Overall, liberal parents but less so as the school continues to improve with every passing year. We're pretty middle of the road and wouldn't have bought in-bounds this year if the school had a strong "hippie" flavor. Watkins/Cluster parents are more liberal than Brent, and,hence, less interested in programs to challenge advanced learners (ability grouping). More and more parents could afford privates or St. Peter for ES but stay in DCPS on a year-to-year basis, partly to save for middle school, high school, college. Some of us are quietly glad to see the school become less "diverse" and more in-bounds in a city that won't support gifted and talented elementary programs. We can't see how our kids would be challenged in the upper grades any other way. We're not conservatives, we're pragmatists. Brent is retaining more high-SES families past 2nd grade than other Hill schools and that benefits the low-SES kids in various ways (PTA insisting on good principal,teachers, facilities).

Yes I agree they're different. I was thinking (perhaps wrongly) in terms of how diversity is talked about in DC--usually black and white.

Anonymous wrote:I would not call it progressive or accepting in our experience. It's sort of diverse in the upper grades. The lower grades are mostly upper-middle class and white.

I find "progressive and accepting" to be different than "diverse" to be different than "upper-middle class and white." I don't necessarily disagree with your last two statements, although there's other kinds of diversity in the lower grades. But, I'm suprised you didn't find it to be accepting as that's not been my experience. Are you referring to specific incidents or an overall atmosphere?

Info on the Brent Beautification day so you can come meet others at the school and see the community first hand.


Please join us on this important work day to help get the school ready for the
students and staff. Beautfiication Day is a yearly, fun, family friendly way to
support the maintenance of our schoolyard, which we have invested in
considerably over the past years. Please come anytime between 8am and 1pm on
Aug. 25th for light yard work, mulching, weeding, and refreshing the school
grounds. We tend to draw volunteers from all over the city - and this is a good
way to meet some new people. Also, let me know if you have any ideas, specific
projects or skills to bring to this day. Many of the features that make our
schoolyard so inviting have come at the hands of volunteers. What would you
like to see and do as part of this day? Better bulletin boards? New buttefly
cut outs for the fence? More flowers? Bird or bat houses? Fresh paint? You
get the idea. Hope to hear from many of you.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We are in boundary but I would like to get a feel for the community of the school before sending DD there. We are a racially mixed family. And are liberal and somewhat hippie
We would like to have a progressive school where parents and kids are accepting and involved.

There are a number of us at Brent who have racially mixed families. I would say that the majority of the parents are more liberal than not. The parent body is very active and teachers are fantastic. Not sure when your daughter would be able to go but if it is not this fall, check out some of the school events to get a better sense of the community. We have a fall festival every year that is open to the community, there is a yahoo list serve that lists other events like gardening days, come hang out on the playground after school etc.

I would not call it progressive or accepting in our experience. It's sort of diverse in the upper grades. The lower grades are mostly upper-middle class and white.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We are in boundary but I would like to get a feel for the community of the school before sending DD there. We are a racially mixed family. And are liberal and somewhat hippie
We would like to have a progressive school where parents and kids are accepting and involved.

Souinds like you really want SWS

Actually it sounds like you want Capitol Hill Day School.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We are in boundary but I would like to get a feel for the community of the school before sending DD there. We are a racially mixed family. And are liberal and somewhat hippie
We would like to have a progressive school where parents and kids are accepting and involved.

Souinds like you really want SWS

OP here. We are in boundary but I would like to get a feel for the community of the school before sending DD there. We are a racially mixed family. And are liberal and somewhat hippie
We would like to have a progressive school where parents and kids are accepting and involved.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Total mix. Many more conservatives than I expected for a DC public school, but liberals are still predominant.

Some of us don't like the commute from upper NW and G'town...

sure! Or McLean or Great Falls. I think it is great that conservatives live on Capitol Hill. I'm just saying that I didn't expect it. I was pleasantly surprized. I enjoy hearing diverse voices. YMMV.

Anonymous wrote:Total mix. Many more conservatives than I expected for a DC public school, but liberals are still predominant.

Some of us don't like the commute from upper NW and G'town...

Brent parent here. We are all 50-something African/Asian Americans who make over $200K/year and are members of the Tea Party.

Total mix. Many more conservatives than I expected for a DC public school, but liberals are still predominant. Also more military, police, firefighters, etc. than I expected.

Very racially diverse, at least in grades 2-4. Lower grades far more white and 5th grade almost all AA. Lots of mixed race families.

No racial tension at the school-- at least not with the kids! Kids play with each other very well. However, I've seen parents get into racially tinged arguments. But at least people feel free to talk about these things and I believe that is healthy.

I fear for the future of the school though. It is likely to become far less diverse in grades PreK -4 since the boundry area has crazy expensive rents.

And without a good middle school to directly feed into, the only kids that seem to attend Brent for 5th grade are OOB kids that must have horrible middle school options for their neighborhood.

Anyway, it's going to be pretty economically homogeneous at Brent very soon if the city doesn't find a way to help low-income folks afford to live in the Brent area.

Is this just for your own curiousity? Because unless you are in-bounds, you are not getting in. And, if you are in-bounds, then who your neighbors are will answer your questions.

It's also unclear what you mean by "conservative or liberal." Do you mean parenting styles? I assume you don't mean politically given that DC is essentially populated only by Democrats.

What are the parents at Brent like? It is mostly conservative or liberal? Racially diverse? Mixed families? Thanks.