Joy and angst as lottery results arrive
The SFUSD lottery results arrived in mailboxes all over the city yesterday, prompting joy and relief or bitterness. I know the background and I understand the complexities, but I agree that this process needs to be fixed.
The wildly successful blog TheSFKFiles — run by the pseudonymous Kate, an incoming kindergarten mom, at this moment has 178 comments on it since yesterday, almost all from parents about their kids' school assignments. Lots and lots of them are disappointed and angry. "Kate's" family got none of their seven choices and were assigned to Junipero Serra Elementary.
I tallied the results posted on that blog. Some of them prompt questions that I urge Parents for Public Schools, because it has access, to ask the SFUSD Educational Placement Center.
One obvious one: of the posters on that blog, some families who had McKinley Elementary on their lists didn't get any of their choices — but three families who had NOT listed McKinley were assigned to it. To me that appears to be a clear-cut glitch. Am I correct that it's a glitch? If it isn't, the process definitely need immediate fixing. And if a family gets messed up by a glitch, can they get immediate attention?
Another who had not asked for it (or heard of it) was assigned to New Traditions, an alternative school that is not supposed to get default assignments, unless the system has suddenly, silently changed. Glitch?
Some posters are bitter and angry about getting schools that many families (in their demographic) view as just fine and/or up-and-coming. The one who got New Traditions and at least one of the McKinleys were in that category.
Over the course of the discussion, a number of parents evolved from unbridled outrage to "let's get a group of us and go check out the (assigned) school." Junipero Serra and Hillcrest prompted that discussion. We'll see. I keep reminding everyone that many of the schools they now view as oversubscribed and impossible to get into were viewed as pits of danger and illiteracy not long ago. Those include the middle school from which my daughter will graduate in June, following her older brother, Aptos class of '05. Both thrived in middle school and had a much happier time than I did in junior high (Edna Maguire Junior High, Mill Valley, 1965-67).
I counted up the results reported in those blog posts. Here's a very rough and unscientific tally.
Parents who got one of their seven choices and are happy got: Harvey Milk, Alvarado general ed (2), Flynn (2), Fairmount (2), West Portal (2), Argonne (2), Dianne Feinstein, McKinley, Jefferson, Grattan, Clarendon 2nd Community, Miraloma, Monroe and Rooftop. Another parent listed Harvey Milk, changed his/her mind, got it and is unhappy.
Parents who didn't get one of their seven choices got: Sunnyside (3), Hillcrest (7), William Cobb (7), Rosa Parks, McKinley (3 -- glitch??), John Muir (6), Starr King General Ed, Bessie Carmichael Filipino Education Center, Daniel Webster, New Traditions (glitch?), Jose Ortega, Sheridan and Paul Revere. (I thought Paul Revere was now a Dream School and that they were by request only, but I could have that wrong. Possible glitch?)
Most of those parents are pissed off, though a few even initially were willing to take a look at the assigned school, especially those assigned to Sunnyside.
So far every family I've heard of has gotten the middle school they wanted. The fact that Aptos and its fellow former pariah James Lick are now considered acceptable has helped that situation a lot, I think.
Even though I have an 8th-grader myself (a SOTA-bound trombonist), I haven't heard that much from fellow 8th-graders yet. We dropped off my daughter's friend at her house after a sleepover yesterday and went in to watch the celebratory opening of her assignment letter to Lowell. Others, heartbreakingly, just missed out on Lowell (as most of you know, a magnet high school that admits based on a combination of grades and test scores). That leads to another question for PPS to ask SFUSD: What is the wait pool/second chance process for Lowell? If there isn't one officially, what about unofficially? Just like any school, Lowell gets openings all along the way, and it does fill them — so, how?
Condolences to everyone stressing and congratulations to those for whom it worked out. Please don't forget that I have never, ever met anyone who stuck it out through the process who hasn't gotten a school they were happy with. Hang in there! And once you're in the wait pool, I do advice you to make regular, brief, polite calls to the Educational Placement Center, 415-241-6085, to remind them that you want a spot promptly if it opens.
A bit more about high schools in a later post.
The wildly successful blog TheSFKFiles — run by the pseudonymous Kate, an incoming kindergarten mom, at this moment has 178 comments on it since yesterday, almost all from parents about their kids' school assignments. Lots and lots of them are disappointed and angry. "Kate's" family got none of their seven choices and were assigned to Junipero Serra Elementary.
I tallied the results posted on that blog. Some of them prompt questions that I urge Parents for Public Schools, because it has access, to ask the SFUSD Educational Placement Center.
