Looking on the Hill - curious for reviews of area elementary schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^p.s.: But I’m sure Payne is improving and that it’s trajectory is positive. I just don’t buy that it’s all perfect now in upper grades.

nobody said it was perfect. if you want your kids surrounded only by kids just like them, the Hill may not be for you.

Space us the sanctimonious crap, PP. Brent, Maury, SWS and Peabody are all pretty thoroughly gentrified/majority UMC and white these days, and Ludlow's getting there.

Brent's at-risk rate is something like 5% and Maury's is in the teens. There are schools in upper NW, e.g. Stoddert, Hearst and Eaton, with higher percentages of poor minority kids.

Come on, nobody's buys in-boundary specifically for Payne. Payne is desirable for ECE (early childhood), OK for K-2nd, maybe 3rd, but on nobody's list for the upper grades. IB Payne parents still try to lottery out en masse.

Ludlow is already majority UMC. Not majority white (though plurality), but it's racial diversity is a plus in my book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Class sizes are small. I don't know the numbers off hand but I think in the upper grades it's like 15.

It's great that the school doesn't feel financially pressured to fill the seats of those that leave (the perks of T1), but this suggests your child is not even approaching the upper grades yet... so, honestly, I don't think you're in a position to pontificate on whether in-classroom differentiation is enough to make up for a class that's 70% below grade level and 40% WAY below grade level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^p.s.: But I’m sure Payne is improving and that it’s trajectory is positive. I just don’t buy that it’s all perfect now in upper grades.

nobody said it was perfect. if you want your kids surrounded only by kids just like them, the Hill may not be for you.

Space us the sanctimonious crap, PP. Brent, Maury, SWS and Peabody are all pretty thoroughly gentrified/majority UMC and white these days, and Ludlow's getting there.

Brent's at-risk rate is something like 5% and Maury's is in the teens. There are schools in upper NW, e.g. Stoddert, Hearst and Eaton, with higher percentages of poor minority kids.

Come on, nobody's buys in-boundary specifically for Payne. Payne is desirable for ECE (early childhood), OK for K-2nd, maybe 3rd, but on nobody's list for the upper grades. IB Payne parents still try to lottery out en masse.

Ludlow is already majority UMC. Not majority white (though plurality), but it's racial diversity is a plus in my book.

Whatever. The tiny L-T District has been overwhelmingly white for a decade now. In my book, wildly popular neighborhood elementary schools are a bigger plus than those featuring stunning "racial diversity"(read strong representation of minority kids from other neighborhoods).

[Anonymous]

Oh, I lost track of the request. 2nd and K. You loss is our gain. We don't need families with that attitude. We are better off continuing to fly under the radar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^p.s.: But I’m sure Payne is improving and that it’s trajectory is positive. I just don’t buy that it’s all perfect now in upper grades.

nobody said it was perfect. if you want your kids surrounded only by kids just like them, the Hill may not be for you.

Space us the sanctimonious crap, PP. Brent, Maury, SWS and Peabody are all pretty thoroughly gentrified/majority UMC and white these days, and Ludlow's getting there.

Brent's at-risk rate is something like 5% and Maury's is in the teens. There are schools in upper NW, e.g. Stoddert, Hearst and Eaton, with higher percentages of poor minority kids.

Come on, nobody's buys in-boundary specifically for Payne. Payne is desirable for ECE (early childhood), OK for K-2nd, maybe 3rd, but on nobody's list for the upper grades. IB Payne parents still try to lottery out en masse.

Ludlow is already majority UMC. Not majority white (though plurality), but it's racial diversity is a plus in my book.

Whatever. The tiny L-T District has been overwhelmingly white for a decade now. In my book, wildly popular neighborhood elementary schools are a bigger plus than those featuring stunning "racial diversity"(read strong representation of minority kids from other neighborhoods).

Wow. You do you. The above comment was not meant as a knock on any of those other schools. And, FWIW, there are plenty of IB non-white students at Ludlow; the PK is roughly 65% white and, obviously, entirely IB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^p.s.: But I’m sure Payne is improving and that it’s trajectory is positive. I just don’t buy that it’s all perfect now in upper grades.

nobody said it was perfect. if you want your kids surrounded only by kids just like them, the Hill may not be for you.

Space us the sanctimonious crap, PP. Brent, Maury, SWS and Peabody are all pretty thoroughly gentrified/majority UMC and white these days, and Ludlow's getting there.

Brent's at-risk rate is something like 5% and Maury's is in the teens. There are schools in upper NW, e.g. Stoddert, Hearst and Eaton, with higher percentages of poor minority kids.

Come on, nobody's buys in-boundary specifically for Payne. Payne is desirable for ECE (early childhood), OK for K-2nd, maybe 3rd, but on nobody's list for the upper grades. IB Payne parents still try to lottery out en masse.

