Brent parents: Give me the lowdown on the school

[Anonymous]

The Number of IB families waitlisted for PS3 dropped significantly from last year and the reopening of Van Ness next year has the possibility of siphoning off a few IB waitlisted families who could decide to stay for K. The former Hine site could easily be rezoned to Watkins if Brent enrollment pushes north of 375 a couple years down the road. This could balance out a few families moving into the ongoing Friendship House development.

[Anonymous]

Brent had 213 students on October Count Day in 2006 and will have around 360 this year. That's about a 65% increase in eight years. But it will never have at least 40 more kids? I remember when JKLM parents used to talk that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a kindergarten parent, I am less concerned about the few Maryland license plates or those admitted being OOB through the lottery but rather in my child's classes while all are on the Hill, they do not live in Brent boundary. It seems as if the moment they were admitted, their parents moved to Northeast.

Don't the new policies announced by the DME -- which presumably will take effect next year -- require families who move OOB to compete for a seat by reapplying through the lottery? As I understand the current rules, so long as you live In-bound on the first day of school year following admission through the lottery, the principal retains discretion to allow an student who moves OOB to automatically return. How many families are you talking about and, more importantly, what exactly is your concern?. It's not like a seat is being taken away in K for an in-bound student, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Brent had 213 students on October Count Day in 2006 and will have around 360 this year. That's about a 65% increase in eight years. But it will never have at least 40 more kids? I remember when JKLM parents used to talk that way.

Respectfully, I just don't think it will happen. It will be too easy for DCPS to fine-tune boundaries, particularly if Ludlow-Taylor continues on a positive trajectory just to the north or the Chancellor deems it desirable to siphon off students for Tyler or Watkins.

[Anonymous]

is it just me or is the morning drop off and aftercare a complete disaster at Brent? DD teacher seems great.

[Anonymous]

It's you? Care to describe what you comsider to be a disaster? Kids play outside until the bell rings, then they queue up in the respective "parking spaces" and are led inside by teachers. Rainy day drop-offs are a different story entirely. Parents and students should enter through front doors, proceed through front doors of multipurpose room and exit through side doors. You can pickup from aftercare by going to the office and have Springboard contact the caregivers.

[Anonymous]

I don't see a problem with drop-off or aftercare either. It works fine for us and DS is very comfortable with it.

[Anonymous]

I don't have a child at Brent but I do drive by there several mornings a week. Parents will double park anywhere and let their kids cross anywhere, it seems. It's quite dangerous IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't have a child at Brent but I do drive by there several mornings a week. Parents will double park anywhere and let their kids cross anywhere, it seems. It's quite dangerous IMO.

I agree, it's not safe. I have even walked by throughout the day and observe children throwing rocks at cars, no one watching these kids closely at recess. Disturbing actually.

[Anonymous]

Throwing rocks at cars? During recess? Throughout the day? If you actually witnessed behavior that you deemed dangerous why wouldn't you do something? I would have marched on the playground and found an adult. Then again, there are no rocks in the playground area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brent had 213 students on October Count Day in 2006 and will have around 360 this year. That's about a 65% increase in eight years. But it will never have at least 40 more kids? I remember when JKLM parents used to talk that way.

Respectfully, I just don't think it will happen. It will be too easy for DCPS to fine-tune boundaries, particularly if Ludlow-Taylor continues on a positive trajectory just to the north or the Chancellor deems it desirable to siphon off students for Tyler or Watkins.

Tyler has 600 kids. Don't think they need any more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Throwing rocks at cars? During recess? Throughout the day? If you actually witnessed behavior that you deemed dangerous why wouldn't you do something? I would have marched on the playground and found an adult. Then again, there are no rocks in the playground area.

Sure there are rocks in on the playground, they are in the garden area. Not many, but they are there. It is true that the Brent teachers do not watch carefully on the playground. Likewise, there are many things that could be done to make morning drop off safer, but it would take some effort. The first step is, as they say, admitting you have a problem.

[Anonymous]

If the odd kid throwing the odd rock ranks among Brent's biggest problems in 2014, congratulations to the school community! By way of comparision, check out the recent 100-page Watkins thread (um, 18 teachers quit over the summer, in-boundary population and test scores falling...).

As for crowding, with only a handful of Brent District houses on the market even during peak sales season (like now), most selling for over $1 million, I don't see terrible crowding in the cards. When I bought my 3-bedroom house in the 700s 5 years ago, there were a dozen on the market.

And with Jefferson Academy as a dead-ended ms feed for what looks like another 15 years, I can't see Brent's school population growing by much in the next 5 years or so. But I wouldn't bank on crowding not becoming more of a problem. There still aren't nearly enough good by-right elementary schools on the Hill to meet demand and more young families with the money for privates after Brent are arriving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't have a child at Brent but I do drive by there several mornings a week. Parents will double park anywhere and let their kids cross anywhere, it seems. It's quite dangerous IMO.

This happens at many school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the odd kid throwing the odd rock ranks among Brent's biggest problems in 2014, congratulations to the school community! By way of comparision, check out the recent 100-page Watkins thread (um, 18 teachers quit over the summer, in-boundary population and test scores falling...).

As for crowding, with only a handful of Brent District houses on the market even during peak sales season (like now), most selling for over $1 million, I don't see terrible crowding in the cards. When I bought my 3-bedroom house in the 700s 5 years ago, there were a dozen on the market.

And with Jefferson Academy as a dead-ended ms feed for what looks like another 15 years, I can't see Brent's school population growing by much in the next 5 years or so. But I wouldn't bank on crowding not becoming more of a problem. There still aren't nearly enough good by-right elementary schools on the Hill to meet demand and more young families with the money for privates after Brent are arriving.

Brent is a strong Capitol Hill elementary and has come a long way over the years. I wish parents of younger Brent students truly understood the amount of work that was put in to make it what it is today. Have you talked to upper grade parents? The school is strong in early years but certainly doesn't compare to upper NW elementary schools or privates. The Principal seems to be pushed around by parents, no real resources for underperforming/special needs. DS tells me that there's no hand towels or toilet paper in the bathrooms, it's true that kids are not watched carefully enough during recess and administration doesn't seem too concerned. Teacher quality is good, it's free, but there is a real issue in upper grades of where to go next with no MS option, let's be factual here and answer the OP.