Hearst waitlist for K

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When my kids started in DCPS, OOB was code for "black kids." I can say with some certainty that the OOB white population at Hearst now outnumbers --or at least is equivalent to-- the OOB black population (that's why the school still has high OOB percentages but is now majority white). What I find completely comical about this whole thing is that people, over the last few years--at least on this forum-- have gone from OOB vs IB, to EOTP vs WOTP (given that it's not just the little brown kids crossing the park line anymore).

I think OOB is still code for black kids. And I think that at least some of the IB Hearst families would be more than happy to keep families like mine (white but living EOTP) if they could exclude all the little brown kids, as you put it. I think the concern about class sizes also is code for "too many [disruptive] black kids."

I've listened to IB families shit on Hearst for years now, both before and after they had kids enrolled. What galls me about the attitude about Hearst is that the school may not even exist today without the efforts of the OOB families to get their kids there. And it certainly wouldn't be the strong, improving school that it is today because so much of the hard work in building community and getting funding and providing enrichment, etc. has been led by OOB families. Don't get me wrong; certain IB families are also really involved at Hearst, too. But they certainly aren't fully responsible for the growth and improvement at Hearst in the last few years. So it truly angers me to hear incoming/lower grade IB families complain about OOB kids and class sizes when a couple of years ago they didn't even consider the school to be a decent option for their kids and never bothered getting involved at the school, either before or after they enrolled.

There may not be much of a divide between OOB and IB kids in the higher grades, but there is in my kid's grade. OOB kids are excluded. OOB parents are made to feel less welcome. It's getting worse and it sucks, because that's not how the school used to be.

Before your time, but the same could have been said about Deal. For years it was majority OOB while the people living nearby shunned it. It got better, still with many OOB students and IB families took notice. And suddenly the OOB kids were unwelcome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Class size is not always "code" for being racist. My child goes to a majority white DCPS ES and I still care about class size. It is a legitimate concern.

I don't think anyone said class size was code for racist. However, I do believe that some of the increasingly louder "overcrowded WOTP schools" outcry is due to folk who want the OOB kids (who--though shrinking-- are still mostly black) out of their schools.

To be fair, some don't want OOB kids at their school whether they are black or white. I think in the past race was motivating the outcry. However, today, I can't even say that the issue is class, because many OOB EOTP parents are on par educationally and economically with WOTP residents. It's more an attitude of, "You're taking up space in OUR school. If you want a good school, go create one in your own neighborhood," which-- of course-- is near impossible in many recently gentrified areas.

Comfort level also plays a role in choosing schools. My kids have FAR, FAR more in common with the kids at Hearst than those at our neighborhood school. That's just a reality (and by the way, I'm black). Sadly, I believe there may be some truth to Hearst losing some of it's "we are family/warm and fuzzy feel" in the lower grades where there is VERY LITTLE diversity. I'm just glad that my kids are in the upper grades and enjoying the last remnants of the old Hearst . My kids think it's the greatest place on earth (and I'm really not exaggerating).

[Anonymous]

It is just about class size, nothing more. IB and OOB families seem equally involved in the PTA, etc.

Just look at the Murch and Janney threads and you can see why parents need to speak up about class size.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When my kids started in DCPS, OOB was code for "black kids." I can say with some certainty that the OOB white population at Hearst now outnumbers --or at least is equivalent to-- the OOB black population (that's why the school still has high OOB percentages but is now majority white). What I find completely comical about this whole thing is that people, over the last few years--at least on this forum-- have gone from OOB vs IB, to EOTP vs WOTP (given that it's not just the little brown kids crossing the park line anymore).

It's all very silly. First of all, (and I can only speak of my experience at Hearst but I suspect that it may be reflective of other WOTP schools) the EOTP families have incomes and education levels on par with the WOTP families (and yes, this includes many of the African American families I know at Hearst). If you picked any two random white families at Hearst, you wouldn't be able to tell who was IB and who was OOB (Although the IB families--while lovable--aren't quite as cool ). And NO, if I have a choice --which in the District of Columbia, I do-- I am not sending my kids to our IB school. If you have a problem with that, talk to your council person or run for office and see if you can take that choice away from District parents...oh, and good luck with that.

Second, we all pay the SAME taxes. There is no separate Ward 3 tax that I am aware of, so I wish people would stop with the tax argument already. Property taxes and housing costs are high all over the city now.

