DCI or Stuart Hobson for anxious child

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I don’t see anything wrong with supplementing. Honestly, I like supplementing. I figure out what my kid is either super interested in or needs reinforcement in, and we find things that work. Unless we sent our kid to some super bespoke private school that met all of our needs or interests (which I’m not sure exists) I would expect to keep doing it.

I think supplementing means different things to different people. I wouldn't expect any school to do a lot of the things I do with my kids; we do them and are happy to do them because they match our family's specific personal interests and/or values. But I would be super annoyed if I felt I needed to pay for math or ELA tutoring just to keep up with grade-level expectations.

You are going to have to supplement in DCPS no matter what. The issue is how much are you willing to do because the fact is all subjects are weak and not just math.

Don’t get me into science with Amblify and the new ELA curriculum.

It’s way too much. You only have so much time in the day and your kid will be miserable and angry forcing them to supplement so much. People just opt out and leave DCPS.

I really considered going to my inbound dcps (Stuart Hobson) if only for sanity and a good commute. But when I realized the amount of supplementation i needed to do just to get them to bare minimum grade level elsewhere (not dcps grade level that’s a joke) I would not be improving my sanity or shortening my commute since I would just end up driving all over the place anyway and spending my weekends trying to force my kid to read actual books and engage in extracurriculars. Yes there are some ECs in SH, but not enough. That’s basically all dcps. Fine but not enough. I’d rather spend the money and time commuting to a school that challenged my kid, not at kumon or whatever.

This is definitely the angry PP sock-puppeting and pretending to be another poster. If you’re going to keep claiming that DC grade level is somehow different than everywhere else, let’s hear some details.

I don’t understand why you’re going so hard against people giving valid criticisms to this school. I really don’t. You get mad when people say it’s unacceptable, and you get mad when people explain how the easy commute is a farce if you want to do right by your child. Stay angry.

An amazing response that still dodges the question of what’s wrong with DC’s or SH’s grade level math.

How many times does it have to be repeated for you to understand the curriculum at SH and other dcps is the lowest and slowest in the REGION and there is no way for bright students to get ahead and students who are below to get support. It’s not Stuart Hobson fault it’s the fault of dcps. It’s not strong academically and I don’t know a single parent who would argue this point. But keep attacking people (who include former SH boosters btw) that bemoan the lack of opportunities for bright kids.

You are repeating the same conclusion over and over again. My kid is going to be at SH and this is a legitimate concern of mine. But generalized claims of it being the lowest and slowest in the region don’t help. What are sixth graders doing at other schools? What are you looking at to make this conclusion?

These are all questions I asked myself when I considered my IB school (S-H). You should have done this research for yourself if it’s a legitimate concern for you.

Again, you are not actually providing any information here, just attacks. I have done research on this but you are claiming to know something that is different from what I have learned, which is why I am asking, as part of my ongoing research as a parent. If I’m wrong or there’s more to learn, I want to know. But what you are showing me is that you don’t have anything to back up your claims because you keep dodging the questions. This is a crappy thing to do to fellow parents because we are asking you questions in good faith.

+1. I don’t have a kid at SH but it would be nice for people with experience to explain the math progression. Might help OP and others.

SH and DCPS doesn’t actually do real tracking. Real tracking is when you take all the high performers in math in a grade and put them in a separate math class that is accelerated and dives deeper.

What they do is just put the kids with the math class in the next grade which is composed of weak math students. So a few 6th grade kids go to 7th grade math. But this 7th grade math is basically a remedial course composed of many kids below grade level. Rinse and repeat, few 7th graders go to 8th grade math.

Contrast this to DCI which has real tracking in math at each grade. They have multiple levels of math at each grade. So the highest level math is comprised of only the highest performers in that grade. Placement is based on high standards of MAP testing, grades, and teachers rec. And the AP and IB passing rate data shows that the program and cohort at this level is very strong.

The burbs also has real tracking like DCI.

