Shepherd seems to have a mix of working class, middle, and upper SES students. So parents are cab drivers, teachers, physicians, etc. Very socioeconomically diverse, IMO.

I think it can become more problematic when a school is predominantly FARMs, for reasons already discussed ad nauseam here. But Shepherd's SES mix is one that I like, and is pretty unique within DCPS.

Anonymous wrote:I don't like Shepherd, and I've never made any bones about that, but I will say, the lower ses families who care enough to bring their kids across the city to the school are just, if not more, dedicated than the higher ses families around it. Categorizing a child's academic potential by their parents SES is ridiculous, and doing so would exclude most children of teachers, academics, and scientists.

This quest to find a scapegoat or an other to "blame" for perceived educational problems that is a real problem.

Only if you define SES solely by $$, not education. The latter matters more for student performance, it's just that usually education correlates with income.

(apologies for errors in post above, my phone wasn't letting me edit.)

I don't like Shepherd, and I've never made any bones about that, but I will say, the lower ses families who care enough to bring their kids across the city to the school are just, if not more, dedicated than the higher ses families around it. Categorizing a child's academic potential by their parents SES is ridiculous, and doing so would exclude most children of teachers, academics, and scientists.

This quest to find a scapegoat or an other to "blame" for perceived educational problems that is a real problem.

why do you care if your kids are with richer kids? classist.

you're not going to find much better in DC. Your child, if he or she turns out to be proficient, is going to have a cohort of similarly situated children and teachers who are used to teaching at or above grade level.

OP, we are a (relatively) high SES family, and we are planning to have our kids (rising 2nd graders and rising PK4) stay through 5th grade. Many fellow parents have said the same to us.

OP - when you said you want a school where kids go 'all the way through' do you mean 5th or through high school together.

Private for high school is really common among IB African America. Shepherd Park families. Similar story for middle. Just FYI.

Thanks, this is helpful. We live nearby and are going to be purchasing a home in the next year. We really see the attrition in our current in-boundary school even in the lower grades, so it's something that is definitely on my mind as we think about where to buy.

For Shepherd the test scores are lower between 4th and 5th grade--for ELA they go down from 60.4% in fourth grade getting a 4 or higher to 46.3% in fifth grade getting 4 or higher. For math it goes down from 45.8% to 34.1%.

They are both above 70% for level 3 and higher though--I'm not sure if that's good enough, but it's not bad (for ELA in 4th grade 87.5% scored above a 3).

If you're really concerned, you may want to contact the principal and inquire about attrition rates in the upper grades.

Are you a current Shepherd family? If so, upper or lower grades? We are a lower-grades family. While I'm sure there'll be some attrition in the upper grades--as there is at many elementaries both EOTP and WOTP--I'd think it will be less than at most other EOTP schools. No way to know for sure, but many other families we know indicate that they plan on staying at Shepherd all the way through to Deal.

Anonymous wrote:Consider looking at test scores by grade. Did 5th grade still have a decent cohort of grease level and advanced? If so, then who cares about SES?

This. Shepherd is a great school with now only 28% farm rate and like PP says it feeds to Deal. The higher grades may not be as much IB but they clearly are good students regardless of SES.

Why would they? They feed to Deal. The reason families usually abandon their DCPS in 3rd and 4th is because of middle school concerns. Not sure why the data shows but j seriously doubt Shepherd has much attrition.

Grease level should be grade level...

Consider looking at test scores by grade. Did 5th grade still have a decent cohort of grease level and advanced? If so, then who cares about SES?

I keep hearing about how high SES kids leave EOTP schools around 3rd grade because of the more challenging aspects of being in school with kids who aren't as privileged. Is this something that happens at Shepherd as well? I really would like for my DC to be in a school where the kids actually stay for the most part. Is there anywhere that I can find this kind of demographic information by grade? TIA