Reply to Do you think Shepherd Elementary will become/is becoming more diverse?

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Reply to "Do you think Shepherd Elementary will become/is becoming more diverse?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Shepherd IB PK poster here.  I just want to say that the JKLMM schools sound great on many levels.  Students obviously get to go to school with almost universally well-prepared peers, there seems to be a vast array of extracurriculars not available EOTP (unless in charters), and the parent community is a great resource in terms of time and financial support.  I know of families in Shepherd Park who are trying to lottery into JKLM schools.  And you know what?  Their calculus was different from ours, but they're trying to do the best for their kids just like we are.

For us, I think Shepherd was the right decision.  For any families who put socioeconomic diversity fairly high on the list of priorities, Shepherd is a good choice.  Of course, it's not perfect (e.g., partial kitchen with no stove or oven that a coalition of families are pushing to get renovated, no off-street parking, almost 20% "at-risk" students particularly in the upper grades, etc.), but I have yet to hear of that unicorn school that is truly perfect on every level.

Finally--and I'm probably screaming in the wind here--let's try to be civil.  Unless things change re: boundaries (as some posters keep insisting re: Shepherd), many of our kids will be in school together for middle and/or high school.  [/quote]

P.S. Although I tried to be transparent and mention some of Shepherd's challenges, there are many positives as well that have been already mentioned by other posters.  Because it's a small school with a little over 300 students, although this is our first year I already feel like I know many of the families there, even in other grades.  There's a warm, friendly and welcoming atmosphere.  The IB curriculum emphasizes critical thinking skills and an international perspective.  The only other IB DCPS elementary schools are Cooke and Thomson; for charters there is YY, and for private, there is WIS.  There is an engaged parent community--just now I ran out to run errands and passed the school, where Shepherd parents and neighbors of all racial backgrounds have gathered to clean up and beautify the grounds.  The test scores are decent and rising, and are the best of any elementary school serving predominantly students of color in DC.  If you break out by subgroup, AA students at Shepherd actually do better than those at JKLMM.  So there are a bunch of positives that go without saying.[/quote]

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