Parents of DCPS HS graduates - were your kids prepared for college?

[Anonymous]

All I can say is my dc, who just finishing up freshman year at DESA says 8th grade at their private school was much more rigorous. I’m a little concerned about college readiness but hoping that by sticking to honors/AP classes, dc will be ok in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All depends on the kid, the family, and the luck they have in DCPS. What's taught in DCPS is so patchy, with so many weak admins, weak students and unmotivated teachers onboard, that outcomes vary widely. Honors classes in the better suburban schools districts are simply a much safer bet. If you're not tied down in DC as a homeowner, a commute, a spouse's job etc. moving for schools if you can't swing a private is often worth it.

So...to summarize, you are not a parent of a DCPS graduate who is at or graduated from college. Thanks for an outsider's $.02 that nobody requested.

To answer the question, I have a JR grad attending a Top 10 school in the Fall. I feel my kid is well-prepared for their intended area of study. My kid took several dual enrollment classes at GW and earned As without much trouble, so has a decent amount of confidence heading into the Fall.

A neighbor's kid (JR grad) just graduated with honors from an Ivy in a STEM field. Have no idea if there was an adjustment period Freshman year, but certainly finished well overall.

I wonder about dual enrollment each time I see threads like this. Seems like a good option to supplement at DCPS with almost no cost to family . Not sure why people don’t talk about it more as a benefit. So it makes me wonder if I am missing something, like it is hard to get in, or not well run or…

What’s the scoop?

Dual enrollment is unfortunately probably a bit more complicated then it needs to be. Unfortunately, if you want to do DE at American University they only allow DCPS kids to take a very limited number of classes and only in several humanities areas. It would be great for JR kids if American offered as many options as Georgetown and GW...don't understand why they do not

Georgetown offers kids a bunch of classes, but it takes longer to get to Georgetown if you are taking public transport as you only have the bus option. GW is the best overall option for getting to the school and the range and volume of classes that kids can take DE. GW is also the only college where the DE courses and grades will show up on your official DCPS transcript if you go to JR. Honestly, that is only a factor if you are trying to be valedictorian and take DE classes as they count the same as AP classes for weighting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All I can say is my dc, who just finishing up freshman year at DESA says 8th grade at their private school was much more rigorous. I’m a little concerned about college readiness but hoping that by sticking to honors/AP classes, dc will be ok in college.

I am not aware of anyone that attends DESA (this is Duke Ellington...correct?) for the rigor of their academic classes or even cares much about that. Everyone I know attends because they want to be professional actors, musicians, etc. This is kind of an odd post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All I can say is my dc, who just finishing up freshman year at DESA says 8th grade at their private school was much more rigorous. I’m a little concerned about college readiness but hoping that by sticking to honors/AP classes, dc will be ok in college.

I am not aware of anyone that attends DESA (this is Duke Ellington...correct?) for the rigor of their academic classes or even cares much about that. Everyone I know attends because they want to be professional actors, musicians, etc. This is kind of an odd post.

Not all kids go on to be artists/actors/musicians. Even if they do end up on that track, they still need to go to college, and even at an art school, you have to take academic classes (speaking as an art school graduate). That was a weird response.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The timing of and commute to college classes at GW is the main problem from J-R. Kids can't just walk away from campus during the school day and magically get over to GW and back in time for their next J-R class or activity.

Yes, how does this work at all? Can someone whose kid has done it (or knows kids who have) explain the logistics?
Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All I can say is my dc, who just finishing up freshman year at DESA says 8th grade at their private school was much more rigorous. I’m a little concerned about college readiness but hoping that by sticking to honors/AP classes, dc will be ok in college.

I am not aware of anyone that attends DESA (this is Duke Ellington...correct?) for the rigor of their academic classes or even cares much about that. Everyone I know attends because they want to be professional actors, musicians, etc. This is kind of an odd post.

Not all kids go on to be artists/actors/musicians. Even if they do end up on that track, they still need to go to college, and even at an art school, you have to take academic classes (speaking as an art school graduate). That was a weird response.

