Deal kid is floundering in private high school

[Anonymous]

I will say that I don't think this is unique to Deal but could also be said of just about any public in the DMV. And a bunch of privates too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The books they read at Deal are not particularly advanced. And for some reason all the books are about racism or minority groups being oppressed. Like every single book.

The kids at Deal are the ones that need to read these types of books. They’ll have plenty of time in high school and college to read the classics (that will have no major impact on the way they live the lives).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The books they read at Deal are not particularly advanced. And for some reason all the books are about racism or minority groups being oppressed. Like every single book.

The kids at Deal are the ones that need to read these types of books. They’ll have plenty of time in high school and college to read the classics (that will have no major impact on the way they live the lives).

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The books they read at Deal are not particularly advanced. And for some reason all the books are about racism or minority groups being oppressed. Like every single book.

The kids at Deal are the ones that need to read these types of books. They’ll have plenty of time in high school and college to read the classics (that will have no major impact on the way they live the lives).

+1

Who needs to how to think, anyway?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you do it this past year? Cause the OP's story is the same one I'm hearing from multiple families. It has been VERY ROUGH for kids leaving Deal this year.

I have two Deal DC who transitioned to their Big 3 seamlessly. However, I can imagine that COVID has done a number on academic press and executive function. Hang in there. The key to this is 1) seeking help from teachers to understand what's being asked of them; and 2) focusing on time management. The school has a vested interest in your child's success. Encourage your student to reach out for assistance as needed.

Nice humblebrag.

I am the PP you are referencing. I didn't mean it as a brag but rather as a statement that they were well prepared by Deal to transition to a rigorous private school curriculum. My DC truly loved their time at Deal and had wonderful teachers and great experiences (science fair, history day) that they look fondly upon to this day. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid left Deal and is at a top private high school (Sidwell/NCS/STA/Potomac).
He/she was a top student at Deal: As every quarter in every class grades 6-8, top math track (Algebra 2), 5's on every PARCC since 3rd grade. 99% on the 6th grade Deal PARCC in both ELA and math.

Started private high school and it is an absolute SH$%T show. Currently getting Ds. My kid doesn't know how to study, how to read and annotate dense text in rapid fashion. He/she gets dozens of pages
a night to read and process (across history, ELA, science). Homework in every subject each evening. Has already written 5 essays and 2 lab lengthy reports. Has frequent pop quizzes. One class has one every single day.
Has a sequence of exams in every class this week.

It just f-ing frustrates me how little my kid learned at Deal. How he never learned to think critically or write well. So much wasted time in the pandemic. No Wednesdays, 45 minute classes twice a week. The chicken has come home to roost because my
kid is now having his/her ass kicked. And it all counts for college grades. Things will get better but we're quitting activities, hiring tutors and trying to right the course.

Not sure what the point of my post is except---if you have a kid in DCPS. Supplement like a mad person. We did but not enough. His/her classmates who are at Wilson report that they haven't done any
homework yet in most classes because with the 4x4 schedule, many teachers are only teaching for half of it and little or no homework is given (and what is given is done in class). So if you're at Wilson
(I have another kid likely headed there) continue to supplement.

I'm just so frustrated. I'm sure it is somewhat better in typical times but the pandemic learning was just a mess. Those of us who have left DCPS are seeing clearly just how bad it was.

We had a similar experience, although our straight 'A' public school kid eventually righted the ship and managed to pull out good grades. The reason your kid is having trouble is because ALL privates schools( even the middle tier ones) teach these critical skills in middle school - how to annotate text; how to properly take notes; how to manage your time and grammar. They also train the kids to do homework - it isn't always a lot but they cover most subjects every night, even if it's just reading a chunk of text. Public schools don't do this - not because they are 'bad' but because they don't have time. I ended up volunteering for some activities at my kid's new private school and our HOS remarked one of the things that always surprised her about public school transfers was how horrible their writing was. And you are right, 'Wasted Wednesdays' for the last couple of years did not help. You are right to stop all activities and get tutors. However, at some point, you have to determine whether it makes sense to have tutors AND pay for private school. You should post this on the private school forum though, because here you are likely to get parents who are prickly and sensitive about your perception of Deal because that is the school their kid(s) attend.

