Joe Weedon wants permission to send his daughter to Walls

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If his daughter spent most of her time in middle school playing cards, being unchallenged and having a frequent rotation of subs or teachers coming/going, why does he need a WashPo article to tell us what we all know? DCPS is not prepared for middle school and certainly, there are only a few slots at the magnet high schools. I'm assuming that Weedon probably had to get a tutor for his DD in order for her to do well on PARCC and entrance exams to Walls given the lack of proper rigor.

While DCPS struggles with proper middle/high school neighborhood options, the schools in the suburbs struggle with how not to be pressure cookers. Those in the private Big 10 also struggle with the pressure cooker environments.

Its a sad state of affairs when our only option in this region and across the country is a pressure cooker school which comes with lots of learning, room for challenge/growth and opportunities vs disengaged low scoring schools rife with little challenge.

DC is in a unique position because the city council allowed charters here to directly compete with city public schools, thereby almost forcing DCPS to begin looking at how to retain residents for funding schools. New residents are trying to hold DCPS accountable with little success. DCPS is only good through elementary and they don't seem to care about proper neighborhood middle/high school options because its economic city tax base is strong. Many residents in the District are childfree and therefore don't use the city's schools so they really don't care to be involved. Many are also transient and not here for the long term. Still, others will leave after the free pre-k for the suburbs or private schools.

Don't remember the quote of him saying "most of her time in middle school playing cards", just perhaps more frequently than he liked. She still got into SWW so you'd have a hard time convincing me that she got nothing out of her EH education.

I'm, pretty sure you'd need to spend a lot of time on card playing to become a really good card player. Therefore, if she spent even 21 hours in a school year playing cards-- that is the equivalence of about 3 instructional school days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If his daughter spent most of her time in middle school playing cards, being unchallenged and having a frequent rotation of subs or teachers coming/going, why does he need a WashPo article to tell us what we all know? DCPS is not prepared for middle school and certainly, there are only a few slots at the magnet high schools. I'm assuming that Weedon probably had to get a tutor for his DD in order for her to do well on PARCC and entrance exams to Walls given the lack of proper rigor.

While DCPS struggles with proper middle/high school neighborhood options, the schools in the suburbs struggle with how not to be pressure cookers. Those in the private Big 10 also struggle with the pressure cooker environments.

Its a sad state of affairs when our only option in this region and across the country is a pressure cooker school which comes with lots of learning, room for challenge/growth and opportunities vs disengaged low scoring schools rife with little challenge.

DC is in a unique position because the city council allowed charters here to directly compete with city public schools, thereby almost forcing DCPS to begin looking at how to retain residents for funding schools. New residents are trying to hold DCPS accountable with little success. DCPS is only good through elementary and they don't seem to care about proper neighborhood middle/high school options because its economic city tax base is strong. Many residents in the District are childfree and therefore don't use the city's schools so they really don't care to be involved. Many are also transient and not here for the long term. Still, others will leave after the free pre-k for the suburbs or private schools.

There are a lot of DC type A types who think tutoring is necessary, but for smart motivated kids its
unnecessary. The broad brush applied to EH and by extension its students and community is unfair when you can't even acknowledge the kids who happen succeed, however much they're an exception.

While the Weedons have seen the social and community benefits that come with attending their neighborhood middle school, they have also encountered the challenges. Most prominently: high turnover among teachers and administrators, which leads to an unstable academic environment. His daughter says she has become an expert card player because of all the free time she has had with substitute teachers.

Are you ignoring this portion of the article or just lacking proper comprehension? There was an unstable academic environment, his daughter became an expert card player and you tell me that the possibility of Malia having a tutor is a type A behavior? I am sure her parents had to fill in the large academic DCPS gaps in some form--- tutors, enrichment, etc. There are many posters on here who attend DCPS in upper elementary/middle school who provide out-of-school experiences--- which are a form of enrichment. There are others who have a tutor but probably wouldn't admit it --- the horror of do as I say, but not as I do exist in many DC liberal circles.

PP, you need to get off the offensive train, I did not paint the EH community with a broad brush nor did I state that there aren't smart kids at EH. I simply came to a conclusion based on what I read on WashPo.

gee, that kind of sounds like it was [i]A JOKE[/i]. I would question why he'd make a joke at the expense of a school he's trying to prop up. Then again, playing cards is a good skill for reinforcing math, albeit not where you'd want a middle schooler's math focus to be.

Passing PARCC is just not a big deal for a smart kid. The idea of tutoring someone to succeed at PARCC is mind numbingly stupid.

