Ranking assistance - Cap Hill/Brookland area

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eleven kids from LAMB going to Latin really says something about DCI. That's a big proportion of the LAMB class. As well as great lottery luck!

I wonder if it says something about sibling preference, as in lots of LAMB kids with older siblings at Latin.

Twins? Both more likely to have gotten PK3 spots at LAMB and 5th grade spots at Latin.

Well, the year of 11 LAMB kids going to Latin 2nd for 5th was SY 23-24. They started at Latin in August 2023. In that year, Latin 2nd matched 75 5th graders, 2 were children of staff and 33 were Sibling Attending. Zero Sibling Offered, so there goes the twins theory. On the EA lottery list for that year, 19 matches, 1 with sibling attending. So sure, they could totally have been siblings. But woudn't they have siblings at DCI instead, if DCI is that much better than Latin? That's what I mean-- it says something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eleven kids from LAMB going to Latin really says something about DCI. That's a big proportion of the LAMB class. As well as great lottery luck!

I wonder if it says something about sibling preference, as in lots of LAMB kids with older siblings at Latin.

Okay, but why do those siblings not go to DCI?

I know of a family who really debated about accepting the spot at Latin or wait and do DCI.

Their kid was an average student but had some trouble focusing and staying on task. They chose Latin because they felt the smaller school and class size would be better FWIW.

Now his younger sister was another story. Great student no issues and mom said DCI would be fine.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Here is the bottom line if you have a high performing kid, it is Basis and DCI.

Average kid Latin

If your kid doesn’t get into the above, move to MD or VA. I would pick VA for state school benefit for college.

No good options for middle school other than above EOTP.

Don’t waste your time on settling for a poor middle school only to have to settle for another poor high school or move in high school which is worst.

Totally disagree with this. High performing kids definitely fit in at Latin. ITDS definitely has high-performers -- maybe not as many as some other middle schools because it's small -- and a really good track record of 8th graders getting into Banneker and Walls. I'm sure some Hill parents have something to say as well.

+1. The smartest kids at our DCI feeder went to Basis and Latin. We also know some super high performing kids at ITDS.

When was this? Because from our feeder all the smart kids went to DCI

One family with average kid did go to Latin because he needed more hand holding and smaller class but they are planning on sending younger kid to DCI.

I also call BS on the PP saying the “smart” kids went to Latin and basis. The only kids who ended up at Latin, Basis, or Deal were those who struggled with the target language or were burnt out with our charter administration. I’m not saying those kids are less intelligent but certainly would not describe them as the “smart” kids. DCI has been a great experience for us.

+1. I’m the PP and same at my feeder. Kids left because they just struggled with the language which of course affected core subjects.

I don’t blame them. I would pull my kid out too if they were struggling with math and ELA especially ELA where kids get 50% less teaching time.

Immersion isn’t for everyone and that’s OK. But it’s great for kids whom things coming easy in other subjects and who picks up languages easily.

We are a native Spanish speaking family that chose Latin over DCI. My kid scored 5s on Cape and advanced on Spanish MAP. I have seen this comment a few times here that kids that choose Latin over DCI are failing at the target language and that isn’t always the case. The screen usage at DCI is unappealing to us. Our neighbors kids go there and play video games during class. Some families want a different experience for their kids. That doesn’t mean they are immersion flunkies.

The spanish MAP you’re talking about is reading comprehension only. The gold standard in DC is the STAMP test which measures speaking, writing, comprehension, and understanding. I understand that only one immersion school continues to dupe their families by using this reading comprehension test as some sort of metric when there is so much more to spanish language learning. I’m glad you’re happy at Latin (great school!) but you’re deluded if you think that NWEA score means anything.

Also I am sure your kid is doing great but the majority of kids who did not continue at dci usually did because they struggled with spanish which is a really good move IMO. If your kid excelled at spanish beyond reading comprehension, I personally would not be at Latin but whatever. It’s a great place for the middle of the road kid!

Why are DCI supporters so nasty? Damn.

I think there is one truly nasty DCI poster, she has the same demeaning phrases "middle of the road kid" "not good enough for my kid" etc and feels the need to insult literally every other school.

Latin does an amazing job lifting kids up. I would argue better than any other school. But their stem program is weak. Their language program is weak. In the alternative, DCI does a great job with top and bottom and not great with the middle. I truly think if your kid is an average student I would take a very hard look at Latin and cross your fingers.

