Van Ness Elementary School Lottery Results

[Anonymous]

According to an email I saw the school mascot will be voted on at the upcoming parents meeting on April 7. There is a choice between 3 animals native to the riverfront area. There will be an approach to the curriculum (Reggio, etc) but it will be chosen by the principal once they are hired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think anti VN boosters likely fall into one of two groups:
-Parents like pp who have been turned off by the obsession some (one?) posters have with demographics and how many FARM students will or will not attend and
-Capitol Hill parents (mostly Brent) who put years of hard work into improving the schools and are offended by the notion that all it takes to be a top school is having enough white students show up.

Every thread about Van Ness ends up about demographics, but so little is discussed about the actual program. What curriculum will they follow? Will there be dedicated art/music/PE teachers? What about special education? Foreign language? Will there be aftercare? uniforms? The school location is convenient for my family and these are the types of things that would make us interested in attending.

From attending meetings at the school, here's what little I know:

They'll do the Creative Curriculum for PK3 and 4, and DC's standard curriculum (without special approaches like Reggio or Montessori) for K and up

There have to be dedicated art/music/PE/foreign language teachers for Kindergarten and up. DCPS hasn't figured out yet whether those classes will be available for PK3 and 4, at least not for next year. And no decision's been made on which foreign language.

They will have to follow federal law on special ed. The personnel haven't been hired/assigned to VN yet so it remains to be seen how good they are at implementing things.

Since it's planned as a Title I school there will be aftercare. No word on who will operate it, what it will offer, what hours it will run, or how much it will cost. Also no word on beforecare, and what the school day will actually be (I personally doubt it will be extended school day, since the schools that offer that had their teachers vote on it, and there aren't any teachers yet).

No word on uniforms, despite the planning principal being asked. I guess that's something that the new principal will decide. Also no word on if the school will have a mascot or colors--though that would be a good thing to choose now, so school colors could be integrated into the renovation.

Finally, you didn't ask these but I don't think they've decided whether there will be a full time nurse on site, a social worker, school psychologist, partnership with a family strengthening collaborative or other social service provider, or library/librarian.

Thanks for the info!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's very easy to have anti VN feelings. Especially if you live in SW. They fought so hard to keep many of our kids out of their schools by pretending to be scared of south capitol street. It felt like a quarantine.
Also- many of us had stumbled into the VNPG meetings and saw them in action. Even for DCUM standards it was distasteful. Not to mention their ignorance about school form and structure. A bunch of political wonks throwing around things like IB or immersion. It was painful to watch.

I don't call everything rascist and I actually get wanting a good kiddo mix in your schools. All good things. Then, you have the VNPG.

What specifically did the VNPG do to try to keep kids out the school?

I've been to most meetings, what did they do at the meetings that was distasteful?

What's wrong with having a meeting discussing the merits of Language Immersion or IB at the school?

What's wrong with a group of parents forming a parents group to support a DC Public School?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Van Mess becoming the new YY? The school DCUM become ambivalent about due to wack-doodle Pollyannas?

No school is perfect. This one hasn't opened yet. You can lay off the salesmanship now that lottery is passed. The proof will be in the pudding.

#Van Mess. Post of the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think anti VN boosters likely fall into one of two groups:
-Parents like pp who have been turned off by the obsession some (one?) posters have with demographics and how many FARM students will or will not attend and
-Capitol Hill parents (mostly Brent) who put years of hard work into improving the schools and are offended by the notion that all it takes to be a top school is having enough white students show up.

Every thread about Van Ness ends up about demographics, but so little is discussed about the actual program. What curriculum will they follow? Will there be dedicated art/music/PE teachers? What about special education? Foreign language? Will there be aftercare? uniforms? The school location is convenient for my family and these are the types of things that would make us interested in attending.

This is not a racial issue. In reality, most parents do not want to send their kids to a school where the vast majority of students come from challenging backgrounds (Public Housing poverty situations). Think about it, that's the reason you have private schools. Most people who choose private schools do so because it guarantees that their children will be surrounded by a certain type of child. That's also why parent send their kids to the JKLMM cluster of schools, because they like where the other children came from. That's also why a lot of people don't send their kids to Hardy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:According to an email I saw the school mascot will be voted on at the upcoming parents meeting on April 7. There is a choice between 3 animals native to the riverfront area. There will be an approach to the curriculum (Reggio, etc) but it will be chosen by the principal once they are hired.

