Moving to Cap Hill from out of state, tell me about Brent elementary

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I have two kids at Brent now, and have a child at the school for eight years. We love the school. The principal and the building are both good/fine. The specials (art, music, foreign language, PE) are very good. The school is small and quite orderly. The teachers are amazing. We have had so many fabulous classroom teachers. The student body is nice, mostly very well prepared/ at grade level. We have not had a problem with any of our kids being bullied.

* The language program is in turmoil at the moment.

The Brent principal decided to move from Mandarin to Spanish next year for a variety of reasons which have been explained to parents. Some parents were unhappy with the process and the principal more generally, in part, because he originally hoped to offer Latin imstruction only to grades 2-5. This would have permitted reallocation about $50,000 in funds to hire additional staff to support the new strategic plan. DCPS turned down the request and language instruction will continue to be offered to all grades. Sorry, a handful of unhappy parents does not equate to turmoil.

The language program is in turmoil. Let's be completely honest about what is happening. The principal is getting rid of a solid Chinese program as a matter of convenience, in order to get rid of one teacher. Ignoring parent recommendations with regard to language, he came up with a half-baked plan to teach Latin and cut language instruction. Then, under pressure, he settled on another half-baked plan to teach Spanish. The PTA and LSAT squelched discussion on the matter. All of this is very reactive, without proper forethought. The "variety of reason which have been explained to parents" amount to propaganda.

Yawn. Yes, the process was handled poorly. We get it. You guys gave it your best shot. We were subjected to churlish, boorish behavior and other incivilities, not to mention frivolous entreaties to stop donating funds to the PTA. You tried to monopolize discussions at more meetings than i want to remember. You posted ad hominem attacks on Brent Neighbors and DCUM. Still, we respectfully listened to what you had to say time and time again. In the end, your arguments and demeanor had no resonance. I'm truly sorry you can't seem to get past this, but the rest of us are looking forward to reapijg the benefits of a reconstituted and hopefully much stronger language program. In any event, this is far from the most significant challenge facing Brent, which you should have known had you been as engaged as other parents who have been attending PTA and LSAT meeting on a regular basis for a number of years. I understand that the bigger picture can be hard to grasp when your DC is still in Kindergarten, but until you are able to do so, please try to put your time and energy into something more constructive and beneficial.

So typical for you, a member of Brent's LSAT-PTA cabal, to resort to name calling. The people who spoke up about this snafu were justifiably outraged, but rather than addressing the core issue or having any constructive conversation, you label the outrage as churlish, make it into an "us vs. them" issue, and try to whitewash it. The most significant issue at Brent isn't language. It isn't kids' behavior. It's your divisive nonsense.

Dude . . . Get a grip.

[Anonymous]

Brent's Man of La Mancha.
Neverending are the windmills of his obsession.
But who shall be Pancho?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:http://themaplescapitolhill.com/

Also: http://www.hineschool.com

Even if they cut PS3 there will be a capacity issue soon!

Hine won't bring new family household because it's mostly small apartments and it's not likely to attract families. Maples is only about a dozen townhomes and the rest apartments. Neither are close to being done anytime soon. The IGU and E St. projects near Watkins are bother much larger in scale fwiw (also years away)

I know this has nothing to do with Brent, but what are the IGU and E St. projects? (Curious since I own a home inbound to Watkins.)

http://capitolhillcorner.org/2015/04/22/first-look-at-plans-for-development-of-capitol-hills-buchanan-schooligu-site/

Nearby E Street Project (46 townhouses): http://dc.curbed.com/tags/opal-llc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://themaplescapitolhill.com/

Also: http://www.hineschool.com

Even if they cut PS3 there will be a capacity issue soon!

