Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current Hearst parent here.

- I agree that it is highly unlikely the pre-K or K classes will go above 20; that would violate the NAEYC accreditation, and as noted, they can control that by just offering fewer OOB slots. From the information DCPS has put out we have no idea how many K slots were given out in the lottery. It could have been 0! So keep your faith in the school and don't worry!

- As for the 4th grade slots that people apparently got I'm sure it's just the case that it turns out some kids were leaving (e.g., I know of one family that moved to Turkey; they may have had a 3rd grader), and the principal may have felt pressure from DCPS to at least fill those classes up a bit by bringing in a few more kids. I wouldn't take that as a broader sign that class sizes are going to dramatically go up across the board.

Not sure where some are getting their info from, but you need to look at the proposed budgets submitted by the school just a couple of weeks ago,which is based on the preliminary allocations set by DCPS. http://dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/Files/downloads/ABOUT%20DCPS/Budget%20-%20Finance/FY15%20documents/Final%20School%20Allocations-FY15/DCPS-HEARST-Allocation-FY15.pdf Hearst was allocated two K teachers and two K aides. The principal would therefore need to find another $130,000 in the budget in order to hire a third teacher and aide. You would have to be delusional to think this going to happen given the fact the Mayor already rededicated a promised 10% budget bump to the 40 lowest performing schools. Also, DCPS generally will not add funding for another K-5 class until the average class size is in excess of 28. Welcome to the real world.

I was the original power of this one, and never suggested they might just hire a 3rd teacher.

I totally agree that of course a public school can never guarantee a particular class size, since all of a sudden a whole bunch of in bounds kids could walk through the door. But was just trying to make the point that Hearst very much prioritizes small class sizes and has done a very good job at keeping them small. I don't expect that to change overnight and still have a lot of faith in the school and nice small, tight-knit community.

Anonymous wrote:Wow, great answer from the principal. I am pretty impressed. I am, however, a little disturbed by what seems like a little animosity towards OOB students. I never really sensed this to be an issue being that Hearst has always been a mixed crowd. I am starting to fear that as more IB families start enrolling; this negative attitude will get worse as they may get territorial start showing the bad feelings like what I see is beginning to happen with Hardy.

I'm not sure what animosity you are referring to. Some IB K parents expressed concern about class size, simple as that. They were told class size would be 20 and they wanted to make sure that would still be the case. As a current IB parent I can say that we are a very tight-knit school community regardless of of IB/OOB status. We welcome all families that choose to be part of Hearst!

Anonymous wrote:Current Hearst parent here.

- I agree that it is highly unlikely the pre-K or K classes will go above 20; that would violate the NAEYC accreditation, and as noted, they can control that by just offering fewer OOB slots. From the information DCPS has put out we have no idea how many K slots were given out in the lottery. It could have been 0! So keep your faith in the school and don't worry!

- As for the 4th grade slots that people apparently got I'm sure it's just the case that it turns out some kids were leaving (e.g., I know of one family that moved to Turkey; they may have had a 3rd grader), and the principal may have felt pressure from DCPS to at least fill those classes up a bit by bringing in a few more kids. I wouldn't take that as a broader sign that class sizes are going to dramatically go up across the board.

Not sure where some are getting their info from, but you need to look at the proposed budgets submitted by the school just a couple of weeks ago,which is based on the preliminary allocations set by DCPS. http://dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/Files/downloads/ABOUT%20DCPS/Budget%20-%20Finance/FY15%20documents/Final%20School%20Allocations-FY15/DCPS-HEARST-Allocation-FY15.pdf Hearst was allocated two K teachers and two K aides. The principal would therefore need to find another $130,000 in the budget in order to hire a third teacher and aide. You would have to be delusional to think this going to happen given the fact the Mayor already rededicated a promised 10% budget bump to the 40 lowest performing schools. Also, DCPS generally will not add funding for another K-5 class until the average class size is in excess of 28. Welcome to the real world.

My coworker got into Hearst today. So jealous! What a great school and community!

Thank you principal. Will there be PK3 in 2015?

Wow, great answer from the principal. I am pretty impressed. I am, however, a little disturbed by what seems like a little animosity towards OOB students. I never really sensed this to be an issue being that Hearst has always been a mixed crowd. I am starting to fear that as more IB families start enrolling; this negative attitude will get worse as they may get territorial start showing the bad feelings like what I see is beginning to happen with Hardy.

Dr. B here - Principal at Hearst. I don't frequent this blog, but I got a tip that there may be some confusion about lottery spots, and I want to clarify. Hearst is fully committed to keeping class sizes small (around 20). Open spots for next year are directly related to the up-coming class and how many students are currently enrolled. Of course, we do have to project and make some educated guessing around IB students showing up, who is moving, etc... It's not perfect, but we've done a good job thus far keeping class sizes very small by DCPS standards (and really even private school standards) at about 20. Current 3rd grade did have a few students move out of the country, which opened up a few spots for 4th grade. It is a fine balance between ensuring class sizes are small and also ensuring we don't let enrollment drop below projections, which can impact funding. We are excited about all of the exciting new programming for next year (PK-5 Spanish, Full-Time Music/Peformance Arts teacher, additional reading and math supports and so much more)! If you have specific questions, I'm always happy to address them. Our next Open House is April 25th. That's a great place to learn more and ask questions.

