Seems to be a lot easier to get into HRCS as 1st or 2nd grader

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now that October WL data is out, I am heartened to see that people do get into some HRCS later. Not the highest of the high, but plenty of respectable schools. Does anyone know why this is?

It's easier to get into the better DCPS's in the higher grades, too. Partly it's attrition to privates, and otherwise moving to MoCo or FFX.

Free PS/PK is a big draw for a lot of families. The school may not be worth pursuing long term, but it's better than paying for daycare. However once you're in K, and making friends in 1st & 2nd, you'll start to get the trickle down from testing grades. DC is a small town with high expectations and most schools don't make the cut.

This. I know a family that opened up several spots at a HRCS this year when they left for private. They felt the school was no longer meeting their kids' needs academically, and wanted to be somewhere where the middle school path was more of a sure thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now that October WL data is out, I am heartened to see that people do get into some HRCS later. Not the highest of the high, but plenty of respectable schools. Does anyone know why this is?

It's easier to get into the better DCPS's in the higher grades, too. Partly it's attrition to privates, and otherwise moving to MoCo or FFX.

Free PS/PK is a big draw for a lot of families. The school may not be worth pursuing long term, but it's better than paying for daycare. However once you're in K, and making friends in 1st & 2nd, you'll start to get the trickle down from testing grades. DC is a small town with high expectations and most schools don't make the cut.

I have observed this too. Part of it is just normal attrition or the many DC state/military families moving. There are a lot of people making it work in smallish condo or half townhouse, and that gets pretty old. A few years of free preschool, a little further along in their careers, and they can afford a house, so naturally they'll choose the burbs or a Wilson feeder. Also, families move for their oldest child, and when they do, they take younger sibs with them.

Agreed. Also, when people move to DC with kids already in or near testing grades, say grade 2 or above, they tend to look for higher scoring IB schools than couples who are pre-kids or with infants. Because after grade 2 or so there is no more "maybe it will improve" and they don't have multiple shots at the lottery because school quality matters immediately. So most "gentrifier" enrollment at up and coming schools is people starting at PK, getting comfortable with it, and being happy with the progress that is often slow but is indeed progress. Not many joining half way through. I think this dynamic applies to charters also.

I think you nailed it, PP. It's one thing to "grow up" in a lowly-regarded "iffy" school, because you started there for the free PS/PK, but you've seen the writing on the wall and you can play the lottery every year to escape. In the meantime, it's saving you $18K in daycare. You play the lottery in PS3, PK4, K, 1st, 2nd, and if you've struck out after 5 lotteries, you move or go parochial or private. It's something else entirely to deliberately move into an "iffy" school.

Once your child is in the testing grades and you see the results, it becomes urgent to remove your child from unsatisfactory influences. DCPS will NOT prioritize the needs of your child as long as he/she is performing at or above expectations. Your child is now in the classroom as a resource for the children who can't perform at grade level: they have substandard lives at home, and need to use your family as a scaffold to reach the next level.

Some charters - the immersion schools - have removed themselves from this dynamic (you can say it's rational or devious according to your personal opinion of charters) by not accepting students after a certain grade because they can't catch up in the second language.

[Anonymous]

Not accepting students after a certain grade because they can't catch up in the second language. Translation: it's horribly UNFAIR that some DC kids grow up bilingual, speaking languages taught in charter immersion elementary schools (French, Spanish, Hebrew and Chinese), even if they're low SES. Therefore, DCPC in its infinite wisdom has decided that fully bilingual and biliterate kids are not permitted to replace drop-outs (unlike in MoCo and Fairfax). Sheer idiocy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not accepting students after a certain grade because they can't catch up in the second language. Translation: it's horribly UNFAIR that some DC kids grow up bilingual, speaking languages taught in charter immersion elementary schools (French, Spanish, Hebrew and Chinese), even if they're low SES. Therefore, DCPC in its infinite wisdom has decided that fully bilingual and biliterate kids are not permitted to replace drop-outs (unlike in MoCo and Fairfax). Sheer idiocy.

I want to be sympathetic to your argument, but it looks like you can't even tell the difference between charters and DCPS. Maybe come back when you're fully informed?