Does it actually matter which school you send your kid to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In this area, there is a lot of choice as to where to live. It should be easy to find a nice area with good schools - assuming you can afford. Over time, you will find that many of your friendships come from the parents of your chlid's schoolmates. Same for your child's friends. Life works out better in so many respects if you find a home close to your child's school and you make sure that it's a good school.

This, this exactly, is why we’re staying EOTP as long as possible. I have ZERO interest in socializing with Bethesda snobs or their DC equivalents. Not my people, and likely their kids won’t be my kids people either. My parents moved for schools and my mom couldn’t stand the neighborhood parents and I was a total loner at school with friends from out of school activities. I do not want to repeat that a second generation in a row.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2 things matter regarding schools

1. The number one factor in school success is the parents/home environment. Points to the poster commenting that having a shorter commute pays dividends

2. The second thing that matters is having a highly motivated cohort. Now, since this is DCUM I'm assuming the kid in question is top 10%. Usually, most schools have at least a collection of high performing students. Now unfortunately in DC, this is not the case. The majority of middle and high schools in DC are terrible. There are only 3-5 good middle schools in DC which requires either living in the most expensive parts of the city are getting lucky through a charter. For high school the selective high schools are an option but again middle school is a big problem.

Based on this I would leave DCPS after 4th grade unless you had a path to one of the 3-5 decent middle school options.

OP has a one year old. The middle school landscape could change sognificantly by then.

OP, the school is only one part of your life. A long commute will make it very hard to do other things like an instrument, a sport, any special activity that you may choose, especially if you can't afford a lot of household help. And with your child so young and your preference for downtown, it seems silly to make sacrifices for a middle or high school so far in the future.

People where saying the same thing when my child, who will enter middle school next year, was one as well. No change to the quality of the middle schools in my neighborhood, just additional charter options.

Here are some changes to middle schools in the past 10 years, and these are just the ones I happen to remember at the moment, I'm sure there are plenty more to list. OP should consider the possibility of being boundaried out of Deal, Hardy, or Wilson in the next boundary review. Or out of any other feeder. This list is why people say a lot can change in 10 years. Not all of these changes are differences in quality, but they're differences that a parent might care about for other reasons.

Eaton was sent to Hardy rather than Deal.
Crestwood Carve-out
The story of the Cluster is too long to even relate here (and Eastern re-opened)
Shaw Middle was proposed in the re-boundarying, then canceled
MacFarland re-opened with Spanish program
New Wells middle school
New Brookland Middle
New McKinley Middle
High-SES families increased willingness to attend Stuart-Hobson, and a few are venturing to Jefferson and Eliot-Hine
Various elementary school boundary changes altered feeder patterns, for example Bloomingdale zoned to Langley (McKinley Middle) rather than Seaton (Cardozo/Shaw Middle).


Charters:
Inspired Teaching got its Edgewood location and built up its middle school
Two Rivers built up its middle school and announced the transition to the new Young campus
CMI built up its middle school
DCI was created and developed, and some of the feeders expanded and are only offering a preference at DCI rather than a guarantee.
New Montessori middle school opening this fall

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just bite the bullet and move to the Wilson catchment area (mostly WOTP). Honestly, some of the MD/VA school might be better, but the difference seems to me mostly marginal and driven by socio-economics. The schools are safe and pretty average with little crime and violence.

In our schools (Stoddert -> Hardy); things seem fine. Most importantly, we don't sit down and worry about the school and our kids' life trajectory. (I.e. no TJ worries like some of our VA friends; or Middle/HS worries like our Cap Hill friends) The kids can walk to school, their friends are in the neighborhood, and there is racial diversity. Life is pretty relaxing (other than the younger one throwing tantrums about food preference).

This is bad advice. You don't need to do this. Skip the bullet and stay urban until you need to. You'll know when that is, if it comes up. I really don't think WOTP people understand that the don't actually live in a city whatsoever, they live in a fancy suburb. If that's not your cup of tea, wait and see but you can (gasp!) move twice within the next 13 years if you need to. The worrying doesn't set in for a while, for most. We enjoy our lives.

Yes, they are all so dumb that they have no idea where they live or what any other part of the city is like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It makes a difference. I went to a diverse school that did have a top cohort but it wasn't large. Classes were not that challenging and I complained by third grade that I was bored. Took honors classes in high school and got good grades and into a top 5 college. Classes there were soooo hard because I didn't have the right preparation. I did fine but it was a lot more work than kids who came from better schools.

Classes are taught to the average. If your average is below grade level then the class will not be as challenging.

So it does make a difference but it doesn't mean you can't be successful.

