3 MS in Ward 5, but we can't have 2 in Ward 3?
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Anonymous
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Are there 3 times as many MS aged students in Ward 5 relative to Ward 3? Unlikely. Ward 3 parents would love additional options, even a K-8 model that is scorned elsewhere. DCPS should shift Mann to a K-8 school when they renovate it to get rid of the long-standing trailers. |
Anonymous
| Aw, poor Ward 3! |
Anonymous
yeah - anything to keep Mann families from being limited to Hardy as its only public middle school option. By the way, In boundary schools are not necessarily designated by ward boundaries. Hardy and Deal are both convenient to most ward 2 and ward 3 homes and Hardy, located in ward 2, a few blocks from the ward 3 line, is currently in-boundary for Palisades (ward 3) and is much closer than Deal (also in ward 3). I don't know the demographics, but wouldn't be surprised if ward 5 did have many more MS aged students -- and more kids overall. It seems to be more densely populated than Ward 3, which is very spread out with lots of big single family homes with big lawns. |
jsteele
Site Admin Online
Site Admin Online
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One, and possibly two, of those middle schools are going to be magnets and will presumably not be limited to Ward 5 students. The arts and language school should attract the arts-oriented students that Hardy once attracted. So, perhaps more students from Pallisades will feel comfortable attending their neighborhood MS.
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Anonymous
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Data I have found appear difficult to compare because Deal is a middle school and all of the Ward 5 schools are set up as PK-8 campuses.
Even if you could compare grade-level enrollment data, you would have to compare enrollment rates and enrollment trends in the two wards, where there is a complex interaction. For example, private school enrollment is high west of the Park and only gets higher as you get to middle school. The original poster sounds like he or she is implying that greater middle school enrollment would occur if there were additional middle schools west of the Park. But it's possible that in-boundary enrollment would not increase; a decrease in crowding could be another outcome. It is also possible that greater capacity would just lead to a greater flow from east to west as kids move toward new facilities, even though that kind of move does not seem like a good use of resources. Also, according to the recent Post article on options for Ward 5 middle schools, many Ward 5 students leave once they reach middle school age. I presume we generally aren't talking about leaving DCPS and going to private schools, given their cost and Ward 5 incomes. We are talking about students going to the better-performing middle schools west of the Park, like Deal or Hardy, or charters. So drawing out-of-boundary students into good Ward 5 middle schools might ease some crowding in Ward 3 middle schools. Just a few thoughts. |
Anonymous
| You can't compare a K-8 school with a school like Deal! Do they have any stand alone middle schools? That is very different in my opinion. |
Anonymous
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Until Hardy is full of inboundary students, you have not proven that there is demand for an additional middle school.
I notice the interview requirement is no longer detailed on the Hardy website. Admission is now described as inboundary, show up with your paperwork, OOB enter the lottery. That's what you all want, right? |
Anonymous
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10:58 back, I would also point out that I see ward boundaries as arbitrary for school catchement areas. Deal has inboundary students from Wards 1, 3, & 4 and is located in Ward 3. Hardy has inboundary students from Wards 2 & 3 (I think that's right) and is in Ward 2.
What irks me as a Ward 4 parent assigned to an "educational campus" is that Ward 5 is getting attention to get rid of theirs, but Ward 4 is stuck with Brightwood, Takoma, West, Whittier in the ineffective preS to 8 model. Where are the options for these students? |
Anonymous
| I bet Ward Four is up for reform. |
Anonymous
Exactly. There is no need for another MS to serve Ward 3. |
Anonymous
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Indeed. There is a highly desirable middle school in Ward 3. In Ward 5, there are no middle schools. There is a proposal to create one middle school, plus two other options for middle school grades: a PS-8 ed campus and 6-12 STEM focused magnet school at McKinley.
But just one middle school. |
Anonymous
| With the Hardy situation sorted out, and the new Principal (Mary Stefanus) in place, I would expect that to become an option that many more Ward 2 and Ward 3 parents take advantage of. The tone and attitude at Hardy is very different than it was last year - parents, faculty, and students are all united and working in the same direction; there are no safety or security concerns, and the learning environment overall is very good - and will probably keep getting better |
Anonymous
| Sure PP, sure. How long have you lived in the city? |
Anonymous
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Long enough to recognize another "poor" suffering Palisades parent when we see one.
Hardy is there, open and waiting for you. Make it work and stop your first world complaints. They are tiresome. |
Anonymous
ITA |