What are folks doing for MS EOTP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. I'm not white. But I'm a PhD who can read the writing on the wall for public MS from my Capitol Hill home. Our bubble will probably burst shortly, as 5th grade at Maury draws to a close after 8 good years in the school community.

*Our odds of getting into Latin without an older sibling to pull our younger child in stink

*We may or may not crack BASIS either. Even if we do, the program is unlikely to work for at least one or children (not great at math, loves sports).

*We almost certainly won't have access to Stuart Hobson, Deal or Hardy.

Our only public MS option in DC is likely to be Eliot-Hine. The school has a proficiency pass rate in the teens and lacks honors classes. Other Maury upper grades parents will choose EH. More power to them.

Come on, most UMC parents this city "think like" us. If we have to move for MS to feel good about a program, so be it.

Agree to this. But I do try to help the future by engaging in commmunity meetings, supporting the local middle school, etc. It won’t help my kids- but maybe it will help future cohorts.

Right. Another one of those who wants to change the world, just without changing *their* world. Got it. You are all full of crap.

You're a sanctimonious drag.

The truth is such a downer, I know. You might one day have to be honest with yourself about your real beliefs, but probably not so carry on. But you really should stop thinking you are doing anyone any favors because that's just not the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hundreds of UMC families in this city with children in acceptable public elementary schools will be faced with middle school choices with little or no appeal once lottery results come out in next month.

PPs like the "racist dog whistle" poster above can call us names to try to shame us into agreeing with them, or just shut us up.

Alternatively, the discussion can turn constructively to how school system leaders and city politicians are largely to blame for our failure to enroll in a DC public middle school, and what can be done about that in the short, medium and long term.

I'm intrigued by how freely folks are throwing around "UMC" in this thread, given how everyone on DCUM claims to be just plain middle class despite being objectively rich.

However, it is still worth engaging and asking PPs to defend the idea that only a school with a critical mass of "UMC" families can possibly be a viable choice. What about plain middle class families like mine (single mom, $140K HHI, bright and well-supported kids). Are my kids also the ones you are trying to avoid?

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, political leaders only care about getting themselves elected/re-elected. Witness Frazier O'Leary who campaigned all over Ward 4 promising that he really cared about Ward 4 schools - he now says he supports keeping Shepherd and Lafayette in Deal Wilson feeder pattern because he's most concerned about the million dollar property values in these neighborhoods. Ditto useless Brandon Todd. What they are actually saying is we don't give an eff about New North/McFarland or Roosevelt/Coolidge and SP and the Gold Coast are the only residents we really care about, wither Brightwood, Takoma, Manor Park, etc. We need to elect real leadership in Ward 4 to improve Ward 4 MS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hundreds of UMC families in this city with children in acceptable public elementary schools will be faced with middle school choices with little or no appeal once lottery results come out in next month.

PPs like the "racist dog whistle" poster above can call us names to try to shame us into agreeing with them, or just shut us up.

Alternatively, the discussion can turn constructively to how school system leaders and city politicians are largely to blame for our failure to enroll in a DC public middle school, and what can be done about that in the short, medium and long term.

I'm intrigued by how freely folks are throwing around "UMC" in this thread, given how everyone on DCUM claims to be just plain middle class despite being objectively rich.

However, it is still worth engaging and asking PPs to defend the idea that only a school with a critical mass of "UMC" families can possibly be a viable choice. What about plain middle class families like mine (single mom, $140K HHI, bright and well-supported kids). Are my kids also the ones you are trying to avoid?

If your HHI is roughly twice the DC median, I'd put you as UMC as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hundreds of UMC families in this city with children in acceptable public elementary schools will be faced with middle school choices with little or no appeal once lottery results come out in next month.

PPs like the "racist dog whistle" poster above can call us names to try to shame us into agreeing with them, or just shut us up.

Alternatively, the discussion can turn constructively to how school system leaders and city politicians are largely to blame for our failure to enroll in a DC public middle school, and what can be done about that in the short, medium and long term.

