High school shutouts-- what's the plan?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:We have close friends and relatives with teens in schools in Fairfax, Arlington and MoCo. The friends became our pals in our DCPS ES. It's clear to me that there really isn't any comparison between dysfunctional, low-capacity, ambition challenged DCPS and the high-capacity school systems in the burbs. For starters, those counties support advanced programs for ES and MS. They track academically in middle school in all core subjects by 7th grade. They also run serious test-in HS programs, mostly the school-within-a-school type. Parents in those school systems grumble on these threads because it's all relative - they haven't experienced DCPS middle or high school chaos and ad hocery.

The bolded is not true for MCPS. MCPS MS offer advanced math class (generally taking algebra in 7th grade) and advanced social studies. There is no advanced English or science. For languages, you take high school classes in middle school. For my kid, those have been the most challenging. The advanced social studies class has some more work than the regular one, but it's not especially challenging. The advanced math class is probably similar to what DCPS does for kids who take algebra in 7th.

MCPS has been fine for us, but we also liked the upper NW DCPS we were in before and think our kid would have been fine with Deal/J-R for high school. I know a lot of people in DC don't have those choices -- but if you play the lottery and have no luck and find yourselves having to move, I would put Deal/J-R just as high on the neighborhoods to consider as the MCPS schools.

- Former DC resident, now MoCo resident, again

Thank you to this. Due to some circumstances we find ourselves in, moving to Moco for High School is no longer an option we are likely to take. I was wondering if this was creating a catastrophic loss in learning potential for my son, and it sounds like the difference is not quite so stark between "good" DC schools and "good" MoCo schools.

That is correct. MCPS is fine, but it’s far from perfect and people complain all the time about problems with the system and with specific schools. It is triple the size of DCPS and is very focused on equity, with many schools using an “honors for all” system that provides very little differentiation. The average MCPS school is surely better than the average DCPS, but when you are looking at schools like Deal and Jackson-Reed, the differences are not that great.

The magnets in MCPS is the place to be.

Sure, if you get in. For middle school magnets (and the gifted and talented ES programs), they are a lottery among eligible students. And the criteria for eligibility are pretty broad, varying by the income level of the school. There are many, many more people in the lottery than their are spots, and some very disappointed parents.

For HS there is an application process where they consider grades (very easy to get all As in MCPS because of how they calculate GPA), test scores, and a very short essay -- no interview like in DCPS. Some kids have lots of choices while others have very few, and some who have the test scores to get in nevertheless choose to stay at their home school to be with their friends and avoid the sometimes lengthy travel that would be required. (This is a large county, and school starts earlier here than in DCPS.)

So yeah, the magnets are great if you can get your kid in and if they are willing to go, but most strong students go to their home school. And again, the quality of the difference in program because MCPS and a high-quality DC school (Deal, Wilson) is not that great. So, for people who are unhappy with their lottery results in DC, MCPS is certainly an option, but it's not he only one, and it's not some nirvana where kids are getting a spectacular education. It's on par with good DCPS. People could move to MoCo or to upper NW and have a similar experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What private schools can you realistically get into for 9th grade? Catholics?

Catholics like St. John's, Gonzaga, and St. Anselm's. and also independent schools like Maret, GDS, Burke, and Field.

The independent schools you listed are very difficult to get into, especially for 9th. The first two listed have a 10% acceptance rate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If a school teaches Vietnamese or Tagalog to immigrant native speakers whose first language at home was Vietnamese or Tagalog, are they really “teaching” those languages?

I’d be most interested in how many native English speaking European American kids born at Inova sign up for Tagalog. Anyone have numbers?

Yes, they are. Just like your child still needs to learn English at school even though they speak it at home. Native speakers still need to learn their own language to become fluent in it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What private schools can you realistically get into for 9th grade? Catholics?

Catholics like St. John's, Gonzaga, and St. Anselm's. and also independent schools like Maret, GDS, Burke, and Field.

The independent schools you listed are very difficult to get into, especially for 9th. The first two listed have a 10% acceptance rate.

Not really. It's an DMV urban myth that the schools are really tough to crack. The main criteria for admission seems to be putting forward a decent student from a family unlikely to hassle admins with the ability and willingness to fork over the 25-30K. My B+ unhooked white male student surprised us by sailing into several top Catholic high schools this spring (we though he'd be lucky to get into one). Kid scored high on the rather easy entrance exam, particularly for math, so they wanted him. Meanwhile, he failed to get into Walls or Banneker.

[Anonymous]

we moved from Adams Morgan to Ward 3 when my oldest was about to enter 8th grade so DD would have JR as an option - none of my kids chose to go there - all 3 chose catholic HS but it was much less stressful to have the public option IB for us. Still sad because I loved my old house and neighborhood - but it was the right choice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What private schools can you realistically get into for 9th grade? Catholics?

Catholics like St. John's, Gonzaga, and St. Anselm's. and also independent schools like Maret, GDS, Burke, and Field.

The independent schools you listed are very difficult to get into, especially for 9th. The first two listed have a 10% acceptance rate.

Not really. It's an DMV urban myth that the schools are really tough to crack. The main criteria for admission seems to be putting forward a decent student from a family unlikely to hassle admins with the ability and willingness to fork over the 25-30K. My B+ unhooked white male student surprised us by sailing into several top Catholic high schools this spring (we though he'd be lucky to get into one). Kid scored high on the rather easy entrance exam, particularly for math, so they wanted him. Meanwhile, he failed to get into Walls or Banneker.

