Upper elementary in Title 1 schools Wards 4-5

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in Ward 4. Lots of strong options and sleepers. Whittier, is, by far the highest performing title 1 school that is a community school and not as rigid as say... and Rocketship in Ward 5. The school has a stable principal and long-term teachers and is out-performing or on par with many of its well-resourced counterparts. (would choose whitter over Takoma or Brightwood).

The feeder to IDA B. Wells is starting to turn for the better. Whittier was a K-8 and switched to K-5, which helps. There are other good options in the area via lottery (e.g., Latin). High school is a different challenge.

The hardest schools to get placed in are probably Shephard (not title 1, and majority black) and Latin. Both are excellent options for middle and elementary. Shepherd, if you aren't in the zone, forget about it. Housing is scarce.

Are you under the impression Takoma and, especially, Brightwood EC are "well-resourced" compared to Whittier? That is a misconception. They're three Title 1 schools in proximity to each other.

Of course not lol. I'm well aware of what Title 1 schools are, and I hate that it's used as a proxy to evaluate a school. We should, instead look at discipline rates, chronic absenteeism, teacher/principal tenure/school climate surveys to get a better picture for our individual child. Takoma and Brightwood are trending better (especially brightwood,) but the highest performance Title 1, but most markers is whittier. It's not even close. Btw, my child attends Eaton, just giving an objective opinion. I think more parents would opt for Whittier but for the middle school feeder, but that is improving.

When you look at some of the data (both growth and status), of comparable schools out of ward 4 and 5, say, a Watkins in Capitol Hill or Peabody (where I lived before,) Whittier outperforms them on growth and status, but the waitlist wouldn't paint that picture.

Again, incorrect. Takoma is demolishing Brightwood, "trend"-wise. Also Takoma and whittier have the same, trending-upwards MS pathway. I'm honestly very confused by your posts. If Eaton is your IB so you just don't know, that's fine. But why hold yourself out as a Ward 4 expert?

I love this board. Sounds like you're projecting. 1) Where did you hear me say I'm a ward 4 expert? Relax. I'm offering my opinion. The initial poster can look at the data and ask the parents themselves. I live in Ward 4. (typo said 5 earlier). Eaton is not our IB school. Demolishing brightwood? By what account?? Certainly not data. Brightwood has higher ELL students and still has higher "status.
Gentrification does not always equal growth-- maybe that is the undertone of your wrongful assessment of Takoma "demolishing" Brightwood. While it is true more white parents are enrolling their kids in takoma, it doesn't always "translate" into "demolishing" or higher performance. I'd drop a bunch of links, but I'm sure the scores don't "Measure the essence of the school." See now I'm projecting They all feed into Ida B and good stuff about all of them. I should probably disclose that I'm an educator. But every parent is an expert at their own child. I'm giving my opinion.

Here are a few receipts. See student performance at a glance and more importantly, student satisfaction. Good day to you.

https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Takoma+Elementary+School
https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Brightwood+Elementary+School

NP. I don’t necessarily disagree with you, but 2 years of student satisfaction scores from 4 years ago (pre pandemic) are about the least useful evidence of a recent trend in school quality that you could provide.

Much more indicative of a recent trend is just to look at waitlist results - both schools had the same number of seats and Takoma had a WL ten times the size of Brightwood's this year. I know IB families still hoping to get in (re-ranked after being disappointed in their preferred charter), and that's not happening at Brightwood. I wish it were, since it's my IB.

I wouldn't put too much emphasis on waitlists as a data source. A lot of that is a question of the size of the IB population relative to the physical capacity of the school, and that's not really a metric of quality.

That's a fair way to think about it, except in this instance it ignores that Takoma is Early Action. So for pre-K3 at least, the length of the waitlist is an indicator of desirability to OOB families (and like I mentioned upthread, the rare IB family who played the lottery poorly). Meanwhile Brightwood's, the school that does not guarantee a spot for all IB families, had *2* kids on the waitlist on results day.

Well, I'm not saying it's totally irrelevant. But also, consider the number of PK3 classes offered. A school that offers more space initially will have a shorter waitlist.

Also, schools have different approaches to the lottery. Some schools offer a ton of seats because they have physical space and know they can hire a teacher if needed. Other schools don't have room to expand so they're more conservative. One year at our school they increased from two PK3 classes to three PK3 classes. So there wasn't a waitlist anymore. I would hate for anyone to think there was a decrease in quality or demand, when the decision was made due to an increase in demand!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in Ward 4. Lots of strong options and sleepers. Whittier, is, by far the highest performing title 1 school that is a community school and not as rigid as say... and Rocketship in Ward 5. The school has a stable principal and long-term teachers and is out-performing or on par with many of its well-resourced counterparts. (would choose whitter over Takoma or Brightwood).

