Ward 6 Needs to Boot Joe Weedon

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
"Yes, absolutely I blame Ward 6 parents for choosing not to invest in their neighborhood schools. These things are not going to be handed to you on a silver platter; there's no reason for DCPS to go out if its way to "incentivize" a certain, very privileged group of parents who vocally and hostilely turn up their noses at mixing with the hoi polloi. Enroll your kid and ask them to be skipped into 8th grade algebra if you feel they are ready, then ask to send them to Eastern to take advanced math later on. Truly advanced math students have always had to come up with solutions like that."

Does this pp have a child in DCPS? It is VERY hard to get your child anything out of the ordinary unless you have an IEP. Leaving campus during the day? Skipping a grade level in math? NO WAY would that ever happen. That's why the other pp said the only thing offered for math was to spend time playing computer games - that is what passes for differentiated learning your advanced students in DCPS. Which is why do many families leave. Over and over.

Well, I offer that up as one reasonable compromise to the issue (apparently made up) of SH not offering algebra and geometry. Apparently they DO offer algebra and geometry, so it's not actually an issue. But if say you have a truly advanced child (ready for calc in 7th or 8th grade -- it happens) then why not ask if they can take it at Eastern? Doesn't sound crazy. Work with the system.

How would that child get there? It takes 20 minutes by foot. This would only work for a student at EH. And I'm not 100% sure Eastern offers calculus.

They have Algebra II and Trig, and I assume that the IB math is advanced. There's ways to figure out the timing/transportation.

You have fun with that!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
"Yes, absolutely I blame Ward 6 parents for choosing not to invest in their neighborhood schools. These things are not going to be handed to you on a silver platter; there's no reason for DCPS to go out if its way to "incentivize" a certain, very privileged group of parents who vocally and hostilely turn up their noses at mixing with the hoi polloi. Enroll your kid and ask them to be skipped into 8th grade algebra if you feel they are ready, then ask to send them to Eastern to take advanced math later on. Truly advanced math students have always had to come up with solutions like that."

Does this pp have a child in DCPS? It is VERY hard to get your child anything out of the ordinary unless you have an IEP. Leaving campus during the day? Skipping a grade level in math? NO WAY would that ever happen. That's why the other pp said the only thing offered for math was to spend time playing computer games - that is what passes for differentiated learning your advanced students in DCPS. Which is why do many families leave. Over and over.

Well, I offer that up as one reasonable compromise to the issue (apparently made up) of SH not offering algebra and geometry. Apparently they DO offer algebra and geometry, so it's not actually an issue. But if say you have a truly advanced child (ready for calc in 7th or 8th grade -- it happens) then why not ask if they can take it at Eastern? Doesn't sound crazy. Work with the system.

How would that child get there? It takes 20 minutes by foot. This would only work for a student at EH. And I'm not 100% sure Eastern offers calculus.

They have Algebra II and Trig, and I assume that the IB math is advanced. There's ways to figure out the timing/transportation.

You have fun with that!

Ok, you have fun with your dreams of creating a Ward 6 "high SES" middle school for your "advanced learner," without being willing to do any creative thinking within the existing system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
"Yes, absolutely I blame Ward 6 parents for choosing not to invest in their neighborhood schools. These things are not going to be handed to you on a silver platter; there's no reason for DCPS to go out if its way to "incentivize" a certain, very privileged group of parents who vocally and hostilely turn up their noses at mixing with the hoi polloi. Enroll your kid and ask them to be skipped into 8th grade algebra if you feel they are ready, then ask to send them to Eastern to take advanced math later on. Truly advanced math students have always had to come up with solutions like that."

Does this pp have a child in DCPS? It is VERY hard to get your child anything out of the ordinary unless you have an IEP. Leaving campus during the day? Skipping a grade level in math? NO WAY would that ever happen. That's why the other pp said the only thing offered for math was to spend time playing computer games - that is what passes for differentiated learning your advanced students in DCPS. Which is why do many families leave. Over and over.

