Brent recently had an open house. A little bit of a mixup. A few days before the open house, the staff person who answered the phone told me it was on 12/6 and several families showed up that day only to be told it was supposed to be on 12/8. The school blamed that DCPS website was got it wrong. They gave us a tour anyway.

I know a few people that like Haynes. It's a good option.

Haynes would be a good choice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brent. Absolutely wonderful school (I Have a 4th grader and a 1st grader). Middle school is a LONG time away for my 1st grader.

How is the 4th grade taught? and the 1st grade? What kind of homework are your kids given?

Several pages ago the OP said decided on Haynes, I think she/he is no longer reading this friend

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brent. Absolutely wonderful school (I Have a 4th grader and a 1st grader). Middle school is a LONG time away for my 1st grader.

How is the 4th grade taught? and the 1st grade? What kind of homework are your kids given?

I have a Brent 4th grader and she does 30 minutes a day, plus reading. Thankfully her work is usually done at Homework Club. My First grader gets a packet on Tuesdays and has to seven days to complete - maybe 15 minutes X four nights, plus reading. Special projects (museum night, invention convention, publishing party) take time, but they're fun to work on.

Anonymous wrote:This is a surprisingly reasonable and informative thread.

I also find this very informative. OP, did you make a decision based on this thread? If so, what school did you decide?

Anonymous wrote:Brent. Absolutely wonderful school (I Have a 4th grader and a 1st grader). Middle school is a LONG time away for my 1st grader.

How is the 4th grade taught? and the 1st grade? What kind of homework are your kids given?

Anonymous wrote: One big reason parents who can afford to sometimes leave DCPS for independents, despite phenomenal improvement in neighborhood schools like Brent and Haynes .

Actually, Haynes is a charter school, not a neighborhood school. But I really liked your post-- very informative and good news!

Advanced Learning

Anonymous wrote:The fact that there's not a lot of racial diversity in this year's prek 3 doesn't mean there won't be later, even if the catchment area doesn't change.

There's always been money around E. Market and the Capitol, enabling some families to head to independents for their set "intake" years, usually K, sometimes 1st, usually 3rd, sometimes 4th. Some (but certainly not most) Brent parents are just trying DCPS to see how it goes year by year.

You see this in NW - kids, mostly white, departing before 5th for Sidwell etc. There are hard-driving parents who worry that, if they wait to 6th to try for independents, the competition for spots will be too tough. Others worry that if they wait, their kids won't get in for academic reasons. If the new principal succeeds in strengthening Brent's AL program (and he sounds serious about this), more in-bounds families should stay to 5th. I'd really like to see AL options expanded DCPS wide.

what is AL?

One big reason parents who can afford to sometimes leave DCPS for independents, despite phenomenal improvement in neighborhood schools like Brent and Haynes lately, is that they don't want their kids to have anything to do with standardized tests before high school. Since kids from affluent homes often test "advanced" on the DC-CAS, the results don't always tell their parents much. Moreover, a generation ago, standardized test ate up an average of 2-3 school days per year. Currently it's 10-15 days.

Obama recently decided to permit states and DC to develop their own systems, subject to Federal approval, for meeting NCLB standards. States can even scrap NCLB testing. This means that DCPS may be less wedded to test prep soon enough. The change would help schools like Brent and Haynes keep in-bounds kids. Keeping more well-off kids would in turn help poor kids, if those Century Foundation reports got it right. This news won't help a parent pick between the two schools, but, if you're an optimist, you can hope that it will help overall.

The fact that there's not a lot of racial diversity in this year's prek 3 doesn't mean there won't be later, even if the catchment area doesn't change.

There's always been money around E. Market and the Capitol, enabling some families to head to independents for their set "intake" years, usually K, sometimes 1st, usually 3rd, sometimes 4th. Some (but certainly not most) Brent parents are just trying DCPS to see how it goes year by year.

You see this in NW - kids, mostly white, departing before 5th for Sidwell etc. There are hard-driving parents who worry that, if they wait to 6th to try for independents, the competition for spots will be too tough. Others worry that if they wait, their kids won't get in for academic reasons. If the new principal succeeds in strengthening Brent's AL program (and he sounds serious about this), more in-bounds families should stay to 5th. I'd really like to see AL options expanded DCPS wide.