I'll Vote for this:

http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A0LEVyZGehlVrVwAQHPBGOd_;_ylu=X3oDMTB1cHBqN2FjBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkA1RBVVMwODRfMQ--?p=simpson+nuclear+fish&back=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%3Fp%3Dsimpson%2Bnuclear%2Bfish%26fr%3Dipad%26ei%3DUTF-8&w=537&h=397&imgurl=assets.inhabitat.com%2Fwp-content%2Fblogs.dir%2F1%2Ffiles%2F2011%2F10%2FBlinky-e1319824451193.jpg&size=35KB&name=Blinky-e1319824451193.jpg&rcurl=http%3A%2F%2Finhabitat.com%2Fthree-eyed-fish-caught-near-argentinian-nuclear-power-plant%2F&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Finhabitat.com%2Fthree-eyed-fish-caught-near-argentinian-nuclear-power-plant%2F&type=&no=1&tt=119&oid=d96103720708db2bbf9ba8787d41b783&tit=...+fish+argentina%2C+three-eyed+fish+nuclear+mutation%2C+three-eyed+fish&sigr=12hs2mig0&sigi=12jsbfj2h&sign=10p2ttl4f&sigt=103d1h5lg&sigb=126hgof24&fr=ipad

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think anti VN boosters likely fall into one of two groups:
-Parents like pp who have been turned off by the obsession some (one?) posters have with demographics and how many FARM students will or will not attend and
-Capitol Hill parents (mostly Brent) who put years of hard work into improving the schools and are offended by the notion that all it takes to be a top school is having enough white students show up.

Every thread about Van Ness ends up about demographics, but so little is discussed about the actual program. What curriculum will they follow? Will there be dedicated art/music/PE teachers? What about special education? Foreign language? Will there be aftercare? uniforms? The school location is convenient for my family and these are the types of things that would make us interested in attending.

This is not a racial issue. In reality, most parents do not want to send their kids to a school where the vast majority of students come from challenging backgrounds (Public Housing poverty situations). Think about it, that's the reason you have private schools. Most people who choose private schools do so because it guarantees that their children will be surrounded by a certain type of child. That's also why parent send their kids to the JKLMM cluster of schools, because they like where the other children came from. That's also why a lot of people don't send their kids to Hardy.

Don't be obtuse. In DC, it is a racial issue unless there are schools of which i am unaware where a vast majority of students come from challenging backgrounds are white or maybe of Middle Eastern Asian or Pacific-Islander descent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Don't be obtuse. In DC, it is a racial issue unless there are schools of which i am unaware where a vast majority of students come from challenging backgrounds are white or maybe of Middle Eastern Asian or Pacific-Islander descent.

This is not a racial issue. It's a poverty issue. Kids coming from certain backgrounds have multitudes of problems that most parents don't want their kids exposed to. This has nothing to do with race. Shepherd is a great example. The school is not a Title I school, and has a population that is over 80% black. The test scores are excellent, and it is a great option for all families. The vast majority of parents I've met would love for their kids to go to Shepherd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Don't be obtuse. In DC, it is a racial issue unless there are schools of which i am unaware where a vast majority of students come from challenging backgrounds are white or maybe of Middle Eastern Asian or Pacific-Islander descent.

This is not a racial issue. It's a poverty issue. Kids coming from certain backgrounds have multitudes of problems that most parents don't want their kids exposed to. This has nothing to do with race. Shepherd is a great example. The school is not a Title I school, and has a population that is over 80% black. The test scores are excellent, and it is a great option for all families. The vast majority of parents I've met would love for their kids to go to Shepherd.

And yet there have been numerous threads recently asking when Shepherd will get more diverse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's very easy to have anti VN feelings. Especially if you live in SW. They fought so hard to keep many of our kids out of their schools by pretending to be scared of south capitol street. It felt like a quarantine.
Also- many of us had stumbled into the VNPG meetings and saw them in action. Even for DCUM standards it was distasteful. Not to mention their ignorance about school form and structure. A bunch of political wonks throwing around things like IB or immersion. It was painful to watch.

I don't call everything rascist and I actually get wanting a good kiddo mix in your schools. All good things. Then, you have the VNPG.

What specifically did the VNPG do to try to keep kids out the school?

I've been to most meetings, what did they do at the meetings that was distasteful?

What's wrong with having a meeting discussing the merits of Language Immersion or IB at the school?

What's wrong with a group of parents forming a parents group to support a DC Public School?

I've said my piece. It's ok that you disagree. But not engaging. Sorry!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to an email I saw the school mascot will be voted on at the upcoming parents meeting on April 7. There is a choice between 3 animals native to the riverfront area. There will be an approach to the curriculum (Reggio, etc) but it will be chosen by the principal once they are hired.

