It's a tough choice for us. We are in 1st grade this year and may move over the summer just because of the unknown past 2nd grade.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm considering this as well only because I'm sure the "other" parents are. If this cohort would stay, the school I attend would be great. It's one of the "up and coming" EOTP schools who's been making some noise.

Newsflash, naif: a school isn't "up and coming" unless it can retain students past 2nd.

Newsflash, asshat-who-thinks-she-makes-the-rules: mine does.

Anonymous wrote:I'm considering this as well only because I'm sure the "other" parents are. If this cohort would stay, the school I attend would be great. It's one of the "up and coming" EOTP schools who's been making some noise.

Newsflash, naif: a school isn't "up and coming" unless it can retain students past 2nd.

Anonymous wrote:After reading some of the comments in the Bruce Monroe thread, it puzzles me that many families are taking this route. How do you expect a school to improve if you just up and leave? What’s the point of living in the city? Your jobs or because you hope to land a spot in a Charter?

We are an EOTP family, who unlike others, plan on staying at our Title 1 school up to 5th grade.

Why does this puzzle you? It's DCPS' s job to improve Bruce Monroe - not my children's. If DCPS wants them, it will earn them. And Catania might be up to the job, but Bowser definitely is NOT. Marion Barry redux, here we come.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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

+1
While I don't want to discourage parents who volunteer at school, that doesn't make much test score dfifference. This summarizes the research

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/04/and-dont-help-your-kids-with-their-homework/358636/

Achievement gaps arrive at schools with the students. There are some interventions that make a difference

www.ppic.org/main/publication.asp?i=455

You're missing the point. The point is, when parents are involved, it encourages other high ses families not to bail. Or to attend the school in the first place instead of a charter. So it's a recruitment/retention thing and has a direct impact on farms percentage and hence test scores.

It's summarized by other PPs: "why don't we all stay together (until 5th grade)"?

It can make a difference - just look at Brent and Ross, and those happened with no MS options. People stay to 4th at least.

Anonymous wrote:

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???

Shepherd ES is EotP. It clearly isn't those things.

Ummm not the other things, but lots of brown kids, yes.

Anonymous wrote:I'm considering this as well only because I'm sure the "other" parents are. If this cohort would stay, the school I attend would be great. It's one of the "up and coming" EOTP schools who's been making some noise.

It's a bit of an awkward conversation to have, but we've had it with several other parents at our "up and coming" EOTP school: "how about we all stay together?"

I'm considering this as well only because I'm sure the "other" parents are. If this cohort would stay, the school I attend would be great. It's one of the "up and coming" EOTP schools who's been making some noise.

Anonymous wrote: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

+1
While I don't want to discourage parents who volunteer at school, that doesn't make much test score dfifference. This summarizes the research

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/04/and-dont-help-your-kids-with-their-homework/358636/

Achievement gaps arrive at schools with the students. There are some interventions that make a difference

www.ppic.org/main/publication.asp?i=455

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???

Shepherd ES is EotP. It clearly isn't those things.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Yes, well, not to minimize PP's efforts but not all of us are SAHM's with DH's who make enough to not only allow us to stay home and volunteer, but write "fat checks.". Most of us are in dual working families and we don't have time for the litany of activities PP mentioned. If I did all that on top of a full time job, I'd have no time to actually parent my own child.

Working parent here, just want to chime in to say: I work a full time job, I volunteer at my childs school and I also volunteer in my neighborhood.

My child volunteers right along side with me.

This isn't a WOHM/SAHM thing, it's a time management thing.

Oh, okay. You're clearly superior to us mere plebes who can't manage our time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Yes, well, not to minimize PP's efforts but not all of us are SAHM's with DH's who make enough to not only allow us to stay home and volunteer, but write "fat checks.". Most of us are in dual working families and we don't have time for the litany of activities PP mentioned. If I did all that on top of a full time job, I'd have no time to actually parent my own child.

Working parent here, just want to chime in to say: I work a full time job, I volunteer at my childs school and I also volunteer in my neighborhood.

My child volunteers right along side with me.

This isn't a WOHM/SAHM thing, it's a time management thing.

Yeah, bail for a good parochial where DC will be safe and learn. Don't want to spend the money, but for the kid's mental health it'll be worth it. Other privates can be a lot, lot more money, and I'm not sure there's all the bang for the buck there. Otherwise, it's move.

Amen pp, and I'm the SAHM! I know it's a luxury and I don't for one second begrudge working parents who can't give the same monetarily or time-wise, but at least you give when and what you can. It's my kids and the community I do this for, if I felt these efforts were somehow construed as my trying to "take over" the school or were looked upon as interference vs. involvement I'd be much less motivated.

I've never been so motivated as I was last year when, for the THIRD time that year we went on a field trip with my youngest kids' class and the Dad of one of the students, practically a baby himself (I'd be surprised if he was 20) showed up, once again, to accompany his 4-year-old to the museum. His 4-year-old is a handful, off-the-wall, disciplinary issue, and Dad was there to help out - it made such a difference. He ducked around a corner at one point and had a smoke, but I couldn't have cared less. He. Showed. Up.

This can be done.

Anonymous wrote: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.

Yes, well, not to minimize PP's efforts but not all of us are SAHM's with DH's who make enough to not only allow us to stay home and volunteer, but write "fat checks.". Most of us are in dual working families and we don't have time for the litany of activities PP mentioned. If I did all that on top of a full time job, I'd have no time to actually parent my own child.