Watkins Parents: How pleased are you? How optimistic?

[Anonymous]

"Everyone you know who applied to private" could be a very small sampling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brent & Maury have 2 classes per grade, I think. LT is the same. Watkins had 5, and is artificially down to 4. Size matters.

yes -- size does matter. Peabody is turning away IB families for PK3 despite having more IB seats than any other DCPS ECE. If Watkins can better retain those families it is sized appropriately. "Artificially down to 4" makes no sense. Unless class sizes have swollen, there are less children at Watkins than previously. I don't have numbers, but it's supposedly 10% smaller than 2013 (~550)

Not really. There are 61 spots and 39 on the wait list. Those are 3 year olds. Realistically there will be about 3 classes worth of IB kids by the time they hit 1st grade. Lots of people will move, get into a charter or go private. Watkins should drop down to 3 classes and build some IB grades to encourage more IB families to give it a try.

PP has the best wisdom I've seen yet with the three-class jump start idea, and that was also expressed in the Dump the Cluster thread. You all should consider safety too, and see what's been done in that area and know how many times the police were called to the school, and why for 2014-2015 - don't assume that the police couldn't possibly need to go to an elementary school. Get the security officer incident reports too. Use FOIA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brent & Maury have 2 classes per grade, I think. LT is the same. Watkins had 5, and is artificially down to 4. Size matters.

yes -- size does matter. Peabody is turning away IB families for PK3 despite having more IB seats than any other DCPS ECE. If Watkins can better retain those families it is sized appropriately. "Artificially down to 4" makes no sense. Unless class sizes have swollen, there are less children at Watkins than previously. I don't have numbers, but it's supposedly 10% smaller than 2013 (~550)

Not really. There are 61 spots and 39 on the wait list. Those are 3 year olds. Realistically there will be about 3 classes worth of IB kids by the time they hit 1st grade. Lots of people will move, get into a charter or go private. Watkins should drop down to 3 classes and build some IB grades to encourage more IB families to give it a try.

PP has the best wisdom I've seen yet with the three-class jump start idea, and that was also expressed in the Dump the Cluster thread. You all should consider safety too, and see what's been done in that area and know how many times the police were called to the school, and why for 2014-2015 - don't assume that the police couldn't possibly need to go to an elementary school. Get the security officer incident reports too. Use FOIA.

Deja vu, all over again.

[Anonymous]

These proposals overlook the fact that funding, to some degree, is tied to enrollment. The loss of a classroom means the loss of teacher and about $100,000. Watkins already forfeited a substantial chunk of federally-supported resources as the result of the loss of Title I status. Now, DCPS has carved another $250,000 from the FY 2016 budget.

[Anonymous]

I am a Watkins parent and we are happy with the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These proposals overlook the fact that funding, to some degree, is tied to enrollment. The loss of a classroom means the loss of teacher and about $100,000. Watkins already forfeited a substantial chunk of federally-supported resources as the result of the loss of Title I status. Now, DCPS has carved another $250,000 from the FY 2016 budget.

Well, if you lose a classroom of course you're going to lose a teacher. As for the loss of federal funds, yes, that's not great, but if more high SES families start attending, they can start pitching some funds in. The reason the federal funds are given is for those families who'd never be able to pitch in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a Watkins parent and we are happy with the school.

Thanks for responding PP! Finally, a person who isn't just operating on hearsay. What do you like about the school and what grade is your kid(s) in?

[Anonymous]

The teachers at Watkins are terrific. My child is happy and learning. We like that the school is nearby, which makes for a more peaceful family life. Drop offs and pick ups are easy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The teachers at Watkins are terrific. My child is happy and learning. We like that the school is nearby, which makes for a more peaceful family life. Drop offs and pick ups are easy.

What grade is your child in?