What do you think makes schools acceptable? It's a cohort of kids like your kids. So get a cohort together and go. Or don't. DCPS truly doesn't care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately, political leaders only care about getting themselves elected/re-elected. Witness Frazier O'Leary who campaigned all over Ward 4 promising that he really cared about Ward 4 schools - he now says he supports keeping Shepherd and Lafayette in Deal Wilson feeder pattern because he's most concerned about the million dollar property values in these neighborhoods. Ditto useless Brandon Todd. What they are actually saying is we don't give an eff about New North/McFarland or Roosevelt/Coolidge and SP and the Gold Coast are the only residents we really care about, wither Brightwood, Takoma, Manor Park, etc. We need to elect real leadership in Ward 4 to improve Ward 4 MS.

Frazier O'Leary talks out both sides of his mouth. Did Brandon Todd provide conflicting statements regarding advocating for Shepherd to stay in the Deal/Wilson boundary too? I missed it if he did, so please share.

Ward 4 has multiple feeder patterns. Of course families IB for Shepherd (like me) want to stay in the Deal/Wilson boundary as opposed to changing the boundary to an unproven middle school and unacceptable to most UMC high school. I'm sorry that other parts of Ward 4 got kicked out, but it's not fair for other Ward 4 parents to try to drag us into this less favorable (and not even viable to many) option just to boost their own feeder patterns.

Also, preserving the constituents' home values is something that our elected leaders SHOULD care about.

I hope our elected Ward 4 leaders focus efforts both on fighting for Shepherd to stay IB for Deal and Wilson and also building up other Ward 4 schools. For the record, Deal and Wilson are Ward 4 schools because they serve Ward 4 residents, regardless of what Ward they physically reside in. Same as Garrison Elementary serves Wards 1 and 2, but is located in Ward 1. It's still a Ward 2 school as well as a Ward 1 school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately, political leaders only care about getting themselves elected/re-elected. Witness Frazier O'Leary who campaigned all over Ward 4 promising that he really cared about Ward 4 schools - he now says he supports keeping Shepherd and Lafayette in Deal Wilson feeder pattern because he's most concerned about the million dollar property values in these neighborhoods. Ditto useless Brandon Todd. What they are actually saying is we don't give an eff about New North/McFarland or Roosevelt/Coolidge and SP and the Gold Coast are the only residents we really care about, wither Brightwood, Takoma, Manor Park, etc. We need to elect real leadership in Ward 4 to improve Ward 4 MS.

Frazier O'Leary talks out both sides of his mouth. Did Brandon Todd provide conflicting statements regarding advocating for Shepherd to stay in the Deal/Wilson boundary too? I missed it if he did, so please share.

Ward 4 has multiple feeder patterns. Of course families IB for Shepherd (like me) want to stay in the Deal/Wilson boundary as opposed to changing the boundary to an unproven middle school and unacceptable to most UMC high school. I'm sorry that other parts of Ward 4 got kicked out, but it's not fair for other Ward 4 parents to try to drag us into this less favorable (and not even viable to many) option just to boost their own feeder patterns.

Also, preserving the constituents' home values is something that our elected leaders SHOULD care about.

I hope our elected Ward 4 leaders focus efforts both on fighting for Shepherd to stay IB for Deal and Wilson and also building up other Ward 4 schools. For the record, Deal and Wilson are Ward 4 schools because they serve Ward 4 residents, regardless of what Ward they physically reside in. Same as Garrison Elementary serves Wards 1 and 2, but is located in Ward 1. It's still a Ward 2 school as well as a Ward 1 school.

Brandon Todd also talks out of both sides of his mouth, he has said to other Ward 4 families that the boundaries are up in 2022 and he was open to looking at this issue - now to SP, he is saying I don't support the boundary change. He will hopefully be held accountable by Ward 4 voters (assuming he doesn't get indicted).

