Middle School is Easy, But Does it Matter? (Not Deal)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, what you're missing is the opportunity to really dig in and develop in an area of interest. Nobody's saying to pressure your kid, but are you providing the kind of experiences that could truly spark interest and a high level of internal motivation? Sometimes being around a peer group that's at or slightly above their level is helpful for that, and it sounds like you're not really getting that at school. Not saying you should change schools, but some kids get that from school, and yours isn't.

Getting good grades and doing sports competently is nice, but there's so much more to enjoy. Have you considered a sleepaway camp for kids with a particular interest, such as CTY or Northfield Mount Hermon, or Outward Bound or any sort of wilderness program? Time to think slightly outside the box.

Hey this is a good thought and kind of out of the box. Thanks. -OP

Our kid is very happy with CTY. YMMV. It’s not cheap.

I adored CTY when I was a kid. Maybe it's not as exciting if you aren't from a small town, but it was just so much fun for me to have really engaging classes and smart peers when I didn't normally. Ah, memories...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, what you're missing is the opportunity to really dig in and develop in an area of interest. Nobody's saying to pressure your kid, but are you providing the kind of experiences that could truly spark interest and a high level of internal motivation? Sometimes being around a peer group that's at or slightly above their level is helpful for that, and it sounds like you're not really getting that at school. Not saying you should change schools, but some kids get that from school, and yours isn't.

Getting good grades and doing sports competently is nice, but there's so much more to enjoy. Have you considered a sleepaway camp for kids with a particular interest, such as CTY or Northfield Mount Hermon, or Outward Bound or any sort of wilderness program? Time to think slightly outside the box.

Hey this is a good thought and kind of out of the box. Thanks. -OP

Our kid is very happy with CTY. YMMV. It’s not cheap.

I adored CTY when I was a kid. Maybe it's not as exciting if you aren't from a small town, but it was just so much fun for me to have really engaging classes and smart peers when I didn't normally. Ah, memories...

The issue is that it is expensive... my daughter wanted to take a 2 week physics camp this summer (at JHU) and it was about $6K so we passed.

[Anonymous]

CTY was also cancelled at the last minute this summer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:CTY was also cancelled at the last minute this summer

There are lots of online classes though, I don't think those have been cancelled.

[Anonymous]

Duke University's TIP and Rice University's K-12 summer offerings are as good as JHU's CTY.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, i think it's funny that you think Deal has high-level programming. The reality is, it doesn't. It's pretty darn easy to get straight As and the academic high flyers are not challenged in any way, outside of maybe math.
In math they offer 4 levels by grade 8 (math 8, algebra 1, geometry, algebra 2). I had 2 kids finish Algebra 2 at Deal and go on to private high school (Sidwell/NCS). They did well in math but the rest of the transition was a
crazy and rude awakening which Deal did not prepare them for. It took a full semester to rewire their brains to think and to get their organization skills up to par. The homework demand went from 30 minutes to 3 hours. My kids are still (several years later) not the best writers because
DCPS often does not (outside of some teachers) teach kids to write a top quality essay, analyze literary text, etc. We really like MANY things about DCPS and Deal specifically but we have moved our 3rd kid to private for middle
school because it's almost too late (or at the minimum rough) to make this jump in expectations at high school.

Did those problems partially rooted from students not being high performers, transfer trauma, unrealistic parental expectations or too much pressure at the new school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, i think it's funny that you think Deal has high-level programming. The reality is, it doesn't. It's pretty darn easy to get straight As and the academic high flyers are not challenged in any way, outside of maybe math.
In math they offer 4 levels by grade 8 (math 8, algebra 1, geometry, algebra 2). I had 2 kids finish Algebra 2 at Deal and go on to private high school (Sidwell/NCS). They did well in math but the rest of the transition was a
crazy and rude awakening which Deal did not prepare them for. It took a full semester to rewire their brains to think and to get their organization skills up to par. The homework demand went from 30 minutes to 3 hours. My kids are still (several years later) not the best writers because
DCPS often does not (outside of some teachers) teach kids to write a top quality essay, analyze literary text, etc. We really like MANY things about DCPS and Deal specifically but we have moved our 3rd kid to private for middle
school because it's almost too late (or at the minimum rough) to make this jump in expectations at high school.

Did those problems partially rooted from students not being high performers, transfer trauma, unrealistic parental expectations or too much pressure at the new school?

I'm the poster your'e replying to. My kids are not prodigies but they did very well at Deal with minimal work, always scored 99% on the PARCC, etc.
The privates are just next level of work. My Deal kid last year went from reading 4 books at Deal to at least 8 in Freshman English and having to write 12+ papers. Exams are also essay in all subjects outside of math and science.
Deal had never taught him to write a literary analysis of the text. He could write a half decent essay (Thanks to his elementary school) but never really had to at Deal. The private school work load is also a giant step up: from 20 minutes (maybe?) at Deal to 3, 4 hours a night. Plus no retakes (ever---on any assignment) and no credit for late work.

