Middle and high school on Capitol Hill

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Boston Latin pp here. I find that most of the DC parents and charter admins who are most staunchly anti test-in MS programs are whites who grew up in leafy suburbs. They aren't in favor of these programs because they don't have experience with them being lifesavers for poor minority students. They say, well, our program really doesn't have many students who are behind academically, so we don't need merit-based academic tracking. From where I sit, the experience of having been part of entire classes of nose-to the-grindstone, academically advanced students for six straight years (7th-12th grades) made all the difference in my life. It put me on a path to an Ivy League school, and a top law school. Several elementary school classmates I remember as being bright and motivated are in prison, for life, for murder. The main difference between us? They didn't spend evenings at the city exam school test prep center working with tutors in 6th grade like I did. It was too late for them - by that stage, they were already more interested in hanging out by the corner store, in watching TV, and in playing video games. DC could do much better by its brightest and most disciplined kids of all backgrounds.

[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.

Out of curiousity, what is Latin's excuse for not allowing kids to loop up if they are clearly ready for a higher level of math?

[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.

Although not a sure thing, there are kids who are new to Fairfax and Montgomery County each year who get into TJ and Blair's magnet programs. But I would also encourage you to apply next year to the privates you say you can't afford -- Holton, GDS, Sidwell -- and ask for financial aid.

[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.

Out of curiousity, what is Latin's excuse for not allowing kids to loop up if they are clearly ready for a higher level of math?

PP with advanced student here. Latin admins invariably claim that the kid isn't in fact ready for higher level math, even if they clearly are. We've brought in documentation from CTY and EPGY attesting to student's readiness to advance, only to be told that what the student needs is more drill, not acceleration. The position is obviously rooted in a philosophical decision they've made about academic tracking (none allowed before 9th grade, and then not all that much).

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone. Yes, we should apply to some top programs to see if we get fi aid. We're proud and don't feel comfortable asking for aid, but ought to get over it. We're burning out on DC's hyper egalitarian approach to public school and won't be surprised if we end up in MoCo for HS. Good luck to the rest of you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

We have an ultra rigorous selective high school in DC. Banneker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

We have an ultra rigorous selective high school in DC. Banneker.

How can a school be considered ultra rigorous when it scores below the national average on the SAT?

[Anonymous]

Actually, Banneker's average SAT scores are slightly above the national average, in the low 500s. Banneker admins and parents routinely claim that the SAT is racist on these boards, favoring affluent white kids who can afford expensive test prep. Actually, kids can do all the free test prep they want on Khan Academy on-line (Khan has a contract with Educational Testing Services to provide free test prep for the new SAT, which was rolled out last year). Kids scoring in the low 500s just can't be reading much for pleasure, or doing well in algebra and geometry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Boston Latin pp here. I find that most of the DC parents and charter admins who are most staunchly anti test-in MS programs are whites who grew up in leafy suburbs. They aren't in favor of these programs because they don't have experience with them being lifesavers for poor minority students. They say, well, our program really doesn't have many students who are behind academically, so we don't need merit-based academic tracking. From where I sit, the experience of having been part of entire classes of nose-to the-grindstone, academically advanced students for six straight years (7th-12th grades) made all the difference in my life. It put me on a path to an Ivy League school, and a top law school. Several elementary school classmates I remember as being bright and motivated are in prison, for life, for murder. The main difference between us? They didn't spend evenings at the city exam school test prep center working with tutors in 6th grade like I did. It was too late for them - by that stage, they were already more interested in hanging out by the corner store, in watching TV, and in playing video games. DC could do much better by its brightest and most disciplined kids of all backgrounds.

I'm not totally against a test-in MS program, but this doesn't solve the problem. But there is plenty of evidence from across the country that unless well designed, gifted/test-in programs end up becoming disproportionately white. Also there are many advanced students who won't test in (like the PP who thinks her child working 2 grade levels ahead is so incredibly gifted as to be a shoe-in -- sorry, I think it takes more than that.) And we already know that there are charters that are challenging, such as BASIS and DC Prep, where you'd get the "nose to the grindstone" atmosphere you're looking for. But without improving/investing in neighborhood middle schools, there are going to be a lot of DC students who don't get that magic ticket to BASIS or the test-in program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

We have an ultra rigorous selective high school in DC. Banneker.

How can a school be considered ultra rigorous when it scores below the national average on the SAT?

Just pointing out that there are schools that are rigorous and selective already in DC. Perhaps if you attended the average SAT score would go up. It's hypocritical to ignore Banneker when you're discussing these things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually, Banneker's average SAT scores are slightly above the national average, in the low 500s. Banneker admins and parents routinely claim that the SAT is racist on these boards, favoring affluent white kids who can afford expensive test prep. Actually, kids can do all the free test prep they want on Khan Academy on-line (Khan has a contract with Educational Testing Services to provide free test prep for the new SAT, which was rolled out last year). Kids scoring in the low 500s just can't be reading much for pleasure, or doing well in algebra and geometry.