Couldn't agree more. DCPS has a strong tendency to dig in its heels when parents ask for flexibility, keeping the Chief Student Advocate and DC Public Schools Ombudslady at OSSE very busy. Paternalism and seeking to compel families to march in step are their strong suit, along with keeping advanced learners (mostly high SES) back in the service of narrowing the achievement gap. It sounds like a number of PPs on this thread haven't been in Ward 6 for very long. After more than 20 years on the scene, I know that there is almost no chance that a 6th grader would ever be "skipped into 8th grade algebra," let alone be permitted to take "advanced math" at Eastern (one of the several lowest performing high schools in the city).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
"Yes, absolutely I blame Ward 6 parents for choosing not to invest in their neighborhood schools. These things are not going to be handed to you on a silver platter; there's no reason for DCPS to go out if its way to "incentivize" a certain, very privileged group of parents who vocally and hostilely turn up their noses at mixing with the hoi polloi. Enroll your kid and ask them to be skipped into 8th grade algebra if you feel they are ready, then ask to send them to Eastern to take advanced math later on. Truly advanced math students have always had to come up with solutions like that."

Does this pp have a child in DCPS? It is VERY hard to get your child anything out of the ordinary unless you have an IEP. Leaving campus during the day? Skipping a grade level in math? NO WAY would that ever happen. That's why the other pp said the only thing offered for math was to spend time playing computer games - that is what passes for differentiated learning your advanced students in DCPS. Which is why do many families leave. Over and over.

Couldn't agree more. DCPS has a strong tendency to dig in its heels when parents ask for flexibility, keeping the Chief Student Advocate and DC Public Schools Ombudslady at OSSE very busy. Paternalism and seeking to compel families to march in step are their strong suit, along with keeping advanced learners (mostly high SES) back in the service of narrowing the achievement gap. It sounds like a number of PPs on this thread haven't been in Ward 6 for very long. After more than 20 years on the scene, I know that there is almost no chance that a 6th grader would ever be "skipped into 8th grade algebra," let alone be permitted to take "advanced math" at Eastern (one of the several lowest performing high schools in the city).

Well, has this ever been presented as one of the ways to serve the "advanced learners" on the Hill? And keep in mind that a small cohort of privileged parents looking for exceptions to rules with no sensitivity sometimes looks like a request for something other than "flexibility." You sound a bit paranoid about them trying to keep "advanced learners" down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
"Yes, absolutely I blame Ward 6 parents for choosing not to invest in their neighborhood schools. These things are not going to be handed to you on a silver platter; there's no reason for DCPS to go out if its way to "incentivize" a certain, very privileged group of parents who vocally and hostilely turn up their noses at mixing with the hoi polloi. Enroll your kid and ask them to be skipped into 8th grade algebra if you feel they are ready, then ask to send them to Eastern to take advanced math later on. Truly advanced math students have always had to come up with solutions like that."

Does this pp have a child in DCPS? It is VERY hard to get your child anything out of the ordinary unless you have an IEP. Leaving campus during the day? Skipping a grade level in math? NO WAY would that ever happen. That's why the other pp said the only thing offered for math was to spend time playing computer games - that is what passes for differentiated learning your advanced students in DCPS. Which is why do many families leave. Over and over.

Well, I offer that up as one reasonable compromise to the issue (apparently made up) of SH not offering algebra and geometry. Apparently they DO offer algebra and geometry, so it's not actually an issue. But if say you have a truly advanced child (ready for calc in 7th or 8th grade -- it happens) then why not ask if they can take it at Eastern? Doesn't sound crazy. Work with the system.

I do not have that kind of time. Already left DCPS with DC1 and planning to do the same with DC2 and DC3. Now, maybe if I had an infant right now. . .

How would that child get there? It takes 20 minutes by foot. This would only work for a student at EH. And I'm not 100% sure Eastern offers calculus.

They have Algebra II and Trig, and I assume that the IB math is advanced. There's ways to figure out the timing/transportation.

