Ranking assistance - Cap Hill/Brookland area

[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.

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.

This was true in DCI middle school in our experience, though they have different leadership now. My youngest kid did report binging shows.

A couple years into DCI high school and we've found the tech use much lower. They do a lot of work on paper. Someone told me that's because the IB exams will be on paper. They read some language books on paper but still don't have textbooks for math, science, etc. but who does nowadays?

[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.

So the kids of Latino immigrants suck at Spanish. That is your therory?

[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.

The fact that you’re a working parent will cause you to get annoyed with SWS. This was years ago, but my spouse and I were both working. I did not have time to take off constantly for some nonsense reason. I found the principal to be the type of person who covered up his rigidity and ineptitude by constantly talking about race. I also found the parents hard to take. I don’t think the academics are anything special. I was constantly told how advanced some peoples children were but the metrics they used were laughable. I personally left for an immersion school thinking that even if their academics were weak (they were better than SWS IMO) my kids would have a pathway to dci and learn another language. I think that was a good choice. I do miss the easy commute though!

[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.

Latin has better testing results. Are you saying DCI has below average students overall?

[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.

Latin has better testing results. Are you saying DCI has below average students overall?

Ignore this poster. They post this any time someone from a DCI feeder posts that they picked Latin instead of DCI. That was not the case from our feeder. We had some strong students leave our charter for Latin and they weren’t struggling in Spanish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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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.

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.

Latin has better testing results. Are you saying DCI has below average students overall?

Ignore this poster. They post this any time someone from a DCI feeder posts that they picked Latin instead of DCI. That was not the case from our feeder. We had some strong students leave our charter for Latin and they weren’t struggling in Spanish.

Sorry. Meant to say ignore PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This was true in DCI middle school in our experience, though they have different leadership now. My youngest kid did report binging shows.

A couple years into DCI high school and we've found the tech use much lower. They do a lot of work on paper. Someone told me that's because the IB exams will be on paper. They read some language books on paper but still don't have textbooks for math, science, etc. but who does nowadays?

BASIS flips this around and is low tech in middle school but higher tech in high school, because the AP exams are on computer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

I’ve seen Chisholm mentioned a few times as an option to get language learning and stay on the Hill, but interested in getting more details or anecdotes on what the instruction and environment is like if putting aside the Spanish factor. Especially since they’ll actually be in swing space farther away for what will be our PK3-PK4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

The fact that you’re a working parent will cause you to get annoyed with SWS. This was years ago, but my spouse and I were both working. I did not have time to take off constantly for some nonsense reason. I found the principal to be the type of person who covered up his rigidity and ineptitude by constantly talking about race. I also found the parents hard to take. I don’t think the academics are anything special. I was constantly told how advanced some peoples children were but the metrics they used were laughable. I personally left for an immersion school thinking that even if their academics were weak (they were better than SWS IMO) my kids would have a pathway to dci and learn another language. I think that was a good choice. I do miss the easy commute though!

Interesting that you started off not doing the immersion and then switched. Are you able to share which immersion school? Do you mean you switched at PK4 after a year or later on?

[Anonymous]

Bwahahaha. You have no idea what you are talking about.

- parent of 2 itds kids

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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.

Yeah that’s what everyone told us about except they all enrolled in charters or moved.

There are no charters worth moving to post-5th unless you happen to luck into DCI or have a very specific type of child (ITDS). Ludlow has had an increasing trend of kids staying for 5th (partially just a result of the lottery getting harder for sure) and of kids from 5th heading to SH. I think the trend would have accelerated faster if not for Latin Cooper opening and the year where kids could get into it for 6th. In the current jobs and interest rate climate, I think a much smaller chunk of families is positioned to move or pay for private than even a few years ago.

I’m curious, what very specific type of child is a fit for ITDS middle school?

On or near grade level, enjoys musical theater, mild special needs but nothing really serious, and doesn't need a school with a lot of high-level sports.