Anonymous
Post 05/07/2013 10:51     Subject: Anyone NOT taking their SWS PK spot?
And just to follow on, the PP's continual harping on how great Brent is going to be once all the poor people are gone is offensive, and not really a convincing argument for neighborhood proximity for SWS, which is where this all started.
Anonymous
Post 05/07/2013 10:24     Subject: Re:Anyone NOT taking their SWS PK spot?
Anonymous wrote:


good point. we're an SWS familiy that also looked at 2R (from the wrong end of the waitlist) and concluded it was one of the better public options EotP even if it was never in play for us. It was equally out of reach as Brent for early elementary.


Not actually a good point as 2 Rivers is mostly lower-middle-class and AA all the way up. They certainly do a good job with the demographic they have to work with, and prep they kids like crazy for the DC-CAS so most score proficient. But don't kid yourself that the 2 Rivers kids will continue to outscore Brent once the latter is overwhelmingly high-SES, in several years. 2 Rivers had been no more than one-third high-SES from the get go, in 2002. Moreover, granola crunchy 2 Rivers doesn't differentiate much as a matter of policy. You don't have to look too hard on the Hill to find parents of advanced learners who bailed somewhere between K and 5th.



Not to be rude, but why do you feel the need to post information that is just flatly incorrect? TR does basically no test prep - it's really antithetical to the school's model. And the school is NOT "mostly lower-middle-class and AA all the way up." The demographics up to the 5th grade are roughly 40% high-SES, 30% middle class (by which I mean teachers and policemen and civil servants), and 30% FARMS. The elementary school is just a smidge over 50% African-American, but the lower classes are mostly minority-majority. I really don't understand why you have to tear down a school to make your point. But then, you don't really seem to have a point except to spread misinformation. Which just makes you sound racist, and like you need to rely on false information to convince yourself and others how great Brent is.
Anonymous
Post 05/06/2013 22:56     Subject: Re:Anyone NOT taking their SWS PK spot?


good point. we're an SWS familiy that also looked at 2R (from the wrong end of the waitlist) and concluded it was one of the better public options EotP even if it was never in play for us. It was equally out of reach as Brent for early elementary.


Not actually a good point as 2 Rivers is mostly lower-middle-class and AA all the way up. They certainly do a good job with the demographic they have to work with, and prep they kids like crazy for the DC-CAS so most score proficient. But don't kid yourself that the 2 Rivers kids will continue to outscore Brent once the latter is overwhelmingly high-SES, in several years. 2 Rivers had been no more than one-third high-SES from the get go, in 2002. Moreover, granola crunchy 2 Rivers doesn't differentiate much as a matter of policy. You don't have to look too hard on the Hill to find parents of advanced learners who bailed somewhere between K and 5th.





Anonymous
Post 05/06/2013 22:12     Subject: Anyone NOT taking their SWS PK spot?
I disagree, respectfully, and I have contacted Wells and the Chancellor's office to say so. It will be interesting to see what happens.
Anonymous
Post 05/06/2013 21:59     Subject: Re:Anyone NOT taking their SWS PK spot?
I think proximity preference would be good for the community and good for SWS and really neutral for the rest of the city who never had a real preference there in the first place. I suggest that people who would like to see that happen contact Tommy Wells' office.
Anonymous
Post 05/06/2013 17:18     Subject: Re:Anyone NOT taking their SWS PK spot?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:^ Be careful what you wish for if "diversity" means more low-SES kids who struggle, fewer involved parents, and a PTA that can't raise nearly as much as those at Maury and Brent (six figures). I still expect a city-wide lottery to deliver a lesser product than a neighborhood school would've (explaining why we turned down 2 Rivers). Many of those cool construction toys were paid for by IB Cluster parents.

We've lost a good many neighbors in the Brent District over the years, mostly parents worried about what would happen in grades 3-5. They might have stayed for the advanced math Principal Young is arranging for the fall, and all the resources the school has now, from Chinese instruction to a dozen smart boards, to big plasma TVs in almost every classroom, to a stronger teaching staff every year.



Ummm, picking up on the prior posting, Two Rivers Elementary actually outscores Brent, so it's a little hard to figure out what you're talking about. And if you omit both 5th grades from the comparison, the Two Rivers scores are even higher than Brent's, as their 5th grade scores drop as a significant number of strong students leave for Latin and get replaced by new students. Do your homework before you start pontificating. There are definitely challenges to a citywide pull, but it's just racist and class-ist to claim that you need a neighborhood preference for Capitol Hill to have a successful, high-testing school.


good point. we're an SWS familiy that also looked at 2R (from the wrong end of the waitlist) and concluded it was one of the better public options EotP even if it was never in play for us. It was equally out of reach as Brent for early elementary.
Anonymous
Post 05/06/2013 17:08     Subject: Re:Anyone NOT taking their SWS PK spot?
Anonymous wrote:^ Be careful what you wish for if "diversity" means more low-SES kids who struggle, fewer involved parents, and a PTA that can't raise nearly as much as those at Maury and Brent (six figures). I still expect a city-wide lottery to deliver a lesser product than a neighborhood school would've (explaining why we turned down 2 Rivers). Many of those cool construction toys were paid for by IB Cluster parents.

We've lost a good many neighbors in the Brent District over the years, mostly parents worried about what would happen in grades 3-5. They might have stayed for the advanced math Principal Young is arranging for the fall, and all the resources the school has now, from Chinese instruction to a dozen smart boards, to big plasma TVs in almost every classroom, to a stronger teaching staff every year.



Ummm, picking up on the prior posting, Two Rivers Elementary actually outscores Brent, so it's a little hard to figure out what you're talking about. And if you omit both 5th grades from the comparison, the Two Rivers scores are even higher than Brent's, as their 5th grade scores drop as a significant number of strong students leave for Latin and get replaced by new students. Do your homework before you start pontificating. There are definitely challenges to a citywide pull, but it's just racist and class-ist to claim that you need a neighborhood preference for Capitol Hill to have a successful, high-testing school.
Anonymous
Post 05/06/2013 16:55     Subject: Re:Anyone NOT taking their SWS PK spot?
Anonymous wrote:^ Be careful what you wish for if "diversity" means more low-SES kids who struggle, fewer involved parents, and a PTA that can't raise nearly as much as those at Maury and Brent (six figures). I still expect a city-wide lottery to deliver a lesser product than a neighborhood school would've (explaining why we turned down 2 Rivers). Many of those cool construction toys were paid for by IB Cluster parents.

We've lost a good many neighbors in the Brent District over the years, mostly parents worried about what would happen in grades 3-5. They might have stayed for the advanced math Principal Young is arranging for the fall, and all the resources the school has now, from Chinese instruction to a dozen smart boards, to big plasma TVs in almost every classroom, to a stronger teaching staff every year.



SWS already raises in six figures with 3 grades