Reply to Middle Schools - Ward 6 Centric

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]As a Ward Six parent, I feel like the only way I am going to buy into a DCPS middle school is if I have a strong connection to it, and if lots of other parents (whom I have gotten to know) from other Ward Six schools are also connected to it.  But to be sure, Ward Six parents cannot do it alone, there's not enough of us, and [b]we need parents from other Wards to also put their shoulder into it.[/b][/quote]

And why exactly would parents from other wards do that?  There is no guarantee of quality, there is no guarantee their children would even be accepted via OOB lottery.  Why would any OOB parent in their right mind leave a school like Cap City or Haynes or any other promising charter to support the swamp of DCPS?  Encouraging people to experiment on untried and untested schools only works when the people have no options.  Or, if they're not your children.  Then, maybe you're a little too out of touch to understand why they give more of a shit than you do.
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Success at Eliot Hine requires parents beyond Ward Six for several reasons.

During the ward redistricting back-and-forth it became apparent Wards Eight, Seven and Five wanted it to be known that Ward Six does not own Eliot Hine or Eastern.  They are right – no Ward owns any school – a school’s Ward affiliation does not grant that Ward exclusive domain over any given school.  Thus, Ward Six AND every ward represented at EH must engage for the school to move the then next level.

As an earlier poster pointed out, Eliot Hine’s enrollment in ’10-’11 included 190 out of bounds kids out of 284 enrolled – the school is 67% out of bounds.  In order for EH to go to the next level it must have the support of OOB families.

As it stands right now, both Eliot Hine and Stuart Hobson are mostly out of bounds schools.  Parents in Wards Seven and Eight especially are voting with their feet and choosing these schools, and I wholeheartedly support their right to make that decision.  The contributions of OOB families at our elementary are amazing, and the more people contributing, the better.  If EH will ascend to the next phase, it must marshal the talents of everyone who has something to offer.

Additionally, Eastern HS includes significant portions of Ward Seven in its feeder pattern.  Thus Ward Six is also bound to Ward Seven by the additional tie of feeding into the same high school.  A rising tide lifts all boats.

I am not encouraging people to leave charters or any other situation where they feel comfortable.  I am saying that if a middle school experience is going to be successful – be it DCPS, charter, private or home school, in my humble opinion it must have families who feel a strong connection to it.

I have several children in a DCPS elementary school and we see few options – like many other parents citywide, I am freaked out by our family’s middle school prospects.  I have been active with our elementary school for six years and with middle school efforts for three years.  And while I live in Ward Six, most of the parents focused on the middle school issue (and also freaking out) at our school are not from Ward Six.  We have formed friendships over the years, and the stress of sorting out middle schools has strengthened the bond.  We are all in this together.
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