Is Latin really all that and a bag of chips?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IME, the families that go to Latin are generally chill (if we're going to be in 90s anyway) so that's why you don't hear many complaints.

+1. The year I did the lottery, every type A family at my kid's Cap Hill school that wasn't going private went to BASIS. All the non-type A's went to Latin.

You act like people had a choice. 99.9% did not. They got into one or the other. The end.

No. The families I knew ranked BASIS over Latin, and they are still there today. There were a group of families that ranked Latin first, but didn't get in and so went to BASIS. Most of those families have since left.

[Anonymous]

This makes sense. Families who took spots at BASIS only because they had no other choice and not because it was a good fit for the students were not likely to make it through BASIS. A good fit for Latin does not mean a good fit for BASIS. People just try for both because of lack of other good options.

[Anonymous]

Latin academics are worse than Deal, Hardy and certainly BASIS. But Latin gives people the warm fuzzies, so they ignore that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've been truly happy at Latin - and not just because of where families come from. Kid is learning a lot (light years above her DCPS ES), teachers are highly engaged, admin has created a welcoming and warm school community.

And our choice wasn't Latin vs. not-so-great option. Our choice was Latin vs. excellent suburban school.

Are you a DC resident or how are you in bounds for an excellent suburban school??

I assume they would have moved out of the city as many do.

[Anonymous]

Brent and Latin don't serve the same age groups. There are some great elementary schools on the hill but it stops there. No solid middle schools and the high school is not an option.

[Anonymous]

Here is a crazy idea, what if all the Capitol Hill families committed to their IB middle school and worked to improve the middle school situation? Jefferson, SH or EH could be the next Deal or Latin. I am actually very impressed witH SH and the efforts toward attracting CH students/families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is a crazy idea, what if all the Capitol Hill families committed to their IB middle school and worked to improve the middle school situation? Jefferson, SH or EH could be the next Deal or Latin. I am actually very impressed witH SH and the efforts toward attracting CH students/families.

Uh, the same thing that is happening with Maury would happen to the MS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is a crazy idea, what if all the Capitol Hill families committed to their IB middle school and worked to improve the middle school situation? Jefferson, SH or EH could be the next Deal or Latin. I am actually very impressed witH SH and the efforts toward attracting CH students/families.

This has been floated and talked about many, many times, but it doesn't seem to happen. It's not my neighborhood, nor are those my zoned schools, so i can't speak to why.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is a crazy idea, what if all the Capitol Hill families committed to their IB middle school and worked to improve the middle school situation? Jefferson, SH or EH could be the next Deal or Latin. I am actually very impressed witH SH and the efforts toward attracting CH students/families.

This has been floated and talked about many, many times, but it doesn't seem to happen. It's not my neighborhood, nor are those my zoned schools, so i can't speak to why.

I think it actually is happening at SH, albeit slower than most would like. If I had to hazard a guess as to why it hasn't happened in the same was it has for Deal and Hardy, I think it's housing stock. Homes on the Hill are mostly small. People outgrow them as their kids hit MS and HS. There are very limited options for upsizing in the same area. There's also some built in transiency to the Hill as people move in and out for work (it's a popular destination for people in DC for just a few years, moving to DC from overseas, etc.). All of this makes it hard to build a consistent group of parents that moves from the elementaries to the MS and HS.

I say this as someone who is contributing to the problem -- we are happy here now at our elementary, but already have plans to move in MS. We aren't moving because of MS (though the school situation on the Hill is a factor that contributes to the desire to move). We're mostly moving because we feel we are outgrowing our home and the area. It seems like that happens less in NW, I don't really know why. I've lived on CH for nearly 20 years now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps "soul-crushing" had to do with the fact that you were at work and not a kid going to school?

Sure, it makes for a long day (home to bus, bus to school, and the reverse) but they get to ride the bus with their friends and blow off some post-school steam. Some kids will chat, some will participate in typical MS bus antics, some will listen to music.

I grew up in the suburbs and took a bus to my middle school across town. I find it really unusual to be able to walk to both an ES and then a MS.

