Bruce Monroe @ Park View. I don't live in Petworth, we are OOB and chose this school over many others.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just FYI for those saying "why not just buy in Glover Park" - you haven't bought recently. There are no 3 bedroom condos in Glover Park (or really, EOTP period that doesn't need extensive renovation costing 100k +) that are under 750K, except for a handful that have HOA fees of over $800/month. There are plenty of renovated condos, and a number of rowhomes that don't need more than 30-40K of renovation, in Petworth for under 750K.

You can't buy a split/converted to condo bay-front rowhouse in Bloomingdale for less than $575K, and that's for the lower half. The top two floors will easily be $800K.

Nobody buys boutique housing at these prices and expects to also raise children in that space.

WotP might as well be the suburbs. It's boring. It's over. It's too far from downtown. It's Rockthesda. Why pay to live in DC if you can't actually get there without a car?

Why are we talking about Bloomingdale? Did you mean Petworth?

I live EOTP but I think it's pretty obvious why people would pay slightly more to live WOTP. In Petworth there have been a rash of shootings (including on the street in front of the nice new Safeway) and although there are lot of families, it is not a place where kids play in the streets, as you do actually see WOTP, where you don't see drug dealers on the streets (as you do in Petworth).

The idea of all the new families getting their kids into charters (as if the charters are all great - most are mediocre) is not going to happen, as the numbers have become very difficult. So people are going to try as hard as they can to make the local schools work, but whether they'll work more than a few years is anyone's guess.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We cross the park every day and it's not brutal. It's not a north/south commute...it's east/west, which is much easier. If it won't work for your family then don't try to lottery for spots at schools across the park. We're very happy with our school and made peace with the commute years ago.

Porter Street is a horrible E-W route. Klingle Road is never coming back.

I take Arkansas down into the park and then up Porter every single morning. We have different definitions of "horrible." I accepted years ago that going from the top of Arkansas down to the stop sign will take between 5 and 11 minutes each day. During that time my children and I get to listen to awesome music and talk. It's all perspective.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:look, OP, diverse neighborhood is what a lot of DC white people say when they mean they want a DCPS/charter/neighborhood/etc., that has demographics that doesn't match DC or DCPS. east of Rock Creek Park, i.e., strongly majority black. I know you may be new to DC, but effectively the only way to not put your white/Asian/high-SES child into a school where they are in the 4/8/10 percent that are of similar status is to live on the other side of the segregation divide.

So saying you don't want to be a significant minority is a crutch many use to say they don't want to integrate DC.

So please, evaluate your biases and live according to your values.

In most of the United States, a white family that wants to send their kid to a school that is 50% african american, or even 70% african american, but is not 99% african american, would be accepted as having pro-integratioin values. I am not saying that is right, but just wanted to bring in that reality check.

The point is, you cannot customize a boutique diversity experience the same way you pick the backsplash for your kitchen. I'm sure most gentrifier parents would be happy if little Atticus were at a school that was diverse, but not too diverse -- say 30% high SES AA, plus a few Hispanics because "languages are so important", and a generous smattering of model minority Asians. It just doesn't work that way -- people of color are not here to give your child a "diverse" experience according to your demands.

True. But a thugs in the 'hood experience doesn't work for most people, either.

Anonymous wrote:We cross the park every day and it's not brutal. It's not a north/south commute...it's east/west, which is much easier. If it won't work for your family then don't try to lottery for spots at schools across the park. We're very happy with our school and made peace with the commute years ago.

Porter Street is a horrible E-W route. Klingle Road is never coming back.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC and DCPS east of Rock Creek Park = strongly majority black.

Brent Elementary School in Southeast DC is 65% white and 19% black.

OK, let me clarify. East of Rock Creek Park everywhere not among the gazillion dollar houses on Capitol Hill.

We cross the park every day and it's not brutal. It's not a north/south commute...it's east/west, which is much easier. If it won't work for your family then don't try to lottery for spots at schools across the park. We're very happy with our school and made peace with the commute years ago.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tons at Hearst. As others have pointed out, you could also just buy IB for Hearst (or somewhere else) for the money you will likely spend for Petworth. But it is also completely understandable if you want to live in Petworth, and a little more uncertainty (or none if you just go IB!)about where your kids go to school.

Ugh - that drive across the park is brutal in rush hour. Do a lot of people really do it?

I don't know if a lot of people do it, but a substantial number of Hearst families do (Hearst is a relatively small school). I do it myself, really don't like traffic, and I wouldn't call crossing the park "brutal". But I agree that it is not fun. I would say that downtown traffic is way worse.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:look, OP, diverse neighborhood is what a lot of DC white people say when they mean they want a DCPS/charter/neighborhood/etc., that has demographics that doesn't match DC or DCPS. east of Rock Creek Park, i.e., strongly majority black. I know you may be new to DC, but effectively the only way to not put your white/Asian/high-SES child into a school where they are in the 4/8/10 percent that are of similar status is to live on the other side of the segregation divide.

So saying you don't want to be a significant minority is a crutch many use to say they don't want to integrate DC.

So please, evaluate your biases and live according to your values.

Where did the OP say the bolded?

Come on, it is clearly implied. The OP asked why there were so few white kids and so many poor kids. SO CLUELESS.

