Moving to Deal as a 7th Grader from Out of State - Math Placement

[Anonymous]

Hi, we are moving to DC this summer from out of state and my oldest will be entering 7th grade in the fall and attending Deal (we are IB). We closed on our house last week but I have yet to get a DC license, car registration, etc. as we are not there full-time yet. As a result, I cannot “officially” enroll her until June/July when I will have all of the required documentation.

My question is mainly about her placement in math. Our school here does not offer pre-algebra to 6th graders, but she is at the top of her class (in a very high-performing school) and consistently scores 98th+ percentile on her math standardized tests. I read in a post on here that there is a pre-algebra course she could take over the summer in order to enroll in Algebra 1 as a 7th grader in the fall. Can anyone offer more information? I don’t want to wait until we are officially enrolled as by then, half of the summer could be gone and we are stuck trying to cram it all in before the end of August.

I have reached out to Deal but as I await their response, I wanted to check here for personal experiences as well. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi, we are moving to DC this summer from out of state and my oldest will be entering 7th grade in the fall and attending Deal (we are IB). We closed on our house last week but I have yet to get a DC license, car registration, etc. as we are not there full-time yet. As a result, I cannot “officially” enroll her until June/July when I will have all of the required documentation.

My question is mainly about her placement in math. Our school here does not offer pre-algebra to 6th graders, but she is at the top of her class (in a very high-performing school) and consistently scores 98th+ percentile on her math standardized tests. I read in a post on here that there is a pre-algebra course she could take over the summer in order to enroll in Algebra 1 as a 7th grader in the fall. Can anyone offer more information? I don’t want to wait until we are officially enrolled as by then, half of the summer could be gone and we are stuck trying to cram it all in before the end of August.

I have reached out to Deal but as I await their response, I wanted to check here for personal experiences as well. Thank you!

I can't speak for Deal, but at Hardy you do not need to take a class, but there is online summer math to complete. If you are going into Alg. 1 in 7th, you complete both the summer assignments for 8th Grade math and for Algebra 1.

[Anonymous]

The summer math class is just Math 8, the same content as Math 8 on Khan Academy. In my experience they will move a kid up if they’re scoring high on initial assessments in the fall. Still, discuss math placement with the school as soon as possible, and certainly when you register.

[Anonymous]

At Deal they call it SMAC (https://static1.squarespace.com/static/60db9e69e1c32956621f6226/t/64fded2072723e3855417aef/1694362912158/Deal+Math+Acceleration+Policy.pdf). You should push to get your child enrolled ASAP.

[Anonymous]

Based on last year's process to get in the summer math program (SMAC), kids were invited based on their performance on the mid-year and end-of-year assessments. You couldn't just ask to have your kid join-- they had to qualify. However, they shuffle kids among the different math levels in September, based on the results of a beginning-of-year math assessment, so your kid will end up at the right level for them within a few weeks of starting school.

[Anonymous]

OP, what standardized test(s) does your child's current school use and do you have access to the score reports? You may be able to use the score reports to show Deal that your child is above grade level in math. The PDF that the person above shared says that students must be enrolled in Deal the year before taking SMAC, but it does look like there is an independent study option that your child may be able to do and then if they can pass the Deal Math 8 Final Exam, they could go into Algebra I.

[Anonymous]

OP here -

Thank you all for your thoughtful responses.

They take the NWEA MAP test and yes I have pdf reports. I’m hoping to be able to get her into the independent study program at the very least.

Super helpful to know it’s the same content as Khan Math 8, as I may just have her start that and have her take the Deal’s Math 8 final once we are officially enrolled.

Thanks again!