DCI or Deal

[Anonymous]

We are IB for Deal and attended a DCI feeder, but left for Latin. No regrets.

[Anonymous]

I've heard the story above before. Deal's crowding is turning off IB parents. Parents like socioeconomic diversity, but they like strong support/mentoring for all students, a pleasant learning environment and real challenge for advanced learners more. DCPS isn't really listening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've heard the story above before. Deal's crowding is turning off IB parents. Parents like socioeconomic diversity, but they like strong support/mentoring for all students, a pleasant learning environment and real challenge for advanced learners more. DCPS isn't really listening.

Gotta keep this observation in context. Only 986 students from Ward 2 and 3 attend a charter school (any grade) in 2018-19. Of course many students from these wards private school too, so you might say they are also 'leaving' Deal. But the percent in charters is just under 2%.

https://www.dcpcsb.org/data/evaluating-student-enrollment/student-enrollment

[Anonymous]

My only worry with Deal is there are too many kids for middle school. It's ridiculous and my kid hated her first year because she said she was one is a sea of many. So far, I regret we didn't keep her in her charter through middle school.

[Anonymous]

And few DCI students live IB for Deal.

See this maphttps://www.dcpcsb.org/dc-international-school-location-map

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, we are in the same boat. We are at a DCI feeder but in boundary for Deal. We are choosing to try DCI this year, thankfully knowing we can switch to Deal next year if DCI doesn't meet our goals. I know it would be harder on my DD to move in 7th than to just start new in 6th with everyone else. But we are encouraged by the improvements we see in DCI every year and more and more of my DD high performing classmates are going to DCI each year. I have toured both Deal and DCI and both seem to have similar cultures (granted, it was a one hour tour). Except that Deal had less diversity in terms of ethnicity and probably socioeconomic too, and I was more uncomfortable with that than I expected, coming from a feeder with a great diversity of backgrounds (and we are a white family who wants our kids to grow up with much more diversity than we did). I feel thankful to have these 2 options but are not looking back from our decision to go with DCI.

I am very surprised that you think Deal does not have diversity.

I didn't say it doesn't have diversity. I said it has less diversity than I expected and less than I would like. And less than DCI. Given that all the DCI feeders are full of families who are not native to this country, this shouldn't be surprising. As an example, my core group of 5-6 close families from different feeders have at least one parent who was born in a Latin American country.

And if you listened to the open house at Deal, it's just going to get worse for diversity. Deal has seen an increase of in-bound kids to the point that they may not be able to take ANY lottery slots next year, so as more and more rich kids go to public schools in the boundary, we will see Deal have less and less diversity. I don't mean in color of skin, I mean diversity in clads and thought. Unfortunate, IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, we are in the same boat. We are at a DCI feeder but in boundary for Deal. We are choosing to try DCI this year, thankfully knowing we can switch to Deal next year if DCI doesn't meet our goals. I know it would be harder on my DD to move in 7th than to just start new in 6th with everyone else. But we are encouraged by the improvements we see in DCI every year and more and more of my DD high performing classmates are going to DCI each year. I have toured both Deal and DCI and both seem to have similar cultures (granted, it was a one hour tour). Except that Deal had less diversity in terms of ethnicity and probably socioeconomic too, and I was more uncomfortable with that than I expected, coming from a feeder with a great diversity of backgrounds (and we are a white family who wants our kids to grow up with much more diversity than we did). I feel thankful to have these 2 options but are not looking back from our decision to go with DCI.

I am very surprised that you think Deal does not have diversity.

I didn't say it doesn't have diversity. I said it has less diversity than I expected and less than I would like. And less than DCI. Given that all the DCI feeders are full of families who are not native to this country, this shouldn't be surprising. As an example, my core group of 5-6 close families from different feeders have at least one parent who was born in a Latin American country.