In our current third grade we lost an embassy family who moved home (not to Turkey though) - that spot was opened up for next year's 4th grade.

Oh, and to respond to the question re Pk-3, yes, that is still very much on the books. In fact it may have started this coming fall except that the building won't quite be ready in time.

But yes, there should be pk-3 for Fall 2015!

Current Hearst parent here.

- I agree that it is highly unlikely the pre-K or K classes will go above 20; that would violate the NAEYC accreditation, and as noted, they can control that by just offering fewer OOB slots. From the information DCPS has put out we have no idea how many K slots were given out in the lottery. It could have been 0! So keep your faith in the school and don't worry!

- As for the 4th grade slots that people apparently got I'm sure it's just the case that it turns out some kids were leaving (e.g., I know of one family that moved to Turkey; they may have had a 3rd grader), and the principal may have felt pressure from DCPS to at least fill those classes up a bit by bringing in a few more kids. I wouldn't take that as a broader sign that class sizes are going to dramatically go up across the board.

Any thoughts on why Principal added more OOB 4th graders when she said said she would not do so for very specific and valid reasons? We know from DCUM that at least 2 more students were added, but how many more overall?

PreK population can be controlled because it is all lottery. K is mandatory, so no public school really has control over IB class size, but can control OOB population. If the school is popular with IB, there will always be a number where you can't afford to add another teacher/classroom yet (or don't have the space without a trailer), but you are over 20 per class. If 45 kids enroll IB, and you have 2 K teachers; you either add a physical classroom and enroll 10-15 more OOB students -- which means you add a classroom for every grade thereafter for that group of kids, or you have 2 classes with 22 and 23 kids instead of 20. If Hearst becomes more popular with IB or or is rezoned to include some of the Janney/Murch population, that could be a problem, but it doesn't sound like they are there yet.

The other thing that happens when you become a popular IB school is that you get a ton of kids who enroll in late summer, after the teachers are hired and classrooms are set and you have no choice but to have K classes that year of 26 kids and expand the following year - see Murch K and 1st grades this year; ridiculous number of August enrollments. So to all parents of kids who may go to the local public school -- enroll early!!! It is horribly disruptive to enroll your child after June. The principals need to know what the class size will be so they can hire enough teachers and plan for the classroom space. There are already enough people who are moving into the area during the summer who will necessarily register late and throw the numbers off (no fault, just the nature of proving residency requirement issue), so if you already live there, don't make it worse by waiting.

This is all complicated by the fact that budgets are set before enrollment opens, so DCPS has to make predictions about future enrollment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not the OP, but we also got into Hearst OOB and will be in 4th grade.

This is very curious because at a Hearst open house late last year the principal said that in order to maintain academic and social continuity, she would not accept any new OOB students after 3rd grade (she obviously has to take IB students at any time). Now I'm wondering what else might have changed? For example, she also said that in order to maintain their unique accredidation, that there could never be more than 20 kids in K. We are IB for K next year and this has me worried.

She told us at an open house earlier this year that she would not take anyone past 3rd grade too from OOB, saying that it is too hard for kids coming from schools to catch up.

Anyone know if the rumors about a PS3 for Fall 2015 are still circulating? Or any legitimate update on it?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely Deal. And while there has been lots of talk about Eaton kids going to Hardy, there really hasn't been talk about Hearst no longer routing to Deal. You can practically spit on Deal from Hearst. We are IB for Hearst and really close to Deal. It would be crazy, at least we think, for our family to have to go down to Georgetown daily.

I think Hearst stays with Deal.

The question is not as much will Hearst continue to feed to Deal, rather will OOB feeder rights continue or will her DS likely have to apply via lottery with some sort of feeder preference. Personally, I think any changes will be done after her kid is in 6th.

Sorry, I misunderstood the question. I agree that it seems like changes would be delayed or there would be some sort of grandfathering that might apply. Good luck with your decision OP!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not the OP, but we also got into Hearst OOB and will be in 4th grade.

This is very curious because at a Hearst open house late last year the principal said that in order to maintain academic and social continuity, she would not accept any new OOB students after 3rd grade (she obviously has to take IB students at any time). Now I'm wondering what else might have changed? For example, she also said that in order to maintain their unique accredidation, that there could never be more than 20 kids in K. We are IB for K next year and this has me worried.

+1. I heard the same thing at an open house in the fall. This directly contradicts what the principal told potential new parents. And this is one reason we decided to put some faith in this school and enroll IB in 2 years. Going to have to do some due diligence here.