how to address the under enrollment at Brookland Middle School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC could help Brookland MS enrollment by allowing/encouraging the construction of more townhouses and 3+ bedroom apartments in the catchment area.

In the short-term, they could locate more special ed programs there, moving them out of more crowded schools.

They could also offer programs that other middle schools don't have--what if they teamed up with the National Guard to have a middle school JROTC, to feed into Dunbar's program? That would provide some nice continuity through the feeder pattern.

Somehow I don't think any of this is what most DCUM families want (I don't think most families care about the size of the school, given the huge popularity of both Ross and Janney), but these ideas would definitely raise enrollment.

While I think your suggestion could result in greater enrollment, I don't think there is enough undeveloped land just waiting for townhouse development to make a difference. And even if the District decided tomorrow to encourage 3 bedroom multifamily development, it would take a very long time for the development to occur. Most, if not all, existing land in the catchment are is already in use for other things.

[Anonymous]

If the goal is to increase the enrollment of high-SES kids, DCPS would have to do specific things. Some of those things might make the school less attractive to low-SES kids, who are the vast majority of middle schoolers in DC.

So what do people want--a small school that is good for rich families whose kids are at or above grade level, or a big school? I know what posters on DCUM want. But that's not necessarily what DCPS does, or should, want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the goal is to increase the enrollment of high-SES kids, DCPS would have to do specific things. Some of those things might make the school less attractive to low-SES kids, who are the vast majority of middle schoolers in DC.

So what do people want--a small school that is good for rich families whose kids are at or above grade level, or a big school? I know what posters on DCUM want. But that's not necessarily what DCPS does, or should, want.

What you're saying makes sense, but isn't reflected in what's actually happening. DCPS is trying to do things to be attractive to low SES kids, and almost no one is interested.

[Anonymous]

Whenever you ignore the test scores of the majority of DCPS schools (and that includes BM feeders like Bunker Hill and Noyes) you are willfully ignoring what DCPS is about.

This is a school system for the illiterate masses. Does that sound harsh? Oh, I'm sorry. I've run out of other ways to point out that maybe half of the students in DCPS can read at grade level.

You want pre-algebra options for students who can't even multiply. You want foreign language for students who can't read in English.

In other words, you are not only fighting against the prevailing tide, but you don't understand that the lifeguard doesn't care about you. He's looking at a different stretch of the beach and there are more people on that end.

Until DCPS isn't desperately focused on the fact that its average students are FAR below the national average? Then YOUR above-average student will never be anything other than a tool to raise the average. Your child can sit in class and be an example to others. THAT is what DCPS needs from your student (and nobody gives a damn what your student may actually need from DCPS).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't fix under enrollment at Brookland so long as it feeds to Dunbar.

It's a sysiphean task.

It is a huge task but it can work. Stuart-Hobson feeds to Eastern but parents have made a lot of progress there in the last 20 years.

in 20 years! and yes its improved but lets get real, it doesn't come close to a high performing school in NoVA or Deal. And SH has much much stronger feeders than Brookland. Brookland has weak feeders. They should make a school within a school there that is a purely test in academy open to the entire city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whenever you ignore the test scores of the majority of DCPS schools (and that includes BM feeders like Bunker Hill and Noyes) you are willfully ignoring what DCPS is about.

This is a school system for the illiterate masses. Does that sound harsh? Oh, I'm sorry. I've run out of other ways to point out that maybe half of the students in DCPS can read at grade level.

You want pre-algebra options for students who can't even multiply. You want foreign language for students who can't read in English.

In other words, you are not only fighting against the prevailing tide, but you don't understand that the lifeguard doesn't care about you. He's looking at a different stretch of the beach and there are more people on that end.

Until DCPS isn't desperately focused on the fact that its average students are FAR below the national average? Then YOUR above-average student will never be anything other than a tool to raise the average. Your child can sit in class and be an example to others. THAT is what DCPS needs from your student (and nobody gives a damn what your student may actually need from DCPS).

this x1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC could help Brookland MS enrollment by allowing/encouraging the construction of more townhouses and 3+ bedroom apartments in the catchment area.