The feeder to IDA B. Wells is starting to turn for the better. Whittier was a K-8 and switched to K-5, which helps. There are other good options in the area via lottery (e.g., Latin). High school is a different challenge.

The hardest schools to get placed in are probably Shephard (not title 1, and majority black) and Latin. Both are excellent options for middle and elementary. Shepherd, if you aren't in the zone, forget about it. Housing is scarce.

Are you under the impression Takoma and, especially, Brightwood EC are "well-resourced" compared to Whittier? That is a misconception. They're three Title 1 schools in proximity to each other.

Of course not lol. I'm well aware of what Title 1 schools are, and I hate that it's used as a proxy to evaluate a school. We should, instead look at discipline rates, chronic absenteeism, teacher/principal tenure/school climate surveys to get a better picture for our individual child. Takoma and Brightwood are trending better (especially brightwood,) but the highest performance Title 1, but most markers is whittier. It's not even close. Btw, my child attends Eaton, just giving an objective opinion. I think more parents would opt for Whittier but for the middle school feeder, but that is improving.

When you look at some of the data (both growth and status), of comparable schools out of ward 4 and 5, say, a Watkins in Capitol Hill or Peabody (where I lived before,) Whittier outperforms them on growth and status, but the waitlist wouldn't paint that picture.

Again, incorrect. Takoma is demolishing Brightwood, "trend"-wise. Also Takoma and whittier have the same, trending-upwards MS pathway. I'm honestly very confused by your posts. If Eaton is your IB so you just don't know, that's fine. But why hold yourself out as a Ward 4 expert?

I love this board. Sounds like you're projecting. 1) Where did you hear me say I'm a ward 4 expert? Relax. I'm offering my opinion. The initial poster can look at the data and ask the parents themselves. I live in Ward 4. (typo said 5 earlier). Eaton is not our IB school. Demolishing brightwood? By what account?? Certainly not data. Brightwood has higher ELL students and still has higher "status.
Gentrification does not always equal growth-- maybe that is the undertone of your wrongful assessment of Takoma "demolishing" Brightwood. While it is true more white parents are enrolling their kids in takoma, it doesn't always "translate" into "demolishing" or higher performance. I'd drop a bunch of links, but I'm sure the scores don't "Measure the essence of the school." See now I'm projecting They all feed into Ida B and good stuff about all of them. I should probably disclose that I'm an educator. But every parent is an expert at their own child. I'm giving my opinion.

Here are a few receipts. See student performance at a glance and more importantly, student satisfaction. Good day to you.

https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Takoma+Elementary+School
https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Brightwood+Elementary+School

NP. I don’t necessarily disagree with you, but 2 years of student satisfaction scores from 4 years ago (pre pandemic) are about the least useful evidence of a recent trend in school quality that you could provide.

Much more indicative of a recent trend is just to look at waitlist results - both schools had the same number of seats and Takoma had a WL ten times the size of Brightwood's this year. I know IB families still hoping to get in (re-ranked after being disappointed in their preferred charter), and that's not happening at Brightwood. I wish it were, since it's my IB.

I wouldn't put too much emphasis on waitlists as a data source. A lot of that is a question of the size of the IB population relative to the physical capacity of the school, and that's not really a metric of quality.

That's a fair way to think about it, except in this instance it ignores that Takoma is Early Action. So for pre-K3 at least, the length of the waitlist is an indicator of desirability to OOB families (and like I mentioned upthread, the rare IB family who played the lottery poorly). Meanwhile Brightwood's, the school that does not guarantee a spot for all IB families, had *2* kids on the waitlist on results day.

Well, I'm not saying it's totally irrelevant. But also, consider the number of PK3 classes offered. A school that offers more space initially will have a shorter waitlist.

Also, schools have different approaches to the lottery. Some schools offer a ton of seats because they have physical space and know they can hire a teacher if needed. Other schools don't have room to expand so they're more conservative. One year at our school they increased from two PK3 classes to three PK3 classes. So there wasn't a waitlist anymore. I would hate for anyone to think there was a decrease in quality or demand, when the decision was made due to an increase in demand!

They offered the same number of seats, as mentioned already.

