Middle Schools

[Anonymous]

13:47 Latin and KIPP both outperform Deal, don't they? The KIPP kids are good at math and the Latin kids can speak Latin. What has Deal got? A middle-years IB program?

No, Deal has higher test scores than both Kipp & Latin. Not that test scores are everything...

[Anonymous]

...Latin is a weird assortment of parents who seem conflicted: above typical DCPS but beneath paying tuition

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:W-latin is the bastion of over-extended white parents of odd, somewhat bright children. For the most part it seems, the parents can't afford private, but can't stomach the idea their delicate snowflake amongst the more "urban" hoi-poloi of Deal. It is self selection, indeed. The school seems chaotic, pretentious and ridiculous and on the verge of collapse. I would never and thankfully, do not need to consider it an option.

But then, I think charter schools are a boil on the collective arse of school funding.

*yawn*

Glad you included the "yawn". This is some pretty fucking boring trolling.

Profane, unfounded troll accusations: sine qua non of boring, really...

boo-ya.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:W-latin is the bastion of over-extended white parents of odd, somewhat bright children. For the most part it seems, the parents can't afford private, but can't stomach the idea their delicate snowflake amongst the more "urban" hoi-poloi of Deal. It is self selection, indeed. The school seems chaotic, pretentious and ridiculous and on the verge of collapse. I would never and thankfully, do not need to consider it an option.

But then, I think charter schools are a boil on the collective arse of school funding.

*yawn*

Glad you included the "yawn". This is some pretty fucking boring trolling.

Profane, unfounded troll accusations: sine qua non of boring, really...

boo-ya.

Sine qua non does not mean what you apparently believe it means.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the poster who wondered why Deal cannot be replicated around the city: what no one wants to say is that it can't be replicated unless you can replicate the parent body. It's not the facility, it's the student/parent base.

This really is the crux of it, isn't it? All the facilities and teachers in the world can't make an exceptional school. The sad fact is, the more educated the parents, and the more time they have to involve themselves in their kids' educations, lives and schools, the more successful the kids (and, by proxy, the school), will be. Sadly, the ability to provide that time committment often translates to wealth.

[Anonymous]

So you think only the wealthiest families make time for their children's education. And as such, an effort should not be made to provide similar qualities of education to families not zoned for Deal.

I think what many of you are forgetting is that Deal has only recently become the it-school. Many of the Ward 3 parents bragging about how great the new Deal is would not have sent their children there three years ago. So actually facilities, IB, smaller classes and curriculum has made a difference in whether one considers it for their offspring.


Why not make those opportunities to families in the other seven wards of the city. BTW--there is money east of rock creek park.

I don't know, I don't have a dog in this fight as my child is in a great charter, east of the park, and I would not consider Deal. But the hoity toity attitude and the bias assumptions of people on this thread stinks. One person said basically said that if you did not buy in ward three, your child deserves a rotten education. otherwise make a sacrifice and move to the burbs. And now this poster. ..

[Anonymous]

It looks lke this thread has demonstrated pretty clearly that Ward 3 does not recieve preferential treatment in funding. Go back an look at earlier posts. Ward 3 is in fourth place in terms of construction, other wards have also had middle schools modernized, Ward 3 is below the average per pupil funding, Ward 3 students have less square footage per pupil, and Ward 3 is in fourth place for capital spending. And I don't have a dog in this fight either, my kids attend DCPS east of the park.

[Anonymous]

So you think only the wealthiest families make time for their children's education. And as such, an effort should not be made to provide similar qualities of education to families not zoned for Deal.

11:00 here - I'm not sure how you could have gotten any of that from my comments. Of course we should make an effort to provide a quality education for all DC students. I'm just saying that lots of outside factors (parental income, education and involvement, the neighborhood, friends, etc.) all play important parts in how successful a student is. Facilities are important, as are teachers, but they are only part of the puzzle, and students are more likely to succeed when all the pieces are in place. Not sure why this is controversial.