You have fun with that!

Ok, you have fun with your dreams of creating a Ward 6 "high SES" middle school for your "advanced learner," without being willing to do any creative thinking within the existing system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
"Yes, absolutely I blame Ward 6 parents for choosing not to invest in their neighborhood schools. These things are not going to be handed to you on a silver platter; there's no reason for DCPS to go out if its way to "incentivize" a certain, very privileged group of parents who vocally and hostilely turn up their noses at mixing with the hoi polloi. Enroll your kid and ask them to be skipped into 8th grade algebra if you feel they are ready, then ask to send them to Eastern to take advanced math later on. Truly advanced math students have always had to come up with solutions like that."

Does this pp have a child in DCPS? It is VERY hard to get your child anything out of the ordinary unless you have an IEP. Leaving campus during the day? Skipping a grade level in math? NO WAY would that ever happen. That's why the other pp said the only thing offered for math was to spend time playing computer games - that is what passes for differentiated learning your advanced students in DCPS. Which is why do many families leave. Over and over.

Well, I offer that up as one reasonable compromise to the issue (apparently made up) of SH not offering algebra and geometry. Apparently they DO offer algebra and geometry, so it's not actually an issue. But if say you have a truly advanced child (ready for calc in 7th or 8th grade -- it happens) then why not ask if they can take it at Eastern? Doesn't sound crazy. Work with the system.

I do not have that kind of time. Already left DCPS with DC1 and planning to do the same with DC2 and DC3. Now, maybe if I had an infant right now. . .

How would that child get there? It takes 20 minutes by foot. This would only work for a student at EH. And I'm not 100% sure Eastern offers calculus.

They have Algebra II and Trig, and I assume that the IB math is advanced. There's ways to figure out the timing/transportation.

You have fun with that!

Ok, you have fun with your dreams of creating a Ward 6 "high SES" middle school for your "advanced learner," without being willing to do any creative thinking within the existing system.

I do not have that kind of time. Already left DCPS with DC1 and planning to do the same with DC2 and DC3. Now, maybe if I had an infant right now. . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
"Yes, absolutely I blame Ward 6 parents for choosing not to invest in their neighborhood schools. These things are not going to be handed to you on a silver platter; there's no reason for DCPS to go out if its way to "incentivize" a certain, very privileged group of parents who vocally and hostilely turn up their noses at mixing with the hoi polloi. Enroll your kid and ask them to be skipped into 8th grade algebra if you feel they are ready, then ask to send them to Eastern to take advanced math later on. Truly advanced math students have always had to come up with solutions like that."

Does this pp have a child in DCPS? It is VERY hard to get your child anything out of the ordinary unless you have an IEP. Leaving campus during the day? Skipping a grade level in math? NO WAY would that ever happen. That's why the other pp said the only thing offered for math was to spend time playing computer games - that is what passes for differentiated learning your advanced students in DCPS. Which is why do many families leave. Over and over.

Couldn't agree more. DCPS has a strong tendency to dig in its heels when parents ask for flexibility, keeping the Chief Student Advocate and DC Public Schools Ombudslady at OSSE very busy. Paternalism and seeking to compel families to march in step are their strong suit, along with keeping advanced learners (mostly high SES) back in the service of narrowing the achievement gap. It sounds like a number of PPs on this thread haven't been in Ward 6 for very long. After more than 20 years on the scene, I know that there is almost no chance that a 6th grader would ever be "skipped into 8th grade algebra," let alone be permitted to take "advanced math" at Eastern (one of the several lowest performing high schools in the city).

Well, has this ever been presented as one of the ways to serve the "advanced learners" on the Hill? And keep in mind that a small cohort of privileged parents looking for exceptions to rules with no sensitivity sometimes looks like a request for something other than "flexibility." You sound a bit paranoid about them trying to keep "advanced learners" down.