So this is only accurate for 1 year & not even for all "accelerated" kids at present. There are 3 "tracks" for 6th graders at SH in math. Some 6th graders are placed directly in 7th grade math. In the past, they have been placed in regular 7th grade math classes, because they didn't have the numbers for their own class. There are early indications that this may actually change for next year, but it's not clear yet (that is, there may be enough kids to fill their own class). Additional 6th graders are placed in an accelerated 6th grade class that covers 6th & 7th grade math w/ a goal of getting to 8th the following year (based on a test at the end; alternatively, kids can retake 7th if needed); obviously this class is only 6th graders & not a "regular" class. Then there are 6th graders who do 6th grade math. The following year, the kids who jumped directly to 7th are combined with the kids coming out of 6th & 7th combined who meet the 8th grade requirements and they have their own class. They have their own class the following year too.

There are minor deviations from these 3 tracks, including at least one 6th grade who jumped all the way to the 8th/9th grade class last year and is now taking geometry online as a 7th grader (along side some 8th graders).

The bottom line is that if you're considering SH and have a kid who needs more, you should speak to leadership about what options are available. DCUM is wrong about outlier cases a good portion of the time.

Let me boil this down for you: there is no acceleration at Stuart Hobson at all. If you have pushy parents and are truly good at math, you can maybe take an online course.

This is obviously untrue and at this point you clearly just have some personal agenda. Yes, if you need your 7th grader to take geometry, you will need to talk to the school, but that is not being “pushy,” the school is receptive for true outliers like this kid and I don’t have any problem with geometry in 7th being an outlier. I hope SH starts offering in person geometry for 8th graders and I believe they’re moving in that direction, but saying there is no acceleration and no tracking just isn’t true.

There is no acceleration. There is the ability to take classes above grade level for super outliers (with pushy parents) but those will have grade level students there. Not accelerated math students.

Instead of fighting with people on the internet and making up facts to suit your reality, be that pushy parent and ask for more than a non accelerated math class online.

But if you read the post, there is acceleration. And the ability to take classes above grade level is not for super outliers, but for 2+ full classes of students by 7th grade. The anecdote about the super accelerated student was framed as an exception to the normal 3 track system. If you truly believe that geometry in 7th grade is "a non accelerated math class," I don't think you will be happy with any school system.

NP. First, it is not above grade level for families here to get to Algebra 1 by 8th. That is a standard grade level track. This is not accelerated. Also there are all sorts of kids mixed in the class.

It’s totally weird and the outlier student above taking an online class is no substitute for a real class with peers and teachers.

Lastly, no I don’t think DCPS will do any honors class even if SH can drum up enough students. They are anti-honors and took it away WOTP because of equity.

Taking it in 8th is an advanced track. Not the most advanced track, but advanced behind the default, which is 9th. Just because a lot of UMC families expect their kids to do it in 8th does not make it the standard or default track.

It’s relative isn’t it because at DCI and the good schools in the burbs, it is not at all. It’s the standard track for college bound kids.

There are 2 tracks above this which is advance and double advance.

It’s advanced, not advance. But hello again! Your typos give you away.

[Anonymous]

You can tell just how bad the math is in DCPS by reading the Deal thread on Algebra and Geometry.

Kids have to double up in math and families are advising against it because there is no math offered after Cal. WTF.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I don’t see anything wrong with supplementing. Honestly, I like supplementing. I figure out what my kid is either super interested in or needs reinforcement in, and we find things that work. Unless we sent our kid to some super bespoke private school that met all of our needs or interests (which I’m not sure exists) I would expect to keep doing it.

I think supplementing means different things to different people. I wouldn't expect any school to do a lot of the things I do with my kids; we do them and are happy to do them because they match our family's specific personal interests and/or values. But I would be super annoyed if I felt I needed to pay for math or ELA tutoring just to keep up with grade-level expectations.

You are going to have to supplement in DCPS no matter what. The issue is how much are you willing to do because the fact is all subjects are weak and not just math.

Don’t get me into science with Amblify and the new ELA curriculum.

It’s way too much. You only have so much time in the day and your kid will be miserable and angry forcing them to supplement so much. People just opt out and leave DCPS.

