I would start with DCPS first and reach out to Kaya Henderson and find out what plans are in place around middle schools. The next stop would be your city council member to find out if there is funding to do it. I would also find out who is heading up education issues for Vince Gray's transition team and get this issue on their radar. The foundation community is probably pretty tapped out by now. The budget shortfall in the city is a big hurdle. However getting a group of like-minded parents and residents together to push the issue is a good start. In this climate I think it would be hard to get support for new middle schools. But maybe there are ways to provide more support to those schools on cusp.

If you were advocating for middle schools in your neighborhood, who would you reach out to? City Councilmember? A Vince Gray person - who? DCPS official? Charter folks? Foundation people? What officials would you ask for guidance and assistance in helping to create a middle school option for your children and other children in DC?

What about Two Rivers? Two Rivers has a middle school. Since it is available to all wards through lottery and technically could serve a neighborhood with few good MS options, we may as well throw it into the mix.

Deal's DC CAS test scores for 2009-2010 are higher than both Washington Latin and KIPP.

Anonymous wrote:W-latin is the bastion of over-extended white parents of odd, somewhat bright children. For the most part it seems, the parents can't afford private, but can't stomach the idea their delicate snowflake amongst the more "urban" hoi-poloi of Deal. It is self selection, indeed. The school seems chaotic, pretentious and ridiculous and on the verge of collapse. I would never and thankfully, do not need to consider it an option.

But then, I think charter schools are a boil on the collective arse of school funding.

*yawn*

Glad you included the "yawn". This is some pretty fucking boring trolling.

To the poster who wondered why Deal cannot be replicated around the city: what no one wants to say is that it can't be replicated unless you can replicate the parent body. It's not the facility, it's the student/parent base.

Anonymous wrote:W-latin is the bastion of over-extended white parents of odd, somewhat bright children. For the most part it seems, the parents can't afford private, but can't stomach the idea their delicate snowflake amongst the more "urban" hoi-poloi of Deal. It is self selection, indeed. The school seems chaotic, pretentious and ridiculous and on the verge of collapse. I would never and thankfully, do not need to consider it an option.

[b]But then, I think charter schools are a boil on the collective arse of school funding.[/b]*yawn*

Ah, you can only make this statement because you do not require this option for your child to receive a good education. Double yawn to your overbearing pretentiousness.

W-latin is the bastion of over-extended white parents of odd, somewhat bright children. For the most part it seems, the parents can't afford private, but can't stomach the idea their delicate snowflake amongst the more "urban" hoi-poloi of Deal. It is self selection, indeed. The school seems chaotic, pretentious and ridiculous and on the verge of collapse. I would never and thankfully, do not need to consider it an option.

But then, I think charter schools are a boil on the collective arse of school funding.

*yawn*

Latin and KIPP both outperform Deal, don't they? The KIPP kids are good at math and the Latin kids can speak Latin. What has Deal got? A middle-years IB program?

Anonymous wrote:If Washington Latin is open to all students, why is it only 10% FARM? Inquiring minds want to know.

One of the PPs still has not provided proof that there are several charters in the city that have outperformed Deal - and proof that Deal is overwhelmingly wealthy.

Anonymous wrote:If Washington Latin is open to all students, why is it only 10% FARM? Inquiring minds want to know.

parents self-select into the school?

"Why doesn't DCPS set up magnet schools in the areas that need good middle schools? The selective natutre of a middle school would exclude a goog number of students who need better schools, and that's a down-side. But it would allow stronger students, who otherwise wouldn't have a chance, to get a good education and begin changing things. Why are magnets for MS not an option in DCPS?"

Because then people would accuse DCPS of being racist and catering to the white students at expense of black students. See post 20:00 for example.

If Washington Latin is open to all students, why is it only 10% FARM? Inquiring minds want to know.

Why doesn't DCPS set up magnet schools in the areas that need good middle schools? The selective natutre of a middle school would exclude a goog number of students who need better schools, and that's a down-side. But it would allow stronger students, who otherwise wouldn't have a chance, to get a good education and begin changing things. Why are magnets for MS not an option in DCPS?

There is one great alternative to Deal, and that is Washington Latin. However, it wasn't started by the city and no-one in DCPS gets to take any credit for that.

I find that outrageous. Yes, someone built something as good (or better) than Deal AND it is open to all the children in the city - not just those in Ward 3. Marvelous! But, it was done by a charter group, and not DCPS.

Now that's shameful!