Tell me about Latin Cooper

[Anonymous]

Latin has a great reputation but I’m interested to hear from current parents. How is the new campus? If you are a parent of a student have you been happy with the community, academics, administration? Thank you.

[Anonymous]

You're not getting a response OP because there have been a bunch of Latin Cooper threads in the last year alone. Simply do a search to find them.

[Anonymous]

I have a rising 6th grader and we love it. My kid seems challenged, and particularly loved the English and Geography/Literature class. They also focus heavily on executive functioning the 5th grade year which is great; it meant I didn’t have to teach my kid how to be a good student. Class size is small and the principal and teachers are great. The drop off and pickup at current location is painful but it’s only another year. The community at the kid level seems great. We didn’t really meet many other families although they did have a few mixers. We’re very happy.

[Anonymous]

Yes, but the building is truly lousy, seriously claustrophobic, and it's still not clear when the new building will be ready. Extra curriculars still don't amount to much (find your own outside the school). The parents of rising 6th graders seem happier than the parents of rising 8th graders.

[Anonymous]

What’s the issue with the rising 8th graders? The construction is on time and looks like they’re making a lot of progress.

[Anonymous]

What is “on time”? What’s the latest they’ve said? Yu Ying is sharing that building and they told parents, a while back, that they’d move into their part of the new building between Oct and Dec this year. That is already slippage from original plan to be in ahead of the school year, I thought?

[Anonymous]

I don't have any information about Yu Ying or what they've told their parents, but Latin Cooper has consistently said that nothing will be ready until the start of the '25-26 school year, and (as best I can tell) that forecast has not changed at all.

I'm not sure where the no extracurriculars comment comes from. Cooper put on their own musical, shares sports with 2nd street and generally has a lot of clubs for kids. Maybe the rising 8th graders (who have had longer in the current building) have had longer to dislike the building. Possible, but for someone considering Cooper today, you're not looking at a long runway until the new building is ready.

[Anonymous]

I have a kid there. Yeah, the school is least ideal for rising 8th graders, that's normal for the starter year, but things have improved from year to year. I do trust the admins who say that we'll be moving in one year to new campus. The plans right now for the new campus are pretty impressive, like a full kitchen for cooking lunches on site. My kid is looking forward to that, the lunch provider now is terrible.

There are definitely lunch clubs, like chess on Thursday, some aftercare activities, student government, choir, the myriad options for arts block.

My kid is enjoying it (though to be fair is pretty happy go lucky).

Academically, strongest classes are social studies (Geography in 5th and Civics in 6th were amazing, by far most interesting). There will be math differentiation in 7th grade.

There were also more than an average number of field trips (for a middle school in DC), two dances (and movie night for fifth graders).

There are two different shuttles from Cap Hill, one from near Eastern Market and one from Sherwood Rec Center, so many of the kids are from this area, but also from Brookland, and then all around the city.

[Anonymous]

OK, but above is a seriously rosy view of the school. Latin Cooper is decent, to be sure, but it's hardly the best thing since sliced bread. Many students come from Capitol Hill, which isn't close. The facilities are minimal and it's not clear what kind of facilities to expect at the Kirov ballet location, or exactly when, plenty of the students are middling or weak, many of the teachers are young and inexperienced. EC's aren't well developed etc. Is Latin Cooper a step up academically from Eliot-Hine, Jefferson and Stuart Hobson. Maybe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OK, but above is a seriously rosy view of the school. Latin Cooper is decent, to be sure, but it's hardly the best thing since sliced bread. Many students come from Capitol Hill, which isn't close. The facilities are minimal and it's not clear what kind of facilities to expect at the Kirov ballet location, or exactly when, plenty of the students are middling or weak, many of the teachers are young and inexperienced. EC's aren't well developed etc. Is Latin Cooper a step up academically from Eliot-Hine, Jefferson and Stuart Hobson. Maybe.

I'm one of the PPs, and I'm not saying it's rosy, but it's a good fit for my child. I am confident the facility at Kirov will be acceptable to amazing. Yes, plenty of students are middling or weak, this isn't a private school or even BASIS, yes, some teachers are young and inexperienced, but some are amazing. ECs: depends on what your kid's needs are, if your kid would benefit from a giant school like Deal, then they'd chafe at Cooper.

I don't have kids at EH, JF, or SH, so can't speak to that. Our primary aim was to leave our elementary school for fifth, my kid was ready for something else. If Cooper hadn't worked out, we might have returned to one of the Hill middle schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: ECs: depends on what your kid's needs are, if your kid would benefit from a giant school like Deal, then they'd chafe at Cooper.

I don't have kids at EH, JF, or SH, so can't speak to that. Our primary aim was to leave our elementary school for fifth, my kid was ready for something else. If Cooper hadn't worked out, we might have returned to one of the Hill middle schools.

So much time is spent on this board putting down other people's choices that this important part about FIT is overlooked. We chose Latin over DCI because the location works for our (not Hill) family and the smaller size and fewer EC is what felt right for our kid. Easily distracted and already involved in time consuming ECs outside of school. If I had a different kid, I might have prioritized language and access to more options.

[Anonymous]

+1. People are constantly looking for a consensus on “best” schools and what’s best for one kid isn’t best for another. The “best” decision for your kid reflects the kid’s personality and interests, strengths and weaknesses.

[Anonymous]

Yes, but, come on, it's all pretty much make-do even with the best of our DC public charter schools and, frankly, DCPS. No facility as crappy at BASIS' or Latin Cooper's is a good fit for any kid. No middle school as crowded and chaotic as Deal, without academic tracking outside math, is all that wonderful either. The ECs at these charters, and in DCPS frankly, aren't too hot for any student as compared to what's on offer in any half-way decent suburban DMV school, particularly where instrumental music instruction and sports go. A gaggle of charter teachers that aren't paid or trained well, and aren't very experienced, is only so wonderful. I get it, living in the city is what you want, really want. But let's not pretend or claim that anything much is the "best" in DC public schools lest we come off as vaguely delusional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but, come on, it's all pretty much make-do even with the best of our DC public charter schools and, frankly, DCPS. No facility as crappy at BASIS' or Latin Cooper's is a good fit for any kid. No middle school as crowded and chaotic as Deal, without academic tracking outside math, is all that wonderful either. The ECs at these charters, and in DCPS frankly, aren't too hot for any student as compared to what's on offer in any half-way decent suburban DMV school, particularly where instrumental music instruction and sports go. A gaggle of charter teachers that aren't paid or trained well, and aren't very experienced, is only so wonderful. I get it, living in the city is what you want, really want. But let's not pretend or claim that anything much is the "best" in DC public schools lest we come off as vaguely delusional.

OK, then why are you even in this forum?

[Anonymous]

Why are you?