I really considered going to my inbound dcps (Stuart Hobson) if only for sanity and a good commute. But when I realized the amount of supplementation i needed to do just to get them to bare minimum grade level elsewhere (not dcps grade level that’s a joke) I would not be improving my sanity or shortening my commute since I would just end up driving all over the place anyway and spending my weekends trying to force my kid to read actual books and engage in extracurriculars. Yes there are some ECs in SH, but not enough. That’s basically all dcps. Fine but not enough. I’d rather spend the money and time commuting to a school that challenged my kid, not at kumon or whatever.

This is definitely the angry PP sock-puppeting and pretending to be another poster. If you’re going to keep claiming that DC grade level is somehow different than everywhere else, let’s hear some details.

I don’t understand why you’re going so hard against people giving valid criticisms to this school. I really don’t. You get mad when people say it’s unacceptable, and you get mad when people explain how the easy commute is a farce if you want to do right by your child. Stay angry.

An amazing response that still dodges the question of what’s wrong with DC’s or SH’s grade level math.

How many times does it have to be repeated for you to understand the curriculum at SH and other dcps is the lowest and slowest in the REGION and there is no way for bright students to get ahead and students who are below to get support. It’s not Stuart Hobson fault it’s the fault of dcps. It’s not strong academically and I don’t know a single parent who would argue this point. But keep attacking people (who include former SH boosters btw) that bemoan the lack of opportunities for bright kids.

You are repeating the same conclusion over and over again. My kid is going to be at SH and this is a legitimate concern of mine. But generalized claims of it being the lowest and slowest in the region don’t help. What are sixth graders doing at other schools? What are you looking at to make this conclusion?

These are all questions I asked myself when I considered my IB school (S-H). You should have done this research for yourself if it’s a legitimate concern for you.

Again, you are not actually providing any information here, just attacks. I have done research on this but you are claiming to know something that is different from what I have learned, which is why I am asking, as part of my ongoing research as a parent. If I’m wrong or there’s more to learn, I want to know. But what you are showing me is that you don’t have anything to back up your claims because you keep dodging the questions. This is a crappy thing to do to fellow parents because we are asking you questions in good faith.

+1. I don’t have a kid at SH but it would be nice for people with experience to explain the math progression. Might help OP and others.

SH and DCPS doesn’t actually do real tracking. Real tracking is when you take all the high performers in math in a grade and put them in a separate math class that is accelerated and dives deeper.

What they do is just put the kids with the math class in the next grade which is composed of weak math students. So a few 6th grade kids go to 7th grade math. But this 7th grade math is basically a remedial course composed of many kids below grade level. Rinse and repeat, few 7th graders go to 8th grade math.

Contrast this to DCI which has real tracking in math at each grade. They have multiple levels of math at each grade. So the highest level math is comprised of only the highest performers in that grade. Placement is based on high standards of MAP testing, grades, and teachers rec. And the AP and IB passing rate data shows that the program and cohort at this level is very strong.

The burbs also has real tracking like DCI.

So this is only accurate for 1 year & not even for all "accelerated" kids at present. There are 3 "tracks" for 6th graders at SH in math. Some 6th graders are placed directly in 7th grade math. In the past, they have been placed in regular 7th grade math classes, because they didn't have the numbers for their own class. There are early indications that this may actually change for next year, but it's not clear yet (that is, there may be enough kids to fill their own class). Additional 6th graders are placed in an accelerated 6th grade class that covers 6th & 7th grade math w/ a goal of getting to 8th the following year (based on a test at the end; alternatively, kids can retake 7th if needed); obviously this class is only 6th graders & not a "regular" class. Then there are 6th graders who do 6th grade math. The following year, the kids who jumped directly to 7th are combined with the kids coming out of 6th & 7th combined who meet the 8th grade requirements and they have their own class. They have their own class the following year too.

There are minor deviations from these 3 tracks, including at least one 6th grade who jumped all the way to the 8th/9th grade class last year and is now taking geometry online as a 7th grader (along side some 8th graders).

The bottom line is that if you're considering SH and have a kid who needs more, you should speak to leadership about what options are available. DCUM is wrong about outlier cases a good portion of the time.