And of course it's not only the wealthiest families who make time for education - don't be silly. But parents are workign multiple jobs to provide for their kids, they just have less time to help with homework. It's not a lack of desire - but real life intrudes. Again, wht is this controversial?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:11:00 here - I'm not sure how you could have gotten any of that from my comments. Of course we should make an effort to provide a quality education for all DC students. I'm just saying that lots of outside factors (parental income, education and involvement, the neighborhood, friends, etc.) all play important parts in how successful a student is. Facilities are important, as are teachers, but they are only part of the puzzle, and students are more likely to succeed when all the pieces are in place. Not sure why this is controversial. And of course it's not only the wealthiest families who make time for education - don't be silly. But parents are workign multiple jobs to provide for their kids, they just have less time to help with homework. It's not a lack of desire - but real life intrudes. Again, wht is this controversial?

I think the thing is that it is harsh. Not that DCUM doesn't do harsh, but there might be a better way to characterize it. If you lived in a less affluent part of the city would you want to be told you or your child cannot succeed? I am sure people have a pretty good sense of what their children's life chances are like, and it kinda sucks to hear that because of their luck (or lack thereof) their own children will not reach the top. For one thing, all sorts of studies indicate the ONE thing or another makes for successful students or schools. The Post had a piece a while back about the single most important factor is parent involvement in a school. There's Nature versus nuture. And other outside factors too. Although it may be true, and although this is an anonymous board, there has to be a better way than saying it like that and keeping it real.

[Anonymous]

bump.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:11:00 here - I'm not sure how you could have gotten any of that from my comments. Of course we should make an effort to provide a quality education for all DC students. I'm just saying that lots of outside factors (parental income, education and involvement, the neighborhood, friends, etc.) all play important parts in how successful a student is. Facilities are important, as are teachers, but they are only part of the puzzle, and students are more likely to succeed when all the pieces are in place. Not sure why this is controversial. And of course it's not only the wealthiest families who make time for education - don't be silly. But parents are workign multiple jobs to provide for their kids, they just have less time to help with homework. It's not a lack of desire - but real life intrudes. Again, wht is this controversial?

I think the thing is that it is harsh. Not that DCUM doesn't do harsh, but there might be a better way to characterize it. If you lived in a less affluent part of the city would you want to be told you or your child cannot succeed? I am sure people have a pretty good sense of what their children's life chances are like, and it kinda sucks to hear that because of their luck (or lack thereof) their own children will not reach the top. For one thing, all sorts of studies indicate the ONE thing or another makes for successful students or schools. The Post had a piece a while back about the single most important factor is parent involvement in a school. There's Nature versus nuture. And other outside factors too. Although it may be true, and although this is an anonymous board, there has to be a better way than saying it like that and keeping it real.

You are both missing the point. Schools should provide excellent educational opportunities in every neighborhood. The quality of what is offered is what should measured, not the so-called "success" of the students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:W-latin is the bastion of over-extended white parents of odd, somewhat bright children. For the most part it seems, the parents can't afford private, but can't stomach the idea their delicate snowflake amongst the more "urban" hoi-poloi of Deal. It is self selection, indeed. The school seems chaotic, pretentious and ridiculous and on the verge of collapse. I would never and thankfully, do not need to consider it an option.

But then, I think charter schools are a boil on the collective arse of school funding.

*yawn*

Glad you included the "yawn". This is some pretty fucking boring trolling.

Profane, unfounded troll accusations: sine qua non of boring, really...

boo-ya.

Sine qua non does not mean what you apparently believe it means.

Sine qua non= essential ingredient, indispensable part of an action or response . 4 years of latin at a real school and you too, may get a clue.

