Ranking assistance - Cap Hill/Brookland area

[Anonymous]

Sadly all decent middle school options at extremely hard to get into. This shouldn’t be the case. It’s very frustrating. You’re literally competing for a handful of spots.

[Anonymous]

Here is the bottom line if you have a high performing kid, it is Basis and DCI.

Average kid Latin

If your kid doesn’t get into the above, move to MD or VA. I would pick VA for state school benefit for college.

No good options for middle school other than above EOTP.

Don’t waste your time on settling for a poor middle school only to have to settle for another poor high school or move in high school which is worst.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sadly all decent middle school options at extremely hard to get into. This shouldn’t be the case. It’s very frustrating. You’re literally competing for a handful of spots.

I think what's frustrating is that you are not "competing" for those spots. It's luck and money, at least for the public school spots (for private, it's money, luck, and for a small number of schools, merit). Either you can afford to buy in-bound for Deal and Hardy or you can't. If you can't, maybe you get lucky with a lottery spot at a feeder, or a lottery spot at BASIS or Latin. For DCI, you really need to nab a lottery spot at a feeder in ECE, both because spots later in elementary can be hard to come by and because moving a kid to an immersion school in mid to late elementary, if they aren't already at an immersion school, is far from ideal.

So basically you either win the PK3 lottery or you win the 5th grade lottery or you have enough money to buy your way into one of the two DCPS middles that are actually good. Or you move or you pay for private. Literally none of this has anything to do with competing, you cannot prepare yourself or your kid for any of that, there's no way to earn your way into a good program with effort or skill. Which sucks because some kids really are hard working and academically inclined, love learning and want to learn more in an environment where other kids also want to learn. And the system does not care. Not even a little. Put your name in the drawing and see what happens, kid. Sorry your parents aren't rich. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sadly all decent middle school options at extremely hard to get into. This shouldn’t be the case. It’s very frustrating. You’re literally competing for a handful of spots.

I think what's frustrating is that you are not "competing" for those spots. It's luck and money, at least for the public school spots (for private, it's money, luck, and for a small number of schools, merit). Either you can afford to buy in-bound for Deal and Hardy or you can't. If you can't, maybe you get lucky with a lottery spot at a feeder, or a lottery spot at BASIS or Latin. For DCI, you really need to nab a lottery spot at a feeder in ECE, both because spots later in elementary can be hard to come by and because moving a kid to an immersion school in mid to late elementary, if they aren't already at an immersion school, is far from ideal.

So basically you either win the PK3 lottery or you win the 5th grade lottery or you have enough money to buy your way into one of the two DCPS middles that are actually good. Or you move or you pay for private. Literally none of this has anything to do with competing, you cannot prepare yourself or your kid for any of that, there's no way to earn your way into a good program with effort or skill. Which sucks because some kids really are hard working and academically inclined, love learning and want to learn more in an environment where other kids also want to learn. And the system does not care. Not even a little. Put your name in the drawing and see what happens, kid. Sorry your parents aren't rich. Good luck.

These are paths but there is another one, which is to make do at a mediocre-but-not-awful middle school (this is Francis, SH, EH, Jefferson, ITDS) and then get into an application high school. I've been here for 20 years and I know MANY kids in this category, some of whom have now gone on to good colleges.

[Anonymous]

Most years it is a waste of time to list Latin for 6th, 7th, 8th grade. This year there are likely to be a small number of seats available in almost every class year where it is at least valid to list it and see what shakes out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sadly all decent middle school options at extremely hard to get into. This shouldn’t be the case. It’s very frustrating. You’re literally competing for a handful of spots.

I think what's frustrating is that you are not "competing" for those spots. It's luck and money, at least for the public school spots (for private, it's money, luck, and for a small number of schools, merit). Either you can afford to buy in-bound for Deal and Hardy or you can't. If you can't, maybe you get lucky with a lottery spot at a feeder, or a lottery spot at BASIS or Latin. For DCI, you really need to nab a lottery spot at a feeder in ECE, both because spots later in elementary can be hard to come by and because moving a kid to an immersion school in mid to late elementary, if they aren't already at an immersion school, is far from ideal.

