Are chances to get into DCI without feeder near zero?

[Anonymous]

OK, sure, underwhelming. But what's the alternative if you don't want to move just for hs, don't get into Walls, or maybe Banneker or Latin, and can't afford private high. If you can afford private, what if your kid doesn't get into a private worth paying for?

Like some other DCI parents we've known well since feeder days, we're hoping that our eldest gets into Walls or MacArthur in the fall. If he doesn't, oh well. We doubt it would be worth uprooting our family because DCI isn't spectacular. We also doubt that depleting our college savings and retirement funds for a private would work out.

We supplement quite a bit and manage at DCI. We're not alone. Our eldest attends a private IB Diploma "language circle" with a Spanish teacher with a couple classmates on weekends. Sounds like some parents on all three advanced language tracks are supplementing similarly. Good for them.

[Anonymous]

Well thank you, helicopter Tiger mom! Hope you don’t burn your kid out before college!

[Anonymous]

Give it up. A parent isn't a helicopter mom or dad if they supplement on language. That's normal, smart and best understood by a fully bilingual parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The reality is that DCI has been on a large upward trajectory in getting better.

With the expansion classes coming up there is going to be 0 chance of getting into Spanish. French is also going to decrease drastically also.

I also predict the Chinese number to decrease which you can see it trend has significantly because the school is getting more buy in from feeder families.

I would put another spin on this -
as it becomes harder to get into BASIS, more families are staying with DCI as they do not have other options.

Yea no. We have a high performing kid and looked at Basis. After tour, took it off the list and was not even a consideration at all. Not interested in the depressing building and lack of sports and extracurriculars. Also not interested in the sole focus of cramming a ton of AP courses to save a year.

We wanted a more well rounded experience for our kid with academics, great facilities, and lots options of sports and extracurriculars. We also like the IB curriculum and especially the IB diploma as opposed to a bunch of AP courses. We also like the heavy emphasis on writing and critical thinking and I’m speaking as a parent in a STEM field.

Lastly, we are lucky in that we have lots of options - move WOTP, pay for private, move to the burbs, etc.. and are choosing to go to DCI and try it out. We are far from the only family like this at our school.

I agree with the first PP. More feeder families may have been willing to give DCI a try when it was new, but it’s had enough time to establish itself as a school at this point. It’s incredibly underwhelming. No thanks. We had a chance to send our high-performing kid elsewhere and we took it. About 12 other kids from our feeder left for Basis and a few left for Latin. That should leave spots open for non-feeder kids to enter DCI in 6th, depending on the track.

You are wrong. More feeder families are tracking to DCI now than ever before. It’s becoming increasingly harder to get in from a non-feeder no matter what track. The trend is obvious. Data doesn’t lie.

[Anonymous]

Depends. The long-term data is that there will be less demand for MS seats in the next 5-10 years. This means that if you have a kid in kindergarten or younger, you have a good chance of getting into any MS you want, including DCI. Some MS are likely to consolidate as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends. The long-term data is that there will be less demand for MS seats in the next 5-10 years. This means that if you have a kid in kindergarten or younger, you have a good chance of getting into any MS you want, including DCI. Some MS are likely to consolidate as well.

Really? Which ones?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends. The long-term data is that there will be less demand for MS seats in the next 5-10 years. This means that if you have a kid in kindergarten or younger, you have a good chance of getting into any MS you want, including DCI. Some MS are likely to consolidate as well.

LOL! This might be true in DCPS middle schools but not in the charter middle schools that are in high demand EOTP. The seats are getting more competitive as more middle class families stay in the city thru elementary and then need a decent middle school.

I wound agree that all the poorly performing under-enrolled DCPS middle and high schools should consolidate and stop wasting taxpayers money after they already wasted billions on renovations which did nothing to attract more families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The reality is that DCI has been on a large upward trajectory in getting better.

With the expansion classes coming up there is going to be 0 chance of getting into Spanish. French is also going to decrease drastically also.

I also predict the Chinese number to decrease which you can see it trend has significantly because the school is getting more buy in from feeder families.

I would put another spin on this -
as it becomes harder to get into BASIS, more families are staying with DCI as they do not have other options.

Yea no. We have a high performing kid and looked at Basis. After tour, took it off the list and was not even a consideration at all. Not interested in the depressing building and lack of sports and extracurriculars. Also not interested in the sole focus of cramming a ton of AP courses to save a year.

We wanted a more well rounded experience for our kid with academics, great facilities, and lots options of sports and extracurriculars. We also like the IB curriculum and especially the IB diploma as opposed to a bunch of AP courses. We also like the heavy emphasis on writing and critical thinking and I’m speaking as a parent in a STEM field.

Lastly, we are lucky in that we have lots of options - move WOTP, pay for private, move to the burbs, etc.. and are choosing to go to DCI and try it out. We are far from the only family like this at our school.

