Middle and High school for Cap Hill?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It just isn't true that "a large number" of Hill families move from Peabody to Watkins, though this was the case a decade ago.

Peabody is two-thirds in-boundary and half white, while Watkins is not even 20 IB% and white. Moreover, the percentage of in-boundary kids at Stuart Hobson has dipped several years running, bringing it down to around 15% from a third a decade ago.

The hot new charter for Hill families is really likely to be DC Global in NW, which starts in 6th grade.

Eastern HS is 0% white in a catchment area that's two-thirds white.

First, if you search for Watkins, you'll find way too many threads on this, but that's no reason not to start another.

There's a significant difference between the upper and lower Watkins grade; as you might expect, there are a lot more high SES kids in the lower grades. (To try to avoid getting distracted by this issue: by high SES I mean, in general, kids whose parents have college or grad school education. Also, note that the share white and in-bound is correlated with share high SES, but there are plenty of exceptions: Almost all white kids are high SES, but a very large portion of black kids are too; in the lower grades, I'd guess most, but I really don't know. And some in-bounds kids are lower SES, and many out-of-bound kids are high SES, like mine.)

The question, of course, is how many of the lower grade kids will continue. In past years, relatively few have, so even when there were a lot of high SES kids in K in Peabody and 1st and maybe 2nd at Watkins, that share declined at older grades. (And yes, many kids stayed and continued to Stuart Hobson and had good experiences.) My impression is that that's changing. The dropout rate is going down, so this year's 3rd grade has a higher share of high SES kids than last year, 2nd grade has a higher share than last year, and so on. There has been a bigger dropoff at 5th as kids go to Basis and Latin. To what extent that is changing and to what extent more kids will go to Stuart Hobson, I don't know.

- Parent of 2nd grader

I don't mean to be mean, but what you've just said is true of almost every ES on the Hill (save for maybe Brent). Walk the halls of the 1st floor of Ludlow Taylor and then go to the 3rd floor; they look like different schools. The obvious next step foe every ES is whether ECE stay and commit to the next few years. From there it is about whether they would commit to MS, etc. No one knows for sure. But trend lines are encouraging. But please don't make this specific to Watkins. The song is getting OLD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a mixed bag. I know Hill folks who attend Walls, McKinley, Duke, DeMatha (in MD), Gonzaga, Latin and Basis.

NCS - $38,850
St. Anselm's -$25,000
Georgetown Visitation - $27,400
St. John's - $20,750
Sidwell - $37,750
St. Alban's - $40,480

For convenience I've appended the list above with the 2015 tuition numbers. Please keep in mind that these don't include books or other fees at some of these schools. The way people here throw around the term "go private" or suggest that it's that easy amuses me. If you have enough disposable income to send your kid to these schools for 7 years (and to pay the tuition increases that will come annually) then you are in a 30+% federal tax bracket and paying almost 9% to DC. So do the math on this. To pay for tuition that costs only 25k a year you need to find $40,000 pretax W2 dollars just laying around (and that's for the tuitions that are only 25k. Some people can find that kind of money. But to throw that around like a legitimate and accessible option is absurd. But because high income earners make a lot they can probably find that amount. But at a lower tax rate and lower income levels where the heck are you going to find that money? And at what cost? If you saved half of that ($12,500) a year into a 529 account starting in 6th grade you'd have college more than paid for. If you are already maxed out in your 529 and college is paid for then no problem. But if your kid is going to graduate with a hundred grand (or more) in student debt because you spent all your money on private schools then you have to ask yourself if staying in an area without viable schools is the responsible thing to do.

P.S. You still have to apply and get accepted to those schools, yet another barrier to entry.
P.P.S And that's assuming only one kid. I see lots and lots of families on the Hill with 2 or 3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It just isn't true that "a large number" of Hill families move from Peabody to Watkins, though this was the case a decade ago.