Your profane language combined with your troll accusation, is an essential element of that which is boring.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sine%20qua%20non

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:W-latin is the bastion of over-extended white parents of odd, somewhat bright children. For the most part it seems, the parents can't afford private, but can't stomach the idea their delicate snowflake amongst the more "urban" hoi-poloi of Deal. It is self selection, indeed. The school seems chaotic, pretentious and ridiculous and on the verge of collapse. I would never and thankfully, do not need to consider it an option.

But then, I think charter schools are a boil on the collective arse of school funding.

*yawn*

Good thing! Why would anybody want you when you obviously have no idea what you're talking about?

Washington Latin is a racially diverse school, which even a visit to the website would have demonstrated. The Head of School, Martha Cutts (who used to run the National Cathedral School), has an excellent track record as an administrator. For example, despite the challenges of being less than five years old, Washington Latin is already the highest performing school in its category on the DC-CAS. Without the outpouring of resources which a school such as Deal has received, Washington Latin has nonetheless managed to outperform it and offer a higher bar in public education than its competitors.

Congratulations Washington Latin! Both on being the best public (and better than many private) middle school in the city - and still managing not to attract the ugly troll who wouldn't consider WL as an option. Double triumph!

There's a very good reason your tax dollars are going to continue to fund excellent charter schools in Washington DC: they're continuing to raise the bar and outperform their DCPS competitors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:W-latin is the bastion of over-extended white parents of odd, somewhat bright children. For the most part it seems, the parents can't afford private, but can't stomach the idea their delicate snowflake amongst the more "urban" hoi-poloi of Deal. It is self selection, indeed. The school seems chaotic, pretentious and ridiculous and on the verge of collapse. I would never and thankfully, do not need to consider it an option.

But then, I think charter schools are a boil on the collective arse of school funding.

*yawn*

Good thing! Why would anybody want you when you obviously have no idea what you're talking about?

Washington Latin is a racially diverse school, which even a visit to the website would have demonstrated. The Head of School, Martha Cutts (who used to run the National Cathedral School), has an excellent track record as an administrator. For example, despite the challenges of being less than five years old, Washington Latin is already the highest performing school in its category on the DC-CAS. Without the outpouring of resources which a school such as Deal has received, Washington Latin has nonetheless managed to outperform it and offer a higher bar in public education than its competitors.

Congratulations Washington Latin! Both on being the best public (and better than many private) middle school in the city - and still managing not to attract the ugly troll who wouldn't consider WL as an option. Double triumph!

There's a very good reason your tax dollars are going to continue to fund excellent charter schools in Washington DC: they're continuing to raise the bar and outperform their DCPS competitors.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:W-latin is the bastion of over-extended white parents of odd, somewhat bright children. For the most part it seems, the parents can't afford private, but can't stomach the idea their delicate snowflake amongst the more "urban" hoi-poloi of Deal. It is self selection, indeed. The school seems chaotic, pretentious and ridiculous and on the verge of collapse. I would never and thankfully, do not need to consider it an option.

But then, I think charter schools are a boil on the collective arse of school funding.

*yawn*

Good thing! Why would anybody want you when you obviously have no idea what you're talking about?

Washington Latin is a racially diverse school, which even a visit to the website would have demonstrated. The Head of School, Martha Cutts (who used to run the National Cathedral School), has an excellent track record as an administrator. For example, despite the challenges of being less than five years old, Washington Latin is already the highest performing school in its category on the DC-CAS. Without the outpouring of resources which a school such as Deal has received, Washington Latin has nonetheless managed to outperform it and offer a higher bar in public education than its competitors.

Congratulations Washington Latin! Both on being the best public (and better than many private) middle school in the city - and still managing not to attract the ugly troll who wouldn't consider WL as an option. Double triumph!

There's a very good reason your tax dollars are going to continue to fund excellent charter schools in Washington DC: they're continuing to raise the bar and outperform their DCPS competitors.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Ok. I'm zzzzz and sine qua non poster. That is bully for WL. And it really just fine that people who choose it are happy with it. Your almost religious zeal is off putting and weird, btw, and I regret having stirred you up.

Carry on.