Eastern HS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eastern could fill some of those 9th-grade lottery seats that are open this summer and raise their test scores in the process if they just said the words "any kid with at grade level PARCC scores can get into our IB program, and you will only be in classes with other kids at or above grade level." It's not complicated at all.

If pretty much every kid is below grade level and you let anyone into IB, you pretty much either have a class of 2 kids or the IB classes are remedial at best. Like “honors for all” at Jackson reed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eastern could fill some of those 9th-grade lottery seats that are open this summer and raise their test scores in the process if they just said the words "any kid with at grade level PARCC scores can get into our IB program, and you will only be in classes with other kids at or above grade level." It's not complicated at all.

If pretty much every kid is below grade level and you let anyone into IB, you pretty much either have a class of 2 kids or the IB classes are remedial at best. Like “honors for all” at Jackson reed.

+1. I would also argue that kids should be above grade level for IB.

But not surprised how some families accept such low standards in this town just like DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish they would be way more transparent about admissions and performance of the IB program. Maybe it's great! But there are numbers that exist that could be easily used to show this, if it's actually the case.

Well, clearly it's not great if 1% of the kids are passing the math CAPE. But yes, more information would be lovely.

If the 1% is the IB program students, then that’s fine. Your kid will be in the group of kids that are actually learning.

Not all the time. They will still take electives and participate in clubs and other ECs with the 99% of kids who are below grade level. Really think about what that means, to be in a school environment where the vast majority of students are struggling to meet minimum academic standards. Think how small and limited this will make your child's experience, how limiting it will be in terms of friendships, what it will look like for your kid post HS when so few peers pursue college, when many don't even graduate.

Some families don't have much choice of whether to send their kids to a school like that. But in DC people have a choice. And most parents who really value education will continue to not choose Eastern simply because they want more and better for their kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eastern could fill some of those 9th-grade lottery seats that are open this summer and raise their test scores in the process if they just said the words "any kid with at grade level PARCC scores can get into our IB program, and you will only be in classes with other kids at or above grade level." It's not complicated at all.

If pretty much every kid is below grade level and you let anyone into IB, you pretty much either have a class of 2 kids or the IB classes are remedial at best. Like “honors for all” at Jackson reed.

No school is DC is basing admissions either overall or to an honors program on test scores. If Eastern did that, they would attract different students. And a lot of graduates of feeder schools to Eastern are at grade level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish they would be way more transparent about admissions and performance of the IB program. Maybe it's great! But there are numbers that exist that could be easily used to show this, if it's actually the case.

Well, clearly it's not great if 1% of the kids are passing the math CAPE. But yes, more information would be lovely.

If the 1% is the IB program students, then that’s fine. Your kid will be in the group of kids that are actually learning.

Not all the time. They will still take electives and participate in clubs and other ECs with the 99% of kids who are below grade level. Really think about what that means, to be in a school environment where the vast majority of students are struggling to meet minimum academic standards. Think how small and limited this will make your child's experience, how limiting it will be in terms of friendships, what it will look like for your kid post HS when so few peers pursue college, when many don't even graduate.

Some families don't have much choice of whether to send their kids to a school like that. But in DC people have a choice. And most parents who really value education will continue to not choose Eastern simply because they want more and better for their kids.

I mean … my kid is at a feeder MS for Eastern and I am aware of all of the considerations for his academic needs. But you sound really gross when you write off the less affluent and yes, Black kids, as being basically worthless. I can tell you that my kid is friends with kids of all types and some of those kids you see and worthless have been bright stars for his life. And he has learned to work with and understand all different types of people. I know you’ll claim I am a bad SJW parent but moving him to an all-white affluent school woule be a huge loss in many respects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish they would be way more transparent about admissions and performance of the IB program. Maybe it's great! But there are numbers that exist that could be easily used to show this, if it's actually the case.

Well, clearly it's not great if 1% of the kids are passing the math CAPE. But yes, more information would be lovely.

If the 1% is the IB program students, then that’s fine. Your kid will be in the group of kids that are actually learning.

Not all the time. They will still take electives and participate in clubs and other ECs with the 99% of kids who are below grade level. Really think about what that means, to be in a school environment where the vast majority of students are struggling to meet minimum academic standards. Think how small and limited this will make your child's experience, how limiting it will be in terms of friendships, what it will look like for your kid post HS when so few peers pursue college, when many don't even graduate.

Some families don't have much choice of whether to send their kids to a school like that. But in DC people have a choice. And most parents who really value education will continue to not choose Eastern simply because they want more and better for their kids.

