DCI or Deal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Clearly you haven't done your homework! DCI offers so much tutoring! Kids can get support during brunch, lunch, and even after school. There is a special afterschool homework class designed to help kids with self-management and assistance with homework. The school publishes a schedule of each subject/teacher's support time. Hope Deal does as well by you!

I can attest to the “help” being there, but it also meant my DC never had a break and came home exhausted every day. DC worked extremely hard and felt like there was never an end to it all.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Also not "practice" when kids come through the DCI MYP with weak or mediocre language and ELA skills. In that case, a bright and hard-working Diploma candidate is likely to scrape by with a pass points total in the mid to high 20s. Not sure where that gets them in terms of college admissions and prep. Right now, the writing is on the wall for few DCI kids, if any, to score in the 30s for at least a few years, maybe five.

The DCI admins and parents I talk to about IB Diploma don't seem to have their heads around how tough it is to score high on IBD examinations (graded in Geneva), particularly language tests at the HL.

What I see is that too many of the strongest DCI feeder students are peeling off for Wash Latin, BASIS, privates, the burbs after 4th of 5th grades in search of more MS rigor for DCI's future pass points totals to impress.

I don’t expect the kids to score in the 30’s at a new program that is not even 5 years old. We will see how the graduating class does. Give it another few years as they modify and adjust what they need to and I bet the scores will go up.

You will see more and more strong feeder kids go the DCI route as each year goes by, without a doubt, as families don’t want to move to the burbs or go private. There’s only a finite amount of seats at Latin and low chance of getting in there. Basis isn’t for everyone and some don’t even consider it.

I'd agree with you if needed "modifications" were being down the chain right now.

There are obvious problems with academic rigor in the feeders and the DCI middle school that aren't being addressed, reducing the likelihood that IBD students can score in the 30s even a decade from now. For example, we can't expect students coming up through one-way immersion programs like YuYing and one-way partial immersion at DCI to go on to ace HL IB Diploma language exams (which stress speaking languages) at least not without an abundance of full-fledged immersion experiences shoehorned in during summers. Neither can we expect in DCI middle school ELA, science and social studies classes where students working at a 3rd grade level are taught alongside those working at an 8th grade level to on to nail IBD English exams etc. Tweaking the HS experience will invariably be too little too late, other than in a small number of cases where parents supplement extensively for years.

Sure, the scores will go up over time, but not into the high 30s. Too bad, because they could quickly with the right inputs.

High 30s aren't really needed in the U.S. though. College admission is determined by grades, courses taken and standardized test scores. IB exam scores don't even come out until long after students have admissions decisions.

I agree with your assessment, but also think most DCI parents don't share your view on the importance of the exams.

Most DCI parents I've talked don't seem to know much at all about IBD exams. My experience teaching in a heavily American "Full International Baccalaurate" school abroad (don't earn the Diploma and don't graduate) for a number of years taught me that it's not that simple.

Where do I start? Strong IBD programs in the US and North American international schools abroad generally encourage IBD students to take up to four IBD exams in the June of junior year, long BEFORE students apply to college let alone have admissions decisions. Geneva IB has allowed up to four of the six IB subject exams to be taken during IBD Year I/junior year for a decade now. In weaker and new IBD programs, inexperienced admins tend not to know this.

Also, long running IBD programs in the US and abroad encourage students to "double up on AP and SAT II." This means taking the AP and SAT subject tests that correspond with the six IBD subject exams, to give the kid more standardized test scores to submit with college applications than they'd have otherwise. College counselors in established IBD programs know that the "Predicted IBD Exam Scores" teachers can submit with college applications do little to help applicants. You can't fudge pre IBD exam rigor - if kids on track to scores in the 20s, that will show in their various test scores. Grades matter a lot less in elite college admissions than you might think, in a day when most secondary schools dole out easy As.

Finally, it's become common for IBD students to submit their Extended Essay, normally completed in the fall of senior year. with college applications. The quality of an EE can't be easily fudged either.

We're at DCI and admins are not talking this way. We're planning to hire a private college counselor who's IB Diploma savvy in the fall (junior year).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also not "practice" when kids come through the DCI MYP with weak or mediocre language and ELA skills. In that case, a bright and hard-working Diploma candidate is likely to scrape by with a pass points total in the mid to high 20s. Not sure where that gets them in terms of college admissions and prep. Right now, the writing is on the wall for few DCI kids, if any, to score in the 30s for at least a few years, maybe five.

The DCI admins and parents I talk to about IB Diploma don't seem to have their heads around how tough it is to score high on IBD examinations (graded in Geneva), particularly language tests at the HL.

