Reply to Watkins Parents: How pleased are you? How optimistic?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My child is in 1st grade this year. We have had a quite positive experience with the teachers, kids, and parents. The vast majority of kids who were in K at Peabody moved to Watkins; I literally can't think of anyone I know who didn't stay, other than kids who moved out of DC, and the vast majority of those were also there in PK4. (We weren't there for PK3 so there might have been more movement to charter schools from PK3.) This was good both because of the social continuity and because it kept a group of engaged parents. I've been impressed with the teachers, and my child has made steady and impressive academic progress.  The facility is subpar, but renovations will be starting soon. To help with transition from Peabody, 1st graders eat lunch in their classrooms. I think there is a touch too much focus on testing, but not to the extent that it's detracted from learning. [/quote]

Do you know whether most of the first grade class will stay for second grade?  Thanks for posting.[/quote]

1st grade parent again:

That's my assumption, although I've only heard it directly from a few parents. I've not heard of anyone planning to leave. I think it's not a topic of discussion because the default is that the kids will stay.

[quote=Anonymous]Does Peabody aftercare accept older children, or have you enrolled your child in another aftercare option that is close to the Peabody school? [/quote]

On aftercare, Watkins students can take the bus back to Peabody for aftercare, and many first graders do, especially if they live nearby or have siblings at Peabody. The number in Peabody aftercare drops off at older ages, but several parents have mentioned that they'd like to continue having their kids at Peabody aftercare, so we are going to try to coordinate that so they have a good number of kids their own age. In particular, there are two separate aftercare programs at Peabody, so it could work if all the older kids go to one program.

[quote=Anonymous]If almost all Peabody kids go to Watkins and stay there, then how is it that we're talking about Title 1 funds for Watkins? Stop the idiot cheerleading. [/quote]

Yes, as someone already mentioned, the SES (socioeconomic status) distribution and inboundary share of the older grades is different than in the younger: there are more poor kids, and fewer in bounds. That's not to say that there aren't higher SES kids in upper grades, there are just fewer.  A 5th grade parent said there was a noticeable dropoff in 5th grade in particular, as a bunch of kids moved to charter schools that started in 5th.

My hope (and expectation, though this of course might just be "idiot cheerleading"), is that more and more kids will stay through 5th - and through Stuart-Hobson - and that the upper Watkins grades and SH will be more diverse (that is, more high SES).

Another good source of information are recent cluster school newsletters: http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/home/?u=d675d4ef85&id=d79b45ad70. (Yes, it's cheerleading - it's the PTA - but one sign of a good school is an enthusiastic PTA).[/quote]

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