I mean … my kid is at a feeder MS for Eastern and I am aware of all of the considerations for his academic needs. But you sound really gross when you write off the less affluent and yes, Black kids, as being basically worthless. I can tell you that my kid is friends with kids of all types and some of those kids you see and worthless have been bright stars for his life. And he has learned to work with and understand all different types of people. I know you’ll claim I am a bad SJW parent but moving him to an all-white affluent school woule be a huge loss in many respects.

There are no all white, affluent high schools in DCPS. That's not even an option. But why not Banneker or McKinley Tech?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish they would be way more transparent about admissions and performance of the IB program. Maybe it's great! But there are numbers that exist that could be easily used to show this, if it's actually the case.

Well, clearly it's not great if 1% of the kids are passing the math CAPE. But yes, more information would be lovely.

If the 1% is the IB program students, then that’s fine. Your kid will be in the group of kids that are actually learning.

Not all the time. They will still take electives and participate in clubs and other ECs with the 99% of kids who are below grade level. Really think about what that means, to be in a school environment where the vast majority of students are struggling to meet minimum academic standards. Think how small and limited this will make your child's experience, how limiting it will be in terms of friendships, what it will look like for your kid post HS when so few peers pursue college, when many don't even graduate.

Some families don't have much choice of whether to send their kids to a school like that. But in DC people have a choice. And most parents who really value education will continue to not choose Eastern simply because they want more and better for their kids.

I mean … my kid is at a feeder MS for Eastern and I am aware of all of the considerations for his academic needs. But you sound really gross when you write off the less affluent and yes, Black kids, as being basically worthless. I can tell you that my kid is friends with kids of all types and some of those kids you see and worthless have been bright stars for his life. And he has learned to work with and understand all different types of people. I know you’ll claim I am a bad SJW parent but moving him to an all-white affluent school woule be a huge loss in many respects.

There are no all white, affluent high schools in DCPS. That's not even an option. But why not Banneker or McKinley Tech?

We’re considering everything. And this may shock you, but just because my kid is white doesn’t mean he can handle Banneker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eastern could fill some of those 9th-grade lottery seats that are open this summer and raise their test scores in the process if they just said the words "any kid with at grade level PARCC scores can get into our IB program, and you will only be in classes with other kids at or above grade level." It's not complicated at all.

If pretty much every kid is below grade level and you let anyone into IB, you pretty much either have a class of 2 kids or the IB classes are remedial at best. Like “honors for all” at Jackson reed.

Alright - you have made your point - other people replying on here seem interested in learning about the actual programs. The data points from the once/year standardized test have been clearly stated multiple times in this thread. What a few other posters are trying to add into the conversation is that there are families in the EPIC, IB, Medical or IT (or some combination of the above) who have been happy with the courses offered. The EPIC (9th/10th grade, pre-IB) program does require an application, teacher recs, GPA, etc. As was said above, the numbers in the EPIC and IB program have been increasing, we will see if it continues under the new leadership. I realize I am in the minority here and it is easy to fixate on one data point when that is all that is readily available, but judging a school based on the scores from a test taken once/year may not be the best way to understand a school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eastern could fill some of those 9th-grade lottery seats that are open this summer and raise their test scores in the process if they just said the words "any kid with at grade level PARCC scores can get into our IB program, and you will only be in classes with other kids at or above grade level." It's not complicated at all.

If pretty much every kid is below grade level and you let anyone into IB, you pretty much either have a class of 2 kids or the IB classes are remedial at best. Like “honors for all” at Jackson reed.

Alright - you have made your point - other people replying on here seem interested in learning about the actual programs. The data points from the once/year standardized test have been clearly stated multiple times in this thread. What a few other posters are trying to add into the conversation is that there are families in the EPIC, IB, Medical or IT (or some combination of the above) who have been happy with the courses offered. The EPIC (9th/10th grade, pre-IB) program does require an application, teacher recs, GPA, etc. As was said above, the numbers in the EPIC and IB program have been increasing, we will see if it continues under the new leadership. I realize I am in the minority here and it is easy to fixate on one data point when that is all that is readily available, but judging a school based on the scores from a test taken once/year may not be the best way to understand a school.

Nobody is saying CAPE scores are all that matters. But Eastern's match CAPE scores are rock bottom. They are terrible. Nobody is going to believe it's an actual honors, pre-IB, or IB program when 1% of the kids are passing the math CAPE. You can make that kind of "other data and information" argument when the CAPE scores are kinda bad. But you can't make it with scores *this* bad. You're just making yourself look delusional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eastern could fill some of those 9th-grade lottery seats that are open this summer and raise their test scores in the process if they just said the words "any kid with at grade level PARCC scores can get into our IB program, and you will only be in classes with other kids at or above grade level." It's not complicated at all.