"Sensitivity"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
"Yes, absolutely I blame Ward 6 parents for choosing not to invest in their neighborhood schools. These things are not going to be handed to you on a silver platter; there's no reason for DCPS to go out if its way to "incentivize" a certain, very privileged group of parents who vocally and hostilely turn up their noses at mixing with the hoi polloi. Enroll your kid and ask them to be skipped into 8th grade algebra if you feel they are ready, then ask to send them to Eastern to take advanced math later on. Truly advanced math students have always had to come up with solutions like that."

Does this pp have a child in DCPS? It is VERY hard to get your child anything out of the ordinary unless you have an IEP. Leaving campus during the day? Skipping a grade level in math? NO WAY would that ever happen. That's why the other pp said the only thing offered for math was to spend time playing computer games - that is what passes for differentiated learning your advanced students in DCPS. Which is why do many families leave. Over and over.

Couldn't agree more. DCPS has a strong tendency to dig in its heels when parents ask for flexibility, keeping the Chief Student Advocate and DC Public Schools Ombudslady at OSSE very busy. Paternalism and seeking to compel families to march in step are their strong suit, along with keeping advanced learners (mostly high SES) back in the service of narrowing the achievement gap. It sounds like a number of PPs on this thread haven't been in Ward 6 for very long. After more than 20 years on the scene, I know that there is almost no chance that a 6th grader would ever be "skipped into 8th grade algebra," let alone be permitted to take "advanced math" at Eastern (one of the several lowest performing high schools in the city).

Well, has this ever been presented as one of the ways to serve the "advanced learners" on the Hill? And keep in mind that a small cohort of privileged parents looking for exceptions to rules with no sensitivity sometimes looks like a request for something other than "flexibility." You sound a bit paranoid about them trying to keep "advanced learners" down.

Yes, it has been presented, countless times, for various grade levels. Talk to Watkins parents who have asked if their advanced upper grades math students could "loop up" a grade for math (like they can at Brent). The answer has long been absolutely not. Talk to parents of SH parents of 6th and 7th graders who have been told that their advanced math students could certainly not take 8th grade algebra, due to "scheduling" difficulties. Hobson has only been teaching algebra for five years, so these parents aren't hard to find. You sound like you haven't been on the Hill very long, and that your kids are little.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
"Yes, absolutely I blame Ward 6 parents for choosing not to invest in their neighborhood schools. These things are not going to be handed to you on a silver platter; there's no reason for DCPS to go out if its way to "incentivize" a certain, very privileged group of parents who vocally and hostilely turn up their noses at mixing with the hoi polloi. Enroll your kid and ask them to be skipped into 8th grade algebra if you feel they are ready, then ask to send them to Eastern to take advanced math later on. Truly advanced math students have always had to come up with solutions like that."

Does this pp have a child in DCPS? It is VERY hard to get your child anything out of the ordinary unless you have an IEP. Leaving campus during the day? Skipping a grade level in math? NO WAY would that ever happen. That's why the other pp said the only thing offered for math was to spend time playing computer games - that is what passes for differentiated learning your advanced students in DCPS. Which is why do many families leave. Over and over.

Couldn't agree more. DCPS has a strong tendency to dig in its heels when parents ask for flexibility, keeping the Chief Student Advocate and DC Public Schools Ombudslady at OSSE very busy. Paternalism and seeking to compel families to march in step are their strong suit, along with keeping advanced learners (mostly high SES) back in the service of narrowing the achievement gap. It sounds like a number of PPs on this thread haven't been in Ward 6 for very long. After more than 20 years on the scene, I know that there is almost no chance that a 6th grader would ever be "skipped into 8th grade algebra," let alone be permitted to take "advanced math" at Eastern (one of the several lowest performing high schools in the city).

Well, has this ever been presented as one of the ways to serve the "advanced learners" on the Hill? And keep in mind that a small cohort of privileged parents looking for exceptions to rules with no sensitivity sometimes looks like a request for something other than "flexibility." You sound a bit paranoid about them trying to keep "advanced learners" down.

