Two Rivers elementary families -- what is your MS plan

[Anonymous]

TR Young or your IB (in which case what is your IB) or a lottery plan or other?

We are likely to get an offer for K (for 4th street) and we liked what we saw on the tour but people seem less enthusiastic about the middle school and just trying to get a sense of how current families feel about it-- the ones we've spoken to in person have been vague.

[Anonymous]

Well, I don't go there, but I live in the area and know many who do. I would say:

1) The younger their kids, the more optimistic they are about the middle school. Whether that's just naivete or because they have more time for that to happen, or both, I don't know.

2) Plans tend to be some collection of these ideas:

A. Stay through 5th and then go to Stuart-Hobson, either IB or by lotterying in.
B. Try to lottery into a Stuart-Hobson feeder.
C. Try to lottery into Inspired Teaching.
D. Try to lottery into a DCI feeder school (understanding at your kids' age that DCI isn't guaranteed).
E. Look into Eliot-Hine and Jefferson.
F. St. Anselm's if you have a boy. Other privates such as Capitol Hill Day School and St. Peter's and St. Anthony's.
G. Plan to move-- a lot of people have this idea because they think they'll be wanting (and can afford) a larger home anyway.

[Anonymous]

Oh and H. Try to lottery into Sojourner Truth, which starts in 6th grade.

So you can see, there are many options, it's just a question of whether you like the options for your family.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Is any option more often taken than others? Some of those are options for us and others aren't -- were trying to get a sense of we'll get to 4th or 5th and the cohort is all doing XYZ while our options are A or B (for example private is not an option and our IB MS isn't very good-- we do not live in Ward 6).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Is any option more often taken than others? Some of those are options for us and others aren't -- were trying to get a sense of we'll get to 4th or 5th and the cohort is all doing XYZ while our options are A or B (for example private is not an option and our IB MS isn't very good-- we do not live in Ward 6).

Well, the options available to a family depends heavily on where they live, how good a lottery number they have, and what kind of school they like. All those things vary tremendously. So it's hard to draw any particular conclusions about trends.

You might like to look at the second graphic on this page. Be sure to look at both Two Rivers'.
https://edscape.dc.gov/page/student-enrollment-pathways Be aware that the Two Rivers upper elementary cohorts aren't big enough to generate a statistically meaningful data set because of the rule not to say how many if it's less than 10 kids. You can view this also by setting to Backward View at the receiving school. Play with the data a bit and you'll get a sense of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, I don't go there, but I live in the area and know many who do. I would say:

1) The younger their kids, the more optimistic they are about the middle school. Whether that's just naivete or because they have more time for that to happen, or both, I don't know.

2) Plans tend to be some collection of these ideas:

A. Stay through 5th and then go to Stuart-Hobson, either IB or by lotterying in.
B. Try to lottery into a Stuart-Hobson feeder.
C. Try to lottery into Inspired Teaching.
D. Try to lottery into a DCI feeder school (understanding at your kids' age that DCI isn't guaranteed).
E. Look into Eliot-Hine and Jefferson.
F. St. Anselm's if you have a boy. Other privates such as Capitol Hill Day School and St. Peter's and St. Anthony's.
G. Plan to move-- a lot of people have this idea because they think they'll be wanting (and can afford) a larger home anyway.

I'm embarrassed I forgot to mention BASIS and Latin! Both Latin campuses. But I was thinking about this for 6th grade and you'd have to switch to those in 5th.

There's also EL Haynes and Cap City if you like those, and Ida B. Wells and MacFarland.

[Anonymous]

Tell us roughly where you live and we can be more helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, I don't go there, but I live in the area and know many who do. I would say:

1) The younger their kids, the more optimistic they are about the middle school. Whether that's just naivete or because they have more time for that to happen, or both, I don't know.

2) Plans tend to be some collection of these ideas:

A. Stay through 5th and then go to Stuart-Hobson, either IB or by lotterying in.
B. Try to lottery into a Stuart-Hobson feeder.
C. Try to lottery into Inspired Teaching.
D. Try to lottery into a DCI feeder school (understanding at your kids' age that DCI isn't guaranteed).
E. Look into Eliot-Hine and Jefferson.
F. St. Anselm's if you have a boy. Other privates such as Capitol Hill Day School and St. Peter's and St. Anthony's.
G. Plan to move-- a lot of people have this idea because they think they'll be wanting (and can afford) a larger home anyway.