I can't tell if people are just being polite by striking this perfectly neutral "it's just a matter of preference between Takoma and Brightwood" stance, but it's not true on the ground. The demand is not there for Brightwood like it is for Takoma. I have a three year old, I talked to parents at the playground all year, and as far as I can tell I'm the only one who listed it at all - people are doing Hebrew immersion or planning commutes to Truesdell and Lewis to avoid it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in Ward 4. Lots of strong options and sleepers. Whittier, is, by far the highest performing title 1 school that is a community school and not as rigid as say... and Rocketship in Ward 5. The school has a stable principal and long-term teachers and is out-performing or on par with many of its well-resourced counterparts. (would choose whitter over Takoma or Brightwood).

The feeder to IDA B. Wells is starting to turn for the better. Whittier was a K-8 and switched to K-5, which helps. There are other good options in the area via lottery (e.g., Latin). High school is a different challenge.

The hardest schools to get placed in are probably Shephard (not title 1, and majority black) and Latin. Both are excellent options for middle and elementary. Shepherd, if you aren't in the zone, forget about it. Housing is scarce.

Are you under the impression Takoma and, especially, Brightwood EC are "well-resourced" compared to Whittier? That is a misconception. They're three Title 1 schools in proximity to each other.

Of course not lol. I'm well aware of what Title 1 schools are, and I hate that it's used as a proxy to evaluate a school. We should, instead look at discipline rates, chronic absenteeism, teacher/principal tenure/school climate surveys to get a better picture for our individual child. Takoma and Brightwood are trending better (especially brightwood,) but the highest performance Title 1, but most markers is whittier. It's not even close. Btw, my child attends Eaton, just giving an objective opinion. I think more parents would opt for Whittier but for the middle school feeder, but that is improving.

When you look at some of the data (both growth and status), of comparable schools out of ward 4 and 5, say, a Watkins in Capitol Hill or Peabody (where I lived before,) Whittier outperforms them on growth and status, but the waitlist wouldn't paint that picture.

Again, incorrect. Takoma is demolishing Brightwood, "trend"-wise. Also Takoma and whittier have the same, trending-upwards MS pathway. I'm honestly very confused by your posts. If Eaton is your IB so you just don't know, that's fine. But why hold yourself out as a Ward 4 expert?

I love this board. Sounds like you're projecting. 1) Where did you hear me say I'm a ward 4 expert? Relax. I'm offering my opinion. The initial poster can look at the data and ask the parents themselves. I live in Ward 4. (typo said 5 earlier). Eaton is not our IB school. Demolishing brightwood? By what account?? Certainly not data. Brightwood has higher ELL students and still has higher "status.
Gentrification does not always equal growth-- maybe that is the undertone of your wrongful assessment of Takoma "demolishing" Brightwood. While it is true more white parents are enrolling their kids in takoma, it doesn't always "translate" into "demolishing" or higher performance. I'd drop a bunch of links, but I'm sure the scores don't "Measure the essence of the school." See now I'm projecting They all feed into Ida B and good stuff about all of them. I should probably disclose that I'm an educator. But every parent is an expert at their own child. I'm giving my opinion.

Here are a few receipts. See student performance at a glance and more importantly, student satisfaction. Good day to you.

https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Takoma+Elementary+School
https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Brightwood+Elementary+School

NP. I don’t necessarily disagree with you, but 2 years of student satisfaction scores from 4 years ago (pre pandemic) are about the least useful evidence of a recent trend in school quality that you could provide.

Much more indicative of a recent trend is just to look at waitlist results - both schools had the same number of seats and Takoma had a WL ten times the size of Brightwood's this year. I know IB families still hoping to get in (re-ranked after being disappointed in their preferred charter), and that's not happening at Brightwood. I wish it were, since it's my IB.

I wouldn't put too much emphasis on waitlists as a data source. A lot of that is a question of the size of the IB population relative to the physical capacity of the school, and that's not really a metric of quality.

That's a fair way to think about it, except in this instance it ignores that Takoma is Early Action. So for pre-K3 at least, the length of the waitlist is an indicator of desirability to OOB families (and like I mentioned upthread, the rare IB family who played the lottery poorly). Meanwhile Brightwood's, the school that does not guarantee a spot for all IB families, had *2* kids on the waitlist on results day.

Well, I'm not saying it's totally irrelevant. But also, consider the number of PK3 classes offered. A school that offers more space initially will have a shorter waitlist.

