New to DCI-Anything we should know?

[Anonymous]

This is not a thing either. Ample delusion to go around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of rave reviews for DCI on this thread. OP, I'd talk to parent who aren't staying for HS if you want to go in with your eyes open. We have close friends of many years among them. We've been hear very mixed reviews for years, particularly for strong STEM-oriented students (who failed to get off the BASIS wait list). You know that there's no academic tracking in the middle school outside math (one year acceleration, not more) and language, and minimal tracking in 9th and 10th grades. This means that strong English, social studies and science students are unlikely to be challenged before IB Diploma work in 11th and 12th grades.

Hilarious! This is such a typical under informed parent comment. Middle school is much less strong than High School at DCI. Could be better principal and teachers at HS, could be less focus on MS quality. But what it really is......MIDDLE SCHOOL IS PRETTY HARD ON KIDS AND FAMILIES AND PARENTS BLAME THE SCHOOL!
Instead of focusing on the rush of changes that a 6th grader faces in middle school, puberty hormones, shifting peer group alliances; new academic challenges, experimenting with motivation and re-branding oneself, and battles with parents for more independence make it a tough time of life for EVERYONE. High School is when everything calms down a bit!

Beware blaming the school. I know at least a dozen families who either left DCI or decided to go elsewhere who were begging to get in for HS. Unfortunately, most did not win the lottery.

Middle school is the weak link in DC and it is too in MCPS and FCPS in terms of academics. I agree with PP that it’s a very hard transition for the kids going to a new school which is usually much bigger and having to make new friends and peer groups. Not only is the academic demands/expectations higher but also the higher demands in executive functioning skills to manage different classes, deadlines, papers, tests, etc…. On top of this, add raging hormones and it’s a lot.

The benefit with a school that has both a middle and high school is that the kids know the system and don’t have to start all over again in high school with a new school and all these adjustment. Plus friends stay the same and they don’t need to make new friends all over again.

[Anonymous]

Except when friends leave because the DCI high school isn’t all that great. Happens with too many of the strongest 8th grade students, particularly the STEM oriented.

[Anonymous]

Okay…….but it actually is great. 2 kids and we have been thrilled with the HS. Both got into great universities and having the IB diploma meant they could skip several into courses and have credit for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of rave reviews for DCI on this thread. OP, I'd talk to parent who aren't staying for HS if you want to go in with your eyes open. We have close friends of many years among them. We've been hear very mixed reviews for years, particularly for strong STEM-oriented students (who failed to get off the BASIS wait list). You know that there's no academic tracking in the middle school outside math (one year acceleration, not more) and language, and minimal tracking in 9th and 10th grades. This means that strong English, social studies and science students are unlikely to be challenged before IB Diploma work in 11th and 12th grades.

Hilarious! This is such a typical under informed parent comment. Middle school is much less strong than High School at DCI. Could be better principal and teachers at HS, could be less focus on MS quality. But what it really is......MIDDLE SCHOOL IS PRETTY HARD ON KIDS AND FAMILIES AND PARENTS BLAME THE SCHOOL!
Instead of focusing on the rush of changes that a 6th grader faces in middle school, puberty hormones, shifting peer group alliances; new academic challenges, experimenting with motivation and re-branding oneself, and battles with parents for more independence make it a tough time of life for EVERYONE. High School is when everything calms down a bit!

Beware blaming the school. I know at least a dozen families who either left DCI or decided to go elsewhere who were begging to get in for HS. Unfortunately, most did not win the lottery.

Middle school is the weak link in DC and it is too in MCPS and FCPS in terms of academics. I agree with PP that it’s a very hard transition for the kids going to a new school which is usually much bigger and having to make new friends and peer groups. Not only is the academic demands/expectations higher but also the higher demands in executive functioning skills to manage different classes, deadlines, papers, tests, etc…. On top of this, add raging hormones and it’s a lot.

The benefit with a school that has both a middle and high school is that the kids know the system and don’t have to start all over again in high school with a new school and all these adjustment. Plus friends stay the same and they don’t need to make new friends all over again.

DCI family with both HS & MS student. I speak from experience that HS is better than MS. And MS is hard everywhere. DCI acknowledges this and is working on making the MS stronger. And no, the strongest 8th graders don't leave in large numbers. My DC was demonstrably one of the stronger 8th-grade students in the school year prior to the most recent one and most of DC's strong peers stayed.