I'm embarrassed I forgot to mention BASIS and Latin! Both Latin campuses. But I was thinking about this for 6th grade and you'd have to switch to those in 5th.

There's also EL Haynes and Cap City if you like those, and Ida B. Wells and MacFarland.

OP, this PP has it right. Yuu're not going to get a whole cohort going anywhere because there are all these options and families are going to all choose differently for various reasons.

[Anonymous]

OP, I think given your propensity for long-term thinking, you're not going to be that happy at Two Rivers even though lower elementary is fine. You won't stop trying to solve your middle school problem if that's the kind of thinking you tend to do. How do I know? Because I'm like that too. Honestly, Two Rivers' middle school wasn't that great before it fell apart, it's just that people were reserving judgment because it was so new. Getting a school back on track is HARD and takes many years.

I think in your shoes, the thing to do is take a hard look at the middle schools in the area. Do you like ANY of them? If not, then you know you need to move. If you can identify a few that you'd be okay with, then you can stay and work on your path to those schools, and/or prepare to move house.

As to whether to choose Two Rivers for lower elementary, I suppose it depends on what you like and what your other options are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I think given your propensity for long-term thinking, you're not going to be that happy at Two Rivers even though lower elementary is fine. You won't stop trying to solve your middle school problem if that's the kind of thinking you tend to do. How do I know? Because I'm like that too. Honestly, Two Rivers' middle school wasn't that great before it fell apart, it's just that people were reserving judgment because it was so new. Getting a school back on track is HARD and takes many years.

I think in your shoes, the thing to do is take a hard look at the middle schools in the area. Do you like ANY of them? If not, then you know you need to move. If you can identify a few that you'd be okay with, then you can stay and work on your path to those schools, and/or prepare to move house.

As to whether to choose Two Rivers for lower elementary, I suppose it depends on what you like and what your other options are.

OP here and thank you for the tough love-- this is what I needed to hear. I think I have been trying to talk myself into it because I know we're going to get an offer there, but you are right that I'm never going to be chill about the MS plan and it will stress me out. We have other schools on our list with MSs we're happy with, I just don't know if we'll get in there.

So really the issue is whether it's worth it to me to go to TR for a few years while we try to get our kid into a school with a better feed, or if I'd rather stay at our IB during that process. Either way we're not going to stay at TR past 1st or 2nd if we can help it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I think given your propensity for long-term thinking, you're not going to be that happy at Two Rivers even though lower elementary is fine. You won't stop trying to solve your middle school problem if that's the kind of thinking you tend to do. How do I know? Because I'm like that too. Honestly, Two Rivers' middle school wasn't that great before it fell apart, it's just that people were reserving judgment because it was so new. Getting a school back on track is HARD and takes many years.

I think in your shoes, the thing to do is take a hard look at the middle schools in the area. Do you like ANY of them? If not, then you know you need to move. If you can identify a few that you'd be okay with, then you can stay and work on your path to those schools, and/or prepare to move house.

As to whether to choose Two Rivers for lower elementary, I suppose it depends on what you like and what your other options are.

OP here and thank you for the tough love-- this is what I needed to hear. I think I have been trying to talk myself into it because I know we're going to get an offer there, but you are right that I'm never going to be chill about the MS plan and it will stress me out. We have other schools on our list with MSs we're happy with, I just don't know if we'll get in there.

So really the issue is whether it's worth it to me to go to TR for a few years while we try to get our kid into a school with a better feed, or if I'd rather stay at our IB during that process. Either way we're not going to stay at TR past 1st or 2nd if we can help it.

Obnoxious to take a spot with an attitude like that. You are part of the problem.

[Anonymous]

I think it will help you to bear in mind that if you do want TR middle school, you'll likely be able to lottery into it (or something you're equally lukewarm about) very easily. So you don't lose much by turning down this offer.