The school has had high turnover. They're on their 4th principal in 4 years. They've had the same IB coordinator the entire time and she's fantastic. I'm sure whatever shortcomings EH has (and not to mitigate the school's struggles), motivated kids can succeed in such an environment. Most white IB families (and some AA too) just won't give it the time of day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If his daughter spent most of her time in middle school playing cards, being unchallenged and having a frequent rotation of subs or teachers coming/going, why does he need a WashPo article to tell us what we all know? DCPS is not prepared for middle school and certainly, there are only a few slots at the magnet high schools. I'm assuming that Weedon probably had to get a tutor for his DD in order for her to do well on PARCC and entrance exams to Walls given the lack of proper rigor.

While DCPS struggles with proper middle/high school neighborhood options, the schools in the suburbs struggle with how not to be pressure cookers. Those in the private Big 10 also struggle with the pressure cooker environments.

Its a sad state of affairs when our only option in this region and across the country is a pressure cooker school which comes with lots of learning, room for challenge/growth and opportunities vs disengaged low scoring schools rife with little challenge.

DC is in a unique position because the city council allowed charters here to directly compete with city public schools, thereby almost forcing DCPS to begin looking at how to retain residents for funding schools. New residents are trying to hold DCPS accountable with little success. DCPS is only good through elementary and they don't seem to care about proper neighborhood middle/high school options because its economic city tax base is strong. Many residents in the District are childfree and therefore don't use the city's schools so they really don't care to be involved. Many are also transient and not here for the long term. Still, others will leave after the free pre-k for the suburbs or private schools.

There are a lot of DC type A types who think tutoring is necessary, but for smart motivated kids its
unnecessary. The broad brush applied to EH and by extension its students and community is unfair when you can't even acknowledge the kids who happen succeed, however much they're an exception.

While the Weedons have seen the social and community benefits that come with attending their neighborhood middle school, they have also encountered the challenges. Most prominently: high turnover among teachers and administrators, which leads to an unstable academic environment. His daughter says she has become an expert card player because of all the free time she has had with substitute teachers.

Are you ignoring this portion of the article or just lacking proper comprehension? There was an unstable academic environment, his daughter became an expert card player and you tell me that the possibility of Malia having a tutor is a type A behavior? I am sure her parents had to fill in the large academic DCPS gaps in some form--- tutors, enrichment, etc. There are many posters on here who attend DCPS in upper elementary/middle school who provide out-of-school experiences--- which are a form of enrichment. There are others who have a tutor but probably wouldn't admit it --- the horror of do as I say, but not as I do exist in many DC liberal circles.

PP, you need to get off the offensive train, I did not paint the EH community with a broad brush nor did I state that there aren't smart kids at EH. I simply came to a conclusion based on what I read on WashPo.

gee, that kind of sounds like it was [i]A JOKE[/i]. I would question why he'd make a joke at the expense of a school he's trying to prop up. Then again, playing cards is a good skill for reinforcing math, albeit not where you'd want a middle schooler's math focus to be.

Passing PARCC is just not a big deal for a smart kid. The idea of tutoring someone to succeed at PARCC is mind numbingly stupid.

The school has had high turnover. They're on their 4th principal in 4 years. They've had the same IB coordinator the entire time and she's fantastic. I'm sure whatever shortcomings EH has (and not to mitigate the school's struggles), motivated kids can succeed in such an environment. Most white IB families (and some AA too) just won't give it the time of day.

So you’re just going to ignore that Malia has had educational gaps and come up with the pitiful excuse that card games are a way to reinforce math skills?

[Anonymous]

I'm still flabbergasted that they went public this way. SWW is a DCPS application school. Applying to it or any of the other application schools doesn't undermine anyone's commitment to the DCPS neighborhood system. Magnet and application schools exist in many mainstream public school systems, whether by city or county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If his daughter spent most of her time in middle school playing cards, being unchallenged and having a frequent rotation of subs or teachers coming/going, why does he need a WashPo article to tell us what we all know? DCPS is not prepared for middle school and certainly, there are only a few slots at the magnet high schools. I'm assuming that Weedon probably had to get a tutor for his DD in order for her to do well on PARCC and entrance exams to Walls given the lack of proper rigor.

While DCPS struggles with proper middle/high school neighborhood options, the schools in the suburbs struggle with how not to be pressure cookers. Those in the private Big 10 also struggle with the pressure cooker environments.

Its a sad state of affairs when our only option in this region and across the country is a pressure cooker school which comes with lots of learning, room for challenge/growth and opportunities vs disengaged low scoring schools rife with little challenge.

DC is in a unique position because the city council allowed charters here to directly compete with city public schools, thereby almost forcing DCPS to begin looking at how to retain residents for funding schools. New residents are trying to hold DCPS accountable with little success. DCPS is only good through elementary and they don't seem to care about proper neighborhood middle/high school options because its economic city tax base is strong. Many residents in the District are childfree and therefore don't use the city's schools so they really don't care to be involved. Many are also transient and not here for the long term. Still, others will leave after the free pre-k for the suburbs or private schools.