And, nope, SP's property values are no more important than the rest of Ward 4. Our property values not routed for Deal/Wilson go up every year - and are well over 700k. These property values are tied to Ward 4 schools getting better, obviously. The better question is why you think your property values and children are more important then the rest of the students in the Ward you live in. Rest assured, that they are not. Property is fungible. Metro lines get built. Schools closes. Walter Reed is redeveloped as housing. You assume a risk when you buy any house anywhere. You are not royalty, and the Deal/Wilson is not a divine right of kings. For the record, Deal and Wilson are not Ward 4 schools, just because they serve OOB kids or Shepherd.Lafayette currently. Many other schools in the District serve OOB kids - that doesn't magically transform that school to a Ward 4 school - that's crazy. As much as Shepherd Park/Lafayette parents accuse Ward 3 of racism - they should look inward at their own classicism and colorism/racism. Membership in Jack and Jill doesn't make you more important than anybody else who wants a good school for their children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hundreds of UMC families in this city with children in acceptable public elementary schools will be faced with middle school choices with little or no appeal once lottery results come out in next month.

PPs like the "racist dog whistle" poster above can call us names to try to shame us into agreeing with them, or just shut us up.

Alternatively, the discussion can turn constructively to how school system leaders and city politicians are largely to blame for our failure to enroll in a DC public middle school, and what can be done about that in the short, medium and long term.

What do you think makes schools acceptable? It's a cohort of kids like your kids. So get a cohort together and go. Or don't. DCPS truly doesn't care.

You're asking or telling me what makes schools acceptable?

What makes schools acceptable to me is: good order and discipline throughout the building (but not over-the-top KIPP type extreme discipline), consistent challenge for my advanced learner alongside a cohort of peers working at or above grave level in class, reasonable flexibility on the part of admins where family circumstances go (more on that in a minute), and decent facilities in good condition (e.g. a library, gym, playing field, stage/auditorium). It's clear to me that I won't have any of this at Eliot-Hine next year, other than perhaps flexibility.

I'm looking for flexibility because we home school in a world language one of us speaks The language is not taught at our children's level in DC public middle schools. We don't want our children forced to study another language in return for access to a particular middle school.

I'm with you on DCPS truly not caring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are very few UMC students in the entire city and they are clustered in upper Ward 3 and a few other spots.

If you are only willing to attend a DC MS or HS with >25% UMC students, you have no literally choice but to go to Hardy, BASIS, Deal or Latin.

What is the minimum amount that qualifies a family as high SES or UMC? Is it as little as $200k or $250k or much more? Or is it a mentality? This blog references High SES and UMC a lot. Can you own an expensive house with a big mortgage and car and be house poor? Would a government GS 14 or 15 fit this or is it more like a lawyer or tech guru making $500k? Just curious to understand why some sound a little snooty and pretentious. Upper Middle Class seems like more than $300k. Want to be able to better follow discussions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately, political leaders only care about getting themselves elected/re-elected. Witness Frazier O'Leary who campaigned all over Ward 4 promising that he really cared about Ward 4 schools - he now says he supports keeping Shepherd and Lafayette in Deal Wilson feeder pattern because he's most concerned about the million dollar property values in these neighborhoods. Ditto useless Brandon Todd. What they are actually saying is we don't give an eff about New North/McFarland or Roosevelt/Coolidge and SP and the Gold Coast are the only residents we really care about, wither Brightwood, Takoma, Manor Park, etc. We need to elect real leadership in Ward 4 to improve Ward 4 MS.

The new middle school plan A shouldn't be relying on Shepherd or Lafayette. Even if the feeder change most families will not send their kids to New North. What is 20 students from Shepherd going to do to change the new school. Be realistic. You just want Shepherd kicked out because you are not part of the feeder. You don't really believe that the "Strong cohort" you keep talking about will come from Shepherd, do you? If Shepherd is your plan A you will fail. I am all for improving the middle school around but there should be a better plan than hoping that Shepherd parents will send their kids to this untested MS. We will move if needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately, political leaders only care about getting themselves elected/re-elected. Witness Frazier O'Leary who campaigned all over Ward 4 promising that he really cared about Ward 4 schools - he now says he supports keeping Shepherd and Lafayette in Deal Wilson feeder pattern because he's most concerned about the million dollar property values in these neighborhoods. Ditto useless Brandon Todd. What they are actually saying is we don't give an eff about New North/McFarland or Roosevelt/Coolidge and SP and the Gold Coast are the only residents we really care about, wither Brightwood, Takoma, Manor Park, etc. We need to elect real leadership in Ward 4 to improve Ward 4 MS.

