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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We changed our older child from a title 1 dcps dual language to oyster adams in 4th. The difference was mostly in a more prepared and (wealthy) peer group. Teaching in core subjects was equally strong in both schools, but the specials were much better at oyster adams. The kids’ behavior was not much better, but academically the kids were much stronger at Adams.[/quote]

Thank you. How do you think the difference in academic strength translated into a different experience for your child? Do you mind sharing which school you switched from? [/quote]

Bump (DP)[/quote]

Are you still deciding or already regretting your decision?[/quote]

OP here. Actually we’re at the Title 1 and I’m [b]convinced it’s mostly racism scaring people away[/b]. They look at a playground of brown kids and assume they’re below grade level and misbehaved. They’re not. The games the big kids play with the little kids are adorable and sweet, and all of the 3rd-4th graders I know (classmates siblings and kids from activities) seem bright and are certainly well spoken. I understand not all Title 1 schools are created equal, but I’m happy my child has the experience of seeing kids that don’t look like her being leaders and doing better in some things than her. Those are life lessons that really can change how a person interacts with the world going forward.[/quote]

OP, I wish you well.  I really do.  But when we attended a similar school for ECE I thought the same thing, and there were actually a lot of things that legitimately made people want to leave the school.  Disorganization.  Incompetent front office staff.  Some teachers great, others intensely strict and vindictive.  For advanced kids, differentiation was playing math games on a computer.  95% of the kids were sweet and charming and well-behaved, but it only takes one kid with a serious behavior problem to disrupt the classroom all day ever day.  A really really screwed up Instructional Superintendent and weird policy things from downtown.  And most of all, a terrible middle school feeder.  I'm glad you've had a nice 6 weeks of Kindergarten, but there's a lot you haven't experienced yet, and a lot of things that you may care more about later that you aren't really engaging with now.  It's racism, but it isn't *just* racism.  The shortcomings of DCPS are real and those of us who want DCPS to succeed must face the issues and work to address them.[/quote]

-Low performing peer groups.  PP is totally right about the computer games used as differentiation
- Academics geared towards mastering basics which kids are lacking.  Very hard to develop critical thinking skills and problem solving when you don’t have the basic foundation down.  This is why there are so many worksheets at the school, beginning as early as in ECE. Endless worksheets.
-Disruptive classrooms - can happen at any school but much more prevalent at title 1 school (trauma, abuse, food/housing insecurity, neglect, etc, etc..)
-Poor general communication from school, if you are lucky to get any
-Disorganization
-authoritarian style teachers
- skeleton PTA if any
- little, if any, parent involvement at the school, difficult to recruit parent volunteers or needed chaperones for things
- no clubs/after school enrichment or minimal with minimal family participation
- poor resources and the inability to raise money to be able to address it
- principal and admin are so focused on the needs of these kids (academic, social, emotional) that there is no room for any other ides or suggestions. They also spend a large portion of their day putting out fires. 
- majority lower class families values and interests don’t align with yours

Middle and UMC families who stay love to use the racism card as the reason families leave but it’s a host of factors as PP above says, the problems above are real.  Above are few things that comes to mind but far from the only.
[/quote]

Yup.  Now, not all schools have all of these problems.  And you can certainly have a good experience, especially if you enjoy this kind of volunteer work and your child is on or above grade level with no significant special needs.  But all of these problems are real, real, real.  And it doesn't have to be this way!  DCPS-- the adults in charge of it-- are the problem here. Not the kids.

Academic stuff
- Focus on ELA and math, science and social studies are an afterthought
- High-performing kids may find themselves a group of one, it's possible to spend time in higher grade classrooms but at a certain point that's not developmentally appropriate.  May be okay academically but it's not very fun for the kid.
- Poor student retention among students of all incomes.  Lower-income families may struggle with housing costs/stability.  This means that the teachers have to start with new kids every year.  Great teaching can happen, but it doesn't compound over time because so many of this year's 3rd graders are a different bunch of kids than last year's 2nd graders.

PTA stuff:
- It's fun at first but after a while you just burn out.  Not enough people, so you feel like you have to do a lot of work even though you don't want to.
- PTA dominated by clueless preschool parents who focus on preschool quality of life issues and are oblivious to upper grade concerns.  Their cluelessness alienates other parents at the school, the staff, and the principal.  It's an uphill battle to convince them to care, because they aren't planning to stay.

Cultural differences:
- When I first got involved 5+ years ago, waaaaaay too much Christian holiday decorations and obliviousness to other religions' holidays.
- Intractable refusal to provide outdoor play.  Constant evasion and a different excuse every day.  "Indoor recess" on a beautiful day just because they happen to feel like it.
- Sugary treats used for every celebration and to manage behavior, perplexity why this wouldn't be okay.  Donating better snacks makes no difference.

Most frustrating of all, many of the problems stem from the central office.
- Mediocre or even terrible principals and APs forced on you from downtown (parent input into principal selection is a carefully crafted illusion)
- Downtown overriding your principal's budget and management decisions.
- Bad teachers force-placed into your school.
- Self-contained classrooms are overcrowded because so many schools refuse to have them.
- Not enough spots in free/subsidized aftercare, no subsidized before-care, that puts parents off.

And, last but not least, self-righteous wokies who have been at the school for 5 minutes, don't really do any work, and love to scold other people for recognizing that these problems are real.[/quote]

PP. I hear you.  A friend of mine sent her child to her title 1 IB school.  She was so motivated and enthusiastic to help the school.  She and a few parents put in so much time and energy into just basic things the school didn’t have which we take for granted.  It wasn’t even extras or enrichment or events.  As the to needs of the kids, it’s overwhelming.

Long story short, she totally burned out.  Left her IB and her child is now at a HRCS.

We got lucky in the lottery and got our top choice HRCS for preK 3.  Although I didn’t send DC to our IB title 1 school, I had some time and wanted to help the school.  So I joined the PTA there although my child did not go there and everyone was OK with it.  It was basically 4 parents, myself, and the librarian.  No matter what type of outreach we did, we could not increase membership.  Did 1 fundraiser and raised about $1000.  I suggested ideas for a bigger event to raise money, suggested to solicit funds from organizations, etc.. but they just couldn’t imagine that scale and was resistant even though I said I could organize.  We also couldn’t get anymore parents to join or volunteer for anything.

Contrast that to our HRCS.  Robust PTA, had 2 month giving campaign and just asked families for funds once a year and easily got over 6 figures. They also organized an dinner/drinks evening gala, with donations from businesses in the community. and raised another 6 figure plus. Had numerous other events to build community, raise money from Fall fest to Thanksgiving party, to Xmas party, to spring fest, etc…

When parents in the classroom was asked to volunteer and chaperones these big field trips, it was ultra-competitive and the sign up list filled within 1/2 hour of email going out.  Weekly newsletter from the teachers, monthly newsletter from the school, responsive leadership and returned emails within 24-48 hours. School had a ton of great after school clubs and enrichment to choose from for aftercare - it wasn’t just babysitting.

I could go on and on about the differences.  It was night and day.

[/quote]

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