Looking for some feedback on Eastern HS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Why the hate? My impression was the oldest daughter was especially high achieving. You know the type. He conceded that going to Walls from EH was the overall much better fit for her. I do not think there is any real inconsistency in believing in neighborhood schools, supporting DCPS, and sending a very high-achieving child who gets in to a DCPS application high school.

How do we know that Eastern’s IB program isn’t full of high achieving students?

Easy enough. Look at the IB averages. I hear it’s 24 or 25. 24 is the minimum that you need to get the IB diploma.

For top schools like Ivies, you need minimum 40-42. For top 20 schools high 30’s.

Definitely not high achieving. Average IB scores are bottom of the barrel.

They don't actually care for US students. Not an Ivy, but a Stanford admissions officer pointed out that the IB scores aren't released until well after any commitments are made.

You don’t seem to know too much about IB. Yes the scores are released later but you can take 2 exams in junior year and submit those scores. You can also take the equivalent AP exam and should score high with 5’s if you are doing really well in the IB program. It’s not hard to see who the high flyers are in IB and it’s not the Eastern crowd.

I responded to a claim that a 40-42 is needed which is false. And you’re actually proving my point.

Guess you don’t understand about correlation. It is easy to correlate with the kids will be getting based on above.

I guess you don't seem to understand that I'm responding to a specific claim. As previously mentioned, pre-IB grades, AP scores, and DE courses, are all factored into a student's admissions profile. Students at Eastern and Banneker are either scoring or projected to score 40+ or else its not a dealbreaker for Ivy admissions. Banneker seems to consistently send 1-2 students to an Ivy annually.

[Anonymous]

Yes, low SES minority students to Ivies. That could change after the Supreme Court ruling on affirmative actions in college admissions a few weeks from now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, low SES minority students to Ivies. That could change after the Supreme Court ruling on affirmative actions in college admissions a few weeks from now.

A 40-42 is not required for Ivy League admission.

[Anonymous]

Technically, nothing in particular is required for Ivy admission. I work in the college counseling field. Almost all of the successful Ivy IBD candidates I've worked with over the years who weren't recruited athletes scored in the high 30s-mid 40s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Technically, nothing in particular is required for Ivy admission. I work in the college counseling field. Almost all of the successful Ivy IBD candidates I've worked with over the years who weren't recruited athletes scored in the high 30s-mid 40s.

This is the answer. No one is getting into an Ivy with anything less than high 30’s minimum but most are 40’s plus.

The average IB scores iof a school is what it is, averages, so some kids can score higher and some lower. But when it’s only 20-25 kids like at Eastern and Banneker, the spread can’t be too wide since so small a number. Highly doubt anyone is getting 40 there.

BTW Banneker is not only a self selecting school but on top of that self selects the IB kids within the school. Even with this, the averages are really low in the 20’s.

[Anonymous]

This has been an interesting thread to follow, and a few thoughts have come to mind as I have read posts over the past few days. First, it is unfortunate that there is not consistent instruction/curriculum between schools - even within the same parts of the city. How much of that can be attributed to teacher experience, school leadership, or number of kids in the higher grades, I am not sure. My child will be finishing 5th grade at Payne this year, and has been writing essays, doing novel studies and having involved writing assignments on an almost daily basis since fourth grade. From this thread and others on DCUM it sounds like other schools are just sending home worksheets, which is frustrating.

For those people reading this thread who are still learning and exploring, I think it is valuable to shed light on the fact that schools in DC and families' experiences in schools in DC are a lot more nuanced than this forum would make it seem. We will be at Eliot Hine next year, along with most of my child's classmates. I know many families who are already at that school and their kids are having positive experiences both in the classroom and in the debate club, theatre productions, TV/Radio station, sports, etc. I think many schools that are 'off the DCUM radar' have students and families with similar positive experiences.

Lastly, as we talk about differentiation, advanced classes, etc - I think it is important to make sure kids are challenged, but also to think about how to make sure advanced classes are implemented .Good book I read years ago that I have been thinking about this week on this topic - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22104174-despite-the-best-intentions

[Anonymous]

So curious what novels your child read at Payne in 5th grade this year? Sounds great!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This has been an interesting thread to follow, and a few thoughts have come to mind as I have read posts over the past few days. First, it is unfortunate that there is not consistent instruction/curriculum between schools - even within the same parts of the city. How much of that can be attributed to teacher experience, school leadership, or number of kids in the higher grades, I am not sure. My child will be finishing 5th grade at Payne this year, and has been writing essays, doing novel studies and having involved writing assignments on an almost daily basis since fourth grade. From this thread and others on DCUM it sounds like other schools are just sending home worksheets, which is frustrating.

For those people reading this thread who are still learning and exploring, I think it is valuable to shed light on the fact that schools in DC and families' experiences in schools in DC are a lot more nuanced than this forum would make it seem. We will be at Eliot Hine next year, along with most of my child's classmates. I know many families who are already at that school and their kids are having positive experiences both in the classroom and in the debate club, theatre productions, TV/Radio station, sports, etc. I think many schools that are 'off the DCUM radar' have students and families with similar positive experiences.

Lastly, as we talk about differentiation, advanced classes, etc - I think it is important to make sure kids are challenged, but also to think about how to make sure advanced classes are implemented .Good book I read years ago that I have been thinking about this week on this topic - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22104174-despite-the-best-intentions

See you at EH!

