Peer Pressure to enroll in your IB?

[Anonymous]

My concern is that the "newbies" are being told to basically get in the back of the line with their needs and concerns for their kids. The priority is to deal with the overwhelming social, learning needs of FARMS kids Of course that is overwhelming The problem is that the high SES families finally realize that the school is never going to meet their kids needs especially if that kid is at or above grade level. thus the "brain drain" of high SES kids usually after K and almost always after 4th grade (unless they are in a Deal feeder). Is any school finding the middle ground of helping FARMS kids AND high SES kids at the same time? without making one group of parents feel like they are secondary?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My concern is that the "newbies" are being told to basically get in the back of the line with their needs and concerns for their kids. The priority is to deal with the overwhelming social, learning needs of FARMS kids Of course that is overwhelming The problem is that the high SES families finally realize that the school is never going to meet their kids needs especially if that kid is at or above grade level. thus the "brain drain" of high SES kids usually after K and almost always after 4th grade (unless they are in a Deal feeder). Is any school finding the middle ground of helping FARMS kids AND high SES kids at the same time? without making one group of parents feel like they are secondary?

I am one of the PPs who has been commenting on the newbie frustration. I think that people need to move away from the idea that the only acceptable middle school to attend is Deal, plain and simple. The outcry over getting rezoned to Hardy is ridiculous to me. I live in Ward 1, near the Ward 4 border, and my hope is that when MacFarland is reopened, there will be enough interest right out of the gate from families of all SES that it will be representative of the neighborhoods it draws from. I know thIere are education advocacy organizations working to demystify and improve morale surrounding the Cardozo feeder pattern as well. I think that the key to sustaining those things is not to lose faith (aware that this sounds totally cliche!). Not everyone can go to Deal. Hardy is a perfectly acceptable alternative, but not everyone can go to Hardy either. The population reality is that people will have to send their children to their in boundary schools - not just for elementary school but likely also for middle and high school - because there are simply not enough spaces at the "desirable" schools for all the students whose parents want them to go there. I personally am committed to our school and am planning to spend the next 5 years learning everything I can about all the middle school options in my general part of the city. I am not planning to move in bounds for Deal. We're not in a Deal feeder and are not entering the lottery any more. I understand why people are hesitant to make that kind of commitment, and I will qualify my commitment by saying that if our school ends up being dangerous or detrimental to DD, we will definitely send her elsewhere, but I'm not hedging my bets with other options.

[Anonymous]

We're inbounds for Janney, so there is really no question of enrolling our kids there. I suppose our peers/neighbors would think us crazy if we didn't. Some kids do go private for middle and high school years, though.

[Anonymous]

Right now, I don't think there is a middle school problem in DC - anyone who wants to can go to Hardy or BASIS and those are both good options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Right now, I don't think there is a middle school problem in DC - anyone who wants to can go to Hardy or BASIS and those are both good options.

They both have waitlists for next year. Not sure if those lists will move enough for this to be true.

Also, some people would prefer not to commute to those schools and would like a quality education in their own neighborhoods. It is not crazy to want a full-service school (academic classes for kids of various abilities, athletics, art, etc.) within 5-10 miles of your house, especially in an area as densely populated as the District.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right now, I don't think there is a middle school problem in DC - anyone who wants to can go to Hardy or BASIS and those are both good options.

They both have waitlists for next year. Not sure if those lists will move enough for this to be true.

Also, some people would prefer not to commute to those schools and would like a quality education in their own neighborhoods. It is not crazy to want a full-service school (academic classes for kids of various abilities, athletics, art, etc.) within 5-10 miles of your house, especially in an area as densely populated as the District.

All this talk about gentrifiers taking advantage of free ECE/early Elementary and then leaving DCPS, and the predictions that it will keep happening don't make sense to me: 5 years ago, all these EOTP IB DCPSs did NOT have waitlists and 30+% high SES in ECE, did they? This is new uncharted territory. It is entirely possible that by the time our kids need it (at least those in ECE today), CHEC will be good and McFarland will be fantastic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right now, I don't think there is a middle school problem in DC - anyone who wants to can go to Hardy or BASIS and those are both good options.

They both have waitlists for next year. Not sure if those lists will move enough for this to be true.

Also, some people would prefer not to commute to those schools and would like a quality education in their own neighborhoods. It is not crazy to want a full-service school (academic classes for kids of various abilities, athletics, art, etc.) within 5-10 miles of your house, especially in an area as densely populated as the District.

+1. I'm pinning my hopes on McKinley Middle and Brookland Middle. Don't laugh-- a lot can change in 6 or 8 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right now, I don't think there is a middle school problem in DC - anyone who wants to can go to Hardy or BASIS and those are both good options.

They both have waitlists for next year. Not sure if those lists will move enough for this to be true.

