Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing I did find interesting about kaya's testimony- AP academy. She mentioned that she was looking into establishing an AP academy for students of all HS to attend. Since she could not justify full AP classes at some of the under enrolled HS, it would be beneficial to have a stand alone academy with different subject matters. I hope this materializes.

Exactly how is it a good idea to take AP classes away from underenrolled high schools?

She said that should could not fiscally justify having all the requisite AP classes in a HS with low enrollment. The only HS in the city with an enrollment for which she could justify more than a handful of AP courses was Wilson. PP, do you think that only the students at Wilson should be afforded the opportunity of a smorgasbord of AP courses, while students at other schools are offered only three or four?

I think it would be an awful idea to take away AP classes from Wilson to have just one central location in town where kids are supposed to go to take the classes. I understand from another thread that the idea would be to have AP classes somewhere downtown DC from 2pm to 8pm and on Saturday morning. I think the person who had this idea was on crack. this would make Impossible for kids to have after school activities, waste a lot of time commuting to and from the AP location and would make for a very long day. I have kids in elementary school zoned for Deal and Wilson. we want our kids to go to public school, if this kind of proposal is approved, we would move out of DC (unless we can get into a charter), and do not think we would be the only ones. Wilson works, I do not see the advantage of ruining it. hopefully, DCPS can come up with a proposal that would help the under-enrolled HS without damaging Wilson. I think kicking out Henderson would be a good start (like others, I found her comment about turning to charters for MS upsetting). I am happy to be taxed a little more to provide additional funds to other HS is more money is needed. combining other under-enrolled HS could also be an idea (the DC map shows that Wilson cover almost half of the town, while all other HS combined the other half. maybe some of them could be closed and their resources put together. taking away the AP classes from Wilson forcing Wilson's students to travel back and forth somewhere else seems very stupid to me

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing I did find interesting about kaya's testimony- AP academy. She mentioned that she was looking into establishing an AP academy for students of all HS to attend. Since she could not justify full AP classes at some of the under enrolled HS, it would be beneficial to have a stand alone academy with different subject matters. I hope this materializes.

Exactly how is it a good idea to take AP classes away from underenrolled high schools?

She said that should could not fiscally justify having all the requisite AP classes in a HS with low enrollment. The only HS in the city with an enrollment for which she could justify more than a handful of AP courses was Wilson. PP, do you think that only the students at Wilson should be afforded the opportunity of a smorgasbord of AP courses, while students at other schools are offered only three or four?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not to continue a charter vs. neighborhood fight but I do really object to pp in any way suggesting that parents "who are willing to send kids across town for MS" are in any way at fault for failing neighborhood middle schools. Nor are the charter schools who work incredibly hard to offer a decent public alternative at fault. Please keep the blame exactly where it belongs: with a dysfunctional DCPS system and bad administration. Every parent I know in a charter school would rather use a neighborhood school if it actually offered a decent education

As a DCPS parent who has a kid in a private middle school I'll add that what you said goes for many parents in privates as well. There are a ton of DCPS refugees at my DC's school. I was very active in the PTA in elementary, and through that met PTA parents in other DCPS schools. I'm now meeting those parents again at my private school.

I'll just add, as a former DCPS parent who now has kids in Arlington County schools, what you said goes for many of us in the suburbs as well. I too meet many DCPS refugees out here. I too was very active in the PTA in our DCPS elementary. We left several years ago because we thought all our middle school options were less than desirable, including the charters that were available at that time. (I'm deeply ambivalent about the charter school movement in any case.) My eldest has finished high school now and my youngest will be starting middle school next year in APS. There was a time when I felt bad for not sticking it out longer, when I thought that maybe by the time my youngest was ready for middle school things would have improved. Now I find that I have zero regrets and am thankful we moved when we did. DCPS: the more things change, the more things stay the same. Kaya Henderson's comment is nothing short of scandalous.[/quote

I hate it when people use terms like "refugees" to describe moving out of their DC homes in pursuit of the bland white suburbia that is Arlington. It is so incredibly tone-deaf and self-indulgent.

You were probably never cut out for urban living to begin with. Glad you've found your natural habitat.

Also, I didn't use the term "refugees" to describe moving out my DC home in pursuit of Arlington. The private school poster described herself as a refugee. I would certainly never apply that word to my own circumstance since, as I noted, it turns out I am relieved and happy to be here and no longer struggling with the question of where to send my 5th grader to middle school.