Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPS, Brent principal and PTA board have made it clear that they don't want to ditch PreK3/mixed-age classes. Issue is not being discussed seriously. If you really need a PreK3 somewhere on or around the Hill, you'll get a spot by the start of school from your 12 choices, probably at an AppleTree campus. You just can't apply only to super popular programs. try JO Wilson, Miner, Payne, Walker Jones, Amidon etc. They're all decent for that age group.

I wouldn't dismiss a number of 150+ if you're willing to jump in after the school year starts. You'd be surprised how low schools will still dip into waiting lists come late Sept. or early Oct.

This is simply not true any more. None of the schools on or near the hill are a guarantee for PK3 or 4 even after the school year starts. We never got off the waiting list at Payne or Tyler (traditional not Spanish) or Van Ness last year. The schools are all improving. They are all on people's communizing route in. There are more and more young families staying on the Hill and trying their neighborhood schools, in part because they can't get into charters. And for Brent families some of the schools you mentioned are far away and in the opposite direction. People tend to live on the hill because they love a walkable community. Two miles each way twice a day is not walkable with small kids.

And to the poster who said that the Brent boundary is fine, what are you smoking? The school is not big enough to accommodate all the in bounds kids. When next year's kindergarten class starts (the one that had 40 or so in bounds kids wait listed for PK3) where are they going to put them? Or are they just going to cram them all into the existing classrooms and have 40 kids in a K class. They either need to expand the school or shrink the boundary. The boundary review was a joke because it didn't do any forward projections. Five years ago you could lottery into Brent out of bounds, now you can't even get in if you are IB, yet they used the upper grades OOB stats to say the boundary/capacity was fine.

No politician in their right mind would push to shrink Brent's boundary.

Brent is a mosquito on the back of the DCPS elephant. It's cute that inbound parents whose kids might not get into PK think they are a matter of concern at the top of anyone's action list, when the overwhelming number of schools are struggling to serve poor and at-risk kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPS, Brent principal and PTA board have made it clear that they don't want to ditch PreK3/mixed-age classes. Issue is not being discussed seriously. If you really need a PreK3 somewhere on or around the Hill, you'll get a spot by the start of school from your 12 choices, probably at an AppleTree campus. You just can't apply only to super popular programs. try JO Wilson, Miner, Payne, Walker Jones, Amidon etc. They're all decent for that age group.

I wouldn't dismiss a number of 150+ if you're willing to jump in after the school year starts. You'd be surprised how low schools will still dip into waiting lists come late Sept. or early Oct.

This is simply not true any more. None of the schools on or near the hill are a guarantee for PK3 or 4 even after the school year starts. We never got off the waiting list at Payne or Tyler (traditional not Spanish) or Van Ness last year. The schools are all improving. They are all on people's communizing route in. There are more and more young families staying on the Hill and trying their neighborhood schools, in part because they can't get into charters. And for Brent families some of the schools you mentioned are far away and in the opposite direction. People tend to live on the hill because they love a walkable community. Two miles each way twice a day is not walkable with small kids.

And to the poster who said that the Brent boundary is fine, what are you smoking? The school is not big enough to accommodate all the in bounds kids. When next year's kindergarten class starts (the one that had 40 or so in bounds kids wait listed for PK3) where are they going to put them? Or are they just going to cram them all into the existing classrooms and have 40 kids in a K class. They either need to expand the school or shrink the boundary. The boundary review was a joke because it didn't do any forward projections. Five years ago you could lottery into Brent out of bounds, now you can't even get in if you are IB, yet they used the upper grades OOB stats to say the boundary/capacity was fine.

No politician in their right mind would push to shrink Brent's boundary.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPS, Brent principal and PTA board have made it clear that they don't want to ditch PreK3/mixed-age classes. Issue is not being discussed seriously. If you really need a PreK3 somewhere on or around the Hill, you'll get a spot by the start of school from your 12 choices, probably at an AppleTree campus. You just can't apply only to super popular programs. try JO Wilson, Miner, Payne, Walker Jones, Amidon etc. They're all decent for that age group.

I wouldn't dismiss a number of 150+ if you're willing to jump in after the school year starts. You'd be surprised how low schools will still dip into waiting lists come late Sept. or early Oct.

This is simply not true any more. None of the schools on or near the hill are a guarantee for PK3 or 4 even after the school year starts. We never got off the waiting list at Payne or Tyler (traditional not Spanish) or Van Ness last year. The schools are all improving. They are all on people's communizing route in. There are more and more young families staying on the Hill and trying their neighborhood schools, in part because they can't get into charters. And for Brent families some of the schools you mentioned are far away and in the opposite direction. People tend to live on the hill because they love a walkable community. Two miles each way twice a day is not walkable with small kids.

And to the poster who said that the Brent boundary is fine, what are you smoking? The school is not big enough to accommodate all the in bounds kids. When next year's kindergarten class starts (the one that had 40 or so in bounds kids wait listed for PK3) where are they going to put them? Or are they just going to cram them all into the existing classrooms and have 40 kids in a K class. They either need to expand the school or shrink the boundary. The boundary review was a joke because it didn't do any forward projections. Five years ago you could lottery into Brent out of bounds, now you can't even get in if you are IB, yet they used the upper grades OOB stats to say the boundary/capacity was fine.