I'll repeat - the INDEPENDENT schools listed in the previous post are hard to get into. The Catholics are much easier to get into.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What private schools can you realistically get into for 9th grade? Catholics?

Catholics like St. John's, Gonzaga, and St. Anselm's. and also independent schools like Maret, GDS, Burke, and Field.

The independent schools you listed are very difficult to get into, especially for 9th. The first two listed have a 10% acceptance rate.

Not really. It's an DMV urban myth that the schools are really tough to crack. The main criteria for admission seems to be putting forward a decent student from a family unlikely to hassle admins with the ability and willingness to fork over the 25-30K. My B+ unhooked white male student surprised us by sailing into several top Catholic high schools this spring (we though he'd be lucky to get into one). Kid scored high on the rather easy entrance exam, particularly for math, so they wanted him. Meanwhile, he failed to get into Walls or Banneker.

I think you got lucky. We know families with A students and high HSPT test score who did not get into Gonzaga though were admitted to SJC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Question- if one parent lives in DC and the other in MD, can one child go to a DC school and the other attend in MD? We are thinking of having our high schooler attend a MD school and our younger child continue at a school in DC. I’m fuzzy on how this works. Want to be sure we do what’s legally right. We have split custody.

For DC, the focus is mainly on establishing that it's the parent's residence, not the kid's: https://osse.dc.gov/page/office-enrollment-residency-supporting-families-students

They can do a home visit to make sure that your kid is actually living there (like, that they have a bed and clothes and such). But obviously they would have that, since your kid is living there part of the time.

I don't know about MD. But if the kids are truly splitting their time equally -- like, every-other-week -- MD would not be able to say they didn't want to educate them.

The focus is also on paying DC tax. If one parent files in DC you're good in the District for schools.

Presumably that is the case here but they still want a home visit. So, apparently that is not enough.

We had a home visit five years ago. In "our" front yard (actually my retired parents' DC house). We never let the DCPS investigator in, which wasn't a problem.

Did you just lie to them about you residency? Were you paying DC taxes?

If the system has time to schedule a home visit but not time to check whether they are paying DC taxes, even though that is part of the enrollment process every year, that is a system fault.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What private schools can you realistically get into for 9th grade? Catholics?

Catholics like St. John's, Gonzaga, and St. Anselm's. and also independent schools like Maret, GDS, Burke, and Field.

The independent schools you listed are very difficult to get into, especially for 9th. The first two listed have a 10% acceptance rate.

Not really. It's an DMV urban myth that the schools are really tough to crack. The main criteria for admission seems to be putting forward a decent student from a family unlikely to hassle admins with the ability and willingness to fork over the 25-30K. My B+ unhooked white male student surprised us by sailing into several top Catholic high schools this spring (we though he'd be lucky to get into one). Kid scored high on the rather easy entrance exam, particularly for math, so they wanted him. Meanwhile, he failed to get into Walls or Banneker.

I'll repeat - the INDEPENDENT schools listed in the previous post are hard to get into. The Catholics are much easier to get into.

The independent schools listed aren't very hard to get into if you the kids start really young in their feeders and you're fine with plonking down 40K+ every year all the way up and dealing with challenging commutes if you live East of Rock Creek. But then richies like that seldom live outside Wards 1, 2 and 3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What private schools can you realistically get into for 9th grade? Catholics?

Catholics like St. John's, Gonzaga, and St. Anselm's. and also independent schools like Maret, GDS, Burke, and Field.

The independent schools you listed are very difficult to get into, especially for 9th. The first two listed have a 10% acceptance rate.

Not really. It's an DMV urban myth that the schools are really tough to crack. The main criteria for admission seems to be putting forward a decent student from a family unlikely to hassle admins with the ability and willingness to fork over the 25-30K. My B+ unhooked white male student surprised us by sailing into several top Catholic high schools this spring (we though he'd be lucky to get into one). Kid scored high on the rather easy entrance exam, particularly for math, so they wanted him. Meanwhile, he failed to get into Walls or Banneker.

I think you got lucky. We know families with A students and high HSPT test score who did not get into Gonzaga though were admitted to SJC.

My kid is a jock. Gonzaga adores jocks. Banneker and Walls, not so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If a school teaches Vietnamese or Tagalog to immigrant native speakers whose first language at home was Vietnamese or Tagalog, are they really “teaching” those languages?

I’d be most interested in how many native English speaking European American kids born at Inova sign up for Tagalog. Anyone have numbers?

Girl that is a trash take.

If a school teaches English to native English speakers whose first language at home is English, are they really “teaching” English? 🙄

[Anonymous]

I know a ton of heritage language speakers who speak the language often but really are r as fluent as a high school student. Not the “me lamo Brad” kids but the engaged AP student.

[Anonymous]

Aren’t

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What private schools can you realistically get into for 9th grade? Catholics?

Catholics like St. John's, Gonzaga, and St. Anselm's. and also independent schools like Maret, GDS, Burke, and Field.

The independent schools you listed are very difficult to get into, especially for 9th. The first two listed have a 10% acceptance rate.

Not really. It's an DMV urban myth that the schools are really tough to crack. The main criteria for admission seems to be putting forward a decent student from a family unlikely to hassle admins with the ability and willingness to fork over the 25-30K. My B+ unhooked white male student surprised us by sailing into several top Catholic high schools this spring (we though he'd be lucky to get into one). Kid scored high on the rather easy entrance exam, particularly for math, so they wanted him. Meanwhile, he failed to get into Walls or Banneker.

Not everyone on the Hill has:
- an extra 120k
- a kid who does well on standardized tests

“let them eat cake.”