THIS. If your kid is bored, barely needs to study, and is cruising thru school then they are not being challenged to their full potential. If they are on or above grade level and the overwhelming majority of kids are below, this is going to be the case most of the time.
You will get a false sense of security that they are doing great. But reality is that it’s too easy.

Now elevate the playing field and put them in a school with a more rigorous curriculum with a majority higher performing peer group. They will find out soon enough they won’t be anywhere near the top. They will either learn to work hard fast or they will flounder. Some kids, who are not forced to develop these skills, will flounder. PP had self motivation to work harder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2 things matter regarding schools

1. The number one factor in school success is the parents/home environment. Points to the poster commenting that having a shorter commute pays dividends

2. The second thing that matters is having a highly motivated cohort. Now, since this is DCUM I'm assuming the kid in question is top 10%. Usually, most schools have at least a collection of high performing students. Now unfortunately in DC, this is not the case. The majority of middle and high schools in DC are terrible. There are only 3-5 good middle schools in DC which requires either living in the most expensive parts of the city are getting lucky through a charter. For high school the selective high schools are an option but again middle school is a big problem.

Based on this I would leave DCPS after 4th grade unless you had a path to one of the 3-5 decent middle school options.

OP has a one year old. The middle school landscape could change sognificantly by then.

OP, the school is only one part of your life. A long commute will make it very hard to do other things like an instrument, a sport, any special activity that you may choose, especially if you can't afford a lot of household help. And with your child so young and your preference for downtown, it seems silly to make sacrifices for a middle or high school so far in the future.

People where saying the same thing when my child, who will enter middle school next year, was one as well. No change to the quality of the middle schools in my neighborhood, just additional charter options.

Here are some changes to middle schools in the past 10 years, and these are just the ones I happen to remember at the moment, I'm sure there are plenty more to list. OP should consider the possibility of being boundaried out of Deal, Hardy, or Wilson in the next boundary review. Or out of any other feeder. This list is why people say a lot can change in 10 years. Not all of these changes are differences in quality, but they're differences that a parent might care about for other reasons.

Eaton was sent to Hardy rather than Deal.
Crestwood Carve-out
The story of the Cluster is too long to even relate here (and Eastern re-opened)
Shaw Middle was proposed in the re-boundarying, then canceled
MacFarland re-opened with Spanish program
New Wells middle school
New Brookland Middle
New McKinley Middle
High-SES families increased willingness to attend Stuart-Hobson, and a few are venturing to Jefferson and Eliot-Hine
Various elementary school boundary changes altered feeder patterns, for example Bloomingdale zoned to Langley (McKinley Middle) rather than Seaton (Cardozo/Shaw Middle).


Charters:
Inspired Teaching got its Edgewood location and built up its middle school
Two Rivers built up its middle school and announced the transition to the new Young campus
CMI built up its middle school
DCI was created and developed, and some of the feeders expanded and are only offering a preference at DCI rather than a guarantee.
New Montessori middle school opening this fall

PP mentioned the charters. None of the changes you listed have panned out into any kind of “Alice Deal for all” that would have most parents with other options attending those schools. The change is always just around the corner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2 things matter regarding schools

1. The number one factor in school success is the parents/home environment. Points to the poster commenting that having a shorter commute pays dividends

2. The second thing that matters is having a highly motivated cohort. Now, since this is DCUM I'm assuming the kid in question is top 10%. Usually, most schools have at least a collection of high performing students. Now unfortunately in DC, this is not the case. The majority of middle and high schools in DC are terrible. There are only 3-5 good middle schools in DC which requires either living in the most expensive parts of the city are getting lucky through a charter. For high school the selective high schools are an option but again middle school is a big problem.

Based on this I would leave DCPS after 4th grade unless you had a path to one of the 3-5 decent middle school options.

OP has a one year old. The middle school landscape could change sognificantly by then.

OP, the school is only one part of your life. A long commute will make it very hard to do other things like an instrument, a sport, any special activity that you may choose, especially if you can't afford a lot of household help. And with your child so young and your preference for downtown, it seems silly to make sacrifices for a middle or high school so far in the future.

People where saying the same thing when my child, who will enter middle school next year, was one as well. No change to the quality of the middle schools in my neighborhood, just additional charter options.

Here are some changes to middle schools in the past 10 years, and these are just the ones I happen to remember at the moment, I'm sure there are plenty more to list. OP should consider the possibility of being boundaried out of Deal, Hardy, or Wilson in the next boundary review. Or out of any other feeder. This list is why people say a lot can change in 10 years. Not all of these changes are differences in quality, but they're differences that a parent might care about for other reasons.