[Anonymous]

OP, are there parents of older kids who made the same transition at your school? Ask admissions to connect you, they can be helpful.

Mine had a transition to a very similar sounding school and the hard part was the constant volume of work. The substance was fine, what they wrote for the teachers was highly regarded, but they were drowning at first. It's kind of like a natural athlete who has been out of training for a while jumping into a race with equal athletes who never stopped training. Once he gets his academic legs back under him, he'll be fine.

I advise putting ECs on hold, or tone them down, until second semester if possible. Once he's used to the volume and the completely different expectations of the teachers, add back the EC time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is not a Deal issue Troll. It's an issue in your house.

Public is not the problem. I have done both. Same group of schools.

Another thread of private is better than public NO.

Sounds like the issue is Deal + pandemic year. PP where were your kids for 2020-2021?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The books they read at Deal are not particularly advanced. And for some reason all the books are about racism or minority groups being oppressed. Like every single book.

The kids at Deal are the ones that need to read these types of books. They’ll have plenty of time in high school and college to read the classics (that will have no major impact on the way they live the lives).

+1

Who needs to how to think, anyway?

You can learn to think about many kinds of books. I say this as someone who has a degree in literature and a degree in education. If the only literature you can have thoughts about are the classics, then I would suggest you have a marginal understanding of literature in general.

[Anonymous]

I agree with getting your child to go to the teachers for extra help. I was in a mediocre private high school and switched to a top DC high school a long time ago and the teachers were tough at the top school. You could easily get Cs, especially in the beginning. I brought most of them up to As and learned a lot in the process. By the time I got to college, I was over prepared. College was easy for me (it was a.tope college) and other fellow students from the same high school reported the same. It is important to make sure that your child can be happy and thrive in this high school environment. If it is a top high school it may be a little cut throat. Those high schools concentrate a lot of the top talent and make them compete against each-other for colleges. Junior year they will start marshalling the student college application process, because they will orchestrate who goes where to some extent depending on a lot of factors. Personally my impression is that a child can get prepared for college at a public high school as long as they are engaged and working. This has been the approach I chose for my own children. Good luck OP! Your child can work this out with the right support. I am sure that there are many others at that school in the same situation.

[Anonymous]

There is just more work at a private school than a public, it doesn't mean your child isn't able to do it--they just need to get used to the volume. I do think that the volume of work prepares them more for college, but it does take a lot of fun out of the high school experience.

[Anonymous]

Deal isn’t grading the PARCC test. So you can’t blame that on them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The books they read at Deal are not particularly advanced. And for some reason all the books are about racism or minority groups being oppressed. Like every single book.

The kids at Deal are the ones that need to read these types of books. They’ll have plenty of time in high school and college to read the classics (that will have no major impact on the way they live the lives).

+1

Who needs to how to think, anyway?

You can learn to think about many kinds of books. I say this as someone who has a degree in literature and a degree in education. If the only literature you can have thoughts about are the classics, then I would suggest you have a marginal understanding of literature in general.

Who said “only?”
Anyway, your degrees in literature and education make any further discussion moot.
Down with the classics and carry on!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The books they read at Deal are not particularly advanced. And for some reason all the books are about racism or minority groups being oppressed. Like every single book.

The kids at Deal are the ones that need to read these types of books. They’ll have plenty of time in high school and college to read the classics (that will have no major impact on the way they live the lives).

You can't be serious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The books they read at Deal are not particularly advanced. And for some reason all the books are about racism or minority groups being oppressed. Like every single book.

The kids at Deal are the ones that need to read these types of books. They’ll have plenty of time in high school and college to read the classics (that will have no major impact on the way they live the lives).

+1

Who needs to how to think, anyway?

You can learn to think about many kinds of books. I say this as someone who has a degree in literature and a degree in education. If the only literature you can have thoughts about are the classics, then I would suggest you have a marginal understanding of literature in general.

Who said “only?”
Anyway, your degrees in literature and education make any further discussion moot.
Down with the classics and carry on!

The implicit argument that was made was that these children will not learn to think by reading books about racism or oppression and that instead they would learn more from reading the "classics." I agree the training in interpretation could be improved, but you can usefully explicate basically any text. QED.