In the short-term, they could locate more special ed programs there, moving them out of more crowded schools.

They could also offer programs that other middle schools don't have--what if they teamed up with the National Guard to have a middle school JROTC, to feed into Dunbar's program? That would provide some nice continuity through the feeder pattern.

Somehow I don't think any of this is what most DCUM families want (I don't think most families care about the size of the school, given the huge popularity of both Ross and Janney), but these ideas would definitely raise enrollment.

While I think your suggestion could result in greater enrollment, I don't think there is enough undeveloped land just waiting for townhouse development to make a difference. And even if the District decided tomorrow to encourage 3 bedroom multifamily development, it would take a very long time for the development to occur. Most, if not all, existing land in the catchment are is already in use for other things.

Last year, EYA proposed putting 90 townhouses at St. Joseph's seminary. The neighborhood freaked out and they cut it back to 80, and there are still folks agitating for the Zoning Commission to reject it. Brookland Manor's original redevelopment plan would have had 2235 units, and the revised plan has 1760. The current site has 535 units. This is a massive development, and the number of units and the number of units with 2 or more bedrooms (especially 3+) is going to really matter to the population IB for BMS. Just these two projects alone could bring several hundred more kids to the neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't fix under enrollment at Brookland so long as it feeds to Dunbar.

It's a sysiphean task.

It is a huge task but it can work. Stuart-Hobson feeds to Eastern but parents have made a lot of progress there in the last 20 years.

The key phrase is 20 years. I would imagine OP has a child who is already born, and will need a MS option she's confident in sooner than that.

I'm the OP, and have a K child. I don't think it would take 20 years to fill up the building. I think if they offer an IB program, there would be increased demand next year. Look at the incredible demand for charters that offer desirable programming. Many of them have no track record, and terrible facilities. And yet the people flock to them. This isn't that hard.

a lot of charters are self selecting-higher income SES families who can travel distances in the morning and afternoon to the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BASIS attracts some families because 1) the academics are rigorous, 2) the school has a no social promotion policy and 3) the kids have to take 6 AP exams to graduate -- meaning the fact that they learned something (or didn't) is validated externally.

To be blunt, parents of strong students figure that while there may be kids below grade level in their children's 5th or 6th grade classes (except for math), by 7th those kids will have either caught up, or will have left the school.

It's really controversial, and their high stakes test policies in middle school sometimes catch 'good' students too, who struggle in a subject.

That's not something DCPS can do, and something no other charter chooses to do.

I'm the previous poster that mentioned BASIS, as an example of how a rigorous program can attract students, even when the school lacks other things that most parents want. You're right that there are some things about BASIS that wouldn't work in DCPS. I still there are things that DCPS can do it institute a rigorous curriculum, and these things would attract more students.

If your goal is to get high-SES families through rigor, good luck. Lots of folks in Brookland say they won't use BMS because it lacks rigor, but they're trying to get their kids into places like Shining Stars and CMI...which have a lot going for them but rigor isn't really among them. And lots of folks in Brookland already feel like they have rigorous options, like KIPP or DC Prep. Replicating their models, which absolutely raise achievement for many students in a majority at-risk student body, could be attractive to some people but a) is hard to do in a DCPS vs. a charter and b) probably wouldn't make the DCUM crowd any happier.

You have to figure out what you want: a school that is attractive to rich people (organic meals, tracked classes, inquiry-based learning), or a school that raises achievement among kids who come in behind (extended school days/years, trauma-focused services, remediation, along with plenty of physical activity and fun stuff that isn't just math and reading worksheets), or a school that tries to do both but kids rarely meet each other across the divide.

Wrong. There's a huge section of parents who want schools that are attractive programmatically and yet not drill-and-kill rigorous. Latin found them (or vice-versa, really). Organic meals and avoidance of drill-and-kill is necessary for elementary. Academic rigor (which means test-in options and dual languages: not behavior modification Saturdays and math worksheets) is more nuanced for higher SES families than DCPS seems to want to even try to wrap its head around.

