Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am familiar with Brent and JKLMM schools. I don't think it is laughable to consider them similar. There are differences, mostly related to middle schools, but they both are able to produce well prepared kids. Kids from Brent go on to St Anselm's, Latin, BASIS, Cap Hill Day School and others and they make the honor roll from day one. There are differences in the culture and climate and community surrounding these schools, and some may like one over the other. I'd be interested in hearing the PP's rationale for using such strong language to describe why Brent is not comparable to JKLMM.

Some JKLM types are having trouble dealing with the fact that Brent's demographics and academics will soon be comparable to theirs, right downtown, in the hip zone, despite the problem MS feeder. Maury will struggle a bit to compare, even in 5 years, because its school district has bigger pockets of poverty. The irony is that not only is Brent poised to become a branch of JKLM EotP, it's veering toward WotP crowding.

Not sure if this is the case. PS-3/PK-4 is the best indicator of in-boundary demographics. FARMS numbers for those early classes are effectively 0%. In boundary has been almost completely gentrified.

Anonymous wrote:I am familiar with Brent and JKLMM schools. I don't think it is laughable to consider them similar. There are differences, mostly related to middle schools, but they both are able to produce well prepared kids. Kids from Brent go on to St Anselm's, Latin, BASIS, Cap Hill Day School and others and they make the honor roll from day one. There are differences in the culture and climate and community surrounding these schools, and some may like one over the other. I'd be interested in hearing the PP's rationale for using such strong language to describe why Brent is not comparable to JKLMM.

Some JKLM types are having trouble dealing with the fact that Brent's demographics and academics will soon be comparable to theirs, right downtown, in the hip zone, despite the problem MS feeder. Maury will struggle a bit to compare, even in 5 years, because its school district has bigger pockets of poverty. The irony is that not only is Brent poised to become a branch of JKLM EotP, it's veering toward WotP crowding.

Anonymous wrote:I think the answer is that many parents seek a school with a majority of students with cultural norms that they are comfortable with, because their children---especially as they grow into middle and HS years---will start to look at their peer groups for those norms. For example, I don't want my DD in a school where a number of her peers and the families of her peers are fine with early age out of wedlock pregnancy being the norm. I'm not okay with my DC being in a school where a significant number of peers have family members who may be incarcerated. Similarly, I don't want my DC in an elitist environment either, with peers who have an entitled sense that somehow they enjoy their privileged existence due to the fact that somehow they, or their mom, dad or grandpa, are better than everyone else because they have a larger bank account.

This is amusing. My white middle class kid went to DCPS through 9th grade. As a white middle class kid, she hung out mostly with the middle class kids (mostly white but also including kids of color adopted by white parents) and she also made friends in private schools and at BCC. She didn't hang out with working class and poor black kids. She gravitated to her own group. Later she moved on to a private school and she continued to hang out with the same kinds of people - although she got to know more kids who had a lot more money.

And here's the god's honest truth, people - she got all her drugs and alcohol from her middle and upper income white friends. She was abused by the rich white son of a well-to-do family that donated thousands of dollars to the school. If your family is white and upper middle class in DC, you won't have to worry about your white kids adopting the cultural norms of poor and working class black kids. There are too many divisions between white and black kids in DCPS, even when they go to the same school. You will have to worry about them embracing the cultural norms of their rich white friends.

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how Brent's test scores will compare to the JKLMM test scores this year.

Read the thread on MPG and stop wondering.

I wonder how Brent's test scores will compare to the JKLMM test scores this year.

I am familiar with Brent and JKLMM schools. I don't think it is laughable to consider them similar. There are differences, mostly related to middle schools, but they both are able to produce well prepared kids. Kids from Brent go on to St Anselm's, Latin, BASIS, Cap Hill Day School and others and they make the honor roll from day one. There are differences in the culture and climate and community surrounding these schools, and some may like one over the other. I'd be interested in hearing the PP's rationale for using such strong language to describe why Brent is not comparable to JKLMM.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the answer is that many parents seek a school with a majority of students with cultural norms that they are comfortable with, because their children---especially as they grow into middle and HS years---will start to look at their peer groups for those norms. For example, I don't want my DD in a school where a number of her peers and the families of her peers are fine with early age out of wedlock pregnancy being the norm. I'm not okay with my DC being in a school where a significant number of peers have family members who may be incarcerated. Similarly, I don't want my DC in an elitist environment either, with peers who have an entitled sense that somehow they enjoy their privileged existence due to the fact that somehow they, or their mom, dad or grandpa, are better than everyone else because they have a larger bank account.