Peabody is two-thirds in-boundary and half white, while Watkins is not even 20 IB% and white. Moreover, the percentage of in-boundary kids at Stuart Hobson has dipped several years running, bringing it down to around 15% from a third a decade ago.

The hot new charter for Hill families is really likely to be DC Global in NW, which starts in 6th grade.

Eastern HS is 0% white in a catchment area that's two-thirds white.

First, if you search for Watkins, you'll find way too many threads on this, but that's no reason not to start another.

There's a significant difference between the upper and lower Watkins grade; as you might expect, there are a lot more high SES kids in the lower grades. (To try to avoid getting distracted by this issue: by high SES I mean, in general, kids whose parents have college or grad school education. Also, note that the share white and in-bound is correlated with share high SES, but there are plenty of exceptions: Almost all white kids are high SES, but a very large portion of black kids are too; in the lower grades, I'd guess most, but I really don't know. And some in-bounds kids are lower SES, and many out-of-bound kids are high SES, like mine.)

The question, of course, is how many of the lower grade kids will continue. In past years, relatively few have, so even when there were a lot of high SES kids in K in Peabody and 1st and maybe 2nd at Watkins, that share declined at older grades. (And yes, many kids stayed and continued to Stuart Hobson and had good experiences.) My impression is that that's changing. The dropout rate is going down, so this year's 3rd grade has a higher share of high SES kids than last year, 2nd grade has a higher share than last year, and so on. There has been a bigger dropoff at 5th as kids go to Basis and Latin. To what extent that is changing and to what extent more kids will go to Stuart Hobson, I don't know.

- Parent of 2nd grader

I don't mean to be mean, but what you've just said is true of almost every ES on the Hill (save for maybe Brent). Walk the halls of the 1st floor of Ludlow Taylor and then go to the 3rd floor; they look like different schools. The obvious next step foe every ES is whether ECE stay and commit to the next few years. From there it is about whether they would commit to MS, etc. No one knows for sure. But trend lines are encouraging. But please don't make this specific to Watkins. The song is getting OLD.

Yes, absolutely true, and I should have added that. But I was responding specifically to the statement about Watkins, and my main point was that I think the dropoff at older grades is slowing. (Which might also be what people are and have been saying about other schools...)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It just isn't true that "a large number" of Hill families move from Peabody to Watkins, though this was the case a decade ago.

Peabody is two-thirds in-boundary and half white, while Watkins is not even 20 IB% and white. Moreover, the percentage of in-boundary kids at Stuart Hobson has dipped several years running, bringing it down to around 15% from a third a decade ago.

The hot new charter for Hill families is really likely to be DC Global in NW, which starts in 6th grade.

Eastern HS is 0% white in a catchment area that's two-thirds white.

First, if you search for Watkins, you'll find way too many threads on this, but that's no reason not to start another.

There's a significant difference between the upper and lower Watkins grade; as you might expect, there are a lot more high SES kids in the lower grades. (To try to avoid getting distracted by this issue: by high SES I mean, in general, kids whose parents have college or grad school education. Also, note that the share white and in-bound is correlated with share high SES, but there are plenty of exceptions: Almost all white kids are high SES, but a very large portion of black kids are too; in the lower grades, I'd guess most, but I really don't know. And some in-bounds kids are lower SES, and many out-of-bound kids are high SES, like mine.)

The question, of course, is how many of the lower grade kids will continue. In past years, relatively few have, so even when there were a lot of high SES kids in K in Peabody and 1st and maybe 2nd at Watkins, that share declined at older grades. (And yes, many kids stayed and continued to Stuart Hobson and had good experiences.) My impression is that that's changing. The dropout rate is going down, so this year's 3rd grade has a higher share of high SES kids than last year, 2nd grade has a higher share than last year, and so on. There has been a bigger dropoff at 5th as kids go to Basis and Latin. To what extent that is changing and to what extent more kids will go to Stuart Hobson, I don't know.

