Anonymous
09/09/2025 21:15
Subject: Should DCPS add or shutdown any schools?
DCPS needs to shutdown CHML (Montessori can stay for ECE) but use that beautiful space for 1-8th in an actual academic way. It is completed wasted right now on abysmal learning and beyond subpar behavior management.
Anonymous
09/09/2025 20:21
Subject: Should DCPS add or shutdown any schools?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Selfishly, an application middle school on/near Capitol Hill.
I’m curious what it should focus on. Languages? Pre-IB? A real test in IB school with a real tough IB program is missing in DC, but isn’t exactly a pressing need (DCI is great! IB for all is not the best)
Clearly not languages. DCI already exists. Most Hill kids are not coming from immersion/language programs and, if they are, have DCI as an option already (Chisholm being the sole exception). IB would be good; you can do IB without immersion, so DCI in its current form is not really the same thing as IB. (If parents ruled out immersion or didn't get into immersion when their kid was 4-5, it definitely doesn't mean they wouldn't like IB.) Or just... an application school for smart kids. People don't really like Walls or Banneker because of their specific focus (although I understand they technically have them), they like those schools because they have a large cohort of smart kids and few disruptive kids. I want that.
I'm the OP of application middle on the Hill, and I agree not a language immersion school. Because, again, selfishly, that's not the route we took for our DC--our family is decently conversational in a European language that isn't French or Spanish, nor did we have interest in having DC pursue Chinese.
I just really want a traditional school with high standards and high expectations. So leaning more IB-style. I know a kid like mine (white, middle class, two college-educated parents) will be fine in almost any school, but I want more than fine.
Anonymous
09/09/2025 18:27
Subject: Re:Should DCPS add or shutdown any schools?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:There's a number of DCPS schools where *one* percent of kids are working at grade level....
Where are you getting this data? There are no DCPS or charter schools with only 1% or less of kids working at grade level in ELA. In math, there is one DCPS school (Ballou) and two alternative charter schools.
The city has poured a quarter billion dollars into Roosevelt High School. It's still a joke.
Anonymous
09/09/2025 18:16
Subject: Should DCPS add or shutdown any schools?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:They should take 50% empty space at brookland middle and make it a true test in gifted program for middle schoolers
Another option would be to make a Montessori program there. Have chml, nalle, and Langdon all have programmatic feeder rights, and then open it up in the lottery for others. It would fill BMS and allow chml to be pk-5, which would create more ECE spaces in a pretty central location (union station and many buses nearby) where some nearby schools can't fit all ib pk kids.
I don’t understand the support for Montessori past ECE. The results elsewhere are terrible, the results in DC aren’t good either.
I agree that DC can't implement Montessori well. But they seem committed to having it so might as well fill BMS and have more ECE spaces on capitol hill.
Anonymous
09/09/2025 18:03
Subject: Re:Should DCPS add or shutdown any schools?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:There's a number of DCPS schools where *one* percent of kids are working at grade level....
Where are you getting this data? There are no DCPS or charter schools with only 1% or less of kids working at grade level in ELA. In math, there is one DCPS school (Ballou) and two alternative charter schools.
https://www.empowerk12.org/dc-report-card-metrics-dashboard
Anonymous
09/09/2025 16:28
Subject: Should DCPS add or shutdown any schools?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Selfishly, an application middle school on/near Capitol Hill.
I’m curious what it should focus on. Languages? Pre-IB? A real test in IB school with a real tough IB program is missing in DC, but isn’t exactly a pressing need (DCI is great! IB for all is not the best)
Clearly not languages. DCI already exists. Most Hill kids are not coming from immersion/language programs and, if they are, have DCI as an option already (Chisholm being the sole exception). IB would be good; you can do IB without immersion, so DCI in its current form is not really the same thing as IB. (If parents ruled out immersion or didn't get into immersion when their kid was 4-5, it definitely doesn't mean they wouldn't like IB.) Or just... an application school for smart kids. People don't really like Walls or Banneker because of their specific focus (although I understand they technically have them), they like those schools because they have a large cohort of smart kids and few disruptive kids. I want that.
Anonymous
09/09/2025 16:18
Subject: Re:Should DCPS add or shutdown any schools?
Anonymous wrote:There's a number of DCPS schools where *one* percent of kids are working at grade level....
Where are you getting this data? There are no DCPS or charter schools with only 1% or less of kids working at grade level in ELA. In math, there is one DCPS school (Ballou) and two alternative charter schools.
Anonymous
09/09/2025 16:17
Subject: Should DCPS add or shutdown any schools?
Montessori is absolutely great for preK only.