I don’t think anyone is trying to insult anyone. I personally know many super high achieving bright students at Latin but most are considering walls for high school. I don’t see the same number of high achievers from dci looking to leave. I do think if your kid is a really smart and hates stem they’d find a better fit at Latin or Walls.

Not touching basis with a 10 foot pole.

This is the answer. Average kids, weak in spanish = Latin.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Here is the bottom line if you have a high performing kid, it is Basis and DCI.

Average kid Latin

If your kid doesn’t get into the above, move to MD or VA. I would pick VA for state school benefit for college.

No good options for middle school other than above EOTP.

Don’t waste your time on settling for a poor middle school only to have to settle for another poor high school or move in high school which is worst.

Totally disagree with this. High performing kids definitely fit in at Latin. ITDS definitely has high-performers -- maybe not as many as some other middle schools because it's small -- and a really good track record of 8th graders getting into Banneker and Walls. I'm sure some Hill parents have something to say as well.

+1. The smartest kids at our DCI feeder went to Basis and Latin. We also know some super high performing kids at ITDS.

When was this? Because from our feeder all the smart kids went to DCI

One family with average kid did go to Latin because he needed more hand holding and smaller class but they are planning on sending younger kid to DCI.

I also call BS on the PP saying the “smart” kids went to Latin and basis. The only kids who ended up at Latin, Basis, or Deal were those who struggled with the target language or were burnt out with our charter administration. I’m not saying those kids are less intelligent but certainly would not describe them as the “smart” kids. DCI has been a great experience for us.

+1. I’m the PP and same at my feeder. Kids left because they just struggled with the language which of course affected core subjects.

I don’t blame them. I would pull my kid out too if they were struggling with math and ELA especially ELA where kids get 50% less teaching time.

Immersion isn’t for everyone and that’s OK. But it’s great for kids whom things coming easy in other subjects and who picks up languages easily.

We are a native Spanish speaking family that chose Latin over DCI. My kid scored 5s on Cape and advanced on Spanish MAP. I have seen this comment a few times here that kids that choose Latin over DCI are failing at the target language and that isn’t always the case. The screen usage at DCI is unappealing to us. Our neighbors kids go there and play video games during class. Some families want a different experience for their kids. That doesn’t mean they are immersion flunkies.

The spanish MAP you’re talking about is reading comprehension only. The gold standard in DC is the STAMP test which measures speaking, writing, comprehension, and understanding. I understand that only one immersion school continues to dupe their families by using this reading comprehension test as some sort of metric when there is so much more to spanish language learning. I’m glad you’re happy at Latin (great school!) but you’re deluded if you think that NWEA score means anything.

Also I am sure your kid is doing great but the majority of kids who did not continue at dci usually did because they struggled with spanish which is a really good move IMO. If your kid excelled at spanish beyond reading comprehension, I personally would not be at Latin but whatever. It’s a great place for the middle of the road kid!

Why are DCI supporters so nasty? Damn.

I think there is one truly nasty DCI poster, she has the same demeaning phrases "middle of the road kid" "not good enough for my kid" etc and feels the need to insult literally every other school.

Latin does an amazing job lifting kids up. I would argue better than any other school. But their stem program is weak. Their language program is weak. In the alternative, DCI does a great job with top and bottom and not great with the middle. I truly think if your kid is an average student I would take a very hard look at Latin and cross your fingers.

I don’t think anyone is trying to insult anyone. I personally know many super high achieving bright students at Latin but most are considering walls for high school. I don’t see the same number of high achievers from dci looking to leave. I do think if your kid is a really smart and hates stem they’d find a better fit at Latin or Walls.

Not touching basis with a 10 foot pole.

This is the answer. Average kids, weak in spanish = Latin.

Well, seems like LAMB has a lot of those...

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:School within a school is amazing amazing if you want a warm little place with no focus on academics. Parents who drink the kool-aid are happy. I found the bizarre focus on social justice issues and alarmingly weak academics to be a nonstarter for me. We switched to MV8. Rough uphill battle with spanish for a little while but my oldest is in dci now. Grateful not to be stuck with Eliot Hine as a middle school with is a nonstarter for our academically focused family. If you want majority white classroom with almost no focus on academics you found your school.

