Win-win solutions for Brent?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is being considered is drawing the Van Ness school boundaries to include the southern zone of the Brent District, killing two birds with one stone in DCPS' eyes by furnishing enough IB kids to seed the school for SY 2015-2016 and heading off over-crowding at Brent. DCPS is under increasing pressure from the big Capitol Hill Riverfront developers, particularly EYA (builder of the Capitol Quarter townhouses) to provide them with a school so they'll build more townhouses.

I could see Wells rolling over and doing nothing, as usual, but why would he "want" or advocate for this result? In other words, what would someone thinking about running for Mayor achieve by inviting a bare knuckles fight over redistricting? Neither Mr. Livable/Walkable nor Kaya will be able to defend forcing parents to cross under the Freeway at Fourth or Sixth Streets, plus negotiating six lanes of Virginia Avenue.

Has anyone taken a census of families living in CQ and the "southern zone" of the Brent district, whatever that means in order to determine where potential boundaries could be drawn? E Street is too close to Brent to defend, while South Carolina or F Street probably would yield far too few students if the real goal is to "feed" VanNess. How does the Hine development fit into the picture? What does ANC 6B and affected SMD reps have to say about all of this? More importantly, what does Principal Young say about this, and what is his plan? Will he be attending tomorrow's meeting? I assume that the answer is "no," given International Night.

There are obviously no answers as the research and discussion stage of the boundary review commences. Nobody's had a chance to take a census and DCPS continues to provide almost no information about the boundary review. Principal Young wants to take the discussion to the full school community as soon as the working group has a basic structure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You do claim to speak on behalf of others by asserting that "[m]any IB would much rather see Brent drop PreS3 in the medium-term, or even a classroom trailer or two on the small grounds." Pretty sweeping statement if you ask me.

Easy to criticize, harder to organize.

OK, what's your plan for keeping PreS3 when the neighborhood elementary schools with similar demographics (in Upper NW) dropped it 15 years ago due to crowding? Some of us would indeed rather see PreS3 go in favor of letting almost everybody IB, and OOB with siblings, come for PreK 4. That's what happens in JKLM.

This is the start of a discussion about where to go from here. What would you rather have? A chance to take potshots?

[Anonymous]

In the event you were not aware, a swath of the Brent district is actually zoned for Wilson, which like the Lafayette feed, likely will be on the chopping block. The same can be said for middle school. Will VanNess feed to Jefferson, EH or both? Even though neither is a viable option for most Brent parents at this point, the spaces at Latin and BASIS are not finite, and many cannot afford privates. Forest for the trees.

[Anonymous]

You imply that you met with Wells and that he "wants" to sacrifice some portion of the Brent district for VanNess. Can you elaborate on what Wells had to say in this regard?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In the event you were not aware, a swath of the Brent district is actually zoned for Wilson, which like the Lafayette feed, likely will be on the chopping block. The same can be said for middle school. Will VanNess feed to Jefferson, EH or both? Even though neither is a viable option for most Brent parents at this point, the spaces at Latin and BASIS are not finite, and many cannot afford privates. Forest for the trees.

You mean Duddington Place and a bit of C and D zoned for Wilson? Wasn't that a Barry administration concession to a couple Reps who lived on Duddington in the mid 90s? Yea, I can see that feed going.

Nobody knows where Van Ness will feed. The only thing that Kaya has announced is a time-frame for opening it, SY 2015-2016 (K for the PreS3 Brent kids) and an early elementary focus to start. They won't have grades above K, or maybe 1st initially, with a grade or two added ever year until 5th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You imply that you met with Wells and that he "wants" to sacrifice some portion of the Brent district for VanNess. Can you elaborate on what Wells had to say in this regard?

Sorry, not a good idea to get into what he had to say here. That's a topic for tomorrow's meeting. The working group needs to meet with him, and soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You do claim to speak on behalf of others by asserting that "[m]any IB would much rather see Brent drop PreS3 in the medium-term, or even a classroom trailer or two on the small grounds." Pretty sweeping statement if you ask me.

Easy to criticize, harder to organize.

OK, what's your plan for keeping PreS3 when the neighborhood elementary schools with similar demographics (in Upper NW) dropped it 15 years ago due to crowding? Some of us would indeed rather see PreS3 go in favor of letting almost everybody IB, and OOB with siblings, come for PreK 4. That's what happens in JKLM.

This is the start of a discussion about where to go from here. What would you rather have? A chance to take potshots?

OOB with siblings for PreK4 will largely be a non-issue because there are no longer space for OOB admissions at the early childhood grades. Some are concerned that it appears there is an agenda to add capacity at Brent by putting trailers on the grounds, without giving too much thought to all of the attendant implications.