Yes, it has been presented, countless times, for various grade levels. Talk to Watkins parents who have asked if their advanced upper grades math students could "loop up" a grade for math (like they can at Brent). The answer has long been absolutely not. Talk to parents of SH parents of 6th and 7th graders who have been told that their advanced math students could certainly not take 8th grade algebra, due to "scheduling" difficulties. Hobson has only been teaching algebra for five years, so these parents aren't hard to find. You sound like you haven't been on the Hill very long, and that your kids are little.

well, sounds like something to rally around. change doesn't happen out of nowhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If a referendum on SH's fate was held tomorrow, with only Ward 6 residents permitted to vote, I'd wager than 3/4 of those who voted would vote to change SH's status. What good is a "neighborhood" MS to us when it serves more students from Wards 5, 7 AND 8 than Ward 6? The question has been asked for decades, with the myopic Cluster leadership blocking change.

Weedon's certainly not an easy ed advocate to deal with, but he's not wrong in advocating for DCPS to use the SH building differently in the context of promoting neighborhood schools. I'd like to see SH become an elementary school serving the East Hill (since Payne and Miner don't serve their neighborhoods at all well) and EH renovated to become a pan Ward 6, Deal-like middle school with serious honors classes. As things stand, the Hill won't have middle schools most parents are comfortable with for another 20 years. No good.

How is turning SH into an elementary school going to help with the population you feel is "not served" by Payne and Miner? Are you going to do some kind of weird gerrymandering boundaries?

What makes you think that Ward 6 parents will send their kids to a renovated EH?

And more importantly, the REASON that kids get in OOB to from Wards 5, 7, and 8 into SH is because Ward 6 parents ARE NOT SENDING THEIR OWN KIDS. It's rich of you to blame the OOB students.

That misses a key point -- very few OOB students get into SH off MS lottery. Almost all get in from the feeders (Watkins, Ludlow Taylor and JO Wilson). About 2/3 of that is Watkins and the JO Wilson/LT split the other 1/3. Peabody is 75% IB and likely loses families to charters early by not having enough PK spaces for IB. Watkins and LT IB % has been trending upwards and both were 29% last year, up from low 20s the year before. JO Wilson is up to 25% IB. Most of that momentum is in the lower ES but it still represents incremental improvement in retention. Let's face it - this isn't upper NW

They're no different than the other Hill schools like Brent and Maury that get hit in upper ES, mainly for 5th. Brent and Maury probably have higher retention through 4th but all bets are off by 5th.

no, that's my exact point. Ward 6 parents are chosing not to use their neighborhood schools in general, opening up those seats to OOB students who then feed to SH. You can't blame the OOB students.

So blame Ward 6 parents for choosing not to use their neighborhood school (when only around 1/3 of them are in-boundary for SH), rather than incentivizing them to use it by offering the sort of program they're looking for? Granted, you can't blame OOB students for using Hobson, but you can certainly blame DCPS for failing to offer the challenge and rich curricular and extra-curricular offerings most high SES Ward 6 parents are looking for. E.g. Deal is offering Mandarin, Arabic, French, 7th grade algebra and 8th grade geometry while Hobson is offering none of these classes. BASIS is offering 5th and 6th grade algebra to students who can test in, 7th grade algebra to the rest, and AP World History to 8th graders. The several strongest Ward 6 elementary schools--Brent, Maury and SWS-don't feed into SH, leaving most high parents coming out of the other Hobson feeders (really just Watkins for the time being) reluctant to use the school.

When I asked how my mildly math gifted child would be served at SH, I was told that DC would be put in front of a computer during math classes. Sorry, eleven year olds don't learn math well without a teacher or tutor on hand to teach it to them. What we're going to see in the next decade are slightly increases in the percentage of high SES and white students using Hobson year on year, from under 20% to maybe one-third. Not a bad result, but nothing to cheer about in a catchment area that's overwhelmingly high SES and white. Without a strong Ward 6 MS on the horizon, most of the current parents of babies and toddlers will hit the road by MS. Ward 6 could do a lot better. At least Joe Weedon gets it.

