Middle and high school on Capitol Hill

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What never fails to enrage me are Hillites accepting what Upper NW parents never would collectively - several "neighborhood" middle schools that 3/4 OOB and/or 2/3 empty. What would warrant having the Hill strongest elementary schools feed into a single MS is simple common sense, and a preoccupation with practical social justice. The poor kids in our community do not benefit from the phenomenon of the great majority of highly educated families fleeing undesirable, low-performing (or at best, mediocre) neighborhood schools not just year after year, but decade after decade. Let a critical mass of strong students build at a single Ward 6 by-right middle school and all boats rise with the tide, and fast.

When most local affluent parents would much rather move, go private, or go charter rather than enroll their children in a by-right school in which they lack confidence, the system is at fault, not the parents. Yes, the odd high SES parent/good liberal like you can and will make SH work, but most can't and won't. We are in-boundary for SH but my Asian better half (senior with a federal agency) won't touch a school that's 0% Asian for our children, period. His bitter memories of being taunted by peers as one of the only Asians in his public MS remain strong.

Calling fellow Hill parents names for our failure to line up to enroll their kids at middle schools with proficiency pass rates in the teens (EH and Jefferson Academy) without grade level offerings, let alone classes and programs supporting advanced learners, is churlish and childish. Cut the crap, friend.

It's not about "accepting" anything. You can't compare to upper NW. Biggest reason is Hill has different demographics. There are no projects in upper NW, CH families will never escape what they're trying to escape. Also, it's not a build it and they will come. Upper NW didn't always rush to attend Deal, same with Hardy now. You need buy-in and opting-in of a large cohort.

[Anonymous]

^^^ precisely why DCPS ought not splinter Hill elementaries among three middle schools. Cohort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I think the idea is that feeding sws, Brent and Maury to a common middle school ( along with other elementaries ) is gerrymandering.

However the biggest gerrymander EVER is the weird, diagonal swath across Capitol Hill that formed the Capitol Hill Cluster School SO THAT people like pp could AVOID going to middle school with anyone other than Watkins graduates. J.O. Wilson and LT were added as feeder schools in only the last 5-6 years. This is what PP and his/her kids benefited from and now enrages him/her about others

Hyperbole much? The boundary travels east/west to accomodate ECE at Peabody. If Peabody went away you'd see some of its boundary absorbed by Brent, Ludlow Taylor and Watkins. As it stands, K is compulsory and children IB for Watkins require an IB K option.

The weider boundary is the eastern portion of Watkins which surgically carves itself around Payne

No, the whole boundary is a hot mess.

-Inbounds for the cluster

But a Clevland Park parent IB for Eaton is just supposed to swallow that while Shepherd and Bancroft keep their Deal feed

Got -- Cluster is the snowflake of DCPS boundaries

I think you misunderstood me. I think the Cluster boundary is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:DCPS isn't sympathetic to these families bc there are plenty of others that are more than satisfied with Stuart Hobson and Eastern. Either these high SES families make a decision to send their children to these schools and become the change they want to see or continue to flee to Upper NW or the burbs.

I wouldn't say there are "plenty" of hill families "more than satisfied" with Eastern.

There are plenty of families happy with Eastern. You likely don't socialize with them because they are not your SES.

Why would they be happy with such terrible test scores?

Why are you endorsing the soft bigotry of low expectations?

- Person of color

We're on track to go to Stuart-Hobson and I'd love for Eastern to be an option, but looking at the school profile, I see:
- It's rated "priority" (lowest of five levels).
- "100%" free and reduced lunch (which I know doesn't mean 100%, but is above some very high threshold).
- Only 1% of students met expectations (level 4) on the PARCC math test, and 0% exceeded expectations.

Can anyone with direct knowledge share any positive information on the school?

RE Eastern --

Last spring EHS senior won one of the 10 full scholarship to GWU. The press release also says she did an exchange program in Japan
https://gwtoday.gwu.edu/gw-surprises-dc-students-free-college-education

EHS has also created a dedicated path for high motivated students -- that students must apply to be part of and maintain grades to stay in it. I think high SES families could build on that easily http://easternhighschooldc.org/intro/accelerated-cohort-eastern-ace/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPS isn't sympathetic to these families bc there are plenty of others that are more than satisfied with Stuart Hobson and Eastern. Either these high SES families make a decision to send their children to these schools and become the change they want to see or continue to flee to Upper NW or the burbs.