Not really a weird response. I have one kid at SJC and the majority of the serious athletes (of which there are many) don't much care about the academics at SJC and neither do their parents...and nearly all of those kids will have to attend college. Certainly, almost none of them chose SJC due to any serious consideration of their academics.

DESA has a much higher percentage of graduates that turn professional right after HS graduation compared to just about any school in the DMV...and the kids and the parents that I know who are serious performers (I will admit, don't know any going for visual arts) are not particularly concerned about the rigor of the academic classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The timing of and commute to college classes at GW is the main problem from J-R. Kids can't just walk away from campus during the school day and magically get over to GW and back in time for their next J-R class or activity.

Yes, how does this work at all? Can someone whose kid has done it (or knows kids who have) explain the logistics?
Thank you!

My kid did two classes senior year (one in Fall semester and one in Spring). Both were advanced Math, so kid had already finished all Math that JR offered and had a free period to use for DE. One of the DE classes was at I think like 2:15 pm, so structured the free period to be 4th period on the two days the class was taught (like most college classes, they are two days per week, 90 minutes each class...may have had to leave 3rd period a little early on those days?). The other was a 4:30pm DE class, so that was easier because could just head down right after school ended at 3:30pm.

It can be trickier if you only want to take specific DE classes vs. open to a wide variety of DE classes. If open to a wide variety, there are many late afternoon and evening classes for which you can register.

You have to apply for DE direct with your school of choice (a fairly brief application), and have your guidance counselor sign off that you are a kid that they believe will do well in the DE classes. I am not aware of the college ever declining any kid from participating. You complete all this Spring of Junior year so you are set to enroll in classes in the Fall of Senior year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All I can say is my dc, who just finishing up freshman year at DESA says 8th grade at their private school was much more rigorous. I’m a little concerned about college readiness but hoping that by sticking to honors/AP classes, dc will be ok in college.

I am not aware of anyone that attends DESA (this is Duke Ellington...correct?) for the rigor of their academic classes or even cares much about that. Everyone I know attends because they want to be professional actors, musicians, etc. This is kind of an odd post.

Not all kids go on to be artists/actors/musicians. Even if they do end up on that track, they still need to go to college, and even at an art school, you have to take academic classes (speaking as an art school graduate). That was a weird response.

My kid is a dancer and specifically didn't audition because of academics. So not surprised by the lack of academics. Goes with the territory.

[Anonymous]

My very smart kid went to Walls and then to a selective SLAC and was NOT prepared at all. he didn't know how to organize his time and had bad study habits, and didn't really know how to write papers. It took him at least one semester to figure it out and it was very challenging. He ended up doing very well and has a great job now (2 years out) so it all worked out in the end but DCPS certainly didn't teach him the skills he needed to succeed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All I can say is my dc, who just finishing up freshman year at DESA says 8th grade at their private school was much more rigorous. I’m a little concerned about college readiness but hoping that by sticking to honors/AP classes, dc will be ok in college.

I am not aware of anyone that attends DESA (this is Duke Ellington...correct?) for the rigor of their academic classes or even cares much about that. Everyone I know attends because they want to be professional actors, musicians, etc. This is kind of an odd post.

Not all kids go on to be artists/actors/musicians. Even if they do end up on that track, they still need to go to college, and even at an art school, you have to take academic classes (speaking as an art school graduate). That was a weird response.

