Wash Post feature on Washington Latin

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why not expand and offer 2 or even 3 Latins, like AppleTree - multiple locations - to make the commute easier on parents and students?

I hate it so much when people make posts like this. Why not make the whole plane out of the black box?

[Anonymous]

You should have seen the founder and original Head Master of Latin. He was a character and a real piece of work, but very committed to a diverse school serving all sections of the city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not expand and offer 2 or even 3 Latins, like AppleTree - multiple locations - to make the commute easier on parents and students?

I hate it so much when people make posts like this. Why not make the whole plane out of the black box?

For the same reason that Harvard hasn't made several clones, to meet demand for admissions. It's hard to replicate campuses and maintain quality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why not expand and offer 2 or even 3 Latins, like AppleTree - multiple locations - to make the commute easier on parents and students?

That sounds great in principle, but the reality is that because neighborhoods are not diverse, the multiple Latins would each be less diverse than just having the one Latin pulling in kids from all over DC. Which is what people really love about the school. In elementary school it makes more sense to have neighborhood specific schools like Appletree, but by middle school the expectation is that you can commute back and forth to school. honestly, learning about public transit is as much an education as anything else!

What we really need to do is make our neighborhoods more economically diverse. But that isn't something that Washington Latin can fix! Pushing for more low income housing directly in the Washington Latin area is a step in the right direction, but, again, it's really out of their hands.

I'm a Latin parent and I think the set aside/quota is an interesting idea. I trust that Martha Cutts knows more about what is good for the school than I do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not expand and offer 2 or even 3 Latins, like AppleTree - multiple locations - to make the commute easier on parents and students?

That sounds great in principle, but the reality is that because neighborhoods are not diverse, the multiple Latins would each be less diverse than just having the one Latin pulling in kids from all over DC. Which is what people really love about the school. In elementary school it makes more sense to have neighborhood specific schools like Appletree, but by middle school the expectation is that you can commute back and forth to school. honestly, learning about public transit is as much an education as anything else!

What we really need to do is make our neighborhoods more economically diverse. But that isn't something that Washington Latin can fix! Pushing for more low income housing directly in the Washington Latin area is a step in the right direction, but, again, it's really out of their hands.

I'm a Latin parent and I think the set aside/quota is an interesting idea. I trust that Martha Cutts knows more about what is good for the school than I do.

It is interesting that you say that. I live in the neighborhood (you can aaaaaaaalmost see my house in one of the pictures in the article) and there is quite a bit of low income housing all around. In fact, when Bowser was the Ward 4 Council Member, she had a bit of an oh shit moment when she was touting bringing Latin to the area only to be challenged by people highlighting that the residents of the housing right across the street from the school didn't have any better chance of admission as someone from any other ward in the city.

[Anonymous]

I.am a Latin parent and I think there is room.for at least one more MS /HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not expand and offer 2 or even 3 Latins, like AppleTree - multiple locations - to make the commute easier on parents and students?

That sounds great in principle, but the reality is that because neighborhoods are not diverse, the multiple Latins would each be less diverse than just having the one Latin pulling in kids from all over DC. Which is what people really love about the school. In elementary school it makes more sense to have neighborhood specific schools like Appletree, but by middle school the expectation is that you can commute back and forth to school. honestly, learning about public transit is as much an education as anything else!

What we really need to do is make our neighborhoods more economically diverse. But that isn't something that Washington Latin can fix! Pushing for more low income housing directly in the Washington Latin area is a step in the right direction, but, again, it's really out of their hands.

I'm a Latin parent and I think the set aside/quota is an interesting idea. I trust that Martha Cutts knows more about what is good for the school than I do.

It is interesting that you say that. I live in the neighborhood (you can aaaaaaaalmost see my house in one of the pictures in the article) and there is quite a bit of low income housing all around. In fact, when Bowser was the Ward 4 Council Member, she had a bit of an oh shit moment when she was touting bringing Latin to the area only to be challenged by people highlighting that the residents of the housing right across the street from the school didn't have any better chance of admission as someone from any other ward in the city.

OK, they don't have a better shot than anyone else at getting in-- but they have a hell of a better commute if they do! But seriously, I do think it is obnoxious that people that are immedately impacted by the school don't have a better shot at getting in-- that would drive me nuts if I had to put up with a public school across from my house but my kid doesn't get in because of bad lottery luck. That deserves an "oh shit" moment from the Mayor. But it would take an Act of Congress or something to allow charters to provide even a slight advantage to anyone.

[Anonymous]

^^ Yep, Congress. Not likely to happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not expand and offer 2 or even 3 Latins, like AppleTree - multiple locations - to make the commute easier on parents and students?

That sounds great in principle, but the reality is that because neighborhoods are not diverse, the multiple Latins would each be less diverse than just having the one Latin pulling in kids from all over DC. Which is what people really love about the school. In elementary school it makes more sense to have neighborhood specific schools like Appletree, but by middle school the expectation is that you can commute back and forth to school. honestly, learning about public transit is as much an education as anything else!

What we really need to do is make our neighborhoods more economically diverse. But that isn't something that Washington Latin can fix! Pushing for more low income housing directly in the Washington Latin area is a step in the right direction, but, again, it's really out of their hands.

I'm a Latin parent and I think the set aside/quota is an interesting idea. I trust that Martha Cutts knows more about what is good for the school than I do.

It is interesting that you say that. I live in the neighborhood (you can aaaaaaaalmost see my house in one of the pictures in the article) and there is quite a bit of low income housing all around. In fact, when Bowser was the Ward 4 Council Member, she had a bit of an oh shit moment when she was touting bringing Latin to the area only to be challenged by people highlighting that the residents of the housing right across the street from the school didn't have any better chance of admission as someone from any other ward in the city.

OK, they don't have a better shot than anyone else at getting in-- but they have a hell of a better commute if they do! But seriously, I do think it is obnoxious that people that are immedately impacted by the school don't have a better shot at getting in-- that would drive me nuts if I had to put up with a public school across from my house but my kid doesn't get in because of bad lottery luck. That deserves an "oh shit" moment from the Mayor. But it would take an Act of Congress or something to allow charters to provide even a slight advantage to anyone.

Thats not how charters operate by design PP..also, the variety of high quality charters in the neighborhood I would hazard have been good for it.I'm sure high quality publics would be great too, and that balls in dcps court.