So basically you either win the PK3 lottery or you win the 5th grade lottery or you have enough money to buy your way into one of the two DCPS middles that are actually good. Or you move or you pay for private. Literally none of this has anything to do with competing, you cannot prepare yourself or your kid for any of that, there's no way to earn your way into a good program with effort or skill. Which sucks because some kids really are hard working and academically inclined, love learning and want to learn more in an environment where other kids also want to learn. And the system does not care. Not even a little. Put your name in the drawing and see what happens, kid. Sorry your parents aren't rich. Good luck.

These are paths but there is another one, which is to make do at a mediocre-but-not-awful middle school (this is Francis, SH, EH, Jefferson, ITDS) and then get into an application high school. I've been here for 20 years and I know MANY kids in this category, some of whom have now gone on to good colleges.

Sorry but schools above (SH, EH, Jefferson) are not mediocre. They are poorly performing. Look at the other thread. They don’t even offer geometry. There is no tracking in other classes and you are with kids 3, 4 grades apart. Kids are falling behind their peers even with families using tutors.

Things have changed at the high school. Walls is a crap shot now and you can’t rely on it if you have a top performing kids. So many kids who should get in did not. Like PP above says, you have absolutely no control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is the bottom line if you have a high performing kid, it is Basis and DCI.

Average kid Latin

If your kid doesn’t get into the above, move to MD or VA. I would pick VA for state school benefit for college.

No good options for middle school other than above EOTP.

Don’t waste your time on settling for a poor middle school only to have to settle for another poor high school or move in high school which is worst.

Totally disagree with this. High performing kids definitely fit in at Latin. ITDS definitely has high-performers -- maybe not as many as some other middle schools because it's small -- and a really good track record of 8th graders getting into Banneker and Walls. I'm sure some Hill parents have something to say as well.

[Anonymous]

Its also really useful to talk to people who have gone the good but not necessarily great neighborhood middle school route.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sadly all decent middle school options at extremely hard to get into. This shouldn’t be the case. It’s very frustrating. You’re literally competing for a handful of spots.

I think what's frustrating is that you are not "competing" for those spots. It's luck and money, at least for the public school spots (for private, it's money, luck, and for a small number of schools, merit). Either you can afford to buy in-bound for Deal and Hardy or you can't. If you can't, maybe you get lucky with a lottery spot at a feeder, or a lottery spot at BASIS or Latin. For DCI, you really need to nab a lottery spot at a feeder in ECE, both because spots later in elementary can be hard to come by and because moving a kid to an immersion school in mid to late elementary, if they aren't already at an immersion school, is far from ideal.

So basically you either win the PK3 lottery or you win the 5th grade lottery or you have enough money to buy your way into one of the two DCPS middles that are actually good. Or you move or you pay for private. Literally none of this has anything to do with competing, you cannot prepare yourself or your kid for any of that, there's no way to earn your way into a good program with effort or skill. Which sucks because some kids really are hard working and academically inclined, love learning and want to learn more in an environment where other kids also want to learn. And the system does not care. Not even a little. Put your name in the drawing and see what happens, kid. Sorry your parents aren't rich. Good luck.

You can get into DCI without being from a feeder. There are some spots but not alot.

Play the 6th grade lottery and list all 3 tracks at DCI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sadly all decent middle school options at extremely hard to get into. This shouldn’t be the case. It’s very frustrating. You’re literally competing for a handful of spots.

I think what's frustrating is that you are not "competing" for those spots. It's luck and money, at least for the public school spots (for private, it's money, luck, and for a small number of schools, merit). Either you can afford to buy in-bound for Deal and Hardy or you can't. If you can't, maybe you get lucky with a lottery spot at a feeder, or a lottery spot at BASIS or Latin. For DCI, you really need to nab a lottery spot at a feeder in ECE, both because spots later in elementary can be hard to come by and because moving a kid to an immersion school in mid to late elementary, if they aren't already at an immersion school, is far from ideal.

So basically you either win the PK3 lottery or you win the 5th grade lottery or you have enough money to buy your way into one of the two DCPS middles that are actually good. Or you move or you pay for private. Literally none of this has anything to do with competing, you cannot prepare yourself or your kid for any of that, there's no way to earn your way into a good program with effort or skill. Which sucks because some kids really are hard working and academically inclined, love learning and want to learn more in an environment where other kids also want to learn. And the system does not care. Not even a little. Put your name in the drawing and see what happens, kid. Sorry your parents aren't rich. Good luck.

