MV's issues are not new and have been getting worse for years. They were masked when they had only one campus and came into the light when they (predictably) spread themselves too thin. Ironic to a fault for you to be ignorant of issues extending over a number of years while accusing others of "knowing absolutely nothing about MV". |
This has been the opposite of our experience at MV. DS is now in 4th grade, been there since K--so have seen it ALL and hoped it was improving. It just keeps getting worse. Thankfully, this is our last year. |
We are open to considering privates and/or move if needed. Academics is our top priority and we are not interested in having to do so much supplementation because DCPS refuses to meet the needs of the higher performing kids. Our IB middle is not a viable option. The lottery is a crap shot and odds are getting higher and higher of not winning,
I’m not interested in forcing tutors, workbooks, or whatever on my kid after a full day of wasted school not learning much and not being challenged. That time is much better spent with outside tests, hobbies, and with family. Time is a precious commodity. I also know my kid, and he will do the minimum required and coast if things are easy at school. He rises up to his full potential more when surrounded by higher performing peers and in classes where teacher’s expectations are high. Sure some kids are fully internally motivated but not my kid and not the majority of kids. |
Typo interests not test |
Met two MV families with rising 3rd and 4th graders on my Ludlow tour this week. |
I don't think that's true for Stokes French. As the only French-track member school, there should be enough spots to accommodate any Stokes French student. 20 guaranteed spots + usually about 30 additional spots to which Stokes students are offered preference ahead of others on waitlist. |
PR? Isn't this all just about supply and demand amidst demographic ups and downs? The number of births fluctuate year over year (and people move to and away from DC). Parents whose kids were in PreK, say, six years ago jockeyed over fewer schools offering that. Charter schools opened in response to that higher demand but those same parents are now done have small children and those with small children can't afford to or don't want to live in the city (Covid and all). That same demographic cohort is now, six years later, jockeying over middle school seats.
Demographic trends, birth rates, moves in and out of the city, etc. - all that is always in flux, ups and downs abound. More than PR, schools need to be able to respond to those ups and downs flexibly. I remember years ago when, at our school, a 5th grad teacher was temporarily dispatched to teach Kindergarten. Imagine a Kindergarten teacher teaching middle schoolers. Not easy all of that. |
Not every student thrive in two languages, good for the parents to recognize that. |
Riiiiight. Nothing to see here, folks! Anyone leaving MV just can't handle the high, high level of Spanish expected. |
Interesting that none of the Friendship schools are mentioned here. What about Friendship’s international school up in Woodridge? |
There are no mentioned here because DCUM is obsessed with certain schools only. |
There are reasons-- 1) They don't offer a lot of middle school seats, most seats go to their own rising elementary schoolers. Offers are in the single digits. 2) It's pretty far east and not on the metro 2) PARCC scores super low, especially in math. |
Math is 17% proficient, which in the context of DC is not that low. Citywide middle school proficiency rate was 20%. But yes, it’s hard to get in for middle school and true college-bound students get counseled out of the Friendship high schools to the DCPS application schools. Which is to the program’s credit, but means that Friendship isn’t solving the problem of high school uncertainty for college-bound students. |
It's not that low, but DCUM tends to be very down on charters that have that kind of scores. It's also not a very big school-- 217 kids over 4th through 8th, so not even 50 kids in a grade. Compare to Brookland middle school, which has roughly comparable test scores and 357 kids over 3 grades so 100+ in a grade. Brookland is definitely where you'll find more activities, electives, etc. |
BASIS DC or the burbs. Good luck! |