by kids who are probably starting at a deficit. And those kids (your neighbors) vastly outnumber the children of anybody paying taxes on a $750k home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone. Can anyone tell me about Cardozo for middle school?

You do not send your kid there if you care about academics and behavior. I am a cynic on middle schools in DC. I lived on the Hill back in the 90s and the "committed" parents were fighting to improve middle schools there. Cap Hil actually has good feeders (Brent especially) and their middle school options, 20 years later are mediocre at best. There is a reason the brain drain happens after 4 grade and they all head to latin, basis or private. So if the connected folks on the Hill cant turn it around, the folks in your neigbhorhood aren't either. Certainly not by the time your kid enters 6th grade. I feel the same way about McFarland Middle. A school is only as good as its feeder (ie the success of students) and the feeders to McFarland all currently have the same high SES flight by first grade. so there are no high SES families in 4th, 5th grade to feed to McFarland there won't be even from the current crop of PKers in the feeders. Sorry to be a cynic but I have been wathcing this for well over a decade. New buildings don't make a difference in academnics either (see Dunbar). Brookland Middle which is beautiful and brand new has exactly one white kid in the school, so they clearly failed to attract any diversity.

This is not true. Whether DCPS can convince the parents to buy into the yet to be articulated vision is a different question. But from West, Powell, Barnard, BMPV, etc., there are enough "high SES" families to make a go of it.

every feeder is 99% FARMS. not that it means they are actually 99% FARMS but it indicates that the majority are FARMS. It will be 10-15 years for a critical mass of high SES kids in the feeders to emerge. See Cap Hill-and even those kids are bailing for Latin and Basis and in theory they do have a critical mass. Brookland Middle was the real test on attracting gentrifiers and as long as DCPS continues to ignore what parents want and then act confused as to why the parents are bailing, what is the point?

You're assuming that everyone cares about having a class with less than 30% FARMS, and that's just not the case for some of us.

What the what?! It's the case for most of us!

Brookland Middle already failed. It didn't offer any test-in tracks, and it didn't offer a language immersion program. Instead, it offered feeders from Noyes, etc. No thank you very much.

What the what yourself. Who is this "us" you speak of?

The middle and upper SES families which Kaya hoped would populate BM. Notice our absence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A "baby" here from Garrison (PK4 parent) who is committed and looking forward to working with other parents on our middle school. Since there are people on this thread who say they have been in the fight for a while and gave up, I'd love to hear any lessons learned from past middle school reform efforts - other than that this is a hopeless cause.

javascript:void(0);

We say it's hopeless because we tired.

Because we stayed up night after night for years working on a dream. For some of us...it worked. Some of us built middle schools that we see you "baby" parents talk shit about on DCUM like they were nothing. You don't even realize the hard work to get some of these programs up and running that you people take for granted.

You want to start a school? You want to revamp a DCPS?

Stop posting on DCUM and bitching and join a work group, set up a meeting, write a proposal, write a grant, you should be working every second of your spare time for the next 2 years until you live and breath middle schools.

Then, 10 years from now when some PK parent comes and says "What's the deal with that place? Why couldn't they get that going?" Tell me how you feel.

Um... No. Improving a school is not my job. It's DCPS's job (which they obviously perform terribly) or a DCPCS's job. Either way, we pay our taxes and expect certain services as a result: fire, police, schools, pothole repair, garbage pick-up, etc. We don't expect to be involved in the performance of these services. We expect them to be up to high standards, or else why in the hell are you telling us that our house is worth $750K and you want us to pay property taxes to that effect?

STFU.

But you live in a city with multi-generational poverty. Because of the way the schools are assigned -- and because the poors have more kids and can't send them elsewhere -- the public schools are flooded by kids who are probably starting at a deficit. And those kids (your neighbors) vastly outnumber the children of anybody paying taxes on a $750k home.

You don't get it. I don't have a $750K home. The Mayor's administration says I do, and I have to pay taxes to that effect, but it's not true.

As long as the city is going to rape my family, I'm going to speak some truth to power. Pick up the trash. It's not my job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A "baby" here from Garrison (PK4 parent) who is committed and looking forward to working with other parents on our middle school. Since there are people on this thread who say they have been in the fight for a while and gave up, I'd love to hear any lessons learned from past middle school reform efforts - other than that this is a hopeless cause.

javascript:void(0);

We say it's hopeless because we tired.

