Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Janney

I have 3 kids at Janney and last year each kid had ONE !blwck in their class. Janney's AA numbers are almost all in 5th grade when they can give empty spots to out of boundary kids. Prior to that, the school is very white because the neighborhood is very white. There's a lot of international
diversity.

Don't knock the international diversity. That's an important attribute to have in a school, particularly in a city like Washington.

Many of the upper NW schools have international diversity, what is interesting to analyze is where the kids are coming from. In the case of Janney it seems to be much more kids of European descent, directly from Europe, and a sprinkling of children of European descent from Latin America. Murch in particular has a large number of Asian and South Asian kids (particularly for DCPS) -- so the optics of the classroom are different. There may be three or four AA children in the class, however there are also at least four or five children of other races who have dark skin from South Asia or Central America. This makes a difference to us because our child sees children that look different. He is not the only darker skinned child in the room. When I see pictures from the school I am impressed that the kids seem a bit more reflective of the composition of the world.

Anonymous wrote:Kind of off-topic - but as new members of Shepherd Park (and as a result, won't be at Shepherd next year due to missing lottery deadline), is there a parents message board/meetup/group? We'd love to connect with the parents of other young kids in the neighborhood, and the yahoo group doesn't quite seem like the right place.

pp in case you haven't already, make sure you contact myschooldc to have your address updated. You will be placed at the top of the waitlist so there's still a chance your child could get in.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If someone had posted on here asking "Which DCPS elementary has the highest number of affluent white kids?" there would be 10 pages of people calling them racist right now. Just sayin'

Duh. Because white kids aren't disadvantaged in our society. Test scores aren't lower for white kids across all socio economic categories, like they are for black kids. White families have all the power in this country - see any of their kids dying at the hands of police for no reason?

Are you kidding? The kids of poor and working class, especially rural, whites are hugely disadvantaged educationally, particularly in college admissions. There's no affirmative action or "hooks" for them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Janney

I have 3 kids at Janney and last year each kid had ONE !blwck in their class. Janney's AA numbers are almost all in 5th grade when they can give empty spots to out of boundary kids. Prior to that, the school is very white because the neighborhood is very white. There's a lot of international
diversity.

Don't knock the international diversity. That's an important attribute to have in a school, particularly in a city like Washington.

Anonymous wrote:The demographics have really changed in the WOTP schools.

When I mentioned the scores I am specifically looking at the highest scores. For example, advanced proficiency scores for AAs at Murch are the highest in Ward 3 for AAs math and reading together -- 25% of AAs are advanced in Math and 22% of AAs are advanced in reading.

Eaton has very high AA math levels, 39% of AAs demonstrate advanced proficiency in math (however only 9% in reading). Eaton clearly has reduced math racial gaps, perhaps their model should be replicated with other schools.

Yes, but what's going on with the reading?! This seems like a huge problem. Eaton should be all over it.

You're totally out of sync with reality and you have absolutely no clue. No one in a housing project has ever invited any of my kids to a birthday party, even when they're the absolutely best of buddies at school. One of my kids has been invited to go (and did go) along to church. No one has ever invited me to a cookout even though I'm truly very good friends with people who do have regular cookouts. I have, however, managed to invite an occasional child from a housing project to my kids' birthday party but it was a huge amount of work and required tireless convincing and prodding and would in fact not have happened without that child's vocal advocacy. What you describe just simply is a non-existent problem. Meanwhile, let's welcome the day it may be.

I'm the pp (not the poster above)--and we've been invited to tons of birthday parties in a variety of places. We always go. We've also had birthday parties with all kinds of kids. And it's always been great. There are always differences between people, and sometimes those differences are tense. But I've always tried to work to bridge them. And it's always worked--at least to a point where things are civil. Before now.

Wasn't just that. That was just the last straw. But I have brought enough negativity to this thread. And maybe I am projecting... but that rant does sound a bit like what happened, if filtered through the mind of someone who has issues that are really not my problem. We all have our stuff.

Shepherd is really a great school. Loved the kids, the teachers, the administration. We went to a lot of dances and school events and they were always a pleasure. Shepherd Park is also a fantastic neighborhood. Enjoy!

