Reply to Why Does Van Ness Elementary School Not Have a Boundary

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The goal isn't to reduce the number of OOB students at A-B, but rather to get as many students as possible into a school where they can learn.  A-B doesn't seem to be working well for many of its students.  Maybe Van Ness would be an improvement for some of them.[/quote]
Exactly.  So the Capitol Quarter crew who would like to exclude them needs to understand exactly what they would be doing.  It's unbecoming, not to mention fruitless.[/quote]
[b]You seem like a mean person.[/b]  Where do your kids go to school and how committed are you to surrounding your kids with econ disadvantaged kids are you?  Please provide details.

It's real easy to take cheap shots at parents who want a school that is predominantly middle class.[/quote]

No, my dear.  I'm an adult; one with children who has lived in DC longer than you have, and definitely sees the landscape clearer than you do.  I've watched friends navigate the DCPS/charter/private options.  My family has navigated the DCPS/charter/private options.  We will all continue to do so.

Believe it or not, I'm trying to help you manage your expectations, because you clearly have no clue.  I am your friend, you know.  I can understand how you think that buying your expensive condo entitles you to a school full of children such as the ones you have yet to enroll.  Were I so new to DC, or to homeownership, or to parenting, or to DCPS, I might think the same.  But I am old, wizened, and familiar with the angst-ridden nature of DC politics which underlie everything in DC (potholes, trashbins, ANC spending, dogparks, bikelanes, condo conversions, double-parking on Sundays, corruption vs. pork, the change from taxi zones to meters...  I could go on, but that would be overkill).

You are getting a newly renovated school.  It is attractive inside and out.  It is convenient to where you live.  It is convenient to metro.  It will become very popular, very fast.  DCPS has every reason to entice you into this school, since it expects a cohort of higher SES students.  This will start the school out on the "right foot."  In a way, it will open like one of the hot charter schools - with lots of enthusiasm and participation from families who will set a certain tone and level of expectations.  This is a good thing.  We have learned that it's easier to open a new school and attract higher SES families, than to try to convince them to attend an old one.

What you need to understand, and the sooner the better, is that you will not be allowed a little high-SES citadel.  If the families don't bring their students in themselves, then DCPS is intent on re-directing them towards you.  You don't have to believe me, just read some threads about Murch, Janney, Oyster Adams, Hardy, Eaton...  basically schools that have a long history of being almost exclusively higher SES.  These are schools in neighborhoods with considerable political clout (yours doesn't) and they are being force-fed changes to the demographics of their neighborhood schools which don't reflect the neighborhood.  Why?  Because the city is determined to get more lower SES students into high performing schools.  We can save the debate over whether or not this a social good or bad for another time, but like it or not it is a fact.  There is absolutely no chance that a brand new high SES school will open on the Hill and keep out its idea of "the untouchables."

You're getting your new school.  You'll also be getting friends from other neighborhoods.  I'm not mean my dear, I'm a realist.  [/quote]

NP here. I totally agree with you except that Van Ness and the neighborhood around is NOT Capitol Hill. That's part of the entitlement problem, I think -- some families in Capitol Quarter are bent out of shape that they are rich and live nearby, yet they can't go to Brent. [/quote]

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