Because we stayed up night after night for years working on a dream. For some of us...it worked. Some of us built middle schools that we see you "baby" parents talk shit about on DCUM like they were nothing. You don't even realize the hard work to get some of these programs up and running that you people take for granted.

You want to start a school? You want to revamp a DCPS?

Stop posting on DCUM and bitching and join a work group, set up a meeting, write a proposal, write a grant, you should be working every second of your spare time for the next 2 years until you live and breath middle schools.

Then, 10 years from now when some PK parent comes and says "What's the deal with that place? Why couldn't they get that going?" Tell me how you feel.

Um... No. Improving a school is not my job. It's DCPS's job (which they obviously perform terribly) or a DCPCS's job. Either way, we pay our taxes and expect certain services as a result: fire, police, schools, pothole repair, garbage pick-up, etc. We don't expect to be involved in the performance of these services. We expect them to be up to high standards, or else why in the hell are you telling us that our house is worth $750K and you want us to pay property taxes to that effect?

STFU.

But you live in a city with multi-generational poverty. Because of the way the schools are assigned -- and because the poors have more kids and can't send them elsewhere -- the public schools are flooded by kids who are probably starting at a deficit. And those kids (your neighbors) vastly outnumber the children of anybody paying taxes on a $750k home.

You don't get it. I don't have a $750K home. The Mayor's administration says I do, and I have to pay taxes to that effect, but it's not true.

As long as the city is going to rape my family, I'm going to speak some truth to power. Pick up the trash. It's not my job.

If you've been there any amount of time and claiming the homestead deduction, your annual increase has a pretty slow growth cap on it, so I call bullshit. Also if you've been here any amount of time, you'd have some relationships with your poorer neighbors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A "baby" here from Garrison (PK4 parent) who is committed and looking forward to working with other parents on our middle school. Since there are people on this thread who say they have been in the fight for a while and gave up, I'd love to hear any lessons learned from past middle school reform efforts - other than that this is a hopeless cause.

javascript:void(0);

We say it's hopeless because we tired.

Because we stayed up night after night for years working on a dream. For some of us...it worked. Some of us built middle schools that we see you "baby" parents talk shit about on DCUM like they were nothing. You don't even realize the hard work to get some of these programs up and running that you people take for granted.

You want to start a school? You want to revamp a DCPS?

Stop posting on DCUM and bitching and join a work group, set up a meeting, write a proposal, write a grant, you should be working every second of your spare time for the next 2 years until you live and breath middle schools.

Then, 10 years from now when some PK parent comes and says "What's the deal with that place? Why couldn't they get that going?" Tell me how you feel.

Um... No. Improving a school is not my job. It's DCPS's job (which they obviously perform terribly) or a DCPCS's job. Either way, we pay our taxes and expect certain services as a result: fire, police, schools, pothole repair, garbage pick-up, etc. We don't expect to be involved in the performance of these services. We expect them to be up to high standards, or else why in the hell are you telling us that our house is worth $750K and you want us to pay property taxes to that effect?

STFU.

But you live in a city with multi-generational poverty. Because of the way the schools are assigned -- and because the poors have more kids and can't send them elsewhere -- the public schools are flooded by kids who are probably starting at a deficit. And those kids (your neighbors) vastly outnumber the children of anybody paying taxes on a $750k home.

You don't get it. I don't have a $750K home. The Mayor's administration says I do, and I have to pay taxes to that effect, but it's not true.

As long as the city is going to rape my family, I'm going to speak some truth to power. Pick up the trash. It's not my job.

If you've been there any amount of time and claiming the homestead deduction, your annual increase has a pretty slow growth cap on it, so I call bullshit. Also if you've been here any amount of time, you'd have some relationships with your poorer neighbors.

Call it whatever you want lady, you don't live here and you don't know. When we moved into this house almost twenty years ago, we were threatened on the streets for our pallor, robbed, heard gunshots, smelled pot (back when that wasn't legal) right outside our front door, had people try to break in, you name it. Hell, we couldn't even get a pizza delivered. We bought into the hood. I don't owe you or anyone else an explanation for my disgust with criminals. STFU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A "baby" here from Garrison (PK4 parent) who is committed and looking forward to working with other parents on our middle school. Since there are people on this thread who say they have been in the fight for a while and gave up, I'd love to hear any lessons learned from past middle school reform efforts - other than that this is a hopeless cause.

javascript:void(0);

We say it's hopeless because we tired.

