Middle and high school on Capitol Hill

[Anonymous]

NP. We're OK w/Wash Latin for middle school but would also prefer a test-in program. We compensate for the way weak and middling students slow down classes down by supplementing to the tune of almost 10K a year. This is Latin's dirty little secret, no shortage of affluent parents paying for extra lessons, tutors, pricey academic summer camps and so forth. We plan to move onto a more academic HS, probably Walls, maybe a private. Yea, it's the best we can do because we live on the Hill and can't afford privates all the way up....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. We're OK w/Wash Latin for middle school but would also prefer a test-in program. We compensate for the way weak and middling students slow down classes down by supplementing to the tune of almost 10K a year. This is Latin's dirty little secret, no shortage of affluent parents paying for extra lessons, tutors, pricey academic summer camps and so forth. We plan to move onto a more academic HS, probably Walls, maybe a private. Yea, it's the best we can do because we live on the Hill and can't afford privates all the way up....

Can you further elaborate on how you supplement? We are thinking about taking this route (albeit not with a child at Latin but at another public MS), and we're trying to wrap our heads around what it looks like both in terms of what actually is provided, how it meshes with schoolwork and how it impacts a child's weekly schedule (i.e., how does it fit in with everything else).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. We're OK w/Wash Latin for middle school but would also prefer a test-in program. We compensate for the way weak and middling students slow down classes down by supplementing to the tune of almost 10K a year. This is Latin's dirty little secret, no shortage of affluent parents paying for extra lessons, tutors, pricey academic summer camps and so forth. We plan to move onto a more academic HS, probably Walls, maybe a private. Yea, it's the best we can do because we live on the Hill and can't afford privates all the way up....

Why do you assume your kid would get into a test-in program?

[Anonymous]

Happy Latin parent here. I want to address point made by previous poster. Latin MS has low % of at risk kids which makes it easier for school to support those students. There is a huge difference between a school with 5-10% at risk and one with 50% at risk. FARMs rates also matter but in terms of measuring impact created by high needs students, at risk may be more helpful.

I think there are plenty of bright kids at Latin and some who are performing below grade level but not as stark as you might find at Hill middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. We're OK w/Wash Latin for middle school but would also prefer a test-in program. We compensate for the way weak and middling students slow down classes down by supplementing to the tune of almost 10K a year. This is Latin's dirty little secret, no shortage of affluent parents paying for extra lessons, tutors, pricey academic summer camps and so forth. We plan to move onto a more academic HS, probably Walls, maybe a private. Yea, it's the best we can do because we live on the Hill and can't afford privates all the way up....

Why do you assume your kid would get into a test-in program?

I went to Hunter College MS/HS in NYC (admitting less than 10% of applicants city wide). My kid's a good deal more academic than I was at the same age. Gets bored at Latin, so we supplement in various ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. We're OK w/Wash Latin for middle school but would also prefer a test-in program. We compensate for the way weak and middling students slow down classes down by supplementing to the tune of almost 10K a year. This is Latin's dirty little secret, no shortage of affluent parents paying for extra lessons, tutors, pricey academic summer camps and so forth. We plan to move onto a more academic HS, probably Walls, maybe a private. Yea, it's the best we can do because we live on the Hill and can't afford privates all the way up....

Can you further elaborate on how you supplement? We are thinking about taking this route (albeit not with a child at Latin but at another public MS), and we're trying to wrap our heads around what it looks like both in terms of what actually is provided, how it meshes with schoolwork and how it impacts a child's weekly schedule (i.e., how does it fit in with everything else).

Child is in 7th grade, works mostly at 9th grade level. Girl can do her HW in under an hour, so we add an hour of more challenging work each school night. We supplement on-line mainly with Khan Academy for math, but also Stanford EPGY for literature/writing. Stanford not cheap but excellent. Been doing Johns Hopkins CTY camps (3 weeks/summer) at Alexandria site since age 8. She had to take SAT to enroll in CTY this year, cleared cut-off (in 500s). Sending her to CTY sleepover in New England this time. We did SAT prep on-line to prepare for application. We hire HW supervisor/buddy college student, 90 minutes/evening and several hours on Saturdays (generally for directed museum visit) and she takes Spanish weekend classes in VA. Couldn't use Latin without these supports - kid would complain and space out. Not sure we'll return in the fall, debating. We could afford a private that likely wouldn't add challenge, but not a top one like Sidwell, Maret, NCS. Hoep that helps.

