Future parents--heartburn over schooling--would love insight

[Anonymous]

You're missing the point. There's no reason to be sure that home prices will appreciate in the next 8 years as they did 2003-2011. Congrats to you for buying in 2003, but the OP is interested in buying this year.

[Anonymous]

All I am saying is that having spent some time studying the market on Capitol Hill, one can be quite confident that they will not list money and depending in exactly what and where they buy, there is a high likelihood of gaining value. It's something you have to really immerse yourself in to feel the momentum. Sure, global financial catastrophe will make things difficult, but short of that, midtownish areas of Cap Hill are a darn good investment bet.

[Anonymous]

Those rowdy kids are in almost every DCPS and charter after 2nd grade. It's DC!

Anonymous wrote:The bilingual charter schools are overrated anyway.

Really? By whom?

You sound jealous. They DO have an MS/HS option, btw. They all get to go to the DCI - the collective immersion MS/HS which will do the full IB program including the IB Diploma.

I agree with the PP who thinks that immersion schools are overrated, and not just the charters. The charters don't support lotteries for bilingual kids, hardly inspirational, and Oyster, which does, has discipline problems. We pulled out of Oyster after 3rd grade for Sidwell last year because our very bright daughter was no longer getting nearly enough attention - too many rowdy low-income kids in her class distracting teachers (not PC to point this out, just the unvarnished truth). The planning for DCI is still vague and there aren't any HS charters attracting a sizeable middle-class cohort yet. Look at how more than 2/3 of the white kids at Wash Latin, where there is little ability grouping despite open lottery admissions, bail before HS.

Many of the immersion kids surely won't end up at DCI - upper-middle-class families still tend to jump ship for privates and the burbs along the way. My point is take the medium and long-term planning with a grain of salt, if not a bag of salt. Sure, it may work out as you say, but it may not, these being DC public schools.

[Anonymous]

Those rowdy kids are in almost every DCPS and charter after 2nd grade. It's DC!

KIPP schools, and other charters geared to low-income kids, provide much more support to help rowdy kids (often without a father at home) settle down in a school setting than most. Without G&T programs in DCPS, it is common enough for upper-middle-class families to feel that their well-behaved, advanced kids (which would obviously not include every better-off child) are being overlooked. Get a clue DCPS, different DC populations have different needs in school. I feel discouraged when I hear about affluent families leaving the system because their children get insufficient attention - poor kids are the biggest losers when this happens.

[Anonymous]

PP, I agree. Middle class parents EOP are so desparate to get out of their neighborhood schools that they are going to charters that are geared for the low income kids. Then they realize the charter has these kids too albeit maybe less of them. But even those kids disrupt classes for the well behaved ones and often administrators are loathe to get rid of them. So you see a mass exodus in the upper grades. A lot of parents get out as soon as they can find an alternative and sadly, the great teachers leave too. If you have a bright child, you can't sacrifice him or her.

Anonymous wrote:Those rowdy kids are in almost every DCPS and charter after 2nd grade. It's DC!

KIPP schools, and other charters geared to low-income kids, provide much more support to help rowdy kids (often without a father at home) settle down in a school setting than most. Without G&T programs in DCPS, it is common enough for upper-middle-class families to feel that their well-behaved, advanced kids (which would obviously not include every better-off child) are being overlooked. Get a clue DCPS, different DC populations have different needs in school. I feel discouraged when I hear about affluent families leaving the system because their children get insufficient attention - poor kids are the biggest losers when this happens.

[Anonymous]

In case it isn't obvious, a huge number of families leaving dcps schools and charter schools because of rowdy or unacceptable behavior by the other kids are African American. White families get lambasted for being particular about who their "little snowflakes" go to school with, but make no mistake, African American families often have a very low threshold for troubled/troubling classmates in their kids' schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In case it isn't obvious, a huge number of families leaving dcps schools and charter schools because of rowdy or unacceptable behavior by the other kids are African American. White families get lambasted for being particular about who their "little snowflakes" go to school with, but make no mistake, African American families often have a very low threshold for troubled/troubling classmates in their kids' schools.

AA family- must admit I agree and switched schools fot this reason.

[Anonymous]

Wait, wait....you mean not all white DCUMers are racist because they want their kids in high-performing schools without distractions from troubled youths?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait, wait....you mean not all white DCUMers are racist because they want their kids in high-performing schools without distractions from troubled youths?

An educated person-- black or white-- would not deem you a racist for wanting your child to attend a high performing school. Middle-upper middle class AAs as well as those who may not have a lot of money but have a vision for thier child's future, want the same thing as you do. However, as an educated AA I do take issue with folk who lump all black children together as being either poor, unable to perform at the same level as their white classmates, ill-behaved, troubled or all of the above (not necessarily you).