Because we stayed up night after night for years working on a dream. For some of us...it worked. Some of us built middle schools that we see you "baby" parents talk shit about on DCUM like they were nothing. You don't even realize the hard work to get some of these programs up and running that you people take for granted.

You want to start a school? You want to revamp a DCPS?

Stop posting on DCUM and bitching and join a work group, set up a meeting, write a proposal, write a grant, you should be working every second of your spare time for the next 2 years until you live and breath middle schools.

Then, 10 years from now when some PK parent comes and says "What's the deal with that place? Why couldn't they get that going?" Tell me how you feel.

Um... No. Improving a school is not my job. It's DCPS's job (which they obviously perform terribly) or a DCPCS's job. Either way, we pay our taxes and expect certain services as a result: fire, police, schools, pothole repair, garbage pick-up, etc. We don't expect to be involved in the performance of these services. We expect them to be up to high standards, or else why in the hell are you telling us that our house is worth $750K and you want us to pay property taxes to that effect?

STFU.

But you live in a city with multi-generational poverty. Because of the way the schools are assigned -- and because the poors have more kids and can't send them elsewhere -- the public schools are flooded by kids who are probably starting at a deficit. And those kids (your neighbors) vastly outnumber the children of anybody paying taxes on a $750k home.

I'd find the poors more sympathetic if they'd stop procreating like rats. Responsible people don't make babies they can't afford to raise.

[Anonymous]

The best option is to find some space in the neighborhood and open up a Charter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The best option is to find some space in the neighborhood and open up a Charter.

True. Yet Kaya is sitting on a few million square feet of school real estate which is empty and unused.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best option is to find some space in the neighborhood and open up a Charter.

True. Yet Kaya is sitting on a few million square feet of school real estate which is empty and unused.

as long as Kaya et al can keep their jobs and not admit their abject failures, why would anything change? They have an incredibly good thing going -- for themselves -- as long as they can avoid an honest look in their mirrors, which they seem to have learned how to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A "baby" here from Garrison (PK4 parent) who is committed and looking forward to working with other parents on our middle school. Since there are people on this thread who say they have been in the fight for a while and gave up, I'd love to hear any lessons learned from past middle school reform efforts - other than that this is a hopeless cause.

javascript:void(0);

We say it's hopeless because we tired.

Because we stayed up night after night for years working on a dream. For some of us...it worked. Some of us built middle schools that we see you "baby" parents talk shit about on DCUM like they were nothing. You don't even realize the hard work to get some of these programs up and running that you people take for granted.

You want to start a school? You want to revamp a DCPS?

Stop posting on DCUM and bitching and join a work group, set up a meeting, write a proposal, write a grant, you should be working every second of your spare time for the next 2 years until you live and breath middle schools.

Then, 10 years from now when some PK parent comes and says "What's the deal with that place? Why couldn't they get that going?" Tell me how you feel.

Um... No. Improving a school is not my job. It's DCPS's job (which they obviously perform terribly) or a DCPCS's job. Either way, we pay our taxes and expect certain services as a result: fire, police, schools, pothole repair, garbage pick-up, etc. We don't expect to be involved in the performance of these services. We expect them to be up to high standards, or else why in the hell are you telling us that our house is worth $750K and you want us to pay property taxes to that effect?

STFU.

But you live in a city with multi-generational poverty. Because of the way the schools are assigned -- and because the poors have more kids and can't send them elsewhere -- the public schools are flooded by kids who are probably starting at a deficit. And those kids (your neighbors) vastly outnumber the children of anybody paying taxes on a $750k home.

You don't get it. I don't have a $750K home. The Mayor's administration says I do, and I have to pay taxes to that effect, but it's not true.

As long as the city is going to rape my family, I'm going to speak some truth to power. Pick up the trash. It's not my job.

If you've been there any amount of time and claiming the homestead deduction, your annual increase has a pretty slow growth cap on it, so I call bullshit. Also if you've been here any amount of time, you'd have some relationships with your poorer neighbors.

Call it whatever you want lady, you don't live here and you don't know. When we moved into this house almost twenty years ago, we were threatened on the streets for our pallor, robbed, heard gunshots, smelled pot (back when that wasn't legal) right outside our front door, had people try to break in, you name it. Hell, we couldn't even get a pizza delivered. We bought into the hood. I don't owe you or anyone else an explanation for my disgust with criminals. STFU.

I've lived here has long as you and yeah, it sucked. I worked hard to change my neighborhood. Difference is, I saw it as my job to make difference. Maybe why you are so bitter is you are "not my problem" kind of person.

