Are you a DC parent, looking for a school for your 3 year old, middle school or high school student? Have you found a terrific elementary school, but worried about middle school?
We want to hear from you as part of a volunteer-run project we hope to showcase at the White House, at the end of July.A team of civic hackers (volunteer data scientists, programmers, and parents) are working through Code for DC (http://codefordc.org/) to help DC families with understanding the school landscape. We are working with DC school officials to publish information about schools, and answer questions like: are there children enrolled in this school that live in my neighborhood? where are the children from my child’s elementary school going to middle school? We will add more information, as we collect additional information about DC schools that goes beyond standardized testing performance (see a preview of the first version below).

How can you participate today? Help us make a video to get the attention of the folks at the White House, so our project can be included at a showcase. By Thursday, June 20, send us a 20-30 second video (via dropbox, to:  <elc64 at georgetown dot edu>) with you or your children (or both), capturing any of the following:

• You, in front of something recognizable in your neighborhood (like Anacostia river, Brookland Metro station, Cathedral- whatever makes sense) saying: “Where do the children in my neighborhood go to (Elementary, or Middle, or High) school?”

• You/your children in front of something recognizable in your neighborhood (like Anacostia river, Brookland Metro station, Cathedral- whatever makes sense) saying: “We live in [XXX neighborhood]!”

• You, at your child’s school saying: “I love my children’s elementary school, but I’m confused about where to send them to middle school”

• Your child, in front of something recognizable in your neighborhood saying: “I want to go to school where my neighborhood friends go!”

• Your child, at their school saying: “My favorite part of school is….”

A few tips:

• To capture the best sound quality, you have to stand reasonably close to the subject (especially since kids don’t always have the loudest voice). Stand about 1-2 feet away from the subject. Try for a shot that is from the chest up. Playback the video after your first recording to make sure the sound isn’t blown out or peaking. If you’re far away from your subject the volume will probably playback very low and boosting it in editing software will only increase all the white noise.

• Try to limit background noise when the subject is speaking.

• Always have the light behind you.

• B-roll can be really tricky with a phone because people tend to move around the phone really quickly when recording. It’s better to be still and have the objects in your frame moving than for you to be panning with your phone.

• Send along a few photos, too, which we will mix in with the video.

Be sure to tell us your first name, and your child’s first name and age and how best to reach you, to share the final video, which will be included in our White House submission.

Thank you in advance from the Code for DC Education Project Team!