For those of you in-boundary for a terrible DCPS elementary, and who are bummed about that ...

[Anonymous]

Hillcrest is nice. Anne Beers, Tyler, Maury are not.

[Anonymous]

PP, pretty strong words. Why do you feel Anne Beers, Tyler, and Maury are not nice?

Greatschools.org rates them all 7's, and they have long history's of achievement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hillcrest is nice. Anne Beers, Tyler, Maury are not.

Got anything further, or is that just poo-flinging?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there's more than one poster here complaining about lousy neighborhood schools. It's not like there aren't a lot of lousy neighborhood schools to choose from!

Are the schools lousy because they are in lousy neighborhoods? Are the teachers that teach in these schools lousy? What is it that makes these schools lousy schools?

The parents. It's the parents!

I see. So if these lousy schools would just pick children with better parents, we would all have great neighborhood schools.

That is what is happening with private, charter and OOB - concerned parents making an effort = better performance. If you live in a neighborhood with tons of lousy parents, there will be a greater proportion of badly behaving kids who are less likely to learn anything productive at home, are disruptive to other kids trying to learn, who have low expectations for themselves, whose parents don't support the school and the teachers, and good teachers being human are also likely to move on to less stressful surroundings as they gain work experience. Then there are the undiagnosed learning disabilities that can hurt even the brightest kids and lead to "I hate school" behavior and low self esteem - if the parents don't get the right help early, a tree that grows crooked might never straighten its trunk.

Wow, just wow. You really think it's all about "lousy" parents? It's easy to condemn other peoples' parenting as lousy when you are likely coming from a position of relative socio-economic privilege which means that instead of worrying about housing, food, or your employment, you can focus most of your attention on your children. That's likely the case for 95% of the parents in the private, charter and OOB schools you are citing (although possibly less so for the charters). You've got to look a little deeper below the surface and realize that the vast majority of parents want the same basic things for their kids that you do, but they may not have the means or knowledge base to provide it. In my book, that does not make them "lousy parents."

OK so what makes schools lousy then?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hillcrest is nice. Anne Beers, Tyler, Maury are not.

Tyler Spanish Immersion parent here and we think the school is very nice especially now after the first phase of the renovations have been completed. It also helps that the SI group has very motivated parents and a strong PTA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, pretty strong words. Why do you feel Anne Beers, Tyler, and Maury are not nice?

Greatschools.org rates them all 7's, and they have long history's of achievement.

Not the PP, but the greatschools.org ratings are about as reliable as East German pre-reunification automobiles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To 13:45, Hillcrest is a wonderful neighborhood. You don't have to trek way up to NW for good schools either. Anne Beers is a good elementary school, and on Capitol Hill in SE there is Tyler, Maury, Brent, Watkins, etc.

You could also go the private school route in that area. Naylor Road, Dupont Park, and St Francis Xavier are all good private/parochial options in Hillcrest. Hillcrest is truly on of the best kept secrets in DC. Good luck...

I agree and I'm jealous! DD's pediatrician is in Hilcrest (Dr. Dickey) and I love driving through the neighborhood to get there. For now, we live in a condo in Anacostia, but I would happily buy a SFH in Hilcrest.

[Anonymous]

We use Dr. Dickey. We loooove him. Great houses there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there's more than one poster here complaining about lousy neighborhood schools. It's not like there aren't a lot of lousy neighborhood schools to choose from!

Are the schools lousy because they are in lousy neighborhoods? Are the teachers that teach in these schools lousy? What is it that makes these schools lousy schools?

The parents. It's the parents!

I see. So if these lousy schools would just pick children with better parents, we would all have great neighborhood schools.

That is what is happening with private, charter and OOB - concerned parents making an effort = better performance. If you live in a neighborhood with tons of lousy parents, there will be a greater proportion of badly behaving kids who are less likely to learn anything productive at home, are disruptive to other kids trying to learn, who have low expectations for themselves, whose parents don't support the school and the teachers, and good teachers being human are also likely to move on to less stressful surroundings as they gain work experience. Then there are the undiagnosed learning disabilities that can hurt even the brightest kids and lead to "I hate school" behavior and low self esteem - if the parents don't get the right help early, a tree that grows crooked might never straighten its trunk.

Wow, just wow. You really think it's all about "lousy" parents? It's easy to condemn other peoples' parenting as lousy when you are likely coming from a position of relative socio-economic privilege which means that instead of worrying about housing, food, or your employment, you can focus most of your attention on your children. That's likely the case for 95% of the parents in the private, charter and OOB schools you are citing (although possibly less so for the charters). You've got to look a little deeper below the surface and realize that the vast majority of parents want the same basic things for their kids that you do, but they may not have the means or knowledge base to provide it. In my book, that does not make them "lousy parents."

OK so what makes schools lousy then?

Perhaps those lousy schools aren't really lousy. We just label them that way due to test scores that reflect a more vulnerable population.

[Anonymous]

Maury and Tyler are both good schools- particularly in the lower grades. PP who dissed them is clueless. I wish Tyler could get a Principal who would stay a while - that is really holding the school back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OOB in upper NW, 13:45? Wow! That's great. How will you handle the commute from Hillcrest (do you both work full-time)?

My husband works pretty close to her school, but even if he did not we would have made a way to get her there each morning. We had no choice. The schools in our neighborhood are not that great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OOB in upper NW, 13:45? Wow! That's great. How will you handle the commute from Hillcrest (do you both work full-time)?

My husband works pretty close to her school, but even if he did not we would have made a way to get her there each morning. We had no choice. The schools in our neighborhood are not that great.

I drive from Anacostia to upper NW for daycare so I know what you mean.