That is right, waiting on the offer

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see a lot of jumping to conclusions about OP on this thread. And about some PPs as well.

+1. She's not even in DC yet and our school choice system is complicated and there are so many schools to learn about. Cut her some slack while she tries to learn.

OP, I recommend renting for the first year while you check out different schools and do your research. Then pick a school boundary you're comfortable with and move there. The commutes are a killer here so it's best to find a neighborhood school you like. There are some charters but none of them are great and then your kids friends would be all over the city even if you're close to the school. It's not a great lifestyle to be tied to your car for every activity and play date.

If OP is the Watkins poster on other post, she already made offer.

Anonymous wrote:I see a lot of jumping to conclusions about OP on this thread. And about some PPs as well.

+1. She's not even in DC yet and our school choice system is complicated and there are so many schools to learn about. Cut her some slack while she tries to learn.

OP, I recommend renting for the first year while you check out different schools and do your research. Then pick a school boundary you're comfortable with and move there. The commutes are a killer here so it's best to find a neighborhood school you like. There are some charters but none of them are great and then your kids friends would be all over the city even if you're close to the school. It's not a great lifestyle to be tied to your car for every activity and play date.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see a lot of jumping to conclusions about OP on this thread. And about some PPs as well.

taking PARCC scores at face value as end-all-be-all of school quality not really a data driven approach. It's a gross simplification

Exactly. Do use the report card data above.

Anonymous wrote:I see a lot of jumping to conclusions about OP on this thread. And about some PPs as well.

taking PARCC scores at face value as end-all-be-all of school quality not really a data driven approach. It's a gross simplification

I see a lot of jumping to conclusions about OP on this thread. And about some PPs as well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of the Hill schools are better than 90% of the charters. Should think about that. Once you know your IB, you should come back for advice.

Thanks for that. My IB would be Watkins

Watkins is one of the best performing elementary schools (DCPS and Charter) in the city. I wouldn't even think of the drama for commute/lottery unless you really, really, really, really wanted Spanish immersion.

What fantasyland are you living in?

Elementaries with a higher % of students scoring 4s or 5s on the math PARCC than Watkins: Stoddert, Ross, Janney, Lafayette, SWS, Mann, Eaton, Key, KIPP-Promise, Hyde-Addison, Maury, KIPP-Lead, Brent, KIPP-Heights, Hearst, Murch, Oyster-Adams, KIPP-Spring, Yu Ying, Shepherd, DC Prep--Edgewood, H.D. Cooke, KIPP-Quest, Ludlow-Taylor. Adding in ELA, you also get LAMB, Inspired Teaching, and Marie Reed.

OP's odds of an OOB seat at any of the DCPS schools are extremely low, and some of them are so marginally better on test scores I don't think they're worth the commute (Cooke, Reed). The only charters are KIPP and DC Prep (which I doubt OP will like), Yu Ying and LAMB (where her kid is probably too old to start), and Inspired Teaching (which I would not say is so much better than Watkins that it's worth the commute, if OP could even get a seat). So she should either learn to be ok with Watkins or plan to move IB for a school she prefers.

Case and point. This PP that lists raw scores rather than the report cards that actually take into account school demographics. The school report cards already do this work for you. Heck, if you want to compare apples to apples, go ahead and measure pure white student performance at these schools. Tell us what you find OP.

plus this nugget

The only charters are KIPP and DC Prep (which I doubt OP will like)

- how does PP know what OP would or would not like? That statement doesn't seem much data driven

I think OP won't like KIPP and DC Prep not because I think they are bad schools but because the same things that make OP look for "the best" charter (and assume she has a shot at it) and be "not in love" with Watkins--her biases--will make her not like KIPP and DC Prep.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of the Hill schools are better than 90% of the charters. Should think about that. Once you know your IB, you should come back for advice.

Thanks for that. My IB would be Watkins

Watkins is one of the best performing elementary schools (DCPS and Charter) in the city. I wouldn't even think of the drama for commute/lottery unless you really, really, really, really wanted Spanish immersion.

What fantasyland are you living in?

