Anyone want to share great experiences they have with their charter or magnet middle school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always fear getting shot down for being a naive booster, but my kid has been having a good MS experience at Inspired Teaching. As noted above, it's a small school experience-- about 45/48 kids per grade. But that works for my kid who is receiving differentiated, advanced instruction and getting some close support as they figure out what they are interested in and take some academic risks. High school placement support has begun and the principal seems very committed to helping each student find the right fit. My kid and I talk a lot about the social experiences there and over multiple years there I have yet to hear a story related to bullying. it's a positive, supportive culture, in our experience. But if you want a LOT of activities and a lot of kids from which to choose your friends, it admittedly isn't the right fit.

We won't shoot you down, but I note that we walked away from Inspired Teaching because it was too hippie/granola crunchie, too intent on teaching our kid to advocate for liberal causes, too cruisey (hardly any homework), too black and white (we're neither), too OK with distance learning last year, and too limited in what it offered in terms of enrichment. Friendly, pleasant, well-meaning middle school though.

I also walked away from ITS for elementary and have no regrets, we love our DCPS elementary school. I would consider lotterying in for middle school, though, bc I think we would prefer it over Cardozo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always fear getting shot down for being a naive booster, but my kid has been having a good MS experience at Inspired Teaching. As noted above, it's a small school experience-- about 45/48 kids per grade. But that works for my kid who is receiving differentiated, advanced instruction and getting some close support as they figure out what they are interested in and take some academic risks. High school placement support has begun and the principal seems very committed to helping each student find the right fit. My kid and I talk a lot about the social experiences there and over multiple years there I have yet to hear a story related to bullying. it's a positive, supportive culture, in our experience. But if you want a LOT of activities and a lot of kids from which to choose your friends, it admittedly isn't the right fit.

We won't shoot you down, but I note that we walked away from Inspired Teaching because it was too hippie/granola crunchie, too intent on teaching our kid to advocate for liberal causes, too cruisey (hardly any homework), too black and white (we're neither), too OK with distance learning last year, and too limited in what it offered in terms of enrichment. Friendly, pleasant, well-meaning middle school though.

Not the PP, but our experience has been that there is an appropriate amount of homework in middle elementary. I was disappointed in the lack of distance learning. It seems like there's more academic differentiation this year, at least in my kid's class. I'm not entirely happy with it, but there isn't any other school that's significantly more appealing now that we're settled in at ITS. Where did you go?

Parochial school in VA, not a pricey one. More rigor, especially for writing, though, believe it or not, bigger classes. Much more even-handed teaching of social studies (Republicans welcome which we like, though we lean left). Vastly superior music program. Math and commute about the same. Better for sports. Strict uniforms, too much conformity, not enough minority students. Nothing close to a perfect middle school around here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always fear getting shot down for being a naive booster, but my kid has been having a good MS experience at Inspired Teaching. As noted above, it's a small school experience-- about 45/48 kids per grade. But that works for my kid who is receiving differentiated, advanced instruction and getting some close support as they figure out what they are interested in and take some academic risks. High school placement support has begun and the principal seems very committed to helping each student find the right fit. My kid and I talk a lot about the social experiences there and over multiple years there I have yet to hear a story related to bullying. it's a positive, supportive culture, in our experience. But if you want a LOT of activities and a lot of kids from which to choose your friends, it admittedly isn't the right fit.

We won't shoot you down, but I note that we walked away from Inspired Teaching because it was too hippie/granola crunchie, too intent on teaching our kid to advocate for liberal causes, too cruisey (hardly any homework), too black and white (we're neither), too OK with distance learning last year, and too limited in what it offered in terms of enrichment. Friendly, pleasant, well-meaning middle school though.

I also walked away from ITS for elementary and have no regrets, we love our DCPS elementary school. I would consider lotterying in for middle school, though, bc I think we would prefer it over Cardozo.

I don't think ITS actually is any better than Seaton or certain other area DCPS, at least unless your child is really advanced. And Seaton really shines in math, where ITS is only okay. But there are definitely people transferring in from Seaton in 3rd and 4th, and especially 5th and 6th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have had a good experience in DCI’s middle school and an AMAZING one in its High School. Middle school is challenging everywhere. A lot of it is the kids are in the throes of adolescence. At DCI I would add that the middle school principal is less than stellar. High School teachers are wonderful overall.

We are not at DCI but was impressed with the college admissions of this years class and even more impressed with how much college scholarship money they got. The high school must be doing something right or maybe it’s because of the IB diploma track.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have had a good experience in DCI’s middle school and an AMAZING one in its High School. Middle school is challenging everywhere. A lot of it is the kids are in the throes of adolescence. At DCI I would add that the middle school principal is less than stellar. High School teachers are wonderful overall.

We are not at DCI but was impressed with the college admissions of this years class and even more impressed with how much college scholarship money they got. The high school must be doing something right or maybe it’s because of the IB diploma track.

Keep in mind the differences in the playing field between URM and “regular” white kids, if you have one of those. The admissions and scholarship money were impressive, but it looked like a lot of kids that have a “hook” that mine won’t. It’s awesome for those kids, but not necessarily representative of what my kids would experience.

[Anonymous]

Anyone hearing about Truth?

[Anonymous]

My child was very happy at Two Rivers Middle School (finished 8th grade last year) The classes were challenging, and the teachers supportive. IMO the size, about 75 kids per grade, is enough to find like-minded friends, but not overwhelming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone hearing about Truth?

