Deal kid is floundering in private high school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid left Deal and is at a top private high school (Sidwell/NCS/STA/Potomac).
He/she was a top student at Deal: As every quarter in every class grades 6-8, top math track (Algebra 2), 5's on every PARCC since 3rd grade. 99% on the 6th grade Deal PARCC in both ELA and math.

Started private high school and it is an absolute SH$%T show. Currently getting Ds. My kid doesn't know how to study, how to read and annotate dense text in rapid fashion. He/she gets dozens of pages
a night to read and process (across history, ELA, science). Homework in every subject each evening. Has already written 5 essays and 2 lab lengthy reports. Has frequent pop quizzes. One class has one every single day.
Has a sequence of exams in every class this week.

It just f-ing frustrates me how little my kid learned at Deal. How he never learned to think critically or write well. So much wasted time in the pandemic. No Wednesdays, 45 minute classes twice a week. The chicken has come home to roost because my
kid is now having his/her ass kicked. And it all counts for college grades. Things will get better but we're quitting activities, hiring tutors and trying to right the course.

Not sure what the point of my post is except---if you have a kid in DCPS. Supplement like a mad person. We did but not enough. His/her classmates who are at Wilson report that they haven't done any
homework yet in most classes because with the 4x4 schedule, many teachers are only teaching for half of it and little or no homework is given (and what is given is done in class). So if you're at Wilson
(I have another kid likely headed there) continue to supplement.

I'm just so frustrated. I'm sure it is somewhat better in typical times but the pandemic learning was just a mess. Those of us who have left DCPS are seeing clearly just how bad it was.

I've commented a few times on this thread but went back to the beginning and my gosh this is all so silly. A student removed from 18 months of pandemic learning is struggling in their first 2-3 weeks at a new school in a new environment and OP thinks DCPS and specifically Deal is the root cause. OP, if your kid got 5's on PARCC and is in the 99th percentile they will be just fine in private. I feel bad for them that they don't get to do fun activities anymore because you are losing it over a few weeks of grades in a new environment.

Perhaps an aside, but how are Deal kids who went to Walls doing? Is this just a DCPS -> private thing or something that happens for kids going to any challenging environment. I only have anecdata but the few Walls kids I know also have a lot of nightly reading to do as well as essays/writing.

I've heard that Walls is slowly easing into things so far this year--very little homework, etc. They're giving kids time to acclimate and catch up from not having school for 18 months.

Wonder what very little means. My 9th grader at Walls is doing homework all the time. I don't have any sense that things are being eased into. Fortunately for her, she did fine during distance learning because she is intrinsically motivated and very organized. Socially DL was a disaster but of my 2 kids (one is still at Deal) the one at Walls now is doing fine. I think a lot of this is really at the individual level, some kids have to work harder than others. Annotating texts is something I do not worry about her doing, but she does school very well, unlike her sibling who fell apart during DL last year. Then again, I knew early on not to count on Deal teaching kids anything last year. Sorry your kid is struggling OP.

That is what I heard from the two Walls kids I spoke with (both freshmen at Walls, who were at Deal last year). Based on the other thread on Deal BTS, looks like they have some problems over there. Hardy BTS was pretty smooth, if content free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid left Deal and is at a top private high school (Sidwell/NCS/STA/Potomac).
He/she was a top student at Deal: As every quarter in every class grades 6-8, top math track (Algebra 2), 5's on every PARCC since 3rd grade. 99% on the 6th grade Deal PARCC in both ELA and math.

Started private high school and it is an absolute SH$%T show. Currently getting Ds. My kid doesn't know how to study, how to read and annotate dense text in rapid fashion. He/she gets dozens of pages
a night to read and process (across history, ELA, science). Homework in every subject each evening. Has already written 5 essays and 2 lab lengthy reports. Has frequent pop quizzes. One class has one every single day.
Has a sequence of exams in every class this week.

It just f-ing frustrates me how little my kid learned at Deal. How he never learned to think critically or write well. So much wasted time in the pandemic. No Wednesdays, 45 minute classes twice a week. The chicken has come home to roost because my
kid is now having his/her ass kicked. And it all counts for college grades. Things will get better but we're quitting activities, hiring tutors and trying to right the course.