There are a lot of DC type A types who think tutoring is necessary, but for smart motivated kids its
unnecessary. The broad brush applied to EH and by extension its students and community is unfair when you can't even acknowledge the kids who happen succeed, however much they're an exception.

While the Weedons have seen the social and community benefits that come with attending their neighborhood middle school, they have also encountered the challenges. Most prominently: high turnover among teachers and administrators, which leads to an unstable academic environment. His daughter says she has become an expert card player because of all the free time she has had with substitute teachers.

Are you ignoring this portion of the article or just lacking proper comprehension? There was an unstable academic environment, his daughter became an expert card player and you tell me that the possibility of Malia having a tutor is a type A behavior? I am sure her parents had to fill in the large academic DCPS gaps in some form--- tutors, enrichment, etc. There are many posters on here who attend DCPS in upper elementary/middle school who provide out-of-school experiences--- which are a form of enrichment. There are others who have a tutor but probably wouldn't admit it --- the horror of do as I say, but not as I do exist in many DC liberal circles.

PP, you need to get off the offensive train, I did not paint the EH community with a broad brush nor did I state that there aren't smart kids at EH. I simply came to a conclusion based on what I read on WashPo.

gee, that kind of sounds like it was [i]A JOKE[/i]. I would question why he'd make a joke at the expense of a school he's trying to prop up. Then again, playing cards is a good skill for reinforcing math, albeit not where you'd want a middle schooler's math focus to be.

Passing PARCC is just not a big deal for a smart kid. The idea of tutoring someone to succeed at PARCC is mind numbingly stupid.

The school has had high turnover. They're on their 4th principal in 4 years. They've had the same IB coordinator the entire time and she's fantastic. I'm sure whatever shortcomings EH has (and not to mitigate the school's struggles), motivated kids can succeed in such an environment. Most white IB families (and some AA too) just won't give it the time of day.

So you’re just going to ignore that Malia has had educational gaps and come up with the pitiful excuse that card games are a way to reinforce math skills?

What gaps? The ones that got her accepted into SWW? You're reaching

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If his daughter spent most of her time in middle school playing cards, being unchallenged and having a frequent rotation of subs or teachers coming/going, why does he need a WashPo article to tell us what we all know? DCPS is not prepared for middle school and certainly, there are only a few slots at the magnet high schools. I'm assuming that Weedon probably had to get a tutor for his DD in order for her to do well on PARCC and entrance exams to Walls given the lack of proper rigor.

While DCPS struggles with proper middle/high school neighborhood options, the schools in the suburbs struggle with how not to be pressure cookers. Those in the private Big 10 also struggle with the pressure cooker environments.

Its a sad state of affairs when our only option in this region and across the country is a pressure cooker school which comes with lots of learning, room for challenge/growth and opportunities vs disengaged low scoring schools rife with little challenge.

DC is in a unique position because the city council allowed charters here to directly compete with city public schools, thereby almost forcing DCPS to begin looking at how to retain residents for funding schools. New residents are trying to hold DCPS accountable with little success. DCPS is only good through elementary and they don't seem to care about proper neighborhood middle/high school options because its economic city tax base is strong. Many residents in the District are childfree and therefore don't use the city's schools so they really don't care to be involved. Many are also transient and not here for the long term. Still, others will leave after the free pre-k for the suburbs or private schools.

There are a lot of DC type A types who think tutoring is necessary, but for smart motivated kids its
unnecessary. The broad brush applied to EH and by extension its students and community is unfair when you can't even acknowledge the kids who happen succeed, however much they're an exception.

While the Weedons have seen the social and community benefits that come with attending their neighborhood middle school, they have also encountered the challenges. Most prominently: high turnover among teachers and administrators, which leads to an unstable academic environment. His daughter says she has become an expert card player because of all the free time she has had with substitute teachers.

Are you ignoring this portion of the article or just lacking proper comprehension? There was an unstable academic environment, his daughter became an expert card player and you tell me that the possibility of Malia having a tutor is a type A behavior? I am sure her parents had to fill in the large academic DCPS gaps in some form--- tutors, enrichment, etc. There are many posters on here who attend DCPS in upper elementary/middle school who provide out-of-school experiences--- which are a form of enrichment. There are others who have a tutor but probably wouldn't admit it --- the horror of do as I say, but not as I do exist in many DC liberal circles.

PP, you need to get off the offensive train, I did not paint the EH community with a broad brush nor did I state that there aren't smart kids at EH. I simply came to a conclusion based on what I read on WashPo.

gee, that kind of sounds like it was [i]A JOKE[/i]. I would question why he'd make a joke at the expense of a school he's trying to prop up. Then again, playing cards is a good skill for reinforcing math, albeit not where you'd want a middle schooler's math focus to be.