I wouldn't say there are "plenty" of hill families "more than satisfied" with Eastern.

There are plenty of families happy with Eastern. You likely don't socialize with them because they are not your SES.

Why would they be happy with such terrible test scores?

Why are you endorsing the soft bigotry of low expectations?

- Person of color

Where do I endorse the bigotry of low expectations? You are letting your emotions cloud your reading comprehension. I have lived here long enough to remember a time when Eastern was truly considered "The Pride of Capitol Hill" by certain DC residents. There are still many that hold onto this perception of Eastern, despite what you call "the soft bigotry of low expectations". Right or wrong, they are still happy to send their dcs to Eastern and are likely happy most of the stroller brigade (in the words of Eastern booster Word Salad) stay far away.

Stating what I believe to be the attitude of DCPS towards high SES Hill families is also not endorsing the view. If you think DCPS cares about these families and their refusal to attend any of the current middle school offerings, you are naïve and will be one of the many families bailing for charters, private of upper nw schools by 6th grade. Take a look at the Wilson thread about the plan for "Honors for all" with next year's 9th grade. DCPS has always been clear about what demographic is most important. Again, if high SES parents want to use the middle schools on the Hill, they will need to be the change they want to see and will be waiting a long time if they expect DCPS to give them what they want. .

[Anonymous]

Again, if high SES parents want to use the middle schools on the Hill, they will need to be the change they want to see and will be waiting a long time if they expect DCPS to give them what they want. .

Preach! We just went through this decision process and have consulted with tons of families who are staying. Its doable, but it will be a second job for those families and they are not likely to get much that they dont create themselves.

[Anonymous]

Build on it easily = pie in the sky.

CHPSPO's harebrained approach to MS reform in Ward 6 brings US policy toward Cuba to mind. The Cluster hasn't come close to achieving its stated goals for 30 years. US Cuba policy failed to achieve its own goals for twice that long, but remained in force because a small, highly vocal, well-resourced, politically connected minority in a swing state pushed the right political levers in DC. How much longer do we have to tolerate the hackneyed, failing Cluster arrangement? 30 more years?

What I hate about the loud sucking sound the splashy Hobson renovation has brought to the Hill is the fantastic waste of local human resources it represents. Year after year, DCPS is tossing serious PTA capacity incubated at Brent, SWS and Maury out the window to advance a narrow political agenda advanced by a small group of misguided and myopic bleeding hearts. Harness the savvy at a single Ward 6 middle school where appropriate (but flexible) academic streaming is embraced and everybody would win, mainly because the kick-ass PTA graduates of several largely parent-built elementary feeder schools would ensure that the next school up the chain works. Lower capacity Hill PTAs that are gaining ground, including those at Tyler, JO Wilson, Ludlow and and even Payne would also accrue the benefit, gaining momentum in building capacity knowing that the road ahead was opened-ended.

The Hobson families I know who crack Walls pay through the nose for tutors. We can do better.

[Anonymous]

My oldest is only 7, but we're setting up a MS savings account for a private. MS situation is going nowhere for most of us on the Hill for many years. Too many cooks spoiling the broth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the idea is that feeding sws, Brent and Maury to a common middle school ( along with other elementaries ) is gerrymandering.

However the biggest gerrymander EVER is the weird, diagonal swath across Capitol Hill that formed the Capitol Hill Cluster School SO THAT people like pp could AVOID going to middle school with anyone other than Watkins graduates. J.O. Wilson and LT were added as feeder schools in only the last 5-6 years. This is what PP and his/her kids benefited from and now enrages him/her about others

Hyperbole much? The boundary travels east/west to accomodate ECE at Peabody. If Peabody went away you'd see some of its boundary absorbed by Brent, Ludlow Taylor and Watkins. As it stands, K is compulsory and children IB for Watkins require an IB K option.

The weider boundary is the eastern portion of Watkins which surgically carves itself around Payne

No, the whole boundary is a hot mess.