Also, schools have different approaches to the lottery. Some schools offer a ton of seats because they have physical space and know they can hire a teacher if needed. Other schools don't have room to expand so they're more conservative. One year at our school they increased from two PK3 classes to three PK3 classes. So there wasn't a waitlist anymore. I would hate for anyone to think there was a decrease in quality or demand, when the decision was made due to an increase in demand!

They offered the same number of seats, as mentioned already.

I can't tell if people are just being polite by striking this perfectly neutral "it's just a matter of preference between Takoma and Brightwood" stance, but it's not true on the ground. The demand is not there for Brightwood like it is for Takoma. I have a three year old, I talked to parents at the playground all year, and as far as I can tell I'm the only one who listed it at all - people are doing Hebrew immersion or planning commutes to Truesdell and Lewis to avoid it.

Honestly, I feel like Takoma is better. But two schools that list the same number of seats may have totally different expectations for how those seats will fill, and what they will do over the summer. It's not just about the number of seats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in Ward 4. Lots of strong options and sleepers. Whittier, is, by far the highest performing title 1 school that is a community school and not as rigid as say... and Rocketship in Ward 5. The school has a stable principal and long-term teachers and is out-performing or on par with many of its well-resourced counterparts. (would choose whitter over Takoma or Brightwood).

The feeder to IDA B. Wells is starting to turn for the better. Whittier was a K-8 and switched to K-5, which helps. There are other good options in the area via lottery (e.g., Latin). High school is a different challenge.

The hardest schools to get placed in are probably Shephard (not title 1, and majority black) and Latin. Both are excellent options for middle and elementary. Shepherd, if you aren't in the zone, forget about it. Housing is scarce.

Are you under the impression Takoma and, especially, Brightwood EC are "well-resourced" compared to Whittier? That is a misconception. They're three Title 1 schools in proximity to each other.

The initial discussion was about the top performing Title 1 schools, which the consensus is Whittier... but then it delved into a Takoma vs. Brightwood debate LOL. In summary - whatever is best for your kid.


Of course not lol. I'm well aware of what Title 1 schools are, and I hate that it's used as a proxy to evaluate a school. We should, instead look at discipline rates, chronic absenteeism, teacher/principal tenure/school climate surveys to get a better picture for our individual child. Takoma and Brightwood are trending better (especially brightwood,) but the highest performance Title 1, but most markers is whittier. It's not even close. Btw, my child attends Eaton, just giving an objective opinion. I think more parents would opt for Whittier but for the middle school feeder, but that is improving.

When you look at some of the data (both growth and status), of comparable schools out of ward 4 and 5, say, a Watkins in Capitol Hill or Peabody (where I lived before,) Whittier outperforms them on growth and status, but the waitlist wouldn't paint that picture.

Again, incorrect. Takoma is demolishing Brightwood, "trend"-wise. Also Takoma and whittier have the same, trending-upwards MS pathway. I'm honestly very confused by your posts. If Eaton is your IB so you just don't know, that's fine. But why hold yourself out as a Ward 4 expert?

I love this board. Sounds like you're projecting. 1) Where did you hear me say I'm a ward 4 expert? Relax. I'm offering my opinion. The initial poster can look at the data and ask the parents themselves. I live in Ward 4. (typo said 5 earlier). Eaton is not our IB school. Demolishing brightwood? By what account?? Certainly not data. Brightwood has higher ELL students and still has higher "status.
Gentrification does not always equal growth-- maybe that is the undertone of your wrongful assessment of Takoma "demolishing" Brightwood. While it is true more white parents are enrolling their kids in takoma, it doesn't always "translate" into "demolishing" or higher performance. I'd drop a bunch of links, but I'm sure the scores don't "Measure the essence of the school." See now I'm projecting They all feed into Ida B and good stuff about all of them. I should probably disclose that I'm an educator. But every parent is an expert at their own child. I'm giving my opinion.

Here are a few receipts. See student performance at a glance and more importantly, student satisfaction. Good day to you.

https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Takoma+Elementary+School
https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Brightwood+Elementary+School

NP. I don’t necessarily disagree with you, but 2 years of student satisfaction scores from 4 years ago (pre pandemic) are about the least useful evidence of a recent trend in school quality that you could provide.

Much more indicative of a recent trend is just to look at waitlist results - both schools had the same number of seats and Takoma had a WL ten times the size of Brightwood's this year. I know IB families still hoping to get in (re-ranked after being disappointed in their preferred charter), and that's not happening at Brightwood. I wish it were, since it's my IB.

I wouldn't put too much emphasis on waitlists as a data source. A lot of that is a question of the size of the IB population relative to the physical capacity of the school, and that's not really a metric of quality.

