Anonymous
08/06/2014 20:01
Subject: EOTP Parents “ we will bail after k or 1st grade”
I stopped reading a few pages in...
We live in Alexandria City and our schools face similar issues.
I will break it to you now - nothing that was mentioned here that parents do or intend to do, fix the schools. Parental involvement matters most for your own child and being involved directly with your own child's education.
Having enrichment activities, having PTA events, etc - those are nice, they help parents get to know each other, they are good marketing for hooking other upper middle class parents -but they make no impact on the actual education. You can not have them and the education doesn't get better or worse.
Good principals matter for sure. It makes the experience of dealing with them better for you as a parent. They are constrained also by curriculum as dictated and hiring teachers - sometimes having to take the best of the worst because that's who applies.
What works?
Reducing the FARMS rate per school
We live in Alexandria City and our schools face similar issues.
I will break it to you now - nothing that was mentioned here that parents do or intend to do, fix the schools. Parental involvement matters most for your own child and being involved directly with your own child's education.
Having enrichment activities, having PTA events, etc - those are nice, they help parents get to know each other, they are good marketing for hooking other upper middle class parents -but they make no impact on the actual education. You can not have them and the education doesn't get better or worse.
Good principals matter for sure. It makes the experience of dealing with them better for you as a parent. They are constrained also by curriculum as dictated and hiring teachers - sometimes having to take the best of the worst because that's who applies.
What works?
Reducing the FARMS rate per school
Anonymous
08/06/2014 19:55
Subject: EOTP Parents “ we will bail after k or 1st grade”
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:So, we are now fighting about the meaning of EotP? I had thought the term was pretty clear, at least from a geographic perspective and was inclusive of everything not WotP, where most have no access to PK3 and feed to Deal or Hardy for MS.
I've never considered EOTP to include Cap Hill. When you are talking about Hill stuff, you just say "Cap Hill".
EOTP schools are a whole sep thing.
Well, you are wrong. EOTP means east of the park, which Cap Hill is. It is a large area, and it has many subparts, such as Dupont (Ross), Kalorama (Oyster), Cap Hill, EOTR, Logan, et al. The fact that gentrification is spreading does not change the very simple definition of EOTP.
Gentrification is a virus
and it must be stopped.
Anonymous
08/06/2014 19:32
Subject: EOTP Parents “ we will bail after k or 1st grade”
I will admit though, that I'm the poster from the "religious exemption for vaccines" thread whose satanist children will be slaughtering a goat on March 15.
... NOW I've outed myself, and I can never post on DCUM again.
... NOW I've outed myself, and I can never post on DCUM again.
Anonymous
08/06/2014 19:10
Subject: EOTP Parents “ we will bail after k or 1st grade”
Yeah, sorry, I'd be outing myself if I haven't already and given my attitude in this post, I'd rather not. But it is a DCPS EOTP and the staff/admin has been really welcoming and open to parent involvement. It makes all the difference in the world.
Anonymous
08/06/2014 19:04
Subject: EOTP Parents “ we will bail after k or 1st grade”
Anonymous wrote:18:33 here, I agree with #2, the admin and teachers at our school are as amazing and motivated as you could hope for, and if a MS or HS principal asked me for his help, I'd find it really tough to say no. But that ain't happenin'.
Do you mind my asking what elementary / middle you're in bounds for?
Anonymous
08/06/2014 18:59
Subject: EOTP Parents “ we will bail after k or 1st grade”
18:33 here, I agree with #2, the admin and teachers at our school are as amazing and motivated as you could hope for, and if a MS or HS principal asked me for his help, I'd find it really tough to say no. But that ain't happenin'.
Anonymous
08/06/2014 18:49
Subject: EOTP Parents “ we will bail after k or 1st grade”
Anonymous wrote:I'm not bailing, but I gotta say, I'M exhausted ya'll. I can see the rewards of the work the families have done at our DCPS, it's really turning into an amazing little school.
I'm lucky to be a SAHM and I pull more than my share of the weight because I can, abut I will not have the energy to do this again for Middle school.
I write fat checks, have personally raised thousands in donations, give an average of 7+ hours a week to this school, have testified for funding, scrubbed floors, helped in the class room, attended meetings, even mediated damn meetings between other parents and the admin - and I am SO tired. I choose to do it - and as I said, it's rewarding, all of the kids in the school benefit, FARMS and High-SES, but if DCPS doesn't get it's middle school act together in the next two years I will not be sacrificing my kids and my sanity to try and do it myself... AGAIN.
1. Thank you.
2. Anything I've said about wanting to work on my DCPS is completely dependent on DCPS (the principal, staff, central office) supporting and working with us. Thankfully, the principal at our elementary school is awesome. The high school we're in bounds for on the other hand... not impressed.
Anonymous
08/06/2014 18:36
Subject: EOTP Parents “ we will bail after k or 1st grade”
Thank you for all your work! And a great answer to people who don't know what it means to "improve" a school and what parents can do to that end.
Anonymous
08/06/2014 18:33
Subject: EOTP Parents “ we will bail after k or 1st grade”
I'm not bailing, but I gotta say, I'M exhausted ya'll. I can see the rewards of the work the families have done at our DCPS, it's really turning into an amazing little school.