[Anonymous]

19:54- feeling like a total lazy parent. DC doesn't do any additional work outside of school unless you count reading for pleasure. Might check out some of the online programs you mentioned ,especially for writing. How do you get your DC to do all the additional work in the evenings and on weekends?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. We're OK w/Wash Latin for middle school but would also prefer a test-in program. We compensate for the way weak and middling students slow down classes down by supplementing to the tune of almost 10K a year. This is Latin's dirty little secret, no shortage of affluent parents paying for extra lessons, tutors, pricey academic summer camps and so forth. We plan to move onto a more academic HS, probably Walls, maybe a private. Yea, it's the best we can do because we live on the Hill and can't afford privates all the way up....

Can you further elaborate on how you supplement? We are thinking about taking this route (albeit not with a child at Latin but at another public MS), and we're trying to wrap our heads around what it looks like both in terms of what actually is provided, how it meshes with schoolwork and how it impacts a child's weekly schedule (i.e., how does it fit in with everything else).

Child is in 7th grade, works mostly at 9th grade level. Girl can do her HW in under an hour, so we add an hour of more challenging work each school night. We supplement on-line mainly with Khan Academy for math, but also Stanford EPGY for literature/writing. Stanford not cheap but excellent. Been doing Johns Hopkins CTY camps (3 weeks/summer) at Alexandria site since age 8. She had to take SAT to enroll in CTY this year, cleared cut-off (in 500s). Sending her to CTY sleepover in New England this time. We did SAT prep on-line to prepare for application. We hire HW supervisor/buddy college student, 90 minutes/evening and several hours on Saturdays (generally for directed museum visit) and she takes Spanish weekend classes in VA. Couldn't use Latin without these supports - kid would complain and space out. Not sure we'll return in the fall, debating. We could afford a private that likely wouldn't add challenge, but not a top one like Sidwell, Maret, NCS. Hoep that helps.

Wow. No words. This is more than just supplementing.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it is, but w/out academic streaming before HS, Latin instruction/expectations are soft for this particular student. Our younger child is more than challenged at Latin. Older child has many school friends and likes school, but also likes doing more enriching work than she gets from teachers. The curriculum itself is less the the problem than the fact that the school won't let her loop up for subjects (particularly math), and that few other students in her cohort work at her level. We've considered alternatives--home schooling, moving to burbs, switching to BASIS, paying for private--but what we're doing is working, and we can afford it, so we keep doing it. We seldom discuss our methods in the school community to avoid calling attention to touchy issues. No point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it is, but w/out academic streaming before HS, Latin instruction/expectations are soft for this particular student. Our younger child is more than challenged at Latin. Older child has many school friends and likes school, but also likes doing more enriching work than she gets from teachers. The curriculum itself is less the the problem than the fact that the school won't let her loop up for subjects (particularly math), and that few other students in her cohort work at her level. We've considered alternatives--home schooling, moving to burbs, switching to BASIS, paying for private--but what we're doing is working, and we can afford it, so we keep doing it. We seldom discuss our methods in the school community to avoid calling attention to touchy issues. No point.

It sounds like a test in program really would be great for your eldest, but it must be nice to at least have them both at the same school. Anyway, Thanks for sharing your perspective. My eldest doesnt want/need such enrichments, but our youngest may.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Glad you're happy with Washington Latin, but Boston Latin it isn't. I'm a difficult person to vilify for my snobbery, racism and elitism being brown, having been born in a housing project, and having attended an Ivy League school on a Pell Grant. But go for it if you it makes you feel better. If your kid was in a position to take advantage of excellent, unlimited free tutoring at city "exam school" test prep centers like Bostonian youth can, would they be worse off? If not, maybe think twice about championing a system actively shortchanging the city's best and brightest in the public school system. At a recent Washington Latin open house, I wasn't remotely impressed to learn that 6th graders reading at a 3rd grade level are shoved into the very same English classes as those reading at the high school level. Same for math and other subjects. My children are not instructional tools DC public schools can harness to raise standards for the poorly prepped and/or none too academic. Pass.