If pretty much every kid is below grade level and you let anyone into IB, you pretty much either have a class of 2 kids or the IB classes are remedial at best. Like “honors for all” at Jackson reed.

Alright - you have made your point - other people replying on here seem interested in learning about the actual programs. The data points from the once/year standardized test have been clearly stated multiple times in this thread. What a few other posters are trying to add into the conversation is that there are families in the EPIC, IB, Medical or IT (or some combination of the above) who have been happy with the courses offered. The EPIC (9th/10th grade, pre-IB) program does require an application, teacher recs, GPA, etc. As was said above, the numbers in the EPIC and IB program have been increasing, we will see if it continues under the new leadership. I realize I am in the minority here and it is easy to fixate on one data point when that is all that is readily available, but judging a school based on the scores from a test taken once/year may not be the best way to understand a school.

Nobody is saying CAPE scores are all that matters. But Eastern's match CAPE scores are rock bottom. They are terrible. Nobody is going to believe it's an actual honors, pre-IB, or IB program when 1% of the kids are passing the math CAPE. You can make that kind of "other data and information" argument when the CAPE scores are kinda bad. But you can't make it with scores *this* bad. You're just making yourself look delusional.

DP - we ALL know what the CAPE scores are. what is delusion (or worse) is repeatedly jumping out to bash Eastern (or any similar school) when there are in fact educated parents sending their kids there. That is the reality and it somehow threatens you, probably because you feel insecure about the fact that your child’s environment needs to be so intensively curated in order for your child to cope. (or so you believe.) Look you made the choice to move to Fairfax so please just enjoy your yard and your commute and let the rest of us talk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish they would be way more transparent about admissions and performance of the IB program. Maybe it's great! But there are numbers that exist that could be easily used to show this, if it's actually the case.

Well, clearly it's not great if 1% of the kids are passing the math CAPE. But yes, more information would be lovely.

If the 1% is the IB program students, then that’s fine. Your kid will be in the group of kids that are actually learning.

Not all the time. They will still take electives and participate in clubs and other ECs with the 99% of kids who are below grade level. Really think about what that means, to be in a school environment where the vast majority of students are struggling to meet minimum academic standards. Think how small and limited this will make your child's experience, how limiting it will be in terms of friendships, what it will look like for your kid post HS when so few peers pursue college, when many don't even graduate.

Some families don't have much choice of whether to send their kids to a school like that. But in DC people have a choice. And most parents who really value education will continue to not choose Eastern simply because they want more and better for their kids.

I mean … my kid is at a feeder MS for Eastern and I am aware of all of the considerations for his academic needs. But you sound really gross when you write off the less affluent and yes, Black kids, as being basically worthless. I can tell you that my kid is friends with kids of all types and some of those kids you see and worthless have been bright stars for his life. And he has learned to work with and understand all different types of people. I know you’ll claim I am a bad SJW parent but moving him to an all-white affluent school woule be a huge loss in many respects.

NP. You need to get help. No one is saying black kids are worthless. No one. All middle schools in the city are diverse and have black kids, some more than other.

Some kids don’t have options and have to take what life gives them and that is the lower SES kids is what PP is saying.

But as a parent, most with options will not send them to such a poorly performing school just because there of more diversity. They just are not. It’s not like kids at other schools are not friends with minority kids and can get the same experience either.

Also PP above is absolutely correct. The experience of your kid will be very different with friends who can’t relate to things, friends who can’t do things, etc….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eastern could fill some of those 9th-grade lottery seats that are open this summer and raise their test scores in the process if they just said the words "any kid with at grade level PARCC scores can get into our IB program, and you will only be in classes with other kids at or above grade level." It's not complicated at all.

If pretty much every kid is below grade level and you let anyone into IB, you pretty much either have a class of 2 kids or the IB classes are remedial at best. Like “honors for all” at Jackson reed.

Alright - you have made your point - other people replying on here seem interested in learning about the actual programs. The data points from the once/year standardized test have been clearly stated multiple times in this thread. What a few other posters are trying to add into the conversation is that there are families in the EPIC, IB, Medical or IT (or some combination of the above) who have been happy with the courses offered. The EPIC (9th/10th grade, pre-IB) program does require an application, teacher recs, GPA, etc. As was said above, the numbers in the EPIC and IB program have been increasing, we will see if it continues under the new leadership. I realize I am in the minority here and it is easy to fixate on one data point when that is all that is readily available, but judging a school based on the scores from a test taken once/year may not be the best way to understand a school.