[Anonymous]

What is the plan for modernizing Watkins?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These proposals overlook the fact that funding, to some degree, is tied to enrollment. The loss of a classroom means the loss of teacher and about $100,000. Watkins already forfeited a substantial chunk of federally-supported resources as the result of the loss of Title I status. Now, DCPS has carved another $250,000 from the FY 2016 budget.

Well, if you lose a classroom of course you're going to lose a teacher. As for the loss of federal funds, yes, that's not great, but if more high SES families start attending, they can start pitching some funds in. The reason the federal funds are given is for those families who'd never be able to pitch in.

Watkins lost something like $87,000 in Title I funds after FY 2014. That is quite a lot of pitching in before even considering the projected loss of a quarter million in DCPS funds next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These proposals overlook the fact that funding, to some degree, is tied to enrollment. The loss of a classroom means the loss of teacher and about $100,000. Watkins already forfeited a substantial chunk of federally-supported resources as the result of the loss of Title I status. Now, DCPS has carved another $250,000 from the FY 2016 budget.

Well, if you lose a classroom of course you're going to lose a teacher. As for the loss of federal funds, yes, that's not great, but if more high SES families start attending, they can start pitching some funds in. The reason the federal funds are given is for those families who'd never be able to pitch in.

Watkins lost something like $87,000 in Title I funds after FY 2014. That is quite a lot of pitching in before even considering the projected loss of a quarter million in DCPS funds next year.

How are Brent and Maury able to survive without Title 1 funds?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brent & Maury have 2 classes per grade, I think. LT is the same. Watkins had 5, and is artificially down to 4. Size matters.

yes -- size does matter. Peabody is turning away IB families for PK3 despite having more IB seats than any other DCPS ECE. If Watkins can better retain those families it is sized appropriately. "Artificially down to 4" makes no sense. Unless class sizes have swollen, there are less children at Watkins than previously. I don't have numbers, but it's supposedly 10% smaller than 2013 (~550)

Not really. There are 61 spots and 39 on the wait list. Those are 3 year olds. Realistically there will be about 3 classes worth of IB kids by the time they hit 1st grade. Lots of people will move, get into a charter or go private. Watkins should drop down to 3 classes and build some IB grades to encourage more IB families to give it a try.

PP has the best wisdom I've seen yet with the three-class jump start idea, and that was also expressed in the Dump the Cluster thread. You all should consider safety too, and see what's been done in that area and know how many times the police were called to the school, and why for 2014-2015 - don't assume that the police couldn't possibly need to go to an elementary school. Get the security officer incident reports too. Use FOIA.

Deja vu, all over again.

Yeah I know, reality is a bummer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These proposals overlook the fact that funding, to some degree, is tied to enrollment. The loss of a classroom means the loss of teacher and about $100,000. Watkins already forfeited a substantial chunk of federally-supported resources as the result of the loss of Title I status. Now, DCPS has carved another $250,000 from the FY 2016 budget.

Well, if you lose a classroom of course you're going to lose a teacher. As for the loss of federal funds, yes, that's not great, but if more high SES families start attending, they can start pitching some funds in. The reason the federal funds are given is for those families who'd never be able to pitch in.

Watkins lost something like $87,000 in Title I funds after FY 2014. That is quite a lot of pitching in before even considering the projected loss of a quarter million in DCPS funds next year.

Title I funds are no longer an 'on-off' decision. Thank God! Schools that don't meet the Title I threshold but still have significant proportions of students from poor households (the case for Maury, Watkins, and Brent) can count on per pupil 'at risk funding'.

N.B. Not sure where you're getting that $87K figure from. The initial budget allocations and the submitted budgets are here: http://dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/About+DCPS/Budget+and+Finance/FY16+Fiscal+Report+Card
Watkins lost funds largely proportional to the number of students it plans to go down.

[Anonymous]

At risk DCPS funds are not the same as federal Title I funds. That's why they have separate entries on the allocations. You'll have to dig back into budgets for past FY to look at the changes in funding streams.