No politician in their right mind would push to shrink Brent's boundary.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is only PK4 in NW, it would make sense for them to eliminate PK3 at Brent since there is no real financial need; however since it's years ahead of other Capitol Hill schools, it's unlikely DCPS would eliminate PK3 at just Brent without eliminating it at all Hill schools.

They should likely eliminate the mixed classes in PK3 and PK4 to accommodate more IB kids at Brent.

I don't think Brent is years ahead of Van Ness, Maury, or Ludlow-Taylor.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPS, Brent principal and PTA board have made it clear that they don't want to ditch PreK3/mixed-age classes. Issue is not being discussed seriously. If you really need a PreK3 somewhere on or around the Hill, you'll get a spot by the start of school from your 12 choices, probably at an AppleTree campus. You just can't apply only to super popular programs. try JO Wilson, Miner, Payne, Walker Jones, Amidon etc. They're all decent for that age group.

I wouldn't dismiss a number of 150+ if you're willing to jump in after the school year starts. You'd be surprised how low schools will still dip into waiting lists come late Sept. or early Oct.

This is simply not true any more. None of the schools on or near the hill are a guarantee for PK3 or 4 even after the school year starts. We never got off the waiting list at Payne or Tyler (traditional not Spanish) or Van Ness last year. The schools are all improving. They are all on people's communizing route in. There are more and more young families staying on the Hill and trying their neighborhood schools, in part because they can't get into charters. And for Brent families some of the schools you mentioned are far away and in the opposite direction. People tend to live on the hill because they love a walkable community. Two miles each way twice a day is not walkable with small kids.

And to the poster who said that the Brent boundary is fine, what are you smoking? The school is not big enough to accommodate all the in bounds kids. When next year's kindergarten class starts (the one that had 40 or so in bounds kids wait listed for PK3) where are they going to put them? Or are they just going to cram them all into the existing classrooms and have 40 kids in a K class. They either need to expand the school or shrink the boundary. The boundary review was a joke because it didn't do any forward projections. Five years ago you could lottery into Brent out of bounds, now you can't even get in if you are IB, yet they used the upper grades OOB stats to say the boundary/capacity was fine.

Anonymous wrote:I'm wondering if this is finally reaching the tipping point as there are enough parents that have lost in the lottery process getting to leadership positions. The issue is, if you have a current 1st grader or up, you don't understand how bad it is. The fact that 9 IB sibling families didn't get in through the lottery last year (mind you there were only 10 in the entire city) should have been a wake up call.

Anonymous wrote:There is only PK4 in NW, it would make sense for them to eliminate PK3 at Brent since there is no real financial need; however since it's years ahead of other Capitol Hill schools, it's unlikely DCPS would eliminate PK3 at just Brent without eliminating it at all Hill schools.

They should likely eliminate the mixed classes in PK3 and PK4 to accommodate more IB kids at Brent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brent has behavioral issues that they had to hire a behavioral specialist to address. I also know many K parents who haven't been thrilled with the school experience. Happy we left and went private.

Oh come on, every school has some behavioral issues and the Brent PTA Board is to be applauded for hiring the with-it tech guy to improve matters. I can live with not being thrilled with the K experience, knowing that the first grade teachers are all strong and what a terrific job the music, art, science, PE, and Spanish teachers do. Brent is a deal for your tax dollars, a 5 or 10-minute walk from the homes of most of us who use the school. At this age, you can easily supplement at home so your kid thrives.

I agree. Hiring a behavioral tech was a great idea.

Anonymous wrote:I'm wondering if this is finally reaching the tipping point as there are enough parents that have lost in the lottery process getting to leadership positions. The issue is, if you have a current 1st grader or up, you don't understand how bad it is. The fact that 9 IB sibling families didn't get in through the lottery last year (mind you there were only 10 in the entire city) should have been a wake up call.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brent has behavioral issues that they had to hire a behavioral specialist to address. I also know many K parents who haven't been thrilled with the school experience. Happy we left and went private.

Oh come on, every school has some behavioral issues and the Brent PTA Board is to be applauded for hiring the with-it tech guy to improve matters. I can live with not being thrilled with the K experience, knowing that the first grade teachers are all strong and what a terrific job the music, art, science, PE, and Spanish teachers do. Brent is a deal for your tax dollars, a 5 or 10-minute walk from the homes of most of us who use the school. At this age, you can easily supplement at home so your kid thrives.

I agree. Hiring a behavioral tech was a great idea.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brent has behavioral issues that they had to hire a behavioral specialist to address. I also know many K parents who haven't been thrilled with the school experience. Happy we left and went private.

Oh come on, every school has some behavioral issues and the Brent PTA Board is to be applauded for hiring the with-it tech guy to improve matters. I can live with not being thrilled with the K experience, knowing that the first grade teachers are all strong and what a terrific job the music, art, science, PE, and Spanish teachers do. Brent is a deal for your tax dollars, a 5 or 10-minute walk from the homes of most of us who use the school. At this age, you can easily supplement at home so your kid thrives.

Anonymous wrote:Brent has behavioral issues that they had to hire a behavioral specialist to address. I also know many K parents who haven't been thrilled with the school experience. Happy we left and went private.