My kid is at DESA and very much cares about academics which are quite weak, as the PP stated. There are many kids at DESA who do care about academics, and lack of rigor is a huge concern. But I do wonder if it's considerably stronger at JR? No personal experience there, older child went to walls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My very smart kid went to Walls and then to a selective SLAC and was NOT prepared at all. he didn't know how to organize his time and had bad study habits, and didn't really know how to write papers. It took him at least one semester to figure it out and it was very challenging. He ended up doing very well and has a great job now (2 years out) so it all worked out in the end but DCPS certainly didn't teach him the skills he needed to succeed

I mean...he must have been prepared somewhat. You don't go from struggling in the first semester to doing very well overall with no preparation. I don't know if the W schools can claim they prepare a student better for a selective SLAC...and I have no doubt your kid would have been better prepared if they went to Sidwell. The real question though is would it have made sense for you to pay $200k for Sidwell just to not struggle for one semester? I don't have an answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My very smart kid went to Walls and then to a selective SLAC and was NOT prepared at all. he didn't know how to organize his time and had bad study habits, and didn't really know how to write papers. It took him at least one semester to figure it out and it was very challenging. He ended up doing very well and has a great job now (2 years out) so it all worked out in the end but DCPS certainly didn't teach him the skills he needed to succeed

I mean...he must have been prepared somewhat. You don't go from struggling in the first semester to doing very well overall with no preparation. I don't know if the W schools can claim they prepare a student better for a selective SLAC...and I have no doubt your kid would have been better prepared if they went to Sidwell. The real question though is would it have made sense for you to pay $200k for Sidwell just to not struggle for one semester? I don't have an answer.

To answer your question, no, paying for Sidwell wasn't an option, and private schools, while excellent academically, come with their own host of issues. And ultimately it all comes out in the wash. I think kids who are poorly prepared by their high schools have to struggle a little more and work a little harder (if they want to succeed) the first couple of years of college, learning the skills others learn in HS. Also, asa college professor I can tell you that kids are generally less prepared now than they were 10-15 years ago and that's across the board. The amount of spoon-feeding we need to do ( we call is diplomatically "scaffolding") is staggering

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My very smart kid went to Walls and then to a selective SLAC and was NOT prepared at all. he didn't know how to organize his time and had bad study habits, and didn't really know how to write papers. It took him at least one semester to figure it out and it was very challenging. He ended up doing very well and has a great job now (2 years out) so it all worked out in the end but DCPS certainly didn't teach him the skills he needed to succeed

Wait a minute, my kid is at Walls and I know a few other kids that have graduated from there. None of the previous graduates indicate any of the issues you describe. In particular, the time management piece and writing papers. You will drown at Walls without time management skills. They have senior projects and a lot of papers over the years. Walls certainly has issues but not the ones described. Sounds like the independence was just too much initially and he had to stop the partying. That's not on any high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My very smart kid went to Walls and then to a selective SLAC and was NOT prepared at all. he didn't know how to organize his time and had bad study habits, and didn't really know how to write papers. It took him at least one semester to figure it out and it was very challenging. He ended up doing very well and has a great job now (2 years out) so it all worked out in the end but DCPS certainly didn't teach him the skills he needed to succeed

Wait a minute, my kid is at Walls and I know a few other kids that have graduated from there. None of the previous graduates indicate any of the issues you describe. In particular, the time management piece and writing papers. You will drown at Walls without time management skills. They have senior projects and a lot of papers over the years. Walls certainly has issues but not the ones described. Sounds like the independence was just too much initially and he had to stop the partying. That's not on any high school.

True that some of the time management issues were on him. But writing college-level essays is something that a school like Walls ought to have do a better job with. And it just wasn't happening. Also the school did a terrible, terrible job with the senior project. It was a big joke. The "advisor" he was assigned had no idea what he was doing, they got no meaningful guidance whatsoever. It was a huge disappointment. All that said, the kid turned out just fine in the end so maybe it really doesn't matter all so much? One thing I can say about Walls is that other students that year were great-- smart, ambitious, and they all pushed each other intellectually.

[Anonymous]

I went to Ellington and went on to a selective college and grad school. Ellington's academics were/are weak, but what I learned was how to work really hard at something about which I was passionate. My classmates are mostly ranging from successful to very successful. Maybe our idea of success isn't the same as DCUM's, but they have degrees and jobs and houses and kids and are fully functional members of society. Spending 4 years dedicating yourself to a pursuit is good training for the rest of life.