how to address the under enrollment at Brookland Middle School

[Anonymous]

DC could help Brookland MS enrollment by allowing/encouraging the construction of more townhouses and 3+ bedroom apartments in the catchment area.

In the short-term, they could locate more special ed programs there, moving them out of more crowded schools.

They could also offer programs that other middle schools don't have--what if they teamed up with the National Guard to have a middle school JROTC, to feed into Dunbar's program? That would provide some nice continuity through the feeder pattern.

Somehow I don't think any of this is what most DCUM families want (I don't think most families care about the size of the school, given the huge popularity of both Ross and Janney), but these ideas would definitely raise enrollment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An abundance of high demand charters in close proximity to Brookland Middle School and almost zero interest of local mid-high SES parents to enroll their kids into DCPS elementary schools isn't the formula for success here.

Over before it started on this path.

If proximity were the only hurdle, then Ward 6 wouldn't have made Latin-Basis-DCI the preferred middles over SH/Hardy/Jefferson/BM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's going to take time and consistent outreach by the school. Plus, it takes financial investment. School budgets are calculated based on enrollment numbers and upward adjustments for ELA and special education students. But, when a school is new and struggling to build enrollment, I really think there has to be additional investment from DCPS. So that the school can add a few more bells and whistles; so that staff can be compensated for after-hours promotion activities; money to fund a community event or two (a fair or festival) that will allow families to check out the school in a casual way; funding for quality after school activities and clubs.

I have to assume that the PTA at Brookland is likely fledging and they aren't raising much money. DCPS has to step in and make up for the lack in fundraising for "extras" if they want Brookland to attract middle class families.

For example, one of the most important tools for a school is their website but in DC, it's every school for themselves. So wealthier schools with more parents with professional degrees and more ability to volunteer have nicer websites, monthly enewsletters and a focus on timely communication. Usually some techie parent has volunteered to run the website or some parent who works in communications has offered to handle the newsletter. But when you have a school that doesn't have the parent volunteer base, it results in limited communications and not-so-great websites. If DCPS wants Brookland to thrive it should give the principal extra money in her budget to hire someone to do the website.

And the most important thing, in my opinion, is having GREAT teachers and allowing prospective families to meet them. The principal should tout her teaching staff. Write up bios for each one and have them on the website. How long have they been teaching? Where did they go to college? Any awards? Why do they teach? What inspires them?

I agree with a lot of what you're saying, but I disagree that these things are all necessary to increase parental interest. Just look at what BASIS is doing with its middle school. It has terrible facilities, and very little money. Yet it offers a desirable program, and people are flocking to it.

Huh? Basis is supported by a massive 22-school wide corporation. It can inject funding whenever it needs to.

Then let's use Latin as an example. It's not supported by any outside funding. Neither is DCI (how old is DCI anyway, two or three years?) Why are THOSE schools already head and shoulders above DCPS? It's not the facilities. It's not the funding. If anything, DC is trying to starve them out of existence and they're still better schools by a long shot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BASIS attracts some families because 1) the academics are rigorous, 2) the school has a no social promotion policy and 3) the kids have to take 6 AP exams to graduate -- meaning the fact that they learned something (or didn't) is validated externally.

To be blunt, parents of strong students figure that while there may be kids below grade level in their children's 5th or 6th grade classes (except for math), by 7th those kids will have either caught up, or will have left the school.

It's really controversial, and their high stakes test policies in middle school sometimes catch 'good' students too, who struggle in a subject.

That's not something DCPS can do, and something no other charter chooses to do.

I'm the previous poster that mentioned BASIS, as an example of how a rigorous program can attract students, even when the school lacks other things that most parents want. You're right that there are some things about BASIS that wouldn't work in DCPS. I still there are things that DCPS can do it institute a rigorous curriculum, and these things would attract more students.