Elementaries with a higher % of students scoring 4s or 5s on the math PARCC than Watkins: Stoddert, Ross, Janney, Lafayette, SWS, Mann, Eaton, Key, KIPP-Promise, Hyde-Addison, Maury, KIPP-Lead, Brent, KIPP-Heights, Hearst, Murch, Oyster-Adams, KIPP-Spring, Yu Ying, Shepherd, DC Prep--Edgewood, H.D. Cooke, KIPP-Quest, Ludlow-Taylor. Adding in ELA, you also get LAMB, Inspired Teaching, and Marie Reed.

OP's odds of an OOB seat at any of the DCPS schools are extremely low, and some of them are so marginally better on test scores I don't think they're worth the commute (Cooke, Reed). The only charters are KIPP and DC Prep (which I doubt OP will like), Yu Ying and LAMB (where her kid is probably too old to start), and Inspired Teaching (which I would not say is so much better than Watkins that it's worth the commute, if OP could even get a seat). So she should either learn to be ok with Watkins or plan to move IB for a school she prefers.

Case and point. This PP that lists raw scores rather than the report cards that actually take into account school demographics. The school report cards already do this work for you. Heck, if you want to compare apples to apples, go ahead and measure pure white student performance at these schools. Tell us what you find OP.

plus this nugget

The only charters are KIPP and DC Prep (which I doubt OP will like)

- how does PP know what OP would or would not like? That statement doesn't seem much data driven

#TheyLoveOurCultureButHateUs

I'm going to start using this every time I see a racist DC "urban" mom.

16:44 again. To reiterate, I am not a Watkins parent. I live IB for Deal and my kids attend a charter that is listed below. I have no dog in this fight, but the racial undertones in this thread are offensive so I spent 20 minutes providing actual usable data for the OP. Hope it helps tame some of the racist DC gentrifiers out there and their unfounded fantasyland.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of the Hill schools are better than 90% of the charters. Should think about that. Once you know your IB, you should come back for advice.

Thanks for that. My IB would be Watkins

Watkins is one of the best performing elementary schools (DCPS and Charter) in the city. I wouldn't even think of the drama for commute/lottery unless you really, really, really, really wanted Spanish immersion.

What fantasyland are you living in?

Elementaries with a higher % of students scoring 4s or 5s on the math PARCC than Watkins: Stoddert, Ross, Janney, Lafayette, SWS, Mann, Eaton, Key, KIPP-Promise, Hyde-Addison, Maury, KIPP-Lead, Brent, KIPP-Heights, Hearst, Murch, Oyster-Adams, KIPP-Spring, Yu Ying, Shepherd, DC Prep--Edgewood, H.D. Cooke, KIPP-Quest, Ludlow-Taylor. Adding in ELA, you also get LAMB, Inspired Teaching, and Marie Reed.

OP's odds of an OOB seat at any of the DCPS schools are extremely low, and some of them are so marginally better on test scores I don't think they're worth the commute (Cooke, Reed). The only charters are KIPP and DC Prep (which I doubt OP will like), Yu Ying and LAMB (where her kid is probably too old to start), and Inspired Teaching (which I would not say is so much better than Watkins that it's worth the commute, if OP could even get a seat). So she should either learn to be ok with Watkins or plan to move IB for a school she prefers.

Case and point. This PP that lists raw scores rather than the report cards that actually take into account school demographics. The school report cards already do this work for you. Heck, if you want to compare apples to apples, go ahead and measure pure white student performance at these schools. Tell us what you find OP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of the Hill schools are better than 90% of the charters. Should think about that. Once you know your IB, you should come back for advice.

Thanks for that. My IB would be Watkins

Watkins is one of the best performing elementary schools (DCPS and Charter) in the city. I wouldn't even think of the drama for commute/lottery unless you really, really, really, really wanted Spanish immersion.

What fantasyland are you living in?

Elementaries with a higher % of students scoring 4s or 5s on the math PARCC than Watkins: Stoddert, Ross, Janney, Lafayette, SWS, Mann, Eaton, Key, KIPP-Promise, Hyde-Addison, Maury, KIPP-Lead, Brent, KIPP-Heights, Hearst, Murch, Oyster-Adams, KIPP-Spring, Yu Ying, Shepherd, DC Prep--Edgewood, H.D. Cooke, KIPP-Quest, Ludlow-Taylor. Adding in ELA, you also get LAMB, Inspired Teaching, and Marie Reed.

