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Second guessing the DC public school choice? please no bashing dcps!
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Anonymous
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I (very nervously) put my 3 year old son in a DCPS pre-school in NW and he has done remarkably well. Its a kind and nurturing environment with an emphasis on independent learning through experiences and hands on activities. There is heavy parental involvement - not required, just a group of parents focused on getting the most out of their child's educational experience. He has 2 full time teachers and 2 aides in a class of 20 students. They take 1-2 field trips per month, participate in the Fillmore Arts Program, and the school offers aftercare until 6:30 pm for $25 per week. Most parents work full time and therefore take advantage of the aftercare program. The Principal is young and energetic and VERY open to implementing programs that the parents are interested in. So far, I've been very happy. Most importantly, my son looks forward to going to school every morning. So, my attitude has been, as long as its a positive experience for everyone involved and he is learning, I'll continue to keep him there.
I have acquaintances, friends, co-workers, etc.. who insist on private school only for their kids and while they do not tend to comment on my choice, I get the impression that they somehow think they are doing better for their children. However, when the kids are all together there is no noticeable difference in their abilities, skills, or behavior. As a matter of fact, several parents have commented on how well-adjusted my son is compared to other kids his age, so... I also had a friend who pulled her kid out of a very expensive private school that was stunting her education/growth (according to the tester they spent $3000 on this summer), placed her in DCPS and her child has flourished in that environment. Her test scores dramatically improved, her reading level has jumped through the roof, and she is overall more confident than she was while attending the private school. So, there is no easy answer. However, just because you choose not to spend $150K on elementary education doesn't mean you are short changing your child in any way. The most important thing is to find a good fit for your kid. And, what that fit is may change over the years. I agree with the previous posters, take it a year at a time. |
Anonymous
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to the PP, do you mind if I ask what school?
Thanks. |
Anonymous
| West Elementary |
Anonymous
| Any updates on Washington Latin? |
Anonymous
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OP - What you are going through isn't really about school choice, but about the fact that sometimes, no choice is perfect. For you, there are pros and cons to Bethesda and pros and cons to staying down town. You can't have the pros of both. The right decision is not obvious.
A big lesson we all have to learn is that our children can't possibly get the "best" of absolutely everything. Sometimes no choice is perfect, and sometimes our judgement gets cloudy. If I sound preachy, it is because I am speaking to myself as well as to you. (FYI, I had a hard school choice with my son and still lament all he's missed out on when I chose public v parochial. He is also thriving and benefitting from the things that his current school offers that parochial did not.) |
Anonymous
From hearsay, not trending great. I know a child who asked he parents to pull him out and put him in a nearby DCPS because it wasn't interesting enough. Go figure. Charter schools that don't own/have long-term lease on space often face logistical challenges/disruptions. This kid's parents don't mind logistics and think it may be more about other kids near their house going to public. Interested in first-hand thoughts. |
Anonymous
| You know my kids went to Murch (one is still there, the other in private), and I was just at the school this morning and I saw the kids having so much fun (it was sports day), and there were so many dedicated parents and teachers helping out. My kids had a blast there, they got a good education in most areas (and I supplemented in those that I thought were lacking), and they made great friends, as did we. I'm so glad we went this route. Private school may offer a lot of things that DCPS doesn't but we wouldn't trade our experience for anything. Don't be scared. If you find a school where the kids (and teachers) seem to be thriving and happy, and the parents involved, your child will probably do great. |
Anonymous
thank you for the update. anybody else heard anything about Washington Latin ??? bump bump bump |
Anonymous
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Don't know if this needs another bump, but I'm also hoping to hear about Latin. The only info. I can offer is that some of my former students have tried it, but I hear they didn't like it. On the other hand, these were not especially studious or intellectually curious kids, so I wouldn't have recommended the school's concept to them, anyway. I heard through the grapevine that the new headmaster came from one of the Cathedral schools, I think, and has inspired some confidence.
Would this be appropriate as a separate thread? |
Anonymous
| The new Washington Latin headmistress was former head of school and NCS, and I hear very good things about her. Latin kids had some of the best test scores in the city last year, and several kids in my neighborhood go there and like it. The main problem (now that they seem to have a good headmistress in place) is space. The school is packed to the gills, and they're looking for new space, but I'm not sure how that's coming. |
Anonymous
| Last I heard, they were taking over the British School's old location. Is this no longer the plan? For a high school, the more centrally located- Metro accessible the better, though 16th St. is an improvement on NE. |
Anonymous
| Please keep the Latin updates coming -- I've been very surprised to hear so little about it.... |
Anonymous
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My daughter was at Washington Latin last year and liked it a lot. The teachers are fabulous -- enthusiastic, dedicated, knowledgeable, and all in all the best ambassadors for a dead language and the other subjects taught. Most are staying on for next year.
The school went through a really rough patch last fall, with teachers and the old headmaster at war. Don't really want to go into the problems with the previous administration, in fact I never really figured it out, except that if the teachers were unhappy that was enough for us to choose sides. Last fall we were wondering if the school would survive and, like many parents I believe, we were exploring alternatives for next year in case the worst happened, calling up an elite (top three) private school we turned down, et cetera. [flash] But the new headmistress really inspires confidence. Yes, she was head of the NCS upper school. The new number two was head of Sandy Spring Friends' upper school. The school really needed practical, sensible leadership and now we have it, and somehow she also seems a very warm person. Space problems are a continuing issue. The upper school (8th & 9th) are moving to the old British School, as somebody said. But that campus isn't huge, and as the school keeps adding grades (it currently goes from 5-8, but as the 9th graders age the school will add 10th grade, et cetera), the school will need to find more space somewhere. DC may be closing some schools, but if you've been following the issue in the Post it's not clear that many will be available for charters. A final word -- it is pretty intense. By January my daughter had gone farther in First Year Latin than I had gone in an entire year of high school Latin. My daughter loves this. But it's not for everybody, and during parent-teacher conferences we sat behind several families where the kid was failing, often for not doing the homework. The school recognizes that kids come from very different schools in DC, and tries to provide tutoring and extra help. I get the sense that the tutoring and other efforts may not be quite enough to satisfy some families, although the school seems to keep working on it. Anyway, it's not for kids who aren't into structure and doing homework, who need to make a transition to a tougher school, or who just don't get Latin, math, or some other subjects. For comparison, the homework amount seems pretty comparable to what my daughter had in private school the previous year. |
Anonymous
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15:42 poster, thanks so much for chiming in. I'm curious -- when you say intense, do you mean just in terms of the academic rigor, or in terms of pressure/competition? I'm all for an intense and demanding curriculum, but I don't want my kids in a pressure cooker where the kids (and their parents) are extremely competitive.
Also, what's the student body like? Is it very diverse? How many of the families would be at private school if not for Latin? Appreciate any additional insight you can provide.... |
Anonymous
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By "intense", I mean academically, not so much socially. The teachers expect a lot from the students with frequent tests/quizzes/reports. Classes are tracked, with "advanced" and "everybody else" for most subjects. But this isn't a school where every kid is founding his/her own club, so they can all put "club president" on their college applications. Bear in mind, though, that the school only went up to 8th grade last year. So I suppose there's time for the competition to heat up as the kids get closer to college.
Re the families, I'm reluctant to generalize from our limited circle of parent acquaintances. |