US News high school rankings are out

[Anonymous]

US News and World Report top high school rankings are out.

BASIS Tucson #2, TJ #4, BASIS Scottsdale #5. I know everyone is going to say that it doesn't matter in terms of DC but BASIS Oro Valley in AZ was only not ranked because they are at 10th grade, but they are clearly going in the same direction if you look at the scores and I expect BASIS DC to fall somewhere up there next year now that there is a crop of 9th graders (not ranked, but evaluated).

Wish I could post a link but I am a true luddite. All the schools in DC that have 12th graders are on the list, and you can search by state. Some of ours fared pretty well...The college list is out too

By state:
1. SWW
2. Banneker
3. Ellington
4. Mckinley Tech
Cesar Chavez.....

[Anonymous]

So your point is????

[Anonymous]

It's interesting that aside from TJ all the top schools are relatively small in terms of number of students.

[Anonymous]

Link or it didn't happen

[Anonymous]

8:36 Don't be lazy - look for it yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting that aside from TJ all the top schools are relatively small in terms of number of students.

They are mostly magnet/selective schools until you get to Churchill and Whitman.

[Anonymous]

Small as in what comparison... The average size of the high-schools in this city is pretty relative. Except for Wilson and you can see they didn't make the top-5 list. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

[Anonymous]

the top school has a total enrollment of 240. How ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Oro Valley, AZ has very different demographics than DC, OP. I am not sure you should take it as a predictor of BASIS DC.

[Anonymous]

10:12, Ridiculous in what way because they are succeeding or did you expect more in a school system that has less than 20,000 kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:10:12, Ridiculous in what way because they are succeeding or did you expect more in a school system that has less than 20,000 kids.

a school with only 240 hand selected kids cannot be compared to TJ with 1600 kids. C'mon. It's apples and oranges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oro Valley, AZ has very different demographics than DC, OP. I am not sure you should take it as a predictor of BASIS DC.

So kids in DC are poorer? Yeah, ok, but the real question is are they dumber? And of course the unspoken "different demographics" to which you are referring is that the majority of Arizona is not AA. Well we are, and so is BASIS DC, and I think that you will find that when the bar is raised our kids (with the kind of remedial help BASIS DC provides to compensate for the crappy public schools most of us are coming from) will meet the expectations.

I especially admire the courageous parents who decided to let their kids repeat a grade rather than giving up and leaving. That includes close to ten rising 9th graders, who stayed in 8th, because for college 9th grade counts. And with a 40% drop out rate in DCPS WITH social promotion mandated by law, don't start preaching about the social consequences of retention.

If there is a critical mass, the consequences are mitigated. If need be, I hope this starts a trend at BASIS DC. If one of my kids needs to repeat 5th grade at BASIS DC, so be it. If they cannot get 60s the second time, I'll rethink.

Anyway, one can dream that the 35 now 9th graders will do us proud next year, at least if DC public or charter schools are your only option (and no, I don't want to get on the gravy train for private school or move to Churchill or Whitman because I believe my kids will get a better education at BASIS, and do better at BASIS, both academically and socially). If my kids were athletes, they would not be going to BASIS.

But that is my personal decision, and I would not advocate anyone going in to BASIS blind. You need to really assess your kid, especially if they are in one of the groups that will contribute to "diversity" at a private school and would succeed, getting a ton of financial aid. You need to decide if you want them to be "one of the only" not only race wise but class wise, among kids who winter in Vale and summer on Nantucket or "the Vineyard".

Parents who have bright kids who are willing to work, BASIS DC deserves serious consideration. Especially now that we have proven ourselves to at least some degree on the DCCAS. It may not mean BASIS made a difference, but even if it only means that we have a bunch of smart high achieving black and brown kids from Anacostia and Mt. Pleasant, that is in my view a good peer group for my kids in 5th to 8th grade.

The rankings of the other DC public high schools, even the selective ones, does make me think that maybe the DCCAS is worth next to nothing once you get outside the city limits, and that whatever shenanigans went on this year (referred to in another thread), the Common Core is going to show that most public school kids here (charter or not) are getting a piss poor education. I KNOW that every kid at BASIS is being offered an excellent education.

I can personally say that my particular child is getting a better education s/he would in private school because s/he is being allowed to reach for the stars, and the tracking is serious. I have accepted that at least one of my kids is not going to be in any accelerated math or even English classes like this one, but even that is ok with me compared to the alternatives...

So yes I think we have a shot at being like Oro Valley, or at least being better than School Without Walls, Banneker, and McKinley Tech. TJ? Not a chance in hell. But with a 16% acceptance rate would I move to Fairfax with my more than two kids? No way. I really am optimistic about BASIS DC, and when it comes to most aspects of DC, I am a glass half empty type of person.

[Anonymous]

The comparison is public school education and not percentage school education. Smaller doesn't mean better and bigger doesn't mean chaotic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The comparison is public school education and not percentage school education. Smaller doesn't mean better and bigger doesn't mean chaotic.

doesn't Washington Latin pride itself on having only 14-16 kids in each class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I especially admire the courageous parents who decided to let their kids repeat a grade rather than giving up and leaving. That includes close to ten rising 9th graders, who stayed in 8th, because for college 9th grade counts. TMI Might as well name them And with a 40% drop out rate in DCPS WITH social promotion mandated by law, don't start preaching about the social consequences of retention.

If there is a critical mass, the consequences are mitigated. If need be, I hope this starts a trend at BASIS DC. If one of my kids needs to repeat 5th grade at BASIS DC, so be it. If they cannot get 60s the second time, I'll rethink.

Anyway, one can dream that the 35 now 9th graders will do us proud next year, at least if DC public or charter schools are your only option (and no, I don't want to get on the gravy train for private school or move to Churchill or Whitman because I believe my kids will get a better education at BASIS, and do better at BASIS, both academically and socially). If my kids were athletes, they would not be going to BASIS.

But that is my personal decision, and I would not advocate anyone going in to BASIS blind. You need to really assess your kid, especially if they are in one of the groups that will contribute to "diversity" at a private school and would succeed, getting a ton of financial aid. You need to decide if you want them to be "one of the only" not only race wise but class wise, among kids who winter in Vale and summer on Nantucket or "the Vineyard".

Parents who have bright kids who are willing to work, BASIS DC deserves serious consideration. Especially now that we have proven ourselves to at least some degree on the DCCAS. It may not mean BASIS made a difference, but even if it only means that we have a bunch of smart high achieving black and brown kids from Anacostia and Mt. Pleasant, that is in my view a good peer group for my kids in 5th to 8th grade.

The rankings of the other DC public high schools, even the selective ones, does make me think that maybe the DCCAS is worth next to nothing once you get outside the city limits, and that whatever shenanigans went on this year (referred to in another thread), the Common Core is going to show that most public school kids here (charter or not) are getting a piss poor education. I KNOW that every kid at BASIS is being offered an excellent education.

I can personally say that my particular child is getting a better education s/he would in private school because s/he is being allowed to reach for the stars, and the tracking is serious. I have accepted that at least one of my kids is not going to be in any accelerated math or even English classes like this one, but even that is ok with me compared to the alternatives....

Sounds like Mary Siddall aka Mary Riner is back in town.