Reply to WCP article on Watkins

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The article doesn't touch on the crux of the issue.  Several other Cap Hill neighborhood schools now support majority in-bound populations, or will shortly - Brent, Maury, SWS (mostly Hill, was mostly IB before they got the Goding building) and Ludlow-Taylor coming up.  But Watkins doesn't attract nearly as many kids from the Cluster district as it could and, arguably, should.  The school is only around one-quarter in-bound, much less than it was a decade ago, when it reached a high of over 40% IB and white.   The main problem is that high SES Watkins parents commonly bail after 2nd or 3rd grade, including for Ludlow these days.  Principal Bell doesn't sound like the best choice for the school - if she can't please her district's well-heeled parents, she won't survive in a city where upper middle-class parents commonly buy very expensive homes to gain access to high-performing schools.  The Watkins IB parents feel left behind as a group.  They know that their star is not rising relative to nearby programs (despite endless claims to the contrary on these boards, and around the hood) and many ultimately wish they'd bought real property in another Hill ES school district. The school has been troubled year in and year out since the Montessori and SWS programs found their own homes.  These were the programs most of the neighborhood parents went for, and celebrated.  The fancy renovation may not make much difference come August.  [/quote]

me me me me me me me

Is what I hear. [/quote]

Principal Bell's job is to educate the 436 students who enrolled in her school, period. Not catering or managing the egos of the wealthiest parents.

Providing extra support to those students who need it to get to grade level is what she is supposed to do, and we should be thanking her. Otherwise they will wind up in the Ward 6 middle schools doing 2nd or 3rd grade work..

Has she actually removed advanced instruction for anyone or taken anything away from the students who are at or above grade level? [/quote]

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