hard to get into Duke Ellington?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you all do realize that bitching on DCUM may make you feel better but it does nothing to address PG kids getting preference over white kids in DC. Unless you are willing to take this fight to the chancellor then nothing will change. My kid is at a title 1 school and its clear that huge number of the kids are coming from MD. Preference for OOB latinos over IB english dominant kids. the block is full of MD plates at drop off. And no, not all these kid are dropped of by nannies and grandparents...

It isn't the Chancellor -- it's OSSE.

They rewrote the residency rules -- it was a public process that lasted 18 months. And there are still loopholes big enough to drive a tractor trailer through (e.g. non-custodial, biological parent lives in DC -- kid can attend DC schools if that parent enrolls the student).

But residency cheating is a different topic than admissions criteria and experiences at a magnet school.

[Anonymous]

To the extent possible, quite easy with instruments, not so easy for theater, all auditions should be blind. Blind to color, blind to gender. Many of the worlds music auditions are done this way.

https://www.theguardian.com/women-in-leadership/2013/oct/14/blind-auditions-orchestras-gender-bias

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the extent possible, quite easy with instruments, not so easy for theater, all auditions should be blind. Blind to color, blind to gender. Many of the worlds music auditions are done this way.

https://www.theguardian.com/women-in-leadership/2013/oct/14/blind-auditions-orchestras-gender-bias

There are so many tracks at Ellington for a small school: visual arts, instrumental music, voice, theatre, tech, museum studies and literary/media/comma.

Each track has only so many spaces per grade.

[Anonymous]

And they should go to DC kids of every $ and hue . Someone should track applications versus acceptances and see if there is some hanky panky going on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I recall reading once that Ellington wasn't chartered for the students in DC. It was formed to provide an arts education principally to students of color. That's its mission and culture. So that would mean that kids from PG might have a stronger moral right to an Ellington education than snowflakes from Ward 3.

My Ward 3 snowflake applied to the drama program at Ellington in recent years. DC had a few stage and film credits, great letters of recommendation, a well-prepared monologue, and a stellar academic record. DC was called back after the first audition.

During the first callback audition, DC and a few other applicants were handed new monologues and given a couple of minutes to prepare before performing them before the committee. DC noticed that none of the AA applicants in the group were were given new monologues. Instead, they performed prepared monologues. DC did not receive a second callback audition.

It's certainly possible that all of the applicants in DC's group who received second callbacks were much more talented than DC. However, the lack of transparency and consistency in the audition process for Ellington creates opportunities to skew it in favor of AA students, who are presumably disadvantaged.

Based on our experience, I believe that you are correct, PP. The staff at Ellington sees its mission as providing an arts education primarily to students of color. Is that a legitimate mission for a school funded by taxpayers? There are probably arguments for and against.

However, I fear that DC's takeaway was that students of color are incapable of competing on a level playing field.

I studied art at an Ivy League university at the graduate level. Evaluation of work was absolutely subjective. Since I was the only AA, I could chalk up any negative experiences to my classmates' not being able to compete on a level playing field. But honestly, I never did. What would be the point?

All of what happened was observed/reported by your daughter, a single individual. Let's say that it's accurate to every detail. Maybe the Ellington faculty figured that, given your DC's substantial professional experience, it would make sense to see what she could do without having prepared/extensively a piece. Maybe they wanted to test her, stretch her. Maybe they wanted to...level the playing field. If your DC was focused on what other students were asked to do, rather than on her own improvisation, maybe she wasn't "in the moment" and didn't seem fully engaged in the challenge.

Not fair, but based on my experience in the arts -- and that of my DD in ballet -- art teachers tend to operate in "surprising" ways. It's not necessarily racial, though who knows. If your DD is focused on what's "fair" -- as I tend to be -- she's going to have a hard slog in the arts. I know I did.

Admissions to a free and public high school in a city in which you reside should be as fair as possible. If she was given a different monologue it should be investigated and the rationale for doing so explained.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ellington is horribly under utilized. They should be made to take students until they're at capacity. DC parents paid for it DC students should be able to use it.

No, if you don't have talent or passion no need for them to accept you! =_=

[Anonymous]

I would like to see Ellington offer middle school as well. They have the room for it, it would free up space at oversubscribed middle schools, and they could actually teach the kids instead of just taking kids who either were born with natural talent and/or were fortunate enough to have private lessons.

They could even make it so that you need to audition again for HS, to be certain that they get the best possible group of HS students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And they should go to DC kids of every $ and hue . Someone should track applications versus acceptances and see if there is some hanky panky going on.

Ellington needs to be more inclusive and diverse. There are very few Asian white or even Hispanic students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I recall reading once that Ellington wasn't chartered for the students in DC. It was formed to provide an arts education principally to students of color. That's its mission and culture. So that would mean that kids from PG might have a stronger moral right to an Ellington education than snowflakes from Ward 3.

My Ward 3 snowflake applied to the drama program at Ellington in recent years. DC had a few stage and film credits, great letters of recommendation, a well-prepared monologue, and a stellar academic record. DC was called back after the first audition.

During the first callback audition, DC and a few other applicants were handed new monologues and given a couple of minutes to prepare before performing them before the committee. DC noticed that none of the AA applicants in the group were were given new monologues. Instead, they performed prepared monologues. DC did not receive a second callback audition.

