Upper elementary in Title 1 schools Wards 4-5

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Powell and Bruce Monroe as well.

I have a rising 4th grader at BM. its been great (and BM wasnt' our first choice) Iam not solc on Macfarland middle at all. But for sure, BM is retaining a lot of UMC families through 4th now. I just had a conversation recently about quite a few UMC families all willing to give MacFarland a try for 6th grade at least.

I'm first to admit I don't know a lot about McFarland but everytime I drive by I think about what a beaut school it is, it seems though the only tolerable middle school is Deal (and people also seem to trash that a lot). I have never read much if anything about McFarland or Roosevelt or basically any other public school besides the elementary choices, charters, deal and Wilson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Powell and Bruce Monroe as well.

I have a rising 4th grader at BM. its been great (and BM wasnt' our first choice) Iam not solc on Macfarland middle at all. But for sure, BM is retaining a lot of UMC families through 4th now. I just had a conversation recently about quite a few UMC families all willing to give MacFarland a try for 6th grade at least.

I'm first to admit I don't know a lot about McFarland but everytime I drive by I think about what a beaut school it is, it seems though the only tolerable middle school is Deal (and people also seem to trash that a lot). I have never read much if anything about McFarland or Roosevelt or basically any other public school besides the elementary choices, charters, deal and Wilson.

Actually Deal and Hardy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are some Ward 4 families currently doing/planning for elementary and middle school?

Trying to lottery repeatedly into charters that feed to DCI?

Doing elementary at one of the public neighborhood schools and then trying to get into BASIS or Latin?

What about other middle school options like Cap City?

Every family that I know from my children’s day care in Ward 4 end up at a DCI feeder (LAMB, MV, and DCB) since preK3 or preK4.

I find it surprising that you don't know any families that struck out on the PK lottery for DCI feeders. We struck out in both PK3 and PK4 and by the time we got into one in K, we had found another situation we liked and didn't want to move our kid.

I think the better explanation here is that YOUt went to a DCI feeder in PK and have self-selected to stay in touch with other parents who did the same and prioritized it. I guarantee there are kids from you child's daycare going to other schools, either other charters or DCPS or private or they moved.

People don't seem to understand how self-selecting "families I know" tends to be. Your contact list is not a representative sample of any population.

No, everyone went into a DCI feeder.

DP and your daycare has incredible luck because many at my kid’s struck out at the immersion schools (including us) and a whole bunch of families in my neighborhood struck out at all of those too.

This, if true, that would be almost suspect. Different if they were getting in in K or 1st, when spots do tend to open up in these schools. The PK3 lottery for DCI feeds is a total crapshoot. We put every DCI feeder on our lottery list and got a terrible number and never stood a chance at any of them. Weird if an entire daycare class wouldn't have a single person with a bad lottery draw.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Powell and Bruce Monroe as well.

I have a rising 4th grader at BM. its been great (and BM wasnt' our first choice) Iam not solc on Macfarland middle at all. But for sure, BM is retaining a lot of UMC families through 4th now. I just had a conversation recently about quite a few UMC families all willing to give MacFarland a try for 6th grade at least.

People of course will say they are staying thru elementary and considering the middle school, all the while secretly playing the lottery. You will know the reality when school starts and lots of your kids friends are gone.

No one is seriously considering MacFarland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Powell and Bruce Monroe as well.

I have a rising 4th grader at BM. its been great (and BM wasnt' our first choice) Iam not solc on Macfarland middle at all. But for sure, BM is retaining a lot of UMC families through 4th now. I just had a conversation recently about quite a few UMC families all willing to give MacFarland a try for 6th grade at least.

I'm first to admit I don't know a lot about McFarland but everytime I drive by I think about what a beaut school it is, it seems though the only tolerable middle school is Deal (and people also seem to trash that a lot). I have never read much if anything about McFarland or Roosevelt or basically any other public school besides the elementary choices, charters, deal and Wilson.

I suggest you look up the stats about academic proficiency on the DC school report, and then you will understand why. Granted it’s old data from 2019 before the pandemic.

Hopefully more data will come out the next school year. It’s going to be even worst though, because we already know that kids in DC suffered huge learning losses with the extended closures, with the largest lost by far in the lower performing groups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Powell and Bruce Monroe as well.

I have a rising 4th grader at BM. its been great (and BM wasnt' our first choice) Iam not solc on Macfarland middle at all. But for sure, BM is retaining a lot of UMC families through 4th now. I just had a conversation recently about quite a few UMC families all willing to give MacFarland a try for 6th grade at least.

People of course will say they are staying thru elementary and considering the middle school, all the while secretly playing the lottery. You will know the reality when school starts and lots of your kids friends are gone.