We have close friends and ludlow and they don’t recommend based on upper grades.

Are they actually in upper grades or afraid of the demographic change? Because the demographics do change as more kids lottery in, but the teaching in the upper grades is the best in the school. The 3rd grade team is especially amazing. This is a widely held view in th school.

+1, I don't get that comment. We have a kid in upper grades at L-T and are very happy with both academics and EC opportunities.

There is angst among *parents* in the upper grades over MS and HS. But that's true at any Hill elementary. There is no easy or obvious MS/HS path on the Hill if you value academics. There are options, but it's complicated. That's the case at L-T, Brent, Maury, Payne, SWS, CHML, Two Rivers, you name it. But I do think parents at elementaries that feed to S-H tend to be a smidge less stressed (but only a smidge, it's still not most parents' dream school and it doesn't solve the HS issue).

Ludlow has a 5th grade with a lot of academic high performers this year and AFAIK they're all headed for SH except 1 interviewing for privates. It's totally possible I'm not privy to every kid's plans, but I certainly get the sense that many/most families are comfortable giving SH a try.

I’m told (second hand) that there are a few high academic achievers from JO Wilson who will be attending SH next year.

Happy to hear that! -- Parent of L-T 5th grader heading to SH

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School within a school is amazing amazing if you want a warm little place with no focus on academics. Parents who drink the kool-aid are happy. I found the bizarre focus on social justice issues and alarmingly weak academics to be a nonstarter for me. We switched to MV8. Rough uphill battle with spanish for a little while but my oldest is in dci now. Grateful not to be stuck with Eliot Hine as a middle school with is a nonstarter for our academically focused family. If you want majority white classroom with almost no focus on academics you found your school.

We have close friends and ludlow and they don’t recommend based on upper grades.

Are they actually in upper grades or afraid of the demographic change? Because the demographics do change as more kids lottery in, but the teaching in the upper grades is the best in the school. The 3rd grade team is especially amazing. This is a widely held view in th school.

+1, I don't get that comment. We have a kid in upper grades at L-T and are very happy with both academics and EC opportunities.

There is angst among *parents* in the upper grades over MS and HS. But that's true at any Hill elementary. There is no easy or obvious MS/HS path on the Hill if you value academics. There are options, but it's complicated. That's the case at L-T, Brent, Maury, Payne, SWS, CHML, Two Rivers, you name it. But I do think parents at elementaries that feed to S-H tend to be a smidge less stressed (but only a smidge, it's still not most parents' dream school and it doesn't solve the HS issue).

Where do Maury kids end up going for MS/HS? And do they commute or move?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School within a school is amazing amazing if you want a warm little place with no focus on academics. Parents who drink the kool-aid are happy. I found the bizarre focus on social justice issues and alarmingly weak academics to be a nonstarter for me. We switched to MV8. Rough uphill battle with spanish for a little while but my oldest is in dci now. Grateful not to be stuck with Eliot Hine as a middle school with is a nonstarter for our academically focused family. If you want majority white classroom with almost no focus on academics you found your school.

We have close friends and ludlow and they don’t recommend based on upper grades.

Are they actually in upper grades or afraid of the demographic change? Because the demographics do change as more kids lottery in, but the teaching in the upper grades is the best in the school. The 3rd grade team is especially amazing. This is a widely held view in th school.

+1, I don't get that comment. We have a kid in upper grades at L-T and are very happy with both academics and EC opportunities.

There is angst among *parents* in the upper grades over MS and HS. But that's true at any Hill elementary. There is no easy or obvious MS/HS path on the Hill if you value academics. There are options, but it's complicated. That's the case at L-T, Brent, Maury, Payne, SWS, CHML, Two Rivers, you name it. But I do think parents at elementaries that feed to S-H tend to be a smidge less stressed (but only a smidge, it's still not most parents' dream school and it doesn't solve the HS issue).

Where do Maury kids end up going for MS/HS? And do they commute or move?