-Inbounds for the cluster

But a Clevland Park parent IB for Eaton is just supposed to swallow that while Shepherd and Bancroft keep their Deal feed

Got -- Cluster is the snowflake of DCPS boundaries

Eaton was already dual feeder to both. Shepherd and Bancroft do not have other middle school alternative. The boundary was years before Macfarland reopened.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why should Allen do anything to advance MS development? He'll get voted out if he continues to do little? Almost certainly not - longtime Hill realtors will tell you that only around 1/4 of Hill residents and potential buyers, give a hoot about Ward 6 MS quality at any given time. Even if Allen wanted to take bold steps to bolster stakeholder confidence in SH, EH and Jefferson, what could he possibly do from Ward 6, even if Grosso supported him?

The sad fact is that DCPS elected to lavish 40 million on renovating Stuart Hobson, a medium-sized school that isn't very popular with most neighborhood residents, although it serves only 3 of the 9 Hill ES communities. The decision has virtually emptied Ward 6 ed money coffers. The three strongest local elementary programs--Brent, Maury and SWS--were not permitted to feed into one MS as a result of the 2014 boundary and feeder review, despite strong support for this solution across Cap Hill. Moreover, the strongest students in the 3 schools feeding into SH, concentrated at Watkins, tend to end up at BASIS and/or Latin, not SH. As a result, a Deal caliber program can't emerge at any of the schools, at least without a new test-in program, for a good 20 years.

This gerrymandering fever-dream never fails to enrage me. Other than de facto segregation, and hence almost exclusively high SES, these schools share nothing that would warrant them feeding into a single MS by themselves. They aren't large enough to fill one MS by themselves. As it is, Brent has a choice of E-H as well as Jefferson, and both SWS and Maury were intended to feed to E-H too. So what was the problem there? Oh that's right, other Hill schools like Payne and Miner were also supposed to feed to E-H, so that was a non-starter.

FWIW, I have one kid who went through SH, and on to Walls and one who will follow. And we are definitely in the high SES bracket, maybe in one of the highest. We were fine with the kids coming from JOW and LT at SH.

Good for you that your wealth (which you pointed out twice) shielded your kid from the terrible schools that you sent them.

What about less fortunate kids? Are they just supposed to deal with it and struggle on to Eastern?

You're worse than a hypocrite because I think you sincerely think you're some sort of martyr for sending your kids to lousy schools. It is the height of White Privilege to swan in here and act astounded that you're high SES kids were fine in a bad school. Good for you. Your kids will do fine anywhere. What about the rest of us?

Still waiting for an answer to this one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those 5 mile away Deal families might be out of luck soon. Deal and Wilson are reaching a breaking point in attendance. Something has to give soon.

Not really -- their population projections don't show further increases. You'll never see DCPS pull Shepherd out of the Deal/Wilson feed. Will never happen.

Wrong. Cluster 12 is supposed to grow 43% -- that's where Deal is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Build on it easily = pie in the sky.

CHPSPO's harebrained approach to MS reform in Ward 6 brings US policy toward Cuba to mind. The Cluster hasn't come close to achieving its stated goals for 30 years. US Cuba policy failed to achieve its own goals for twice that long, but remained in force because a small, highly vocal, well-resourced, politically connected minority in a swing state pushed the right political levers in DC. How much longer do we have to tolerate the hackneyed, failing Cluster arrangement? 30 more years?

What I hate about the loud sucking sound the splashy Hobson renovation has brought to the Hill is the fantastic waste of local human resources it represents. Year after year, DCPS is tossing serious PTA capacity incubated at Brent, SWS and Maury out the window to advance a narrow political agenda advanced by a small group of misguided and myopic bleeding hearts. Harness the savvy at a single Ward 6 middle school where appropriate (but flexible) academic streaming is embraced and everybody would win, mainly because the kick-ass PTA graduates of several largely parent-built elementary feeder schools would ensure that the next school up the chain works. Lower capacity Hill PTAs that are gaining ground, including those at Tyler, JO Wilson, Ludlow and and even Payne would also accrue the benefit, gaining momentum in building capacity knowing that the road ahead was opened-ended.

The Hobson families I know who crack Walls pay through the nose for tutors. We can do better.

how do parents build a school? What is "capacity"? Maybe they should take all their capacity and open charter schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Build on it easily = pie in the sky.