If your goal is to get high-SES families through rigor, good luck. Lots of folks in Brookland say they won't use BMS because it lacks rigor, but they're trying to get their kids into places like Shining Stars and CMI...which have a lot going for them but rigor isn't really among them. And lots of folks in Brookland already feel like they have rigorous options, like KIPP or DC Prep. Replicating their models, which absolutely raise achievement for many students in a majority at-risk student body, could be attractive to some people but a) is hard to do in a DCPS vs. a charter and b) probably wouldn't make the DCUM crowd any happier.

You have to figure out what you want: a school that is attractive to rich people (organic meals, tracked classes, inquiry-based learning), or a school that raises achievement among kids who come in behind (extended school days/years, trauma-focused services, remediation, along with plenty of physical activity and fun stuff that isn't just math and reading worksheets), or a school that tries to do both but kids rarely meet each other across the divide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't fix under enrollment at Brookland so long as it feeds to Dunbar.

It's a sysiphean task.

It is a huge task but it can work. Stuart-Hobson feeds to Eastern but parents have made a lot of progress there in the last 20 years.

PP wins the dry humor crown. Brava.

Thanks, but I actually was half serious. Parents at the feeder schools are involved early, and if you have three kids you could have one in middle schooler for 6 years or more. When I worked on the Hill in my early 20s, my co-workers who had kids would tell me about the schools and it was clear that they understood that without a good middle school, the elementary schools would stall out. That was 15 years ago and I can see it's happening just like they said. The positive feedback loop between improving elementaries and desirable middle school is starting to close. I wish it were faster, but I cannot deny that progress is being made. After Hardy, Stuart-Hobson is the next domino to fall. After that, I don't know, maybe MacFarland or Eliot-Hine?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC could help Brookland MS enrollment by allowing/encouraging the construction of more townhouses and 3+ bedroom apartments in the catchment area.

In the short-term, they could locate more special ed programs there, moving them out of more crowded schools.

They could also offer programs that other middle schools don't have--what if they teamed up with the National Guard to have a middle school JROTC, to feed into Dunbar's program? That would provide some nice continuity through the feeder pattern.

Somehow I don't think any of this is what most DCUM families want (I don't think most families care about the size of the school, given the huge popularity of both Ross and Janney), but these ideas would definitely raise enrollment.

Market Forces just means longer lines at the grocery store to you, right?

[Anonymous]

I think many, not all, high-SES families get interested in rigor in middle school. They don't necessarily want it at K or 1st.

The relatively short wait lists at CMI and ITS for the upper grades, including middle, supports this theory. And even among the families there, they definitely want strong or advanced academics for high school -- hence everyone outside of the Wilson boundary planning on sending their kids to SWW.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, get 10 rich white kids who scored 4s and 5s on the PARCC last year to go there. Have their parents post frequently (but not too frequently) here and write articles on local blogs and websites. Have them visit the PTAs at feeder schools and nearby charters that don't have middle schools (or like Shining Stars, end at 6th). Host a fundraiser that takes in $25,000.

By the end of the year people will be saying the school is "hot." It's not about the actual quality of the education. People are sheep, and they don't want their kids to be the only one of their race.

The trick is how do you find the first 10 families?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't fix under enrollment at Brookland so long as it feeds to Dunbar.

It's a sysiphean task.

It is a huge task but it can work. Stuart-Hobson feeds to Eastern but parents have made a lot of progress there in the last 20 years.

PP wins the dry humor crown. Brava.

Thanks, but I actually was half serious. Parents at the feeder schools are involved early, and if you have three kids you could have one in middle schooler for 6 years or more. When I worked on the Hill in my early 20s, my co-workers who had kids would tell me about the schools and it was clear that they understood that without a good middle school, the elementary schools would stall out. That was 15 years ago and I can see it's happening just like they said. The positive feedback loop between improving elementaries and desirable middle school is starting to close. I wish it were faster, but I cannot deny that progress is being made. After Hardy, Stuart-Hobson is the next domino to fall. After that, I don't know, maybe MacFarland or Eliot-Hine?