It's hard to tell re: high school. You can look at the Enrollments by Public School Boundary spreadsheet and see that some zoned for Maury go (went, anyway), to MVP for elementary, suggesting DCI as a destination. That same spreadsheet shows that kids zoned for Maury's feeder middle, Eliot-Hine, go to lots of middles including DCI, BASIS, S-H, Latins, KIPP, Friendship, and TR. Same for the feeder high school, Eastern, they go all over the map.

https://edscape.dc.gov/page/student-enrollment-pathways shows that kids graduating from Maury went to Brookland, Deal, Johnson, S-H, DCI, Monument, and Statesmen. Maury 4th graders went to Latins, BASIS, Friendship, ITDS, and Monument. 13 left the DC public system, so either they went private and moved away. So that should give you some examples.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the bottom line if you have a high performing kid, it is Basis and DCI.

Average kid Latin

If your kid doesn’t get into the above, move to MD or VA. I would pick VA for state school benefit for college.

No good options for middle school other than above EOTP.

Don’t waste your time on settling for a poor middle school only to have to settle for another poor high school or move in high school which is worst.

Totally disagree with this. High performing kids definitely fit in at Latin. ITDS definitely has high-performers -- maybe not as many as some other middle schools because it's small -- and a really good track record of 8th graders getting into Banneker and Walls. I'm sure some Hill parents have something to say as well.

+1. The smartest kids at our DCI feeder went to Basis and Latin. We also know some super high performing kids at ITDS.

When was this? Because from our feeder all the smart kids went to DCI

One family with average kid did go to Latin because he needed more hand holding and smaller class but they are planning on sending younger kid to DCI.

I also call BS on the PP saying the “smart” kids went to Latin and basis. The only kids who ended up at Latin, Basis, or Deal were those who struggled with the target language or were burnt out with our charter administration. I’m not saying those kids are less intelligent but certainly would not describe them as the “smart” kids. DCI has been a great experience for us.

+1. I’m the PP and same at my feeder. Kids left because they just struggled with the language which of course affected core subjects.

I don’t blame them. I would pull my kid out too if they were struggling with math and ELA especially ELA where kids get 50% less teaching time.

Immersion isn’t for everyone and that’s OK. But it’s great for kids whom things coming easy in other subjects and who picks up languages easily.

We are a native Spanish speaking family that chose Latin over DCI. My kid scored 5s on Cape and advanced on Spanish MAP. I have seen this comment a few times here that kids that choose Latin over DCI are failing at the target language and that isn’t always the case. The screen usage at DCI is unappealing to us. Our neighbors kids go there and play video games during class. Some families want a different experience for their kids. That doesn’t mean they are immersion flunkies.

Is there a resource that lays out how each school uses tech/screens? I don't think it's going to be a deal-breaker for us, but I'd really like to know what we're getting into.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the bottom line if you have a high performing kid, it is Basis and DCI.

Average kid Latin

If your kid doesn’t get into the above, move to MD or VA. I would pick VA for state school benefit for college.

No good options for middle school other than above EOTP.

Don’t waste your time on settling for a poor middle school only to have to settle for another poor high school or move in high school which is worst.

Totally disagree with this. High performing kids definitely fit in at Latin. ITDS definitely has high-performers -- maybe not as many as some other middle schools because it's small -- and a really good track record of 8th graders getting into Banneker and Walls. I'm sure some Hill parents have something to say as well.

+1. The smartest kids at our DCI feeder went to Basis and Latin. We also know some super high performing kids at ITDS.

When was this? Because from our feeder all the smart kids went to DCI

One family with average kid did go to Latin because he needed more hand holding and smaller class but they are planning on sending younger kid to DCI.

I also call BS on the PP saying the “smart” kids went to Latin and basis. The only kids who ended up at Latin, Basis, or Deal were those who struggled with the target language or were burnt out with our charter administration. I’m not saying those kids are less intelligent but certainly would not describe them as the “smart” kids. DCI has been a great experience for us.

+1. I’m the PP and same at my feeder. Kids left because they just struggled with the language which of course affected core subjects.

I don’t blame them. I would pull my kid out too if they were struggling with math and ELA especially ELA where kids get 50% less teaching time.

Immersion isn’t for everyone and that’s OK. But it’s great for kids whom things coming easy in other subjects and who picks up languages easily.

We are a native Spanish speaking family that chose Latin over DCI. My kid scored 5s on Cape and advanced on Spanish MAP. I have seen this comment a few times here that kids that choose Latin over DCI are failing at the target language and that isn’t always the case. The screen usage at DCI is unappealing to us. Our neighbors kids go there and play video games during class. Some families want a different experience for their kids. That doesn’t mean they are immersion flunkies.

