DCI or Deal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, of course. But people don’t often include this info when they complain about Deal’s lack of diversity.

Except a PP poster included Latino numbers

Deal is 8% at-risk, 28% black, 16% Latino, 47% white. (Data from DC School Report Card.) 5% ELL, 10% students with disabilities.
DCI is 19% at-risk, 39% black, 38% Latino, 15% white. 8% ELL, 14% students with disabilities.

No one said there was no diversity at DEAL. People have said that it’s the least diverse and becoming less diverse every year.
In terms of middle school in the city, DEAL is the richest and most white in the DCPS and charter system - so the least diverse in minorities and socioeconomic class.

PP is right. But Latin MS has been on the same trajectory and looks an awful lot like Deal:

Latin: 7% at-risk, 40% black, 9% Latino, 44% white, 2% ELL, 14% students with disabilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, of course. But people don’t often include this info when they complain about Deal’s lack of diversity.

Except a PP poster included Latino numbers

Deal is 8% at-risk, 28% black, 16% Latino, 47% white. (Data from DC School Report Card.) 5% ELL, 10% students with disabilities.
DCI is 19% at-risk, 39% black, 38% Latino, 15% white. 8% ELL, 14% students with disabilities.

No one said there was no diversity at DEAL. People have said that it’s the least diverse and becoming less diverse every year.
In terms of middle school in the city, DEAL is the richest and most white in the DCPS and charter system - so the least diverse in minorities and socioeconomic class.

PP is right. But Latin MS has been on the same trajectory and looks an awful lot like Deal:

Latin: 7% at-risk, 40% black, 9% Latino, 44% white, 2% ELL, 14% students with disabilities.

Are the above just for Latin's MS or combined MS/HS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, of course. But people don’t often include this info when they complain about Deal’s lack of diversity.

Except a PP poster included Latino numbers

Deal is 8% at-risk, 28% black, 16% Latino, 47% white. (Data from DC School Report Card.) 5% ELL, 10% students with disabilities.
DCI is 19% at-risk, 39% black, 38% Latino, 15% white. 8% ELL, 14% students with disabilities.

No one said there was no diversity at DEAL. People have said that it’s the least diverse and becoming less diverse every year.
In terms of middle school in the city, DEAL is the richest and most white in the DCPS and charter system - so the least diverse in minorities and socioeconomic class.

PP is right. But Latin MS has been on the same trajectory and looks an awful lot like Deal:

Latin: 7% at-risk, 40% black, 9% Latino, 44% white, 2% ELL, 14% students with disabilities.

Are the above just for Latin's MS or combined MS/HS?

MS. The demographics of the high school are changing too, but not yet as dramatically as MS, per the HOS at the recent replicaohearibg.

[Anonymous]

The District's kid demographics are changing. If you don't like it, time to find a new city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re happy it’s the final year at Deal. It has gone down hill very quickly this year. The teachers seem depressed, the head principal can not communicate, key staff have left mid-year, a lot of out of control kids. Its like a poorly run day care facility.

Our overall experience has been very different—and I haven’t heard these concerns from other parents outside of DCUM—but I suspect a lot of this varies depending on grade/team.

I’m really stumped about the communication comment, though; I think Ms. Neal is an incredibly effective communicator, so I’m interested to know what you’re seeing/not seeing on this front.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The District's kid demographics are changing. If you don't like it, time to find a new city.

Yes, the population of white children is increasing. At exactly the rate of Latino children. The population of black children is decreasing as families leave the city.

The black children who remain, however, are on the whole poorer and more at-risk. The city has lost black middle-class kids. https://twitter.com/maustermuhle/status/1136010811321856001?s=20

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, we are in the same boat. We are at a DCI feeder but in boundary for Deal. We are choosing to try DCI this year, thankfully knowing we can switch to Deal next year if DCI doesn't meet our goals. I know it would be harder on my DD to move in 7th than to just start new in 6th with everyone else. But we are encouraged by the improvements we see in DCI every year and more and more of my DD high performing classmates are going to DCI each year. I have toured both Deal and DCI and both seem to have similar cultures (granted, it was a one hour tour). Except that Deal had less diversity in terms of ethnicity and probably socioeconomic too, and I was more uncomfortable with that than I expected, coming from a feeder with a great diversity of backgrounds (and we are a white family who wants our kids to grow up with much more diversity than we did). I feel thankful to have these 2 options but are not looking back from our decision to go with DCI.

I am very surprised that you think Deal does not have diversity.

I didn't say it doesn't have diversity. I said it has less diversity than I expected and less than I would like. And less than DCI. Given that all the DCI feeders are full of families who are not native to this country, this shouldn't be surprising. As an example, my core group of 5-6 close families from different feeders have at least one parent who was born in a Latin American country.

And if you listened to the open house at Deal, it's just going to get worse for diversity. Deal has seen an increase of in-bound kids to the point that they may not be able to take ANY lottery slots next year, so as more and more rich kids go to public schools in the boundary, we will see Deal have less and less diversity. I don't mean in color of skin, I mean diversity in clads and thought. Unfortunate, IMO.

DCPS is to blame. If you want diversity in urban public middle schools, offer honors humanities classes and test-in programs, period. If you want UMC parents to amalgamate around the one high-performing by-right middle school named Deal, don't offer honors humanities classes or test-in programs. Deal only tracks for math, so unless the school is predominantly UMC (which in DC means more white), for the most part, teachers can't differentiate effectively within classrooms.

Rich kids? Give me a break, this isn't NYC, with a finance industry. Few Deal families are truly rich, many are solidly UMC.

