New to DCI-Anything we should know?

[Anonymous]

Lots of rave reviews for DCI on this thread. OP, I'd talk to parent who aren't staying for HS if you want to go in with your eyes open. We have close friends of many years among them. We've been hear very mixed reviews for years, particularly for strong STEM-oriented students (who failed to get off the BASIS wait list). You know that there's no academic tracking in the middle school outside math (one year acceleration, not more) and language, and minimal tracking in 9th and 10th grades. This means that strong English, social studies and science students are unlikely to be challenged before IB Diploma work in 11th and 12th grades.

[Anonymous]

Can a student go into the French track, but then take upper level Spanish classes (as a native speaker) as they move along the grades?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of rave reviews for DCI on this thread. OP, I'd talk to parent who aren't staying for HS if you want to go in with your eyes open. We have close friends of many years among them. We've been hear very mixed reviews for years, particularly for strong STEM-oriented students (who failed to get off the BASIS wait list). You know that there's no academic tracking in the middle school outside math (one year acceleration, not more) and language, and minimal tracking in 9th and 10th grades. This means that strong English, social studies and science students are unlikely to be challenged before IB Diploma work in 11th and 12th grades.

This. It's a great option for kids that are challenged by grade level work. The unhappy families are those with advanced kids needing more acceleration and differentiation. By middle school you know which bucket your kid(s) fall into. Don't go to DCI expecting more than what's offered and you'll be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The school has always promised partial immersion. Electives and Social Studies classes are offered in target languages for those students with higher levels of proficiency. My DS took at least 3 classes per day in his target language and graduated with the IB Diploma and the Seal of Biliteracy. We have another child leaving the Middle School and going into High School.

What is really important to know, IMHO, is that the new ED is VERY removed from students, families, and faculty. He is also not a big cheerleader of the IB or Language. Very different from the founding ED. Mr. Nace, the HS principal, is a gem and is the biggest draw for us to stay at DCI. He is truly the spirit of the school. Middle School has a new principal, and hopefully will improve a lot if the ED is more hands-on.

Overall, though, it's a great school because of the many long-term faculty and staff who believe in the model and advocate to protect it.

We toured the school and then talked extensively with Mr. Nace and was very impressed with him overall. We asked a lot of hard questions and his answers were thoughtful and detailed. BTW he stepped up and ran the middle school this year after principal left.

It’s amazing that he doesn’t let his disability, which he is very open, about define him and his goals. Says a lot about his character.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of rave reviews for DCI on this thread. OP, I'd talk to parent who aren't staying for HS if you want to go in with your eyes open. We have close friends of many years among them. We've been hear very mixed reviews for years, particularly for strong STEM-oriented students (who failed to get off the BASIS wait list). You know that there's no academic tracking in the middle school outside math (one year acceleration, not more) and language, and minimal tracking in 9th and 10th grades. This means that strong English, social studies and science students are unlikely to be challenged before IB Diploma work in 11th and 12th grades.

My rising 8th grader was just offered a two-year acceleration option in math. We'll see how it works out in practice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of rave reviews for DCI on this thread. OP, I'd talk to parent who aren't staying for HS if you want to go in with your eyes open. We have close friends of many years among them. We've been hear very mixed reviews for years, particularly for strong STEM-oriented students (who failed to get off the BASIS wait list). You know that there's no academic tracking in the middle school outside math (one year acceleration, not more) and language, and minimal tracking in 9th and 10th grades. This means that strong English, social studies and science students are unlikely to be challenged before IB Diploma work in 11th and 12th grades.

My rising 8th grader was just offered a two-year acceleration option in math. We'll see how it works out in practice.

I met a parent whose kid was homeschool who started at DCI in 6th and she said that her kid tested into 7th math and science. Sounds like they might look at individuals case by case if you advocate for it.

[Anonymous]

An international advanced-language IB-for-all school is a great idea in concept but unfortunately in reality DCI offers only a so-so education.

1) IB scores are well below the global average, putting DCI are in the bottom half of the world. There are numerous schools in developing countries that have a higher IB average.

2) If you look at PARCC scores, DCI doesn't seem very impressive. In fact, most 9th graders at DCI are below grade level in math and English. This is after they have been at DCI for a few years, so you can't blame the feeders.

DCI proficiency (9th grade):

Math 21.37
ELA 44.59

If you compare DCI to another 100% lottery charter school, say BASIS DC, the numbers at DCI look pretty bad.

BASIS DC proficiency (9th grade)

Math 77.36
ELA 90.38

[Anonymous]

DCI doesn’t really care about PARCC scores. Look at their STAMP and IB DP and IB CP scores. Also look at what universities their kids are accepted to. Unlike Basis, DCI doesn’t weed out kids who struggle or kids with IEPs. Basis is constantly on the verge of having their charter revoked for their failure to keep kids who require special education. Elitist crap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of rave reviews for DCI on this thread. OP, I'd talk to parent who aren't staying for HS if you want to go in with your eyes open. We have close friends of many years among them. We've been hear very mixed reviews for years, particularly for strong STEM-oriented students (who failed to get off the BASIS wait list). You know that there's no academic tracking in the middle school outside math (one year acceleration, not more) and language, and minimal tracking in 9th and 10th grades. This means that strong English, social studies and science students are unlikely to be challenged before IB Diploma work in 11th and 12th grades.

This. It's a great option for kids that are challenged by grade level work. The unhappy families are those with advanced kids needing more acceleration and differentiation. By middle school you know which bucket your kid(s) fall into. Don't go to DCI expecting more than what's offered and you'll be fine.

