Why do friends keep saying MoCo and FFX schools are better than DCPS?

[Anonymous]

DCPS seems fine to me. It’s fine for thousands of families.

[Anonymous]

FCPS does a good job with preschool and kindergarten although TBH it's a bit too much for my taste. After 3rd grade, though, after a good deal of sorting and changing schools, lotterying, etc. then fine becomes arguable.

[Anonymous]

I hear this from friends too and my DCs have thrived in DCPS. There are pros and cons on both sides but the main pro for us has been the people we’ve come in contact with (parents, teachers, kids). Also, we aren’t the worrying type and didn’t fuss over if DC learned Geometry in 8th or 9th grade. I know many DC oarents who went on to great schools and became productive, kind adults. So, as a UMC family DC education is ideal.

[Anonymous]

The people who say "schools are bad" have high expectations and aren't thousands of families.

[Anonymous]

lol bc they are right

[Anonymous]

Are the MCPS and FCPS forums filled with threads about when to move to DCPS? Bc the DCPS forum is. Everyone frets over high school unless they are IB for JR.

[Anonymous]

I'm a special ed lawyer working exclusively in DC. I know special ed isn't great anywhere, but DCPS is truly dysfunctional. I often can't tell if it's malfeasance or incompetence (or both), but either way, the kids lose.

[Anonymous]

MCPS is a dumpster fire for special ed. After the pandemic it became full on 5 alarmer. There is really only on public school district in the greater metro region - and it certainly isn’t MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS is a dumpster fire for special ed. After the pandemic it became full on 5 alarmer. There is really only on public school district in the greater metro region - and it certainly isn’t MCPS.

I don't understand your last sentence. Can you restate it?

[Anonymous]

DCPS is fine if you're the type to think most schools are about the same.

I think FCPS and MCPS have better magnet programs, but who knows if your kid will get in.

MCPS and FCPS have the bonus of being in state to Maryland and Virginia universities. DCTAG is not the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS is a dumpster fire for special ed. After the pandemic it became full on 5 alarmer. There is really only on public school district in the greater metro region - and it certainly isn’t MCPS.

I’m thinking this person meant one good district? But I don’t even know which one they are referring to.

[Anonymous]

They said that 25 years ago and mostly because they looked at DCPS test scores.

[Anonymous]

I resisted this way of thinking for a while, but if you look at the data, UMC do as well in DCPS as they do anywhere. So it’s a bit of a myth. It all has to do with preferences. If you believe that a more homogeneously “high acheiving” school is what you want, that’s not DCPS mostly. If you like the suburbs, big outdoor spaces, also not DCPS. But for many of us, DCPS fits because we like the city, don’t want to live in the suburbs, and have found year by year that our kids are doing well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I resisted this way of thinking for a while, but if you look at the data, UMC do as well in DCPS as they do anywhere. So it’s a bit of a myth. It all has to do with preferences. If you believe that a more homogeneously “high acheiving” school is what you want, that’s not DCPS mostly. If you like the suburbs, big outdoor spaces, also not DCPS. But for many of us, DCPS fits because we like the city, don’t want to live in the suburbs, and have found year by year that our kids are doing well.

Are you zoned for JR or did you lottery into a charter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I resisted this way of thinking for a while, but if you look at the data, UMC do as well in DCPS as they do anywhere. So it’s a bit of a myth. It all has to do with preferences. If you believe that a more homogeneously “high acheiving” school is what you want, that’s not DCPS mostly. If you like the suburbs, big outdoor spaces, also not DCPS. But for many of us, DCPS fits because we like the city, don’t want to live in the suburbs, and have found year by year that our kids are doing well.

Do the kids remain in DCPS schools L-12? Or Head to privates for MS and or HS?