We have similar backgrounds and I am also unimpressed with Latin. My test in ultra academic high school saved my life. I'm happy to give you examples of real racism. Test-in magnet schools are not.

I just wish I could explain how it changed my life and that of my family as well. My sisters went to community college when they saw me go to my top school. They have careers now. God knows where they would be. If I was bored in my terrible inbounds school, I can't help but think I'd still be there.

[Anonymous]

It's interesting how influenced people are by their own middle school experiences. I suppose, for most, it's their only reference point. I went to what I would consider an exceptionally unchallenging school (K-8 in the sticks; teachers used my exams as the answer key and let me read my own books during class so I wouldn't pester them). High school wasn't a whole lot more challenging, but I became adept at finding great programs to do and scholarships to pay for those programs. I went on to a great college and did well. My kids are unlikely to have anything remotely like this experience, but I imagine they will forge their own paths (and hopefully go on to be productive citizens) using their own experiences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it is, but w/out academic streaming before HS, Latin instruction/expectations are soft for this particular student. Our younger child is more than challenged at Latin. Older child has many school friends and likes school, but also likes doing more enriching work than she gets from teachers. The curriculum itself is less the the problem than the fact that the school won't let her loop up for subjects (particularly math), and that few other students in her cohort work at her level. We've considered alternatives--home schooling, moving to burbs, switching to BASIS, paying for private--but what we're doing is working, and we can afford it, so we keep doing it. We seldom discuss our methods in the school community to avoid calling attention to touchy issues. No point.

It sounds like a test in program really would be great for your eldest, but it must be nice to at least have them both at the same school. Anyway, Thanks for sharing your perspective. My eldest doesnt want/need such enrichments, but our youngest may.

Yes, test-in program would be great for her, problem is, how to access one at this stage. Have thought about moving to MoCo for 8th, so she could take the tests for the Blair magnets and the Richard MoCo International Bacc 9th grade program. But MoCo takes care of its own - they want magnet students who've come up through their 4th-5th grade Centers for the highly gifted, and their MS test-in magnets at Eastern (Silver Spring), Takoma Park, and Robert Clemente in Germantown. Could re-invent our lives in MoCo for 8th, only for her to get shut out for having attended DC public schools through 7th grade. Same with Fairfax and Arlington for testing into TJ. We may move IB for Richard Montgomery in Rockville, where they'd take her for their IB program by 11th grade based on grades in 9th and 10th. Their IB program offers humanities classes two years ahead of Walls and Wilson. In DC, you can feel isolated with a highly gifted student in public schools, because they aren't supposed to exist (you're seen as a really pushy parent exaggerating your child's abilities if you ask for flexibility). Latin's refusal to accelerate her isn't necessarily sustainable for us, and Basis won't let her start in 8th or 9th, claiming that she can't have had enough math or science to keep up there. But she's getting more than enough math and science to meet BASIS standards at CTY and Stanford EPGY. Walls may work, not sure. I could go on, but am starting to wish we'd moved from the Hill to MoCo several years ago. We put too much faith in DC charter early on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. We're OK w/Wash Latin for middle school but would also prefer a test-in program. We compensate for the way weak and middling students slow down classes down by supplementing to the tune of almost 10K a year. This is Latin's dirty little secret, no shortage of affluent parents paying for extra lessons, tutors, pricey academic summer camps and so forth. We plan to move onto a more academic HS, probably Walls, maybe a private. Yea, it's the best we can do because we live on the Hill and can't afford privates all the way up....

Can you further elaborate on how you supplement? We are thinking about taking this route (albeit not with a child at Latin but at another public MS), and we're trying to wrap our heads around what it looks like both in terms of what actually is provided, how it meshes with schoolwork and how it impacts a child's weekly schedule (i.e., how does it fit in with everything else).

