No more Pk3 at Ross ?

[Anonymous]

Saw this in an email from MSDC about changes in locations, new schools etc.

[Anonymous]

It's on the Ross website, as well.

[Anonymous]

That's a good decision as it had become PK3 exclusively for siblings anyway. The school is tiny and the K and 1st grade classes are huge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's on the Ross website, as well.

It is? Where?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's on the Ross website, as well.

It is? Where?

It is in a blog post from the principal newsletter dated Dec 3. http://rosselementary.org/principals-weekly-newsletter-december-3-2018/

But the enrollment page has not been updated to reflect the change. http://rosselementary.org/enrollment/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's on the Ross website, as well.

It is? Where?

http://rosselementary.org/principals-weekly-newsletter-december-3-2018/

Each fall, DCPS shares enrollment projections with Principals and Local School Advisory Teams (LSAT) to inform planning and budgeting for the next school year. We opened with a record enrollment this year (196 students) compared to opening with 171 students in August 2017.

We created a mixed-age K-1 model three years ago to manage robust enrollment trends in those grades and we are now seeing class sizes grow in Grades 2-5 as well. We expect this trend to continue based on strong retention of 5thgraders and current housing construction within the boundary. We currently exceed the recommended class sizes for K-2 and our teachers are feeling strained by this and by limited teaching space. When the LSAT met this fall, I requested they identify short and long term solutions to our physical space constraints. The LSAT identified and discussed a variety of options, including eliminating the PK3 program and requesting completion of the attic space, and shared them in two community meetings in addition to soliciting electronic feedback. After consulting with a variety of stakeholders and central office, the best course of action going forward to immediately manage class size is to eliminate PK3 at Ross. I understand that our PK3 program has been a highly-sought after benefit for our community and that many families with rising PK3 children will be disappointed by this news. However, as a non-Title I school, we are not required to offer this level of programming to our community, especially when our compulsory attendance grades are over-capacity. The Head Start model was created by President Johnson in 1964 as part of his “war on poverty” and was designed to meet the social, emotional, health, nutritional and psychological needs of children from low-income families. We are grateful that the District of Columbia has a strong commitment to PK3 and is a city of school choice. All city residents can enter the MySchoolDC lottery for PK3 for the coming school year. The lottery opens Monday, December 10. MySchoolDC is hosting the annual “EdFest” at the Stadium Armory on Saturday, December 8 from 11:00am to 3:00pm. All DCPS and public charters will be represented at this event. www.MySchoolDC.org

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's on the Ross website, as well.

It is? Where?

http://rosselementary.org/principals-weekly-newsletter-december-3-2018/

[Anonymous]

Teachers were also complaining that their unions right to a lunch room was being violated. So this was one of the reasons offered as to why they wanted PK3 gone.

But they probably won't get a lunch room back even if the pre k 3 class is one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's a good decision as it had become PK3 exclusively for siblings anyway. The school is tiny and the K and 1st grade classes are huge.

Yeah, it may chase some families away so K/1 isn't as huge. (Though if they cracked down on boundary fraud, that'd solve some of the problem too.)
But it was about 7 or 8 siblings out of the 15 slots this year.

[Anonymous]

I wonder if that will bump up demand at Garrison?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's a good decision as it had become PK3 exclusively for siblings anyway. The school is tiny and the K and 1st grade classes are huge.

Yeah, it may chase some families away so K/1 isn't as huge. (Though if they cracked down on boundary fraud, that'd solve some of the problem too.)
But it was about 7 or 8 siblings out of the 15 slots this year.

What boundary fraud? The principal allows kids to stay as long as they had lived in the catchment area when they started. Once they're in, they're in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's a good decision as it had become PK3 exclusively for siblings anyway. The school is tiny and the K and 1st grade classes are huge.

Yeah, it may chase some families away so K/1 isn't as huge. (Though if they cracked down on boundary fraud, that'd solve some of the problem too.)
But it was about 7 or 8 siblings out of the 15 slots this year.

What boundary fraud? The principal allows kids to stay as long as they had lived in the catchment area when they started. Once they're in, they're in.

Yep, those are the rules. They are being violated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's a good decision as it had become PK3 exclusively for siblings anyway. The school is tiny and the K and 1st grade classes are huge.

Yeah, it may chase some families away so K/1 isn't as huge. (Though if they cracked down on boundary fraud, that'd solve some of the problem too.)
But it was about 7 or 8 siblings out of the 15 slots this year.

What boundary fraud? The principal allows kids to stay as long as they had lived in the catchment area when they started. Once they're in, they're in.

Yep, those are the rules. They are being violated.

I remember a few years ago that they prevented 2 pre-K kids from enrolling who lived in upper northwest whose parents claimed their DuPont condo investment properties as their residence. But they could do that because did home visits for pre-k and the truth comes out. For the upper grades not so much... and enrollment drops after 1st grade so there’s more room for OOB kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if that will bump up demand at Garrison?

With a new building, new playground, and new principal - all of which seem to be positives for the school - it could definitely add to the wait list. We were at Garrison before all of the upgrades and even then the PK3 class definitely had OOB kids from the Ross area who didn't have older siblings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's a good decision as it had become PK3 exclusively for siblings anyway. The school is tiny and the K and 1st grade classes are huge.

Yeah, it may chase some families away so K/1 isn't as huge. (Though if they cracked down on boundary fraud, that'd solve some of the problem too.)
But it was about 7 or 8 siblings out of the 15 slots this year.

What boundary fraud? The principal allows kids to stay as long as they had lived in the catchment area when they started. Once they're in, they're in.

Yep, those are the rules. They are being violated.

I remember a few years ago that they prevented 2 pre-K kids from enrolling who lived in upper northwest whose parents claimed their DuPont condo investment properties as their residence. But they could do that because did home visits for pre-k and the truth comes out. For the upper grades not so much... and enrollment drops after 1st grade so there’s more room for OOB kids.

Ross is packed through 4th grade now. Some leave for charter in 5th. But even 5th is 20+ kids this year. They call few if any out of boundary families from the wait list.