We have a sixth grader who loves Truth. Smaller learning experiences (or class sizes). Made a ton of friends easily. Likes the lesson regime; although notes the eighth graders in their cohort tend to cut up and derail the work periods a fair bit. (Or maybe that’s all we hear about, because it’s entertaining?) I think there are a fair bit of growing pains given it’s so new.

They love the lack of homework. I kind of thought everything would be entirely project-based learning but there’s a fair bit of traditional learning as well. (My kid complains they want “more shelf work,” and fewer worksheets — lately on ratios etc.) For an ADHD kid, it’s pretty amazing. They’ve done some cool engineering projects (egg drop), and they are pretty engaged in learning/reading about the 1619 project, which is how Truth is teaching ELA and social studies this 10-week period. And it seems like the teachers are really trying to differentiate with kids and work with them at varying speeds.
So far, what I’ve seen of the class work (they only bring it home if they need more time to finish a task) seems on par with what friends at Deal & DCI are doing. But I do worry that it might not be rigorous enough.

I’m most happy with the social/emotional middle school experience; as we hear about some crazy tween drama happening at Deal and behavior issues at DCI. If it’s happening at Truth, we don’t know about it. But I think it’s not, because there’s this emphasis on community and really getting to know and respect these kids. This is our kid’s happiest public school experience to date.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have had a good experience in DCI’s middle school and an AMAZING one in its High School. Middle school is challenging everywhere. A lot of it is the kids are in the throes of adolescence. At DCI I would add that the middle school principal is less than stellar. High School teachers are wonderful overall.

We are not at DCI but was impressed with the college admissions of this years class and even more impressed with how much college scholarship money they got. The high school must be doing something right or maybe it’s because of the IB diploma track.

2020 was the first graduating class, and the results weren't very impressive. 2021 had better college admissions, but no one knows if that was an outlier year or not. We'll see in the coming years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’d like to hear more about why people have concerns for DCI for high school.

Search DCI on DCUM. There have been several threads on that topic in the last year alone. In a nutshell, IBD for almost all DCI students isn't the optimal approach. The curriculum isn't designed to meet the needs of students who aren't academic high achievers. IBD was created to meet the needs of diplomats' children in international schools, back in the 1970s. DCI has watered IBD down to try to make it work for most students. You can't expect the sun, the moon and the stars from the set-up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have had a good experience in DCI’s middle school and an AMAZING one in its High School. Middle school is challenging everywhere. A lot of it is the kids are in the throes of adolescence. At DCI I would add that the middle school principal is less than stellar. High School teachers are wonderful overall.

We are not at DCI but was impressed with the college admissions of this years class and even more impressed with how much college scholarship money they got. The high school must be doing something right or maybe it’s because of the IB diploma track.

2020 was the first graduating class, and the results weren't very impressive. 2021 had better college admissions, but no one knows if that was an outlier year or not. We'll see in the coming years.

My child is in 8th grade at DCI, so I am encouraged to hear this about HS. This is the impression I get. It is true that 2021 had better college admissions than 2020, but the 2020 results were still pretty good for the inaugural graduating class of a new HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone hearing about Truth?

We have a sixth grader who loves Truth. Smaller learning experiences (or class sizes). Made a ton of friends easily. Likes the lesson regime; although notes the eighth graders in their cohort tend to cut up and derail the work periods a fair bit. (Or maybe that’s all we hear about, because it’s entertaining?) I think there are a fair bit of growing pains given it’s so new.

They love the lack of homework. I kind of thought everything would be entirely project-based learning but there’s a fair bit of traditional learning as well. (My kid complains they want “more shelf work,” and fewer worksheets — lately on ratios etc.) For an ADHD kid, it’s pretty amazing. They’ve done some cool engineering projects (egg drop), and they are pretty engaged in learning/reading about the 1619 project, which is how Truth is teaching ELA and social studies this 10-week period. And it seems like the teachers are really trying to differentiate with kids and work with them at varying speeds.
So far, what I’ve seen of the class work (they only bring it home if they need more time to finish a task) seems on par with what friends at Deal & DCI are doing. But I do worry that it might not be rigorous enough.

I’m most happy with the social/emotional middle school experience; as we hear about some crazy tween drama happening at Deal and behavior issues at DCI. If it’s happening at Truth, we don’t know about it. But I think it’s not, because there’s this emphasis on community and really getting to know and respect these kids. This is our kid’s happiest public school experience to date.

Are you white?

[Anonymous]

Our kids are at BASIS DC and love it.

In our view, it is the best public middle school option for an academically inclined kid in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here you go:

https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/middle-schools/district-of-columbia

Btw, ignore the previous poster. The person doesn't even have kids in public school in DC. Not sure why the person keeps posting here.

I've had kids in public school in this city for almost a decade. Ignore the previous poster at your own risk.

Fact is, the DC public high school landscape is more welcoming than the middle school landscape. There's a strong element of "make-do" at the middle school level in DC public schools.

We just doesn't have public middle schools with great facilities AND academics, like in Fairfax. Some DC parents go private for middle school, then return for Walls, Wilson or Banneker.

You are happy to bash every school in DC, but we can't really evaluate your comments unless we know what public schools your kids attend/attended. Please enlighten us.

[Anonymous]

NP who says don't take the bait.

PP above doesn't want to hear about experiences at particular schools. She wants to boost without being interrupted.

She should start her own thread for that purpose. No need to revive this one.