It's hard to say without knowing more details of your situation, but I think in your shoes I would spare my kid the disruption and continue to lottery for a school you actually are happy with. In general the elementary lottery becomes easier as your kid grows older.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I think given your propensity for long-term thinking, you're not going to be that happy at Two Rivers even though lower elementary is fine. You won't stop trying to solve your middle school problem if that's the kind of thinking you tend to do. How do I know? Because I'm like that too. Honestly, Two Rivers' middle school wasn't that great before it fell apart, it's just that people were reserving judgment because it was so new. Getting a school back on track is HARD and takes many years.

I think in your shoes, the thing to do is take a hard look at the middle schools in the area. Do you like ANY of them? If not, then you know you need to move. If you can identify a few that you'd be okay with, then you can stay and work on your path to those schools, and/or prepare to move house.

As to whether to choose Two Rivers for lower elementary, I suppose it depends on what you like and what your other options are.

OP here and thank you for the tough love-- this is what I needed to hear. I think I have been trying to talk myself into it because I know we're going to get an offer there, but you are right that I'm never going to be chill about the MS plan and it will stress me out. We have other schools on our list with MSs we're happy with, I just don't know if we'll get in there.

So really the issue is whether it's worth it to me to go to TR for a few years while we try to get our kid into a school with a better feed, or if I'd rather stay at our IB during that process. Either way we're not going to stay at TR past 1st or 2nd if we can help it.

Obnoxious to take a spot with an attitude like that. You are part of the problem.

Right. People who don't even go to the school and have concerns about joining a school that has terrible test scores, terrible behavior, and terrible leadership are definitely to blame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I think given your propensity for long-term thinking, you're not going to be that happy at Two Rivers even though lower elementary is fine. You won't stop trying to solve your middle school problem if that's the kind of thinking you tend to do. How do I know? Because I'm like that too. Honestly, Two Rivers' middle school wasn't that great before it fell apart, it's just that people were reserving judgment because it was so new. Getting a school back on track is HARD and takes many years.

I think in your shoes, the thing to do is take a hard look at the middle schools in the area. Do you like ANY of them? If not, then you know you need to move. If you can identify a few that you'd be okay with, then you can stay and work on your path to those schools, and/or prepare to move house.

As to whether to choose Two Rivers for lower elementary, I suppose it depends on what you like and what your other options are.

OP here and thank you for the tough love-- this is what I needed to hear. I think I have been trying to talk myself into it because I know we're going to get an offer there, but you are right that I'm never going to be chill about the MS plan and it will stress me out. We have other schools on our list with MSs we're happy with, I just don't know if we'll get in there.

So really the issue is whether it's worth it to me to go to TR for a few years while we try to get our kid into a school with a better feed, or if I'd rather stay at our IB during that process. Either way we're not going to stay at TR past 1st or 2nd if we can help it.

Obnoxious to take a spot with an attitude like that. You are part of the problem.

Why? The problem is limited access to quality middle school programs EOTP. There are many families who do exactly this because they can't get into a feeder for a strong middle school until late elementary. If TR wants people to stay past middle elementary they should offer a strong middle school -- the don't.

But FYI if you are upset about this because you are on the waitlist for TR and feel like you will be locked out due to people taking spots there just for lower elementary -- don't be. It's actually remarkably easy to lottery into TR starting in K and only gets easier ever year. We have received offers at TR for both of the last two years (K and 1st) and didn't take them either year -- it was a backup option if other plans didn't pan out. Their waitlist moves quickly because people bail ALL THE time. Because it's not really a very strong school -- it is just a place where parents who want a cohort of upper middle class kids can stick their kids for a few years. If the program was actually strong they would retain students longer and it would be hard to lottery in. But other than for PK it's really not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it will help you to bear in mind that if you do want TR middle school, you'll likely be able to lottery into it (or something you're equally lukewarm about) very easily. So you don't lose much by turning down this offer.

It's hard to say without knowing more details of your situation, but I think in your shoes I would spare my kid the disruption and continue to lottery for a school you actually are happy with. In general the elementary lottery becomes easier as your kid grows older.

No one wants TR middle school -- that's the point. That's why they clear their waitlists for 3-5 every year and go very deep into the waitlists if not clear them for K-2.

You don't lose much by turning down this offer any year for any reason because once your kid is through PK you can likely lottery into TR almost any other year unless you get an exceptionally bad lottery number.