I am not here to tout the wonders of private school as there are plusses and minuses (and that is another post) but private high school has highlighted how little work my kids did at Deal and honestly, how poorly they were prepared in all subjects outside of math.
This is both pre-covid and during covid (different kids).
So I'm not sure what the point of my post is except maybe to say to the OP that Deal is probably not much better than whatever school her kids attend. Because it's kind of weak academically. It has many other strengths (many extracurriculars, teachers that care, a committed principal, racial and
economic diversity, etc) but it's by no means a strong academic school with all sorts of differentiation. It's kind of bare-bones schooling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, i think it's funny that you think Deal has high-level programming. The reality is, it doesn't. It's pretty darn easy to get straight As and the academic high flyers are not challenged in any way, outside of maybe math.
In math they offer 4 levels by grade 8 (math 8, algebra 1, geometry, algebra 2). I had 2 kids finish Algebra 2 at Deal and go on to private high school (Sidwell/NCS). They did well in math but the rest of the transition was a
crazy and rude awakening which Deal did not prepare them for. It took a full semester to rewire their brains to think and to get their organization skills up to par. The homework demand went from 30 minutes to 3 hours. My kids are still (several years later) not the best writers because
DCPS often does not (outside of some teachers) teach kids to write a top quality essay, analyze literary text, etc. We really like MANY things about DCPS and Deal specifically but we have moved our 3rd kid to private for middle
school because it's almost too late (or at the minimum rough) to make this jump in expectations at high school.

Did those problems partially rooted from students not being high performers, transfer trauma, unrealistic parental expectations or too much pressure at the new school?

I'm the poster your'e replying to. My kids are not prodigies but they did very well at Deal with minimal work, always scored 99% on the PARCC, etc.
The privates are just next level of work. My Deal kid last year went from reading 4 books at Deal to at least 8 in Freshman English and having to write 12+ papers. Exams are also essay in all subjects outside of math and science.
Deal had never taught him to write a literary analysis of the text. He could write a half decent essay (Thanks to his elementary school) but never really had to at Deal. The private school work load is also a giant step up: from 20 minutes (maybe?) at Deal to 3, 4 hours a night. Plus no retakes (ever---on any assignment) and no credit for late work.

I am not here to tout the wonders of private school as there are plusses and minuses (and that is another post) but private high school has highlighted how little work my kids did at Deal and honestly, how poorly they were prepared in all subjects outside of math.
This is both pre-covid and during covid (different kids).
So I'm not sure what the point of my post is except maybe to say to the OP that Deal is probably not much better than whatever school her kids attend. Because it's kind of weak academically. It has many other strengths (many extracurriculars, teachers that care, a committed principal, racial and
economic diversity, etc) but it's by no means a strong academic school with all sorts of differentiation. It's kind of bare-bones schooling.

PP above makes a good point. It’s all relative when it comes to a strong public school in terms of academics, and in the end DC standards are so low. It’s not going to get better anytime soon with their race to the bottom policies.

Deal is mediocre at best, definitely no superstar. As to the other much lower performing middle schools, well that’s a whole other story.

[Anonymous]

Well, 3-4 hr homework every night doesn't it a good middle school. With school, extracurriculars, sports,homework, sleep, showers, eating,commuting, is there any time to relax and be a kid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Duke University's TIP and Rice University's K-12 summer offerings are as good as JHU's CTY.

TIP folded last year. Hopefully the new leadership team will keep CTY from doing the same. It’s rough out there.

https://kdcollegeprep.com/duke-tip-ended-advice-moving-forward/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, 3-4 hr homework every night doesn't it a good middle school. With school, extracurriculars, sports,homework, sleep, showers, eating,commuting, is there any time to relax and be a kid?

Yeah that sounds horrendous. My kid would crumble with 3-4 hours every night. And my university (ivy, engineering major) and med school did not have that kind of workload. Unnecessary

[Anonymous]

If school is really easy and doesn't require hard work, then I think it's a problem, because your kid's not learning skills like organization, studying, persevering through difficulty, etc. But if your kid is working for those good grades and developing good study habits, then it's less of a concern. Are they understanding the material? Is their writing decent? (Able to write paragraphs with topic sentences and supporting details, able to draft an organized essay that makes a coherent argument supported with evidence, or research and draft a report that presents appropriate information in an organized way.) If she's coasting, that's an issue; if she's developing good habits, maybe don't worry so much and look for ways to allow her to explore other interests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, 3-4 hr homework every night doesn't it a good middle school. With school, extracurriculars, sports,homework, sleep, showers, eating,commuting, is there any time to relax and be a kid?

+1
3- 4 hours a night is excessive. These are still kids, and they need time to sleep, spend with family, play, get exercise, and pursue other hobbies and interests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, 3-4 hr homework every night doesn't it a good middle school. With school, extracurriculars, sports,homework, sleep, showers, eating,commuting, is there any time to relax and be a kid?

Yeah that sounds horrendous. My kid would crumble with 3-4 hours every night. And my university (ivy, engineering major) and med school did not have that kind of workload. Unnecessary

3-4 hours of homework a night?? Is that because they're behind or does everyone have that much? That sounds *totally* unnecessary to me. I graduate summa from HYP and I had less homework than that in college... and I only had 4ish hours of class/day and a (max) 10-15 minute walking commute. Why would anyone do that to their middle/high schoolers?

[Anonymous]

Why overwhelm your teen? Do you want them to detest learning and feel burnout.