That's a fair way to think about it, except in this instance it ignores that Takoma is Early Action. So for pre-K3 at least, the length of the waitlist is an indicator of desirability to OOB families (and like I mentioned upthread, the rare IB family who played the lottery poorly). Meanwhile Brightwood's, the school that does not guarantee a spot for all IB families, had *2* kids on the waitlist on results day.

Well, I'm not saying it's totally irrelevant. But also, consider the number of PK3 classes offered. A school that offers more space initially will have a shorter waitlist.

Also, schools have different approaches to the lottery. Some schools offer a ton of seats because they have physical space and know they can hire a teacher if needed. Other schools don't have room to expand so they're more conservative. One year at our school they increased from two PK3 classes to three PK3 classes. So there wasn't a waitlist anymore. I would hate for anyone to think there was a decrease in quality or demand, when the decision was made due to an increase in demand!

They offered the same number of seats, as mentioned already.

I can't tell if people are just being polite by striking this perfectly neutral "it's just a matter of preference between Takoma and Brightwood" stance, but it's not true on the ground. The demand is not there for Brightwood like it is for Takoma. I have a three year old, I talked to parents at the playground all year, and as far as I can tell I'm the only one who listed it at all - people are doing Hebrew immersion or planning commutes to Truesdell and Lewis to avoid it.

[Anonymous]

I was thinking especially about MacFarland, but this is probably true of many others, but clearly, families ARE choosing these schools. They have lots of students. MacFarland, you can look at the stats, has like 250 students in each grade and is full.

You all generally seem to mean that DCUM user families aren't well-represented there. Fair enough.

But even if students are going other places, there are clearly large numbers who are choosing these schools. Are they for you? Maybe. But they definitely aren't empty. (Now, Ward 8 DCPS of right is another story on utilization rates, but many DCPS are in fact getting plenty of kids. Just not yours. Or perhaps "ours" around DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was thinking especially about MacFarland, but this is probably true of many others, but clearly, families ARE choosing these schools. They have lots of students. MacFarland, you can look at the stats, has like 250 students in each grade and is full.

You all generally seem to mean that DCUM user families aren't well-represented there. Fair enough.

But even if students are going other places, there are clearly large numbers who are choosing these schools. Are they for you? Maybe. But they definitely aren't empty. (Now, Ward 8 DCPS of right is another story on utilization rates, but many DCPS are in fact getting plenty of kids. Just not yours. Or perhaps "ours" around DCUM.

Very true..Anecdotal info is not necessarily the truth. That's just what your social circle is doing. DCUM accounts for a small percentage of DCPS parents. Take the info but investigate on your own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in Ward 4. Lots of strong options and sleepers. Whittier, is, by far the highest performing title 1 school that is a community school and not as rigid as say... and Rocketship in Ward 5. The school has a stable principal and long-term teachers and is out-performing or on par with many of its well-resourced counterparts. (would choose whitter over Takoma or Brightwood).

The feeder to IDA B. Wells is starting to turn for the better. Whittier was a K-8 and switched to K-5, which helps. There are other good options in the area via lottery (e.g., Latin). High school is a different challenge.

The hardest schools to get placed in are probably Shephard (not title 1, and majority black) and Latin. Both are excellent options for middle and elementary. Shepherd, if you aren't in the zone, forget about it. Housing is scarce.

Are you under the impression Takoma and, especially, Brightwood EC are "well-resourced" compared to Whittier? That is a misconception. They're three Title 1 schools in proximity to each other.

Of course not lol. I'm well aware of what Title 1 schools are, and I hate that it's used as a proxy to evaluate a school. We should, instead look at discipline rates, chronic absenteeism, teacher/principal tenure/school climate surveys to get a better picture for our individual child. Takoma and Brightwood are trending better (especially brightwood,) but the highest performance Title 1, but most markers is whittier. It's not even close. Btw, my child attends Eaton, just giving an objective opinion. I think more parents would opt for Whittier but for the middle school feeder, but that is improving.

When you look at some of the data (both growth and status), of comparable schools out of ward 4 and 5, say, a Watkins in Capitol Hill or Peabody (where I lived before,) Whittier outperforms them on growth and status, but the waitlist wouldn't paint that picture.

Again, incorrect. Takoma is demolishing Brightwood, "trend"-wise. Also Takoma and whittier have the same, trending-upwards MS pathway. I'm honestly very confused by your posts. If Eaton is your IB so you just don't know, that's fine. But why hold yourself out as a Ward 4 expert?

