What’s your HS “back up” option?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would absolutely move for a high school, but we have always been light movers.

As someone who is a few years down the road, I encourage people to consider moving more seriously.

We chose one of the commonly listed backups, and it hasn't been a good fit. It's a good school for many, but not for my kid who has very specific needs I should have realized. All I'm saying is, don't be like me. If your kid needs something more than the school your kid gets into can provide, especially if you're thinking of moving anyway for other reasons, maybe move before starting high school and save everyone (especially your kid) a whole lot of heartache.

Can you at least say whether the backup your kid attends is more like Eastern or more like Sojourner Truth? Like is it a boundary school with low test scores that you thought would be good enough, or is it a charter with a specific approach you thought would suit your kid but doesn't?

FWIW I think about moving constantly but my spouse really, really doesn't want to move. My kid also doesn't want to move but I take that opinion more lightly because I don't think my kid sees the full picture or fully understands what staying means (i.e. what if we stay and she goes to the backup but none of her current friends go to the backup because they got into other schools are moved? which is a real possibility).

[Anonymous]

My kid is also in 7th, in-boundary not an option, not suited for Walls & Banneker & while maybe could get into McKinley Tech, don't think that's a great option.
First choice is Duke Ellington.
So back ups are, in this order
Latins
*maybe* Archbishop Carroll (she is very anti-Catholic school but we'll see if that changes)
move to Arlington as renter and rent out our place

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would absolutely move for a high school, but we have always been light movers.

As someone who is a few years down the road, I encourage people to consider moving more seriously.

We chose one of the commonly listed backups, and it hasn't been a good fit. It's a good school for many, but not for my kid who has very specific needs I should have realized. All I'm saying is, don't be like me. If your kid needs something more than the school your kid gets into can provide, especially if you're thinking of moving anyway for other reasons, maybe move before starting high school and save everyone (especially your kid) a whole lot of heartache.

What kind of needs? Like IEP/504 needs, or "I want a certain math track" needs? Curious, since I fall into the former needs group and am considering our local school.

Like dual autism / severe ADHD needs. But also socially it was quite different. I want to protect my kid's privacy so I won't say more, and nothing tragic happened, it just didn't feel fair to keep them at a school that was such a poor fit when a better fit was an option.

Where did you end up moving? We are moving to a large public HS outside of DC. Hopeful that a more college focused program and big diversity of kids will be a good fit but nervous to make such a big jump in size. DCPS for its faults has smaller schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is also in 7th, in-boundary not an option, not suited for Walls & Banneker & while maybe could get into McKinley Tech, don't think that's a great option.
First choice is Duke Ellington.
So back ups are, in this order
Latins
*maybe* Archbishop Carroll (she is very anti-Catholic school but we'll see if that changes)
move to Arlington as renter and rent out our place

I wouldn’t put much store in Duke or Latin working out. My advice is to just plan on Arlington. Better to give yourself a lot of time and not stress your kid out.

[Anonymous]

How is Archbishop Carroll?

[Anonymous]

everyone i know - including B- students and those with behavioral issues - got into St. john's this year.

[Anonymous]

How do people feel about MacArthur being a backup (commute aside)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:everyone i know - including B- students and those with behavioral issues - got into St. john's this year.

Me too. St John’s takes almost everyone.
And is also a pretty large school compared to most others in DC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do people feel about MacArthur being a backup (commute aside)?

Feel good about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do people feel about MacArthur being a backup (commute aside)?

I think it will quickly become really good but I have 7-8 years to wait.

[Anonymous]

it had more oob lottery spaces than applicants last year so its commute aside a nearly guaranteed backup option for now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is also in 7th, in-boundary not an option, not suited for Walls & Banneker & while maybe could get into McKinley Tech, don't think that's a great option.
First choice is Duke Ellington.
So back ups are, in this order
Latins
*maybe* Archbishop Carroll (she is very anti-Catholic school but we'll see if that changes)
move to Arlington as renter and rent out our place

Latin is not a backup. You will not get in. A backup is something that is basically a sure bet even if it's not your first choice. Latin is less likely than Duke Ellington. It can't be your backup.

Sounds like your actual backup is moving to Arlington, unless you are okay forcing your kid to go to Catholic skill when she doesn't want to.

Btw I'm not criticizing. Our backup (if we don't get into Latin for 5th or Walls/Banneker for 9th) is also to move to the suburbs).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do people feel about MacArthur being a backup (commute aside)?

It’s on our lottery list but probably would move instead. Not sure what the point would be to try to get kid to MacArthur every day when there are better schools we can move to. If there was a compelling financial or family reason to stay in DC I’d probably opt for Eastern over MacArthur.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:everyone i know - including B- students and those with behavioral issues - got into St. john's this year.

Me too. St John’s takes almost everyone.
And is also a pretty large school compared to most others in DC

It may take more than other private schools because it is so big, but its acceptance rate is less than 50 percent. So saying “almost everyone” makes you sound like an absolute cretin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do people feel about MacArthur being a backup (commute aside)?

It’s on our lottery list but probably would move instead. Not sure what the point would be to try to get kid to MacArthur every day when there are better schools we can move to. If there was a compelling financial or family reason to stay in DC I’d probably opt for Eastern over MacArthur.

Me too-- it's just so far. No shade to it but I just can't.