Hine won't bring new family household because it's mostly small apartments and it's not likely to attract families. Maples is only about a dozen townhomes and the rest apartments. Neither are close to being done anytime soon. The IGU and E St. projects near Watkins are bother much larger in scale fwiw (also years away)

I know this has nothing to do with Brent, but what are the IGU and E St. projects? (Curious since I own a home inbound to Watkins.)

http://capitolhillcorner.org/2015/04/22/first-look-at-plans-for-development-of-capitol-hills-buchanan-schooligu-site/

Nearby E Street Project (46 townhouses): http://dc.curbed.com/tags/opal-llc

E St project -- 46 units -- 30 townhomes. 8 "lofts" and 6 "flats" -- marketing words for apartments

both pending zoning approval but likely to get it

[Anonymous]

Nearby E Street Project (46 townhouses): http://dc.curbed.com/tags/opal-llc

Thanks for posting this. I'm inbound for Watkins and LOVE seeing what this will do 1) for the Watkins inbound population, and 2) my home value.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Nearby E Street Project (46 townhouses): http://dc.curbed.com/tags/opal-llc

Thanks for posting this. I'm inbound for Watkins and LOVE seeing what this will do 1) for the Watkins inbound population, and 2) my home value.

The Watkins IB population suffers from attrition -- there are plenty of IB families now to support it as evidenced by the huge demand for Peabody for ECE. The facility isn't terribly attractive and that should be improved with modernization. On paper the plans are promising. Its larger size doesn't help either, but that would be less of an issue if it better retained rising 1st graders and kept them through 5th.

I don't think this enhances home values as much as reflects the current demand and prices for the area. Developers are waking up to the Penn Ave corridor near Potomac and the are is going to see significant change in the next 5 years.

[Anonymous]

Families I know who live there send kids to private. They likelocation and city living, but not the public schools. Two families for religious education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Families I know who live there send kids to private. They likelocation and city living, but not the public schools. Two families for religious education.

Thanks for your useless comment. You know two people on capitol hill who send their kids to St. Peter's. Good for you. Most people send their kids to Brent. I would not send my kid to St. Peter's but that's just my family's choice. Brent is excellent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Families I know who live there send kids to private. They likelocation and city living, but not the public schools. Two families for religious education.

Thanks for your useless comment. You know two people on capitol hill who send their kids to St. Peter's. Good for you. Most people send their kids to Brent. I would not send my kid to St. Peter's but that's just my family's choice. Brent is excellent.

I think the "useless" comment pertains to Watkins. The poster knows two inbound kids at religious school instead of going to Watkins.

I on the other hand have a rising first grader at Peabody, and currently only know of two families NOT sending their kids to Watkins. I'm sure there must be more than two who are leaving the Cluster, but everyone except two (that I know), will be at Watkins next year. (Sample-size: my kid's classmates&friends plus everyone at a widely attended K birthday party this past weekend.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Families I know who live there send kids to private. They likelocation and city living, but not the public schools. Two families for religious education.

Thanks for your useless comment. You know two people on capitol hill who send their kids to St. Peter's. Good for you. Most people send their kids to Brent. I would not send my kid to St. Peter's but that's just my family's choice. Brent is excellent.

I think the "useless" comment pertains to Watkins. The poster knows two inbound kids at religious school instead of going to Watkins.

I on the other hand have a rising first grader at Peabody, and currently only know of two families NOT sending their kids to Watkins. I'm sure there must be more than two who are leaving the Cluster, but everyone except two (that I know), will be at Watkins next year. (Sample-size: my kid's classmates&friends plus everyone at a widely attended K birthday party this past weekend.)

WAY more in charters than private

[Anonymous]

This is about Brent. GET OFF MY LAWN!

[Anonymous]

J/K

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is about Brent. GET OFF MY LAWN!

OK -- in a nutshell, good K-4 school, which assumes no PK for newbies without enrolled sib and MS elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Yikes cranky!
For correct I know many families on hill. Two of whom send kids for religious ed (both Jewish day schools btw not St. Peter).
Four others have kids at various private. one at charter. Three at public which they like.
So on balance, more private. That's all. Ok moving from out of town. Am seeking to provide context.

[Anonymous]

The recent data for Brent which I have seen reflected that Brent was capturing about 75 percent of its in-bound population. The balance not attending were comprised principally of (1) the kids shut out of ECE and (2) The kifs who moved to charters and privates for Fifth Grade. There are some IB kids spread among schools like St. Peter, Capitol Hill Day, Yu Ying, Mundo Verde, and the German School in Potomac.