No one is seriously considering MacFarland.

PP has a fourth grader, I think she’s got plenty of first hand experience of her own. You sound like you’re talking to a naive pre-K parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Powell and Bruce Monroe as well.

I have a rising 4th grader at BM. its been great (and BM wasnt' our first choice) Iam not solc on Macfarland middle at all. But for sure, BM is retaining a lot of UMC families through 4th now. I just had a conversation recently about quite a few UMC families all willing to give MacFarland a try for 6th grade at least.

People of course will say they are staying thru elementary and considering the middle school, all the while secretly playing the lottery. You will know the reality when school starts and lots of your kids friends are gone.

No one is seriously considering MacFarland.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are some Ward 4 families currently doing/planning for elementary and middle school?

Trying to lottery repeatedly into charters that feed to DCI?

Doing elementary at one of the public neighborhood schools and then trying to get into BASIS or Latin?

What about other middle school options like Cap City?

Every family that I know from my children’s day care in Ward 4 end up at a DCI feeder (LAMB, MV, and DCB) since preK3 or preK4.

There are many of us that chose our neighborhood DCPS. We’re a pretty chill group overall (and yes, we have many neighbors at DCI feeders), so you probably don’t hear as much playground chat/stress talk from us.

What grade are your children in?

Kinder and second.

Report back when your kids are in 4th/5th grade. You likely won't be so chill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are some Ward 4 families currently doing/planning for elementary and middle school?

Trying to lottery repeatedly into charters that feed to DCI?

Doing elementary at one of the public neighborhood schools and then trying to get into BASIS or Latin?

What about other middle school options like Cap City?

Every family that I know from my children’s day care in Ward 4 end up at a DCI feeder (LAMB, MV, and DCB) since preK3 or preK4.

There are many of us that chose our neighborhood DCPS. We’re a pretty chill group overall (and yes, we have many neighbors at DCI feeders), so you probably don’t hear as much playground chat/stress talk from us.

What grade are your children in?

Kinder and second.

Report back when your kids are in 4th/5th grade. You likely won't be so chill.

Okey dokey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Powell and Bruce Monroe as well.

I have a rising 4th grader at BM. its been great (and BM wasnt' our first choice) Iam not solc on Macfarland middle at all. But for sure, BM is retaining a lot of UMC families through 4th now. I just had a conversation recently about quite a few UMC families all willing to give MacFarland a try for 6th grade at least.

People of course will say they are staying thru elementary and considering the middle school, all the while secretly playing the lottery. You will know the reality when school starts and lots of your kids friends are gone.

No one is seriously considering MacFarland.

This. We were a Powell family three years ago when our kids were in 1st and 3rd. We played the lottery every year until they finally got into a Deal feeder. It was many like us and still are I’m hearing.

[Anonymous]

i say do it pp try mcfarland. the new principal from hardy looks pretty good. i think its time for families eotp to buy more into their neighborhood dcps schools like families did years ago at deal and hardy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i say do it pp try mcfarland. the new principal from hardy looks pretty good. i think its time for families eotp to buy more into their neighborhood dcps schools like families did years ago at deal and hardy.

Are you for real?

One person is not going to miraculously move the needle where the overwhelming majority of kids are not just below grade level but way below.

One person is not going to do sh*t when kids act out, and there is no learning going on due to the restorative justice BS in DCPS where kids have no consequences.

Just because some MC and UMC families send their kids to McFarland is not going to change all the problems inherent in the system which are many. They will bail after a lost year of learning because stakes are so high.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i say do it pp try mcfarland. the new principal from hardy looks pretty good. i think its time for families eotp to buy more into their neighborhood dcps schools like families did years ago at deal and hardy.

Not it! LOL
You can’t be serious.

[Anonymous]

I'm in Ward 5. Lots of strong options and sleepers. Whittier, is, by far the highest performing title 1 school that is a community school and not as rigid as say... and Rocketship in Ward 5. The school has a stable principal and long-term teachers and is out-performing or on par with many of its well-resourced counterparts. (would choose whitter over Takoma or Brightwood).

The feeder to IDA B. Wells is starting to turn for the better. Whittier was a K-8 and switched to K-5, which helps. There are other good options in the area via lottery (e.g., Latin). High school is a different challenge.

The hardest schools to get placed in are probably Shephard (not title 1, and majority black) and Latin. Both are excellent options for middle and elementary. Shepherd, if you aren't in the zone, forget about it. Housing is scarce.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i say do it pp try mcfarland. the new principal from hardy looks pretty good. i think its time for families eotp to buy more into their neighborhood dcps schools like families did years ago at deal and hardy.

This is so revisionist it's jaw-dropping.