You're making some huge, incorrect assumptions that are based on your prejudices about Payne and reflect your own values that your child needs to be in a homogeneous environment. If you actually look at Payne's 2018-2019 PARCC scores, you can see that over 1/4 of the kids get 4+ in each subject in each testing grade, and in fact in that year, the 5th grade did even better. If you think your child's education will be harmed by being in the top quarter of their ELEMENTARY school classes, I don't know what to tell you. As a parent of an older child I can say that this is truly the least of my concerns when it comes to schooling. There's plenty of room for teachers to differentiate - for example there's no limit on how much or how well a kid can respond to writing assignments - and opportunities for math enrichment if you really, truly can't handle the regular curriculum alone. Conversely, we are enrolled in one of those supposedly "good" Hill schools you list, and I can assure you that there is nothing magical about the teachers or their instruction that seems particularly advanced or differentiated. (This is prior to DL.) What really matters is how good the teacher is, at the end of the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Class sizes are small. I don't know the numbers off hand but I think in the upper grades it's like 15.

It's great that the school doesn't feel financially pressured to fill the seats of those that leave (the perks of T1), but this suggests your child is not even approaching the upper grades yet... so, honestly, I don't think you're in a position to pontificate on whether in-classroom differentiation is enough to make up for a class that's 70% below grade level and 40% WAY below grade level.

And what's your basis to pontificate? And why do you assume that everyone's DCUM Larlo is going to be above grade level. Did it ever occur to you that some of us have kids that in fact benefit from teachers attuned to providing support?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Class sizes are small. I don't know the numbers off hand but I think in the upper grades it's like 15.

The fact that you don’t know a typical upper grade class size at Payne underscores my prior conclusion that your child is still in the lower grades. Please report back to us in a few years and let us know how things are going.

DP. I'm one of the posters at one of the desirable (read: majority white, to you) Hill schools, and our experience has been WORSE in the upper grades. It was really good in the lower grades. Has nothing to do with the composition of the class, and everything to do with the teachers. A kid that is actually bright and intelligent is going to be JUST FINE in a, gasp, cohort of 1/4 of the class. If you demand that your child be surrounded by "PARCC 4s and 5s" you're kind of losing in life and absolutely should move to the suburbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Class sizes are small. I don't know the numbers off hand but I think in the upper grades it's like 15.

It's great that the school doesn't feel financially pressured to fill the seats of those that leave (the perks of T1), but this suggests your child is not even approaching the upper grades yet... so, honestly, I don't think you're in a position to pontificate on whether in-classroom differentiation is enough to make up for a class that's 70% below grade level and 40% WAY below grade level.

And what's your basis to pontificate? And why do you assume that everyone's DCUM Larlo is going to be above grade level. Did it ever occur to you that some of us have kids that in fact benefit from teachers attuned to providing support?

She was responding to my posts in which I described MY snowflake as above grade level, so this was in the context of a discussion about whether Payne was appropriate for such a child. I have no doubt that Payne might be fantastic for kids just below or below grade level, especially with the small class sizes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^p.s.: But I’m sure Payne is improving and that it’s trajectory is positive. I just don’t buy that it’s all perfect now in upper grades.

nobody said it was perfect. if you want your kids surrounded only by kids just like them, the Hill may not be for you.

Space us the sanctimonious crap, PP. Brent, Maury, SWS and Peabody are all pretty thoroughly gentrified/majority UMC and white these days, and Ludlow's getting there.

Brent's at-risk rate is something like 5% and Maury's is in the teens. There are schools in upper NW, e.g. Stoddert, Hearst and Eaton, with higher percentages of poor minority kids.

Come on, nobody's buys in-boundary specifically for Payne. Payne is desirable for ECE (early childhood), OK for K-2nd, maybe 3rd, but on nobody's list for the upper grades. IB Payne parents still try to lottery out en masse.

Ludlow is already majority UMC. Not majority white (though plurality), but it's racial diversity is a plus in my book.

Whatever. The tiny L-T District has been overwhelmingly white for a decade now. In my book, wildly popular neighborhood elementary schools are a bigger plus than those featuring stunning "racial diversity"(read strong representation of minority kids from other neighborhoods).

Wow. You do you. The above comment was not meant as a knock on any of those other schools. And, FWIW, there are plenty of IB non-white students at Ludlow; the PK is roughly 65% white and, obviously, entirely IB.

Spare us your veiled accusations of racism. How long have you lived in the L-T neighborhood? We've been here for over 30 years. Brent and Maury got a big head start over L-T, due to better leadership. Nice to see Ludlow finally catching up as a neighborhood school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Class sizes are small. I don't know the numbers off hand but I think in the upper grades it's like 15.

It's great that the school doesn't feel financially pressured to fill the seats of those that leave (the perks of T1), but this suggests your child is not even approaching the upper grades yet... so, honestly, I don't think you're in a position to pontificate on whether in-classroom differentiation is enough to make up for a class that's 70% below grade level and 40% WAY below grade level.

And what's your basis to pontificate? And why do you assume that everyone's DCUM Larlo is going to be above grade level. Did it ever occur to you that some of us have kids that in fact benefit from teachers attuned to providing support?

