Why are the top elementary schools in NW better?

[Anonymous]

Again, I am going to remind everyone that with this thread, and the acknowledgment that Head Start does great things for an underserved population, that Head Start is no long a DCPS program. Instead parents regardless of need will have to enter the lottery and hope for a spot for their 3 or 4 year old child and hope they get a spot. (And that is providing a parent has access to the internet, a computer and can manuever the system.)....therefore DCPS is further helping to perpetuate the divide.

[Anonymous]

I think DCPS is trying to hang onto middle class families by in essence providing free daycare or preschool when otherwise families would pay for it and getting them started in the system. I was unaware that there were not spots held for needier kids.

[Anonymous]

PP here, I don't mean spots held in pre-K but I had no idea that Head Start just folded in without guaranteed help for those target populations.

[Anonymous]

That is this years new model. And I agree its another way to entice middle class families back into the system while pushing those from low socio-economic backgrounds out. No more designated head start program means that only a select number of children will be able to attend school in the early crucial years. And couple that with the closing of city wide day care problems. You get a huge mess that keeps the already troubled population stationary.

[Anonymous]

Those who would qualify for Head Start would still get those services. However, I heard that at many schools, there were only 1/2 the classes filled with Head Start kids. The school system couldn't run a program with only 7 kids in the class. I don't think you're going to see Upper NW families running to SE for preschool. As it is, DCPS was losing families to charter preschools, many who would have qualified for Head Start. Even Haynes is offer two preschool classes next year. Parents who want to start their kids at preschool have more options than before. Universal Prek3 in the nation is being led by the District. We should applaud this, not condemn it. I think the blended model is great because a child from a lower income can be exposed to so much more with classmates from different backgrounds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those who would qualify for Head Start would still get those services. However, I heard that at many schools, there were only 1/2 the classes filled with Head Start kids. The school system couldn't run a program with only 7 kids in the class. I don't think you're going to see Upper NW families running to SE for preschool. As it is, DCPS was losing families to charter preschools, many who would have qualified for Head Start. Even Haynes is offer two preschool classes next year. Parents who want to start their kids at preschool have more options than before. Universal Prek3 in the nation is being led by the District. We should applaud this, not condemn it. I think the blended model is great because a child from a lower income can be exposed to so much more with classmates from different backgrounds.

I agree about upper northwest. But in other places in the city. You can't go unless you can get to a computer to do the lottery. Do you see the outreach letting parents know of the change??? Parents used to be able to got to the centers to register for HeadStart. No longer an option. So what happens if I am a parent who doesn't frequent this board, doesn't have access to a computer or better yet can't read enough to fill out the application? The difference is there is no promise/designated spots so in the middle of the road schools that the middle class wants to "take back" to make them viable options there is now a unspoken competition for spots that are no longer promised to the students who need the "head start"

I firmly believe that if the economy was different and parents could pay for private schools like they used too...we would be having this conversation.

[Anonymous]

There are 3 Head Start centers in the city that have walk-in hours to help you register online. That has not been done away with. All details are on the DCPS web site. I am not a Head Start expert but if you're in one of those communities, there is outreach and you know where to go for help.

[Anonymous]

At our Title I school we are very, very worried about our low-income parents being bumped out of a spot because they didn't know about the lottery.

We have been working to get the word out and are hopeful we have tracked down all these parents. And yes, it meant bringing them into school and registering them for the lottery on a school computer.

We'll be glad not to run a 1/2 empty class, but DCPS could have handled this better.

[Anonymous]

So what happens if I am a parent who doesn't frequent this board, doesn't have access to a computer or better yet can't read enough to fill out the application?

Parents who are this poor and uneducated will typically have numerous contacts with city (state) personnel, for Sect.8 housing, gov't housing, WIC, utility abatement, gov't run health clinics / substance abuse clinics .... the list is long. Wouldn't it be great if there was cross-communication and DCPS worked with these other agencies on the front lines to get the word out about changes in early education?

[Anonymous]

like the seamless provision of services promised by Victor Reinoso?

[Anonymous]

just like how they communicated with WMATA and DDOT before announcing a 2 hour delay on Monday?

[Anonymous]

a lot of well-meaning folks on this thread.

Head start is a wonderful program, and it's the right thing to do. But much more is necessary to address the educational needs of low-SES students.

• Vision care -- can't tell you how many of my students who need glasses don't have them and haven't since the beginning of the school year.

• Health issues -- much greater for poor kids and they do affect learning

• Mental health of children and families -- big impact on learning

• School choice and the closing of neighborhood schools -- kids who have a long communte have a much higher absence/tardy rate. This also affects learning.

• Limited vocabulary -- big impact on reading comprehension. We can teach phonemic awareness and reading strategies until we're blue in the face. Students who don't have the vocabulary won't comprehend what they are reading.