Hardy has been the next domino to fall for over 50 years. That's why Mann elementary school lost access to Deal in a lawsuit. It was supposed to integrate Hardy (then known as Gordon) and push Shepherd into Deal. Deal was too white so the whitest school in DC was forced out of its closest proximity school - Deal - and into Gordon. Now Hardy.

It will be the next domino any day now though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC could help Brookland MS enrollment by allowing/encouraging the construction of more townhouses and 3+ bedroom apartments in the catchment area.

In the short-term, they could locate more special ed programs there, moving them out of more crowded schools.

They could also offer programs that other middle schools don't have--what if they teamed up with the National Guard to have a middle school JROTC, to feed into Dunbar's program? That would provide some nice continuity through the feeder pattern.

Somehow I don't think any of this is what most DCUM families want (I don't think most families care about the size of the school, given the huge popularity of both Ross and Janney), but these ideas would definitely raise enrollment.

Market Forces just means longer lines at the grocery store to you, right?

If you want to address under-enrollment, the trick is to get more kids to enroll. OP didn't specify that she wanted rich kids to apply. The baby boom in DC is largely concentrated east of the River, with a bit near Petworth and Brightwood. The middle school-aged population is even more clustered in poorer areas of the city. So if the goal is to attract families of middle schoolers, it makes sense to look at the folks who are open to considering DCPS middle school and make BMS attractive to them. Or to use the excess capacity of the school for city-wide programs such as special education. The school is brand new and thus should be fully ADA accessible, fairly centrally located, and next to a beautiful rec center and swimming pool that would be great for therapeutic activities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, get 10 rich white kids who scored 4s and 5s on the PARCC last year to go there. Have their parents post frequently (but not too frequently) here and write articles on local blogs and websites. Have them visit the PTAs at feeder schools and nearby charters that don't have middle schools (or like Shining Stars, end at 6th). Host a fundraiser that takes in $25,000.

By the end of the year people will be saying the school is "hot." It's not about the actual quality of the education. People are sheep, and they don't want their kids to be the only one of their race.

The trick is how do you find the first 10 families?

This is so true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BASIS attracts some families because 1) the academics are rigorous, 2) the school has a no social promotion policy and 3) the kids have to take 6 AP exams to graduate -- meaning the fact that they learned something (or didn't) is validated externally.

To be blunt, parents of strong students figure that while there may be kids below grade level in their children's 5th or 6th grade classes (except for math), by 7th those kids will have either caught up, or will have left the school.

It's really controversial, and their high stakes test policies in middle school sometimes catch 'good' students too, who struggle in a subject.

That's not something DCPS can do, and something no other charter chooses to do.

I'm the previous poster that mentioned BASIS, as an example of how a rigorous program can attract students, even when the school lacks other things that most parents want. You're right that there are some things about BASIS that wouldn't work in DCPS. I still there are things that DCPS can do it institute a rigorous curriculum, and these things would attract more students.

If your goal is to get high-SES families through rigor, good luck. Lots of folks in Brookland say they won't use BMS because it lacks rigor, but they're trying to get their kids into places like Shining Stars and CMI...which have a lot going for them but rigor isn't really among them. And lots of folks in Brookland already feel like they have rigorous options, like KIPP or DC Prep. Replicating their models, which absolutely raise achievement for many students in a majority at-risk student body, could be attractive to some people but a) is hard to do in a DCPS vs. a charter and b) probably wouldn't make the DCUM crowd any happier.

You have to figure out what you want: a school that is attractive to rich people (organic meals, tracked classes, inquiry-based learning), or a school that raises achievement among kids who come in behind (extended school days/years, trauma-focused services, remediation, along with plenty of physical activity and fun stuff that isn't just math and reading worksheets), or a school that tries to do both but kids rarely meet each other across the divide.

Wrong. There's a huge section of parents who want schools that are attractive programmatically and yet not drill-and-kill rigorous. Latin found them (or vice-versa, really). Organic meals and avoidance of drill-and-kill is necessary for elementary. Academic rigor (which means test-in options and dual languages: not behavior modification Saturdays and math worksheets) is more nuanced for higher SES families than DCPS seems to want to even try to wrap its head around.