Nobody is saying CAPE scores are all that matters. But Eastern's match CAPE scores are rock bottom. They are terrible. Nobody is going to believe it's an actual honors, pre-IB, or IB program when 1% of the kids are passing the math CAPE. You can make that kind of "other data and information" argument when the CAPE scores are kinda bad. But you can't make it with scores *this* bad. You're just making yourself look delusional.

DP - we ALL know what the CAPE scores are. what is delusion (or worse) is repeatedly jumping out to bash Eastern (or any similar school) when there are in fact educated parents sending their kids there. That is the reality and it somehow threatens you, probably because you feel insecure about the fact that your child’s environment needs to be so intensively curated in order for your child to cope. (or so you believe.) Look you made the choice to move to Fairfax so please just enjoy your yard and your commute and let the rest of us talk.

Wth? I live IB for Dunbar.

Sure, ok, educated parents are sending their kids to Eastern. Fine. But it's still a foolish strategy to try to convince anyone that Eastern has an actual IB program when it can't get more than a few kids to pass the math CAPE. What Eastern has is a program that they *call* "IB", serving kids who are at best on grade level, and almost entirely below grade level in math. You can call it "IB" all day long but that doesn't change the reality. It makes you, and Easter and DCPS lose credibility, and it makes the "IB" concept meaningless. It's a bad strategy. It will not work. Better to, here's an idea, teach them some math so that more than 1% of them pass the CAPE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish they would be way more transparent about admissions and performance of the IB program. Maybe it's great! But there are numbers that exist that could be easily used to show this, if it's actually the case.

Well, clearly it's not great if 1% of the kids are passing the math CAPE. But yes, more information would be lovely.

If the 1% is the IB program students, then that’s fine. Your kid will be in the group of kids that are actually learning.

Not all the time. They will still take electives and participate in clubs and other ECs with the 99% of kids who are below grade level. Really think about what that means, to be in a school environment where the vast majority of students are struggling to meet minimum academic standards. Think how small and limited this will make your child's experience, how limiting it will be in terms of friendships, what it will look like for your kid post HS when so few peers pursue college, when many don't even graduate.

Some families don't have much choice of whether to send their kids to a school like that. But in DC people have a choice. And most parents who really value education will continue to not choose Eastern simply because they want more and better for their kids.

I mean … my kid is at a feeder MS for Eastern and I am aware of all of the considerations for his academic needs. But you sound really gross when you write off the less affluent and yes, Black kids, as being basically worthless. I can tell you that my kid is friends with kids of all types and some of those kids you see and worthless have been bright stars for his life. And he has learned to work with and understand all different types of people. I know you’ll claim I am a bad SJW parent but moving him to an all-white affluent school woule be a huge loss in many respects.

PP here. I NEVER said any kid was worthless. I don't think any kid is worthless. That was a word you chose.

Also, my kid is at an Eastern feeder, where she is friends will all types of kids. This is part of why I am so wary of Eastern. I know what it means to maintain friendships with kids on extremely different life trajectories, or who have very different home lives. I think it's very worthwhile and in fact I had friends like this when I was in HS, at a very diverse school.

But Eastern is not diverse, and the truth is that if your child is an academic high achiever with college aspirations, they will be in a small minority at the school. If it were more like 30 or 40 percent of students on that track, I'd be far more interested in the school. Especially if there were also plenty of support for the non-college-bound kids so you could see them moving towards trades and jobs and in a positive direction. That's a lot like the HS I attended, actually.

But that's not Eastern. Eastern has a 70%+ truancy rate. Only 4% of kids are deemed "college ready" according to benchmarking. While almost half of students at Eastern took at least one IB, AP, or dual enrollment course in the most recent school year, less than 20% of those kids (so less than 10% of all students) received a passing score on the exam for that class.

I don't think any student at Eastern is worthless. But I know my kid is college bound, highly academic, and eager to be in a learning environment with like-minded kids. I don't think she'll get that at Eastern. There simply are not enough kids like her there, and I want her to have a more expansive high school experience than to go through an IB program with a handful of similar kids at a school where most kids are just not very academic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish they would be way more transparent about admissions and performance of the IB program. Maybe it's great! But there are numbers that exist that could be easily used to show this, if it's actually the case.

Well, clearly it's not great if 1% of the kids are passing the math CAPE. But yes, more information would be lovely.