To understand the public school system in DC and the issue of race, you have to know a little about the history of this city and more specifically the chapters on both white flight and black middle class flight. For several decades the city was made up of primarily high income whites and poor blacks, the latter of which made up more than 85% of DCPS. Both blacks and whites with any kind of money who remained in the city put their kids in private schools. Many still do. My husband went to Sidwell, however times have changed, and we enrolled our children in a well regarded charter because our neighborhood school sucks. BTW, quite a number of children with behavioral issues at our school-- which is 50/50, black/white-- are actually white--surprise...surprise! As the demographics shift and change in DC, some parents (particularly new parents and/or those who have never experienced a system outside of DCPS) may be surprised to learn that there are ill behaved children of every color, every economic level, and in every school, public or private. The difference is economics. Private schools can dismiss these kids to solve the problem. Higher income parents often choose to medicate their children to solve the problem.

That being said, a good administration should be able to contain and control most behavioral issues. However, it does require time and resource which some parents don't have the patience or stomach for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those rowdy kids are in almost every DCPS and charter after 2nd grade. It's DC!

KIPP schools, and other charters geared to low-income kids, provide much more support to help rowdy kids (often without a father at home) settle down in a school setting than most. Without G&T programs in DCPS, it is common enough for upper-middle-class families to feel that their well-behaved, advanced kids (which would obviously not include every better-off child) are being overlooked. Get a clue DCPS, different DC populations have different needs in school. I feel discouraged when I hear about affluent families leaving the system because their children get insufficient attention - poor kids are the biggest losers when this happens.

Just to balance this out, my DD does not have a father at home, is not rowdy, and is currently at a private school in VA as I am nervous about the influence of city kids/city attitudes over the long term. Some people may think I'm overly sensitive, but as a single parent I'm even more concerned that her school environment and peers support what I teach at home. She's been accepted to a well-regarded charter in DC for 2012-2013, and while I'm excited, I'm also nervous and questioning if I'm making the right decision in moving her from her current school. Also we are not low-income.

Not saying the PP meant this, but wanting to point out that not having a father at home is not a pre-cursor of being rowdy or indicative of being low-income.

[Anonymous]

... or, for that matter, of being slow. DD is very smart! ^^^^^^^^^

[Anonymous]

PP, what charter is it? There are plenty of rowdy kids at even well regarded charters. It only takes one to make school an unpleasant place.

[Anonymous]

Forget Brent; if you can afford 800K for a house buy in a JKLM district that feeds into Deal and you'll be covered until high school. And you house will sell faster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those rowdy kids are in almost every DCPS and charter after 2nd grade. It's DC!

Anonymous wrote:The bilingual charter schools are overrated anyway.

Really? By whom?

You sound jealous. They DO have an MS/HS option, btw. They all get to go to the DCI - the collective immersion MS/HS which will do the full IB program including the IB Diploma.

I agree with the PP who thinks that immersion schools are overrated, and not just the charters. The charters don't support lotteries for bilingual kids, hardly inspirational, and Oyster, which does, has discipline problems. We pulled out of Oyster after 3rd grade for Sidwell last year because our very bright daughter was no longer getting nearly enough attention - too many rowdy low-income kids in her class distracting teachers (not PC to point this out, just the unvarnished truth). The planning for DCI is still vague and there aren't any HS charters attracting a sizeable middle-class cohort yet. Look at how more than 2/3 of the white kids at Wash Latin, where there is little ability grouping despite open lottery admissions, bail before HS.

Many of the immersion kids surely won't end up at DCI - upper-middle-class families still tend to jump ship for privates and the burbs along the way. My point is take the medium and long-term planning with a grain of salt, if not a bag of salt. Sure, it may work out as you say, but it may not, these being DC public schools.

"The charters don't support lotteries for bilingual kids, hardly inspirational, and Oyster, which does, has discipline problems."

It's unfortunate how often this has to be explained. The level of ignorance is depressing. Charter law DOES NOT ALLOW preference by language. Charter schools can not offer preference by language. Oyster can because it's a DCPS school, therefore charter law does not apply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you have the money to spend and going to public school is important to you, buy in a neighborhood with an established in boundary school. When we bought, we did not have children and did not even look at the school situation. Fast forward 6 years and our IB school has not even taken a step towards being an acceptable choice for us. So not every school is just going to magically turn around. And you can count us in the group that has been unsuccessfully playing the lottery for 2 years. We will most likely go private for K which is not my preference (for reasons completely unrelated to money) at all.

You're kidding, right? This is a child she isn't even pregnant with yet! Not to mention: boundaries are becoming less and less important, and charters are becoming more and more important. Living west of the park won't get your little Sophia into one of the bilingual schools any more than a great spot in the Yards or CH will. So, live where you're happy now and foresee being happy in the future. The game doesn't change based on where you live.

Also, an ugly and expensive cramped house in AU Park is a bad bargain: monolingual is the new stupid.

Your attitude is astounding. First of all, why would you think AU Park residents aren't bilingual? Many in the area are foreigners working for the World Bank and IMF. DH speaks three languages fluently and is not from the US and would never put our kids in the language immersion charter. Second, your unwavering faith in the immersion charters surprising given they are pretty new and long term outcomes have yet to be seen. Maybe this is how you sleep at night, I don't know?