I love this board. Sounds like you're projecting. 1) Where did you hear me say I'm a ward 4 expert? Relax. I'm offering my opinion. The initial poster can look at the data and ask the parents themselves. I live in Ward 4. (typo said 5 earlier). Eaton is not our IB school. Demolishing brightwood? By what account?? Certainly not data. Brightwood has higher ELL students and still has higher "status.
Gentrification does not always equal growth-- maybe that is the undertone of your wrongful assessment of Takoma "demolishing" Brightwood. While it is true more white parents are enrolling their kids in takoma, it doesn't always "translate" into "demolishing" or higher performance. I'd drop a bunch of links, but I'm sure the scores don't "Measure the essence of the school." See now I'm projecting They all feed into Ida B and good stuff about all of them. I should probably disclose that I'm an educator. But every parent is an expert at their own child. I'm giving my opinion.

Here are a few receipts. See student performance at a glance and more importantly, student satisfaction. Good day to you.

https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Takoma+Elementary+School
https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Brightwood+Elementary+School

NP. I don’t necessarily disagree with you, but 2 years of student satisfaction scores from 4 years ago (pre pandemic) are about the least useful evidence of a recent trend in school quality that you could provide.

Much more indicative of a recent trend is just to look at waitlist results - both schools had the same number of seats and Takoma had a WL ten times the size of Brightwood's this year. I know IB families still hoping to get in (re-ranked after being disappointed in their preferred charter), and that's not happening at Brightwood. I wish it were, since it's my IB.

I wouldn't put too much emphasis on waitlists as a data source. A lot of that is a question of the size of the IB population relative to the physical capacity of the school, and that's not really a metric of quality.

That's a fair way to think about it, except in this instance it ignores that Takoma is Early Action. So for pre-K3 at least, the length of the waitlist is an indicator of desirability to OOB families (and like I mentioned upthread, the rare IB family who played the lottery poorly). Meanwhile Brightwood's, the school that does not guarantee a spot for all IB families, had *2* kids on the waitlist on results day.

Well, I'm not saying it's totally irrelevant. But also, consider the number of PK3 classes offered. A school that offers more space initially will have a shorter waitlist.

Also, schools have different approaches to the lottery. Some schools offer a ton of seats because they have physical space and know they can hire a teacher if needed. Other schools don't have room to expand so they're more conservative. One year at our school they increased from two PK3 classes to three PK3 classes. So there wasn't a waitlist anymore. I would hate for anyone to think there was a decrease in quality or demand, when the decision was made due to an increase in demand!

They offered the same number of seats, as mentioned already.

I can't tell if people are just being polite by striking this perfectly neutral "it's just a matter of preference between Takoma and Brightwood" stance, but it's not true on the ground. The demand is not there for Brightwood like it is for Takoma. I have a three year old, I talked to parents at the playground all year, and as far as I can tell I'm the only one who listed it at all - people are doing Hebrew immersion or planning commutes to Truesdell and Lewis to avoid it.

Brightwood is almost 80% IB. Something tells me you are very exclusive at the playgrounds.

[Anonymous]

Interesting people are only naming Ward 4 schools but I think Langdon ES and Burroughs gives the schools mentioned a run for their money too.

My oldest is in K Montessori at Langdon so I cannot say much for the upper grades being good but I see their scores always steadily rising. And Cap Hill Montessori for MS isn’t awful. I may just go private though. We are getting a beautiful new playground too.

https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/scorecard/Langdon+Elementary+School

https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/scorecard/Burroughs+Elementary+School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting people are only naming Ward 4 schools but I think Langdon ES and Burroughs gives the schools mentioned a run for their money too.

My oldest is in K Montessori at Langdon so I cannot say much for the upper grades being good but I see their scores always steadily rising. And Cap Hill Montessori for MS isn’t awful. I may just go private though. We are getting a beautiful new playground too.

https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/scorecard/Langdon+Elementary+School

https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/scorecard/Burroughs+Elementary+School

You must not know the rules here? Thou shall not use data unless it bolsters the collective opinion— otherwise “it’s old data prepandemic and useless or “it doesn’t really count because of the pandemic”.