Also, some people would prefer not to commute to those schools and would like a quality education in their own neighborhoods. It is not crazy to want a full-service school (academic classes for kids of various abilities, athletics, art, etc.) within 5-10 miles of your house, especially in an area as densely populated as the District.

+1. I'm pinning my hopes on McKinley Middle and Brookland Middle. Don't laugh-- a lot can change in 6 or 8 years.

Not laughing!

[Anonymous]

I get it. 5 years ago I never would have thought I would spend every penny I had for a fixer-upper on North Capitol!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right now, I don't think there is a middle school problem in DC - anyone who wants to can go to Hardy or BASIS and those are both good options.

They both have waitlists for next year. Not sure if those lists will move enough for this to be true.

Also, some people would prefer not to commute to those schools and would like a quality education in their own neighborhoods. It is not crazy to want a full-service school (academic classes for kids of various abilities, athletics, art, etc.) within 5-10 miles of your house, especially in an area as densely populated as the District.

+1. I'm pinning my hopes on McKinley Middle and Brookland Middle. Don't laugh-- a lot can change in 6 or 8 years.

I hope so. But I have seen the angst of parents on Capitol HIll first hand. the Elem have been good to great for over five years and they still leave in droves after 4th before they send their kids to SH. So I think a middle school honestly needs about 10-15 years of a good feeder performance to really see a difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right now, I don't think there is a middle school problem in DC - anyone who wants to can go to Hardy or BASIS and those are both good options.

They both have waitlists for next year. Not sure if those lists will move enough for this to be true.

Also, some people would prefer not to commute to those schools and would like a quality education in their own neighborhoods. It is not crazy to want a full-service school (academic classes for kids of various abilities, athletics, art, etc.) within 5-10 miles of your house, especially in an area as densely populated as the District.

+1. I'm pinning my hopes on McKinley Middle and Brookland Middle. Don't laugh-- a lot can change in 6 or 8 years.

Now the next step is to start urging your neighbors to commit to do the same!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right now, I don't think there is a middle school problem in DC - anyone who wants to can go to Hardy or BASIS and those are both good options.

They both have waitlists for next year. Not sure if those lists will move enough for this to be true.

Also, some people would prefer not to commute to those schools and would like a quality education in their own neighborhoods. It is not crazy to want a full-service school (academic classes for kids of various abilities, athletics, art, etc.) within 5-10 miles of your house, especially in an area as densely populated as the District.

+1. I'm pinning my hopes on McKinley Middle and Brookland Middle. Don't laugh-- a lot can change in 6 or 8 years.

Now the next step is to start urging your neighbors to commit to do the same!

Too busy working on Noyes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My concern is that the "newbies" are being told to basically get in the back of the line with their needs and concerns for their kids. The priority is to deal with the overwhelming social, learning needs of FARMS kids Of course that is overwhelming The problem is that the high SES families finally realize that the school is never going to meet their kids needs especially if that kid is at or above grade level. thus the "brain drain" of high SES kids usually after K and almost always after 4th grade (unless they are in a Deal feeder). Is any school finding the middle ground of helping FARMS kids AND high SES kids at the same time? without making one group of parents feel like they are secondary?

I understand the concern, especially in a high FARMs school. However, I think you're overlooking two things. First, many of the things that newbies are clamoring for are to the benefit of the whole school. I have a hard time getting excited about mandating organic snacks. I provide 90% of what my kids eat, so I'm not going to be overly concerned about goldfish for snack. But, a healthy foods program, a school garden, a salad bar in the cafeteria, field trips to visit a farm, eating from the rainbow, have all been incorporated into my kids school experience mostly by active parents. Differentiation is just as important, if not more important, for below grade level kids than it is for above grade level. Positive discipline, outdoor time, enrichment is to everybody's benefit.

Second, you never know what services your DC might need once there in school. It's not unusual for high SES kids, like all kids, to have difficulty in at least one subject. Behavior problems may differ some by SES status, but my DC has proven to be a challenge to even his very competent teachers, and he comes from a high SES family, and his brother is an angel in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're inbounds for Janney, so there is really no question of enrolling our kids there. I suppose our peers/neighbors would think us crazy if we didn't. Some kids do go private for middle and high school years, though.

Really? Because we are inbounds for Janney, played the lottery, and are enrolling at another DCPS. To hell with what the neighbors think--it's about the best fit for our kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're inbounds for Janney, so there is really no question of enrolling our kids there. I suppose our peers/neighbors would think us crazy if we didn't. Some kids do go private for middle and high school years, though.

Really? Because we are inbounds for Janney, played the lottery, and are enrolling at another DCPS. To hell with what the neighbors think--it's about the best fit for our kids.

this is off topic but I am dying to know what other DCPS makes a person leave IB Janney!!