Not sure what the point of my post is except---if you have a kid in DCPS. Supplement like a mad person. We did but not enough. His/her classmates who are at Wilson report that they haven't done any
homework yet in most classes because with the 4x4 schedule, many teachers are only teaching for half of it and little or no homework is given (and what is given is done in class). So if you're at Wilson
(I have another kid likely headed there) continue to supplement.

I'm just so frustrated. I'm sure it is somewhat better in typical times but the pandemic learning was just a mess. Those of us who have left DCPS are seeing clearly just how bad it was.

I've commented a few times on this thread but went back to the beginning and my gosh this is all so silly. A student removed from 18 months of pandemic learning is struggling in their first 2-3 weeks at a new school in a new environment and OP thinks DCPS and specifically Deal is the root cause. OP, if your kid got 5's on PARCC and is in the 99th percentile they will be just fine in private. I feel bad for them that they don't get to do fun activities anymore because you are losing it over a few weeks of grades in a new environment.

Perhaps an aside, but how are Deal kids who went to Walls doing? Is this just a DCPS -> private thing or something that happens for kids going to any challenging environment. I only have anecdata but the few Walls kids I know also have a lot of nightly reading to do as well as essays/writing.

I've heard that Walls is slowly easing into things so far this year--very little homework, etc. They're giving kids time to acclimate and catch up from not having school for 18 months.

Wonder what very little means. My 9th grader at Walls is doing homework all the time. I don't have any sense that things are being eased into. Fortunately for her, she did fine during distance learning because she is intrinsically motivated and very organized. Socially DL was a disaster but of my 2 kids (one is still at Deal) the one at Walls now is doing fine. I think a lot of this is really at the individual level, some kids have to work harder than others. Annotating texts is something I do not worry about her doing, but she does school very well, unlike her sibling who fell apart during DL last year. Then again, I knew early on not to count on Deal teaching kids anything last year. Sorry your kid is struggling OP.

That is what I heard from the two Walls kids I spoke with (both freshmen at Walls, who were at Deal last year). Based on the other thread on Deal BTS, looks like they have some problems over there. Hardy BTS was pretty smooth, if content free.

By no means am I making excuses for Deal BTS as it was a bit chaotic tech wise, but Deal has 5 times as many students as Hardy so I imagine tech issues are amplified at least by 5.

[Anonymous]

former Deal teacher:

• the ELA curriculum is pathetic, not just at Deal, but across DCPS

• there's no incentive for students to complete the reading or the written assignments because teachers are penalized on IMPACT if they give low grades

• the majority of writing lessons are geared toward teaching students how to answer constructed response items on PARRC

• high-achieving students make the honor roll with little or no effort, which does nothing to prepare them for high school or college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid left Deal and is at a top private high school (Sidwell/NCS/STA/Potomac).
He/she was a top student at Deal: As every quarter in every class grades 6-8, top math track (Algebra 2), 5's on every PARCC since 3rd grade. 99% on the 6th grade Deal PARCC in both ELA and math.

Started private high school and it is an absolute SH$%T show. Currently getting Ds. My kid doesn't know how to study, how to read and annotate dense text in rapid fashion. He/she gets dozens of pages
a night to read and process (across history, ELA, science). Homework in every subject each evening. Has already written 5 essays and 2 lab lengthy reports. Has frequent pop quizzes. One class has one every single day.
Has a sequence of exams in every class this week.

It just f-ing frustrates me how little my kid learned at Deal. How he never learned to think critically or write well. So much wasted time in the pandemic. No Wednesdays, 45 minute classes twice a week. The chicken has come home to roost because my
kid is now having his/her ass kicked. And it all counts for college grades. Things will get better but we're quitting activities, hiring tutors and trying to right the course.

Not sure what the point of my post is except---if you have a kid in DCPS. Supplement like a mad person. We did but not enough. His/her classmates who are at Wilson report that they haven't done any
homework yet in most classes because with the 4x4 schedule, many teachers are only teaching for half of it and little or no homework is given (and what is given is done in class). So if you're at Wilson
(I have another kid likely headed there) continue to supplement.

I'm just so frustrated. I'm sure it is somewhat better in typical times but the pandemic learning was just a mess. Those of us who have left DCPS are seeing clearly just how bad it was.

