New to DC and I'm really trying hard to figure out the lottery system. Blew it this year, need tips for next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do not think you messed up the lottery OP. Middle school on the Hill is basically lottery and choose to leave for Basis or Latin in 5th grade or stay DCPS elementary school for 5th grade mostly followed by EH, SH, and Jefferson. You had a great 5th grade experience at Payne. I guarantee your child has classmates who turned down Basis for 5th grade to instead stay at Payne and then do EH. I would try EH with an open mind, learn about and plan to apply for HS, and remember that frequently changing schools is also socially and emotionally hard on kids.

No one turned down Basis to stay at Payne and do EH. This just isn't true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do not think you messed up the lottery OP. Middle school on the Hill is basically lottery and choose to leave for Basis or Latin in 5th grade or stay DCPS elementary school for 5th grade mostly followed by EH, SH, and Jefferson. You had a great 5th grade experience at Payne. I guarantee your child has classmates who turned down Basis for 5th grade to instead stay at Payne and then do EH. I would try EH with an open mind, learn about and plan to apply for HS, and remember that frequently changing schools is also socially and emotionally hard on kids.

No one turned down Basis to stay at Payne and do EH. This just isn't true.

It’s absolutely true … people leave Basis and return to EH, or just never even try for Basis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:EH’s results are actually comparatively very good for UMC kids when sorted by subgroup (and I am using White as a proxy for UMC because it’s the closest we have):

For White ELA, the top percentages of 4+ in the city (all those over 90%) are:

Ross 95
EH 95
Ludlow-Taylor 93
Deal 93
Sojourner Truth 92
Payne 92
Stuart Hobson 91
Ellington 90
Maury 90

Now this suggests to me that the MS ELA tests are easier than the ES ones or kids really do catch up or something… But it’s very clear that EH is actually doing very well.

It doesn’t do quite as well for math, but at 79%, it’s still the second best middle school. (BASIS is just behind but may combine MS and HS scores.)

Didn’t take long for the “white kids who are heavily supplemented are doing decent at Elliot Hine so you should ignore the abysmal test scores for the other 85% of the school” poster to arrive.

Yes - we don’t believe our children are threatened by kids who are less privileged. Any other questions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also why do people always assume EH white parents are supplementing up the wazoo but Deal white patents aren’t? It’s ridiculous. The most tiger parents of tiger parents aren’t sending their kids to EH. I’m sure some kids there supplement, no doubt; but at higher levels than elsewhere? I seriously doubt it.

OP here, I would like to add that we are not UMC and my son is of mixed race. I’m just very resourceful and have smart kids. A lot of misconceptions here.

Hi OP - please visit EH and talk to the teachers. You may be pleasantly surprised. There’s also nothing wrong with supplementing if that’s your parenting value - and as noted, parents do that everywhere; it’s not some mythical thing they do to make up for a “bad” middle school. Your kid can do music, sports and art classes on the Hill after school. They can also do a ton of EH sports teams. There’s also clubs like debate, theater, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would move.

Specifically to MCPS (MD) or FCPS (VA). Those two are by far the best public school systems in the larger DC/MD/VA area.
And commute into DC isn't that bad.

If you move, please do so before high school. Since enrollment in 9th grade classes happens in January of 8th grade (for MCPS, at any rate), you might even be better off moving for 8th grade, so that your kid has a better chance of getting into all the courses they want for 9th grade.

Seriously, I know some DC residents are offended when others remind them that DCPS is crap, but... with all due respect to everyone's life choices, it is. You can read the MCPS and FCPS threads on DCUM and think they're awful places, but academically they're both head and shoulders above DCPS. it's just that most parents only know one system and like to complain about the one they're in.

Obviously we all understand that most DC residents cannot afford to move outside of DC, and cannot afford DC privates. But for the DC middle class, shut out of privates unless they accept tightening their belts and accepting financial aid, and especially when you start considering the cost of in-state tuition for UMD or UVA (or the other state colleges of MD and VA) that DC residents are not entitled to... really, moving in-bounds for MCPS or FCPS is a no-brainer.

[Anonymous]

Lots of people turn down 5th grade spots at Basis. I know this because… the waitlist moves 60+ spots every summer.

[Anonymous]

Looking at 4+ in math, all middle schools with ore than 10 white students, have 70% competency in reading for said white students.

Eliot-Hine Middle School 94.6
The Sojourner Truth School PCS 93.9
Deal Middle School 92.6
Jefferson Middle School Academy 90
School Without Walls @ Francis-Stevens 89.3
Washington Latin PCS - Middle School 88.8
Oyster-Adams Bilingual School 87.9
Washington Latin PCS - Anna Julia Cooper Middle School 86.5
Two Rivers PCS - Young Middle School 83.9
Hardy Middle School 82.2
BASIS DC PCS 81.8
District of Columbia International School 81.7
Inspired Teaching Demonstration PCS 75
E.L. Haynes PCS - Middle School 70