What I see is that too many of the strongest DCI feeder students are peeling off for Wash Latin, BASIS, privates, the burbs after 4th of 5th grades in search of more MS rigor for DCI's future pass points totals to impress.

I don’t expect the kids to score in the 30’s at a new program that is not even 5 years old. We will see how the graduating class does. Give it another few years as they modify and adjust what they need to and I bet the scores will go up.

You will see more and more strong feeder kids go the DCI route as each year goes by, without a doubt, as families don’t want to move to the burbs or go private. There’s only a finite amount of seats at Latin and low chance of getting in there. Basis isn’t for everyone and some don’t even consider it.

I'd agree with you if needed "modifications" were being down the chain right now.

There are obvious problems with academic rigor in the feeders and the DCI middle school that aren't being addressed, reducing the likelihood that IBD students can score in the 30s even a decade from now. For example, we can't expect students coming up through one-way immersion programs like YuYing and one-way partial immersion at DCI to go on to ace HL IB Diploma language exams (which stress speaking languages) at least not without an abundance of full-fledged immersion experiences shoehorned in during summers. Neither can we expect in DCI middle school ELA, science and social studies classes where students working at a 3rd grade level are taught alongside those working at an 8th grade level to on to nail IBD English exams etc. Tweaking the HS experience will invariably be too little too late, other than in a small number of cases where parents supplement extensively for years.

Sure, the scores will go up over time, but not into the high 30s. Too bad, because they could quickly with the right inputs.

You mean just like how Wilson will have kids 3-5 grade levels apart with their honors for all in 9th-11th? That’s definitely the wrong input in my book.

[Anonymous]

^THIS. Problems with lack of rigor and weak language instruction lower down the chain are hardly restricted to charters in this badly run city!

The lousy Wilson head really (really, really) needs to go.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:\.

We're at DCI and admins are not talking this way. We're planning to hire a private college counselor who's IB Diploma savvy in the fall (junior year).

How many college counselors work at DCI now? For reference both Latin and BASIS have 2 full time, working with no more than 200 students in grades 9-12. When do they start meeting with students as a group and individually?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:\.

We're at DCI and admins are not talking this way. We're planning to hire a private college counselor who's IB Diploma savvy in the fall (junior year).

How many college counselors work at DCI now? For reference both Latin and BASIS have 2 full time, working with no more than 200 students in grades 9-12. When do they start meeting with students as a group and individually?

Follow-up question to the above -- assuming DCI has a college counselor at this point, does that person have any other general counseling responsibilities or is their sole focus college outreach and working with students on post-graduation plans?

I know that one of BASIS' college counselors has no other responsibilities; the second also manages the capstone project and internship program (for those seniors who choose to do one. Not sure about Latin.

[Anonymous]

DCI didn't employ a full-time college counselor this school year. They're supposed to be hiring one, now that the program is moving into the IB Diploma years.

These posts about how to do the IB Diploma right in view of competitive college admissions are a wake-up call. We'll be shopping for an independent college coach shortly if the advising situation at DCI doesn't improve (and maybe even if it does improve).

This year, we're on track to spend more than 8K on our advanced DCI student for tutors, extra math on-line, language immersion summer camp abroad etc. At least we haven't spent 40K on Sidwell. We don't have access to Deal.

[Anonymous]

DCI has had somebody (I don't know the exact title or full scope of job responsibilities) working on college outreach, etc for at least two possibly three years. I haven't been keeping close track as we're in middle school, but they definitely had somebody last year and this year. There have been college fairs and other events. Maybe not to the level you'd like or what's in an established school, but they are building the program actively.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCI didn't employ a full-time college counselor this school year. They're supposed to be hiring one, now that the program is moving into the IB Diploma years.

These posts about how to do the IB Diploma right in view of competitive college admissions are a wake-up call. We'll be shopping for an independent college coach shortly if the advising situation at DCI doesn't improve (and maybe even if it does improve).

This year, we're on track to spend more than 8K on our advanced DCI student for tutors, extra math on-line, language immersion summer camp abroad etc. At least we haven't spent 40K on Sidwell. We don't have access to Deal.

Can you say a little more about this? Are you supplementing in all subjects? When does your child meet with all these tutors?

[Anonymous]

We supplement for math, Mandarin + writing for 6th grader. Can't afford private school and don't have access to Deal or Stuart Hobson though we live a few blocks away. We'd havee gone with either school over DCI.

DCI doesn't push our very smart but somewhat lazy kid, helping explain why he's happy there. The tutors do push him, which he needs. If he complains about being pushed, we threaten to defund summer camps he's chosen, which works.