I totally agree. As a matter of fact, I’d rank Langdon and Freedom school right there close to Whittier with Takoma and Brightwood as a distance 4th/5th. I’m a parent and an educator. Someone said the waitlist are a good proxy for quality…. Actually seeing the applicants of teachers to a school is the more probative indicator. (They know what you don’t). Trust…We give too much credence to wypiple or high social capital parents showing interest in a school. That doesn’t mean jack if you don’t have great teachers and strong culture. The schools are trending in the right direction, but the growth of some are largely exaggerated. That is difficult and takes years to build (transformation of schools). I’m rooting for all, but have been thrown off guard of the recasting of Takoma. It’s a solid school, but probably not in the middle of the pack district wide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting people are only naming Ward 4 schools but I think Langdon ES and Burroughs gives the schools mentioned a run for their money too.

My oldest is in K Montessori at Langdon so I cannot say much for the upper grades being good but I see their scores always steadily rising. And Cap Hill Montessori for MS isn’t awful. I may just go private though. We are getting a beautiful new playground too.

https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/scorecard/Langdon+Elementary+School

https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/scorecard/Burroughs+Elementary+School

You must not know the rules here? Thou shall not use data unless it bolsters the collective opinion— otherwise “it’s old data prepandemic and useless or “it doesn’t really count because of the pandemic”.

I totally agree. As a matter of fact, I’d rank Langdon and Freedom school right there close to Whittier with Takoma and Brightwood as a distance 4th/5th. I’m a parent and an educator. Someone said the waitlist are a good proxy for quality…. Actually seeing the applicants of teachers to a school is the more probative indicator. (They know what you don’t). Trust…We give too much credence to wypiple or high social capital parents showing interest in a school. That doesn’t mean jack if you don’t have great teachers and strong culture. The schools are trending in the right direction, but the growth of some are largely exaggerated. That is difficult and takes years to build (transformation of schools). I’m rooting for all, but have been thrown off guard of the recasting of Takoma. It’s a solid school, but probably not in the middle of the pack district wide.

Really good info... Always looked at teacher longevity when deciding on a school. I always ask teachers (if they have kids)-"Does your child go here or did they?"..If the answer is "yes", you can be fairly confident in the choice. Otherwise, move along...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting people are only naming Ward 4 schools but I think Langdon ES and Burroughs gives the schools mentioned a run for their money too.

My oldest is in K Montessori at Langdon so I cannot say much for the upper grades being good but I see their scores always steadily rising. And Cap Hill Montessori for MS isn’t awful. I may just go private though. We are getting a beautiful new playground too.

https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/scorecard/Langdon+Elementary+School

https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/scorecard/Burroughs+Elementary+School

You must not know the rules here? Thou shall not use data unless it bolsters the collective opinion— otherwise “it’s old data prepandemic and useless or “it doesn’t really count because of the pandemic”.

I totally agree. As a matter of fact, I’d rank Langdon and Freedom school right there close to Whittier with Takoma and Brightwood as a distance 4th/5th. I’m a parent and an educator. Someone said the waitlist are a good proxy for quality…. Actually seeing the applicants of teachers to a school is the more probative indicator. (They know what you don’t). Trust…We give too much credence to wypiple or high social capital parents showing interest in a school. That doesn’t mean jack if you don’t have great teachers and strong culture. The schools are trending in the right direction, but the growth of some are largely exaggerated. That is difficult and takes years to build (transformation of schools). I’m rooting for all, but have been thrown off guard of the recasting of Takoma. It’s a solid school, but probably not in the middle of the pack district wide.

You sure bucked collective opinion by lotterying into a Ward 3 elementary, right? It's pretty hypocritical to send your kids to Eaton and still demand to be acknowledged as this supreme unbiased booster of Ward 4 & 5 schools. But thanks for rooting for us, I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting people are only naming Ward 4 schools but I think Langdon ES and Burroughs gives the schools mentioned a run for their money too.

My oldest is in K Montessori at Langdon so I cannot say much for the upper grades being good but I see their scores always steadily rising. And Cap Hill Montessori for MS isn’t awful. I may just go private though. We are getting a beautiful new playground too.

https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/scorecard/Langdon+Elementary+School

https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/scorecard/Burroughs+Elementary+School

You must not know the rules here? Thou shall not use data unless it bolsters the collective opinion— otherwise “it’s old data prepandemic and useless or “it doesn’t really count because of the pandemic”.

I totally agree. As a matter of fact, I’d rank Langdon and Freedom school right there close to Whittier with Takoma and Brightwood as a distance 4th/5th. I’m a parent and an educator. Someone said the waitlist are a good proxy for quality…. Actually seeing the applicants of teachers to a school is the more probative indicator. (They know what you don’t). Trust…We give too much credence to wypiple or high social capital parents showing interest in a school. That doesn’t mean jack if you don’t have great teachers and strong culture. The schools are trending in the right direction, but the growth of some are largely exaggerated. That is difficult and takes years to build (transformation of schools). I’m rooting for all, but have been thrown off guard of the recasting of Takoma. It’s a solid school, but probably not in the middle of the pack district wide.

