Jumping Ship From DCPS For Private HS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of DCPS kids and kids from Latin and Basis at SJC.

Is it tough to for a kid to transition into a catholic education that late in the game?

If the kids are Catholic, they've been going to SOR/CCD/Sunday school.

Not mine. 30%+ of kids at SJC aren't Catholic. It isn't a big deal. They do take religion and have to go the mass but my child doesn't find it imposing or something to adjust to.

[Anonymous]

First of all St Johns is not a huge leap from public. As for other top privates, while small classes etc there is also extreme cliquishness hardened from many years of kids who are "lifers", so the poster who said she hears of deal kids "dying" prob meant socially. If you are new in 9th depending on class size you may be the new exciting thing or a left out forever. Plentybdo return to public and not because they can't keep up, public schools are simply more welcoming and accepting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First of all St Johns is not a huge leap from public. As for other top privates, while small classes etc there is also extreme cliquishness hardened from many years of kids who are "lifers", so the poster who said she hears of deal kids "dying" prob meant socially. If you are new in 9th depending on class size you may be the new exciting thing or a left out forever. Plentybdo return to public and not because they can't keep up, public schools are simply more welcoming and accepting.

This hasn't been our experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of DCPS kids and kids from Latin and Basis at SJC.

Is it tough to for a kid to transition into a catholic education that late in the game?

I work at a Catholic HS, and the kids who transition from public middle school do fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is a freshman at Wilson. They all went to Deal. His friends at Sidwell and Maret are dying. I saw one at the basketball game and asked what he was doing there. He said the kids were weird and he missed his friends. I don't think he's going to make it. Others are having the same issues.

Dying? Not going to make it?

Are they having adjustment issues? Are they unprepared for the academics? Your language suggests they are suicidal.

I should have been more specific. They are dying socially. They miss their friends more than I would have thought. They also miss the true diversity. One of my son's friends said that the kids are just weird. I think part of the problem is that if your kid went to Deal for instance, it's a huge school with a lot going on. The kids are pretty savvy and urban. When you transfer and have lots of lifers, the kids tend to be more sheltered and suburban (even if they don't live in the suburbs). This is probably more true for boys than girls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is a freshman at Wilson. They all went to Deal. His friends at Sidwell and Maret are dying. I saw one at the basketball game and asked what he was doing there. He said the kids were weird and he missed his friends. I don't think he's going to make it. Others are having the same issues.

Dying? Not going to make it?

Are they having adjustment issues? Are they unprepared for the academics? Your language suggests they are suicidal.

I should have been more specific. They are dying socially. They miss their friends more than I would have thought. They also miss the true diversity. One of my son's friends said that the kids are just weird. I think part of the problem is that if your kid went to Deal for instance, it's a huge school with a lot going on. The kids are pretty savvy and urban. When you transfer and have lots of lifers, the kids tend to be more sheltered and suburban (even if they don't live in the suburbs). This is probably more true for boys than girls.

We all marvel at the "true diversity" of Deal.

[Anonymous]

We made a mistake in letting our son hang with his public friends after transferring. Honestly, you have to make them cut off the old friends or they'll never gel with new kids. Making friends is hard, why would you bother making new ones if you can just text and hang and tweet at the ones you've had for years? My son's asshole old friends also teased him e.g., calling him a "private fa--ot" which just further turned him away from new kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is a freshman at Wilson. They all went to Deal. His friends at Sidwell and Maret are dying. I saw one at the basketball game and asked what he was doing there. He said the kids were weird and he missed his friends. I don't think he's going to make it. Others are having the same issues.

Dying? Not going to make it?

Are they having adjustment issues? Are they unprepared for the academics? Your language suggests they are suicidal.

I should have been more specific. They are dying socially. They miss their friends more than I would have thought. They also miss the true diversity. One of my son's friends said that the kids are just weird. I think part of the problem is that if your kid went to Deal for instance, it's a huge school with a lot going on. The kids are pretty savvy and urban. When you transfer and have lots of lifers, the kids tend to be more sheltered and suburban (even if they don't live in the suburbs). This is probably more true for boys than girls.

This is just absurd. There is real diversity at the two schools you mention. The vast majority of the kids are not "weird" in any way, no more than they are at Deal. It's tough to make a transition of any kind; lots of kids struggle when they move on to high school no matter where they go.