Stoddert and Key to get expansions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if people would agree with me or want to discuss this point - I could break it onto a new thread - is whether the upper class/ish people who are new to Wards 1, 4, 5, and 6 (though it’s insulting, let’s call them gentrifiers for clarity) - are going to respond to the push/pull factors within DCPS in the same way Ward 3 would. Just for example, I read the above about people shying away from Hardy, even what some would call the “bad old Hardy,” whatever that was, and think people in Ward 1 with elementary kids wouldn’t shun a Hardy. They’d flock to it. And there are charters rather than privates as options here, though with their own limited access issues and weird locations eg up in Ward 4 above Military Road. And people over here are used to living and dying by lottery and figuring it out, not crying and moving to Potomac or whatever. Just thinking - wondering if anyone shares that sentiment that basically the old UMC Ward 3 and new EOTP gentrifiers don’t think the same ways about schools.

the new 'gentrifiers' are 'flocking' to Basis & DCI (if feeding in), praying for Latin or gaming for Deal - but haven't been lotterying for Hardy, yet, and they totally could. But as the school hits Deal levels on terms of composition & scores in the next two years (while being 1/3 the size of Deal), that might change.

I grew up in this area. Ward 3 wasn't what it is now. It was the Deal flip around 10 years ago that changed. Before that, the Deal & Wilson #s were lower than 30% high SES.

It's a big difference for people who purchase homes - and part of what they pay more for in property costs and what they value - is the by-rights school vs. knowing you had to gamble (living & dying by the lottery)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if people would agree with me or want to discuss this point - I could break it onto a new thread - is whether the upper class/ish people who are new to Wards 1, 4, 5, and 6 (though it’s insulting, let’s call them gentrifiers for clarity) - are going to respond to the push/pull factors within DCPS in the same way Ward 3 would. Just for example, I read the above about people shying away from Hardy, even what some would call the “bad old Hardy,” whatever that was, and think people in Ward 1 with elementary kids wouldn’t shun a Hardy. They’d flock to it. And there are charters rather than privates as options here, though with their own limited access issues and weird locations eg up in Ward 4 above Military Road. And people over here are used to living and dying by lottery and figuring it out, not crying and moving to Potomac or whatever. Just thinking - wondering if anyone shares that sentiment that basically the old UMC Ward 3 and new EOTP gentrifiers don’t think the same ways about schools.

I agree with this, in particular the last sentence. My friends in NW with young kids seem to think differently about moving to the suburbs (more palatable, perhaps because it’s more similar to where they already live) than my EOTP friends, who seem more committed to staying in the city, in a walkable neighborhood, even if it means lotterying every year and coming up with more variations around the schools they are looking at for middle and high.

[Anonymous]

Undoubted many of those EOTP friends will leave the city before the end of elementary school.

[Anonymous]

We live WOTP and wouldn’t move to the burbs. If DCPS went with a city-wide lottery AND kids couldn’t get into a private school or charter that we felt good about, we might move to another metro area but would be unlikely to give up a more urban lifestyle for the burbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if people would agree with me or want to discuss this point - I could break it onto a new thread - is whether the upper class/ish people who are new to Wards 1, 4, 5, and 6 (though it’s insulting, let’s call them gentrifiers for clarity) - are going to respond to the push/pull factors within DCPS in the same way Ward 3 would. Just for example, I read the above about people shying away from Hardy, even what some would call the “bad old Hardy,” whatever that was, and think people in Ward 1 with elementary kids wouldn’t shun a Hardy. They’d flock to it. And there are charters rather than privates as options here, though with their own limited access issues and weird locations eg up in Ward 4 above Military Road. And people over here are used to living and dying by lottery and figuring it out, not crying and moving to Potomac or whatever. Just thinking - wondering if anyone shares that sentiment that basically the old UMC Ward 3 and new EOTP gentrifiers don’t think the same ways about schools.

I agree with this, in particular the last sentence. My friends in NW with young kids seem to think differently about moving to the suburbs (more palatable, perhaps because it’s more similar to where they already live) than my EOTP friends, who seem more committed to staying in the city, in a walkable neighborhood, even if it means lotterying every year and coming up with more variations around the schools they are looking at for middle and high.