- Maury parent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So curious what novels your child read at Payne in 5th grade this year? Sounds great!

The three I can think of most recently are: How I Became a Ghost, Elijah of Buxton, and Esperanza Rising.
As a former ECE and Kinder teacher I was not as familiar with what 'Novel Study' is because I was always more focused on teaching kids how to read, not these higher level analysis of texts. From what I have learned about it, I am really impressed. Not sure if that is DCPS or just a teacher led initiative.
https://endeavorsined.com/the-importance-of-novel-studies/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So curious what novels your child read at Payne in 5th grade this year? Sounds great!

The three I can think of most recently are: How I Became a Ghost, Elijah of Buxton, and Esperanza Rising.
As a former ECE and Kinder teacher I was not as familiar with what 'Novel Study' is because I was always more focused on teaching kids how to read, not these higher level analysis of texts. From what I have learned about it, I am really impressed. Not sure if that is DCPS or just a teacher led initiative.
https://endeavorsined.com/the-importance-of-novel-studies/

Oh interesting. The teacher reads aloud and the kids follow along and they discuss. Great technique.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So curious what novels your child read at Payne in 5th grade this year? Sounds great!

The three I can think of most recently are: How I Became a Ghost, Elijah of Buxton, and Esperanza Rising.
As a former ECE and Kinder teacher I was not as familiar with what 'Novel Study' is because I was always more focused on teaching kids how to read, not these higher level analysis of texts. From what I have learned about it, I am really impressed. Not sure if that is DCPS or just a teacher led initiative.
https://endeavorsined.com/the-importance-of-novel-studies/

Oh interesting. The teacher reads aloud and the kids follow along and they discuss. Great technique.

Yea - not to make too much of a digression on this thread, but they each have a copy of the book, and read the chapter at home too, but have in depth questions, essays, and work related to what was read, and they aren't allowed to read ahead, so they all are at same place. They also read other books during the year just to read, and also use Worldly Wise. http://wordlywise3000.com/

Again, I have no basis of comparison as this is my oldest, and I never taught older kids, but I have been impressedm

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This has been an interesting thread to follow, and a few thoughts have come to mind as I have read posts over the past few days. First, it is unfortunate that there is not consistent instruction/curriculum between schools - even within the same parts of the city. How much of that can be attributed to teacher experience, school leadership, or number of kids in the higher grades, I am not sure. My child will be finishing 5th grade at Payne this year, and has been writing essays, doing novel studies and having involved writing assignments on an almost daily basis since fourth grade. From this thread and others on DCUM it sounds like other schools are just sending home worksheets, which is frustrating.

For those people reading this thread who are still learning and exploring, I think it is valuable to shed light on the fact that schools in DC and families' experiences in schools in DC are a lot more nuanced than this forum would make it seem. We will be at Eliot Hine next year, along with most of my child's classmates. I know many families who are already at that school and their kids are having positive experiences both in the classroom and in the debate club, theatre productions, TV/Radio station, sports, etc. I think many schools that are 'off the DCUM radar' have students and families with similar positive experiences.

Lastly, as we talk about differentiation, advanced classes, etc - I think it is important to make sure kids are challenged, but also to think about how to make sure advanced classes are implemented .Good book I read years ago that I have been thinking about this week on this topic - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22104174-despite-the-best-intentions

What was the behavior like in the 5th grade classrooms? One of the reasons we are thinking of avoiding EH when our time comes is because the behavior in our school’s 5th grade classroom is alarming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This has been an interesting thread to follow, and a few thoughts have come to mind as I have read posts over the past few days. First, it is unfortunate that there is not consistent instruction/curriculum between schools - even within the same parts of the city. How much of that can be attributed to teacher experience, school leadership, or number of kids in the higher grades, I am not sure. My child will be finishing 5th grade at Payne this year, and has been writing essays, doing novel studies and having involved writing assignments on an almost daily basis since fourth grade. From this thread and others on DCUM it sounds like other schools are just sending home worksheets, which is frustrating.

For those people reading this thread who are still learning and exploring, I think it is valuable to shed light on the fact that schools in DC and families' experiences in schools in DC are a lot more nuanced than this forum would make it seem. We will be at Eliot Hine next year, along with most of my child's classmates. I know many families who are already at that school and their kids are having positive experiences both in the classroom and in the debate club, theatre productions, TV/Radio station, sports, etc. I think many schools that are 'off the DCUM radar' have students and families with similar positive experiences.

Lastly, as we talk about differentiation, advanced classes, etc - I think it is important to make sure kids are challenged, but also to think about how to make sure advanced classes are implemented .Good book I read years ago that I have been thinking about this week on this topic - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22104174-despite-the-best-intentions

What was the behavior like in the 5th grade classrooms? One of the reasons we are thinking of avoiding EH when our time comes is because the behavior in our school’s 5th grade classroom is alarming.

Without being in the classroom I can't speak with great detail about behavior, and I guess it is a good sign that I don't hear or see any behaviors of concern when I am at the school or on field trips. Based on what I observe and what I hear from my child, there aren't any serious concerns. The things I hear about seem pretty normal, such as somebody being off task, loud at lunch, or recess woes.

[Anonymous]

This thread has really gone off track. Feedback on Eastern HS anyone?

[Anonymous]

One the biggest issues at Eastern is school attendance. It’s really hard to teach when half the class is missing for huge chunks of time.