You can get into DCI without being from a feeder. There are some spots but not alot.

Play the 6th grade lottery and list all 3 tracks at DCI.

You’re not going to get a spot in the spanish program, not even in 7th or 8th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sadly all decent middle school options at extremely hard to get into. This shouldn’t be the case. It’s very frustrating. You’re literally competing for a handful of spots.

I think what's frustrating is that you are not "competing" for those spots. It's luck and money, at least for the public school spots (for private, it's money, luck, and for a small number of schools, merit). Either you can afford to buy in-bound for Deal and Hardy or you can't. If you can't, maybe you get lucky with a lottery spot at a feeder, or a lottery spot at BASIS or Latin. For DCI, you really need to nab a lottery spot at a feeder in ECE, both because spots later in elementary can be hard to come by and because moving a kid to an immersion school in mid to late elementary, if they aren't already at an immersion school, is far from ideal.

So basically you either win the PK3 lottery or you win the 5th grade lottery or you have enough money to buy your way into one of the two DCPS middles that are actually good. Or you move or you pay for private. Literally none of this has anything to do with competing, you cannot prepare yourself or your kid for any of that, there's no way to earn your way into a good program with effort or skill. Which sucks because some kids really are hard working and academically inclined, love learning and want to learn more in an environment where other kids also want to learn. And the system does not care. Not even a little. Put your name in the drawing and see what happens, kid. Sorry your parents aren't rich. Good luck.

These are paths but there is another one, which is to make do at a mediocre-but-not-awful middle school (this is Francis, SH, EH, Jefferson, ITDS) and then get into an application high school. I've been here for 20 years and I know MANY kids in this category, some of whom have now gone on to good colleges.

Sorry but schools above (SH, EH, Jefferson) are not mediocre. They are poorly performing. Look at the other thread. They don’t even offer geometry. There is no tracking in other classes and you are with kids 3, 4 grades apart. Kids are falling behind their peers even with families using tutors.

Things have changed at the high school. Walls is a crap shot now and you can’t rely on it if you have a top performing kids. So many kids who should get in did not. Like PP above says, you have absolutely no control.

What gives me pause with Walls is that a lot of kids come from these poorly performing schools. And it’s easy to get a great recommendation and good grades when the school is easy and the class is geared for several grades below what other kids are doing elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Its also really useful to talk to people who have gone the good but not necessarily great neighborhood middle school route.

agree but be careful. I heard raves about Stuart and Eliot only to find later that the parents were lottering every year, looking at private schools and trying to move. People love to justify their choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sadly all decent middle school options at extremely hard to get into. This shouldn’t be the case. It’s very frustrating. You’re literally competing for a handful of spots.

I think what's frustrating is that you are not "competing" for those spots. It's luck and money, at least for the public school spots (for private, it's money, luck, and for a small number of schools, merit). Either you can afford to buy in-bound for Deal and Hardy or you can't. If you can't, maybe you get lucky with a lottery spot at a feeder, or a lottery spot at BASIS or Latin. For DCI, you really need to nab a lottery spot at a feeder in ECE, both because spots later in elementary can be hard to come by and because moving a kid to an immersion school in mid to late elementary, if they aren't already at an immersion school, is far from ideal.

So basically you either win the PK3 lottery or you win the 5th grade lottery or you have enough money to buy your way into one of the two DCPS middles that are actually good. Or you move or you pay for private. Literally none of this has anything to do with competing, you cannot prepare yourself or your kid for any of that, there's no way to earn your way into a good program with effort or skill. Which sucks because some kids really are hard working and academically inclined, love learning and want to learn more in an environment where other kids also want to learn. And the system does not care. Not even a little. Put your name in the drawing and see what happens, kid. Sorry your parents aren't rich. Good luck.

You can get into DCI without being from a feeder. There are some spots but not alot.

Play the 6th grade lottery and list all 3 tracks at DCI.

You’re not going to get a spot in the spanish program, not even in 7th or 8th grade.