I'll Vote for this:

http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A0LEVyZGehlVrVwAQHPBGOd_;_ylu=X3oDMTB1cHBqN2FjBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkA1RBVVMwODRfMQ--?p=simpson+nuclear+fish&back=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%3Fp%3Dsimpson%2Bnuclear%2Bfish%26fr%3Dipad%26ei%3DUTF-8&w=537&h=397&imgurl=assets.inhabitat.com%2Fwp-content%2Fblogs.dir%2F1%2Ffiles%2F2011%2F10%2FBlinky-e1319824451193.jpg&size=35KB&name=Blinky-e1319824451193.jpg&rcurl=http%3A%2F%2Finhabitat.com%2Fthree-eyed-fish-caught-near-argentinian-nuclear-power-plant%2F&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Finhabitat.com%2Fthree-eyed-fish-caught-near-argentinian-nuclear-power-plant%2F&type=&no=1&tt=119&oid=d96103720708db2bbf9ba8787d41b783&tit=...+fish+argentina%2C+three-eyed+fish+nuclear+mutation%2C+three-eyed+fish&sigr=12hs2mig0&sigi=12jsbfj2h&sign=10p2ttl4f&sigt=103d1h5lg&sigb=126hgof24&fr=ipad

Ha! Best post of the day!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Don't be obtuse. In DC, it is a racial issue unless there are schools of which i am unaware where a vast majority of students come from challenging backgrounds are white or maybe of Middle Eastern Asian or Pacific-Islander descent.

This is not a racial issue. It's a poverty issue. Kids coming from certain backgrounds have multitudes of problems that most parents don't want their kids exposed to. This has nothing to do with race. Shepherd is a great example. The school is not a Title I school, and has a population that is over 80% black. The test scores are excellent, and it is a great option for all families. The vast majority of parents I've met would love for their kids to go to Shepherd.

Semantics. Race correlates with poverty in DC. And yes, I'm aware there are many AA families who don't live in public housing. In fact, there are many high-income AA families. There just aren't many white families on public assistance. The field is about to become more level though when DCPS implements the at risk set aside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Don't be obtuse. In DC, it is a racial issue unless there are schools of which i am unaware where a vast majority of students come from challenging backgrounds are white or maybe of Middle Eastern Asian or Pacific-Islander descent.

This is not a racial issue. It's a poverty issue. Kids coming from certain backgrounds have multitudes of problems that most parents don't want their kids exposed to. This has nothing to do with race. Shepherd is a great example. The school is not a Title I school, and has a population that is over 80% black. The test scores are excellent, and it is a great option for all families. The vast majority of parents I've met would love for their kids to go to Shepherd.

And yet there have been numerous threads recently asking when Shepherd will get more diverse.

Correct, some parents can't gasp the reality of living in a city and attending a school with so many brown kids. That has nothing to do with the issue at hand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Semantics. Race correlates with poverty in DC. And yes, I'm aware there are many AA families who don't live in public housing. In fact, there are many high-income AA families. There just aren't many white families on public assistance. The field is about to become more level though when DCPS implements the at risk set aside.

Also, if there were schools in DC that had mostly Honey Boo-Boo type families, most people in a higher class would not want their children going to that school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to an email I saw the school mascot will be voted on at the upcoming parents meeting on April 7. There is a choice between 3 animals native to the riverfront area. There will be an approach to the curriculum (Reggio, etc) but it will be chosen by the principal once they are hired.

I'll Vote for this:

http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A0LEVyZGehlVrVwAQHPBGOd_;_ylu=X3oDMTB1cHBqN2FjBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkA1RBVVMwODRfMQ--?p=simpson+nuclear+fish&back=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%3Fp%3Dsimpson%2Bnuclear%2Bfish%26fr%3Dipad%26ei%3DUTF-8&w=537&h=397&imgurl=assets.inhabitat.com%2Fwp-content%2Fblogs.dir%2F1%2Ffiles%2F2011%2F10%2FBlinky-e1319824451193.jpg&size=35KB&name=Blinky-e1319824451193.jpg&rcurl=http%3A%2F%2Finhabitat.com%2Fthree-eyed-fish-caught-near-argentinian-nuclear-power-plant%2F&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Finhabitat.com%2Fthree-eyed-fish-caught-near-argentinian-nuclear-power-plant%2F&type=&no=1&tt=119&oid=d96103720708db2bbf9ba8787d41b783&tit=...+fish+argentina%2C+three-eyed+fish+nuclear+mutation%2C+three-eyed+fish&sigr=12hs2mig0&sigi=12jsbfj2h&sign=10p2ttl4f&sigt=103d1h5lg&sigb=126hgof24&fr=ipad

#Vote For Blinky.

http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/Blinky