Eaton was sent to Hardy rather than Deal.
Crestwood Carve-out
The story of the Cluster is too long to even relate here (and Eastern re-opened)
Shaw Middle was proposed in the re-boundarying, then canceled
MacFarland re-opened with Spanish program
New Wells middle school
New Brookland Middle
New McKinley Middle
High-SES families increased willingness to attend Stuart-Hobson, and a few are venturing to Jefferson and Eliot-Hine
Various elementary school boundary changes altered feeder patterns, for example Bloomingdale zoned to Langley (McKinley Middle) rather than Seaton (Cardozo/Shaw Middle).


Charters:
Inspired Teaching got its Edgewood location and built up its middle school
Two Rivers built up its middle school and announced the transition to the new Young campus
CMI built up its middle school
DCI was created and developed, and some of the feeders expanded and are only offering a preference at DCI rather than a guarantee.
New Montessori middle school opening this fall

PP mentioned the charters. None of the changes you listed have panned out into any kind of “Alice Deal for all” that would have most parents with other options attending those schools. The change is always just around the corner.

There's no Alice Deal for all. Of course not. But the point is, a lot can change in 10 years, and sometimes for the worse.

[Anonymous]

OP we have stayed at an EOTP charter through elementary school and have largely been happy (started at Ross, which we loved, but moved when kids got into charter).

We have had shorter commutes and a diverse neighborhood and very nice vibe at school. No pressure, friendly families and diverse community. However, there are two things that made me wish we had moved to the burbs/upper NW for schools earlier. (1) middle school. We don't have a good middle school option and I underestimated how disruptive the kids are finding it to have to pick up and go somewhere where they know NO ONE at a challenging age. (2) although we have generally been happy with the level of education, there's no question that our kids have gaps compared to other kids from more established schools. We supplemented at home to some extent but haven't really done it in any sustained or focused way. So I think going to a more standard middle school is going to be a big adjustment...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In this area, there is a lot of choice as to where to live. It should be easy to find a nice area with good schools - assuming you can afford. Over time, you will find that many of your friendships come from the parents of your chlid's schoolmates. Same for your child's friends. Life works out better in so many respects if you find a home close to your child's school and you make sure that it's a good school.

This, this exactly, is why we’re staying EOTP as long as possible. I have ZERO interest in socializing with Bethesda snobs or their DC equivalents. Not my people, and likely their kids won’t be my kids people either. My parents moved for schools and my mom couldn’t stand the neighborhood parents and I was a total loner at school with friends from out of school activities. I do not want to repeat that a second generation in a row.

And I have ZERO interest in socializing with people who make broad judgments on other people based on where they live.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I believe that teachers touch a child’s life, even change it, inspire. Also, I believe that people around us influence who we become.

We gave public schools a chance in Elementary. But even the best teachers there were overworked, spent a lot of time on disciplining students rather than teaching, didn’t encourage asking questions because the class sizes (27 kids) and taught to test. The peer group had some good kids but also a lot of kids with undesired behavior - sexualized.

So we moved DD to a private. This is her first year in middle school. The max class size is 20. The teachers are awesome. They truly try to spark the joy of learning, they do a lot project based learning and games, encourage asking questions.

DD is surrounded by kids from good families, with high academic level, some overachievers. These are kids that travel, read books, go to museums and theaters, and do a lot of extra curricular activities- robotics, swimming, orchestra, etc. They don’t come home and plop in front of TV. So I’m hoping DD will thrive in this environment. So far she’s doing very well.

Thank you for posting this, it is always good to be reminded why I don't send my kids to private school-- dealing with people who think like you do. I hate to burst your bubble, but my kids go to a DC public middle school and they are also surrounded my kids from "good families" from all over DC, with high academic levels. They also travel, read books, go to museums and theaters, and do extracurricular activities. Imagine that!! Public school kids read books!!

You do not have to pay for private school for any of these things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe that teachers touch a child’s life, even change it, inspire. Also, I believe that people around us influence who we become.

We gave public schools a chance in Elementary. But even the best teachers there were overworked, spent a lot of time on disciplining students rather than teaching, didn’t encourage asking questions because the class sizes (27 kids) and taught to test. The peer group had some good kids but also a lot of kids with undesired behavior - sexualized.

So we moved DD to a private. This is her first year in middle school. The max class size is 20. The teachers are awesome. They truly try to spark the joy of learning, they do a lot project based learning and games, encourage asking questions.

