Best Cap Hill elementary to middle?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brent actually scores lower than schools with similar demographics. For middle path, I’d choose Watkins.

Come on. Brent is head and shoulders above Watkins in terms of the kid's experience. The entire 1st grade at Brent is in-boundary and OOB with older sibs. Brent parents care little about PARCC scores and the kids are not prepped for the test like at almost every other Hill DCPS. Brent has a seriously good fine arts program, paid for by the $400,000 a year PTA. Brent is also the only elementary school on the Hill with a designated science teacher. The Brent principal is terrific, while the Watkins principal seems to care only about "closing the achievement gap." Brent's middle school feeder situation isn't good, and neither is Maury's so if you want a path to Stuart Hobson, go for Watkins. Don't go for Watkins for Watkins.

It's cute how at schools with lots of rich and/or white kids the parents are like "the experience is so great! there's no test prep so our kids don't score as well as white kids at other schools but it's cool because we have art!" and then they look at other schools where kids like theirs do better and the at-risk/AA/Latino kids do better that also have nice art and science classes and say "it's not an option--my kid needs a cohort of high performers and separate honors classes."

OP, Stuart-Hobson and Jefferson are more alike than different (SH has a principal people like and JA currently has an interim principal; each school will likely change leadership several times before your kid gets there). SH has about 10% white kids and seems to do a better job explaining its differentiated classes, but both schools differentiate and both schools will be in good physical shape when your kid arrives (JA is being renovated now). JA is further away but it's not hard to get to (3 blocks from L'Enfant Plaza metro and several buses) so if you like Brent, don't be scared off by JA. And if you like the Cluster or LT or JOW (which is going through a mess right now because their principal resigned and some older-grade teachers seem awful--but this will likely be well in the rearview mirror before your kid is out of the ECE wing) go for it. Teachers and principals change so much from year to year that you can't really pin your hopes on one school being way better than another. Even the best school has a range of good and bad teachers (or teachers that click better with some students than others). Class sizes and extracurriculars and playgrounds and all that other stuff can change from year to year. Find a house you like that you can afford and read a lot to your kid and take him or her to museums and volunteer in the classroom and do stuff like DC Youth Orchestra and Sports on the Hill and scouting and your kid will be just fine.

Nail, head, thank you.

^^ sort of. more yes and no. In no particular order

Stuart hasn't had much leadership turnover but ¯\_(?)_/¯ that could happen anywhere I suppose.

Jefferson is underrated and improving but it also serves more at risk students than SH.

SH is stronger in performing arts than other MS options in DC.

A small cohort of Brent families recently made jump to Jefferson but most Brent families do not. Many Brent families bail for charters in 5th or private earlier (it's upper grades take OOB students to fill gap).

LT cohort at SH is somewhat small but likely growing in next 3-4 years. Watkins accounts for 2/3 of the rising 6th grade class.

SH Class sizes are large for both honors and regular track.

Are there any DCPS middle schools with small class sizes, though?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brent actually scores lower than schools with similar demographics. For middle path, I’d choose Watkins.

Come on. Brent is head and shoulders above Watkins in terms of the kid's experience. The entire 1st grade at Brent is in-boundary and OOB with older sibs. Brent parents care little about PARCC scores and the kids are not prepped for the test like at almost every other Hill DCPS. Brent has a seriously good fine arts program, paid for by the $400,000 a year PTA. Brent is also the only elementary school on the Hill with a designated science teacher. The Brent principal is terrific, while the Watkins principal seems to care only about "closing the achievement gap." Brent's middle school feeder situation isn't good, and neither is Maury's so if you want a path to Stuart Hobson, go for Watkins. Don't go for Watkins for Watkins.

+1. Go to Brent and then play the lottery for middle school, or move since you’re renting. Brent’s location is much better than Maury’s and the school itself is better than Watkins, as PP said.

I actually think Maury is better situated. The area around Lincoln Park is beautiful.

I would go charter for middle school!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brent actually scores lower than schools with similar demographics. For middle path, I’d choose Watkins.

Come on. Brent is head and shoulders above Watkins in terms of the kid's experience. The entire 1st grade at Brent is in-boundary and OOB with older sibs. Brent parents care little about PARCC scores and the kids are not prepped for the test like at almost every other Hill DCPS. Brent has a seriously good fine arts program, paid for by the $400,000 a year PTA. Brent is also the only elementary school on the Hill with a designated science teacher. The Brent principal is terrific, while the Watkins principal seems to care only about "closing the achievement gap." Brent's middle school feeder situation isn't good, and neither is Maury's so if you want a path to Stuart Hobson, go for Watkins. Don't go for Watkins for Watkins.