Let me boil this down for you: there is no acceleration at Stuart Hobson at all. If you have pushy parents and are truly good at math, you can maybe take an online course.

This is obviously untrue and at this point you clearly just have some personal agenda. Yes, if you need your 7th grader to take geometry, you will need to talk to the school, but that is not being “pushy,” the school is receptive for true outliers like this kid and I don’t have any problem with geometry in 7th being an outlier. I hope SH starts offering in person geometry for 8th graders and I believe they’re moving in that direction, but saying there is no acceleration and no tracking just isn’t true.

There is no acceleration. There is the ability to take classes above grade level for super outliers (with pushy parents) but those will have grade level students there. Not accelerated math students.

Instead of fighting with people on the internet and making up facts to suit your reality, be that pushy parent and ask for more than a non accelerated math class online.

But if you read the post, there is acceleration. And the ability to take classes above grade level is not for super outliers, but for 2+ full classes of students by 7th grade. The anecdote about the super accelerated student was framed as an exception to the normal 3 track system. If you truly believe that geometry in 7th grade is "a non accelerated math class," I don't think you will be happy with any school system.

NP. First, it is not above grade level for families here to get to Algebra 1 by 8th. That is a standard grade level track. This is not accelerated. Also there are all sorts of kids mixed in the class.

It’s totally weird and the outlier student above taking an online class is no substitute for a real class with peers and teachers.

Lastly, no I don’t think DCPS will do any honors class even if SH can drum up enough students. They are anti-honors and took it away WOTP because of equity.

Taking it in 8th is an advanced track. Not the most advanced track, but advanced behind the default, which is 9th. Just because a lot of UMC families expect their kids to do it in 8th does not make it the standard or default track.

It’s relative isn’t it because at DCI and the good schools in the burbs, it is not at all. It’s the standard track for college bound kids.

There are 2 tracks above this which is advance and double advance.

Oh, fun! It’s the “advance” math poster again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can tell just how bad the math is in DCPS by reading the Deal thread on Algebra and Geometry.

Kids have to double up in math and families are advising against it because there is no math offered after Cal. WTF.

Shall we evaluate the schools you graduated from based on your reading comprehension? C-

In that thread the poster is asking if their child should double up on Geometry and Algebra II in 8th, which is an option Deal offers to students they think could handle Algebra II in 8th. What they are being told is that at J-R, there aren't good options for taking post-calc math in 11th because the way kids take post-calc at JR is through dual enrollment at a local university (so an actual college level math class) and 11th is a bad year to do this due to scheduling and other demands. So they can just take Algebra II freshman year, and that is puts them on track to do post-calc math at a local university their senior year if they want. There is no compelling reason to do this in 11th, even for mathy kids who intend to major in STEM in college. Colleges will also be more impressed by an actual college level math class than a HS class, no matter what it's called.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can tell just how bad the math is in DCPS by reading the Deal thread on Algebra and Geometry.

Kids have to double up in math and families are advising against it because there is no math offered after Cal. WTF.

Shall we evaluate the schools you graduated from based on your reading comprehension? C-

In that thread the poster is asking if their child should double up on Geometry and Algebra II in 8th, which is an option Deal offers to students they think could handle Algebra II in 8th. What they are being told is that at J-R, there aren't good options for taking post-calc math in 11th because the way kids take post-calc at JR is through dual enrollment at a local university (so an actual college level math class) and 11th is a bad year to do this due to scheduling and other demands. So they can just take Algebra II freshman year, and that is puts them on track to do post-calc math at a local university their senior year if they want. There is no compelling reason to do this in 11th, even for mathy kids who intend to major in STEM in college. Colleges will also be more impressed by an actual college level math class than a HS class, no matter what it's called.

Dual enrollment is a logistical nightmare for any school except Walls so basically most kids can’t do it.

Why do you think it is acceptable that most high schools in the city, the highest math offered is just Cal AP and at JR Cal BC when many schools just across the border offer classes past that?

Are there no kids in DCPS who can handle it or want it? Seriously asking.