The new middle school plan A shouldn't be relying on Shepherd or Lafayette. Even if the feeder change most families will not send their kids to New North. What is 20 students from Shepherd going to do to change the new school. Be realistic. You just want Shepherd kicked out because you are not part of the feeder. You don't really believe that the "Strong cohort" you keep talking about will come from Shepherd, do you? If Shepherd is your plan A you will fail. I am all for improving the middle school around but there should be a better plan than hoping that Shepherd parents will send their kids to this untested MS. We will move if needed.

Then, move. Many IB families zoned for Shepherd don’t send their kids to Shepherd, which is why your school is not at capacity. By your flawed logic, Shepherd is doing something wrong...I haven’t used the term “strong cohort.” Some families in IB for Lafayette and Shepherd would leave, some do already. Others would over time help build New North. Just like Bancroft will likely help build a better MacFarland. Again, your classism and colorism/racism bears examination.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hundreds of UMC families in this city with children in acceptable public elementary schools will be faced with middle school choices with little or no appeal once lottery results come out in next month.

PPs like the "racist dog whistle" poster above can call us names to try to shame us into agreeing with them, or just shut us up.

Alternatively, the discussion can turn constructively to how school system leaders and city politicians are largely to blame for our failure to enroll in a DC public middle school, and what can be done about that in the short, medium and long term.

I'm intrigued by how freely folks are throwing around "UMC" in this thread, given how everyone on DCUM claims to be just plain middle class despite being objectively rich.

However, it is still worth engaging and asking PPs to defend the idea that only a school with a critical mass of "UMC" families can possibly be a viable choice. What about plain middle class families like mine (single mom, $140K HHI, bright and well-supported kids). Are my kids also the ones you are trying to avoid?

If your HHI is roughly twice the DC median, I'd put you as UMC as well.

I would consider UMC $200k+ regardless of the DC median income. In the PP situation I'd say middle class especially having more than one kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are very few UMC students in the entire city and they are clustered in upper Ward 3 and a few other spots.

If you are only willing to attend a DC MS or HS with >25% UMC students, you have no literally choice but to go to Hardy, BASIS, Deal or Latin.

What is the minimum amount that qualifies a family as high SES or UMC? Is it as little as $200k or $250k or much more? Or is it a mentality? This blog references High SES and UMC a lot. Can you own an expensive house with a big mortgage and car and be house poor? Would a government GS 14 or 15 fit this or is it more like a lawyer or tech guru making $500k? Just curious to understand why some sound a little snooty and pretentious. Upper Middle Class seems like more than $300k. Want to be able to better follow discussions.

High SES takes more than income into account. You can make $70,000 but have a master's degree and work in a service agency or nonprofit. For purposes or predicting education outcome you are high SES.

According to the Pew research center, which studies demography, an upper-middle-class family (4 people) in the DMV* makes $185,000 or more per year (unfortunately for this discussion, Pew does not calculate stand-alone DC data. Presumably, since DC's population as a whole is not wealthy, the upper-middle-class cut-off would be lower.

For comparison to be considered a middle-class family of 4 in the DMV you would have an income of $65,000-$184,000.

Your financial decisions -- taking on debt to buy an expensive house, owning/owing money on a car/carrying consumer debt/taking vacations/paying for summer camps -- have nothing to do with your status.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/09/06/are-you-in-the-american-middle-class/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hundreds of UMC families in this city with children in acceptable public elementary schools will be faced with middle school choices with little or no appeal once lottery results come out in next month.

PPs like the "racist dog whistle" poster above can call us names to try to shame us into agreeing with them, or just shut us up.

Alternatively, the discussion can turn constructively to how school system leaders and city politicians are largely to blame for our failure to enroll in a DC public middle school, and what can be done about that in the short, medium and long term.