Anonymous wrote:The commute to either Latin from Capitol Hill seems kind of rough, even with the buses. How do the kids cope? What do they do with all that time? I've read here that older kids often take Metro and walk from Ft Totten but that seems like a pretty long walk too after a decent Metro ride.

I used to have a similar sort of commute to my job and found it pretty soul crushing. Probably the thing that gives me the biggest pause with either Latin.

Thank you for sharing; this is really helpful! Realizing now I'd been thinking of it as a solitary commute. And suddenly recalling - fondly! - the year I rode the school bus to my own suburban HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is a crazy idea, what if all the Capitol Hill families committed to their IB middle school and worked to improve the middle school situation? Jefferson, SH or EH could be the next Deal or Latin. I am actually very impressed witH SH and the efforts toward attracting CH students/families.

This has been floated and talked about many, many times, but it doesn't seem to happen. It's not my neighborhood, nor are those my zoned schools, so i can't speak to why.

I think it actually is happening at SH, albeit slower than most would like. If I had to hazard a guess as to why it hasn't happened in the same was it has for Deal and Hardy, I think it's housing stock. Homes on the Hill are mostly small. People outgrow them as their kids hit MS and HS. There are very limited options for upsizing in the same area. There's also some built in transiency to the Hill as people move in and out for work (it's a popular destination for people in DC for just a few years, moving to DC from overseas, etc.). All of this makes it hard to build a consistent group of parents that moves from the elementaries to the MS and HS.

I say this as someone who is contributing to the problem -- we are happy here now at our elementary, but already have plans to move in MS. We aren't moving because of MS (though the school situation on the Hill is a factor that contributes to the desire to move). We're mostly moving because we feel we are outgrowing our home and the area. It seems like that happens less in NW, I don't really know why. I've lived on CH for nearly 20 years now.

I don't think this is right. The reason no critical mass at a middle school is ever achieved is because DCPS has divided the local (living on the Hill) Hill families among three different middle schools (divide and conquer!) - Jefferson, SH, and Eliot Hine. No traction can be attained because of this division - you can't get enough of a strong cohort at any one middle school (just a handful of kids at each school - maybe 20 something at SH but way way fewer at the other two). But if you put these kids all into one middle school it could bring it up to half or so of the cohort. And by "it" I mean a group of high performing kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is a crazy idea, what if all the Capitol Hill families committed to their IB middle school and worked to improve the middle school situation? Jefferson, SH or EH could be the next Deal or Latin. I am actually very impressed witH SH and the efforts toward attracting CH students/families.

Here’s a crazy idea, create a feeder pattern where that might happen!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is a crazy idea, what if all the Capitol Hill families committed to their IB middle school and worked to improve the middle school situation? Jefferson, SH or EH could be the next Deal or Latin. I am actually very impressed witH SH and the efforts toward attracting CH students/families.

This has been floated and talked about many, many times, but it doesn't seem to happen. It's not my neighborhood, nor are those my zoned schools, so i can't speak to why.

This could be fixed tomorrow. Feed Brent, Maury, LT and Watkins into one school. Boom, fixed.

[Anonymous]

People have been saying that for years. It won’t happen. The city won’t let it. So we’re left to lottery and scatter among schools so we can all stay in the neighborhood. Which to
say is an amazing neighborhood to raise your family if you can get lucky enough to figure out the schools.

Back to business though- everyone happy with Latins? Anything people should know? I guess this should have gone out before we placed our preferences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is a crazy idea, what if all the Capitol Hill families committed to their IB middle school and worked to improve the middle school situation? Jefferson, SH or EH could be the next Deal or Latin. I am actually very impressed witH SH and the efforts toward attracting CH students/families.

This has been floated and talked about many, many times, but it doesn't seem to happen. It's not my neighborhood, nor are those my zoned schools, so i can't speak to why.

This could be fixed tomorrow. Feed Brent, Maury, LT and Watkins into one school. Boom, fixed.

I feel the same way for Brookland schools.

Take the "cluster" model. Consolidate Bunker Hill, Burroughs and Noyes into one pyramid with an ECE at one, and ES at another.