Let's see: in DCPS, that means the WotP elementaries, Brent, Deal, and Wilson

in DCPCS, that means LAMB, Yu Ying, Mundo Verde, DCI?, Two Rivers, Latin, and IT?

Agree with this.

I was the poster who pointed out that Brent is not WOTP. It's not. It also isn't really comparable to the much talked about JKLM schools. The idea that it might be is laughable. I had no idea that the poster was trying to suggest that Brent is comparable to WOTP elementary schools and also the only DCPS school that would meet that standard. The language was ambiguous and now that I understand its true meaning it's laughable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brent is not WOTP. It is on Capitol Hill.

Anonymous wrote:Brent is not WOTP. It is on Capitol Hill.

WoTP elementaries AND Brent AND Deal AND Wilson. Try to keep up.

This is pretty ironic given that you think Maury (and presumably all other DCPS ES' other than brent and WOTP) is low-SES.

"Try to keep up" indeed.

Actually, I was not the PP, just another person who hates the nitpickers who clutter up every discussion with picayune details when they're not reading carefully.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brent is not WOTP. It is on Capitol Hill.

Anonymous wrote:Brent is not WOTP. It is on Capitol Hill.

WoTP elementaries AND Brent AND Deal AND Wilson. Try to keep up.

This is pretty ironic given that you think Maury (and presumably all other DCPS ES' other than brent and WOTP) is low-SES.

"Try to keep up" indeed.

Anonymous wrote:Brent is not WOTP. It is on Capitol Hill.

Anonymous wrote:Brent is not WOTP. It is on Capitol Hill.

WoTP elementaries AND Brent AND Deal AND Wilson. Try to keep up.

Brent is not WOTP. It is on Capitol Hill.

Anonymous wrote:I think the answer is that many parents seek a school with a majority of students with cultural norms that they are comfortable with, because their children---especially as they grow into middle and HS years---will start to look at their peer groups for those norms. For example, I don't want my DD in a school where a number of her peers and the families of her peers are fine with early age out of wedlock pregnancy being the norm. I'm not okay with my DC being in a school where a significant number of peers have family members who may be incarcerated. Similarly, I don't want my DC in an elitist environment either, with peers who have an entitled sense that somehow they enjoy their privileged existence due to the fact that somehow they, or their mom, dad or grandpa, are better than everyone else because they have a larger bank account.

Let's see: in DCPS, that means the WotP elementaries, Brent, Deal, and Wilson

in DCPCS, that means LAMB, Yu Ying, Mundo Verde, DCI?, Two Rivers, Latin, and IT?

Anonymous wrote:I think the answer is that many parents seek a school with a majority of students with cultural norms that they are comfortable with, because their children---especially as they grow into middle and HS years---will start to look at their peer groups for those norms. For example, I don't want my DD in a school where a number of her peers and the families of her peers are fine with early age out of wedlock pregnancy being the norm. I'm not okay with my DC being in a school where a significant number of peers have family members who may be incarcerated. Similarly, I don't want my DC in an elitist environment either, with peers who have an entitled sense that somehow they enjoy their privileged existence due to the fact that somehow they, or their mom, dad or grandpa, are better than everyone else because they have a larger bank account.

+1. Agree. There's finally a happy medium in the city at up and coming DCPS schools like Maury and Brent. I doubt that we'll find it at the MS and HS level, but at least Maury will give us a leg up in the city for our little children.

15.21, no, wouldn't want my kids at a high-performing mostly low-SES school. I went to that sort of school, as an Asian immigrant kid, and it's not our version of the American dream. I think that you almost have to be a white liberal to think in terms of test scores being more important than cultural norms, to put "diversity" on a par with academics. 2nd generation immigrants like us simply want strong academics, extra-curriculars and facilities, with enough nice and hard-working kids in the mix in the upper grades to make it a pleasant enough place. If the kids are mostly "rich" and white, so be it. Our children will survive.

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The real question for Maury remains whether its scores will ever climb to the levels met by better performing schools.[/quote]

Nah, that's not the real question. The real question is how many high-SES families will stick around in the upper grades in years to come. When droves of high-SES families stick around, the scores invariably shoot up to the point where they're no longer worth discussing. e.g. Lafayette with 90%+ scoring proficient and around half scoring advanced.

[/quote]

It depends on how to define high SES. Some would define my SES as high, others would call it "decidedly middle class" -- at least according to two women at the Foxhall Starbucks two years ago. Nonetheless, in a city demanding school choice, I take my children's high scores to schools where others score high as well. After all, I want them to follow mommy into law school. Right now, Maury just doesn't cut it. Who knows? Maybe Maury's scores will rise, but I'm not waiting. They're only little once.