It is confusing because many posters are discussing their "high income" status and complaining about low income children bringing LT down yet they need to be in a Head Start program because both parents must work full time?

Pp some parents need the income so they don't have a choice. That was the case for us--we work in nonprofits and this is an expensive area. So the choice was between daycare and public preschool, not parental care vs public preschool. And public preschool was a wonderful experience (not at L-T) and my kid loved aftercare so much it was hard to drag him put of there. Of course he loves us too...we are still raising him!

My question is why are three year olds going to all day preschool (and it looks like some even do aftercare)? That seems really inappropriate for a child that young. My child is two and I am enjoying raising him and do not plan to trade in parental care for DCPS care until kindergarten.

Good for you, not to be seduced from the get go. We were when we bought IB pre kids. A draining charter commute is prompting us to consider moving again.

Anonymous wrote:So where do in-bounds Ludlow Taylor families plan to send their kids to school? I know a few who lotteried into SWS, Maury and Brent when such a thing was possible, but those ships have sailed.

Do the parents of toddlers plan to try for other Hill schools? What are the acceptable options on the Hill? Or are you going to move to a different school zone? Try for a charter and accept a big commute?

Honestly, if Ludlow Taylor is the only option for our son we will either move to NW or send him to a private school. I haven't heard anything from "real" (ones I know in real life) parents that make me want to send my little guy there.

Elementary schools should not have adult basketball set-ups. They are useless to many of the younger kids, and they attract the wrong element on playgrounds.

neighborhoods need basketball courts, but they should be in places more appropriate for big kids and adults.

^We actually picked up half-used joint wrappers yesterday, from under black rope netting in the big kids playground. I'm inclined to take the issue up with somebody at the school, or even the cops. With the big news being the start of the renovation, maybe they're waiting to clean up the playground until after they're done. I don't know if the main play area will be improved - the rubbery surface has growing bald patches, adding to the nobody-gives-a-damn look.

One reason we turned down an OOB spot at Payne's (good) preschool was because the playground was also filthy, at least on the day we went to an open house. Both schools have big dumpters not far from the jungle gyms, unlike Brent, Maury, SWS, Logan, etc.

Anonymous wrote:You do realize Ludlow is gearing up for a huge renovation this summer. I'd prefer weeds to weed killer being sprayed. Ludlow also has a huge playground and every time I walk past on the weekends there are adults with children that could be the potential litterers. (they have bottles, food wrappers, things ESS's don't have). You cannot blame everything in OoB parents.

I spend time at LT on the baseball field and I see a lot of adults using foul language and smoking pot using the basketball court and sitting on the concrete walls

You do realize Ludlow is gearing up for a huge renovation this summer. I'd prefer weeds to weed killer being sprayed. Ludlow also has a huge playground and every time I walk past on the weekends there are adults with children that could be the potential litterers. (they have bottles, food wrappers, things ESS's don't have). You cannot blame everything in OoB parents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've stopped using the playgrounds at L-T occasionally because their maintenance has been going downhill- trash, pebbles and weeds build up in and around them (go look). Sometimes we schlep to Maury, where the play area is much cleaner. If the L-T teaching staff is so good, why the grossness, year round? And boosters wonder why IB parents avoid the school. At least DCPS has started painting outside.

So now teaching staff is expected to clean up the playground? What about the janitors? and what about the principal who oversees the maintenance staff? And what about DCPS central office having "high expectations" in this area.

Others here have complained about the principal being unfriendly to IB parents. Perhaps a messy playground is just another way of saying "we don't want you here" that DCPS is encouraging.

Is is exactly the problem when you have a school with a large OOB student body and a disfunctional PTA -- the only people who would see/use the playground outside of school hours are those who live within walking distance. Watkins has had this same problem on and off over the years. Peabody always has a nice-looking playground, as do Maury and Brent. SWS made a lot happen in a short time in a bad space. You can tell a lot about the school by the state of the playground. It's not that OOB parents don't care, it's that they aren't around to see this and then care.

Anonymous wrote:So where do in-bounds Ludlow Taylor families plan to send their kids to school? I know a few who lotteried into SWS, Maury and Brent when such a thing was possible, but those ships have sailed.

Do the parents of toddlers plan to try for other Hill schools? What are the acceptable options on the Hill? Or are you going to move to a different school zone? Try for a charter and accept a big commute?

Middle-class IB parents of toddlers do their damndest to find an out for a solid K-5 option. They start by applying to up to a dozen charters for preschool, plus the 6 ranked choices DCPS permits per year.

If they strike out everywhere but L-T for preschool (maybe in half the cases), they stay IB for a year and try again. Repeat in PreK if necessary. Repeat in K if necessary.

By first grade, every neighborhood parent seems to have found a slot they're willing to take. Two Rivers, Logan Montessori, Peabody/Watkins (proximity preference given to IB L-T families), Tyler Spanish Immersion, SWS and Yu Ying seem to be the top choices. Maury and Brent no longer have OOB spots for PreS3, PreK4 and K, and very few spots before 4th or 5th.

Anonymous wrote:

So now teaching staff is expected to clean up the playground? What about the janitors? and what about the principal who oversees the maintenance staff? And what about DCPS central office having "high expectations" in this area.

Others here have complained about the principal being unfriendly to IB parents. Perhaps a messy playground is just another way of saying "we don't want you here" that DCPS is encouraging.

High-performing schools have tidy grounds. Some combination of stakeholders--admins, PTAs, parents, recess monitors, janitors/maintenance people and educators--ensure that this is true. Something is rotten in the state of L-T.

So where do in-bounds Ludlow Taylor families plan to send their kids to school? I know a few who lotteried into SWS, Maury and Brent when such a thing was possible, but those ships have sailed.

Do the parents of toddlers plan to try for other Hill schools? What are the acceptable options on the Hill? Or are you going to move to a different school zone? Try for a charter and accept a big commute?

Anonymous wrote:We've stopped using the playgrounds at L-T occasionally because their maintenance has been going downhill- trash, pebbles and weeds build up in and around them (go look). Sometimes we schlep to Maury, where the play area is much cleaner. If the L-T teaching staff is so good, why the grossness, year round? And boosters wonder why IB parents avoid the school. At least DCPS has started painting outside.

So now teaching staff is expected to clean up the playground? What about the janitors? and what about the principal who oversees the maintenance staff? And what about DCPS central office having "high expectations" in this area.

Others here have complained about the principal being unfriendly to IB parents. Perhaps a messy playground is just another way of saying "we don't want you here" that DCPS is encouraging.

We've stopped using the playgrounds at L-T occasionally because their maintenance has been going downhill- trash, pebbles and weeds build up in and around them (go look). Sometimes we schlep to Maury, where the play area is much cleaner. If the L-T teaching staff is so good, why the grossness, year round? And boosters wonder why IB parents avoid the school. At least DCPS has started painting outside.