Making this city and our neighborhood better is everyone's problem. If you want to rely on the government, go live in socialism where the nanny state will do everything for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Becky - I've asked this before (and will ask it again). How are you guys working with Ward2 and those groups. It seems like the mid city community has so many small groups working against each other. Where is the coordination?

Becky here ([e-mail]) - One of the people involved in our effort is very involved in the Logan Circle Community Association which is one of the sponsors of the Ward 2 Ed group. The feeder schools actual span wards. For example, Cleveland which is a feeder school is actually in Ward 1. Shaw would be the closest middle school for many families in Wards 5 and 6 too. To motivate the city we will have to get multiple wards to cooperate. And for the record, I'm involved with the Ward 1 Ed Collective. We are trying to reach out to stakeholders to get on the same page.

To the poster who says it's "hopeless because we tried." I'm so sorry it has been so difficult. DC is a very dysfunctional place. I know current parents are standing on your shoulders. Our hopes for improvement wouldn't be possible without your past efforts. In this case, we aren't trying to start a school, or even really revamp an existing one. Cardozo Middle School exists inside the Cardozo Education Campus. And I know it's already much better than it used to be. We want to support its continued improvement, and eventually, essentially air lift it into a new stand-alone campus at Shaw Middle School. That's still a heavy lift, but different from starting from scratch. It's going to be a bitch and perhaps impossible, but we have to try.

Have you reached out to the Ward 6 families? We are Cardozo boundary but I never heard of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi, I am working on DD 4's lottery list and wondering what's going on with Shaw Middle. We just recently moved here and Seaton is our in boundary school, but right now she goes to daycare. I understand that Shaw was closed in recent years and is planned to re-open sometime. Can anyone tell me more about this? Are there parents involved? I see many schools nearby are supposed to feed into Shaw.

Please forgive my cluelessness, I am still in the middle of unpacking and just getting started with school stuff. Thank you!

Welcome to the neighborhood. Seaton is also our in-boundary school and we send our DD to Seaton (PK3 & PK4). This is our 2nd year there and we've been happy so far. A lot of neighborhood families also send their kids there. You should definitely visit and consider adding it to your list. We will be having our open house in January (see info on our new website www.seatondc.org) and will have other PTA events that we will open up to the community. We do not know yet what we will do about middle school but we are happy to support the efforts to have a better MS option. Have you signed up for the Bloomingdale Kids list serve yet? If not, I suggest you do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A "baby" here from Garrison (PK4 parent) who is committed and looking forward to working with other parents on our middle school. Since there are people on this thread who say they have been in the fight for a while and gave up, I'd love to hear any lessons learned from past middle school reform efforts - other than that this is a hopeless cause.

javascript:void(0);

Unfortunately, after many years of trying to help in this effort, I would say the only lessons that I have learned is to never trust a single word that anyone at DCPS ever says and to get used to the fact that as soon as you see something that has the potential to work, they will kill it instantly. Over and over this has happened just in the 7 or so years I've been paying attention at almost every school. The issue is not a lack of involved prearents or a lack of cohesion amongst them, the issue is DCPS structure and the messed up DCPS politics. There is no way that any of this will change before your kids are in middle school, but good for you for trying. It does take persistent effort. I have other child-positive projects I have been working on for the same period of time, which I know won't be realized before my children have outgrown them, but I also know they won't happen if I don't keep pressing on them. It would be great if others would do the same with the schools. But the problem is that you get your heart in it, you throw yourself in over and over again, and then they destroy it, breaking you down again and again and then your heart breaks as you read about the new people who are setting themselves up for the same disappointment. This is a top down problem, and the top has not changed, so nothing you do will matter.

The only real reform that I have seen is in charters. Start one or join one and then throw yourself in there as that is the only way to actually help the children of this city. I now focus my time on my children's charter, and I see the benefits daily. I see how things actually improve based on our work, and I see all the children, including a fairly high percentage of FARMS children who would otherwise be stuck at failing DCPS schools, benefit directly from our efforts. Not so with any effort within DCPS.

Good luck with whatever you do. I hope you prove me wrong. But make sure you are strong if you are going to throw yourself in because they will raise you up and beat you down, again and again. Be prepared.

[Anonymous]

I think what you begin to notice, is many of the families who have been here for a long time have given up on DCPS. But, good for you all for trying again. Maybe this time it will work.

We hope it does. Maybe your group will be the one that finally beats the central office.