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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I had interactions with her during her first year and I always appreciated how she spoke respectfully to children. I can’t say the same for the teachers. She seemed like she was going to try to be present but from even those early days she never seemed to be available to parents. Not everyone is perfect so hopefully she’ll find a good school and be given the power to hire/fire early on. But if you want more neighborhood buyin? I would recommend the new principal get out into the neighborhood if he wants to make it a neighborhood school versus just talking to the same old parents who think the school is amazing -[b] it could be SO much better with neighborhood buy [/b]in.[/quote]

Curious why you think this?  I’d like a principal who would actively drum up more neighborhood buy-in too, even if for selfish reasons (more walking play dates! running into families at the playground, etc.).  But there have been some great, engaged OOB families too over the years.  Not sure fewer OOB would necessarily make the school “better.”[/quote]

DP here. The stronger DCPS schools have better neighborhood buyin. Nothing against any current OOB families, but typically the schools that fill up with IB families are higher performing. It goes hand in hand with stronger parent advocacy for the school to improve, stronger commitment to the neighborhood school, etc.

A related factor is fixing the issues that keep other neighborhood parents away. Branching out to the in boundary community, especially those who opted for schools other than Shepherd, is a great idea. It's not just those selecting religious schools. Lots of people in charters and even some in privates would have no qualms sending their kids to Shepherd if it was up to the standards of a JKLMM. Our IB community would support getting to this level (seriously great community), but we have to get the neighbors to be willing to send their kids.

We're in a good position. Hopefully we get the right leadership in place to make this happen. I don't know who you are but I look forward to working with both of you as we move forward :)[/quote]

FWIW we turned down Lafayette in favor of Shepherd a few years ago. If your compare the scores, AA kids (my kid) actually do better at Shepherd. My recent research shows they have similar report card grades. I like the economic and religious diversity at Shepherd. I also like a smaller school environment and the IB curriculum. Not everyone wants to be at a JKLM school.[/quote]

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