Anonymous wrote:PP is right, there are a lot of nice parents in CP but also more than a fair share of persnickety racist old people.

Totally agree. Can't stand Cleveland Park even if I find their moaning on the listserv sort of funny.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for the helpful posts about DCPS schools. We live inbound to Burroughs. I did not intend my post to sound elitist or silly, but parental involvement and school administration efficacy are important to my family. While other posters may be constrained by commute or school location, those are not factors for us where we are really focused on enrolling our child in a highly engaged and responsive school. Thank you for the DCPS list to research in more detail. Are there any recommendations for charter schools that fit our criteria?

OP, are you planning to move? Because that's the only way you'll get into these schools.

It is unlikely to get into any non-citywide DCPS in Kindergarten, particularly those west of the park (the "higher fundraising" schools), but after I started to pull the numbers, I see that it isn't impossible. Because all kindergartners have "by right" attendance, I think I'm correct in assuming that all those pull off of waitlists are out of boundary. What I don't know is how many of those are out of boundary siblings (who would have preference), who got pulled in by a 3, 4, 5th grade sibling.

This year did seem to be a "good" year for 1st grade admissions at charters and DCPS, but most charters only open seats from attrition for kindergarten.

Looking at the wait list data, by October, city wide DCPS and Charters in your vicinity here admitted kindergartners as follows:

Capitol Hill Montessori: 9
School with a School: 2
YY: 1
LAMB: Doesn't take at K
CMI: 15
TR4: 14
TRY: 18
ITS: 35
DCB: 39
Bridges: 40
MV: 6
Shining Stars: 40
DC Prep Edgewood: 2
Cap City: 7
EL Haynes: 8
Lee: 1
Stokes F: 7
Stokes S: 15

Interestingly here are some of the DCPS numbers off waitlists. I'm surprised that there were any! Maybe someone over there knows better.
Janney: 8
Key: 4
Lafayette: 2
Mann: 6
Murch: 3
Shepherd: 18
Ross: 3

Your highest SES "safety" in your vicinity is likely Sela. They had no K waitlist this year.

CMI did not take 15 K students his year. That's absurd.

PP was likely stating how far they went to the list. Don't worry, you're charter is still highly regarded if they offered 15 people spots.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for the helpful posts about DCPS schools. We live inbound to Burroughs. I did not intend my post to sound elitist or silly, but parental involvement and school administration efficacy are important to my family. While other posters may be constrained by commute or school location, those are not factors for us where we are really focused on enrolling our child in a highly engaged and responsive school. Thank you for the DCPS list to research in more detail. Are there any recommendations for charter schools that fit our criteria?

OP, are you planning to move? Because that's the only way you'll get into these schools.

It is unlikely to get into any non-citywide DCPS in Kindergarten, particularly those west of the park (the "higher fundraising" schools), but after I started to pull the numbers, I see that it isn't impossible. Because all kindergartners have "by right" attendance, I think I'm correct in assuming that all those pull off of waitlists are out of boundary. What I don't know is how many of those are out of boundary siblings (who would have preference), who got pulled in by a 3, 4, 5th grade sibling.

This year did seem to be a "good" year for 1st grade admissions at charters and DCPS, but most charters only open seats from attrition for kindergarten.

Looking at the wait list data, by October, city wide DCPS and Charters in your vicinity here admitted kindergartners as follows:

Capitol Hill Montessori: 9
School with a School: 2
YY: 1
LAMB: Doesn't take at K
CMI: 15
TR4: 14
TRY: 18
ITS: 35
DCB: 39
Bridges: 40
MV: 6
Shining Stars: 40
DC Prep Edgewood: 2
Cap City: 7
EL Haynes: 8
Lee: 1
Stokes F: 7
Stokes S: 15

Interestingly here are some of the DCPS numbers off waitlists. I'm surprised that there were any! Maybe someone over there knows better.
Janney: 8
Key: 4
Lafayette: 2
Mann: 6
Murch: 3
Shepherd: 18
Ross: 3

Your highest SES "safety" in your vicinity is likely Sela. They had no K waitlist this year.

CMI did not take 15 K students his year. That's absurd.