But Petworth has a higher white percentage than most of EOTP DC, and a higher percentage of families than most of the whiter parts of EOTP DC, so it actually is an interesting question where those kids are going. As note above - many of them are going to charters or going OOB to WOTP schools - IE exactly the same choices many african americans who live EOTP are making.

Charters. They're going to charters.

Anonymous wrote:

Well, the insulting thing about how the OP framed the question is that "people" = WHITE PEOPLE. Where do "people" send their kids in Petworth means "where do white people in Petworth send their kids."

Is this what you're quoting?

Obviously every family has to also try and do the best for their children and so I wanted to know what other people were doing.

I've seen other places where people implied exactly what you're getting at (e.g., "people don't stay past K") but I don't read that in this poster's question. I think you're overreacting.

Anonymous wrote:Tons at Hearst. As others have pointed out, you could also just buy IB for Hearst (or somewhere else) for the money you will likely spend for Petworth. But it is also completely understandable if you want to live in Petworth, and a little more uncertainty (or none if you just go IB!)about where your kids go to school.

Ugh - that drive across the park is brutal in rush hour. Do a lot of people really do it?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:look, OP, diverse neighborhood is what a lot of DC white people say when they mean they want a DCPS/charter/neighborhood/etc., that has demographics that doesn't match DC or DCPS. east of Rock Creek Park, i.e., strongly majority black. I know you may be new to DC, but effectively the only way to not put your white/Asian/high-SES child into a school where they are in the 4/8/10 percent that are of similar status is to live on the other side of the segregation divide.

So saying you don't want to be a significant minority is a crutch many use to say they don't want to integrate DC.

So please, evaluate your biases and live according to your values.

In most of the United States, a white family that wants to send their kid to a school that is 50% african american, or even 70% african american, but is not 99% african american, would be accepted as having pro-integratioin values. I am not saying that is right, but just wanted to bring in that reality check.

The point is, you cannot customize a boutique diversity experience the same way you pick the backsplash for your kitchen. I'm sure most gentrifier parents would be happy if little Atticus were at a school that was diverse, but not too diverse -- say 30% high SES AA, plus a few Hispanics because "languages are so important", and a generous smattering of model minority Asians. It just doesn't work that way -- people of color are not here to give your child a "diverse" experience according to your demands.

You are reading an awful lot into a simple question. The OP only asked why the demographics of the schools don't match the demographics of the neighborhood. That mismatch is not because she doesn't want to send her kids there (she hasn't commented either way in that regard), but because most existing white and high-SES residents haven't sent their kids there. Your argument should be with those current residents, not prospective new ones.

Another thing, you can't force people to like a school. Your attitude appears to be: "the demographics of these schools are what they are and if you don't like it, you are a racist". Nobody is going to react positively to that message. I would think a better approach might be to suggest that the demographics don't tell the entire story and it is important to look beyond the numbers. The schools may or may not work for everyone, but simple numbers shouldn't make that determination.

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who says "poors" doesn't belong in an urban city such as DC. Move to Bethesda.

The OP didn't say "poors". You guys are being a little harsh. The OP wrote:

"Looking at the demographics for Powell or Barnard there seems to be a very high number of poorer kids and few Caucasians."

According to profiles.dcps.gov, the white kids are 3% of Powell's student body and 2% of Barnard's. Both schools are 99% FARMS. So, that is simply a factually-correct observation.

There is significant buy-in to both schools among new residents, including significant "rolling of sleeves". While things can't change overnight, the trajectory in terms of test scores and overall performance is very good. Powell's Principal was just selected as Principal of the Year. The limiting factor now is not the elementary schools, but middle school and that is where efforts are now being placed.

A bit of a spin-off, but I've been wondering what 99% FARMS really means, since schools, once they reach a certain percentage, can apply and give free meals to everyone, regardless of income. Is the 99% just a proxy, since the schools no longer have to verify?

I used to think that was the case. But just looked at my kids school (they do free lunch for everyone this year), and they're only listed as 62% free and reduced price lunch.

Anybody remember the URL for that web site that shows which parts of the city a school's population comes from? Not sure but it may also show where kids from Petworth go...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:look, OP, diverse neighborhood is what a lot of DC white people say when they mean they want a DCPS/charter/neighborhood/etc., that has demographics that doesn't match DC or DCPS. east of Rock Creek Park, i.e., strongly majority black. I know you may be new to DC, but effectively the only way to not put your white/Asian/high-SES child into a school where they are in the 4/8/10 percent that are of similar status is to live on the other side of the segregation divide.

So saying you don't want to be a significant minority is a crutch many use to say they don't want to integrate DC.

So please, evaluate your biases and live according to your values.

Where did the OP say the bolded?

Come on, it is clearly implied. The OP asked why there were so few white kids and so many poor kids. SO CLUELESS.

But Petworth has a higher white percentage than most of EOTP DC, and a higher percentage of families than most of the whiter parts of EOTP DC, so it actually is an interesting question where those kids are going. As note above - many of them are going to charters or going OOB to WOTP schools - IE exactly the same choices many african americans who live EOTP are making.

Well, the insulting thing about how the OP framed the question is that "people" = WHITE PEOPLE. Where do "people" send their kids in Petworth means "where do white people in Petworth send their kids."