Anyone want to share great experiences they have with their charter or magnet middle school?

[Anonymous]

I'd like to see a thread where charter ms students purportedly having "great" experiences get to post about their schools directly, without a parent filter.

DC doesn't have "magnet" middle schools, if by magnet OP meant test-in. Relevance?

[Anonymous]

+100.

[Anonymous]

DC doesn't have true magnet schools with serious academic tracking or testing in requirements. You need to move to another city out of this area for that.

[Anonymous]

DD started BASIS this year and she is loving it, except for the math and math homework. I'll take it. She loves everything else. BASIS is not for every kid and she might not stay the whole 8 years but it is a perfect school for her for now.

[Anonymous]

Give us a break. Perfect schools have.....gyms, playing fields, libraries and librarians, stages & auditoriums, computer labs, music programs and more. If the logic I'm following makes me a BASIS-hating troll, I am one.

Signed
Former BASIS 5th grade parent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Give us a break. Perfect schools have.....gyms, playing fields, libraries and librarians, stages & auditoriums, computer labs, music programs and more. If the logic I'm following makes me a BASIS-hating troll, I am one.

Signed
Former BASIS 5th grade parent

Go away troll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Give us a break. Perfect schools have.....gyms, playing fields, libraries and librarians, stages & auditoriums, computer labs, music programs and more. If the logic I'm following makes me a BASIS-hating troll, I am one.

Signed
Former BASIS 5th grade parent

Sorry to hear your disgruntled opinion and even sorrier that you can't stand the fact that my child is happy and yours was not. There in lies your problem. I'm no booster. I can see the negatives of BASIS but if my child likes it, I'll take it.

It has no gym nor library, but MLK is around the corner and DD spends more time there than your child has every spent in a school library. It has a great location for us. When Shaw MS was taken away from us, DCPS told us to send our child to Cardozo MS, the worst performing MS in the city, and help make it a better neighborhood MS. That was our final straw. We are very happy with BASIS. My DD loves the learning of new subjects such as classics and Latin. She has met kids from all over the city. This year has been a great experience and she will look back at it very fondly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give us a break. Perfect schools have.....gyms, playing fields, libraries and librarians, stages & auditoriums, computer labs, music programs and more. If the logic I'm following makes me a BASIS-hating troll, I am one.

Signed
Former BASIS 5th grade parent

Sorry to hear your disgruntled opinion and even sorrier that you can't stand the fact that my child is happy and yours was not. There in lies your problem. I'm no booster. I can see the negatives of BASIS but if my child likes it, I'll take it.

It has no gym nor library, but MLK is around the corner and DD spends more time there than your child has every spent in a school library. It has a great location for us. When Shaw MS was taken away from us, DCPS told us to send our child to Cardozo MS, the worst performing MS in the city, and help make it a better neighborhood MS. That was our final straw. We are very happy with BASIS. My DD loves the learning of new subjects such as classics and Latin. She has met kids from all over the city. This year has been a great experience and she will look back at it very fondly.

Shaw Middle School was taken away from NO ONE. NO ONE.

[Anonymous]

We had a very good experience at Inspired Teaching for lower and middle school. We are at Deal for 7th grade now and while it has some positives (better facilities, large size for sports etc), I do think ITS is a good middle school. It is just a tad too small for us. I wish it were double the size. Solid teachers that can give specialized attention. At Deal, I feel like my kid is a number and not a student. The teachers are overworked and a mix of good and bad. Also, communication stinks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give us a break. Perfect schools have.....gyms, playing fields, libraries and librarians, stages & auditoriums, computer labs, music programs and more. If the logic I'm following makes me a BASIS-hating troll, I am one.

Signed
Former BASIS 5th grade parent

Sorry to hear your disgruntled opinion and even sorrier that you can't stand the fact that my child is happy and yours was not. There in lies your problem. I'm no booster. I can see the negatives of BASIS but if my child likes it, I'll take it.

It has no gym nor library, but MLK is around the corner and DD spends more time there than your child has every spent in a school library. It has a great location for us. When Shaw MS was taken away from us, DCPS told us to send our child to Cardozo MS, the worst performing MS in the city, and help make it a better neighborhood MS. That was our final straw. We are very happy with BASIS. My DD loves the learning of new subjects such as classics and Latin. She has met kids from all over the city. This year has been a great experience and she will look back at it very fondly.

We felt the same way in 5th grade. By 7th, we were starved for rigorous academics, good facilities, a strong school community, and enrichment in one package. If you can afford independent school, or are willing to move to the burbs to do better than BASIS, you bail. Go away boosters in denial.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give us a break. Perfect schools have.....gyms, playing fields, libraries and librarians, stages & auditoriums, computer labs, music programs and more. If the logic I'm following makes me a BASIS-hating troll, I am one.

Signed
Former BASIS 5th grade parent

Sorry to hear your disgruntled opinion and even sorrier that you can't stand the fact that my child is happy and yours was not. There in lies your problem. I'm no booster. I can see the negatives of BASIS but if my child likes it, I'll take it.

It has no gym nor library, but MLK is around the corner and DD spends more time there than your child has every spent in a school library. It has a great location for us. When Shaw MS was taken away from us, DCPS told us to send our child to Cardozo MS, the worst performing MS in the city, and help make it a better neighborhood MS. That was our final straw. We are very happy with BASIS. My DD loves the learning of new subjects such as classics and Latin. She has met kids from all over the city. This year has been a great experience and she will look back at it very fondly.

How would you know how much time other people's children spend in school libraries? When I toured BASIS, I saw no pleasant space in the building with good natural light where kids were free to quietly reflect, meet up for study sessions, work on their own or choose reading material off screens. That put me off.

My middle school kid likes ITDS fine. Even so, I'm not inclined to stay. The program seems too cruisey to provide good prep for high school, and the budget doesn't stretch to serious enrichment or facilities. I'm tired of scrambling and paying to supplement. I'm fed up with being the taskmaster with a kid who feels no pressure to up her game because she (easily) earns top grades. But ask my kid, and the experience has been great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’d like to hear more about why people have concerns for DCI for high school.

DCI has an amazing high school! We have been so happy there for both middle school and high school.

[Anonymous]

Amazing for whom? Why should I be convinced that my advanced kid would be challenged there for math or language? When I talk to admins, they're very cagey about the IBD points totals the high school is posting. It doesn't sound like DCI students are scoring in the mid 30s yet on IBD, let alone the high 30s or 40s.

[Anonymous]

If you have the option, I'd go private for middle school. It's the worst for kids and where they get lost. Hormones all over the place. Glad it's almost over...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Amazing for whom? Why should I be convinced that my advanced kid would be challenged there for math or language? When I talk to admins, they're very cagey about the IBD points totals the high school is posting. It doesn't sound like DCI students are scoring in the mid 30s yet on IBD, let alone the high 30s or 40s.

Maybe what you are referring to...https://dcpcsb.org/sites/default/files/media/file/PMF%20Score%20Card%20SY18-19%20-%20District%20of%20Columbia%20International%20School%20%28High%20School%29.pdf


The middle school is what OP is interested in...https://dcpcsb.org/sites/default/files/media/file/PMF%20Score%20Card%20SY18-19%20-%20District%20of%20Columbia%20International%20School%20%28Middle%20School%29.pdf

It's all relative to the choices a family has...