I agree with the first PP. More feeder families may have been willing to give DCI a try when it was new, but it’s had enough time to establish itself as a school at this point. It’s incredibly underwhelming. No thanks. We had a chance to send our high-performing kid elsewhere and we took it. About 12 other kids from our feeder left for Basis and a few left for Latin. That should leave spots open for non-feeder kids to enter DCI in 6th, depending on the track.

You are wrong. More feeder families are tracking to DCI now than ever before. It’s becoming increasingly harder to get in from a non-feeder no matter what track. The trend is obvious. Data doesn’t lie.

Is the overall trend you cite driven by the quality of education at DCI, or because those families don’t have any other options (like an earlier poster mentioned)? Because approximately 30% of rising 5th graders left our feeder and opted not to go to DCI. That is a much higher number than I would’ve expected based on conversations the parents were having as recently as last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends. The long-term data is that there will be less demand for MS seats in the next 5-10 years. This means that if you have a kid in kindergarten or younger, you have a good chance of getting into any MS you want, including DCI. Some MS are likely to consolidate as well.

LOL! This might be true in DCPS middle schools but not in the charter middle schools that are in high demand EOTP. The seats are getting more competitive as more middle class families stay in the city thru elementary and then need a decent middle school.

I wound agree that all the poorly performing under-enrolled DCPS middle and high schools should consolidate and stop wasting taxpayers money after they already wasted billions on renovations which did nothing to attract more families.

LOL! The data does not support your "strong and wrong" opinion, actually. https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/enrollment-decline/. MS seats will be easier to get in 5-10 years based on current projections - and that is everywhere in the city. This is actually good news for parents of young ES students and should create less churn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends. The long-term data is that there will be less demand for MS seats in the next 5-10 years. This means that if you have a kid in kindergarten or younger, you have a good chance of getting into any MS you want, including DCI. Some MS are likely to consolidate as well.

LOL! This might be true in DCPS middle schools but not in the charter middle schools that are in high demand EOTP. The seats are getting more competitive as more middle class families stay in the city thru elementary and then need a decent middle school.

I wound agree that all the poorly performing under-enrolled DCPS middle and high schools should consolidate and stop wasting taxpayers money after they already wasted billions on renovations which did nothing to attract more families.

LOL! The data does not support your "strong and wrong" opinion, actually. https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/enrollment-decline/. MS seats will be easier to get in 5-10 years based on current projections - and that is everywhere in the city. This is actually good news for parents of young ES students and should create less churn.

I just don't think it's that accurate to do population and in-migration stuff so many years out. And this is just some random policy paper, not actually the work of the school district.

Please, tell us specifically which middle schools you believe will consolidate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends. The long-term data is that there will be less demand for MS seats in the next 5-10 years. This means that if you have a kid in kindergarten or younger, you have a good chance of getting into any MS you want, including DCI. Some MS are likely to consolidate as well.

LOL! This might be true in DCPS middle schools but not in the charter middle schools that are in high demand EOTP. The seats are getting more competitive as more middle class families stay in the city thru elementary and then need a decent middle school.

I wound agree that all the poorly performing under-enrolled DCPS middle and high schools should consolidate and stop wasting taxpayers money after they already wasted billions on renovations which did nothing to attract more families.

LOL! The data does not support your "strong and wrong" opinion, actually. https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/enrollment-decline/. MS seats will be easier to get in 5-10 years based on current projections - and that is everywhere in the city. This is actually good news for parents of young ES students and should create less churn.

I just don't think it's that accurate to do population and in-migration stuff so many years out. And this is just some random policy paper, not actually the work of the school district.

Please, tell us specifically which middle schools you believe will consolidate.

Yikes - OSSE and the DCPCSB have both cited this report, as did the boundary commission - irrespective of whether you personally think "it's accurate to do population and in-migration stuff so many years out" - that is kind of what DC and states do all over the country....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends. The long-term data is that there will be less demand for MS seats in the next 5-10 years. This means that if you have a kid in kindergarten or younger, you have a good chance of getting into any MS you want, including DCI. Some MS are likely to consolidate as well.

LOL! This might be true in DCPS middle schools but not in the charter middle schools that are in high demand EOTP. The seats are getting more competitive as more middle class families stay in the city thru elementary and then need a decent middle school.

I wound agree that all the poorly performing under-enrolled DCPS middle and high schools should consolidate and stop wasting taxpayers money after they already wasted billions on renovations which did nothing to attract more families.

LOL! The data does not support your "strong and wrong" opinion, actually. https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/enrollment-decline/. MS seats will be easier to get in 5-10 years based on current projections - and that is everywhere in the city. This is actually good news for parents of young ES students and should create less churn.

I just don't think it's that accurate to do population and in-migration stuff so many years out. And this is just some random policy paper, not actually the work of the school district.