And if you listened to the open house at Deal, it's just going to get worse for diversity. Deal has seen an increase of in-bound kids to the point that they may not be able to take ANY lottery slots next year, so as more and more rich kids go to public schools in the boundary, we will see Deal have less and less diversity. I don't mean in color of skin, I mean diversity in clads and thought. Unfortunate, IMO.

*clads = class

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've heard the story above before. Deal's crowding is turning off IB parents. Parents like socioeconomic diversity, but they like strong support/mentoring for all students, a pleasant learning environment and real challenge for advanced learners more. DCPS isn't really listening.

Agree and Wilson high school is also experiencing overcrowding with no solution in sight. Even worst, they now have this honors for all crap where kids with a huge spread in academic achievement are being placed together. We all know how that is going to go for the advance kids. I predict DCI will continue to gain in popularity and will become a viable alternative as the school continues to improve in the next few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard the story above before. Deal's crowding is turning off IB parents. Parents like socioeconomic diversity, but they like strong support/mentoring for all students, a pleasant learning environment and real challenge for advanced learners more. DCPS isn't really listening.

Agree and Wilson high school is also experiencing overcrowding with no solution in sight. Even worst, they now have this honors for all crap where kids with a huge spread in academic achievement are being placed together. We all know how that is going to go for the advance kids. I predict DCI will continue to gain in popularity and will become a viable alternative as the school continues to improve in the next few years.

For whom? Unless you are at a feeder, you have a low chance of securing a seat. Not as low as securing an OOB seat at Deal or Wilson of course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard the story above before. Deal's crowding is turning off IB parents. Parents like socioeconomic diversity, but they like strong support/mentoring for all students, a pleasant learning environment and real challenge for advanced learners more. DCPS isn't really listening.

Agree and Wilson high school is also experiencing overcrowding with no solution in sight. Even worst, they now have this honors for all crap where kids with a huge spread in academic achievement are being placed together. We all know how that is going to go for the advance kids. I predict DCI will continue to gain in popularity and will become a viable alternative as the school continues to improve in the next few years.

For whom? Unless you are at a feeder, you have a low chance of securing a seat. Not as low as securing an OOB seat at Deal or Wilson of course.

And IF the school improves. Big IF.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard the story above before. Deal's crowding is turning off IB parents. Parents like socioeconomic diversity, but they like strong support/mentoring for all students, a pleasant learning environment and real challenge for advanced learners more. DCPS isn't really listening.

Agree and Wilson high school is also experiencing overcrowding with no solution in sight. Even worst, they now have this honors for all crap where kids with a huge spread in academic achievement are being placed together. We all know how that is going to go for the advance kids. I predict DCI will continue to gain in popularity and will become a viable alternative as the school continues to improve in the next few years.

For whom? Unless you are at a feeder, you have a low chance of securing a seat. Not as low as securing an OOB seat at Deal or Wilson of course.

For EOTP UMC families who have kids in feeders like us. They can easily afford to move to the Deal boundary for middle school but won’t and will be staying where they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard the story above before. Deal's crowding is turning off IB parents. Parents like socioeconomic diversity, but they like strong support/mentoring for all students, a pleasant learning environment and real challenge for advanced learners more. DCPS isn't really listening.

Agree and Wilson high school is also experiencing overcrowding with no solution in sight. Even worst, they now have this honors for all crap where kids with a huge spread in academic achievement are being placed together. We all know how that is going to go for the advance kids. I predict DCI will continue to gain in popularity and will become a viable alternative as the school continues to improve in the next few years.

You are really, really invested in trashing Deal and Wilson. Your continued use of “advance kids” and “even worst” gives you away.