+1. Go to Brent and then play the lottery for middle school, or move since you’re renting. Brent’s location is much better than Maury’s and the school itself is better than Watkins, as PP said.

I actually think Maury is better situated. The area around Lincoln Park is beautiful.

I would go charter for middle school!

Love Maury, but Brent is undeniably closer to the metro! the housing stock around Maury is more affordable though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brent actually scores lower than schools with similar demographics. For middle path, I’d choose Watkins.

Come on. Brent is head and shoulders above Watkins in terms of the kid's experience. The entire 1st grade at Brent is in-boundary and OOB with older sibs. Brent parents care little about PARCC scores and the kids are not prepped for the test like at almost every other Hill DCPS. Brent has a seriously good fine arts program, paid for by the $400,000 a year PTA. Brent is also the only elementary school on the Hill with a designated science teacher. The Brent principal is terrific, while the Watkins principal seems to care only about "closing the achievement gap." Brent's middle school feeder situation isn't good, and neither is Maury's so if you want a path to Stuart Hobson, go for Watkins. Don't go for Watkins for Watkins.

It's cute how at schools with lots of rich and/or white kids the parents are like "the experience is so great! there's no test prep so our kids don't score as well as white kids at other schools but it's cool because we have art!" and then they look at other schools where kids like theirs do better and the at-risk/AA/Latino kids do better that also have nice art and science classes and say "it's not an option--my kid needs a cohort of high performers and separate honors classes."

OP, Stuart-Hobson and Jefferson are more alike than different (SH has a principal people like and JA currently has an interim principal; each school will likely change leadership several times before your kid gets there). SH has about 10% white kids and seems to do a better job explaining its differentiated classes, but both schools differentiate and both schools will be in good physical shape when your kid arrives (JA is being renovated now). JA is further away but it's not hard to get to (3 blocks from L'Enfant Plaza metro and several buses) so if you like Brent, don't be scared off by JA. And if you like the Cluster or LT or JOW (which is going through a mess right now because their principal resigned and some older-grade teachers seem awful--but this will likely be well in the rearview mirror before your kid is out of the ECE wing) go for it. Teachers and principals change so much from year to year that you can't really pin your hopes on one school being way better than another. Even the best school has a range of good and bad teachers (or teachers that click better with some students than others). Class sizes and extracurriculars and playgrounds and all that other stuff can change from year to year. Find a house you like that you can afford and read a lot to your kid and take him or her to museums and volunteer in the classroom and do stuff like DC Youth Orchestra and Sports on the Hill and scouting and your kid will be just fine.

Nail, head, thank you.

^^ sort of. more yes and no. In no particular order

Stuart hasn't had much leadership turnover but ¯\_(?)_/¯ that could happen anywhere I suppose.

Jefferson is underrated and improving but it also serves more at risk students than SH.

SH is stronger in performing arts than other MS options in DC.

A small cohort of Brent families recently made jump to Jefferson but most Brent families do not. Many Brent families bail for charters in 5th or private earlier (it's upper grades take OOB students to fill gap).

LT cohort at SH is somewhat small but likely growing in next 3-4 years. Watkins accounts for 2/3 of the rising 6th grade class.

SH Class sizes are large for both honors and regular track.

Are there any DCPS middle schools with small class sizes, though?

Only the ECs, for the most part. But none are huge - e.g. larger than 26-30.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ludlow Taylor to Stuart Hobson without question. (Most elementary schools are good, but most middles have a long way to go.)

The delusional ludlow booster strikes again!

LOL. This is 4:16 and I have actually never posted about either of these schools before. OP asked specifically about the best elementary to middle options on the Hill. If you are looking for this combo, this is your best bet. SH is definitely the strongest middle (on the Hill, not comparing to others around the city) and as far as I know the only 2 ele that feed onto SH are Watkins and LT, with LT being the stronger elementary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brent actually scores lower than schools with similar demographics. For middle path, I’d choose Watkins.

Come on. Brent is head and shoulders above Watkins in terms of the kid's experience. The entire 1st grade at Brent is in-boundary and OOB with older sibs. Brent parents care little about PARCC scores and the kids are not prepped for the test like at almost every other Hill DCPS. Brent has a seriously good fine arts program, paid for by the $400,000 a year PTA. Brent is also the only elementary school on the Hill with a designated science teacher. The Brent principal is terrific, while the Watkins principal seems to care only about "closing the achievement gap." Brent's middle school feeder situation isn't good, and neither is Maury's so if you want a path to Stuart Hobson, go for Watkins. Don't go for Watkins for Watkins.