I’m sorry, Op. that sounds scary and upsetting. Thanks for the PSA. You’re right that kids are definitely not learning those skills in public. My 8th grader looked at me like I had two heads when I told him how to annotate a text. It’s sad.

This is how I know you are lying. Annotating a text is a DCPS standard that is taught in ES. They definitely are familiar with it by 4th grade.

NP. Totally agree. My DC were taught to annotate at Shepherd in 4th grade. They do it with all books and articles read now that they attend Deal.

My kid was not taught at a JKLM

This. So sick of the boosters jumping in to say posters must be lying if they criticize the school. Deal has a lot of gaps, and parents aren't doing children any favors by pretending this isn't true.

I'm 100% sure that their child learned how to annotate text in ES, especially at a JKLM. I think your kid may be pulling one over on you

Regardless of whether it was taught at one point or not, it wasn't required on every text from 4th grade on like it is at the privates. And then there's the point (belabored above)
that Deal doesn't even have MANY (not all lest you all jump down my throat) kids read full texts.

So whether or not a kid is taught to annotate at some point in time at a DCPS, it is NOT a day-in, day-out expectation on all texts (ELA, Spanish, History, Science). I mean they.don't.even.have.textbooks to annotate (but that is another point entirely).
My kid is now at a private and is expected to read about 100 pages nightly (between all classes) and annotate it all. No one from DCPS (elementary or Deal) can tell me that is the expectation for kids at those schools. My kid went through a JKLM and then Deal with straight As
and 99% PARCCS (just throwing that in there as proof that he/she was FULLY doing what was expected) and never annotated on a regular basis. Started at the private high school and was like "Holy crap, this is a LOT of reading
and a heck of a lot of annotation and my skills are rusty while meanwhile my new peers (from the Big3 and other privates) have been doing this year-in and year-out on every single text."

Now--Cue up the folks who are going to tell me that their Deal kids were annotating on yards and yards of text at home and are experts and I am an idiot for not requiring that of my kid during evenings, weekends and holidays.

I'm sure you are telling the truth but it sounds freaking miserable being your child.

Agreed! 100 pages a NIGHT?! I’m pretty sure I didn’t even do that in grad school. Yuck

I did that in college at an Ivy. Hard to believe a 9th grader is doing that. Maybe the parent is counting reading novels/fiction for English.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid just started at a Big3 for 9th and the summer reading was the Autobiography of Malcolm X.

A classic.

Exactly. But PPs insist that only white authors can write classics.

Currently at Deal,
6th graders are reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
7th graders are reading Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman
8th graders are reading Raisin in the Sun

And the 6th graders are redesigning the old Mississippi flag -- in ELA -- to replace the battle flag of northern VA with social justice imagery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid just started at a Big3 for 9th and the summer reading was the Autobiography of Malcolm X.

A classic.

Exactly. But PPs insist that only white authors can write classics.

Currently at Deal,
6th graders are reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
7th graders are reading Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman
8th graders are reading Raisin in the Sun

And the 6th graders are redesigning the old Mississippi flag -- in ELA -- to replace the battle flag of northern VA with social justice imagery.

So what? It’s an old flag. I hope they are also discussing why cultures have symbols and how the rhetoric surrounding symbols changes over time. The Confederate symbols are symbols of hatred and white supremacy but white supremacy now tries to pass it off as “state’s rights” or “southern pride.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid left Deal and is at a top private high school (Sidwell/NCS/STA/Potomac).
He/she was a top student at Deal: As every quarter in every class grades 6-8, top math track (Algebra 2), 5's on every PARCC since 3rd grade. 99% on the 6th grade Deal PARCC in both ELA and math.

Started private high school and it is an absolute SH$%T show. Currently getting Ds. My kid doesn't know how to study, how to read and annotate dense text in rapid fashion. He/she gets dozens of pages
a night to read and process (across history, ELA, science). Homework in every subject each evening. Has already written 5 essays and 2 lab lengthy reports. Has frequent pop quizzes. One class has one every single day.
Has a sequence of exams in every class this week.

It just f-ing frustrates me how little my kid learned at Deal. How he never learned to think critically or write well. So much wasted time in the pandemic. No Wednesdays, 45 minute classes twice a week. The chicken has come home to roost because my
kid is now having his/her ass kicked. And it all counts for college grades. Things will get better but we're quitting activities, hiring tutors and trying to right the course.

