Oyster Adams versus DCI

[Anonymous]

We are deciding which to put first in the lottery. We know both are not good chances. DS is currently in a 5th grade DCPS bilingual program for Spanish and wants to continue immersion into 6th grade and we dont love the MacFarland option. What do your great minds think?

[Anonymous]

We're choosing Adams in similar circumstances (will move in-bound if we don't get a lottery spot). I'm not sold on DCI, particularly for high school, and I don't know anyone that's made the move to O-A that hasn't been happy with their choice. It's an established, well performing school that knows what they're doing and does it well.

[Anonymous]

My child is at DCI and loves it and is doing very well there. She came from a feeder charter so socially she has the friends that she went k-5 with plus has made lots of other friends. We have a a friend whose child is at Adams and really likes it.
But now they are looking at DCI, SWW, and Banneker for HS so that their child can continue with Spanish. If you end up at Wilson for HS, your kid can only take one more year of Spanish (AP Spanish).

[Anonymous]

My kid took AP Spanish and AP Spanish lit at Wilson after Adams.

[Anonymous]

Wilson is much better than DCI high school. They’d already have had 8-11 years of immersion, no need to prioritize immersion in high school over academics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wilson is much better than DCI high school. They’d already have had 8-11 years of immersion, no need to prioritize immersion in high school over academics.

Based on what?

[Anonymous]

oyster (i like smaller middle schools and think the guaranteed hs backstop is not fully necessary/overemphasized) but also what is the better commute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wilson is much better than DCI high school. They’d already have had 8-11 years of immersion, no need to prioritize immersion in high school over academics.

Higher Level IB Diploma Spanish is pitched roughly 2 years past AP Spanish and at least a year past AP Spanish Lit. For a student serious about language learning, IB Diploma is worth it. Not sure if DCI is worth it though. IB Diploma for most isn't the optimal approach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:oyster (i like smaller middle schools and think the guaranteed hs backstop is not fully necessary/overemphasized) but also what is the better commute.

Disagree. Oyster is way too small, doesn’t have many extracurriculars or sports, and then you lose advancing the language by going to Wilson which is the other extreme, way too large and overcrowded with all the problems that come with it.

DCI is a medium size school, not too small or big, with lots of extracurriculars, clubs, sports that is more typical of schools in the neighboring suburbs, you get to continue advancing the language in middle and high school, and go for the IB diploma degree which IMO is better than taking AP courses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:oyster (i like smaller middle schools and think the guaranteed hs backstop is not fully necessary/overemphasized) but also what is the better commute.

Disagree. Oyster is way too small, doesn’t have many extracurriculars or sports, and then you lose advancing the language by going to Wilson which is the other extreme, way too large and overcrowded with all the problems that come with it.

DCI is a medium size school, not too small or big, with lots of extracurriculars, clubs, sports that is more typical of schools in the neighboring suburbs, you get to continue advancing the language in middle and high school, and go for the IB diploma degree which IMO is better than taking AP courses.

Not sure how it is now, but my kid did a ton of sports at Oyster and really enjoyed them — cross country, basketball, and track. It was kinda cool because something like 1/3 of the kids in the school did track, so it was a lot of fun. Went on to play basketball at Wilson along with one of his teammates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:oyster (i like smaller middle schools and think the guaranteed hs backstop is not fully necessary/overemphasized) but also what is the better commute.

Disagree. Oyster is way too small, doesn’t have many extracurriculars or sports, and then you lose advancing the language by going to Wilson which is the other extreme, way too large and overcrowded with all the problems that come with it.

DCI is a medium size school, not too small or big, with lots of extracurriculars, clubs, sports that is more typical of schools in the neighboring suburbs, you get to continue advancing the language in middle and high school, and go for the IB diploma degree which IMO is better than taking AP courses.

Not sure how it is now, but my kid did a ton of sports at Oyster and really enjoyed them — cross country, basketball, and track. It was kinda cool because something like 1/3 of the kids in the school did track, so it was a lot of fun. Went on to play basketball at Wilson along with one of his teammates.

In terms of sports, OA currently offers (2022/23):

Cross Country,
Volleyball,
Soccer,
Basketball,
Swimming, and
Track & Field

OA also participates in the Embassy Adoption program (usually 3 different countries/school year), and it looks like the 8th graders will be able to travel to Costa Rica this year. In the past, OA middle schoolers had the opportunity to also travel to China, and to participate in a 2 week exchange program with a school in Spain. This year, as in years past, the 8th graders will take the AP Spanish Language exam.

All of these activities have certainly been enough to keep my children busy. However, ymmv.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like Oyster Adams is the way to go for your family's logistics, not necessarily because one is school is better or worse than the other.

Pros to Oyster: Smaller environment, IB for JR
Pros to DCI: If your kid does not perform in the top 10 percent of his or her class, they can still have access to teh IB Diploma Programme

[Anonymous]

OP here. The commute is basically the same. Which do you all think we have a better chance at in the lottery in general-assuming we like both the same. It seems like both may just be a long shot?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. The commute is basically the same. Which do you all think we have a better chance at in the lottery in general-assuming we like both the same. It seems like both may just be a long shot?

The nice thing about the DC lottery is that you can rank by true preference without penalty. If DCI is your true preference, rank it first. Then even if you get and accept an offer at Adams, you stay on the waitlist for DCI. If it’s that close of a call, I’d think about IB vs. AP curriculum, DCPS vs charter, the size differences (at the middle and high school levels), and your kid’s opinion. Some of us have strong opinions on these matters, but it’s okay if you don’t. Maybe go to open houses at both and see which you and your kid get a better feel from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wilson is much better than DCI high school. They’d already have had 8-11 years of immersion, no need to prioritize immersion in high school over academics.

Are you serious? Immersion (partial) must be prioritized in HS or kids are denied the higher level lit courses. Never mind the fact that DCI is an IB World School and Jackson Reed (it's not Wilson anymore) is....well, not much.