What’s your beef? Do you have kids at Wilson? At Deal? Where does your certainty about how terrible these schools are come from?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, we are in the same boat. We are at a DCI feeder but in boundary for Deal. We are choosing to try DCI this year, thankfully knowing we can switch to Deal next year if DCI doesn't meet our goals. I know it would be harder on my DD to move in 7th than to just start new in 6th with everyone else. But we are encouraged by the improvements we see in DCI every year and more and more of my DD high performing classmates are going to DCI each year. I have toured both Deal and DCI and both seem to have similar cultures (granted, it was a one hour tour). Except that Deal had less diversity in terms of ethnicity and probably socioeconomic too, and I was more uncomfortable with that than I expected, coming from a feeder with a great diversity of backgrounds (and we are a white family who wants our kids to grow up with much more diversity than we did). I feel thankful to have these 2 options but are not looking back from our decision to go with DCI.

I am very surprised that you think Deal does not have diversity.

I didn't say it doesn't have diversity. I said it has less diversity than I expected and less than I would like. And less than DCI. Given that all the DCI feeders are full of families who are not native to this country, this shouldn't be surprising. As an example, my core group of 5-6 close families from different feeders have at least one parent who was born in a Latin American country.

And if you listened to the open house at Deal, it's just going to get worse for diversity. Deal has seen an increase of in-bound kids to the point that they may not be able to take ANY lottery slots next year, so as more and more rich kids go to public schools in the boundary, we will see Deal have less and less diversity. I don't mean in color of skin, I mean diversity in clads and thought. Unfortunate, IMO.

DCPS is to blame. If you want diversity in urban public middle schools, offer honors humanities classes and test-in programs, period. If you want UMC parents to amalgamate around the one high-performing by-right middle school named Deal, don't offer honors humanities classes or test-in programs. Deal only tracks for math, so unless the school is predominantly UMC (which in DC means more white), for the most part, teachers can't differentiate effectively within classrooms.

Rich kids? Give me a break, this isn't NYC, with a finance industry. Few Deal families are truly rich, many are solidly UMC.

[Anonymous]

+1. System sucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, we are in the same boat. We are at a DCI feeder but in boundary for Deal. We are choosing to try DCI this year, thankfully knowing we can switch to Deal next year if DCI doesn't meet our goals. I know it would be harder on my DD to move in 7th than to just start new in 6th with everyone else. But we are encouraged by the improvements we see in DCI every year and more and more of my DD high performing classmates are going to DCI each year. I have toured both Deal and DCI and both seem to have similar cultures (granted, it was a one hour tour). Except that Deal had less diversity in terms of ethnicity and probably socioeconomic too, and I was more uncomfortable with that than I expected, coming from a feeder with a great diversity of backgrounds (and we are a white family who wants our kids to grow up with much more diversity than we did). I feel thankful to have these 2 options but are not looking back from our decision to go with DCI.

I am very surprised that you think Deal does not have diversity.

I didn't say it doesn't have diversity. I said it has less diversity than I expected and less than I would like. And less than DCI. Given that all the DCI feeders are full of families who are not native to this country, this shouldn't be surprising. As an example, my core group of 5-6 close families from different feeders have at least one parent who was born in a Latin American country.

And if you listened to the open house at Deal, it's just going to get worse for diversity. Deal has seen an increase of in-bound kids to the point that they may not be able to take ANY lottery slots next year, so as more and more rich kids go to public schools in the boundary, we will see Deal have less and less diversity. I don't mean in color of skin, I mean diversity in clads and thought. Unfortunate, IMO.

DCPS is to blame. If you want diversity in urban public middle schools, offer honors humanities classes and test-in programs, period. If you want UMC parents to amalgamate around the one high-performing by-right middle school named Deal, don't offer honors humanities classes or test-in programs. Deal only tracks for math, so unless the school is predominantly UMC (which in DC means more white), for the most part, teachers can't differentiate effectively within classrooms.

Rich kids? Give me a break, this isn't NYC, with a finance industry. Few Deal families are truly rich, many are solidly UMC.

Once again folks, this is all relative. Most of UNW is "rich kids" if you look at nationwide stats. UMC is becoming a euphemism for people who simply don't want to admit they're in the 1%, and yes, they are rich. You're rich! Own it! God this city is so sickening sometimes.