Spanish made 12 non-feeder offers last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School within a school is amazing amazing if you want a warm little place with no focus on academics. Parents who drink the kool-aid are happy. I found the bizarre focus on social justice issues and alarmingly weak academics to be a nonstarter for me. We switched to MV8. Rough uphill battle with spanish for a little while but my oldest is in dci now. Grateful not to be stuck with Eliot Hine as a middle school with is a nonstarter for our academically focused family. If you want majority white classroom with almost no focus on academics you found your school.

We have close friends and ludlow and they don’t recommend based on upper grades.

Are they actually in upper grades or afraid of the demographic change? Because the demographics do change as more kids lottery in, but the teaching in the upper grades is the best in the school. The 3rd grade team is especially amazing. This is a widely held view in th school.

+1, I don't get that comment. We have a kid in upper grades at L-T and are very happy with both academics and EC opportunities.

There is angst among *parents* in the upper grades over MS and HS. But that's true at any Hill elementary. There is no easy or obvious MS/HS path on the Hill if you value academics. There are options, but it's complicated. That's the case at L-T, Brent, Maury, Payne, SWS, CHML, Two Rivers, you name it. But I do think parents at elementaries that feed to S-H tend to be a smidge less stressed (but only a smidge, it's still not most parents' dream school and it doesn't solve the HS issue).

Ludlow has a 5th grade with a lot of academic high performers this year and AFAIK they're all headed for SH except 1 interviewing for privates. It's totally possible I'm not privy to every kid's plans, but I certainly get the sense that many/most families are comfortable giving SH a try.

Yeah that’s what everyone told us about except they all enrolled in charters or moved.

There are no charters worth moving to post-5th unless you happen to luck into DCI or have a very specific type of child (ITDS). Ludlow has had an increasing trend of kids staying for 5th (partially just a result of the lottery getting harder for sure) and of kids from 5th heading to SH. I think the trend would have accelerated faster if not for Latin Cooper opening and the year where kids could get into it for 6th. In the current jobs and interest rate climate, I think a much smaller chunk of families is positioned to move or pay for private than even a few years ago.

Another Ludlow parent here and this tracks with our experience as well. Pretty much all of the families with high performing 5th graders this year tried to lottery for Latin and BASIS. But they didn't get a spot (or in a few cases, didn't get a spot at Latin and ultimately decided BASIS was not a good fit for that particular kid/family), stayed at L-T, and are pretty happy with S-H as their backup. I expect we'll see more families in this same situation each year moving forward, as it's nearly impossible to get into Latin many years (it can depend on how many siblings are entering in 5th) and BASIS is great for some but not others (and is also far from a guaranteed admit). Moving sucks and few people want to buy or sell right now. Some will, but most won't.

People also often start to get more comfy with S-H as their kid enters 5th, because they know kids who are actually there, go see the musical, attend open houses, etc. It becomes a real place and it turns out it's better than they originally thought, with the added benefit of being just up the road.

The only benefit is the location. Personally we were ready to move to Maryland if we didn’t get a charter spot. The only people I know who were happy to go to SH were those who didn’t prioritize strong academics and really cared about not having their kid take public transportation. Which I understand of course.

This is absurd and comments like this aren't helpful to anyone. We are at a feeder and know many families who prioritize academics and are happy at SH. We know kids who went from there to Walls and Banneker, as well as kids who went from there to several highly regarded private and Catholic schools. One such grad will be off to UChicago next year and his family (which has younger kids still at SH) says the academics have only improved since their oldest kid's time there (which was COVID-affected).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the bottom line if you have a high performing kid, it is Basis and DCI.

Average kid Latin

If your kid doesn’t get into the above, move to MD or VA. I would pick VA for state school benefit for college.

No good options for middle school other than above EOTP.

Don’t waste your time on settling for a poor middle school only to have to settle for another poor high school or move in high school which is worst.

Totally disagree with this. High performing kids definitely fit in at Latin. ITDS definitely has high-performers -- maybe not as many as some other middle schools because it's small -- and a really good track record of 8th graders getting into Banneker and Walls. I'm sure some Hill parents have something to say as well.

+1. The smartest kids at our DCI feeder went to Basis and Latin. We also know some super high performing kids at ITDS.