Not sure what the point of my post is except---if you have a kid in DCPS. Supplement like a mad person. We did but not enough. His/her classmates who are at Wilson report that they haven't done any
homework yet in most classes because with the 4x4 schedule, many teachers are only teaching for half of it and little or no homework is given (and what is given is done in class). So if you're at Wilson
(I have another kid likely headed there) continue to supplement.

I'm just so frustrated. I'm sure it is somewhat better in typical times but the pandemic learning was just a mess. Those of us who have left DCPS are seeing clearly just how bad it was.

I’m sorry, Op. that sounds scary and upsetting. Thanks for the PSA. You’re right that kids are definitely not learning those skills in public. My 8th grader looked at me like I had two heads when I told him how to annotate a text. It’s sad.

This is how I know you are lying. Annotating a text is a DCPS standard that is taught in ES. They definitely are familiar with it by 4th grade.

NP. Totally agree. My DC were taught to annotate at Shepherd in 4th grade. They do it with all books and articles read now that they attend Deal.

My kid was not taught at a JKLM

This. So sick of the boosters jumping in to say posters must be lying if they criticize the school. Deal has a lot of gaps, and parents aren't doing children any favors by pretending this isn't true.

I'm 100% sure that their child learned how to annotate text in ES, especially at a JKLM. I think your kid may be pulling one over on you

Regardless of whether it was taught at one point or not, it wasn't required on every text from 4th grade on like it is at the privates. And then there's the point (belabored above)
that Deal doesn't even have MANY (not all lest you all jump down my throat) kids read full texts.

So whether or not a kid is taught to annotate at some point in time at a DCPS, it is NOT a day-in, day-out expectation on all texts (ELA, Spanish, History, Science). I mean they.don't.even.have.textbooks to annotate (but that is another point entirely).
My kid is now at a private and is expected to read about 100 pages nightly (between all classes) and annotate it all. No one from DCPS (elementary or Deal) can tell me that is the expectation for kids at those schools. My kid went through a JKLM and then Deal with straight As
and 99% PARCCS (just throwing that in there as proof that he/she was FULLY doing what was expected) and never annotated on a regular basis. Started at the private high school and was like "Holy crap, this is a LOT of reading
and a heck of a lot of annotation and my skills are rusty while meanwhile my new peers (from the Big3 and other privates) have been doing this year-in and year-out on every single text."

Now--Cue up the folks who are going to tell me that their Deal kids were annotating on yards and yards of text at home and are experts and I am an idiot for not requiring that of my kid during evenings, weekends and holidays.

I'm sure you are telling the truth but it sounds freaking miserable being your child.

Agreed! 100 pages a NIGHT?! I’m pretty sure I didn’t even do that in grad school. Yuck

I did that in college at an Ivy. Hard to believe a 9th grader is doing that. Maybe the parent is counting reading novels/fiction for English.

100 pages a night is insane and makes no sense for a 9th grader which makes me question what this parent is claiming

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid just started at a Big3 for 9th and the summer reading was the Autobiography of Malcolm X.

A classic.

Exactly. But PPs insist that only white authors can write classics.

Currently at Deal,
6th graders are reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
7th graders are reading Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman
8th graders are reading Raisin in the Sun

And the 6th graders are redesigning the old Mississippi flag -- in ELA -- to replace the battle flag of northern VA with social justice imagery.

So what? It’s an old flag. I hope they are also discussing why cultures have symbols and how the rhetoric surrounding symbols changes over time. The Confederate symbols are symbols of hatred and white supremacy but white supremacy now tries to pass it off as “state’s rights” or “southern pride.”

So what? Time is precious: DCPS should use ELA class to teach reading and writing, grammar, syntax, vocabulary. Leave redesigning a flag to to Art...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid just started at a Big3 for 9th and the summer reading was the Autobiography of Malcolm X.

A classic.

Exactly. But PPs insist that only white authors can write classics.

Currently at Deal,
6th graders are reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
7th graders are reading Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman
8th graders are reading Raisin in the Sun

And the 6th graders are redesigning the old Mississippi flag -- in ELA -- to replace the battle flag of northern VA with social justice imagery.

