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?

99% FARMs is what they put when it is a community eligibility free meal school. We are at one at the estimate I saw is that it's about 60% FARMs. Because they don't collect the FARM application, they do not know.

Anonymous wrote:Data here: http://edu.codefordc.org/#!/neighborhood/18

The elementaries with the most kids from the Brightwood/Petworth area are are Truesdell, Barnard, Powell, Brightwood, and West. One of the Amos campuses is close behind, with other charters following.

For kids living Columbia Heights/Park View, the top 5 elementaries are Tubman, Bancroft, Bruce Monroe, Raymond, and Meridian PCS.

Top 5 doenst mean anything. Tubman, raymond? no way. Bruce MOnroe through K, Bancroft through 3rd but no change of getting in OOB.

Parents love Powell but its really really hard to get into OOB and even IB for pk. Barnard used to be "hot" and its still getting better but parents seem more hype for powell. Bruce Monroe to the south is up and coming but no real critical mass of high SES families yet. I know petworth families at El Haynes, yu Ying, Hearst OOB and Insprired teaching. But all those are a long shot now. most got in several years ago. I sense that most of the parents are committed to their IBs for ps3/pk4 and K but play lottery every year assuming eventually something will work out.

Anonymous wrote:We live on Illinois Ave near Sherman Circle and in the last 3 months I can count at least 6 houses within one square block of us that have gone on the market for $600K+ and all have sold in a matter of days. Another renovation will go on the market soon that is a few houses down from ours...I see young couples walking by and stopping by to check it out every single day..I have no doubt that it will go under contract the same week it hits the market. I agree that there is just too much new money going into the neighborhood for the DCPS schools to remain undesirable. The critical mass of young, educated families is just about there.

But great expectations and desire for the schools to become desirable does not necessarily mean it will happen. Turning mediocre schools with institutional, historical, and political issues into solid schools happens over several years, like 10 years. Will current families be okay with that? In my opinion there is a huge, unfulfilled gap between the reality and the expectations.

Data here: http://edu.codefordc.org/#!/neighborhood/18

The elementaries with the most kids from the Brightwood/Petworth area are are Truesdell, Barnard, Powell, Brightwood, and West. One of the Amos campuses is close behind, with other charters following.

For kids living Columbia Heights/Park View, the top 5 elementaries are Tubman, Bancroft, Bruce Monroe, Raymond, and Meridian PCS.

Anonymous wrote:We live on Illinois Ave near Sherman Circle and in the last 3 months I can count at least 6 houses within one square block of us that have gone on the market for $600K+ and all have sold in a matter of days. Another renovation will go on the market soon that is a few houses down from ours...I see young couples walking by and stopping by to check it out every single day..I have no doubt that it will go under contract the same week it hits the market. I agree that there is just too much new money going into the neighborhood for the DCPS schools to remain undesirable. The critical mass of young, educated families is just about there.

If you're on the West side of Illinois, then you and your neighbor may have been rezoned from Barnard or Truesdell to West as your IB school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live on Illinois Ave near Sherman Circle and in the last 3 months I can count at least 6 houses within one square block of us that have gone on the market for $600K+ and all have sold in a matter of days. Another renovation will go on the market soon that is a few houses down from ours...I see young couples walking by and stopping by to check it out every single day..I have no doubt that it will go under contract the same week it hits the market. I agree that there is just too much new money going into the neighborhood for the DCPS schools to remain undesirable. The critical mass of young, educated families is just about there.

What's the address of that house that is going on the market? We are looking to buy in that area and will need to jump quickly.

Things are looking rosy for our planned sale near the Petworth metro in a month or two...off to greener pastures in the District, y'all...where 4 year olds don't drop F bombs on the playground!

Anonymous wrote:We live on Illinois Ave near Sherman Circle and in the last 3 months I can count at least 6 houses within one square block of us that have gone on the market for $600K+ and all have sold in a matter of days. Another renovation will go on the market soon that is a few houses down from ours...I see young couples walking by and stopping by to check it out every single day..I have no doubt that it will go under contract the same week it hits the market. I agree that there is just too much new money going into the neighborhood for the DCPS schools to remain undesirable. The critical mass of young, educated families is just about there.

What's the address of that house that is going on the market? We are looking to buy in that area and will need to jump quickly.

We live on Illinois Ave near Sherman Circle and in the last 3 months I can count at least 6 houses within one square block of us that have gone on the market for $600K+ and all have sold in a matter of days. Another renovation will go on the market soon that is a few houses down from ours...I see young couples walking by and stopping by to check it out every single day..I have no doubt that it will go under contract the same week it hits the market. I agree that there is just too much new money going into the neighborhood for the DCPS schools to remain undesirable. The critical mass of young, educated families is just about there.

So going back to OP. Let's look at what is happening in Petworth (and other parts of DC). Renovated homes are selling for $700-$1 million. Each year 50-75 (or more) of these homes sell within the city. Certain areas such as Petworth, Eckington, H Street, Brookland, Columbia Heights have lots of these flips.

So at some point these areas will become mostly populated with middle to upper middle class families. The income needed for $700K to $1 million is $150-$300K a year for a household.

So the original question was- what do these families do with their children?

In the past they may have started their kids in DCPS or Charters and then fled to suburbia. But now DC is more of an attractive place to be and people do not want the Suburban lifestyle as much.

What will it do to DCPS and Charters if they get alot more children from affluent homes? Or will all the affluent families send their kids to Charters or private schools and the DCPS schools be left behind.

My bet is the worst performing DCPS schools will never improve as anyone who can go somewhere else (Students, Parents and Teachers) will do so. So the worst will get worse and everyone else will move on. Sadly this will impact the poorest students the most.