I'm intrigued by how freely folks are throwing around "UMC" in this thread, given how everyone on DCUM claims to be just plain middle class despite being objectively rich.

However, it is still worth engaging and asking PPs to defend the idea that only a school with a critical mass of "UMC" families can possibly be a viable choice. What about plain middle class families like mine (single mom, $140K HHI, bright and well-supported kids). Are my kids also the ones you are trying to avoid?

Yes -- if they get 2s and 3s on PARCC, if they're "too cool for school", and if they disrupt the classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately, political leaders only care about getting themselves elected/re-elected. Witness Frazier O'Leary who campaigned all over Ward 4 promising that he really cared about Ward 4 schools - he now says he supports keeping Shepherd and Lafayette in Deal Wilson feeder pattern because he's most concerned about the million dollar property values in these neighborhoods. Ditto useless Brandon Todd. What they are actually saying is we don't give an eff about New North/McFarland or Roosevelt/Coolidge and SP and the Gold Coast are the only residents we really care about, wither Brightwood, Takoma, Manor Park, etc. We need to elect real leadership in Ward 4 to improve Ward 4 MS.

Frazier O'Leary talks out both sides of his mouth. Did Brandon Todd provide conflicting statements regarding advocating for Shepherd to stay in the Deal/Wilson boundary too? I missed it if he did, so please share.

Ward 4 has multiple feeder patterns. Of course families IB for Shepherd (like me) want to stay in the Deal/Wilson boundary as opposed to changing the boundary to an unproven middle school and unacceptable to most UMC high school. I'm sorry that other parts of Ward 4 got kicked out, but it's not fair for other Ward 4 parents to try to drag us into this less favorable (and not even viable to many) option just to boost their own feeder patterns.

Also, preserving the constituents' home values is something that our elected leaders SHOULD care about.

I hope our elected Ward 4 leaders focus efforts both on fighting for Shepherd to stay IB for Deal and Wilson and also building up other Ward 4 schools. For the record, Deal and Wilson are Ward 4 schools because they serve Ward 4 residents, regardless of what Ward they physically reside in. Same as Garrison Elementary serves Wards 1 and 2, but is located in Ward 1. It's still a Ward 2 school as well as a Ward 1 school.

Brandon Todd also talks out of both sides of his mouth, he has said to other Ward 4 families that the boundaries are up in 2022 and he was open to looking at this issue - now to SP, he is saying I don't support the boundary change. He will hopefully be held accountable by Ward 4 voters (assuming he doesn't get indicted).

And, nope, SP's property values are no more important than the rest of Ward 4. Our property values not routed for Deal/Wilson go up every year - and are well over 700k. These property values are tied to Ward 4 schools getting better, obviously. The better question is why you think your property values and children are more important then the rest of the students in the Ward you live in. Rest assured, that they are not. Property is fungible. Metro lines get built. Schools closes. Walter Reed is redeveloped as housing. You assume a risk when you buy any house anywhere. You are not royalty, and the Deal/Wilson is not a divine right of kings. For the record, Deal and Wilson are not Ward 4 schools, just because they serve OOB kids or Shepherd.Lafayette currently. Many other schools in the District serve OOB kids - that doesn't magically transform that school to a Ward 4 school - that's crazy. As much as Shepherd Park/Lafayette parents accuse Ward 3 of racism - they should look inward at their own classicism and colorism/racism. Membership in Jack and Jill doesn't make you more important than anybody else who wants a good school for their children.

Nobody said that "SP's property values are more important than the rest of Ward 4", however any elected official should care about what his constituents care about, that being a good school or their house property value. You wanting to get SES kicked out of a feeder (Btw the feeder is the only reason why the school improved and have the cohort you so want!) for your own selfish reason is not more valuable than SP park residents trying to keep the feeder they are currently in.

You also talk about SP "own classicism and colorism/racism", why can't you send your kid to New North or Coolidge as it is now? isn't it because you think your kid is better than that?? why wouldn't SP residents also want something that is better for them? You sound very jealous and entitled!