I'm lucky to be a SAHM and I pull more than my share of the weight because I can, abut I will not have the energy to do this again for Middle school.
I write fat checks, have personally raised thousands in donations, give an average of 7+ hours a week to this school, have testified for funding, scrubbed floors, helped in the class room, attended meetings, even mediated damn meetings between other parents and the admin - and I am SO tired. I choose to do it - and as I said, it's rewarding, all of the kids in the school benefit, FARMS and High-SES, but if DCPS doesn't get it's middle school act together in the next two years I will not be sacrificing my kids and my sanity to try and do it myself... AGAIN.
I'm lucky to be a SAHM and I pull more than my share of the weight because I can, abut I will not have the energy to do this again for Middle school.
I write fat checks, have personally raised thousands in donations, give an average of 7+ hours a week to this school, have testified for funding, scrubbed floors, helped in the class room, attended meetings, even mediated damn meetings between other parents and the admin - and I am SO tired. I choose to do it - and as I said, it's rewarding, all of the kids in the school benefit, FARMS and High-SES, but if DCPS doesn't get it's middle school act together in the next two years I will not be sacrificing my kids and my sanity to try and do it myself... AGAIN.
Anonymous
08/06/2014 17:56
Subject: EOTP Parents “ we will bail after k or 1st grade”
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Hell, I thought EOTP was code for Title 1, high FARMS, low scores, lots of brown kids and WOTP many rich and white. Clearly I'm wrong.
Have you ever been EOTP???
I live EOTP. In my previous post, I am referring to DCPS, not the geographic area.
Anonymous
08/06/2014 17:04
Subject: EOTP Parents “ we will bail after k or 1st grade”
Um EOTP means East of the Park. Rock Creek that is. Cannot believe people are arguing over this!
Anonymous
08/06/2014 15:54
Subject: Re:EOTP Parents “ we will bail after k or 1st grade”
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I wonder about that too. Are parents expected to expand and/or improve the facilities? Or do regular maintenance? Review the curriculum? Provide in-class instructional support? Teacher training? Learning specialists?
Yes to all if you are WOTP.
Bzzzt. Wrong. Exactly none of this is handled by parents in dcps.
CCDC parent
Um, yes, we do a little bit of everything there, and a lot of some of it, except teacher training (although we've paid for some of that). Where've you been?
CCDC parent
We don't set the curriculum. We don't tweak it. We don't sit done with the 4th grade and present our recommendations for what we would prefer to see covered in history this year instead of what they have in mind. (Curriculum)
No parent has ever, ever, in the history of dcps "expanded the [school] facility".
We don't replace the windows, service a balky boiler, install better lighting, shore up the bleachers, jackhammer the pavers and replace the blacktop. We don't repoint the brick on the gym or get the ovens to work again. (Facilities maintenance)
There are no parent co-teachers in ward 3. A guest lecture 1x a year about what journalists do does not count. No parents are "providing instruction" as that word is commonly understood. Sitting around with the youngest pre-readers and sharing a book ... possibly.
As parents, we aren't permitted to serve as "learning SPECIALISTS" as that word is professionally defined. I'd be pretty pissed if next year my dyslexic son had Julie, a SAHM until this falll, serving as his learning specialist under his IEP instead of, say, a credentialed professional trained certified by a board.
Where have you been? Or was yours just a reading comp problem? Parents pitch in a lot in these parts, but acting as engineers with heavy earth-moving equipment, they do not. Ditto for curriculum development.
Exactly, PP. Thank you. The self-righteousness of "Um yes we do a little bit of everything" is a real eye-roller.
Clearly misunderstood you guys. Was just talking about the things LSATs, SITs and volunteers do - I see you are talking about jobs of DCPS employees, so never mind. I'm an idiot. I'll go back to my own corner of the party now.
Anonymous
08/06/2014 15:49
Subject: EOTP Parents “ we will bail after k or 1st grade”
Anonymous wrote:Hell, I thought EOTP was code for Title 1, high FARMS, low scores, lots of brown kids and WOTP many rich and white. Clearly I'm wrong.
Have you ever been EOTP???
Anonymous
08/06/2014 15:48
Subject: EOTP Parents “ we will bail after k or 1st grade”
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:So, we are now fighting about the meaning of EotP? I had thought the term was pretty clear, at least from a geographic perspective and was inclusive of everything not WotP, where most have no access to PK3 and feed to Deal or Hardy for MS.
I've never considered EOTP to include Cap Hill. When you are talking about Hill stuff, you just say "Cap Hill".
EOTP schools are a whole sep thing.
Well, you are wrong. EOTP means east of the park, which Cap Hill is. It is a large area, and it has many subparts, such as Dupont (Ross), Kalorama (Oyster), Cap Hill, EOTR, Logan, et al. The fact that gentrification is spreading does not change the very simple definition of EOTP.
Anonymous
08/06/2014 15:42
Subject: EOTP Parents “ we will bail after k or 1st grade”
Hell, I thought EOTP was code for Title 1, high FARMS, low scores, lots of brown kids and WOTP many rich and white. Clearly I'm wrong.