J-R vs Duke Ellington

[Anonymous]

Quiet kid, intimidated by large and/or rowdy crowds, extremely talented at music, not into sports. Straight A student, but very easily distracted in large classes and coming from a small k-8 I think it is likely to be a rocky transition. Private is not affordable for us; financial aid offer isn’t enough to make it work.

Didn’t get an interview at Walls. Audition at Ellington went really well. But we obviously don’t know a decision yet.

Wondering what people think might be a better fit?

[Anonymous]

Let your child choose.

Duke and J-R are both fine schools. Neither is perfect. The price is the same. Your child is the one who will have to get up each morning and commute to the school. They’re the one who will enjoy the benefits of the school. They’re the one who will have to cope with the drawbacks. Either way, they’ll be more committed to having a good experience at a school they chose. And even if they come to regret their choice, they’ll learn valuable lessons about themselves, and about decision-making. Which is great, because in four years they will have to make a similar but much more complicated decision.

[Anonymous]

Avoid duke

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Avoid duke

Why?

[Anonymous]

NP. Simply put, the academics aren't first-rate, not even close, particularly for STEM. J-R has a cohort of 11th and 12th graders who take BC Calc, multiple physics APs, AP Bio and Chem and score 5s. Duke has none of that. You can find first-rate music outside school in and around NW. Does your kid play classical music? Plays at Strathmore for one of the fine MD Classic Youth Orchestra ensembles? My DCPS kids do. Those ensembles are head and shoulders above music at Duke.

[Anonymous]

This is no knock at Duke Ellington, but people need to understand that it's not a school with an arts program. It's a pre-professional school of the arts. DO NOT apply if your child just plays an instrument or sings, etc but is not committed to it. You don't do the work a couple times a week, you do it everyday and into the night. if that's not your thing, not a good choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. Simply put, the academics aren't first-rate, not even close, particularly for STEM. J-R has a cohort of 11th and 12th graders who take BC Calc, multiple physics APs, AP Bio and Chem and score 5s. Duke has none of that. You can find first-rate music outside school in and around NW. Does your kid play classical music? Plays at Strathmore for one of the fine MD Classic Youth Orchestra ensembles? My DCPS kids do. Those ensembles are head and shoulders above music at Duke.

Duke has a bunch of AP and kids get 5’s for them. Well my kids does. Classes are small and kids are nice and serious about their chosen art stream, no jocks. If your kid is serious about his instrument he will be happy there with other like minded kids, assuming he likes his main instrument teacher- it is a long relationship.

The admin of school needs to get it act together in a major way. The academics are a mixed bag, some teachers are excellent, and my impression is that management is bad at recruiting top talent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. Simply put, the academics aren't first-rate, not even close, particularly for STEM. J-R has a cohort of 11th and 12th graders who take BC Calc, multiple physics APs, AP Bio and Chem and score 5s. Duke has none of that. You can find first-rate music outside school in and around NW. Does your kid play classical music? Plays at Strathmore for one of the fine MD Classic Youth Orchestra ensembles? My DCPS kids do. Those ensembles are head and shoulders above music at Duke.

Duke has a bunch of AP and kids get 5’s for them. Well my kids does. Classes are small and kids are nice and serious about their chosen art stream, no jocks. If your kid is serious about his instrument he will be happy there with other like minded kids, assuming he likes his main instrument teacher- it is a long relationship.

The admin of school needs to get it act together in a major way. The academics are a mixed bag, some teachers are excellent, and my impression is that management is bad at recruiting top talent.

OP here. Thanks for this. Do you have a sense of the average classroom size?

[Anonymous]

For regular classes it is around 20. The AP classes are around the same.

The arts block in instrumental
Music are smaller groups for some reason.

For kids who are not going to do well in a big population school Duke will work, they just need to be able to cope with some of the messiness in how admin runs the show, but that could be a life lesson!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For regular classes it is around 20. The AP classes are around the same.

The arts block in instrumental
Music are smaller groups for some reason.

For kids who are not going to do well in a big population school Duke will work, they just need to be able to cope with some of the messiness in how admin runs the show, but that could be a life lesson!

Thank you! That is super helpful.

[Anonymous]

My kid ended up transferring to J-R in 10th, but mainly because he realized he was not into his instrument enough to put in that much time. He also didn't enjoy the many performances (often aimed at raising donations). And, he had one decent teacher in 9th. I think the teachers would have been better in 10th especially if he took a lot of APs but it just wasn't working out for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid ended up transferring to J-R in 10th, but mainly because he realized he was not into his instrument enough to put in that much time. He also didn't enjoy the many performances (often aimed at raising donations). And, he had one decent teacher in 9th. I think the teachers would have been better in 10th especially if he took a lot of APs but it just wasn't working out for him.

This tracks with my kid's experience in grade 9. Somehow the math teachers there have always been excellent. My kid totally into his instrument, his instrument teacher, and the many opportunities he gets to perform, so is happy there.