Anonymous
09/09/2025 16:16
Subject: Should DCPS add or shutdown any schools?
Anonymous wrote:Selfishly, an application middle school on/near Capitol Hill.
I’m curious what it should focus on. Languages? Pre-IB? A real test in IB school with a real tough IB program is missing in DC, but isn’t exactly a pressing need (DCI is great! IB for all is not the best)
Anonymous
09/09/2025 16:14
Subject: Should DCPS add or shutdown any schools?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:All of this assumes growth will continue despite declining birth rates and federal meddling in the city.
I don’t think growth will continue; in addition to declining birth rates, a lot of DC growth recently has been driven by international migration in, and that’s also probably not continuing.
That said, I think a lot of the coming collapse will be in the charter sector, so it’s possible DCPS locations will see at least a blip of growth when those kids move school.
Unless the federal government tries to artificially prop up charters. Which it's trying to.
How? How would it work for the federal government to prop up charters? Most of the charters in trouble have academic issues under PCSB academic measures. I don't see how the federal government could stop PCSB sanctions for poorly performing schools (assuming the PCSB will even have sanctions for poor performance). On finances, there hasn't been an influx of federal support for DC charters -- at least not yet. IMO, the PCSB will have much more say than the federal government on whether struggling charters close or not.
Anonymous
09/09/2025 16:09
Subject: Re:Should DCPS add or shutdown any schools?
There's a number of DCPS schools where *one* percent of kids are working at grade level....
Anonymous
09/09/2025 15:11
Subject: Should DCPS add or shutdown any schools?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:They should take 50% empty space at brookland middle and make it a true test in gifted program for middle schoolers
Another option would be to make a Montessori program there. Have chml, nalle, and Langdon all have programmatic feeder rights, and then open it up in the lottery for others. It would fill BMS and allow chml to be pk-5, which would create more ECE spaces in a pretty central location (union station and many buses nearby) where some nearby schools can't fit all ib pk kids.
I don’t understand the support for Montessori past ECE. The results elsewhere are terrible, the results in DC aren’t good either.
100% agree. Montessori is great for the primary grades but absolutely terrible for anything above 3rd grade.
“Absolutely terrible”? Based on what data/references? You seem to be making grand and generalized conclusions. What do you know about the Montessori pedagogy?
And pls. Do not refer to CHML as an example; the issues at that school have been addressed and they are not necessarily Montessori-related.
There has been a persistent anti-Montessori-Karen on this forum with zero understanding of what the pedagogy actually entails.
Im a lamb parent. Very few parents are happy beyond 3rd. I understand that it’s allegedly better for social and emotional skills. I loved lamb for my kids in their younger years, but as they got older it seemed clear that the follow the child philosophy really left a lot of gaps. This became a serous problem when we hit middle school. I still have kids at lamb and definitely love some of the great teachers there, but no, it really fails to impress beyond the lower elementary years.
Anonymous
09/09/2025 13:20
Subject: Should DCPS add or shutdown any schools?
Selfishly, an application middle school on/near Capitol Hill.
Anonymous
09/09/2025 13:03
Subject: Should DCPS add or shutdown any schools?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Montessori in DC isn't showing superior results to traditional schools. At the elementary level, CHML and the charter Montessori schools all fall well short of DCPS schools with similar demographics. Other districts that also have public Montessori aren't showing superior results, either. If anything, they show below-average results when compared to their peer traditional schools with similar demographic profiles.
The tanks were probably justified when they sent them to Reggio huh
Montessori schools barely use computers in the classroom because they're montessoris, which means the kids are terrible at typing, which means if you give them a test on a computer they will probably do badly because it takes them forever and a day to find each key on the keyboard. If you ask them to write sentences on a computer, forget it...
Montessori can never fail the people. The people can only fail Montessori
Of course you'd be so sympathetic if somehow the issue involved poor people not being able to afford computers and therefore being bad at using them.
Anonymous
09/09/2025 12:54
Subject: Should DCPS add or shutdown any schools?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Montessori in DC isn't showing superior results to traditional schools. At the elementary level, CHML and the charter Montessori schools all fall well short of DCPS schools with similar demographics. Other districts that also have public Montessori aren't showing superior results, either. If anything, they show below-average results when compared to their peer traditional schools with similar demographic profiles.
Montessori schools barely use computers in the classroom because they're montessoris, which means the kids are terrible at typing, which means if you give them a test on a computer they will probably do badly because it takes them forever and a day to find each key on the keyboard. If you ask them to write sentences on a computer, forget it...
Montessori can never fail the people. The people can only fail Montessori
Of course you'd be so sympathetic if somehow the issue involved poor people not being able to afford computers and therefore being bad at using them.