Capitol Hill - middle school and beyond?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will explain for the K parent. This is a common pattern: You love your elementary school. But then you get to 3rd or 4th grade and your child tests on or above grade level at the start of the year, already knows almost everything that is taught that year, and has iReady scores and things like that which over course of the year go up zero. You care immensely about the kids who are behind. But you are facing down the 5th grade lottery and you do not know what to do vis a vis your child and middle school. Not every relatively high-performing child is all that especially self-motivated or hard working.

I am the K parent. I appreciate all the responses and views. My child has special needs and developmental issues, so I don't think this future vision will be mine. I was curious to see the view of parents with NT children. My child already has supports put in place, but it seems the supports are thinly spread when many kids need them. If only settling for grade level was my family's biggest hurdle. Excuse my woe is me moment. I'm not trying to minimize other people's family standards.

The burnout will, though!

It's sort of that the supports are thinly spread, but also that the supports just aren't very effective. DCPS isn't willing to do "tracking" or remedial classes, they insist on everyone in the same room for the most part. I'm not sure it really serves anyone's interests if they aren't going to adequately staff it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will explain for the K parent. This is a common pattern: You love your elementary school. But then you get to 3rd or 4th grade and your child tests on or above grade level at the start of the year, already knows almost everything that is taught that year, and has iReady scores and things like that which over course of the year go up zero. You care immensely about the kids who are behind. But you are facing down the 5th grade lottery and you do not know what to do vis a vis your child and middle school. Not every relatively high-performing child is all that especially self-motivated or hard working.

I am the K parent. I appreciate all the responses and views. My child has special needs and developmental issues, so I don't think this future vision will be mine. I was curious to see the view of parents with NT children. My child already has supports put in place, but it seems the supports are thinly spread when many kids need them. If only settling for grade level was my family's biggest hurdle. Excuse my woe is me moment. I'm not trying to minimize other people's family standards.

I think you're going to have a lot of the same concerns that NT parents do. Like, is DCPS effectively managing behavior in your child's classes? Is DCPS telling you the truth about what is actually being taught vs. what they say is being taught? Does "honors for all" actually meet your child's needs, whatever they may be? Is the school adequately staffed with teachers and RSPs, or are they relying on under qualified substitutes? The fundamental concerns about honesty and core functioning of the school system don't change, because those are things that every child and family needs and deserves.

[Anonymous]

Can someone please translate what the BASIS thread about equitable access spots means for those of us who are crossing our fingers for BASIS? Less spots will be available for rising 5th graders who are not at-risk, beginning next year, right? Do we know how many fewer spots will be available?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone please translate what the BASIS thread about equitable access spots means for those of us who are crossing our fingers for BASIS? Less spots will be available for rising 5th graders who are not at-risk, beginning next year, right? Do we know how many fewer spots will be available?

Yup. Less for you beginning next year. It doesn't say precisely how many. And it doesn't say what happens if the EA spots don't fill. So it's hard to rate your chances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone please translate what the BASIS thread about equitable access spots means for those of us who are crossing our fingers for BASIS? Less spots will be available for rising 5th graders who are not at-risk, beginning next year, right? Do we know how many fewer spots will be available?

Yup. Less for you beginning next year. It doesn't say precisely how many. And it doesn't say what happens if the EA spots don't fill. So it's hard to rate your chances.

Yes, less chances for non-sibling applicants. If they don't fill the EA spots, they probably will go to the waitlist as they need to fill their seats, especially at BASIS, where they don't like to backfill past 5th.

[Anonymous]

We’re in the stay or go phase. Would you stay on the Hill if you had an autistic child who is in a general education classroom? Would you have confidence that DCPS, especially in late elementary school and middle school, could meet your child’s needs?

If not, where would you go in the DMV?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’re in the stay or go phase. Would you stay on the Hill if you had an autistic child who is in a general education classroom? Would you have confidence that DCPS, especially in late elementary school and middle school, could meet your child’s needs?

If not, where would you go in the DMV?

The "bubble" of CH seems like it would be a great benefit for an autistic person. The way CH is vibrant, but self-contained-- you can see the same people over and over and make those social connections so you have that regularity, but it also has a good energy to it. All the libraries, public transporation, stores, parks, the riverfront, the Capitol Building, etc. I hope you would stay.

If you want to look elsewhere, I recommend Montgomery County. I have a friend with a child in the public school system that raves about the schools for both her neuro-typical and non-neuro-typical kiddos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’re in the stay or go phase. Would you stay on the Hill if you had an autistic child who is in a general education classroom? Would you have confidence that DCPS, especially in late elementary school and middle school, could meet your child’s needs?

If not, where would you go in the DMV?

If you stay and get lucky Latin has been amazing for my autistic/adhd child / the SN team there is incredible

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re in the stay or go phase. Would you stay on the Hill if you had an autistic child who is in a general education classroom? Would you have confidence that DCPS, especially in late elementary school and middle school, could meet your child’s needs?

If not, where would you go in the DMV?

The "bubble" of CH seems like it would be a great benefit for an autistic person. The way CH is vibrant, but self-contained-- you can see the same people over and over and make those social connections so you have that regularity, but it also has a good energy to it. All the libraries, public transporation, stores, parks, the riverfront, the Capitol Building, etc. I hope you would stay.

If you want to look elsewhere, I recommend Montgomery County. I have a friend with a child in the public school system that raves about the schools for both her neuro-typical and non-neuro-typical kiddos.

Capitol Hill resident here. I'd head out to the burbs in your case. I have friends that work in Special Education programs in the public schools and the schools seems to have a lot of programs and support for special needs. One person you might want to reach out to is EV Downey education consulting. I believe she has experience with DC programs for autism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’re in the stay or go phase. Would you stay on the Hill if you had an autistic child who is in a general education classroom? Would you have confidence that DCPS, especially in late elementary school and middle school, could meet your child’s needs?

If not, where would you go in the DMV?

That's a complex question that depends a lot on a combination of your child's profile/needs and your school placement. There's a special needs and disabilities board here on DCUM. I haven't been over in a while, but it used to be a strong, helpful group and free from much of the DCUM snark that permeates many of the other boards -- nice that even on DCUM that's the case. I'd ask them for current info. My feeling is that it's a decision space that flies below the radar of many of these other DCUM discussions on boards like this where most haven't navigated those needs. Quick answer (that another poster mentioned) is that MoCo has historically been a hotspot for those services and is worth familiarizing yourself with even if you remain in DC. Best of luck to you and your family.