Where are you getting your information? SH offers both Algebra and Geometry. This is flatly wrong. SH also offers Spanish. It's 1/3 the size of Deal and its budget reflects that

SH offers Spanish as an after school option. That's not equivalent to the language offerings at Deal.

again, that's not accurate. there are DCPS spanish language teachers and instruction blocks offered as electives

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

SWS outperformed both of them on PARCC last year

I think SWS is a bit of an anomaly. The PARCC scores are indeed impressive. But please recall that last year there was no 5th grade so the testing results only include 3 & 4 results. For both Maury and Brent, the 5th grade scores tend to bring down the scores considerably.

I don't know. . . there's a big drop off for 5th grade at each of these schools. If you look at 3rd and 4th grade scores exclusively the same more or less holds true.

3rd ELA/M (4+)
B 57/67
M 50/50
S 72/62

4th ELA/M (4+)
B 70/60
M 45/43
S 60/65


This is, unfortunately, mostly about the racial breakdown of the schools. The stats for comparable cohorts are very similar. For instance, white kids AND black kids at L-T do better than at Maury, but Maury has a higher average SOLELY due to the demographics of the schools.

Not arguing about the SWS scores, but I question whether your last statement is accurate. If you look at Maury's scores broken out by ethnicity, you have a 78% meet or exceed for both ELA and Math. This is very comparable to SWS which has an 80/82. Are you trying to suggest that L-T has a higher score than this for the white population? I doubt that is likely, but since the testing group is too small a sample the results aren't broken out that way. For sure the black population at L-T does better than the black population at Maury, though. And I do find that impressive.

I'm PP who posted about SWS and the scores are really beside the point. Different PP dismissed SWS as not being relevent in Hill MS landscape due to lottery and it's very much relevant. It's high scores only demonstrate that it can boost Ward 6 MS IB and proficiency rates, along with any number of other successful Hill schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
"Yes, absolutely I blame Ward 6 parents for choosing not to invest in their neighborhood schools. These things are not going to be handed to you on a silver platter; there's no reason for DCPS to go out if its way to "incentivize" a certain, very privileged group of parents who vocally and hostilely turn up their noses at mixing with the hoi polloi. Enroll your kid and ask them to be skipped into 8th grade algebra if you feel they are ready, then ask to send them to Eastern to take advanced math later on. Truly advanced math students have always had to come up with solutions like that."

Does this pp have a child in DCPS? It is VERY hard to get your child anything out of the ordinary unless you have an IEP. Leaving campus during the day? Skipping a grade level in math? NO WAY would that ever happen. That's why the other pp said the only thing offered for math was to spend time playing computer games - that is what passes for differentiated learning your advanced students in DCPS. Which is why do many families leave. Over and over.

Couldn't agree more. DCPS has a strong tendency to dig in its heels when parents ask for flexibility, keeping the Chief Student Advocate and DC Public Schools Ombudslady at OSSE very busy. Paternalism and seeking to compel families to march in step are their strong suit, along with keeping advanced learners (mostly high SES) back in the service of narrowing the achievement gap. It sounds like a number of PPs on this thread haven't been in Ward 6 for very long. After more than 20 years on the scene, I know that there is almost no chance that a 6th grader would ever be "skipped into 8th grade algebra," let alone be permitted to take "advanced math" at Eastern (one of the several lowest performing high schools in the city).

Well, has this ever been presented as one of the ways to serve the "advanced learners" on the Hill? And keep in mind that a small cohort of privileged parents looking for exceptions to rules with no sensitivity sometimes looks like a request for something other than "flexibility." You sound a bit paranoid about them trying to keep "advanced learners" down.

