MS experience at DHMS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The DHMS building and campus are phenomenal. Probably the best, facility-wise in APS (if not the entire DC area) for a middle school. Kids aren't old enough yet, but I've heard the teachers and admin there are very good.

Really? When HB was there the field was too narrow for soccer, which is why ultimate frisbee became the big HB sport. Did they reconfigure it to get a standard size field?

H-B can’t have VHSL sanctioned sports like soccer since the school is technically a program. So, H-B soccer athletes play at their neighborhood high schools from grade 8 on up, if they make the team. Ultimate Frisbee is not a VHSL sport, so H-B can form teams that compete with other high schools. But APS does consider Ultimate Frisbee an official varsity sport kind of like Rifle. And students can get the official varsity letter sweater or jacket with the pins.

APS is unique since the middle schools like DHMS have interscholastic sports teams. I think most districts eliminated middle schools sports years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Middle school is a HUGE shift from ES. It's a school filled with 11-14 yo. You can't begin to compare the things these kids have access to, know, experience to 5-11 yr olds. So there are issues at play that elementary schools would not experience.

I'm not sure how different it would be in Howard Co, middle school dynamics are more about hormones and normal adolescent development. That being said, smaller classes could be helpful if they have that "further out". In APS, your kids teachers are not going to contact you unless there is a major behavioral issue. They do not contact you if your kid is missing assignments, failing tests or falling behind. You kid has to initiate getting extra help, test re-takes on their own. This was a huge adjustment for my A/B advanced math kid.

Why can't we be given access to the online grading system in real time, like parent view. Do they do mid-term progress reports at least?

The kids can see it. I don’t know if we can. But you can use your kid’s school iPad and account to see it.

This is not true— parentvue shows everything. You can even get it to email you if your child gets a bad grade or has a missing assignment.
Hamm is a great school. My eldest is a sixth grader and has had a great experience. The only complaints I have ever heard is that there isn’t really much homework (which is true but I am ok with). There are no fights or anything systematically disturbing that I know of.
Yes your child has to be more responsible. They will not contact you about anything and it’s not easy to get a parent teacher conference. Most kids do fine, and personally I’d rather they have to do this in middle school when stakes are lower than in highschool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Middle school is a HUGE shift from ES. It's a school filled with 11-14 yo. You can't begin to compare the things these kids have access to, know, experience to 5-11 yr olds. So there are issues at play that elementary schools would not experience.

I'm not sure how different it would be in Howard Co, middle school dynamics are more about hormones and normal adolescent development. That being said, smaller classes could be helpful if they have that "further out". In APS, your kids teachers are not going to contact you unless there is a major behavioral issue. They do not contact you if your kid is missing assignments, failing tests or falling behind. You kid has to initiate getting extra help, test re-takes on their own. This was a huge adjustment for my A/B advanced math kid.

Why can't we be given access to the online grading system in real time, like parent view. Do they do mid-term progress reports at least?

The kids can see it. I don’t know if we can. But you can use your kid’s school iPad and account to see it.

This is not true— parentvue shows everything. You can even get it to email you if your child gets a bad grade or has a missing assignment.
Hamm is a great school. My eldest is a sixth grader and has had a great experience. The only complaints I have ever heard is that there isn’t really much homework (which is true but I am ok with). There are no fights or anything systematically disturbing that I know of.
Yes your child has to be more responsible. They will not contact you about anything and it’s not easy to get a parent teacher conference. Most kids do fine, and personally I’d rather they have to do this in middle school when stakes are lower than in highschool.

Why isn’t there much homework, that’s a big part of building focus for high school?

[Anonymous]

We are 8th grade family at Hamm and it’s been fine for us. What we don’t understand is why so many families are going private for high school. Things seem back to normal but 8 girls in dd Grade left to private schools next year. Which surprised us as we had talked to some of these parents before and they had thought private a waste

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are 8th grade family at Hamm and it’s been fine for us. What we don’t understand is why so many families are going private for high school. Things seem back to normal but 8 girls in dd Grade left to private schools next year. Which surprised us as we had talked to some of these parents before and they had thought private a waste

We had planned on W-L, but our kid wanted a deeper academic experience. Plus, there were a few (minor) social issues. Kid would have been fine at W-L but is much more excited about private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are 8th grade family at Hamm and it’s been fine for us. What we don’t understand is why so many families are going private for high school. Things seem back to normal but 8 girls in dd Grade left to private schools next year. Which surprised us as we had talked to some of these parents before and they had thought private a waste

We had planned on W-L, but our kid wanted a deeper academic experience. Plus, there were a few (minor) social issues. Kid would have been fine at W-L but is much more excited about private.