[Anonymous]

I saw classroom trailers in NW recently - some don't have bathrooms, or very good heating or AC, and they eat up good chunks of playgrounds. Who would want those at Brent?

The $60,000 question is how can Brent offer everything parents want - no boundary changes, no trailers, smallish classes, and PreS3 forever.

These are questions for Principal Young, the Brent LSAT, DCPS, Kaya Henderson and the DC City Council on Education, not me. I just want my tiny tots to be able to attend.

[Anonymous]

Van Ness will have no trouble filling up--there are a ton of families in SW who don't see Amidon as an option, and don't have any closer OOB schools or charters starting in kindergarten. And since those homes are (at least currently) zoned for Wilson, they won't be particularly worried about feeder patterns out of Van Ness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Van Ness will have no trouble filling up--there are a ton of families in SW who don't see Amidon as an option, and don't have any closer OOB schools or charters starting in kindergarten. And since those homes are (at least currently) zoned for Wilson, they won't be particularly worried about feeder patterns out of Van Ness.

That's right, no need to rope young Brent District families into the Van Ness game. Plenty of middle-class Ludlow-Taylor, Payne, Miner and Tyler families who don't want Spanish would also be interested if Van Ness gets off to a good start. With Two Rivers having the longest school-wide waiting list in the city--nearly 1,800 families--the need for another strong Hill ES is clear.

DCPS wants to count a critical mass of kids in the new residential housing around Van Ness to open it, for political reasons?

[Anonymous]

That's right, no need to rope young Brent District families into the Van Ness game. Plenty of middle-class Ludlow-Taylor, Payne, Miner and Tyler families who don't want Spanish would also be interested if Van Ness gets off to a good start. With Two Rivers having the longest school-wide waiting list in the city--nearly 1,800 families--the need for another strong Hill ES is clear.

DCPS wants to count a critical mass of kids in the new residential housing around Van Ness to open it, for political reasons?



But I think the point of the working group being talked about is that Brent may well be roped into some game like it or not because of potential overcrowding/redistricting. Are current Brent parents who didn't have to be involved in the lottery and are wise enough to avoid DCUM aware of potential boundary changes and other potential solutions to more kids coming in at K (e.g. trailers)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I saw classroom trailers in NW recently - some don't have bathrooms, or very good heating or AC, and they eat up good chunks of playgrounds. Who would want those at Brent?

The $60,000 question is how can Brent offer everything parents want - no boundary changes, no trailers, smallish classes, and PreS3 forever.

These are questions for Principal Young, the Brent LSAT, DCPS, Kaya Henderson and the DC City Council on Education, not me. I just want my tiny tots to be able to attend.

According to one poster, "many" IB families want those trailers. In another thread, shut-out PreS3 parents fantasized about putting trailers on the roof of Brent, as well as other equally ridiculous scenarios such as sacrificing the all-purpose room and library. Without boundary changes, Brent is looking at 60+ K cohort in SY 2015-16, with little prospect for attrition as they rise through First, Second and Third Grades. This may very well doom PreS3, as well as adding additional PreK4 slots due to class size limits and space constraints. As unfortunate as it may be for some, no immutable right to attend Brent conveyed with the title to their residence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Van Ness will have no trouble filling up--there are a ton of families in SW who don't see Amidon as an option, and don't have any closer OOB schools or charters starting in kindergarten. And since those homes are (at least currently) zoned for Wilson, they won't be particularly worried about feeder patterns out of Van Ness.

I would not count Amidon out since they have a very strong PTA this year. I know several families who are opting for Amidon and it appears that there is a contingency of folks in SW who want to see Amidon become a great neighborhood school.

[Anonymous]

With good planning and effective lobbying, looming crowding at Brent could be headed off. Carving up such a small school district, with a finite 19th Century housing stock, seems over the top.

For example, the rundown south wing of Brent, which is only one floor, could be ripped down and replaced with a two-floor wing. Apparently, the existing roof and walls of the wing couldn't support a second floor, but the foundation could. If the school and parents lobbied DCPS for a new wing years in advance, it could be built over a summer before trailers were needed.

Janney has a new wing and Maury is supposed to get one next summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Van Ness will have no trouble filling up--there are a ton of families in SW who don't see Amidon as an option, and don't have any closer OOB schools or charters starting in kindergarten. And since those homes are (at least currently) zoned for Wilson, they won't be particularly worried about feeder patterns out of Van Ness.

The current Wilson feed is one of the strangest boundary quirks in the entire system. You want to take bets on whether that boundary line will be worth anything by the time a prospective preschooler is ready for high school? For a bonus, good luck at Jefferson for MS while you wait for the Wilson seat to be pulled away before you can sit (if it hasn't long before)