Really good info... Always looked at teacher longevity when deciding on a school. I always ask teachers (if they have kids)-"Does your child go here or did they?"..If the answer is "yes", you can be fairly confident in the choice. Otherwise, move along...

That doesn’t work in the city when DCPS teachers don’t have a lottery preference like charters. If they don’t live in-bound, they have the same odds as the rest of us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in Ward 4. Lots of strong options and sleepers. Whittier, is, by far the highest performing title 1 school that is a community school and not as rigid as say... and Rocketship in Ward 5. The school has a stable principal and long-term teachers and is out-performing or on par with many of its well-resourced counterparts. (would choose whitter over Takoma or Brightwood).

The feeder to IDA B. Wells is starting to turn for the better. Whittier was a K-8 and switched to K-5, which helps. There are other good options in the area via lottery (e.g., Latin). High school is a different challenge.

The hardest schools to get placed in are probably Shephard (not title 1, and majority black) and Latin. Both are excellent options for middle and elementary. Shepherd, if you aren't in the zone, forget about it. Housing is scarce.

Are you under the impression Takoma and, especially, Brightwood EC are "well-resourced" compared to Whittier? That is a misconception. They're three Title 1 schools in proximity to each other.

Of course not lol. I'm well aware of what Title 1 schools are, and I hate that it's used as a proxy to evaluate a school. We should, instead look at discipline rates, chronic absenteeism, teacher/principal tenure/school climate surveys to get a better picture for our individual child. Takoma and Brightwood are trending better (especially brightwood,) but the highest performance Title 1, but most markers is whittier. It's not even close. Btw, my child attends Eaton, just giving an objective opinion. I think more parents would opt for Whittier but for the middle school feeder, but that is improving.

When you look at some of the data (both growth and status), of comparable schools out of ward 4 and 5, say, a Watkins in Capitol Hill or Peabody (where I lived before,) Whittier outperforms them on growth and status, but the waitlist wouldn't paint that picture.

Again, incorrect. Takoma is demolishing Brightwood, "trend"-wise. Also Takoma and whittier have the same, trending-upwards MS pathway. I'm honestly very confused by your posts. If Eaton is your IB so you just don't know, that's fine. But why hold yourself out as a Ward 4 expert?

I love this board. Sounds like you're projecting. 1) Where did you hear me say I'm a ward 4 expert? Relax. I'm offering my opinion. The initial poster can look at the data and ask the parents themselves. I live in Ward 4. (typo said 5 earlier). Eaton is not our IB school. Demolishing brightwood? By what account?? Certainly not data. Brightwood has higher ELL students and still has higher "status.
Gentrification does not always equal growth-- maybe that is the undertone of your wrongful assessment of Takoma "demolishing" Brightwood. While it is true more white parents are enrolling their kids in takoma, it doesn't always "translate" into "demolishing" or higher performance. I'd drop a bunch of links, but I'm sure the scores don't "Measure the essence of the school." See now I'm projecting They all feed into Ida B and good stuff about all of them. I should probably disclose that I'm an educator. But every parent is an expert at their own child. I'm giving my opinion.

Here are a few receipts. See student performance at a glance and more importantly, student satisfaction. Good day to you.

https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Takoma+Elementary+School
https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Brightwood+Elementary+School

Reading along here. Also live in the area. Agree on Whittier being the strongest Title 1. Takoma and Brightwood are a matter of preference. I would go with Brightwood if student is English Language Learner. Lot of good things are happening at Takoma with strong community supports. Future looks good for the feeder MS.

Also reading along here and are doing the Whittier-Takoma-Brightwood dance for this year’s lottery. Any previous posters have updated experiences or lottery thoughts to share for the next school year? (Pk3 here)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shepherd

Shepherd isn’t title one

It’s hilarious that PP thought that because Shepherd has black students that they have to be Title 1. Shepherd is 19% economically disadvantaged and 60% black, imagine that…non poor black folk. Even rich black folk (again imagine that). And every single disadvantaged kid is welcome at Shepherd. There is no us vs them.

+1. Have you ever been through the neighborhood? There are some very rich Black families. I would bet wealthier than the white families.

[Anonymous]

Garrison elementary not sure what ward that is but principals kids attend the school. We are in upper grades been great