Is there a resource that lays out how each school uses tech/screens? I don't think it's going to be a deal-breaker for us, but I'd really like to know what we're getting into.

I do not think there is an official resource. You have to talk to families and kids. When we did this we found that Latin and Basis are on the low tech end of the spectrum. DCPS seemed to vary by subject and teacher. Some very tech heavy and others not. DCI is very screen heavy and also does not appear to be monitored that well. Some DCI parents will say it is, but I doubt their kid is going to report binge watching a season of some show at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School within a school is amazing amazing if you want a warm little place with no focus on academics. Parents who drink the kool-aid are happy. I found the bizarre focus on social justice issues and alarmingly weak academics to be a nonstarter for me. We switched to MV8. Rough uphill battle with spanish for a little while but my oldest is in dci now. Grateful not to be stuck with Eliot Hine as a middle school with is a nonstarter for our academically focused family. If you want majority white classroom with almost no focus on academics you found your school.

We have close friends and ludlow and they don’t recommend based on upper grades.

Are they actually in upper grades or afraid of the demographic change? Because the demographics do change as more kids lottery in, but the teaching in the upper grades is the best in the school. The 3rd grade team is especially amazing. This is a widely held view in th school.

+1, I don't get that comment. We have a kid in upper grades at L-T and are very happy with both academics and EC opportunities.

There is angst among *parents* in the upper grades over MS and HS. But that's true at any Hill elementary. There is no easy or obvious MS/HS path on the Hill if you value academics. There are options, but it's complicated. That's the case at L-T, Brent, Maury, Payne, SWS, CHML, Two Rivers, you name it. But I do think parents at elementaries that feed to S-H tend to be a smidge less stressed (but only a smidge, it's still not most parents' dream school and it doesn't solve the HS issue).

Ludlow has a 5th grade with a lot of academic high performers this year and AFAIK they're all headed for SH except 1 interviewing for privates. It's totally possible I'm not privy to every kid's plans, but I certainly get the sense that many/most families are comfortable giving SH a try.

I’m told (second hand) that there are a few high academic achievers from JO Wilson who will be attending SH next year.

Happy to hear that! -- Parent of L-T 5th grader heading to SH

Reality, families all say that. Circle back after the lottery and after the summer as families move and school start.

Then you will really know the reality….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School within a school is amazing amazing if you want a warm little place with no focus on academics. Parents who drink the kool-aid are happy. I found the bizarre focus on social justice issues and alarmingly weak academics to be a nonstarter for me. We switched to MV8. Rough uphill battle with spanish for a little while but my oldest is in dci now. Grateful not to be stuck with Eliot Hine as a middle school with is a nonstarter for our academically focused family. If you want majority white classroom with almost no focus on academics you found your school.

We have close friends and ludlow and they don’t recommend based on upper grades.

Are they actually in upper grades or afraid of the demographic change? Because the demographics do change as more kids lottery in, but the teaching in the upper grades is the best in the school. The 3rd grade team is especially amazing. This is a widely held view in th school.

+1, I don't get that comment. We have a kid in upper grades at L-T and are very happy with both academics and EC opportunities.

There is angst among *parents* in the upper grades over MS and HS. But that's true at any Hill elementary. There is no easy or obvious MS/HS path on the Hill if you value academics. There are options, but it's complicated. That's the case at L-T, Brent, Maury, Payne, SWS, CHML, Two Rivers, you name it. But I do think parents at elementaries that feed to S-H tend to be a smidge less stressed (but only a smidge, it's still not most parents' dream school and it doesn't solve the HS issue).

Ludlow has a 5th grade with a lot of academic high performers this year and AFAIK they're all headed for SH except 1 interviewing for privates. It's totally possible I'm not privy to every kid's plans, but I certainly get the sense that many/most families are comfortable giving SH a try.

I’m told (second hand) that there are a few high academic achievers from JO Wilson who will be attending SH next year.

Happy to hear that! -- Parent of L-T 5th grader heading to SH

Reality, families all say that. Circle back after the lottery and after the summer as families move and school start.

Then you will really know the reality….