Child is in 7th grade, works mostly at 9th grade level. Girl can do her HW in under an hour, so we add an hour of more challenging work each school night. We supplement on-line mainly with Khan Academy for math, but also Stanford EPGY for literature/writing. Stanford not cheap but excellent. Been doing Johns Hopkins CTY camps (3 weeks/summer) at Alexandria site since age 8. She had to take SAT to enroll in CTY this year, cleared cut-off (in 500s). Sending her to CTY sleepover in New England this time. We did SAT prep on-line to prepare for application. We hire HW supervisor/buddy college student, 90 minutes/evening and several hours on Saturdays (generally for directed museum visit) and she takes Spanish weekend classes in VA. Couldn't use Latin without these supports - kid would complain and space out. Not sure we'll return in the fall, debating. We could afford a private that likely wouldn't add challenge, but not a top one like Sidwell, Maret, NCS. Hoep that helps.

I'm the poster who had asked about how you supplement. Thanks so much for taking the time to answer in detail. This is great info for us to think about whether our kid needs this level of supplementation and whether we could sustain it. Good luck with figuring out (and landing in) what will best work for your family and daughter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it is, but w/out academic streaming before HS, Latin instruction/expectations are soft for this particular student. Our younger child is more than challenged at Latin. Older child has many school friends and likes school, but also likes doing more enriching work than she gets from teachers. The curriculum itself is less the the problem than the fact that the school won't let her loop up for subjects (particularly math), and that few other students in her cohort work at her level. We've considered alternatives--home schooling, moving to burbs, switching to BASIS, paying for private--but what we're doing is working, and we can afford it, so we keep doing it. We seldom discuss our methods in the school community to avoid calling attention to touchy issues. No point.

It sounds like a test in program really would be great for your eldest, but it must be nice to at least have them both at the same school. Anyway, Thanks for sharing your perspective. My eldest doesnt want/need such enrichments, but our youngest may.

Yes, test-in program would be great for her, problem is, how to access one at this stage. Have thought about moving to MoCo for 8th, so she could take the tests for the Blair magnets and the Richard MoCo International Bacc 9th grade program. But MoCo takes care of its own - they want magnet students who've come up through their 4th-5th grade Centers for the highly gifted, and their MS test-in magnets at Eastern (Silver Spring), Takoma Park, and Robert Clemente in Germantown. Could re-invent our lives in MoCo for 8th, only for her to get shut out for having attended DC public schools through 7th grade. Same with Fairfax and Arlington for testing into TJ. We may move IB for Richard Montgomery in Rockville, where they'd take her for their IB program by 11th grade based on grades in 9th and 10th. Their IB program offers humanities classes two years ahead of Walls and Wilson. In DC, you can feel isolated with a highly gifted student in public schools, because they aren't supposed to exist (you're seen as a really pushy parent exaggerating your child's abilities if you ask for flexibility). Latin's refusal to accelerate her isn't necessarily sustainable for us, and Basis won't let her start in 8th or 9th, claiming that she can't have had enough math or science to keep up there. But she's getting more than enough math and science to meet BASIS standards at CTY and Stanford EPGY. Walls may work, not sure. I could go on, but am starting to wish we'd moved from the Hill to MoCo several years ago. We put too much faith in DC charter early on.

You are going to drive yourself nuts! It sounds like you are doing AMAZING!!! Sure, maybe you could have moved to MD or VA, but who is to say that really would have been better for your kids-- or the rest of the family? Who knows-- maybe there was/is some value to your eldest being in an environment that was/is not filled with geniuses? Maybe there is some value to being in a more urban environment? Maybe elite colleges will be even more likely to recruit-- maybe they are more eager for a DC public charter school grad rather than another MoCo kid?

Don't second guess-- you've done great so far and there is no reason to think you aren't going to continue to make great choices for your family.

But I do hope you continue to keep fighting the good fight to get DC schools to do right by your kids. Eventually Latin or BASIS may relent to your requests for flexibility!