INCOME
Student Support Fund and Other Contributions $270,000
Over half of PTA fundraising is done through contributions to our Student Support Fund. This year the PTA is suggesting a contribution amount of $650 per child. This amount represents a discounted estimated per-child annual spend, but a donation of any amount is greatly appreciated. This coming school year the goal is to have 100% of families participate, at any level.
Fundraising Activities $185,500
Money not raised through the Student Support Fund is raised by a dedicated group of parent and student volunteers that host multiple fundraising events throughout the year. These include:
- Amazon and Box Tops for Education
- Holiday Greens and Mulch Sales
- Janney Auction
- Janney 5k and Fun Run
- Politics & Prose Book Sale
- Raffle
- Used Book Sale
TOTAL NET INCOME ITEMS $455,500
EXPENSES
School Activities ($20,150)
This includes the cost of the Fall and Spring Picnics, Room Parent Funds, Open Houses, and Community Coffees.
Educational Programs ($387,000)
The bulk of these funds go to pay for PTA-supported salaries and Janney Performing Arts Program. This category also includes: Teacher Professional Development, Technology Support, and Textbooks.
School Administrative ($35,000)
This cost includes: Custodial, Nursing, and Administrative equipment and supplies as well as Staff Wellness and Appreciation.
Facilities & Maintenance ($21,500)
This category includes: Cost to repair facilities, including copiers, furniture, fixtures, and outdoor facilities.
PTA Administrative ($34,500)
This category includes: Banking and Transaction Fees, and costs related to Bookkeeping, Accounting, Taxes and Auditing, as well as costs related to PTA mailing supplies.
TOTAL NET EXPENSE ITEMS ($498,150)
TOTAL (INCOME-EXPENSES) ($42,650)

https://www.janneyschool.org/pta/pta-budget/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:another example: http://legacy.janneyschool.org/community/pta/budget/

We can't access this, but I do remember 5 years ago when we attended there that their fees per child was suggested as $700/child, and their auction brought in about $400K.

No way the auction alone raised that. Are you sure thaat $400k wasn't the entire budget?

Anonymous wrote:another example: http://legacy.janneyschool.org/community/pta/budget/

We can't access this, but I do remember 5 years ago when we attended there that their fees per child was suggested as $700/child, and their auction brought in about $400K.

Bump

We've been at 2 DCPS schools, one where the PTA raised a pretty decent amount through fundraising and the other that raises very little through fundraising. In our experience, the amount raised is not really a good gauge of parental involvement or school administration efficiency as surprising as that may sound. The school that raises very little fundraising money is so super efficient that it does not need to rely on the PTA for support. Parents are also very active in other ways, mostly volunteering in the classroom. The principal is really on top of things and very creative in getting resources for the school. The school that had to raise money through the PTA, was forced to do so because the administration was so inept. Best way to find out about the school climate is to talk to parents with kids currently attending the school.

Thank you again for all of the useful suggestions. Along with online research, I will attend EdFest and open houses to investigate further.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for the helpful posts about DCPS schools. We live inbound to Burroughs. I did not intend my post to sound elitist or silly, but parental involvement and school administration efficacy are important to my family. While other posters may be constrained by commute or school location, those are not factors for us where we are really focused on enrolling our child in a highly engaged and responsive school. Thank you for the DCPS list to research in more detail. Are there any recommendations for charter schools that fit our criteria?

Why did you buy in Brookland then? And why are you asking about fundraising as a proxy for ses? Most people just look at Farms and at risk rate. Is it because you are trying to avoid the lower middle class that aren't captured in farms or at risk numbers? Then look for white (white in DC are almost all middle and upper middle). On this second measure, you want wotp schools, since even the best charters that have low farms (20% or below) do have a good-sized population of lower middle class. This economic diversity is one of the reasons we chose charter rather than the almost uniformly high ses wotp school we were zoned for. It is one of the reasons we decided to buy in Brookland. Which brings me back to my original question - why are you in Brookland?

you were IB for west of the park school and you chose a charter. You are nuts.

no, we couldn't stay long term - we were crammed into a tiny apartment. Plus my neighbors in CP were not friendly to us (somehow they could smell we weren't rich). Plus I didn't want a traditional school program and had already signed up for a progressive private school when we won the lottery. And I LOVE my friendly, economically mixed brookland neighbors and so glad my kids go to school with all of them (the middle, the upper middle, the lower middle, the at risk)

Yes, I'm sure that's the reason they weren't friendly to you.

