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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous] Some surprises for the Spanish Bilingual Schools, not that Oyster is number 1. but Bruce Monroe ranked so much higher than the HRCS bilinguals: -
17-Oyster
19-Bancroft
24-Marie Reed
35- Bruce Monroe
45-Lamb
56 DC Bilngual 
65 Mundo Verde-
75-Powell

[/quote]

We’re a Bruce Monroe family and this doesn’t surprise me at all. Have friends with same aged kids at all of the above listed HRCS, so we can compare what the various schools are doing. Aside from Montessori at LAMB, which is fundamentally different, and really depends on what kind of student the individual kid is. [/quote]

Why do you think Powell is so low? People prefer Powell to Bruce Monroe.[/quote]

Such a good question! We really thought hard about whether to put Powell over Bruce Monroe, but ultimately had more confidence in Bruce Monroe. My take away after MUCH overthinking and a dozen conversations with current and former families at both schools, is that Powell is a standard DCPS, for better or worse, that has the benefit of the grandfathered Deal feed for older kids. So there were enough families in the neighborhood that didn't feel the need to lottery out (for a DCI feeder), and subsequently hyped up the school to their younger neighbors and put their higher SES bandwidth behind fundraising and PTO activities. But the school itself doesn't deviate much from the standard DCPS model and the administration is weak and makes things harder for teachers (and families). But there's still the standard DCPS curriculum and more teacher turnover, so parents get frustrated after a few years and start bailing.

Bruce Monroe "thinks outside the [DCPS] box" much more, and has a stronger administration with happier teachers. They use a different literacy curriculum, are full Spanish immersion through kindergarten (so English dominant kids have better language skills once they get to elementary grade coursework), and have a very mission-directed approach to social justice. They also do a lot more "creative thinking" in certain areas and the school works from the top down to maximize the academic and social experiences within the DCPS framework. I have a ton of confidence in the teachers and administration, and am really happy with the parent community. It's still DCPS so the individual school can only do so much (and for us, I know we'd have the same concerns at the HRCS), but for higher SES families that are on-board with the mission and aren't uncomfortable with the demographics, people are very happy with the school and really only seem to leave because of the middle school concern or certain special needs that NONE of those schools would serve adequately.

And some people will ask why not a charter instead of creative thinking within a more rigid system. That's fair, but I'm a career bureaucrat and my preference is a strong administration with layers of accountability. When a charter is good, it's good, but I think the pandemic has shown us that sometimes charters are good at the talk, but there are cracks behind the scenes that aren't always immediately apparent. Those cracks are there throughout (in curriculum, hiring, support services), and if your particular charter drops the ball in an area, your choices are suck it up or leave. But I've worked with OSSE and DCPS central office for years, so I do appreciate that I've got more familiarity with those systems and others may be less able or willing to battle layers of hierarchy. What works for me isn't necessarily what will work for you. [/quote]

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