Again, it's because they're so desperate to get at least 50% of students reading at grade level, that honestly the kids doing math 2 levels above can go to hell as far they're concerned.

+1000. Education in DC is all about "raising self esteem" and making kids feel good about themselves never mind academics and rigor that will give them the skills to go to college. Their focus is all about getting the under performers and the functionally illiterate to stay in school long enough to get a high school diploma.

[Anonymous]

IB isn't the magic bullet OP.

Eliot Hine MS is already offering IB and it hasn't changed its trajectory at all.

https://dcps.dc.gov/ib

[Anonymous]

that original thread abut brookland from 2014 is eye opening. DCPS went on the record to state they "heard from parents the importance of test in classes and languages"--and none of that happened. the take away "we heard you parents, now shut up, so we can do what we want and fail as we always do"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whenever you ignore the test scores of the majority of DCPS schools (and that includes BM feeders like Bunker Hill and Noyes) you are willfully ignoring what DCPS is about.

This is a school system for the illiterate masses. Does that sound harsh? Oh, I'm sorry. I've run out of other ways to point out that maybe half of the students in DCPS can read at grade level.

You want pre-algebra options for students who can't even multiply. You want foreign language for students who can't read in English.

In other words, you are not only fighting against the prevailing tide, but you don't understand that the lifeguard doesn't care about you. He's looking at a different stretch of the beach and there are more people on that end.

Until DCPS isn't desperately focused on the fact that its average students are FAR below the national average? Then YOUR above-average student will never be anything other than a tool to raise the average. Your child can sit in class and be an example to others. THAT is what DCPS needs from your student (and nobody gives a damn what your student may actually need from DCPS).

this x1000

+ a million. Even extracurriculars are run this way by DCPS. Kids may not be able to read at grade level in high school but we'll make sure they have great self-esteem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IB isn't the magic bullet OP.

Eliot Hine MS is already offering IB and it hasn't changed its trajectory at all.

https://dcps.dc.gov/ib

IB alone is not enough. It is not really IB unless most kids pass the test, ultimately.

DCPS will make no progress unless it puts in enough improvement simultaneously in middle and feeders to get high income families over the hump.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't fix under enrollment at Brookland so long as it feeds to Dunbar.

It's a sysiphean task.

It is a huge task but it can work. Stuart-Hobson feeds to Eastern but parents have made a lot of progress there in the last 20 years.

The key phrase is 20 years. I would imagine OP has a child who is already born, and will need a MS option she's confident in sooner than that.

I'm the OP, and have a K child. I don't think it would take 20 years to fill up the building. I think if they offer an IB program, there would be increased demand next year. Look at the incredible demand for charters that offer desirable programming. Many of them have no track record, and terrible facilities. And yet the people flock to them. This isn't that hard.

a lot of charters are self selecting-higher income SES families who can travel distances in the morning and afternoon to the school.

DC Prep is right down the street, doesn't have many high SES kids, is doing what I've suggested, and is very successful educating its students (Tier 1 status from the charter board) and at attracting new families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the goal is to increase the enrollment of high-SES kids, DCPS would have to do specific things. Some of those things might make the school less attractive to low-SES kids, who are the vast majority of middle schoolers in DC.

So what do people want--a small school that is good for rich families whose kids are at or above grade level, or a big school? I know what posters on DCUM want. But that's not necessarily what DCPS does, or should, want.

What you're saying makes sense, but isn't reflected in what's actually happening. DCPS is trying to do things to be attractive to low SES kids, and almost no one is interested.

Was this a typo or an unintentional truth?

DCPS isn't trying to do things to be attractive to high SES families, so it's no surprise that almost none are interested.

It's doing a half-assed job of trying to do things to be attractive to lower SES families (Look! More square footage and newer walls - send us your kids and pretend nothing else has changed!).

What's surprising is that anyone is surprised that almost no-one is interested.