Anonymous wrote:Kind of off-topic - but as new members of Shepherd Park (and as a result, won't be at Shepherd next year due to missing lottery deadline), is there a parents message board/meetup/group? We'd love to connect with the parents of other young kids in the neighborhood, and the yahoo group doesn't quite seem like the right place.

There's a Shepherd Park parents group on yahoo, but it's honestly not that active. I would totally put a feeler out on the Shepherd Park listserv--I've seen families do this when they first move in and are looking for playdates, etc. w/kids of a similar age. Two families who live near me did this recently (so many young families moving in, yay!).

You can always try the playground on the weekends too, which is always pretty packed when the weather's nice.

Welcome!

Kind of off-topic - but as new members of Shepherd Park (and as a result, won't be at Shepherd next year due to missing lottery deadline), is there a parents message board/meetup/group? We'd love to connect with the parents of other young kids in the neighborhood, and the yahoo group doesn't quite seem like the right place.

Anonymous wrote:It just goes to show me that...the school that you don't want, just might not want you. You can ask a many principal and that conversation of "whatever happen to?" Can have a response of "good riddance" in the most sincerest way. These helicopting parents with bazooka gun sights are just unbelievable. All of sudden my child doesn't fit it and it is because his classmates don't vacation at Martha's Vineyard. Yet, when their classmate Grandma Martha has cookout, you don't go because it is held in a housing project. When the kids asked your child why didn't he/she come to the party, they retort because you're poor. Then the affluent black child gets beat up on the playground and the helicopting parents wants justice. Sips tea...

You're totally out of sync with reality and you have absolutely no clue. No one in a housing project has ever invited any of my kids to a birthday party, even when they're the absolutely best of buddies at school. One of my kids has been invited to go (and did go) along to church. No one has ever invited me to a cookout even though I'm truly very good friends with people who do have regular cookouts. I have, however, managed to invite an occasional child from a housing project to my kids' birthday party but it was a huge amount of work and required tireless convincing and prodding and would in fact not have happened without that child's vocal advocacy. What you describe just simply is a non-existent problem. Meanwhile, let's welcome the day it may be.

PP... if it was just one person you had an issue with, I really wouldn't let that ONE person drive me away from a good school. There's always going to be ONE. Also, please self examine to ensure that you aren't projecting some of your own "anxieties" onto your child. This may not be the case for you, but it absolutely does happen. Almost no one gets through elementary school without some tension with another kid at some point in time. It's just life. Just be sure that you aren't jumping ship over an issue that can be resolved with some time and patience.

By the way, my kids aren't at Shepherd so I don't have a dog in this race.

And trust me, I've been to more barbeques in the pj's than you have, classy lady.

You totally do sound like that mom who accosted us on the street and my my child cry because you were upset that I reprimanded your child AND mine for having an altercation on the playground.

Well, congratulations. You won. Have a great day. Enjoy your tea. I assume you take it with sugar.

It just goes to show me that...the school that you don't want, just might not want you. You can ask a many principal and that conversation of "whatever happen to?" Can have a response of "good riddance" in the most sincerest way. These helicopting parents with bazooka gun sights are just unbelievable. All of sudden my child doesn't fit it and it is because his classmates don't vacation at Martha's Vineyard. Yet, when their classmate Grandma Martha has cookout, you don't go because it is held in a housing project. When the kids asked your child why didn't he/she come to the party, they retort because you're poor. Then the affluent black child gets beat up on the playground and the helicopting parents wants justice. Sips tea...

I'm the PP who recommended taking a look at Lowell. I don't know of any other DCPS schools where the kids are more open to differences such as you've described *as a general rule.* Perhaps some of the HRCSs would be worth looking into (of course, there's the problem of actually winning the lottery to get in!)?

It's funny, I'm not that familiar with Mocha Moms, but I recently found out that another parent I've become friends with at Shepherd is in this organization. She is actually one of the most down-to-earth, friendly, and welcoming people I've met at Shepherd.

Anyway, this all goes to show how two people can have pretty different experiences at a school. It reminds me of some of the discussions over in the real estate forum, where some posters love a certain neighborhood and others dislike it, but people's experiences can really vary block by block.

It's too bad that you're leaving Shepherd, but if you find that your child's particular cohort is not a good fit for him/her, then I don't blame you for doing what's best for your kid.