[Anonymous]

It's a good school with a unique curriculum and is getting stronger each year. Gorgeous campus right across from Rock Creek Park and accessible by many north-south bus lines and isn't too far from Takoma Metro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI doesn’t really care about PARCC scores. Look at their STAMP and IB DP and IB CP scores. Also look at what universities their kids are accepted to. Unlike Basis, DCI doesn’t weed out kids who struggle or kids with IEPs. Basis is constantly on the verge of having their charter revoked for their failure to keep kids who require special education. Elitist crap.

Basis self selects out and you should look at their at risk numbers compared to DCI, 7% to 22%. DCI has more than 3 times the at risk so no surprise about lower PARCC scores.

We toured Basis and it was depressing as hell. Very narrow hallways way too crowded with kids, cramped dark classrooms, and they have this big room they use for lunch, after school, and whatever else because it’s all they got. Very limited in extracurriculars and sports. Very small school so socially stuck if you don’t find good group of friends.

Rigid, inflexible curriculum that narrowly focuses on AP at the cost of all else. We were not impressed with the head guy who was very young, pompous, and talked like a marketing guy/salesman trying to sell you something.

It was night and day with our tour of DCI. Beautiful campus and light filled airy building. Great facilities with library, gym, science lab, soccer fields, basketball, etc…. Lots of extracurricular clubs and sports. Large enough school but not too big and very diverse where your kid will find their niche of friends.

Our kid is high performing and we are in feeder and planning on going to DCI. Basis is not even a consideration after the visit above. Tracking in math and language is good for us. The kids who are in the high level language classes are usually the high performing kids anyway and so social studies and electives which can be taken in the language are unofficially tracked. If we need to supplement anything we can. We want a good, well-rounded middle/high school for our kid like I had in the burbs and DCI fits this bill. We also really like the IB curriculum and its emphasis on critical thinking and writing over AP.

We toured both schools as well and came to a different conclusion for our family. It's good to have choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI doesn’t really care about PARCC scores. Look at their STAMP and IB DP and IB CP scores. Also look at what universities their kids are accepted to. Unlike Basis, DCI doesn’t weed out kids who struggle or kids with IEPs. Basis is constantly on the verge of having their charter revoked for their failure to keep kids who require special education. Elitist crap.

Basis self selects out and you should look at their at risk numbers compared to DCI, 7% to 22%. DCI has more than 3 times the at risk so no surprise about lower PARCC scores.

We toured Basis and it was depressing as hell. Very narrow hallways way too crowded with kids, cramped dark classrooms, and they have this big room they use for lunch, after school, and whatever else because it’s all they got. Very limited in extracurriculars and sports. Very small school so socially stuck if you don’t find good group of friends.

Rigid, inflexible curriculum that narrowly focuses on AP at the cost of all else. We were not impressed with the head guy who was very young, pompous, and talked like a marketing guy/salesman trying to sell you something.

It was night and day with our tour of DCI. Beautiful campus and light filled airy building. Great facilities with library, gym, science lab, soccer fields, basketball, etc…. Lots of extracurricular clubs and sports. Large enough school but not too big and very diverse where your kid will find their niche of friends.

Our kid is high performing and we are in feeder and planning on going to DCI. Basis is not even a consideration after the visit above. Tracking in math and language is good for us. The kids who are in the high level language classes are usually the high performing kids anyway and so social studies and electives which can be taken in the language are unofficially tracked. If we need to supplement anything we can. We want a good, well-rounded middle/high school for our kid like I had in the burbs and DCI fits this bill. We also really like the IB curriculum and its emphasis on critical thinking and writing over AP.

I read that students can only take 50% of their classes in their language. What are the other 50% of classes, and will they not be unofficially tracked?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI doesn’t really care about PARCC scores. Look at their STAMP and IB DP and IB CP scores. Also look at what universities their kids are accepted to. Unlike Basis, DCI doesn’t weed out kids who struggle or kids with IEPs. Basis is constantly on the verge of having their charter revoked for their failure to keep kids who require special education. Elitist crap.

Basis self selects out and you should look at their at risk numbers compared to DCI, 7% to 22%. DCI has more than 3 times the at risk so no surprise about lower PARCC scores.