We use Chegg tutoring on-line 2 hours/week, Hope in Silver Spring for Chinese on Sat, and hire a writing tutor 1 hour/week during the school year. DS will attend a Mandarin Concordia camp in MN for 3 weeks this summer. His speaking skills have improved a lot since we exited the YY bubble (no native speaking peers). DCI Mandarin isn't as good as YY's, and YY's wasn't the est.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCI didn't employ a full-time college counselor this school year. They're supposed to be hiring one, now that the program is moving into the IB Diploma years.

These posts about how to do the IB Diploma right in view of competitive college admissions are a wake-up call. We'll be shopping for an independent college coach shortly if the advising situation at DCI doesn't improve (and maybe even if it does improve).

This year, we're on track to spend more than 8K on our advanced DCI student for tutors, extra math on-line, language immersion summer camp abroad etc. At least we haven't spent 40K on Sidwell. We don't have access to Deal.

My kids is leaving DCPS for private this coming fall (two others are staying in DCPS) and we're paying $48.5K for the first year---$44.5K plus about $4K in total for extra fees (one time fees and yearly fees). It's crazy. I thought I was in for $40K but it's really closer to $50K.
Paying $8K for a tutor is a bargain! Stay with it as long as you can!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We supplement for math, Mandarin + writing for 6th grader. Can't afford private school and don't have access to Deal or Stuart Hobson though we live a few blocks away. We'd havee gone with either school over DCI.

DCI doesn't push our very smart but somewhat lazy kid, helping explain why he's happy there. The tutors do push him, which he needs. If he complains about being pushed, we threaten to defund summer camps he's chosen, which works.

We use Chegg tutoring on-line 2 hours/week, Hope in Silver Spring for Chinese on Sat, and hire a writing tutor 1 hour/week during the school year. DS will attend a Mandarin Concordia camp in MN for 3 weeks this summer. His speaking skills have improved a lot since we exited the YY bubble (no native speaking peers). DCI Mandarin isn't as good as YY's, and YY's wasn't the est.

God forbid your kid would be happy at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Clearly you haven't done your homework! DCI offers so much tutoring! Kids can get support during brunch, lunch, and even after school. There is a special afterschool homework class designed to help kids with self-management and assistance with homework. The school publishes a schedule of each subject/teacher's support time. Hope Deal does as well by you!

If you read my post, you'll see that I was responding to a poster who dismissed Deal as having lots of tutoring, which I see as a positive thing. I never said that DCI doesn't have tutoring. Per my previous post, the reasons we're choosing Deal over DCI are that we're more interested in solid academics and a well-organized school, and Deal seems to be more established and supportive.

I hope DCI works for you and you find a way to live with your choices without being so triggered and lashing out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We supplement for math, Mandarin + writing for 6th grader. Can't afford private school and don't have access to Deal or Stuart Hobson though we live a few blocks away. We'd havee gone with either school over DCI.

DCI doesn't push our very smart but somewhat lazy kid, helping explain why he's happy there. The tutors do push him, which he needs. If he complains about being pushed, we threaten to defund summer camps he's chosen, which works.

We use Chegg tutoring on-line 2 hours/week, Hope in Silver Spring for Chinese on Sat, and hire a writing tutor 1 hour/week during the school year. DS will attend a Mandarin Concordia camp in MN for 3 weeks this summer. His speaking skills have improved a lot since we exited the YY bubble (no native speaking peers). DCI Mandarin isn't as good as YY's, and YY's wasn't the est.

God forbid your kid would be happy at school.

Save the snark. I'd like my 12 year-old to discover the joy of working to gain from the experience. rather than cruising along without breaking a sweat because it's possible.

We almost went for BASIS and there are days when I regret that we didn't. We really didn't like the fact that 5th and 6th graders can't study languages at BASIS, or the joyless building. In retrospect, DCI partial immersion language classes aren't strong enough to work well anyway, explaining why we supplement so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI didn't employ a full-time college counselor this school year. They're supposed to be hiring one, now that the program is moving into the IB Diploma years.

These posts about how to do the IB Diploma right in view of competitive college admissions are a wake-up call. We'll be shopping for an independent college coach shortly if the advising situation at DCI doesn't improve (and maybe even if it does improve).

This year, we're on track to spend more than 8K on our advanced DCI student for tutors, extra math on-line, language immersion summer camp abroad etc. At least we haven't spent 40K on Sidwell. We don't have access to Deal.

My kids is leaving DCPS for private this coming fall (two others are staying in DCPS) and we're paying $48.5K for the first year---$44.5K plus about $4K in total for extra fees (one time fees and yearly fees). It's crazy. I thought I was in for $40K but it's really closer to $50K.
Paying $8K for a tutor is a bargain! Stay with it as long as you can!!

Thanks, PP. Good to be reminded of this. We'll probably be paying more like 12-12K to supplement in 7th grade, still a deal by DC standards. You're right.