Seriously. It was bizarre. Even my husband noticed (and he's not at all sensitive). People are lovely to us in Brookland and don't ask where exactly we live.

Sorry, I don't buy it. I've live in and among middle class, rich and uber rich people. The only people who are sensitive about being perceived as rich are the people who aren't. I've never met a rich person who looked down on a neighbor because they weren't rich. They don't need to be insecure about it-- they are the rich people. More than likely it's because you are actually doing something that offended them.

Maybe they don't look down on us, but they aren't going to bother to befriend us. I would be standing around with a couple of moms who all just met. We'd be doing small talk about our kids etc. I'd go off to get my kid his ball and walk back to the tail end of them setting up a play date together. They are "nice" but not friendly. I am not insecure about money, I promise. My husband noticed the "where do you live?" question and how the conversation would gradually fade soon after he gave the street (well known for its apartments). He thought it was funny. Anyway, OP needs to move to CP.

PP is right, there are a lot of nice parents in CP but also more than a fair share of persnickety racist old people.

They outraised us but our little kids beat their little kids at basketball and Stoddert soccer so...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am so surprised that my post elicited such hostile comments. I was not aware that parental involvement and school administration efficiency were controversial topics. Thank you for the helpful information about 990s and Guidestar. I also appreciate more information about the charter schools. We currently live in Brookland due to family obligations but are open to moving to another DC neighborhood if we do not match in the school lottery. We are definitely a family willing to donate $8k to the school every year and volunteer as necessary.

OP, I think what you are really looking for is a private school.

Having sent kids to both WOTP elementary and private, I can attest that a level of giving that would be considered eye-popping at a public school is considered somewhat stingy at a private.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:spending per student per charter -- philanthropic line includes parent donations, PTA dues etc

http://www.dcfpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/8.5.15-Revenue-and-Spending-Per-Student-TP-Final.pdf

Philanthropic also includes grants. Not useful at all

Well - since the philanthropic line includes grants + parent donations/PTA - it means that parent donations, for instance, will be a subset of the $302 per pupil for MV or $371 for 2 Rivers, or $1,600 for Latin. It is 2014 data, so it's not as up to date as the PTA funds on school sites, but mostly same reporting year as what's on Guidestar for most schools.

But knowing howard middle has $6k (or Maya Angelou $15k) philanthropic does nothing to tell you how much parents donate to PTA.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for the helpful posts about DCPS schools. We live inbound to Burroughs. I did not intend my post to sound elitist or silly, but parental involvement and school administration efficacy are important to my family. While other posters may be constrained by commute or school location, those are not factors for us where we are really focused on enrolling our child in a highly engaged and responsive school. Thank you for the DCPS list to research in more detail. Are there any recommendations for charter schools that fit our criteria?

Why did you buy in Brookland then? And why are you asking about fundraising as a proxy for ses? Most people just look at Farms and at risk rate. Is it because you are trying to avoid the lower middle class that aren't captured in farms or at risk numbers? Then look for white (white in DC are almost all middle and upper middle). On this second measure, you want wotp schools, since even the best charters that have low farms (20% or below) do have a good-sized population of lower middle class. This economic diversity is one of the reasons we chose charter rather than the almost uniformly high ses wotp school we were zoned for. It is one of the reasons we decided to buy in Brookland. Which brings me back to my original question - why are you in Brookland?

you were IB for west of the park school and you chose a charter. You are nuts.

no, we couldn't stay long term - we were crammed into a tiny apartment. Plus my neighbors in CP were not friendly to us (somehow they could smell we weren't rich). Plus I didn't want a traditional school program and had already signed up for a progressive private school when we won the lottery. And I LOVE my friendly, economically mixed brookland neighbors and so glad my kids go to school with all of them (the middle, the upper middle, the lower middle, the at risk)

Yes, I'm sure that's the reason they weren't friendly to you.

Seriously. It was bizarre. Even my husband noticed (and he's not at all sensitive). People are lovely to us in Brookland and don't ask where exactly we live.

Sorry, I don't buy it. I've live in and among middle class, rich and uber rich people. The only people who are sensitive about being perceived as rich are the people who aren't. I've never met a rich person who looked down on a neighbor because they weren't rich. They don't need to be insecure about it-- they are the rich people. More than likely it's because you are actually doing something that offended them.