CHPSPO's harebrained approach to MS reform in Ward 6 brings US policy toward Cuba to mind. The Cluster hasn't come close to achieving its stated goals for 30 years. US Cuba policy failed to achieve its own goals for twice that long, but remained in force because a small, highly vocal, well-resourced, politically connected minority in a swing state pushed the right political levers in DC. How much longer do we have to tolerate the hackneyed, failing Cluster arrangement? 30 more years?

What I hate about the loud sucking sound the splashy Hobson renovation has brought to the Hill is the fantastic waste of local human resources it represents. Year after year, DCPS is tossing serious PTA capacity incubated at Brent, SWS and Maury out the window to advance a narrow political agenda advanced by a small group of misguided and myopic bleeding hearts. Harness the savvy at a single Ward 6 middle school where appropriate (but flexible) academic streaming is embraced and everybody would win, mainly because the kick-ass PTA graduates of several largely parent-built elementary feeder schools would ensure that the next school up the chain works. Lower capacity Hill PTAs that are gaining ground, including those at Tyler, JO Wilson, Ludlow and and even Payne would also accrue the benefit, gaining momentum in building capacity knowing that the road ahead was opened-ended.

The Hobson families I know who crack Walls pay through the nose for tutors. We can do better.

how do parents build a school? What is "capacity"? Maybe they should take all their capacity and open charter schools.

also if they have all that capacity to build schools they would have figured out a middle school solution. sounds like smoke and mirrors and a lot of yard sales. they can't simultaneously be so amazing and so helpless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My oldest is only 7, but we're setting up a MS savings account for a private. MS situation is going nowhere for most of us on the Hill for many years. Too many cooks spoiling the broth.

this.And thats why I laugh when my neighbors here in Petworth talk about Mcfarland becoming an awesome middle school but the time our preschoolers are old enough. it take 20-30 years and thats with support from DCPS. middle school is only as strong as the cohort of kids from the feeders. And almost all the high SES families are gone after 4thgrade in the feeders in cap hill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Build on it easily = pie in the sky.

CHPSPO's harebrained approach to MS reform in Ward 6 brings US policy toward Cuba to mind. The Cluster hasn't come close to achieving its stated goals for 30 years. US Cuba policy failed to achieve its own goals for twice that long, but remained in force because a small, highly vocal, well-resourced, politically connected minority in a swing state pushed the right political levers in DC. How much longer do we have to tolerate the hackneyed, failing Cluster arrangement? 30 more years?

What I hate about the loud sucking sound the splashy Hobson renovation has brought to the Hill is the fantastic waste of local human resources it represents. Year after year, DCPS is tossing serious PTA capacity incubated at Brent, SWS and Maury out the window to advance a narrow political agenda advanced by a small group of misguided and myopic bleeding hearts. Harness the savvy at a single Ward 6 middle school where appropriate (but flexible) academic streaming is embraced and everybody would win, mainly because the kick-ass PTA graduates of several largely parent-built elementary feeder schools would ensure that the next school up the chain works. Lower capacity Hill PTAs that are gaining ground, including those at Tyler, JO Wilson, Ludlow and and even Payne would also accrue the benefit, gaining momentum in building capacity knowing that the road ahead was opened-ended.

The Hobson families I know who crack Walls pay through the nose for tutors. We can do better.

how do parents build a school? What is "capacity"? Maybe they should take all their capacity and open charter schools.

also if they have all that capacity to build schools they would have figured out a middle school solution. sounds like smoke and mirrors and a lot of yard sales. they can't simultaneously be so amazing and so helpless.

Parents prevented the Maury site from being auctioned off to a developer ten years ago. Brent parents got an awful principal canned, found one they could work with, got the building renovated and took the school population from 0% in-boundary (yes, 0%) to nearly 60% in a little over a decade.

There are already enough charter schools Hill parents can't necessarily use - lottery luck only gets you so far. Yes they can be amazing and relatively helpless, because elementary and middle school are different kettles of fish on the Hill. This is due to a combination of boneheaded feeder arrangements DCPS won't modify to permit a critical mass of strong students to form at any one by-right middle school, and longstanding DCPS resistance to academic tracking. Think peasants in the Middle Ages using ropes to try to dislodge a big boulder from a field. Instead of pulling together, they pull in different directions and the boulder stays.