As for overcrowding...except for the current K class, the school isn't overcrowded. However, I think that because of the current K class, the school is now on alert about the possibility of overcrowding. I think the attraction of our new buildings and the shift of some of Murch's boundaries to Hearst caused the IB enrollment to rise faster than the administration thought possible.

Oh FFS, really?? But it is the IB families that causes a divide, not at all this type of attitude.

[Anonymous]

So please explain to me how IB families should handle this. There is a reality that more IB families are moving in. Because of this, class sizes are getting bigger. Yes, this means that there will be fewer spots for OOB kids (of any color).

What is your solution? Let in OOB kids in the lottery and have class size of 25+? Is there another way to handle this that I'm not seeing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Class size is not always "code" for being racist. My child goes to a majority white DCPS ES and I still care about class size. It is a legitimate concern.

I don't think anyone said class size was code for racist. However, I do believe that some of the increasingly louder "overcrowded WOTP schools" outcry is due to folk who want the OOB kids (who--though shrinking-- are still mostly black) out of their schools.

To be fair, some don't want OOB kids at their school whether they are black or white. I think in the past race was motivating the outcry. However, today, I can't even say that the issue is class, because many OOB EOTP parents are on par educationally and economically with WOTP residents. It's more an attitude of, "You're taking up space in OUR school. If you want a good school, go create one in your own neighborhood," which-- of course-- is near impossible in many recently gentrified areas.

Comfort level also plays a role in choosing schools. My kids have FAR, FAR more in common with the kids at Hearst than those at our neighborhood school. That's just a reality (and by the way, I'm black). Sadly, I believe there may be some truth to Hearst losing some of it's "we are family/warm and fuzzy feel" in the lower grades where there is VERY LITTLE diversity. I'm just glad that my kids are in the upper grades and enjoying the last remnants of the old Hearst . My kids think it's the greatest place on earth (and I'm really not exaggerating).

But logically, if a school is overcrowded, why should there be OOB kids? The whole purpose of the OOB lottery in DCPS was to use available spaces in schools with excess capacity. When a school becomes enrolled over capacity, the OOB enrollment needs to be managed down aggressively, as OOB students graduate or leave through attrition. It's illogical to keep taking kids through the lottery when a school is overcrowded.

[Anonymous]

NP. Just be graceful and respectful of the OOB families that are still at Hearst. Pronouncements here or, say at a PTA meeting, that everyone needs to be sure to tell the principal how important it is to not take any OOB students sting a little when you are an OOB family.

Everyone sees the writing on the wall and very soon the OOB student at Hearst will be a thing of the past.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think parents at Hearst are concerned about overcrowding and that is very understandable.

+1

+2 I don't think that being worried about overcrowding and being welcoming of OOB families are inconsistent. Obviously not every OOB family that wants to come can do so. To the extent that they can, we'd love to have them. Indeed, I know a lot of us are stressing about our friends who are on the waiting list now as OOB with siblings for PK4. But I think we (both IB and OOB families currently at school) don't want large class sizes if it can be reasonably avoided. Who would?

Also, IB parents would be less anxious if DCPS provided more detail on how they will implement the at-risk set asides which were dictated by the 2014 revisions. If Deal and Wilson populations stay on their current upward IB trajectories, then many IB students will be in trailers for grades 5-12. That is not acceptable. And, for Murch students in particular, it could mean spending the balance of their DCPS careers in trailers.

The set asides are completely unworkable in overcrowded schools. An example of social engineering without any attention paid to basic engineering!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, of course you would be welcomed with open arms, that poster may not even be from Hearst. I think that no one wants their child in crowded classrooms. And the other thing to keep in mind is that OOB with sibling are still on the wait list. I would not read so much into an anonymous forum. If you are interested, come visit the school or reach out to the PTA.

+1 I am an IB parent and truly hope that there will still will be open spots for OOB kids in the future. Having kids from all over the District is one of the things we like best about the school and I know that most parents agree.

But DC has chosen to have a system of neighborhood schools rather than citywide lottery schools. I'm all in favor of OOB slots where there's space, but not when the school is filled to capacity with IB pupils. And from a greening standpoint, it's good to encourage school walkability rather than the present system of helter-skelter crosstown migrations by car twice a day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. Just be graceful and respectful of the OOB families that are still at Hearst. Pronouncements here or, say at a PTA meeting, that everyone needs to be sure to tell the principal how important it is to not take any OOB students sting a little when you are an OOB family.

Everyone sees the writing on the wall and very soon the OOB student at Hearst will be a thing of the past.