But still when comparing, you ought to compare Banneker's averages to nationwide AA averages or nationwide poverty averages and you will see Banneker scores quite higher than true peer comparisons. With so many smart Ivy grads in this board, I'm always surprised when people blindly assess Banneker against a non peer group. Isn't that the first thing they teach you when studying averages?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually, Banneker's average SAT scores are slightly above the national average, in the low 500s. Banneker admins and parents routinely claim that the SAT is racist on these boards, favoring affluent white kids who can afford expensive test prep. Actually, kids can do all the free test prep they want on Khan Academy on-line (Khan has a contract with Educational Testing Services to provide free test prep for the new SAT, which was rolled out last year). Kids scoring in the low 500s just can't be reading much for pleasure, or doing well in algebra and geometry.

But still when comparing, you ought to compare Banneker's averages to nationwide AA averages or nationwide poverty averages and you will see Banneker scores quite higher than true peer comparisons. With so many smart Ivy grads in this board, I'm always surprised when people blindly assess Banneker against a non peer group. Isn't that the first thing they teach you when studying averages?

Why would anyone sacrifice their special snowflake to go with the riffraff at Banneker lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually, Banneker's average SAT scores are slightly above the national average, in the low 500s. Banneker admins and parents routinely claim that the SAT is racist on these boards, favoring affluent white kids who can afford expensive test prep. Actually, kids can do all the free test prep they want on Khan Academy on-line (Khan has a contract with Educational Testing Services to provide free test prep for the new SAT, which was rolled out last year). Kids scoring in the low 500s just can't be reading much for pleasure, or doing well in algebra and geometry.

But still when comparing, you ought to compare Banneker's averages to nationwide AA averages or nationwide poverty averages and you will see Banneker scores quite higher than true peer comparisons. With so many smart Ivy grads in this board, I'm always surprised when people blindly assess Banneker against a non peer group. Isn't that the first thing they teach you when studying averages?

I think that every single person commenting on this thread would be incredibly disappointed if his/her child scored in the low 500s on the SAT. I know I would be. I also know that none of my peers in "advanced" classes in high school had such low scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually, Banneker's average SAT scores are slightly above the national average, in the low 500s. Banneker admins and parents routinely claim that the SAT is racist on these boards, favoring affluent white kids who can afford expensive test prep. Actually, kids can do all the free test prep they want on Khan Academy on-line (Khan has a contract with Educational Testing Services to provide free test prep for the new SAT, which was rolled out last year). Kids scoring in the low 500s just can't be reading much for pleasure, or doing well in algebra and geometry.

But still when comparing, you ought to compare Banneker's averages to nationwide AA averages or nationwide poverty averages and you will see Banneker scores quite higher than true peer comparisons. With so many smart Ivy grads in this board, I'm always surprised when people blindly assess Banneker against a non peer group. Isn't that the first thing they teach you when studying averages?

And Banneker did very well on the PARCC Math and English assessments, so I think they are likely doing just fine in algebra and geometry. I doubt that online Khan Academy test prep can really double for the center-based test prep other kids get, and perhaps at Banneker students are too busy with class work to prep?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually, Banneker's average SAT scores are slightly above the national average, in the low 500s. Banneker admins and parents routinely claim that the SAT is racist on these boards, favoring affluent white kids who can afford expensive test prep. Actually, kids can do all the free test prep they want on Khan Academy on-line (Khan has a contract with Educational Testing Services to provide free test prep for the new SAT, which was rolled out last year). Kids scoring in the low 500s just can't be reading much for pleasure, or doing well in algebra and geometry.

But still when comparing, you ought to compare Banneker's averages to nationwide AA averages or nationwide poverty averages and you will see Banneker scores quite higher than true peer comparisons. With so many smart Ivy grads in this board, I'm always surprised when people blindly assess Banneker against a non peer group. Isn't that the first thing they teach you when studying averages?

I think that every single person commenting on this thread would be incredibly disappointed if his/her child scored in the low 500s on the SAT. I know I would be. I also know that none of my peers in "advanced" classes in high school had such low scores.

That's an AVERAGE. There is likely a very high scoring cohort at Banneker. It's funny how many contortions people will make to insist that there are NO advanced possibilities in DC whatsoever!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually, Banneker's average SAT scores are slightly above the national average, in the low 500s. Banneker admins and parents routinely claim that the SAT is racist on these boards, favoring affluent white kids who can afford expensive test prep. Actually, kids can do all the free test prep they want on Khan Academy on-line (Khan has a contract with Educational Testing Services to provide free test prep for the new SAT, which was rolled out last year). Kids scoring in the low 500s just can't be reading much for pleasure, or doing well in algebra and geometry.

But still when comparing, you ought to compare Banneker's averages to nationwide AA averages or nationwide poverty averages and you will see Banneker scores quite higher than true peer comparisons. With so many smart Ivy grads in this board, I'm always surprised when people blindly assess Banneker against a non peer group. Isn't that the first thing they teach you when studying averages?

Why would anyone sacrifice their special snowflake to go with the riffraff at Banneker lol

I know you're only kidding but Banneker does not have any riff raff. They do not play when it comes to that. It's a rigorous school, I can't imagine there are any knuckle heads that would go through the process of applying. It really is the city's best kept secret (well as far as whites are concerned).