Yes, it has been presented, countless times, for various grade levels. Talk to Watkins parents who have asked if their advanced upper grades math students could "loop up" a grade for math (like they can at Brent). The answer has long been absolutely not. Talk to parents of SH parents of 6th and 7th graders who have been told that their advanced math students could certainly not take 8th grade algebra, due to "scheduling" difficulties. Hobson has only been teaching algebra for five years, so these parents aren't hard to find. You sound like you haven't been on the Hill very long, and that your kids are little.

well, sounds like something to rally around. change doesn't happen out of nowhere.

You can do the rallying. Be our guest. We're exhausted after 7 years in DCPS, heading to BASIS in search of greener academic pastures. Much greener.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If a referendum on SH's fate was held tomorrow, with only Ward 6 residents permitted to vote, I'd wager than 3/4 of those who voted would vote to change SH's status. What good is a "neighborhood" MS to us when it serves more students from Wards 5, 7 AND 8 than Ward 6? The question has been asked for decades, with the myopic Cluster leadership blocking change.

Weedon's certainly not an easy ed advocate to deal with, but he's not wrong in advocating for DCPS to use the SH building differently in the context of promoting neighborhood schools. I'd like to see SH become an elementary school serving the East Hill (since Payne and Miner don't serve their neighborhoods at all well) and EH renovated to become a pan Ward 6, Deal-like middle school with serious honors classes. As things stand, the Hill won't have middle schools most parents are comfortable with for another 20 years. No good.

How is turning SH into an elementary school going to help with the population you feel is "not served" by Payne and Miner? Are you going to do some kind of weird gerrymandering boundaries?

What makes you think that Ward 6 parents will send their kids to a renovated EH?

And more importantly, the REASON that kids get in OOB to from Wards 5, 7, and 8 into SH is because Ward 6 parents ARE NOT SENDING THEIR OWN KIDS. It's rich of you to blame the OOB students.

That misses a key point -- very few OOB students get into SH off MS lottery. Almost all get in from the feeders (Watkins, Ludlow Taylor and JO Wilson). About 2/3 of that is Watkins and the JO Wilson/LT split the other 1/3. Peabody is 75% IB and likely loses families to charters early by not having enough PK spaces for IB. Watkins and LT IB % has been trending upwards and both were 29% last year, up from low 20s the year before. JO Wilson is up to 25% IB. Most of that momentum is in the lower ES but it still represents incremental improvement in retention. Let's face it - this isn't upper NW

They're no different than the other Hill schools like Brent and Maury that get hit in upper ES, mainly for 5th. Brent and Maury probably have higher retention through 4th but all bets are off by 5th.

no, that's my exact point. Ward 6 parents are chosing not to use their neighborhood schools in general, opening up those seats to OOB students who then feed to SH. You can't blame the OOB students.

Feel free to ignore reality. Jefferson isn't a neighborhood school and never will be one. For all intents and purposes neither is SH, where three quarters of the students are OOB because of feeder rights and, to some extent, address cheaters. And in the case of SH, if Watkins and LT can't articulate a large cohort of IB students through 5th then MS is a non-starter. I don't blame families. I blame DCPS for a the current cluster**** of social engineering.

[Anonymous]

+100. DCPS and PPs give parents who simply want a neighborhood MS school serving the actual neighborhood when having one shouldn't be a tall order. Your bleeding hearts hurt the poor kids most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+100. DCPS and PPs give parents who simply want a neighborhood MS school serving the actual neighborhood when having one shouldn't be a tall order. Your bleeding hearts hurt the poor kids most.

What do you expect? They're going to completely do away with the OOB structure for Ward 6 just for you? I agree that your desire for a school you find acceptable is legitimate. What I disagree with is your privileged, spoiled, and yes, insenstive and borderline racist, approach to advocacy. DCPS is not going to create a school you feel comfortable going to if comfort means all white or all high SES. DCPS is a poor, urban, minority school district. But you seem to think that because you're a gentrifier in Ward 6 you deserve a gentrified school. What *could* happen is something like what happened with Brent and Maury - groups of parents getting together to advocate together and decide to send their kids en masse, and be a little brave about it.