We have heard the IB program is essentially a rigorous academic school within a school at WL, few privates would be that much stronger especially in math and science?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are 8th grade family at Hamm and it’s been fine for us. What we don’t understand is why so many families are going private for high school. Things seem back to normal but 8 girls in dd Grade left to private schools next year. Which surprised us as we had talked to some of these parents before and they had thought private a waste

We had planned on W-L, but our kid wanted a deeper academic experience. Plus, there were a few (minor) social issues. Kid would have been fine at W-L but is much more excited about private.

We have heard the IB program is essentially a rigorous academic school within a school at WL, few privates would be that much stronger especially in math and science?

Yes, IB is a great option too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are 8th grade family at Hamm and it’s been fine for us. What we don’t understand is why so many families are going private for high school. Things seem back to normal but 8 girls in dd Grade left to private schools next year. Which surprised us as we had talked to some of these parents before and they had thought private a waste

We had planned on W-L, but our kid wanted a deeper academic experience. Plus, there were a few (minor) social issues. Kid would have been fine at W-L but is much more excited about private.

We have heard the IB program is essentially a rigorous academic school within a school at WL, few privates would be that much stronger especially in math and science?

Yes, IB is a great option too.

So why are so many of our neighbors going private like PP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are 8th grade family at Hamm and it’s been fine for us. What we don’t understand is why so many families are going private for high school. Things seem back to normal but 8 girls in dd Grade left to private schools next year. Which surprised us as we had talked to some of these parents before and they had thought private a waste

We had planned on W-L, but our kid wanted a deeper academic experience. Plus, there were a few (minor) social issues. Kid would have been fine at W-L but is much more excited about private.

We have heard the IB program is essentially a rigorous academic school within a school at WL, few privates would be that much stronger especially in math and science?

Yes, IB is a great option too.

So why are so many of our neighbors going private like PP

For some issues that APS does not handle well:
ADHD
Anxiety
Learning Challenges
Social Issues/Bullying
Extremely high IQ

And for some, because they can and it was always in the plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are 8th grade family at Hamm and it’s been fine for us. What we don’t understand is why so many families are going private for high school. Things seem back to normal but 8 girls in dd Grade left to private schools next year. Which surprised us as we had talked to some of these parents before and they had thought private a waste

We had planned on W-L, but our kid wanted a deeper academic experience. Plus, there were a few (minor) social issues. Kid would have been fine at W-L but is much more excited about private.

We have heard the IB program is essentially a rigorous academic school within a school at WL, few privates would be that much stronger especially in math and science?

Yes, IB is a great option too.

So why are so many of our neighbors going private like PP

I'm the PP.

IB is a great option and my kid would have probably gone that route if they went to W-L. My kid wanted smaller classes with deeper/richer learning. They felt like they weren't really being challenged even though they were in the toughest classes. Found a school that was a better fit.

We are still planning on W-L (or HB or Arlington Tech) for our other kids, unless there is a compelling reason to look at other options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are 8th grade family at Hamm and it’s been fine for us. What we don’t understand is why so many families are going private for high school. Things seem back to normal but 8 girls in dd Grade left to private schools next year. Which surprised us as we had talked to some of these parents before and they had thought private a waste

We had planned on W-L, but our kid wanted a deeper academic experience. Plus, there were a few (minor) social issues. Kid would have been fine at W-L but is much more excited about private.

We have heard the IB program is essentially a rigorous academic school within a school at WL, few privates would be that much stronger especially in math and science?

Yes, IB is a great option too.

So why are so many of our neighbors going private like PP

I'm the PP.

IB is a great option and my kid would have probably gone that route if they went to W-L. My kid wanted smaller classes with deeper/richer learning. They felt like they weren't really being challenged even though they were in the toughest classes. Found a school that was a better fit.

We are still planning on W-L (or HB or Arlington Tech) for our other kids, unless there is a compelling reason to look at other options.

Haha yeah everyone wants HB. Curious about AT for a non stem focused kid — it’s a smaller program which is attractive