We toured Basis and it was depressing as hell. Very narrow hallways way too crowded with kids, cramped dark classrooms, and they have this big room they use for lunch, after school, and whatever else because it’s all they got. Very limited in extracurriculars and sports. Very small school so socially stuck if you don’t find good group of friends.

Rigid, inflexible curriculum that narrowly focuses on AP at the cost of all else. We were not impressed with the head guy who was very young, pompous, and talked like a marketing guy/salesman trying to sell you something.

It was night and day with our tour of DCI. Beautiful campus and light filled airy building. Great facilities with library, gym, science lab, soccer fields, basketball, etc…. Lots of extracurricular clubs and sports. Large enough school but not too big and very diverse where your kid will find their niche of friends.

Our kid is high performing and we are in feeder and planning on going to DCI. Basis is not even a consideration after the visit above. Tracking in math and language is good for us. The kids who are in the high level language classes are usually the high performing kids anyway and so social studies and electives which can be taken in the language are unofficially tracked. If we need to supplement anything we can. We want a good, well-rounded middle/high school for our kid like I had in the burbs and DCI fits this bill. We also really like the IB curriculum and its emphasis on critical thinking and writing over AP.

I read that students can only take 50% of their classes in their language. What are the other 50% of classes, and will they not be unofficially tracked?

In 6th grade Spanish track, Social Studies (called Individuals and Society, I believe) and a Special (Art or Music) may be in Spanish, in addition to Spanish class, which is tracked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI doesn’t really care about PARCC scores. Look at their STAMP and IB DP and IB CP scores. Also look at what universities their kids are accepted to. Unlike Basis, DCI doesn’t weed out kids who struggle or kids with IEPs. Basis is constantly on the verge of having their charter revoked for their failure to keep kids who require special education. Elitist crap.

Basis self selects out and you should look at their at risk numbers compared to DCI, 7% to 22%. DCI has more than 3 times the at risk so no surprise about lower PARCC scores.

We toured Basis and it was depressing as hell. Very narrow hallways way too crowded with kids, cramped dark classrooms, and they have this big room they use for lunch, after school, and whatever else because it’s all they got. Very limited in extracurriculars and sports. Very small school so socially stuck if you don’t find good group of friends.

Rigid, inflexible curriculum that narrowly focuses on AP at the cost of all else. We were not impressed with the head guy who was very young, pompous, and talked like a marketing guy/salesman trying to sell you something.

It was night and day with our tour of DCI. Beautiful campus and light filled airy building. Great facilities with library, gym, science lab, soccer fields, basketball, etc…. Lots of extracurricular clubs and sports. Large enough school but not too big and very diverse where your kid will find their niche of friends.

Our kid is high performing and we are in feeder and planning on going to DCI. Basis is not even a consideration after the visit above. Tracking in math and language is good for us. The kids who are in the high level language classes are usually the high performing kids anyway and so social studies and electives which can be taken in the language are unofficially tracked. If we need to supplement anything we can. We want a good, well-rounded middle/high school for our kid like I had in the burbs and DCI fits this bill. We also really like the IB curriculum and its emphasis on critical thinking and writing over AP.

Classic choice-supportive bias.

Plenty of data points show that DCI is OK but not great.

For example, according to this, BASIS DC is the best public middle school in DC, which is a conclusion backed by actual data. In fact, DCI lags behind O-A, Deal, and Hardy.

https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/middle-schools/district-of-columbia

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI doesn’t really care about PARCC scores. Look at their STAMP and IB DP and IB CP scores. Also look at what universities their kids are accepted to. Unlike Basis, DCI doesn’t weed out kids who struggle or kids with IEPs. Basis is constantly on the verge of having their charter revoked for their failure to keep kids who require special education. Elitist crap.

Basis self selects out and you should look at their at risk numbers compared to DCI, 7% to 22%. DCI has more than 3 times the at risk so no surprise about lower PARCC scores.

We toured Basis and it was depressing as hell. Very narrow hallways way too crowded with kids, cramped dark classrooms, and they have this big room they use for lunch, after school, and whatever else because it’s all they got. Very limited in extracurriculars and sports. Very small school so socially stuck if you don’t find good group of friends.