Again, it's because they're so desperate to get at least 50% of students reading at grade level, that honestly the kids doing math 2 levels above can go to hell as far they're concerned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC could help Brookland MS enrollment by allowing/encouraging the construction of more townhouses and 3+ bedroom apartments in the catchment area.

In the short-term, they could locate more special ed programs there, moving them out of more crowded schools.

They could also offer programs that other middle schools don't have--what if they teamed up with the National Guard to have a middle school JROTC, to feed into Dunbar's program? That would provide some nice continuity through the feeder pattern.

Somehow I don't think any of this is what most DCUM families want (I don't think most families care about the size of the school, given the huge popularity of both Ross and Janney), but these ideas would definitely raise enrollment.

Market Forces just means longer lines at the grocery store to you, right?

If you want to address under-enrollment, the trick is to get more kids to enroll. OP didn't specify that she wanted rich kids to apply. The baby boom in DC is largely concentrated east of the River, with a bit near Petworth and Brightwood. The middle school-aged population is even more clustered in poorer areas of the city. So if the goal is to attract families of middle schoolers, it makes sense to look at the folks who are open to considering DCPS middle school and make BMS attractive to them. Or to use the excess capacity of the school for city-wide programs such as special education. The school is brand new and thus should be fully ADA accessible, fairly centrally located, and next to a beautiful rec center and swimming pool that would be great for therapeutic activities.

DCPS has been expecting that "you have no other option but us" logic to work in its favor for 40 years. Hasn't it lost lost enrollment by a couple hundred thousand students?

I'd rather send my child to a cramped facility like DCI with math options and languages and high expectations like IB, than an ADA compliant facility with nothing else to offer except for low standards. I really don't see other higher SES families feeling differently, which is why charters will keep winning. It's not that I personally care about charters, but it's been impossible for families live outside of upper NW beyond elementary for decades. The academic standards are awful. It's insulting that people are supposed to be fooled by a new building. The programming isn't there. DCPS's excuse for the lack of programming is that it can't afford to provide it to a small cohort (i.e., 5 out of 50 6th graders). Yet, it won't offer test-in either.

Guess why those 5 families will be leaving DCPS?

[Anonymous]

Well, look, it's not quite as egregious as telling advanced or at-grade level students to "go to hell": there are several middle schools that have an advanced class or two. There simply needs to be enough kids enrolled who meet the academic requirements for such a class, in order to justify creating one. The underlying question is: even if there are enough students to support a few advanced or honors classes, is that enough of a draw to attract more such students to attend?

I think not, considering there are more than a few required courses in any given school day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, get 10 rich white kids who scored 4s and 5s on the PARCC last year to go there. Have their parents post frequently (but not too frequently) here and write articles on local blogs and websites. Have them visit the PTAs at feeder schools and nearby charters that don't have middle schools (or like Shining Stars, end at 6th). Host a fundraiser that takes in $25,000.

By the end of the year people will be saying the school is "hot." It's not about the actual quality of the education. People are sheep, and they don't want their kids to be the only one of their race.

The trick is how do you find the first 10 families?

This is so true.

This is totally the wrong approach. Nobody is willing to do that to their kid for some possible future benefit to other children. The price is too high. Naive PK3 parents will come in thinking they can make a dent, but after 8 years of beating my head on the brick wall of dcps incompetence and dysfunction, I am holding no illusions.

What might work is a massive investment in the middle and feeder elementaries simultaneously, paying for truly advanced classes despite low enrollment, plus yuppie friendly extras like foreign language and stringed instruments. This would be ungodly expensive and politically unrealistic, so I understand it won't happen. But waiting for parents to self-pay and drag a school kicking and screaming into quality offerings is not working very well either. And it will only work if people have confidence in the competence of DCPS teachers and administrators, ha ha ha.