Watkins vs Ross

[Anonymous]

Y’all are weird. Ross has less kids in upper grades because most people move for a viable feeder pattern and nobody in their right mind would switch into it at that point or move their kid only to have to move them again. If they still fed into Wilson it’d be totally different

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Y’all are weird. Ross has less kids in upper grades because most people move for a viable feeder pattern and nobody in their right mind would switch into it at that point or move their kid only to have to move them again. If they still fed into Wilson it’d be totally different

There are plenty of kids who list Ross for 4th or 5th grade in the lottery and get waitlisted. Ross could easily fill a whole classroom in each grade with the kids they waitlist.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't do Ross just for your commute's sake. But if you really want to, consider calling Ross and asking the likelihood of getting off the waitlist. If the principal knows who is getting pulled off the waitlist it may increase your chance that they do pull. If it seems likely, ask to visit before the year gets out so your child can see the school before next year. You almost need to make a case for them pulling off the list.

[Anonymous]

She eventually got off the waiting list. I would appreciate parents that have their kids at these schools to please provide me some insights.
I see people putting Ross in their lottery application but never watkins, so that makes me believe ine is much better than other

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She eventually got off the waiting list. I would appreciate parents that have their kids at these schools to please provide me some insights.
I see people putting Ross in their lottery application but never watkins, so that makes me believe ine is much better than other

If you look at the data, Ross does not get more lottery applications than Watkins.

[Anonymous]

Also, Stuart Hobson and Francis Stevens have fairly similar middle school profiles. Stuart Hobson has the renovated building, if that matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She eventually got off the waiting list. I would appreciate parents that have their kids at these schools to please provide me some insights.
I see people putting Ross in their lottery application but never watkins, so that makes me believe ine is much better than other

If you look at the data, Ross does not get more lottery applications than Watkins.

Looked at the data and it looks like Ross had 595 and Watkins 259. For 4th grade, Ross had 49, Watkins 45. What am I missing?

[Anonymous]

Ross has Pk4 and K. Watkins does not.

If you include the Peabody figures for these two grades, there’s no meaningful difference in the number of applications. Ditto if you drop Ross’ Pk4 and K applications from the totals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ross has Pk4 and K. Watkins does not.

If you include the Peabody figures for these two grades, there’s no meaningful difference in the number of applications. Ditto if you drop Ross’ Pk4 and K applications from the totals.

To be more precise, for 1-5th grade, Ross received 264 applications this year. For 1-5th grade, Watkins received 259.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your student is white, I'd stay at Watkins - test scores are comparable for white students.

If your student is black, I'd switch to Ross. Ross has one of the lowest (if not lowest) achievement gaps in the city.

This is a bit rude. Not all black kids are 'low achievers'

If they are black and you want them in a majority white cohort then switch to Ross. Or if you want a 'better' middle school then switch to Ross which currently feeds to Francis Stephens Middle school in foggy bottom or Cardozo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think I'd switch for 4th unless your child is actually unhappy at Watkins. They'll be at the school for tops 2 years (less if you lottery for BASIS/Latin/Wilson feeder) and then the most likely spot they'll land for middle is right back at Stuart-Hobson, since your odds are bad everywhere else.

Also, you may not have the chance to switch. Ross doesn't take a lot of kids in upper grades through the lottery. The school is so small that they may want to leave room for kids who move IB throughout the year (that is the charitable assumption--less kindly, I think they don't want to risk adding kids who might bring down PARCC scores or need additional services).

All DCPS school have to show right now if they are meeting their projected enrollment targets for the next school year, so they are pulling off the waitlist this week or next week. Hence the big push to know who is re-enrolling.

[Anonymous]

Why are you unhappy at Watkins, OP? That may help us advise you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your student is white, I'd stay at Watkins - test scores are comparable for white students.

If your student is black, I'd switch to Ross. Ross has one of the lowest (if not lowest) achievement gaps in the city.

This is a bit rude. Not all black kids are 'low achievers'

If they are black and you want them in a majority white cohort then switch to Ross. Or if you want a 'better' middle school then switch to Ross which currently feeds to Francis Stephens Middle school in foggy bottom or Cardozo.

OP is IB for Watkins and also Stuart Hobson. Not sure I'd agree with you that FS or Cardoza are better MS options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are you unhappy at Watkins, OP? That may help us advise you.

This would be ourfirst year at Watkins

[Anonymous]

I don’t know anything about Watkins, but we are a Ross family and love that everyone knows one another. It’s a really small school and a tight knit community. The teachers are all excellent. Principal knows everyone by name. That said, I’m not sure I’d drive across town for it to start in 4th grade. That commute would be awful. Also, there are definite challenges with space as the school gets more and more popular.