Sounds like the OP has already enrolled her kid into DCI. So why burst her bubble and tell her the school sucks? What do you hope to accomplish from that? Presumably she will come to her own conclusion about how good or not the school is soon enough. In the meantime, what’s wrong with a warm welcome from the happy parents?

So many a$$holes on this site. Nasty as hell for absolutely no reason. Do you act that way in real life?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCI doesn’t really care about PARCC scores. Look at their STAMP and IB DP and IB CP scores. Also look at what universities their kids are accepted to. Unlike Basis, DCI doesn’t weed out kids who struggle or kids with IEPs. Basis is constantly on the verge of having their charter revoked for their failure to keep kids who require special education. Elitist crap.

Basis self selects out and you should look at their at risk numbers compared to DCI, 7% to 22%. DCI has more than 3 times the at risk so no surprise about lower PARCC scores.

We toured Basis and it was depressing as hell. Very narrow hallways way too crowded with kids, cramped dark classrooms, and they have this big room they use for lunch, after school, and whatever else because it’s all they got. Very limited in extracurriculars and sports. Very small school so socially stuck if you don’t find good group of friends.

Rigid, inflexible curriculum that narrowly focuses on AP at the cost of all else. We were not impressed with the head guy who was very young, pompous, and talked like a marketing guy/salesman trying to sell you something.

It was night and day with our tour of DCI. Beautiful campus and light filled airy building. Great facilities with library, gym, science lab, soccer fields, basketball, etc…. Lots of extracurricular clubs and sports. Large enough school but not too big and very diverse where your kid will find their niche of friends.

Our kid is high performing and we are in feeder and planning on going to DCI. Basis is not even a consideration after the visit above. Tracking in math and language is good for us. The kids who are in the high level language classes are usually the high performing kids anyway and so social studies and electives which can be taken in the language are unofficially tracked. If we need to supplement anything we can. We want a good, well-rounded middle/high school for our kid like I had in the burbs and DCI fits this bill. We also really like the IB curriculum and its emphasis on critical thinking and writing over AP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of rave reviews for DCI on this thread. OP, I'd talk to parent who aren't staying for HS if you want to go in with your eyes open. We have close friends of many years among them. We've been hear very mixed reviews for years, particularly for strong STEM-oriented students (who failed to get off the BASIS wait list). You know that there's no academic tracking in the middle school outside math (one year acceleration, not more) and language, and minimal tracking in 9th and 10th grades. This means that strong English, social studies and science students are unlikely to be challenged before IB Diploma work in 11th and 12th grades.

My rising 8th grader was just offered a two-year acceleration option in math. We'll see how it works out in practice.

Good news. Please keep us posted on how it works out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An international advanced-language IB-for-all school is a great idea in concept but unfortunately in reality DCI offers only a so-so education.

1) IB scores are well below the global average, putting DCI are in the bottom half of the world. There are numerous schools in developing countries that have a higher IB average.

2) If you look at PARCC scores, DCI doesn't seem very impressive. In fact, most 9th graders at DCI are below grade level in math and English. This is after they have been at DCI for a few years, so you can't blame the feeders.

DCI proficiency (9th grade):

Math 21.37
ELA 44.59

If you compare DCI to another 100% lottery charter school, say BASIS DC, the numbers at DCI look pretty bad.

BASIS DC proficiency (9th grade)

Math 77.36
ELA 90.38

I spend a lot of time on DCUM defending the BASIS-Haterade, but even I realize it is unfair to cherry pick the best scores in the city as a comparator. What do DCI's scores look like measured against other 9th grades?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCI doesn’t really care about PARCC scores. Look at their STAMP and IB DP and IB CP scores. Also look at what universities their kids are accepted to. Unlike Basis, DCI doesn’t weed out kids who struggle or kids with IEPs. Basis is constantly on the verge of having their charter revoked for their failure to keep kids who require special education. Elitist crap.

The bolded makes no sense when you're trying to explain away scores as compared to BASIS. Contrary to what you might think, BASIS actually doesn't focus at all on PARCC. Some schools spend weeks prepping for it, doing practice exams and trying to calm and center kid so they don't freak out. It is an afterthought. Truth is most BASIS kids view PARCC week as a break from school; it's a rare low stakes testing week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCI doesn’t really care about PARCC scores. Look at their STAMP and IB DP and IB CP scores. Also look at what universities their kids are accepted to. Unlike Basis, DCI doesn’t weed out kids who struggle or kids with IEPs. Basis is constantly on the verge of having their charter revoked for their failure to keep kids who require special education. Elitist crap.

You seem kind of delusional. This is not a thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of rave reviews for DCI on this thread. OP, I'd talk to parent who aren't staying for HS if you want to go in with your eyes open. We have close friends of many years among them. We've been hear very mixed reviews for years, particularly for strong STEM-oriented students (who failed to get off the BASIS wait list). You know that there's no academic tracking in the middle school outside math (one year acceleration, not more) and language, and minimal tracking in 9th and 10th grades. This means that strong English, social studies and science students are unlikely to be challenged before IB Diploma work in 11th and 12th grades.

Hilarious! This is such a typical under informed parent comment. Middle school is much less strong than High School at DCI. Could be better principal and teachers at HS, could be less focus on MS quality. But what it really is......MIDDLE SCHOOL IS PRETTY HARD ON KIDS AND FAMILIES AND PARENTS BLAME THE SCHOOL!
Instead of focusing on the rush of changes that a 6th grader faces in middle school, puberty hormones, shifting peer group alliances; new academic challenges, experimenting with motivation and re-branding oneself, and battles with parents for more independence make it a tough time of life for EVERYONE. High School is when everything calms down a bit!

Beware blaming the school. I know at least a dozen families who either left DCI or decided to go elsewhere who were begging to get in for HS. Unfortunately, most did not win the lottery.