- Parent of 2nd grader

I don't mean to be mean, but what you've just said is true of almost every ES on the Hill (save for maybe Brent). Walk the halls of the 1st floor of Ludlow Taylor and then go to the 3rd floor; they look like different schools. The obvious next step foe every ES is whether ECE stay and commit to the next few years. From there it is about whether they would commit to MS, etc. No one knows for sure. But trend lines are encouraging. But please don't make this specific to Watkins. The song is getting OLD.

When my daughter started pre-school at Maury a few years ago, that was definitely the case and I wondered exactly what answer was appropriate for a four-year-old if she ever got around to asking me why all the older kids at Maury had brown skin. (She never did.) Anyway, it isn't the case now. Using race as the imperfect but visible signifier for these things that it is, the upper grades are now pretty diverse--even the fifth grade. So it is not the case that every Hill school (save for maybe Brent) is in the same place here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a mixed bag. I know Hill folks who attend Walls, McKinley, Duke, DeMatha (in MD), Gonzaga, Latin and Basis.

NCS - $38,850
St. Anselm's -$25,000
Georgetown Visitation - $27,400
St. John's - $20,750
Sidwell - $37,750
St. Alban's - $40,480

For convenience I've appended the list above with the 2015 tuition numbers. Please keep in mind that these don't include books or other fees at some of these schools. The way people here throw around the term "go private" or suggest that it's that easy amuses me. If you have enough disposable income to send your kid to these schools for 7 years (and to pay the tuition increases that will come annually) then you are in a 30+% federal tax bracket and paying almost 9% to DC. So do the math on this. To pay for tuition that costs only 25k a year you need to find $40,000 pretax W2 dollars just laying around (and that's for the tuitions that are only 25k. Some people can find that kind of money. But to throw that around like a legitimate and accessible option is absurd. But because high income earners make a lot they can probably find that amount. But at a lower tax rate and lower income levels where the heck are you going to find that money? And at what cost? If you saved half of that ($12,500) a year into a 529 account starting in 6th grade you'd have college more than paid for. If you are already maxed out in your 529 and college is paid for then no problem. But if your kid is going to graduate with a hundred grand (or more) in student debt because you spent all your money on private schools then you have to ask yourself if staying in an area without viable schools is the responsible thing to do.

P.S. You still have to apply and get accepted to those schools, yet another barrier to entry.
P.P.S And that's assuming only one kid. I see lots and lots of families on the Hill with 2 or 3.

OP here. This is REALLY helpful perspective, along with the other posts noting the scope of different options. It was what I had guessed but wasn't sure--we have friends on the Hill encouraging us to move there but in no way shape or form could we afford doing private middle or high, and it has just felt like they were minimizing the issue of what would happen in those years amid all of their "the Hill is GREAT for kids" spiels!

[Anonymous]

several of us have chosen DCI and are so glad!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:several of us have chosen DCI and are so glad!

That's going to be a heck of a commute once they move to Walter Reed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a mixed bag. I know Hill folks who attend Walls, McKinley, Duke, DeMatha (in MD), Gonzaga, Latin and Basis.

NCS - $38,850
St. Anselm's -$25,000
Georgetown Visitation - $27,400
St. John's - $20,750
Sidwell - $37,750
St. Alban's - $40,480

For convenience I've appended the list above with the 2015 tuition numbers. Please keep in mind that these don't include books or other fees at some of these schools. The way people here throw around the term "go private" or suggest that it's that easy amuses me. If you have enough disposable income to send your kid to these schools for 7 years (and to pay the tuition increases that will come annually) then you are in a 30+% federal tax bracket and paying almost 9% to DC. So do the math on this. To pay for tuition that costs only 25k a year you need to find $40,000 pretax W2 dollars just laying around (and that's for the tuitions that are only 25k. Some people can find that kind of money. But to throw that around like a legitimate and accessible option is absurd. But because high income earners make a lot they can probably find that amount. But at a lower tax rate and lower income levels where the heck are you going to find that money? And at what cost? If you saved half of that ($12,500) a year into a 529 account starting in 6th grade you'd have college more than paid for. If you are already maxed out in your 529 and college is paid for then no problem. But if your kid is going to graduate with a hundred grand (or more) in student debt because you spent all your money on private schools then you have to ask yourself if staying in an area without viable schools is the responsible thing to do.

