Chevy Chase CES Parents -- How's it going?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:my child is a fifth grader and has thrived. my older DD went to a different center program before we moved and this school is overall better run but universally the CES curriculum and teachers at both schools have been excellent. no complaints. she was accepted before the lottery system, so I can't speak to how fourth grade is going. but the fourth grade teachers are amazing, so that is what is most important

Would be more interested in hearing how the 4th grade is changed since it went from 99%+ to 85%+ kids

For the CES lottery last year it was 75th+ locally-normed percentile. (For the middle-school magnets it was 85th+ locally-normed percentile.) I think you are right to wonder, as thst means there is a wider range of abilities in the class, making it harder on the teacher no matter how talented he or she is.

Statistically, shouldn’t the range actually be narrower now with more kids nearer the average and fewer of the extreme kids at the very top?

No. Previously, there was a very tight range—most kids in 97th-99th percentile (locally normed). Now you have a range of kids, from 75th to 99th—that makes it harder for teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:my child is a fifth grader and has thrived. my older DD went to a different center program before we moved and this school is overall better run but universally the CES curriculum and teachers at both schools have been excellent. no complaints. she was accepted before the lottery system, so I can't speak to how fourth grade is going. but the fourth grade teachers are amazing, so that is what is most important

Would be more interested in hearing how the 4th grade is changed since it went from 99%+ to 85%+ kids

For the CES lottery last year it was 75th+ locally-normed percentile. (For the middle-school magnets it was 85th+ locally-normed percentile.) I think you are right to wonder, as thst means there is a wider range of abilities in the class, making it harder on the teacher no matter how talented he or she is.

What's the point of putting 2% of all kids in a program selected from the top 25%. Kids that actually need enrichment, by and large, won't get it. Is there any benefit to this? Is this just their way to shutdown the magnets?

Agree with this. They seem to be moving in the direction of getting rid of CES and having all acceleration happen in the home school—which may frankly be better than what they offer now, as many gifted kids are not getting into CES while non-gifted kids are, given the lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:my child is a fifth grader and has thrived. my older DD went to a different center program before we moved and this school is overall better run but universally the CES curriculum and teachers at both schools have been excellent. no complaints. she was accepted before the lottery system, so I can't speak to how fourth grade is going. but the fourth grade teachers are amazing, so that is what is most important

Would be more interested in hearing how the 4th grade is changed since it went from 99%+ to 85%+ kids

For the CES lottery last year it was 75th+ locally-normed percentile. (For the middle-school magnets it was 85th+ locally-normed percentile.) I think you are right to wonder, as thst means there is a wider range of abilities in the class, making it harder on the teacher no matter how talented he or she is.

Statistically, shouldn’t the range actually be narrower now with more kids nearer the average and fewer of the extreme kids at the very top?

No. Previously, there was a very tight range—most kids in 97th-99th percentile (locally normed). Now you have a range of kids, from 75th to 99th—that makes it harder for teachers.

I knew several kids who had 97% on their CogAT and didn't get in. Most were 98%-99% and that was at a local, not regional, CES.

[Anonymous]

DC is in 4th grade at the Chevy Chase CES. We are thrilled with his progress. The curriculum and teaching have helped DC make big advances in his writing skills, initiative, and self-awareness. His teacher and the principal have been wonderful. Our home school is excellent, but the CES peer group makes a higher level of instruction possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC is in 4th grade at the Chevy Chase CES. We are thrilled with his progress. The curriculum and teaching have helped DC make big advances in his writing skills, initiative, and self-awareness. His teacher and the principal have been wonderful. Our home school is excellent, but the CES peer group makes a higher level of instruction possible.

We found the peer group this year to be comparable to our home school. With the low entry bar it's just a random sample of kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is in 4th grade at the Chevy Chase CES. We are thrilled with his progress. The curriculum and teaching have helped DC make big advances in his writing skills, initiative, and self-awareness. His teacher and the principal have been wonderful. Our home school is excellent, but the CES peer group makes a higher level of instruction possible.

We found the peer group this year to be comparable to our home school. With the low entry bar it's just a random sample of kids.

Most of the high-performing outliers ended up not being selected so staying at our home school made more sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is in 4th grade at the Chevy Chase CES. We are thrilled with his progress. The curriculum and teaching have helped DC make big advances in his writing skills, initiative, and self-awareness. His teacher and the principal have been wonderful. Our home school is excellent, but the CES peer group makes a higher level of instruction possible.

We found the peer group this year to be comparable to our home school. With the low entry bar it's just a random sample of kids.

So parents of 99th percentile kids who were not selected are now trying to convince themselves and other parents that the program is no good anymore. Makes sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is in 4th grade at the Chevy Chase CES. We are thrilled with his progress. The curriculum and teaching have helped DC make big advances in his writing skills, initiative, and self-awareness. His teacher and the principal have been wonderful. Our home school is excellent, but the CES peer group makes a higher level of instruction possible.

We found the peer group this year to be comparable to our home school. With the low entry bar it's just a random sample of kids.