If the 1% is the IB program students, then that’s fine. Your kid will be in the group of kids that are actually learning.

Not all the time. They will still take electives and participate in clubs and other ECs with the 99% of kids who are below grade level. Really think about what that means, to be in a school environment where the vast majority of students are struggling to meet minimum academic standards. Think how small and limited this will make your child's experience, how limiting it will be in terms of friendships, what it will look like for your kid post HS when so few peers pursue college, when many don't even graduate.

Some families don't have much choice of whether to send their kids to a school like that. But in DC people have a choice. And most parents who really value education will continue to not choose Eastern simply because they want more and better for their kids.

I mean … my kid is at a feeder MS for Eastern and I am aware of all of the considerations for his academic needs. But you sound really gross when you write off the less affluent and yes, Black kids, as being basically worthless. I can tell you that my kid is friends with kids of all types and some of those kids you see and worthless have been bright stars for his life. And he has learned to work with and understand all different types of people. I know you’ll claim I am a bad SJW parent but moving him to an all-white affluent school woule be a huge loss in many respects.

NP. You need to get help. No one is saying black kids are worthless. No one. All middle schools in the city are diverse and have black kids, some more than other.

Some kids don’t have options and have to take what life gives them and that is the lower SES kids is what PP is saying.

But as a parent, most with options will not send them to such a poorly performing school just because there of more diversity. They just are not. It’s not like kids at other schools are not friends with minority kids and can get the same experience either.

Also PP above is absolutely correct. The experience of your kid will be very different with friends who can’t relate to things, friends who can’t do things, etc….

The reason they won't send them though is because they don't want to interact with lower SES families and then the domino effect happens because almost all UMC families, who do have resources to help the school, leave.

Mann's PTO can literally fund teachers. Lots of Title 1 schools PTOs can maybe afford a couple pizza parties.

The education follows the money, not, as plenty here want to believe, the money follows the education. And you know that because your last sentence is literally we only want to be around other people with money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish they would be way more transparent about admissions and performance of the IB program. Maybe it's great! But there are numbers that exist that could be easily used to show this, if it's actually the case.

Well, clearly it's not great if 1% of the kids are passing the math CAPE. But yes, more information would be lovely.

If the 1% is the IB program students, then that’s fine. Your kid will be in the group of kids that are actually learning.

Not all the time. They will still take electives and participate in clubs and other ECs with the 99% of kids who are below grade level. Really think about what that means, to be in a school environment where the vast majority of students are struggling to meet minimum academic standards. Think how small and limited this will make your child's experience, how limiting it will be in terms of friendships, what it will look like for your kid post HS when so few peers pursue college, when many don't even graduate.

Some families don't have much choice of whether to send their kids to a school like that. But in DC people have a choice. And most parents who really value education will continue to not choose Eastern simply because they want more and better for their kids.

I mean … my kid is at a feeder MS for Eastern and I am aware of all of the considerations for his academic needs. But you sound really gross when you write off the less affluent and yes, Black kids, as being basically worthless. I can tell you that my kid is friends with kids of all types and some of those kids you see and worthless have been bright stars for his life. And he has learned to work with and understand all different types of people. I know you’ll claim I am a bad SJW parent but moving him to an all-white affluent school woule be a huge loss in many respects.

NP. You need to get help. No one is saying black kids are worthless. No one. All middle schools in the city are diverse and have black kids, some more than other.

Some kids don’t have options and have to take what life gives them and that is the lower SES kids is what PP is saying.

But as a parent, most with options will not send them to such a poorly performing school just because there of more diversity. They just are not. It’s not like kids at other schools are not friends with minority kids and can get the same experience either.

Also PP above is absolutely correct. The experience of your kid will be very different with friends who can’t relate to things, friends who can’t do things, etc….

The reason they won't send them though is because they don't want to interact with lower SES families and then the domino effect happens because almost all UMC families, who do have resources to help the school, leave.

Mann's PTO can literally fund teachers. Lots of Title 1 schools PTOs can maybe afford a couple pizza parties.

The education follows the money, not, as plenty here want to believe, the money follows the education. And you know that because your last sentence is literally we only want to be around other people with money.

When you are talking to parents that have their kids at an Eastern feeder for MS, to remotely suggest they don't want their kids at a school with Black or lower SES kids is laughable. This attitude is what drives people out of DCPS entirely. It's like when my coworkers with kids in the Whitman pyramid lecture me for being concerned about the lack of tracking in DCPS MSes outside of math and (sometimes) ELA. GTFO.