One obvious one: of the posters on that blog, some families who had McKinley Elementary on their lists didn't get any of their choices — but three families who had NOT listed McKinley were assigned to it. To me that appears to be a clear-cut glitch. Am I correct that it's a glitch? If it isn't, the process definitely need immediate fixing. And if a family gets messed up by a glitch, can they get immediate attention?
Another who had not asked for it (or heard of it) was assigned to New Traditions, an alternative school that is not supposed to get default assignments, unless the system has suddenly, silently changed. Glitch?
Some posters are bitter and angry about getting schools that many families (in their demographic) view as just fine and/or up-and-coming. The one who got New Traditions and at least one of the McKinleys were in that category.
Over the course of the discussion, a number of parents evolved from unbridled outrage to "let's get a group of us and go check out the (assigned) school." Junipero Serra and Hillcrest prompted that discussion. We'll see. I keep reminding everyone that many of the schools they now view as oversubscribed and impossible to get into were viewed as pits of danger and illiteracy not long ago. Those include the middle school from which my daughter will graduate in June, following her older brother, Aptos class of '05. Both thrived in middle school and had a much happier time than I did in junior high (Edna Maguire Junior High, Mill Valley, 1965-67).
I counted up the results reported in those blog posts. Here's a very rough and unscientific tally.
Parents who got one of their seven choices and are happy got: Harvey Milk, Alvarado general ed (2), Flynn (2), Fairmount (2), West Portal (2), Argonne (2), Dianne Feinstein, McKinley, Jefferson, Grattan, Clarendon 2nd Community, Miraloma, Monroe and Rooftop. Another parent listed Harvey Milk, changed his/her mind, got it and is unhappy.
Parents who didn't get one of their seven choices got: Sunnyside (3), Hillcrest (7), William Cobb (7), Rosa Parks, McKinley (3 -- glitch??), John Muir (6), Starr King General Ed, Bessie Carmichael Filipino Education Center, Daniel Webster, New Traditions (glitch?), Jose Ortega, Sheridan and Paul Revere. (I thought Paul Revere was now a Dream School and that they were by request only, but I could have that wrong. Possible glitch?)
Most of those parents are pissed off, though a few even initially were willing to take a look at the assigned school, especially those assigned to Sunnyside.
So far every family I've heard of has gotten the middle school they wanted. The fact that Aptos and its fellow former pariah James Lick are now considered acceptable has helped that situation a lot, I think.
Even though I have an 8th-grader myself (a SOTA-bound trombonist), I haven't heard that much from fellow 8th-graders yet. We dropped off my daughter's friend at her house after a sleepover yesterday and went in to watch the celebratory opening of her assignment letter to Lowell. Others, heartbreakingly, just missed out on Lowell (as most of you know, a magnet high school that admits based on a combination of grades and test scores). That leads to another question for PPS to ask SFUSD: What is the wait pool/second chance process for Lowell? If there isn't one officially, what about unofficially? Just like any school, Lowell gets openings all along the way, and it does fill them — so, how?
Condolences to everyone stressing and congratulations to those for whom it worked out. Please don't forget that I have never, ever met anyone who stuck it out through the process who hasn't gotten a school they were happy with. Hang in there! And once you're in the wait pool, I do advice you to make regular, brief, polite calls to the Educational Placement Center, 415-241-6085, to remind them that you want a spot promptly if it opens.
A bit more about high schools in a later post.
Labels: Enrollment
3 Comments:
By applying another year.
Though I would assume that it's getting harder and harder to enroll during sophomore/junior year. More and more people out of the 800 they accept are enrolling so each class has gotten significantly larger.
I suspect you don't hear that much from 8th grade families because there is less uncertainty in the HS admissions process, and because us 8th grade families are a bit more grizzled and less fragile about the process. We've gone through this before and we pretty well know what we're up against.
I don't know what the official wait list policy is for Lowell, but I know that many kids transfer into Lowell, and that—anecdotally at least—the transfer route seems to be easier than the 'normal' 9th grade admissions process.
The district officials assure us there is no waiting list for Lowell. Because since they so over enroll in the first place there is no need for plan B. And why plan ahead when you can scramble for a solution should the problem occur.
There are a few interesting changes to the enrollment process which might or might not have an affect.
This year SOTA students who also applied to Lowell were allowed to stay in the assignment process even if they accepted a place at SOTA after auditions. I know of at least 4 students who got into Lowell and will not be taking their seats because of this.
In addition...I have always wondered about the fairness of giving incoming students a different test than existing students. My daughter's Cat scores would have qualified her for Lowell whereas her Sat9 scores kept her out bay .5 points.
If this test was easier it means more private school students will be accepted and they tend to be more fickle about taking their spots.
So who knows.
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