Please, tell us specifically which middle schools you believe will consolidate.

Yikes - OSSE and the DCPCSB have both cited this report, as did the boundary commission - irrespective of whether you personally think "it's accurate to do population and in-migration stuff so many years out" - that is kind of what DC and states do all over the country....

It’s just a random policy paper so feel feee to believe what you want.

Sure you will get any MS seat you want. It’s hilarious the naïveté of ECE and lower elementary parents. Ask me how I know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends. The long-term data is that there will be less demand for MS seats in the next 5-10 years. This means that if you have a kid in kindergarten or younger, you have a good chance of getting into any MS you want, including DCI. Some MS are likely to consolidate as well.

LOL! This might be true in DCPS middle schools but not in the charter middle schools that are in high demand EOTP. The seats are getting more competitive as more middle class families stay in the city thru elementary and then need a decent middle school.

I wound agree that all the poorly performing under-enrolled DCPS middle and high schools should consolidate and stop wasting taxpayers money after they already wasted billions on renovations which did nothing to attract more families.

LOL! The data does not support your "strong and wrong" opinion, actually. https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/enrollment-decline/. MS seats will be easier to get in 5-10 years based on current projections - and that is everywhere in the city. This is actually good news for parents of young ES students and should create less churn.

I just don't think it's that accurate to do population and in-migration stuff so many years out. And this is just some random policy paper, not actually the work of the school district.

Please, tell us specifically which middle schools you believe will consolidate.

Yikes - OSSE and the DCPCSB have both cited this report, as did the boundary commission - irrespective of whether you personally think "it's accurate to do population and in-migration stuff so many years out" - that is kind of what DC and states do all over the country....

So which schools will consolidate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends. The long-term data is that there will be less demand for MS seats in the next 5-10 years. This means that if you have a kid in kindergarten or younger, you have a good chance of getting into any MS you want, including DCI. Some MS are likely to consolidate as well.

LOL! This might be true in DCPS middle schools but not in the charter middle schools that are in high demand EOTP. The seats are getting more competitive as more middle class families stay in the city thru elementary and then need a decent middle school.

I wound agree that all the poorly performing under-enrolled DCPS middle and high schools should consolidate and stop wasting taxpayers money after they already wasted billions on renovations which did nothing to attract more families.

LOL! The data does not support your "strong and wrong" opinion, actually. https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/enrollment-decline/. MS seats will be easier to get in 5-10 years based on current projections - and that is everywhere in the city. This is actually good news for parents of young ES students and should create less churn.

I just don't think it's that accurate to do population and in-migration stuff so many years out. And this is just some random policy paper, not actually the work of the school district.

Please, tell us specifically which middle schools you believe will consolidate.

Yikes - OSSE and the DCPCSB have both cited this report, as did the boundary commission - irrespective of whether you personally think "it's accurate to do population and in-migration stuff so many years out" - that is kind of what DC and states do all over the country....

It’s just a random policy paper so feel feee to believe what you want.

Sure you will get any MS seat you want. It’s hilarious the naïveté of ECE and lower elementary parents. Ask me how I know.

+1. It's one source they refer to, among many. They don't endorse everything in it. And the source says if, if, if, nothing certain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends. The long-term data is that there will be less demand for MS seats in the next 5-10 years. This means that if you have a kid in kindergarten or younger, you have a good chance of getting into any MS you want, including DCI. Some MS are likely to consolidate as well.

LOL! This might be true in DCPS middle schools but not in the charter middle schools that are in high demand EOTP. The seats are getting more competitive as more middle class families stay in the city thru elementary and then need a decent middle school.

I wound agree that all the poorly performing under-enrolled DCPS middle and high schools should consolidate and stop wasting taxpayers money after they already wasted billions on renovations which did nothing to attract more families.

LOL! The data does not support your "strong and wrong" opinion, actually. https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/enrollment-decline/. MS seats will be easier to get in 5-10 years based on current projections - and that is everywhere in the city. This is actually good news for parents of young ES students and should create less churn.

I just don't think it's that accurate to do population and in-migration stuff so many years out. And this is just some random policy paper, not actually the work of the school district.

Please, tell us specifically which middle schools you believe will consolidate.

Yikes - OSSE and the DCPCSB have both cited this report, as did the boundary commission - irrespective of whether you personally think "it's accurate to do population and in-migration stuff so many years out" - that is kind of what DC and states do all over the country....

So which schools will consolidate?

I think there are a crop of charter schools without feeder paths for MS/HS or with only a MS and no HS path, and as the city is like to create an exception (like they did for DCI) or another mechanism so that they can pair up and create dual programs or programs within a program. There will be a big push to feed DCPS ES Spanish programs into a targeted Spanish MS/HS (this has also been discussed during the boundary study). But yes, the enrollment projections are sound and good news for families with young kids who are committed to staying in the system.