Best Elementary School in Each Ward

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ward 3: Janney, with Mann as a close second.

Janney isn't even in top 4. This is not 2010.
Mann, Key, Stoddert, Eaton, Janney.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ward 3: Janney, with Mann as a close second.

Janney isn't even in top 4. This is not 2010.
Mann, Key, Stoddert, Eaton, Janney.

+1. Add in Wards 2 and 4 for city best Janney drops to 7 (Ross and Lafayette).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ward 3: Janney, with Mann as a close second.

I would disagree with this.

My opinion (in order):
ward 1: Bancroft, Tubman
ward 2: Ross, Hyde
ward 3: Mann, Stoddert, Murch, Eaton, Oyster, Janney, Key, Hearst (can't go wrong in this ward)
ward 4: Lafayette, Shepherd
ward 5: slim pickings as this is charter central but I'd say Burroughs
ward 6: Brent, Maury
wards 7&8 are pretty tough as they are also areas where good charters attract a lot of the high achievers

I'd potentially switch that order around. Maybe not for most people, but there are a subset who want a smaller and/or more diverse school (Shepherd is pretty diverse in the lower grades). Shepherd has somewhere between 325-350 students, vs. like 700 kids at Lafayette, right? Of course, I know families at Lafayette who have no interest in Shepherd. I guess it's sort of like the Deal vs. Hardy comparison.

You say Shepherd is diverse in the lower grades. What about the upper grades? OP's kid is in second grade.

PP here. I don't know about second grade in particular, but overall the school is listed as being 78% AA. The upper grades are less diverse, and the early grades (esp. PK3/4) are extremely diverse, so I'd guess 2nd grade is somewhere in the middle of that distribution.

Get real for a moment. There is no comparison.
They are both equally un-diverse, though Shepherd is LESS diverse than Lafayette:

Shepherd is 78% black
Lafayette is 70% white

However, Lafayette's 2016 average passing PARCC score was 75% while Shepherd's is 47%.

If you want a smaller school, Shepherd holds appeal. But let's not presume that the school is "best" by any stretch of the imagination.

PP here. It really depends on what metric you're using to define "best." If looking only at test scores, yes, Lafayette "wins" by all means. However, as another poster said, 1/3 of Shepherd's population is FARMs, vs. 4% FARMs at Lafayette. So it's not really an apples to apples comparison when considering test scores.

Also, there are a subset of families who look beyond test scores and prefer a smaller, more diverse school. Again, not a majority by any stretch, but some families. One of my neighbors interviewed principals at several different schools, including WOTP, and settled on buying in-boundary for Shepherd. So it's sort of a niche school for people who want specific things that Shepherd offers, whether re: the curriculum or the demographics. Lots of black middle class families, multiracial families, families with adopted kids of a different race, etc.

Finally, while Shepherd is definitely a majority black school, there is a significant amount of international diversity. My kid's class is majority black, but at least 1/3 of the class speaks another language at home. Among them, francophone families, a few that speak African languages, and a couple that speak European languages. Shepherd has sometimes advertised school events in Spanish, French, and Amharic. So simply focusing on the 78% statistic belies the level of diversity actually present.

Also true at Lafayette and many DCPS schools.

My point about "the best" is that anyone who is asking to be told "the best" schools is most likely someone for whom numbers and easy labels are paramount. I wouldn't talk about schools in that way- I'd be looking for the right fit for my family and that would include a smaller school and other qualities. But I suspect OP is looking for a school that tops a list of one sort or another.

Someone should tell that to all the folks that say Janney is the best. There are 3-4 schools that outperform them by every measure. Maybe 5, can't remember.

NP: Yes, but everyone knows that, so when someone posts Janney, everyone assumes they are being sarcastic.

So PP was making a point how we shouldn't judge a school by the scores alone, but now you guys are using the fairly minor differences in scores to devalue Janney? That doesn't make any sense. Maybe the Janney parents love the school for other reasons as well and aren't basing their judgment on the recent scores.