It's cute how at schools with lots of rich and/or white kids the parents are like "the experience is so great! there's no test prep so our kids don't score as well as white kids at other schools but it's cool because we have art!" and then they look at other schools where kids like theirs do better and the at-risk/AA/Latino kids do better that also have nice art and science classes and say "it's not an option--my kid needs a cohort of high performers and separate honors classes."

OP, Stuart-Hobson and Jefferson are more alike than different (SH has a principal people like and JA currently has an interim principal; each school will likely change leadership several times before your kid gets there). SH has about 10% white kids and seems to do a better job explaining its differentiated classes, but both schools differentiate and both schools will be in good physical shape when your kid arrives (JA is being renovated now). JA is further away but it's not hard to get to (3 blocks from L'Enfant Plaza metro and several buses) so if you like Brent, don't be scared off by JA. And if you like the Cluster or LT or JOW (which is going through a mess right now because their principal resigned and some older-grade teachers seem awful--but this will likely be well in the rearview mirror before your kid is out of the ECE wing) go for it. Teachers and principals change so much from year to year that you can't really pin your hopes on one school being way better than another. Even the best school has a range of good and bad teachers (or teachers that click better with some students than others). Class sizes and extracurriculars and playgrounds and all that other stuff can change from year to year. Find a house you like that you can afford and read a lot to your kid and take him or her to museums and volunteer in the classroom and do stuff like DC Youth Orchestra and Sports on the Hill and scouting and your kid will be just fine.

Nail, head, thank you.

^^ sort of. more yes and no. In no particular order

Stuart hasn't had much leadership turnover but ¯\_(?)_/¯ that could happen anywhere I suppose.

Jefferson is underrated and improving but it also serves more at risk students than SH.

SH is stronger in performing arts than other MS options in DC.

A small cohort of Brent families recently made jump to Jefferson but most Brent families do not. Many Brent families bail for charters in 5th or private earlier (it's upper grades take OOB students to fill gap).

LT cohort at SH is somewhat small but likely growing in next 3-4 years. Watkins accounts for 2/3 of the rising 6th grade class.

SH Class sizes are large for both honors and regular track.

Are there any DCPS middle schools with small class sizes, though?

No, but SH has strained the limits in some cases. There are 30+ student classes. PP mentioned only EC classes this large, but that's not accurate across the board.

[Anonymous]

30+ is not fixed though.

In all likelihood there have been more IB students enrolling later, who were not expected or coming straight from an IB DCPS elementary.

Put another way, class size now is not at all predictive of class size 5-6-7 years from now (bigger or smaller) when OP's kid will be entering MS. Also, classes of 25 are about as small as MS gets unless the school is under-enrolled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ludlow Taylor to Stuart Hobson without question. (Most elementary schools are good, but most middles have a long way to go.)

The delusional ludlow booster strikes again!

LOL. This is 4:16 and I have actually never posted about either of these schools before. OP asked specifically about the best elementary to middle options on the Hill. If you are looking for this combo, this is your best bet. SH is definitely the strongest middle (on the Hill, not comparing to others around the city) and as far as I know the only 2 ele that feed onto SH are Watkins and LT, with LT being the stronger elementary.

JO Wilson is also a SH feeder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:30+ is not fixed though.

In all likelihood there have been more IB students enrolling later, who were not expected or coming straight from an IB DCPS elementary.

Put another way, class size now is not at all predictive of class size 5-6-7 years from now (bigger or smaller) when OP's kid will be entering MS. Also, classes of 25 are about as small as MS gets unless the school is under-enrolled.

It's interesting to me that some of the in-boundary SH families who went with non feeders for ES are enrolling at Hobson now that the new principal has made so many positive changes. When these families strike out in the Wash Latin lottery, and possibly the BASIS lottery, they're giving SH a second look. There are SWS, Brent and Maury families in this category.

No easy answers to OP's question. Middle school is just three years. I'd go for at least six years (and possibly seven or eight) at Brent or Maury myself, then hope for the best in the charter lottery for MS, or move, or go private or whatever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ludlow Taylor to Stuart Hobson without question. (Most elementary schools are good, but most middles have a long way to go.)

The delusional ludlow booster strikes again!

LOL. This is 4:16 and I have actually never posted about either of these schools before. OP asked specifically about the best elementary to middle options on the Hill. If you are looking for this combo, this is your best bet. SH is definitely the strongest middle (on the Hill, not comparing to others around the city) and as far as I know the only 2 ele that feed onto SH are Watkins and LT, with LT being the stronger elementary.

