High schools for a good but not 4.0 student
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Anonymous
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My daughter loves school and does very well in English and most other classes, but is an average math student and I’m not sure will make the cut off for walls. Banneker seems like a good school, but it’s very academically minded and seems to put less emphasis on things like art which my kid loves. Duke seems to be way too focused on art (it’s a hobby for my kid), and McKinley is too stem focused. We’re looking at sojourner truth. Our in boundary won’t work.
Where do kids go in these situations? Private? Move? |
Anonymous
Lots of these kids at JR, Latin and DCI. And now MacArthur. MacArthur may be the best lottery bet of these. |
Anonymous
Agree with this, but I would add that because other families are in this exact situation there are a fair number of kids like yours at McKinley and Banneker. And I gather Banneker has been expanding its arts curriculum somewhat. Eg, I think they’re offering AP Studio Art for the first time this year. You can apply to those and list them below the lottery schools, if that’s your true preference. |
Anonymous
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A couple years ago at a Banneker open house they showed us a very nice art room and a theater and mentioned art and drama clubs, students can't take an art class until junior year. That was a negative for my kid which affected how she ranked schools, but it might be ok for you.
I remember McKinley had one track that was a bit arty, maybe something like digital media/graphic design. Look into that. If you're looking at lottery schools like Sojourner Truth, you might as well at least consider Capital City, Latin (very limited 9th grade spots for non-siblings, but not zero), and MacArthur too. |
Anonymous
| OP here - DCI doesn’t seem to be an option because we’re not at a dual language school, and we’re not IB for JR. we didn’t get into Latin. I guess I’m just worried our options are super limited. |
Anonymous
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Agree with McCarthy. Except for having to take an extra math class, McKinley isn't necessarily THAT stem if you choose the graphic design track. They do have a very active theater club and an arts honor society. Banneker is ok if your kid doesn't mind a lot of homework - my A student does mind, my B student doesn't mind.
Jackson Reed is your best bet. They have a pottery kiln a media content creation academy. Consider renting an apartment in bounds for a year? |
Anonymous
| McKinley has a good art department as well. |
Anonymous
If I were you, I would lottery for Latin, MacArthur, Banneker, McKinley, Ellington (if she is willing to go through the application process) and then I would be prepared to move if none of those work out. |
Anonymous
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Take another look at DCI and really try to determine what the experience is like for a kid without language background. I think it would be worth it.
Look at Eastern and EL Haynes. |
Anonymous
| Macarthur or Walls |
Anonymous
| Latin usually has some 9th grade spots. Not a lot but significantly more than 6-8. MacArthur took everyone in the lottery last summer and seems like it could fit. Agree that McKinley might be worth another look. It seems pretty popular with the A-/B+ middle school kids, and ymmv but for some kids being challenged in a subject they are weaker in is not a bad thing. |
Anonymous
| Don't really have a solution, just want to commiserate as we are in the same boat. Staying in the city feels doable if your kid is very bright/academically-minded/exceptional in some way, you have a lot of money, or you were lucky on the lottery. We are not any of those three and so feeling very limited in choices, and also uninspired about the close-in move options. |
Anonymous
what about jackson reed? |
Anonymous
I guess, the family could move within the city so that JR is the in-boundary school. |
Anonymous
| You can lottery in for DCOI French track or maybe Mandarin. There are entry level language classes because it’s common for kids to add another language on top of main track. |