- not a Janney parent

[Anonymous]

Ha! See that? It isn't "devaluing" Janney to say they are just as good as everyone else unless you were deluded into thinking it was the tippy top best school ever!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ha! See that? It isn't "devaluing" Janney to say they are just as good as everyone else unless you were deluded into thinking it was the tippy top best school ever!

Um, no. The posters weren't saying that Janney is just as good, they were making a point about its now lower position in a ranking based on test scores. Clearly, there is a need to knock Janney off some pedestal that it may once have been put on, and it frankly comes across as kind of insecure. I personally have never thought about where Janney stood in a ranking and I don't have a kid at the school, but I am friends with several parents who do and I know they do not obsess about or laud the school because of its test scores.

[Anonymous]

Hyde-Addison was well on its way to becoming one of the best schools in the city until David Grosso, Mayor Bowser, and Jennifer Niles decided to destroy it so they can turn it into a charter school. They have completely eviscerated Pre-K and K, who is going to put their young kids for a one hour + commute (each way) on a daily basis, and many of the current students are leaving. People in the neighborhood were finally getting used to having it as an in boundary school and now it's no longer an option. DC's finest doing to its over taxed citizens again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ha! See that? It isn't "devaluing" Janney to say they are just as good as everyone else unless you were deluded into thinking it was the tippy top best school ever!

Um, no. The posters weren't saying that Janney is just as good, they were making a point about its now lower position in a ranking based on test scores. Clearly, there is a need to knock Janney off some pedestal that it may once have been put on, and it frankly comes across as kind of insecure. I personally have never thought about where Janney stood in a ranking and I don't have a kid at the school, but I am friends with several parents who do and I know they do not obsess about or laud the school because of its test scores.

The reason I wouldn't put Janney in top 3 is not due to test scores but rather it's too large, not as diverse as I'd like, and yes for their demographics, I'd expect test scores a little higher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top Ward 6 Elementary Schools

1. Brent
2. Maury
3. Van Ness
4. Ludlow-Taylor

Van Ness is not even top 5.

Wow, people just don't seem to know much about Van Ness. Van Ness has one of the top principals in the city, and staff are some of the best teachers in the city (majority of the staff have won awards).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top Ward 6 Elementary Schools

1. Brent
2. Maury
3. Van Ness
4. Ludlow-Taylor

Van Ness is not even top 5.

Wow, people just don't seem to know much about Van Ness. Van Ness has one of the top principals in the city, and staff are some of the best teachers in the city (majority of the staff have won awards).

So does Brookland Middle School. But no one would put them on a top 5 list either.

Van Ness is new. Graduate a few classes of 5th graders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top Ward 6 Elementary Schools

1. Brent
2. Maury
3. Van Ness
4. Ludlow-Taylor

Van Ness is not even top 5.

Wow, people just don't seem to know much about Van Ness. Van Ness has one of the top principals in the city, and staff are some of the best teachers in the city (majority of the staff have won awards).

I wonder sometimes if VN booster is more or less deluded than Trumpsters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top Ward 6 Elementary Schools

1. Brent
2. Maury
3. Van Ness
4. Ludlow-Taylor

Van Ness is not even top 5.

Wow, people just don't seem to know much about Van Ness. Van Ness has one of the top principals in the city, and staff are some of the best teachers in the city (majority of the staff have won awards).

I wonder sometimes if VN booster is more or less deluded than Trumpsters.

Seriously. what was that based that on? PP observed all of the thousands of teachers or hundrends of principals employed by DCPS to make that assessment? PP likely had Ward 6 right with this grouping

More accurate ranking IME:

1. Brent / Maury / SWS
2. LT / Watkins / CHML
3. Van Ness / JO Wilson / Tyler Spanish
4. Miner / Tyler English
5. Payne

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top Ward 6 Elementary Schools

1. Brent
2. Maury
3. Van Ness
4. Ludlow-Taylor

Van Ness is not even top 5.

Wow, people just don't seem to know much about Van Ness. Van Ness has one of the top principals in the city, and staff are some of the best teachers in the city (majority of the staff have won awards).