How much information do you have about the peer group this year when it is only December? Unless you are a teacher, I would find it hard to believe that you would have access to that information.

I am not in favor of the lottery, so I am curious as to any info you have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is in 4th grade at the Chevy Chase CES. We are thrilled with his progress. The curriculum and teaching have helped DC make big advances in his writing skills, initiative, and self-awareness. His teacher and the principal have been wonderful. Our home school is excellent, but the CES peer group makes a higher level of instruction possible.

We found the peer group this year to be comparable to our home school. With the low entry bar it's just a random sample of kids.

How much information do you have about the peer group this year when it is only December? Unless you are a teacher, I would find it hard to believe that you would have access to that information.

I am not in favor of the lottery, so I am curious as to any info you have.

It's mostly anecdotal but imagine it's representative of the bigger picture. Based on what I know a few top students landed in the CES, but even more, were left behind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is in 4th grade at the Chevy Chase CES. We are thrilled with his progress. The curriculum and teaching have helped DC make big advances in his writing skills, initiative, and self-awareness. His teacher and the principal have been wonderful. Our home school is excellent, but the CES peer group makes a higher level of instruction possible.

We found the peer group this year to be comparable to our home school. With the low entry bar it's just a random sample of kids.

How much information do you have about the peer group this year when it is only December? Unless you are a teacher, I would find it hard to believe that you would have access to that information.

I am not in favor of the lottery, so I am curious as to any info you have.

It's mostly anecdotal but imagine it's representative of the bigger picture. Based on what I know a few top students landed in the CES, but even more, were left behind.

I am sure top students were left behind when they used testing too. Plus many parents with resources also prep their kids for cogAT. I know this because there are places like Dr.Li , C2 etc. Many kids who passed the 3rd grade test also went to these centers to pass the magnet test for Takoma park, Blair and RM. I know of kids who went there. Some of them passed some didn’t. There is always going to be some students who will not make it to ces, Blair, Harvard, MIT.. not all top students end up at these schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is in 4th grade at the Chevy Chase CES. We are thrilled with his progress. The curriculum and teaching have helped DC make big advances in his writing skills, initiative, and self-awareness. His teacher and the principal have been wonderful. Our home school is excellent, but the CES peer group makes a higher level of instruction possible.

We found the peer group this year to be comparable to our home school. With the low entry bar it's just a random sample of kids.

How much information do you have about the peer group this year when it is only December? Unless you are a teacher, I would find it hard to believe that you would have access to that information.

I am not in favor of the lottery, so I am curious as to any info you have.

It's mostly anecdotal but imagine it's representative of the bigger picture. Based on what I know a few top students landed in the CES, but even more, were left behind.

I am sure top students were left behind when they used testing too. Plus many parents with resources also prep their kids for cogAT. I know this because there are places like Dr.Li , C2 etc. Many kids who passed the 3rd grade test also went to these centers to pass the magnet test for Takoma park, Blair and RM. I know of kids who went there. Some of them passed some didn’t. There is always going to be some students who will not make it to ces, Blair, Harvard, MIT.. not all top students end up at these schools

Pre-lottery, they had a 95% chance of NOT being left behind but with the lottery, it's the opposite which is to say not at all comparable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is in 4th grade at the Chevy Chase CES. We are thrilled with his progress. The curriculum and teaching have helped DC make big advances in his writing skills, initiative, and self-awareness. His teacher and the principal have been wonderful. Our home school is excellent, but the CES peer group makes a higher level of instruction possible.

We found the peer group this year to be comparable to our home school. With the low entry bar it's just a random sample of kids.

How much information do you have about the peer group this year when it is only December? Unless you are a teacher, I would find it hard to believe that you would have access to that information.

I am not in favor of the lottery, so I am curious as to any info you have.

It's mostly anecdotal but imagine it's representative of the bigger picture. Based on what I know a few top students landed in the CES, but even more, were left behind.

I am sure top students were left behind when they used testing too. Plus many parents with resources also prep their kids for cogAT. I know this because there are places like Dr.Li , C2 etc. Many kids who passed the 3rd grade test also went to these centers to pass the magnet test for Takoma park, Blair and RM. I know of kids who went there. Some of them passed some didn’t. There is always going to be some students who will not make it to ces, Blair, Harvard, MIT.. not all top students end up at these schools

Pre-lottery, they had a 95% chance of NOT being left behind but with the lottery, it's the opposite which is to say not at all comparable.

Of course, a 99% kid now has a 1 in 25 chance of winning the CES lottery which means there will be few 99% kids there.

[Anonymous]

For those in 4th grade CES this year at Chevy Chase - how much homework per day would you say your child is doing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those in 4th grade CES this year at Chevy Chase - how much homework per day would you say your child is doing?

Not tons. Maybe some math or word study that gets done at the aftercare.

There are LOTS of projects though. Seems like there's a new one to work on every few weeks lately.

[Anonymous]

For parents of CES students - my DC really likes her home school. Unfortunately she is one of very few who are at 99%ile, so I'd prefer her to go to CES ... how was the transition to go to the new school?