I very much doubt that high achievers who have stuck with JO for all this time, including through a renovation, are going to be scared off by SH. Have you compared the test scores and/or demographics? As for my kid, they are definitely headed to L-T. We are not moving or lotterying.

[Anonymous]

I very much doubt that high achievers who have stuck with JO for all this time, including through a renovation, are going to be scared off by SH. Have you compared the test scores and/or demographics? As for my kid, they are definitely headed to SH. We are not moving or lotterying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Vibe is fairly crunchy (low screen use, not allowed to celebrate Halloween/normal holidays) and surprisingly high on SAHMs/part time working moms (which are pretty uncommon at surrounding Hill schools). Long term (founding) art teacher is retiring and given her prominent influence on the school (great art classes, but also awkward over focus on racial justice issues), it will be interesting to see what gets shaken up.

Not OP, but I've seen this "crunchy" reference about SWS a few times now and would welcome more info and examples. The Halloween thing sounds weird. I'm a working parent with fairly progressive views who values play, nature, and arts for ECE and academics and relatively lower tech for beyond. Could someone share more specifically what is it that's so "awkward" about their focus on justice issues? This wasn't exactly something I put on a list that a school needs to explicitly focus on, though I'm also not trying to go to a school of revisionist history. I'm not white and my background was lower/middle class. Trying to gauge if I would end up eye-rolling if it'd somewhat resonate.

How do SWS and Chisolm compare community-wise? Probably hard to because of the language factor but take a swing at it.

[Anonymous]

Chisholm has increasing neighborhood buy in. SWS is a citywide school even if it at least used to heavily pull from the hill. Depends on the class year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vibe is fairly crunchy (low screen use, not allowed to celebrate Halloween/normal holidays) and surprisingly high on SAHMs/part time working moms (which are pretty uncommon at surrounding Hill schools). Long term (founding) art teacher is retiring and given her prominent influence on the school (great art classes, but also awkward over focus on racial justice issues), it will be interesting to see what gets shaken up.

Not OP, but I've seen this "crunchy" reference about SWS a few times now and would welcome more info and examples. The Halloween thing sounds weird. I'm a working parent with fairly progressive views who values play, nature, and arts for ECE and academics and relatively lower tech for beyond. Could someone share more specifically what is it that's so "awkward" about their focus on justice issues? This wasn't exactly something I put on a list that a school needs to explicitly focus on, though I'm also not trying to go to a school of revisionist history. I'm not white and my background was lower/middle class. Trying to gauge if I would end up eye-rolling if it'd somewhat resonate.

How do SWS and Chisolm compare community-wise? Probably hard to because of the language factor but take a swing at it.

You would definitely end up eye-rolling. I roll my eyes at ITDS all the time and I think SWS is similar. It's just so relentlessly, consciously, self-regardingly "woke" and stuck in what now feels like very dated verbiage. People get tired of it. All their talk of community and restorative justice and yadda yadda, well, the behavior in my kid's class is still pretty darn crappy so it's hard for me to be enthused about these supposedly research-based approaches. I also really loathe how they pretend to be viewpoint-neutral when it suits them, but not when they don't want to. Some opinions and worldviews are okay and some are not.

The Halloween/holidays thing is likely an attempt at being inclusive and not preferring one culture or religion over another. At ITDS, which is similarly "crunchy", they have Book Character Parade in early October, which is never spoken of as Halloween. They try to make it about banned books but parents don't really motivate to coerce their kid into something that the kid doesn't actually want to be. It's a great example of how the school (particularly one administrator) are stubbornly far left of the parents and either too much in their bubble to realize it or they just don't care. But I will say, although I had my doubts about whether this would work, I did see that the kids whose families don't allow Halloween for religious reasons were allowed to participate in the book character parade, so that was nice.

Honestly I'm completely fine with not doing holidays at school. There's no need for it. People can do holidays on their own time and school can focus on academics. Holidays at school lead to problems. At DCPS Title I, the staff is keenly aware that School Christmas is the main Christmas celebration for some kids, so they try to make it secularly-festive, but then of course that's violating the principle that schools aren't supposed to choose one religion over another. DC schools have kids of so many different religions, and even among Christians, some don't like the secular trappings of Christmas and prefer to keep it focused on religion. So I think it's reasonable for a school to just sidestep the entire thing and let holidays be a home and family thing.