It's certainly possible that all of the applicants in DC's group who received second callbacks were much more talented than DC. However, the lack of transparency and consistency in the audition process for Ellington creates opportunities to skew it in favor of AA students, who are presumably disadvantaged.

Based on our experience, I believe that you are correct, PP. The staff at Ellington sees its mission as providing an arts education primarily to students of color. Is that a legitimate mission for a school funded by taxpayers?There are probably arguments for and against.

However, I fear that DC's takeaway was that students of color are incapable of competing on a level playing field.

No, it is not legitimate and likely not Constitutional.

[Anonymous]

LOL. Entitled parents lead to entitled kids. Now, a performing arts school should provide affirmative action for Ward 3 Caucasian students, essentially, but to hell with that for others in college admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ellington is horribly under utilized. They should be made to take students until they're at capacity. DC parents paid for it DC students should be able to use it.

No, if you don't have talent or passion no need for them to accept you! =_=

They should blind audition kids in the music and fine arts program before kids get to the interview stage. This approach has been shown to benefit females who are often discriminated against in orchestras. They should also offer a stream where the student takes one arts focus rather then two and then the other time they do advanced math or something else academic. This will attract a lot of interest from families who do not want the double arts focus but like the idea of a strong arts program that does not sacrifice academics. And with this approach the school can make better use of the space that they have, much of which sits empty for half the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very. There's an audition, exam, and family interview.

So why, with the latest $200 million subsidy from D.C. Taxpayers, does Ellington take kids from Maryland while it turns away kids from Washington?!

Because they need to make a full bank, french horn and all that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ellington is horribly under utilized. They should be made to take students until they're at capacity. DC parents paid for it DC students should be able to use it.

No, if you don't have talent or passion no need for them to accept you! =_=

They should blind audition kids in the music and fine arts program before kids get to the interview stage. This approach has been shown to benefit females who are often discriminated against in orchestras. They should also offer a stream where the student takes one arts focus rather then two and then the other time they do advanced math or something else academic. This will attract a lot of interest from families who do not want the double arts focus but like the idea of a strong arts program that does not sacrifice academics. And with this approach the school can make better use of the space that they have, much of which sits empty for half the day.

1) They do audition students for all programs prior to interviews (dates below were for 2019 fall admissions).

Important admissions dates:

Open Houses – Open Houses will be held in November 2018 and January 2019. Please see our Open Houses page for dates and to RSVP.

Applications – Applications are submitted via the MySchoolDC.org website. Applications are open from December 10, 2018 through February 1, 2019. Please see MySchoolDC.org for the application dates and guidelines.

Auditions – Audition Week Saturday, February 2 – Friday, February 8, 2019 Start preparing for your audition today – click here to review the audition procedures.

And for students who have passed an audition: Academic Assessment Test, Mandatory Arts Presentation, Night Family Interviews

2) No one at Ellington takes 2 arts streams. From the admissions page of the website You’re welcome to audition for one or two artistic fields. However, while attending Ellington, you will major in a single art

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ellington is horribly under utilized. They should be made to take students until they're at capacity. DC parents paid for it DC students should be able to use it.

No, if you don't have talent or passion no need for them to accept you! =_=

They should blind audition kids in the music and fine arts program before kids get to the interview stage. This approach has been shown to benefit females who are often discriminated against in orchestras. They should also offer a stream where the student takes one arts focus rather then two and then the other time they do advanced math or something else academic. This will attract a lot of interest from families who do not want the double arts focus but like the idea of a strong arts program that does not sacrifice academics. And with this approach the school can make better use of the space that they have, much of which sits empty for half the day.

1) They do audition students for all programs prior to interviews (dates below were for 2019 fall admissions).

Important admissions dates:

Open Houses – Open Houses will be held in November 2018 and January 2019. Please see our Open Houses page for dates and to RSVP.

Applications – Applications are submitted via the MySchoolDC.org website. Applications are open from December 10, 2018 through February 1, 2019. Please see MySchoolDC.org for the application dates and guidelines.

Auditions – Audition Week Saturday, February 2 – Friday, February 8, 2019 Start preparing for your audition today – click here to review the audition procedures.

And for students who have passed an audition: Academic Assessment Test, Mandatory Arts Presentation, Night Family Interviews

2) No one at Ellington takes 2 arts streams. From the admissions page of the website You’re welcome to audition for one or two artistic fields. However, while attending Ellington, you will major in a single art

Thanks! I have only looked at the music program and thought that kids had to choose two instruments.

It seems to me that the school does have the potential to add more seats, but only if those seats where not taking the full arts program. So I thought that adding a academic focus option, advanced math or chemistry, would be a way to do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LOL. Entitled parents lead to entitled kids. Now, a performing arts school should provide affirmative action for Ward 3 Caucasian students, essentially, but to hell with that for others in college admissions.

Not affirmative action but not affirmative discrimination, either. Yet based on the experience reported in some previous posts, that seems to be exactly what is going on. It is especially maddening when Ellington is intentionally admitting or otherwise looking the other way at residency fraud. Either way, there seems to be a substantial cohort of kids from PG, MD who attend the school while a lot of DC students can’t get in.