Considering moving to DC

[Anonymous]

People here will tell you to look at Jackson Reed feeders only but the truth is nearly half the kids in the city attend charters. There are lots of fine elementary schools, some charters that have middle schools, and a few charters that start in MS and go through high school. At the high school level there are several application schools. Oh, and there are some dual language charters that feed a high school. It’s complicated!

For PK3 it’s a lottery and you’re going to get a spot somewhere but it may not be your “zoned” school.

[Anonymous]

The problem OP is this board skews wealthy and white so they only talk about Ward 3 or Capitol Hill area, which is not zoned for the Ward 3 high school. They have a deep fear of minorities and judge everything solely on test scores. You don’t get a very good picture of DC schools here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem OP is this board skews wealthy and white so they only talk about Ward 3 or Capitol Hill area, which is not zoned for the Ward 3 high school. They have a deep fear of minorities and judge everything solely on test scores. You don’t get a very good picture of DC schools here.

+1

Not even worth discussing other schools bc they’ll just get shouted down. This is the last place I’d go for advice

[Anonymous]

What are the odds of a person being able to lottery in multiple children in the same school? I honestly don't know. But if it is very very difficult, then a person moving to DC (I wouldn't) should only look at IB options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are the odds of a person being able to lottery in multiple children in the same school? I honestly don't know. But if it is very very difficult, then a person moving to DC (I wouldn't) should only look at IB options.

It depends on the age of the kids.
So if you have a 5th grader - you can generally guarantee getting into Cap City and pull in a younger sibling.

This is a solid option - not for everyone. But solid

[Anonymous]

It just seems like the OP would have an easier time of it by moving to the near burbs in MoCo. More affordable, easier-to-understand options, etc. There's also near burbs of VA, but I don't know about those.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem OP is this board skews wealthy and white so they only talk about Ward 3 or Capitol Hill area, which is not zoned for the Ward 3 high school. They have a deep fear of minorities and judge everything solely on test scores. You don’t get a very good picture of DC schools here.

+1

Not even worth discussing other schools bc they’ll just get shouted down. This is the last place I’d go for advice

Are there non-application DCPS high schools other than JR that have more than 20% of kids on grade level (based on test scores)? Honest question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem OP is this board skews wealthy and white so they only talk about Ward 3 or Capitol Hill area, which is not zoned for the Ward 3 high school. They have a deep fear of minorities and judge everything solely on test scores. You don’t get a very good picture of DC schools here.

+1

Not even worth discussing other schools bc they’ll just get shouted down. This is the last place I’d go for advice

Are there non-application DCPS high schools other than JR that have more than 20% of kids on grade level (based on test scores)? Honest question.

I don't know. But test scores don't equal good schools.

And the circle of nonsense begins anew

[Anonymous]

My biggest regret is buying in DC. We are in bounds for allegedly the “best” elementary, middle and high school. We have found the elementary be be segregated racially and economically and at best “meh” for academics. If I had to do it all over again, I would have bought in Montgomery county, which admittedly has it’s own issues, but even the weakest schools seem to eclipse the strongest in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My biggest regret is buying in DC. We are in bounds for allegedly the “best” elementary, middle and high school. We have found the elementary be be segregated racially and economically and at best “meh” for academics. If I had to do it all over again, I would have bought in Montgomery county, which admittedly has it’s own issues, but even the weakest schools seem to eclipse the strongest in DC.

What grade is your child?

[Anonymous]

idk the op sounds like a single parent of two relatively younger kids. i think a relatively more walkable neighborhood in dc is a good choice for all-around qol. the elementary schools at least are overall a lot better than you might expect. small class sizes etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem OP is this board skews wealthy and white so they only talk about Ward 3 or Capitol Hill area, which is not zoned for the Ward 3 high school. They have a deep fear of minorities and judge everything solely on test scores. You don’t get a very good picture of DC schools here.

+1

Not even worth discussing other schools bc they’ll just get shouted down. This is the last place I’d go for advice

Are there non-application DCPS high schools other than JR that have more than 20% of kids on grade level (based on test scores)? Honest question.

I don't know. But test scores don't equal good schools.

And the circle of nonsense begins anew

What exactly does this mean? Test scores reflect how academically prepared students are, and most parents with options don’t want their kids to be or to go to school with mostly kids who are multiple grade levels behind.

Please explain your thinking here.

[Anonymous]

3 kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem OP is this board skews wealthy and white so they only talk about Ward 3 or Capitol Hill area, which is not zoned for the Ward 3 high school. They have a deep fear of minorities and judge everything solely on test scores. You don’t get a very good picture of DC schools here.

+1

Not even worth discussing other schools bc they’ll just get shouted down. This is the last place I’d go for advice

Are there non-application DCPS high schools other than JR that have more than 20% of kids on grade level (based on test scores)? Honest question.

I don't know. But test scores don't equal good schools.

And the circle of nonsense begins anew

What exactly does this mean? Test scores reflect how academically prepared students are, and most parents with options don’t want their kids to be or to go to school with mostly kids who are multiple grade levels behind.

Please explain your thinking here.

+1. Test scores reflect baseline content knowledge.

Boosters at poorly performing schools where majority of kids are not even at grade level like to play the SES cards with test scores. They sat it doesn’t matter because it only reflects SES status.

Nope, they show if the child has the basic knowledge for that grade level if you are talking PARCC in DC. The reason why higher SES kids do well is because they are exposed to content knowledge and learning much more than low SES kids. Their parents can support more outside of school if the kids are struggling to catch up on the knowledge gap.

The goals of poorly performing school should not be teach to the test (which many do) to get higher test scores but rather create a content rich curriculum. That is not happening in DC. So kid’s behind are advance to the next grade and fall further behind the higher expectations for the next grade. This is why you see such a huge drop in scores from elementary to middle school and further drop in high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem OP is this board skews wealthy and white so they only talk about Ward 3 or Capitol Hill area, which is not zoned for the Ward 3 high school. They have a deep fear of minorities and judge everything solely on test scores. You don’t get a very good picture of DC schools here.

+1

Not even worth discussing other schools bc they’ll just get shouted down. This is the last place I’d go for advice

Are there non-application DCPS high schools other than JR that have more than 20% of kids on grade level (based on test scores)? Honest question.

No. But students who don’t go to Jackson Reed go to charters or application HSs. And there are acceptable DCPS middle school options outside the JR triangle— Stuart-Hobson, Jefferson, CHEC, Brookland, Wells. These schools have more low SES and at risk kids than Hardy or Deal, and their test scores reflect that. But there are plenty of MC parents who send kids here who have good experiences.

So it’s really a question of whether you feel comfortable figuring out HS as you go. That stresses many people out, and if it’s going to be a huge source of stress, I’d look at suburbs for peace of mind. But plenty of people are okay just figuring it out. It’s the same thing in other large cities where schools rely on a mix of charters and application schools to address the absence of many good, traditional public HSs.

DC has more and better options than Baltimore, where there are almost know good options outside a handful of elementaries, and even MC families go private or move rather than try the MSs or HSs, which only worsens the existing issues.