OP's odds of an OOB seat at any of the DCPS schools are extremely low, and some of them are so marginally better on test scores I don't think they're worth the commute (Cooke, Reed). The only charters are KIPP and DC Prep (which I doubt OP will like), Yu Ying and LAMB (where her kid is probably too old to start), and Inspired Teaching (which I would not say is so much better than Watkins that it's worth the commute, if OP could even get a seat). So she should either learn to be ok with Watkins or plan to move IB for a school she prefers.

Of the DCPS schools listed above only Ludlow Taylor and Marie Reed have comparable number of economically disadvantaged students (LT and MR may in fact have slightly more). With a few exceptions (notably KIPP and DC PREP) PARCC scores are mostly a reflection of SES.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of the Hill schools are better than 90% of the charters. Should think about that. Once you know your IB, you should come back for advice.

Thanks for that. My IB would be Watkins

Watkins is one of the best performing elementary schools (DCPS and Charter) in the city. I wouldn't even think of the drama for commute/lottery unless you really, really, really, really wanted Spanish immersion.

What fantasyland are you living in?

I am not a Watkins parent. In fact, I live IB for Deal. Not only does Watkins have high overall performance, it also does better than most (maybe top 5) than the “sought” after elementary schools in African American performance (as well as white). I'd like to see your top 10 schools in the city. Hmmm, let me guess, they happen to be the whitest ones.

School report card
School/rating/score/AA score/White score (% white)

Watkins/ 4 Stars/73.94/74.36/57.85 (25% white)
Brent/ 4 Stars/65.64/51.05/48.22 (65% white)
Lafayette/ 4 Stars/73.92/69.25/59.97 (68% white)
Ross/ 4 Stars/ 72.96/ NA/55.71 (48% white)
Mundo Verde/ 4 Stars/ 67.22/57.71/49.18 (34% white)
LAMB/ 4 Stars/ 67.42/53.79/43.72 (34% white)
Inspired/ 4 Stars/64.23/51.08/66.71 (43% white)
Shepherd/4 Stars/67.39/76.25/NA (13% white)

In almost every single measurable data, Watkins outperforms Lafayette. They measure nearly 10 points higher in every category than Brent. I'd wager that Lafayette is in your top 10 fantasyland. Right?

OP, I'm not sure your race, but I want to give you a heads up that in DC, schools will top be considered "the Best" or "highly sought after" until the white percentage hits roughly 30-40%. This is despite glaring data that other schools (like Watkins or Shepherd) do better than many of the sought after DCPS and charters. So yes, I stand by my assessment that Watkins is one of the best schools in the city. Better than Brent for sure. It also has a better feeder path.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of the Hill schools are better than 90% of the charters. Should think about that. Once you know your IB, you should come back for advice.

Thanks for that. My IB would be Watkins

Watkins is one of the best performing elementary schools (DCPS and Charter) in the city. I wouldn't even think of the drama for commute/lottery unless you really, really, really, really wanted Spanish immersion.

What fantasyland are you living in?

Elementaries with a higher % of students scoring 4s or 5s on the math PARCC than Watkins: Stoddert, Ross, Janney, Lafayette, SWS, Mann, Eaton, Key, KIPP-Promise, Hyde-Addison, Maury, KIPP-Lead, Brent, KIPP-Heights, Hearst, Murch, Oyster-Adams, KIPP-Spring, Yu Ying, Shepherd, DC Prep--Edgewood, H.D. Cooke, KIPP-Quest, Ludlow-Taylor. Adding in ELA, you also get LAMB, Inspired Teaching, and Marie Reed.

OP's odds of an OOB seat at any of the DCPS schools are extremely low, and some of them are so marginally better on test scores I don't think they're worth the commute (Cooke, Reed). The only charters are KIPP and DC Prep (which I doubt OP will like), Yu Ying and LAMB (where her kid is probably too old to start), and Inspired Teaching (which I would not say is so much better than Watkins that it's worth the commute, if OP could even get a seat). So she should either learn to be ok with Watkins or plan to move IB for a school she prefers.

Anonymous wrote:Most of the Hill schools are better than 90% of the charters. Should think about that. Once you know your IB, you should come back for advice.

This. OP you aren’t likely to be happy with any DC schools. Most elem charters are worse than cap hill. You may consider moving WoTP.