JO Wilson is also a SH feeder.

And? No UMC families there after about 1st grade. No hope school even for a current toddler. It's takes more than a decade for a struggling DCPS program to feed a good UMC cohort to 4th or 5th grade. We've seen this story play out at other campuses.

[Anonymous]

OP, if your kid is starting PK3 next fall, it will be 2028 until he or she is in middle school. By the time your kid starts 6th grade, school and ward boundaries will be redone, most current principals will have left, charters will open and close and move, the economy will probably go through another recession and recovery, and we'll have had two more presidential administrations and the same for mayor. The DC council will likely be mostly people who are not currently serving (of those who are currently on the council, only Gray, Mendelson, Evans, and Cheh were on in 2010). There will probably be 1 or 2 other chancellors.

You also don't know whether your kid will turn out to learn quickly or slowly, have a disability, rise above classroom chaos or fall in with the most disruptive kids in any setting, have strong or weak organizational skills, want to learn a different language, need a lot of physical activity, make tons of friends in ES he wants to stay with or hate his classmates and need a fresh start, be responsible enough to travel across town to a different school, be really into math and science, despise school uniforms, or any number of other factors that could help you rank middle schools.

So just find a house on the Hill and bloom where you are planted.

[Anonymous]

Amen

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ludlow Taylor to Stuart Hobson without question. (Most elementary schools are good, but most middles have a long way to go.)

The delusional ludlow booster strikes again!

LOL. This is 4:16 and I have actually never posted about either of these schools before. OP asked specifically about the best elementary to middle options on the Hill. If you are looking for this combo, this is your best bet. SH is definitely the strongest middle (on the Hill, not comparing to others around the city) and as far as I know the only 2 ele that feed onto SH are Watkins and LT, with LT being the stronger elementary.

JO Wilson is also a SH feeder.

And? No UMC families there after about 1st grade. No hope school even for a current toddler. It's takes more than a decade for a struggling DCPS program to feed a good UMC cohort to 4th or 5th grade. We've seen this story play out at other campuses.

And? if PP says "as I know the only 2 ele that feed onto SH are Watkins and LT" it's good to correct that erroneous statement. Not everyone's top metric when searching for a school is "a good UMC cohort." LT has the lowest math MGP of the 3 SH feeds (the only one below the DC average) but the highest for ELA (JOW and Watkins are tied, and both are higher than the DC average). If growth is an important factor for OP to consider, not just how rich or white the student body is, then comparing MGPs does not get you a clear winner. Real estate is hard enough on the Hill, and a large number of schools doing well enough, that OP doesn't need to confine herself to one or two school zones.

[Anonymous]

Here's how I'd sort Cap Hill by-right schools, your mileage may vary:

*** Elementary Schools ***

YES
(1) Brent
(2) Maury
(3) Peabody (preK-3 to K)

MAYBE
(4) Ludlow-Taylor
(5) Watkins (1st to 5th)

NO
(6) JO Wilson
(7) Payne
(8) Miner


*** Middle Schools ***

YES
(1) Stuart Hobson

MAYBE
(2) Jefferson

NO
(3) Eliot-Hine

*** High School **

NO
(1) Eastern

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brent actually scores lower than schools with similar demographics. For middle path, I’d choose Watkins.

Come on. Brent is head and shoulders above Watkins in terms of the kid's experience. The entire 1st grade at Brent is in-boundary and OOB with older sibs. Brent parents care little about PARCC scores and the kids are not prepped for the test like at almost every other Hill DCPS. Brent has a seriously good fine arts program, paid for by the $400,000 a year PTA. Brent is also the only elementary school on the Hill with a designated science teacher. The Brent principal is terrific, while the Watkins principal seems to care only about "closing the achievement gap." Brent's middle school feeder situation isn't good, and neither is Maury's so if you want a path to Stuart Hobson, go for Watkins. Don't go for Watkins for Watkins.

I don't really care to enter into this sniping, but I'll point out that my non-Brent school has an amazing art teacher and a dedicated science teacher. I'll also point out that many of us think that focus on "closing the achievement gap" does not need scare quotes, and is a good and healthy focus for a school in DC. I'll ALSO point out that focus on fundamentals in the early grades and taking things like the learning necessary to do well on PARCC has actually be extremely beneficial for my kid. Perhaps we don't have the privilege to rest on our laurels like Brent thinks it does, but the really focused learning environment has been GREAT for my high SES kid.

This seems like a decent and reasonable response. What on Earth are you doing on DCUM?