Most of the WOTP families with kids in DCPS are just fine - will go to Deal and Wilson. Done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live WOTP and wouldn’t move to the burbs. If DCPS went with a city-wide lottery AND kids couldn’t get into a private school or charter that we felt good about, we might move to another metro area but would be unlikely to give up a more urban lifestyle for the burbs.

Fine, but it sounds like you would still leave, instead of submitting to forced busing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if people would agree with me or want to discuss this point - I could break it onto a new thread - is whether the upper class/ish people who are new to Wards 1, 4, 5, and 6 (though it’s insulting, let’s call them gentrifiers for clarity) - are going to respond to the push/pull factors within DCPS in the same way Ward 3 would. Just for example, I read the above about people shying away from Hardy, even what some would call the “bad old Hardy,” whatever that was, and think people in Ward 1 with elementary kids wouldn’t shun a Hardy. They’d flock to it. And there are charters rather than privates as options here, though with their own limited access issues and weird locations eg up in Ward 4 above Military Road. And people over here are used to living and dying by lottery and figuring it out, not crying and moving to Potomac or whatever. Just thinking - wondering if anyone shares that sentiment that basically the old UMC Ward 3 and new EOTP gentrifiers don’t think the same ways about schools.

I agree with this, in particular the last sentence. My friends in NW with young kids seem to think differently about moving to the suburbs (more palatable, perhaps because it’s more similar to where they already live) than my EOTP friends, who seem more committed to staying in the city, in a walkable neighborhood, even if it means lotterying every year and coming up with more variations around the schools they are looking at for middle and high.

I do think that people who choose to move to Ward 3 (myself included) tend to be more risk averse with regard to schools. They bought there precisely to avoid the unpredictability of a school lottery. In addition, they tend to be people with options, so I see no way they would be letting themselves be forced to submit to said unpredictability and subpar choices for schools if they don't get what they hope for. I know we wouldn't, and we aren't even among the wealthier demographics over here (HHI 150K, own a small house). We played the lottery for Pre-K3 and 4, and that was enough excitement for us. We'd hate to leave for a non-walkable location and longer commute, but ultimately the school would take precedence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if people would agree with me or want to discuss this point - I could break it onto a new thread - is whether the upper class/ish people who are new to Wards 1, 4, 5, and 6 (though it’s insulting, let’s call them gentrifiers for clarity) - are going to respond to the push/pull factors within DCPS in the same way Ward 3 would. Just for example, I read the above about people shying away from Hardy, even what some would call the “bad old Hardy,” whatever that was, and think people in Ward 1 with elementary kids wouldn’t shun a Hardy. They’d flock to it. And there are charters rather than privates as options here, though with their own limited access issues and weird locations eg up in Ward 4 above Military Road. And people over here are used to living and dying by lottery and figuring it out, not crying and moving to Potomac or whatever. Just thinking - wondering if anyone shares that sentiment that basically the old UMC Ward 3 and new EOTP gentrifiers don’t think the same ways about schools.

the new 'gentrifiers' are 'flocking' to Basis & DCI (if feeding in), praying for Latin or gaming for Deal - but haven't been lotterying for Hardy, yet, and they totally could. But as the school hits Deal levels on terms of composition & scores in the next two years (while being 1/3 the size of Deal), that might change.

I grew up in this area. Ward 3 wasn't what it is now. It was the Deal flip around 10 years ago that changed. Before that, the Deal & Wilson #s were lower than 30% high SES.

It's a big difference for people who purchase homes - and part of what they pay more for in property costs and what they value - is the by-rights school vs. knowing you had to gamble (living & dying by the lottery)