So what? It’s an old flag. I hope they are also discussing why cultures have symbols and how the rhetoric surrounding symbols changes over time. The Confederate symbols are symbols of hatred and white supremacy but white supremacy now tries to pass it off as “state’s rights” or “southern pride.”

None of which has a thing to do with ELA...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:former Deal teacher:

• the ELA curriculum is pathetic, not just at Deal, but across DCPS

• there's no incentive for students to complete the reading or the written assignments because teachers are penalized on IMPACT if they give low grades

• the majority of writing lessons are geared toward teaching students how to answer constructed response items on PARRC

• high-achieving students make the honor roll with little or no effort, which does nothing to prepare them for high school or college

Teachers are not penalized on IMPACT for giving low grades. Some categories of teachers are penalized if their students don’t show adequate growth from beginning of year to end of year testing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid just started at a Big3 for 9th and the summer reading was the Autobiography of Malcolm X.

A classic.

Exactly. But PPs insist that only white authors can write classics.

Currently at Deal,
6th graders are reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
7th graders are reading Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman
8th graders are reading Raisin in the Sun

And the 6th graders are redesigning the old Mississippi flag -- in ELA -- to replace the battle flag of northern VA with social justice imagery.

So what? It’s an old flag. I hope they are also discussing why cultures have symbols and how the rhetoric surrounding symbols changes over time. The Confederate symbols are symbols of hatred and white supremacy but white supremacy now tries to pass it off as “state’s rights” or “southern pride.”

None of which has a thing to do with ELA...

DCPS ELA curriculum is pretty atrocious (at least at elementary level) but it does incorporate social studies content by design. For what it’s worth the math and science curriculum are both very strong (though fidelity to it varies from school to school).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid just started at a Big3 for 9th and the summer reading was the Autobiography of Malcolm X.

A classic.

Exactly. But PPs insist that only white authors can write classics.

Currently at Deal,
6th graders are reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
7th graders are reading Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman
8th graders are reading Raisin in the Sun

And the 6th graders are redesigning the old Mississippi flag -- in ELA -- to replace the battle flag of northern VA with social justice imagery.

So what? It’s an old flag. I hope they are also discussing why cultures have symbols and how the rhetoric surrounding symbols changes over time. The Confederate symbols are symbols of hatred and white supremacy but white supremacy now tries to pass it off as “state’s rights” or “southern pride.”

None of which has a thing to do with ELA...

It sounds like that would be covered in one lecture and one homework assignment -- though I'll bet they spent a lot more time on it than it needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You do realize Team Obama is from Obama, Japan, right? All teams are world cities, some not so known as others. Wagga Wagga, Puerto Alegre, Brisbane, Chan Chan, Meroe, and Best are some of this year’s. Last year was the first and only time there was a team Obama, Japan.

Oh please. Obama is a city of 30,000 in Japan. There are 13 cities in Japan with over a million people and another almost 200 with over 100,000. No way if there hasn’t been President Obama would they have named a team Obama.

All the other cities have cultural or historic significance like a World Heritage site or have large populations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:former Deal teacher:

• the ELA curriculum is pathetic, not just at Deal, but across DCPS

• there's no incentive for students to complete the reading or the written assignments because teachers are penalized on IMPACT if they give low grades

• the majority of writing lessons are geared toward teaching students how to answer constructed response items on PARRC

• high-achieving students make the honor roll with little or no effort, which does nothing to prepare them for high school or college

Teachers are not penalized on IMPACT for giving low grades. Some categories of teachers are penalized if their students don’t show adequate growth from beginning of year to end of year testing.

You are not acquainted with CSC rubric

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:former Deal teacher:

• the ELA curriculum is pathetic, not just at Deal, but across DCPS

• there's no incentive for students to complete the reading or the written assignments because teachers are penalized on IMPACT if they give low grades

• the majority of writing lessons are geared toward teaching students how to answer constructed response items on PARRC

• high-achieving students make the honor roll with little or no effort, which does nothing to prepare them for high school or college

Teachers are not penalized on IMPACT for giving low grades. Some categories of teachers are penalized if their students don’t show adequate growth from beginning of year to end of year testing.

You are not acquainted with CSC rubric

Uh please enlighten me where low grades = bad csc. I could see not offering some sort of remediation for students with low grades but there’s no way you’re penalized at deal for low grades