Rigid, inflexible curriculum that narrowly focuses on AP at the cost of all else. We were not impressed with the head guy who was very young, pompous, and talked like a marketing guy/salesman trying to sell you something.

It was night and day with our tour of DCI. Beautiful campus and light filled airy building. Great facilities with library, gym, science lab, soccer fields, basketball, etc…. Lots of extracurricular clubs and sports. Large enough school but not too big and very diverse where your kid will find their niche of friends.

Our kid is high performing and we are in feeder and planning on going to DCI. Basis is not even a consideration after the visit above. Tracking in math and language is good for us. The kids who are in the high level language classes are usually the high performing kids anyway and so social studies and electives which can be taken in the language are unofficially tracked. If we need to supplement anything we can. We want a good, well-rounded middle/high school for our kid like I had in the burbs and DCI fits this bill. We also really like the IB curriculum and its emphasis on critical thinking and writing over AP.

I read that students can only take 50% of their classes in their language. What are the other 50% of classes, and will they not be unofficially tracked?

In 6th grade Spanish track, Social Studies (called Individuals and Society, I believe) and a Special (Art or Music) may be in Spanish, in addition to Spanish class, which is tracked.

So math, English, and science classes aren’t “tracked”?

[Anonymous]

Math is, science, social studies and English not, a real drag. Language instruction has been good but DCI hasn't been nearly challenging enough for my kid in any subject but language. We're sticking it out for middle school, hoping for Walls for high school. We didn't get into any other charters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay…….but it actually is great. 2 kids and we have been thrilled with the HS. Both got into great universities and having the IB diploma meant they could skip several into courses and have credit for them.

Come on, great universities in this country don't offer credit for HS work any longer. No Ivy-Plus school does, nor do top 10 SLACs. IB Diploma doesn't mean much when kids pass with point totals in the 20s and low 30s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI doesn’t really care about PARCC scores. Look at their STAMP and IB DP and IB CP scores. Also look at what universities their kids are accepted to. Unlike Basis, DCI doesn’t weed out kids who struggle or kids with IEPs. Basis is constantly on the verge of having their charter revoked for their failure to keep kids who require special education. Elitist crap.

Basis self selects out and you should look at their at risk numbers compared to DCI, 7% to 22%. DCI has more than 3 times the at risk so no surprise about lower PARCC scores.

We toured Basis and it was depressing as hell. Very narrow hallways way too crowded with kids, cramped dark classrooms, and they have this big room they use for lunch, after school, and whatever else because it’s all they got. Very limited in extracurriculars and sports. Very small school so socially stuck if you don’t find good group of friends.

Rigid, inflexible curriculum that narrowly focuses on AP at the cost of all else. We were not impressed with the head guy who was very young, pompous, and talked like a marketing guy/salesman trying to sell you something.

It was night and day with our tour of DCI. Beautiful campus and light filled airy building. Great facilities with library, gym, science lab, soccer fields, basketball, etc…. Lots of extracurricular clubs and sports. Large enough school but not too big and very diverse where your kid will find their niche of friends.

Our kid is high performing and we are in feeder and planning on going to DCI. Basis is not even a consideration after the visit above. Tracking in math and language is good for us. The kids who are in the high level language classes are usually the high performing kids anyway and so social studies and electives which can be taken in the language are unofficially tracked. If we need to supplement anything we can. We want a good, well-rounded middle/high school for our kid like I had in the burbs and DCI fits this bill. We also really like the IB curriculum and its emphasis on critical thinking and writing over AP.

I read that students can only take 50% of their classes in their language. What are the other 50% of classes, and will they not be unofficially tracked?

In 6th grade Spanish track, Social Studies (called Individuals and Society, I believe) and a Special (Art or Music) may be in Spanish, in addition to Spanish class, which is tracked.

So math, English, and science classes aren’t “tracked”?

Math is tracked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay…….but it actually is great. 2 kids and we have been thrilled with the HS. Both got into great universities and having the IB diploma meant they could skip several into courses and have credit for them.

Come on, great universities in this country don't offer credit for HS work any longer. No Ivy-Plus school does, nor do top 10 SLACs. IB Diploma doesn't mean much when kids pass with point totals in the 20s and low 30s.

I happen to know that PP’s kids scored in the 40s.