Understood. Just please know that lots of IB families like the school the way it is now, with a mix both IB and OOB families. Please don't assume that all IB families want the school to be 100% IB. There is a reason some of us chose to live IB for Hearst rather than Janney or Lafayette.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If central DCPS tells her to fill slots with OOB she will need to. Just know that.

She didn't need to this year. Both PK classes are <20.

There may be more IB students entering outside of the lottery to push the classes above 20 for K next year.

That is different from Central requiring her to take OOB students

Central?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When my kids started in DCPS, OOB was code for "black kids." I can say with some certainty that the OOB white population at Hearst now outnumbers --or at least is equivalent to-- the OOB black population (that's why the school still has high OOB percentages but is now majority white). What I find completely comical about this whole thing is that people, over the last few years--at least on this forum-- have gone from OOB vs IB, to EOTP vs WOTP (given that it's not just the little brown kids crossing the park line anymore).

I think OOB is still code for black kids. And I think that at least some of the IB Hearst families would be more than happy to keep families like mine (white but living EOTP) if they could exclude all the little brown kids, as you put it. I think the concern about class sizes also is code for "too many [disruptive] black kids."

I've listened to IB families shit on Hearst for years now, both before and after they had kids enrolled. What galls me about the attitude about Hearst is that the school may not even exist today without the efforts of the OOB families to get their kids there. And it certainly wouldn't be the strong, improving school that it is today because so much of the hard work in building community and getting funding and providing enrichment, etc. has been led by OOB families. Don't get me wrong; certain IB families are also really involved at Hearst, too. But they certainly aren't fully responsible for the growth and improvement at Hearst in the last few years. So it truly angers me to hear incoming/lower grade IB families complain about OOB kids and class sizes when a couple of years ago they didn't even consider the school to be a decent option for their kids and never bothered getting involved at the school, either before or after they enrolled.

There may not be much of a divide between OOB and IB kids in the higher grades, but there is in my kid's grade. OOB kids are excluded. OOB parents are made to feel less welcome. It's getting worse and it sucks, because that's not how the school used to be.

I am an IB parent and I feel excluded from OOB parents all the time. See above comment about how much less "cool" we are. This attitude that we are boring rich people because we live WOTP, when the reality is that many IB families live in apartments, in McLean gardens, or in small duplexes bought years ago and many EOTP families live in big beautiful houses. So let's not pretend that this divide is all the fault of the IB families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If central DCPS tells her to fill slots with OOB she will need to. Just know that.

She didn't need to this year. Both PK classes are <20.

There may be more IB students entering outside of the lottery to push the classes above 20 for K next year.

That is different from Central requiring her to take OOB students

Central?

DCPS Central Office / Kaya Henderson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. Just be graceful and respectful of the OOB families that are still at Hearst. Pronouncements here or, say at a PTA meeting, that everyone needs to be sure to tell the principal how important it is to not take any OOB students sting a little when you are an OOB family.

Everyone sees the writing on the wall and very soon the OOB student at Hearst will be a thing of the past.

Understood. Just please know that lots of IB families like the school the way it is now, with a mix both IB and OOB families. Please don't assume that all IB families want the school to be 100% IB. There is a reason some of us chose to live IB for Hearst rather than Janney or Lafayette.

Guess what? Parents don't get to chose the makeup of the school. IB kids have, and will always have priority. And choosing a school because you loved the fact that it had lots of OOB families is just as obnoxious as saying you chose a school because it didn't have many OOB families. Your attitude is really something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. Just be graceful and respectful of the OOB families that are still at Hearst. Pronouncements here or, say at a PTA meeting, that everyone needs to be sure to tell the principal how important it is to not take any OOB students sting a little when you are an OOB family.

Everyone sees the writing on the wall and very soon the OOB student at Hearst will be a thing of the past.

Understood. Just please know that lots of IB families like the school the way it is now, with a mix both IB and OOB families. Please don't assume that all IB families want the school to be 100% IB. There is a reason some of us chose to live IB for Hearst rather than Janney or Lafayette.

Guess what? Parents don't get to chose the makeup of the school. IB kids have, and will always have priority. And choosing a school because you loved the fact that it had lots of OOB families is just as obnoxious as saying you chose a school because it didn't have many OOB families. Your attitude is really something.

Interesting reaction. What exactly bothers you about this? We liked that the school had kids from all over DC. When we moved in, there weren't many IB families going to the school, which allowed for OOB kids to come in. We viewed this as a nice thing and figured it would stay that way. There's nothing we can do about the changes, but it is not something we were hoping for. How is that obnoxious?