It's unclear where you actually mean when you say you grew up "here" -- so that's how you know that Ward 3 was merely meh until Deal's demographics changed. Did you really grow up in Ward 3? Because I've been here in Ward 3 for 30 years, a couple of blocks away from Deal, and I recall things differently. It's always been expensive and UMC. The difference in the 80s to 2009, when the stock market tanked, is that we just sent our kids to independent schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if people would agree with me or want to discuss this point - I could break it onto a new thread - is whether the upper class/ish people who are new to Wards 1, 4, 5, and 6 (though it’s insulting, let’s call them gentrifiers for clarity) - are going to respond to the push/pull factors within DCPS in the same way Ward 3 would. Just for example, I read the above about people shying away from Hardy, even what some would call the “bad old Hardy,” whatever that was, and think people in Ward 1 with elementary kids wouldn’t shun a Hardy. They’d flock to it. And there are charters rather than privates as options here, though with their own limited access issues and weird locations eg up in Ward 4 above Military Road. And people over here are used to living and dying by lottery and figuring it out, not crying and moving to Potomac or whatever. Just thinking - wondering if anyone shares that sentiment that basically the old UMC Ward 3 and new EOTP gentrifiers don’t think the same ways about schools.

the new 'gentrifiers' are 'flocking' to Basis & DCI (if feeding in), praying for Latin or gaming for Deal - but haven't been lotterying for Hardy, yet, and they totally could. But as the school hits Deal levels on terms of composition & scores in the next two years (while being 1/3 the size of Deal), that might change.

I grew up in this area. Ward 3 wasn't what it is now. It was the Deal flip around 10 years ago that changed. Before that, the Deal & Wilson #s were lower than 30% high SES.

It's a big difference for people who purchase homes - and part of what they pay more for in property costs and what they value - is the by-rights school vs. knowing you had to gamble (living & dying by the lottery)

It's unclear where you actually mean when you say you grew up "here" -- so that's how you know that Ward 3 was merely meh until Deal's demographics changed. Did you really grow up in Ward 3? Because I've been here in Ward 3 for 30 years, a couple of blocks away from Deal, and I recall things differently. It's always been expensive and UMC. The difference in the 80s to 2009, when the stock market tanked, is that we just sent our kids to independent schools.

Making the same point - in the past 10 years, the numbers of UMC people going to Deal and Wilson has grown enormously and the schools have changed tremendously. (and UMC #s are now growing at Hardy, and much higher UMC numbers at a range of elementaries around the city.).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live WOTP and wouldn’t move to the burbs. If DCPS went with a city-wide lottery AND kids couldn’t get into a private school or charter that we felt good about, we might move to another metro area but would be unlikely to give up a more urban lifestyle for the burbs.

Fine, but it sounds like you would still leave, instead of submitting to forced busing.

It’s true that we would find a solution rather than participate in forced busing or a city-wide lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Great, so let's increase enrollment to wilson feeders without increasing space at Wilson. Sigh.

This is a move to placate Bowser’s base, which is energized about shrinking slots in WOTP schools.

Woodrow Wilson for all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live WOTP and wouldn’t move to the burbs. If DCPS went with a city-wide lottery AND kids couldn’t get into a private school or charter that we felt good about, we might move to another metro area but would be unlikely to give up a more urban lifestyle for the burbs.

A forced lottery destroyed the San Francisco public schools

[Anonymous]

Well, DCPS Ombudsman doesn't seem brave enough to state what a "better system" would be, but she does have this to say:

"As D.C. residents, we must be willing to change a broken system in which “wins" are based on where you live or a favorable lottery number, to a system where all children have a chance to “win” in every D.C. public school they attend."

https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/news/city-desk/article/20998294/a-letter-from-the-ombudsman-for-public-education-in-the-wake-of-scandals

I was perplexed that she didn't volunteer ANYthing that would help the system get better. I suppose a reader could infer that she thinks a 100% lottery system would be better, but as we see from realistic commenters on this board, it would only make a flawed system even worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, DCPS Ombudsman doesn't seem brave enough to state what a "better system" would be, but she does have this to say:

"As D.C. residents, we must be willing to change a broken system in which “wins" are based on where you live or a favorable lottery number, to a system where all children have a chance to “win” in every D.C. public school they attend."

https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/news/city-desk/article/20998294/a-letter-from-the-ombudsman-for-public-education-in-the-wake-of-scandals

I was perplexed that she didn't volunteer ANYthing that would help the system get better. I suppose a reader could infer that she thinks a 100% lottery system would be better, but as we see from realistic commenters on this board, it would only make a flawed system even worse.

It was a lot of blah blah, but designing a better system isn't her job any more than it is mine or yours. Her job is to help individual families navigate or solve problems with their current schools.