Once again folks, this is all relative. Most of UNW is "rich kids" if you look at nationwide stats. UMC is becoming a euphemism for people who simply don't want to admit they're in the 1%, and yes, they are rich. You're rich! Own it! God this city is so sickening sometimes.

Oh get over yourself. Federal civil servants, no matter how senior, aren't rich unless they have amassed great wealth from income coming from sources other than salary (and few do). You're definitely not in the 1% earning a civil servant's salary, as many many Deal parents do. You may be in the top 10%, but the 1% is ridiculous. Households pulling in less than 250K (almost everybody at Deal) aren't rich in this expensive city, only UMC. Spare us your holier-than-thou BS and histrionic misinformation.

What's really sickening is when "UMC" people do not recognize their own privilege.

Yes I agree and we are UMC. I’m frankly embarrassed by the poster above in not only their tone but also total lack of awareness. They think that being in what they call the top 10% and not 1% is not considered rich in this city especially when there are so many poor families.

It’s also why we will be choosing DCI over Deal where there is not only more diversity of people but also socioeconomic status

There is a ton of both at Deal. You must not think so because you are stereotyping an address.

[Anonymous]

I find it quite amusing how DEAL posters on here don’t think that the majority of families there are rich compared to the rest of the city. Nope being in the top 10% in this town is not rich according to them.

Also very amusing in their portrayal that there is much diversity and socioeconomic backgrounds at DEAL, yet at the same time justify the dominance of white kids as a function of changing demographics of the children in the city.

It’s quite amusing to see all the twisted justifications. Just own it that DEAl is the rich part of town and the least diverse in ethnicities and socioeconomic status. There, easy enough. Everyone knows it so it’s useless to try to change that fact. You are just looking foolish.


Lastly, yes the demographics of the city is changing but where that is happening the most is not WOTP where DEAL is located. It’s actually EOTP. But the DEAL people can believe it’s happening WOTP and why the school is majority white if they want to but they are not fooling anyone but themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find it quite amusing how DEAL posters on here don’t think that the majority of families there are rich compared to the rest of the city. Nope being in the top 10% in this town is not rich according to them.

Also very amusing in their portrayal that there is much diversity and socioeconomic backgrounds at DEAL, yet at the same time justify the dominance of white kids as a function of changing demographics of the children in the city.

It’s quite amusing to see all the twisted justifications. Just own it that DEAl is the rich part of town and the least diverse in ethnicities and socioeconomic status. There, easy enough. Everyone knows it so it’s useless to try to change that fact. You are just looking foolish.


Lastly, yes the demographics of the city is changing but where that is happening the most is not WOTP where DEAL is located. It’s actually EOTP. But the DEAL people can believe it’s happening WOTP and why the school is majority white if they want to but they are not fooling anyone but themselves.

Yep, I’m making 200 - 300k and I’m not rich, probably the lower income family at DEAL......

[Anonymous]

Why are you capitalizing Deal?

And why are OB families still trying to get into Deal if it is so bad? Why not go to a more diverse, less crowded school in your own neighborhood?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are you capitalizing Deal?

And why are OB families still trying to get into Deal if it is so bad? Why not go to a more diverse, less crowded school in your own neighborhood?

No one said it was bad. Someone noted that when comparing Deal and DCI students and their proficiency, one needs to keep in mind that the student bodies is different. As a whole DCI has more poor kids and Deal, while it has some racial and ethnic diversity, has less diversity than DCI.

And by the way, DCI has a lengthy wait list too. Both schools are in demand.

[Anonymous]

Look, I think the point is fair that the demographics at Deal and DCI are not so different that it would affect most people's choice about which one to attend, especially since DCI will likely trend more in Deal's direction as it fills up its upper grades with more feeder school kids. And it is all relative. If you live in the Deal boundary, there is a good chance your neighbors send their kids to schools far less diverse than Deal. So within your cohort, you chose the most diverse school when you chose Deal. Face it, nobody in Tenleytown is looking at Cardozo, for example, and why would they?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look, I think the point is fair that the demographics at Deal and DCI are not so different that it would affect most people's choice about which one to attend, especially since DCI will likely trend more in Deal's direction as it fills up its upper grades with more feeder school kids. And it is all relative. If you live in the Deal boundary, there is a good chance your neighbors send their kids to schools far less diverse than Deal. So within your cohort, you chose the most diverse school when you chose Deal. Face it, nobody in Tenleytown is looking at Cardozo, for example, and why would they?

Two times as many children who are homeless, in foster care and/or qualified for TANF or food stamps is a significant difference. And the OP is choosing between Deal and DCI now, not in the future when trends may change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The District's kid demographics are changing. If you don't like it, time to find a new city.

Yes, the population of white children is increasing. At exactly the rate of Latino children. The population of black children is decreasing as families leave the city.

The black children who remain, however, are on the whole poorer and more at-risk. The city has lost black middle-class kids. https://twitter.com/maustermuhle/status/1136010811321856001?s=20

Where in that stay you posted shows there are no or fewer middle class black families in DC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you capitalizing Deal?

And why are OB families still trying to get into Deal if it is so bad? Why not go to a more diverse, less crowded school in your own neighborhood?

No one said it was bad. Someone noted that when comparing Deal and DCI students and their proficiency, one needs to keep in mind that the student bodies is different. As a whole DCI has more poor kids and Deal, while it has some racial and ethnic diversity, has less diversity than DCI.

And by the way, DCI has a lengthy wait list too. Both schools are in demand.

I am not knocking DCI but don’t understand why parents feel the need the bash Deal every chance they get. Deal has issues, believe me, but tearing down other schools is not going to help yours.