2021

Our family is always interested in new ideas for tasty, healthy, and easy-to-prepare meals. Therefore, I was excited to learn that Chaia Tacos ( https://www.chaiatacos.com/) has introduced the Enchilada Family Pack -- 12 fully-prepared enchiladas ready to reheat in an aluminum pan. This week we were able to try a tray split between black bean and braised mushroom enchiladas.

Chaia Tacos is a woman/mom-owned local small business serving up plant-forward tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, tostadas, and a few sides. There are locations in Georgetown, Chinatown, and Bethesda. The restaurant is 100% vegetarian and most items can be made vegan. All products are completely nut-free and, with the exception of beer, gluten-free.

Chaia has limited indoor seating, focusing on take-out and delivery with online orders available through the website. In contrast to the rest of the menu which is made-to-order to be eaten immediately, the Enchilada Family Pack requires reheating. It can be picked up or delivered ahead of time and then popped in the oven for 40-50 minutes before eating. It comes in an aluminum pan so preparation couldn't be easier.

This article was provided by the Park View Farmers Market

Launched in January 2020 in the heart of D.C.’s Park View neighborhood, the Park View Farmers Market (PVFM) aims to provide economic opportunity to local entrepreneurs and increase access to local food through a vibrant community marketplace. PVFM’s unique location, inside of Hook Hall, gives the market a special quality and offers an expansive indoor space for community members to safely and comfortably shop for fresh food, while building lasting relationships with local makers, growers, and neighbors. With Hook Hall’s bar open during the market, you can even sip on a beer or Bloody Mary while you shop!

PVFM was forced to halt operations in March 2020 due to COVID-19 – just two months after its grand opening. Its reopening this past February was met with much excitement from the community, as people are once again able to support the market’s rotation of incredible vendors. With local farmers, bakers, and artisans, you can expect to find fresh produce, pickles, baked goods, hot foods, teas, spices, and foods that reflect our diverse community, as well as skincare, candles, and so much more! This summer, PVFM is thrilled to welcome back family-friendly programming to the market once again, including live music, games, sing-alongs & more!

Brookings recently released a report on DC Public Schools. This report, "We all want what’s best for our kids", uses data from 10 years worth of posts in the DC Public and Public Charter Schools forum. My wife and I own and operate the DC Urban Moms and Dads website and are frequent participants in the DC Schools forum. Moreover, we have two sons who both attended a DC Public Charter School. One attended and one still attends DC Public Schools. Therefore, we know well both the DC public school system and the DC Schools forum.

Having read the report in detail, I believe that the research for this report was lazy, the analysis is flawed, and the conclusions are wrong. The entire report is based on flawed analysis -- word frequency analysis in which keywords are connected to school names -- a technique that does not take context into account. In fact, the report's examples show such context-based errors. The measures of school attention suffer from uncorrected bias due to school size and the uneven geographic sample representation. For instance, Alice Deal Middle School and Woodrow Wilson High School are two of the largest schools in the DCPS system and the in-bounds school for a large percentage of the posters. The finding that they are the two most discussed schools is exactly what would be expected.