Different school cultures and curriculums at the upper NW IB ESs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: I'm leaning towards a smaller school, smaller class sizes if possible, and one with more progressive tendencies i.e. minimizes the busy work, maximizes the experiential learning.

The only "small" school is Hearst. The rest are big to huge.

Class sizes are all the same, +/- a couple kids. Agsin, as with curriculum, this is a function of the central office of DCPS and budget/allocation of funds to each school from the Central Office of dcps.

OP, you are looking for a charter school, btw.

Mann is really small, about half the size of Janney and 1/3 Lafayette. That's one reason that aren't any Mann discussions around here. Not really diverse since it's exclusively in bounds.

[Anonymous]

True, Mann is small. And Hearst.

Class sizes are consistent from school to school

[Anonymous]

Hearst has two classes per grade. Overcrowding is not an issue. Student population is diverse because it draws from all over the city. Engaged parent community. Focus on the arts. In the midst of a renovation so all facilities will be updated/new within the next two years. Feeds into Deal and Wilson. I think it's an awesome little school.

[Anonymous]

I love Key. It still feels like a small neighborhood school, although it has grown a lot. After a year or two, you know all the families in your child's grade. The principal is outstanding - he is approachable and a strong leader and responsive. Teachers have been uniformly excellent - and some are unbelievably creative and engaging. I've had a lot of experience there (I've had kids there since 2006) and have had only one teacher that didn't wow me (she was perfectly fine, but not super-engaging). The PTA is strong and vibrant and active. Parents are very involved.

[Anonymous]

The neighborhoods oftentimes define the school (makes sense, doesn't it?) but not always. You can't go wrong with any of the schools in upper NW DC. Our kids are at Mann and we adore it-everyone knows everyone, the principal is worth her weight in gold, teachers are excellent, and the PTA subsidizes the school with the things DCPS won't pay for (FT teaching partner per class, FT science, PE and Art teacher for every grade, etc..) It is one of the smallest schools as PPs have said, and the renovations happening this year mean that the one big strike against it-the building-will be resolved. since there are a lot of Ambassador's residences in Bounds, the student body is very international. But seriously, all the schools in upper NW are great.

[Anonymous]

There are a few other things that are not said:
What are your plans for Middle School? Are you thinking private / public / or you will no longer be in DC?

Historically, Mann - 100% of the class goes private for Middle School. Key - a very high percentage goes private. Both of these schools are zoned to feed into Hardy Middle School.

Hearst - yes small classes but check out the % OOB (out of bounds students) This is an indicator of the % of classmates from the neighborhood.

Eaton would be the next highest % of OOB of the schools you listed.

Lafayette was a unique classroom set-up. You may want to visit to get a better sense of the school.

[Anonymous]

Lafayette is supposed to be rennovated within the next 3 years. They are doing away with the "open classroom" model. Some like it, some don't. It is the largest elementary school in DC. There is also rumor that the Principal will retire in the next 3 years. To combat bullying they have an interesting "peace" class that is paid for by the PTA. PK and K classes have less than 20 kids and both a lead teacher and an assistant.

[Anonymous]

I've heard almost uniformly terrible things about the Lafayette principal and uniformly wonderful things about the Mann and Janney principals. The Hyde principal is also well regarded, or so I hear, but this is based on one or two parents.

Principals not mentioned above means I haven't spoken with any parents from those schools about their principals.

I don't believe any of these schools have to follow the DCPS curriculum. There are 9 schools making up the DC cubed (District of Columbia Collaborate for Change). I think this gives them some additional flexibility. Mann discusses is briefly on their site (http://www.horacemanndc.org/). Per wikipedia (I know...I know...) "'D.C. Collaborative for Change,' or DC3, a joint effort of some of the District’s highest- and lowest-performing schools that have been granted autonomy as a tool for innovating with curriculum and professional development."

[Anonymous]

10:05-You are WRONG about Mann-although a lot of kids go private (about half), the others either move and go to a middle school other than Hardy (because historically, they do not go to Hardy) like Deal, move out of DC and send their middle schooler to a MoCo or VA public school, or they send their kids to a charter (mostly basis and Latin but others also.) since there are a lot of people with diplomatic stations here for a few years, many actually move out of the country or return to their own country before middle school-about 15% of the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:10:05-You are WRONG about Mann-although a lot of kids go private (about half), the others either move and go to a middle school other than Hardy (because historically, they do not go to Hardy) like Deal, move out of DC and send their middle schooler to a MoCo or VA public school, or they send their kids to a charter (mostly basis and Latin but others also.) since there are a lot of people with diplomatic stations here for a few years, many actually move out of the country or return to their own country before middle school-about 15% of the class.

How can someone zoned for Mann manage to get into Deal when it is accepting no OOB children?

[Anonymous]

"There is one single core curriculum for dcps."

Not true, as one of the PP's has explained.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:10:05-You are WRONG about Mann-although a lot of kids go private (about half), the others either move and go to a middle school other than Hardy (because historically, they do not go to Hardy) like Deal, move out of DC and send their middle schooler to a MoCo or VA public school, or they send their kids to a charter (mostly basis and Latin but others also.) since there are a lot of people with diplomatic stations here for a few years, many actually move out of the country or return to their own country before middle school-about 15% of the class.

OK - so the statement should be "Historically, of the Mann 5th grade class - 0 wind up at the Middle School that they the school feeds."
Sorry for the mischaracterization of everyone going private.

[Anonymous]

RE: Mann kids not going to their IB middle, Hardy-yes, but the same can be said of Key, and until recently, when a handful of graduates have gone to Hardy, of Stoddert also. But this is not news-until a few years ago, Hardy was almost completely comprised of OOB kids, and was considered a feeder for Elllington.

[Anonymous]

13:09-the poster said a lot of Mann families moved after graduating into another middle school district like Deal's or out of DC-that is how-no one mentioned OOB at Deal! See below:

"either move and go to a middle school other than Hardy (because historically, they do not go to Hardy) like Deal, move out of DC and send their middle schooler to a MoCo or VA public school,"

[Anonymous]

I don't know if Mann has always been zoned into Hardy. If so, there were probably ample lottery slots for Deal until a few years ago.

13:55: do you have the data on %OOB at Hardy? I've been looking for it so that I can form some forward-looking expectations about where Hardy will be in five years. It is way more informative to know that "Hardy went from 100% OOB five years ago to 65% OOB today" compared to "Hardy is 65% OOB." The slope is what matters, not the level, when it comes to predicting five or more years out.