I wonder sometimes if VN booster is more or less deluded than Trumpsters.

Seriously. what was that based that on? PP observed all of the thousands of teachers or hundrends of principals employed by DCPS to make that assessment? PP likely had Ward 6 right with this grouping

More accurate ranking IME:

1. Brent / Maury / SWS
2. LT / Watkins / CHML
3. Van Ness / JO Wilson / Tyler Spanish
4. Miner / Tyler English
5. Payne

Based on what? What makes CHML up with LT?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top Ward 6 Elementary Schools

1. Brent
2. Maury
3. Van Ness
4. Ludlow-Taylor

Van Ness is not even top 5.

Wow, people just don't seem to know much about Van Ness. Van Ness has one of the top principals in the city, and staff are some of the best teachers in the city (majority of the staff have won awards).

I wonder sometimes if VN booster is more or less deluded than Trumpsters.

Seriously. what was that based that on? PP observed all of the thousands of teachers or hundrends of principals employed by DCPS to make that assessment? PP likely had Ward 6 right with this grouping

More accurate ranking IME:

1. Brent / Maury / SWS
2. LT / Watkins / CHML
3. Van Ness / JO Wilson / Tyler Spanish
4. Miner / Tyler English
5. Payne

Based on what? What makes CHML up with LT?

Many parents who are in-bound for LT send their kids to CHML. The same cannot be said for those who are in-bound for Brent or Maury. This is evidence that folks consider CHML to be at least as good as LT but not as good as Brent/Maury.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top Ward 6 Elementary Schools

1. Brent
2. Maury
3. Van Ness
4. Ludlow-Taylor

Van Ness is not even top 5.

Wow, people just don't seem to know much about Van Ness. Van Ness has one of the top principals in the city, and staff are some of the best teachers in the city (majority of the staff have won awards).

I wonder sometimes if VN booster is more or less deluded than Trumpsters.

Seriously. what was that based that on? PP observed all of the thousands of teachers or hundrends of principals employed by DCPS to make that assessment? PP likely had Ward 6 right with this grouping

More accurate ranking IME:

1. Brent / Maury / SWS
2. LT / Watkins / CHML
3. Van Ness / JO Wilson / Tyler Spanish
4. Miner / Tyler English
5. Payne

Based on what? What makes CHML up with LT?

Many parents who are in-bound for LT send their kids to CHML. The same cannot be said for those who are in-bound for Brent or Maury. This is evidence that folks consider CHML to be at least as good as LT but not as good as Brent/Maury.

I think it is far more to do with proximity and affinity for montessori than pure performance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top Ward 6 Elementary Schools

1. Brent
2. Maury
3. Van Ness
4. Ludlow-Taylor

Van Ness is not even top 5.

Wow, people just don't seem to know much about Van Ness. Van Ness has one of the top principals in the city, and staff are some of the best teachers in the city (majority of the staff have won awards).

I wonder sometimes if VN booster is more or less deluded than Trumpsters.

Seriously. what was that based that on? PP observed all of the thousands of teachers or hundrends of principals employed by DCPS to make that assessment? PP likely had Ward 6 right with this grouping

More accurate ranking IME:

1. Brent / Maury / SWS
2. LT / Watkins / CHML
3. Van Ness / JO Wilson / Tyler Spanish
4. Miner / Tyler English
5. Payne

Based on what? What makes CHML up with LT?

Many parents who are in-bound for LT send their kids to CHML. The same cannot be said for those who are in-bound for Brent or Maury. This is evidence that folks consider CHML to be at least as good as LT but not as good as Brent/Maury.

I think it is far more to do with proximity and affinity for montessori than pure performance.

Yeah, that's likely why Logan is grouped along side LT... They're much for much depending on what exactly you're looking for; different parents could rationally/do in practice prioritize Logan over LT or vice versa. On the other hand, very few parents choose Logan over SWS/Brent/Maury, which suggests those schools are a tier above. One can obviously argue with the specifics of any given ranking, but I think the PP has it basically right.