Passing PARCC is just not a big deal for a smart kid. The idea of tutoring someone to succeed at PARCC is mind numbingly stupid.

The school has had high turnover. They're on their 4th principal in 4 years. They've had the same IB coordinator the entire time and she's fantastic. I'm sure whatever shortcomings EH has (and not to mitigate the school's struggles), motivated kids can succeed in such an environment. Most white IB families (and some AA too) just won't give it the time of day.

So you’re just going to ignore that Malia has had educational gaps and come up with the pitiful excuse that card games are a way to reinforce math skills?

What gaps? The ones that got her accepted into SWW? You're reaching

DP- are you kidding? Or do you not understand reading comprehension? No one is reaching- you don’t become an “expert card Player” because you’re learning so much at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm still flabbergasted that they went public this way. SWW is a DCPS application school. Applying to it or any of the other application schools doesn't undermine anyone's commitment to the DCPS neighborhood system. Magnet and application schools exist in many mainstream public school systems, whether by city or county.

Weedon has opposed application schools too, saying they hurt the comprehensive high schools.

He also thinks no more charter or DCPS schools should be opened, which he contends would boost DCPS neighborhood schools and provide more resources to them due to an increase in each school’s per pupil allocation.

I would hazard a guess he also agrees with the decision not to open a Shaw MS. Or to further expand Banneker.

[Anonymous]

^^ it not to expand Banneker.

[Anonymous]

The SWW test is just not that hard. A child with educated parents, who presumably lives in a language-rich home, and who reads, will pass it. And a child from a well-known political family will get through the interview phase.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The SWW test is just not that hard. A child with educated parents, who presumably lives in a language-rich home, and who reads, will pass it. And a child from a well-known political family will get through the interview phase.

This is exactly my point, as I mentioned above Malia surely has gaps in her education due to high absent teacher call outs, the unstable admin at the school and substitute teachers who might not be very familiar with the DCPS curriculum. Also, lets be honest, substitutes usually babysit rather than actually teach content material —-unless you are in private school. Those gaps that Malia may have, might be mitigated if her parents have gotten or will get her a private tutor. Do people on this thread really think that her parents are going to disclose that she *might* have a tutor or may get one in the future? While her father didn’t seem to balk at the idea that his daughter was learning how to play cards during academic learning time, it doesn’t mean in real life he wasn’t appalled. Many of us would promptly get a tutor if this were the case for our own children in a DCPS high school. Surely, people aren’t relying on DCPS to be the sole educator in their children’s lives??!!

I don’t know why some people refuse to accept that Eliot Hines isn’t a viable middle school option. Perhaps they need to create a false narrative in order to sell their home to prospective new buyers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would be more forgiving if Weedon didn’t judge parents who picked other schools for their kid because that’s what was best for their kid. For years anyone choosing charter was racist. I have personally gotten pushback from some of my neighbors (like Weedon) for going with a popular charter. I have no problem pointing out their hypocrisy now.

Exactly. In fact I wonder if in his stated 15 years of civic/educational participation and service on Board of Education he may have actively pushed back against or favored anti- charter policies. A selective school like Walls is the safe way to "do public" when wanting the academics as he stated, AND to maintain liberal party line street cred. Theres a reason so many ultra liberal Capitol Hill families are "at Walls". The daughter is the only one I sympathize with here. Hope she knows if she does attend Easten it can feel super weird to be a one -of (I know, cause I was) but she seems super well adjusted just from her comments, and she has her college essay and admission to Yale without bribery right there. As to Joe, the hypocrisy oh my.

[Anonymous]

I don't know Weedon, but why on earth would anyone talk about this with the WaPo?

Looks like political posturing at the expense of an 8th grader.

It's nobody's damn business? How is she going to feel arty school through the end of the year?

My kid can barely look at me when I step foot on campus. He'd run off to the circus if I let a reporter take pictures of him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know Weedon, but why on earth would anyone talk about this with the WaPo?

Looks like political posturing at the expense of an 8th grader.

It's nobody's damn business? How is she going to feel arty school through the end of the year?

My kid can barely look at me when I step foot on campus. He'd run off to the circus if I let a reporter take pictures of him.

Another poster nailed it: Because he spent years chastising families for my choosing Eastern. Now that he is faced with the same decision, he needs a public airing of the dilemma that is now his. All of this trumps his daughter’s right to privacy.

[Anonymous]

Wait, is he STILL a member of the PTO?!?

That's going to be an interesting monthly meeting.

He's lucky he's not at my DCPS. He'd be shamed like Cersei Lannister.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The SWW test is just not that hard. A child with educated parents, who presumably lives in a language-rich home, and who reads, will pass it. And a child from a well-known political family will get through the interview phase.

Exactly. How hard is a test in school in DC? It’s “dc hard” so basically grade level in VA or Bethesda.