P.S. You still have to apply and get accepted to those schools, yet another barrier to entry.
P.P.S And that's assuming only one kid. I see lots and lots of families on the Hill with 2 or 3.

Do you always fly off the handle? A PP listed middle schools at which she knew a Hill kid who attended. I added to that list. This doesn't mean every Hill family will be able to afford to send one it more children to any of these schools, much less that they would be admitted. We get it, the middle school situation is stressful and it's unfortunate thst the most realistic public options aren't all that, Basis included. Maybe the Hillcrest test-in school moves forward but I wouldn't count on it. In the meantime, to the best of my knowledge, Washington Global has done little to no outreach to Hill families and appears to have a different mission in mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a mixed bag. I know Hill folks who attend Walls, McKinley, Duke, DeMatha (in MD), Gonzaga, Latin and Basis.

NCS - $38,850
St. Anselm's -$25,000
Georgetown Visitation - $27,400
St. John's - $20,750
Sidwell - $37,750
St. Alban's - $40,480

For convenience I've appended the list above with the 2015 tuition numbers. Please keep in mind that these don't include books or other fees at some of these schools. The way people here throw around the term "go private" or suggest that it's that easy amuses me. If you have enough disposable income to send your kid to these schools for 7 years (and to pay the tuition increases that will come annually) then you are in a 30+% federal tax bracket and paying almost 9% to DC. So do the math on this. To pay for tuition that costs only 25k a year you need to find $40,000 pretax W2 dollars just laying around (and that's for the tuitions that are only 25k. Some people can find that kind of money. But to throw that around like a legitimate and accessible option is absurd. But because high income earners make a lot they can probably find that amount. But at a lower tax rate and lower income levels where the heck are you going to find that money? And at what cost? If you saved half of that ($12,500) a year into a 529 account starting in 6th grade you'd have college more than paid for. If you are already maxed out in your 529 and college is paid for then no problem. But if your kid is going to graduate with a hundred grand (or more) in student debt because you spent all your money on private schools then you have to ask yourself if staying in an area without viable schools is the responsible thing to do.

P.S. You still have to apply and get accepted to those schools, yet another barrier to entry.
P.P.S And that's assuming only one kid. I see lots and lots of families on the Hill with 2 or 3.

OP here. This is REALLY helpful perspective, along with the other posts noting the scope of different options. It was what I had guessed but wasn't sure--we have friends on the Hill encouraging us to move there but in no way shape or form could we afford doing private middle or high, and it has just felt like they were minimizing the issue of what would happen in those years amid all of their "the Hill is GREAT for kids" spiels!

It is a great place for kids, as you can see with the ridiculous number of families with young kids walking around. If you don't yet have kids, or have only very young kids, it's worth looking at in the sense that a lot can change by the time your child reaches middle school. Of course, if you have the money to buy in NW, then buy there as you have more of a guaranteed bet over there than on the Hill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It just isn't true that "a large number" of Hill families move from Peabody to Watkins, though this was the case a decade ago.

Peabody is two-thirds in-boundary and half white, while Watkins is not even 20 IB% and white. Moreover, the percentage of in-boundary kids at Stuart Hobson has dipped several years running, bringing it down to around 15% from a third a decade ago.

The hot new charter for Hill families is really likely to be DC Global in NW, which starts in 6th grade.

Eastern HS is 0% white in a catchment area that's two-thirds white.

It is called Washington Global and it is in SW actually.

I may start a different thread because NO One is talking about Washington Global and I am really curious if they got anyone enrolled. They were spending a lot of time recuiting in the Safeway at the waterfront metro station. If they want to compete with BAsis and Latin for high achieving and high SES families, they need a different strategy. Were they doing any recruitment on the Hill? I hope its successfuly but I Honestly don' think it will have the rigor of a Basis. Maybe a bunch of parents who work in Lenfant will send their kids their due to convenience.