She was responding to my posts in which I described MY snowflake as above grade level, so this was in the context of a discussion about whether Payne was appropriate for such a child. I have no doubt that Payne might be fantastic for kids just below or below grade level, especially with the small class sizes.

why do you assume the teachers are so poor or your kid so sensitive that they couldn’t cope with being in the top quarter of the class? it’s a really weird attitude.

[Anonymous]

Tyler ES is a solid option! The principal is incredible and there are many great teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^p.s.: But I’m sure Payne is improving and that it’s trajectory is positive. I just don’t buy that it’s all perfect now in upper grades.

nobody said it was perfect. if you want your kids surrounded only by kids just like them, the Hill may not be for you.

Space us the sanctimonious crap, PP. Brent, Maury, SWS and Peabody are all pretty thoroughly gentrified/majority UMC and white these days, and Ludlow's getting there.

Brent's at-risk rate is something like 5% and Maury's is in the teens. There are schools in upper NW, e.g. Stoddert, Hearst and Eaton, with higher percentages of poor minority kids.

Come on, nobody's buys in-boundary specifically for Payne. Payne is desirable for ECE (early childhood), OK for K-2nd, maybe 3rd, but on nobody's list for the upper grades. IB Payne parents still try to lottery out en masse.

Ludlow is already majority UMC. Not majority white (though plurality), but it's racial diversity is a plus in my book.

Whatever. The tiny L-T District has been overwhelmingly white for a decade now. In my book, wildly popular neighborhood elementary schools are a bigger plus than those featuring stunning "racial diversity"(read strong representation of minority kids from other neighborhoods).

Wow. You do you. The above comment was not meant as a knock on any of those other schools. And, FWIW, there are plenty of IB non-white students at Ludlow; the PK is roughly 65% white and, obviously, entirely IB.

Spare us your veiled accusations of racism. How long have you lived in the L-T neighborhood? We've been here for over 30 years. Brent and Maury got a big head start over L-T, due to better leadership. Nice to see Ludlow finally catching up as a neighborhood school.

You literally said you don’t treat racial diversity as a plus. I don’t think that’s veiled racism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Class sizes are small. I don't know the numbers off hand but I think in the upper grades it's like 15.

It's great that the school doesn't feel financially pressured to fill the seats of those that leave (the perks of T1), but this suggests your child is not even approaching the upper grades yet... so, honestly, I don't think you're in a position to pontificate on whether in-classroom differentiation is enough to make up for a class that's 70% below grade level and 40% WAY below grade level.

And what's your basis to pontificate? And why do you assume that everyone's DCUM Larlo is going to be above grade level. Did it ever occur to you that some of us have kids that in fact benefit from teachers attuned to providing support?

She was responding to my posts in which I described MY snowflake as above grade level, so this was in the context of a discussion about whether Payne was appropriate for such a child. I have no doubt that Payne might be fantastic for kids just below or below grade level, especially with the small class sizes.

why do you assume the teachers are so poor or your kid so sensitive that they couldn’t cope with being in the top quarter of the class? it’s a really weird attitude.

Because teachers in DCPS are under incredible pressure to teach to the middle at most. Really, the 25th %ile in many cases, because of how the testing incentives are set up for schools. A 5 v a 4 gets a teacher and a school basically nothing; a 3 v 2 and 4 v 3 are huge wins. If more than 50% of the class is below grade level, then the academic aspects of school are a waste of time for my kid. That’s just how it is. Differentiation in the classroom is better than nothing, but it’s certainly not as good as a neighborhood school pitched at grade level or above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Class sizes are small. I don't know the numbers off hand but I think in the upper grades it's like 15.

It's great that the school doesn't feel financially pressured to fill the seats of those that leave (the perks of T1), but this suggests your child is not even approaching the upper grades yet... so, honestly, I don't think you're in a position to pontificate on whether in-classroom differentiation is enough to make up for a class that's 70% below grade level and 40% WAY below grade level.

And what's your basis to pontificate? And why do you assume that everyone's DCUM Larlo is going to be above grade level. Did it ever occur to you that some of us have kids that in fact benefit from teachers attuned to providing support?

She was responding to my posts in which I described MY snowflake as above grade level, so this was in the context of a discussion about whether Payne was appropriate for such a child. I have no doubt that Payne might be fantastic for kids just below or below grade level, especially with the small class sizes.

why do you assume the teachers are so poor or your kid so sensitive that they couldn’t cope with being in the top quarter of the class? it’s a really weird attitude.

Because teachers in DCPS are under incredible pressure to teach to the middle at most. Really, the 25th %ile in many cases, because of how the testing incentives are set up for schools. A 5 v a 4 gets a teacher and a school basically nothing; a 3 v 2 and 4 v 3 are huge wins. If more than 50% of the class is below grade level, then the academic aspects of school are a waste of time for my kid. That’s just how it is. Differentiation in the classroom is better than nothing, but it’s certainly not as good as a neighborhood school pitched at grade level or above.

I would also add that I specifically look to the number of 5s at a school when I’m looking for a strong cohort. I want my kid to have enough other 5s in her class that there are higher groups or pullouts rather than computer-based differentiation to the greatest extent possible.