[Anonymous]

When does Wash Glabal open?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It just isn't true that "a large number" of Hill families move from Peabody to Watkins, though this was the case a decade ago.

Peabody is two-thirds in-boundary and half white, while Watkins is not even 20 IB% and white. Moreover, the percentage of in-boundary kids at Stuart Hobson has dipped several years running, bringing it down to around 15% from a third a decade ago.

The hot new charter for Hill families is really likely to be DC Global in NW, which starts in 6th grade.

Eastern HS is 0% white in a catchment area that's two-thirds white.

It is called Washington Global and it is in SW actually.

What do you think? That only the riff raff live in SW?

I may start a different thread because NO One is talking about Washington Global and I am really curious if they got anyone enrolled. They were spending a lot of time recuiting in the Safeway at the waterfront metro station. If they want to compete with BAsis and Latin for high achieving and high SES families, they need a different strategy. Were they doing any recruitment on the Hill? I hope its successfuly but I Honestly don' think it will have the rigor of a Basis. Maybe a bunch of parents who work in Lenfant will send their kids their due to convenience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It just isn't true that "a large number" of Hill families move from Peabody to Watkins, though this was the case a decade ago.

Peabody is two-thirds in-boundary and half white, while Watkins is not even 20 IB% and white. Moreover, the percentage of in-boundary kids at Stuart Hobson has dipped several years running, bringing it down to around 15% from a third a decade ago.

The hot new charter for Hill families is really likely to be DC Global in NW, which starts in 6th grade.

Eastern HS is 0% white in a catchment area that's two-thirds white.

It is called Washington Global and it is in SW actually.

What do you think? That only the riff raff live in SW?

I may start a different thread because NO One is talking about Washington Global and I am really curious if they got anyone enrolled. They were spending a lot of time recuiting in the Safeway at the waterfront metro station. If they want to compete with BAsis and Latin for high achieving and high SES families, they need a different strategy. Were they doing any recruitment on the Hill? I hope its successfuly but I Honestly don' think it will have the rigor of a Basis. Maybe a bunch of parents who work in Lenfant will send their kids their due to convenience.

I've been curious about Washington Global too. Their website has more content than it did a few months ago. Based only on that (which could be misleading) it seems they may not be targetting the higher SES Capitol Hill crowd. (see below).


Washington Global Public Charter School is a tuition-free middle school open to all students in Washington, DC. We offer a robust international and research-based academic program to develop globally competitive students who are ready for college and careers. Our program includes project-based learning, small learning communities, technology instruction, arts, and foreign language classes in Spanish and Chinese. We strive for all of our students to be healthy and active through our nutrition, physical education, and athletic programs. We also serve as a community school that promotes local engagement and service-learning for our students.

What makes Washington Global Unique

Free before and after care
Evening programs for parents and families
Comprehensive special education support
Free laptops for all students for ICT program
GED programs for parents
Small classes
After school competitive sports, dance, and show choir
Spanish and Chinese language classes (including intensive classes for bilingual students)
Parent center with free computer use
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner served daily
Free tutoring
Summer programs
Saturday programming

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a mixed bag. I know Hill folks who attend Walls, McKinley, Duke, DeMatha (in MD), Gonzaga, Latin and Basis.

NCS
St. Anselm's
Georgetown Visitation
St. John's
Sidwell
St. Alban's

[/quote
+1
Capital Hill day school for elementary and middle

[Anonymous]

My two kids and the kids of MANY of my friends--

Peabody to Watkins to Stuart-Hobson to Walls. And now many going on to great SLACs or universities. Some go from Stuart to privates.

We are long time DC and Hill residents, so the whole racial and OOB obsessiveness was never really a factor. We judged the schools by what we knew and saw in the teachers and in our own kids. They were happy and did well. We feel very lucky!