DD is surrounded by kids from good families, with high academic level, some overachievers. These are kids that travel, read books, go to museums and theaters, and do a lot of extra curricular activities- robotics, swimming, orchestra, etc. They don’t come home and plop in front of TV. So I’m hoping DD will thrive in this environment. So far she’s doing very well.

Thank you for posting this, it is always good to be reminded why I don't send my kids to private school-- dealing with people who think like you do. I hate to burst your bubble, but my kids go to a DC public middle school and they are also surrounded my kids from "good families" from all over DC, with high academic levels. They also travel, read books, go to museums and theaters, and do extracurricular activities. Imagine that!! Public school kids read books!!

You do not have to pay for private school for any of these things.

And again there are only 3-5 middle schools like this in DC where you have to pay an arm and a leg for real estate or pray you get lucky for a charter

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

pay an arm and a leg for real estate

The original school choice in America, and still the only option in 95% of the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

pay an arm and a leg for real estate

The original school choice in America, and still the only option in 95% of the country.

And this is why the only thing keeping middle class families in the city EOTP long term is charters if they can’t afford private. The only thing or else many more families will move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe that teachers touch a child’s life, even change it, inspire. Also, I believe that people around us influence who we become.

We gave public schools a chance in Elementary. But even the best teachers there were overworked, spent a lot of time on disciplining students rather than teaching, didn’t encourage asking questions because the class sizes (27 kids) and taught to test. The peer group had some good kids but also a lot of kids with undesired behavior - sexualized.

So we moved DD to a private. This is her first year in middle school. The max class size is 20. The teachers are awesome. They truly try to spark the joy of learning, they do a lot project based learning and games, encourage asking questions.

DD is surrounded by kids from good families, with high academic level, some overachievers. These are kids that travel, read books, go to museums and theaters, and do a lot of extra curricular activities- robotics, swimming, orchestra, etc. They don’t come home and plop in front of TV. So I’m hoping DD will thrive in this environment. So far she’s doing very well.

Thank you for posting this, it is always good to be reminded why I don't send my kids to private school-- dealing with people who think like you do. I hate to burst your bubble, but my kids go to a DC public middle school and they are also surrounded my kids from "good families" from all over DC, with high academic levels. They also travel, read books, go to museums and theaters, and do extracurricular activities. Imagine that!! Public school kids read books!!

You do not have to pay for private school for any of these things.

And again there are only 3-5 middle schools like this in DC where you have to pay an arm and a leg for real estate or pray you get lucky for a charter

Yeah, not sure what's more annoying: private school folks who don't see their blinders and racism/classism around public schools, or public school parents who are smug, and don't see their privilege afforded them by a good lottery number or expensive real estate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Thank you for posting this, it is always good to be reminded why I don't send my kids to private school-- dealing with people who think like you do. I hate to burst your bubble, but my kids go to a DC public middle school and they are also surrounded my kids from "good families" from all over DC, with high academic levels. They also travel, read books, go to museums and theaters, and do extracurricular activities. Imagine that!! Public school kids read books!!

You do not have to pay for private school for any of these things.

At public school my DC was picking up vulgar language, there was a lot of drama about boyfriends and girlfriends and talk about sex which I thought was inappropriate for 4th grade, there was a lot behavior issues and the focus was on discipline, not academics.

They got punished for standing on the wrong tile in the hallway, speaking in class, forgetting homework and for forgetting to get their parents to sign reading log. For each infraction they accumulated laps that they had to walk around the perimeter of school yard at recess. Like prisoners.

DC did find make some good friends but overall environment was not at that level. I didn’t have an impression that it was intellectually stimulating.

This was a school with 9/10 rating and 20% low income students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Thank you for posting this, it is always good to be reminded why I don't send my kids to private school-- dealing with people who think like you do. I hate to burst your bubble, but my kids go to a DC public middle school and they are also surrounded my kids from "good families" from all over DC, with high academic levels. They also travel, read books, go to museums and theaters, and do extracurricular activities. Imagine that!! Public school kids read books!!

You do not have to pay for private school for any of these things.

At public school my DC was picking up vulgar language, there was a lot of drama about boyfriends and girlfriends and talk about sex which I thought was inappropriate for 4th grade, there was a lot behavior issues and the focus was on discipline, not academics.

They got punished for standing on the wrong tile in the hallway, speaking in class, forgetting homework and for forgetting to get their parents to sign reading log. For each infraction they accumulated laps that they had to walk around the perimeter of school yard at recess. Like prisoners.

DC did find make some good friends but overall environment was not at that level. I didn’t have an impression that it was intellectually stimulating.

This was a school with 9/10 rating and 20% low income students.

whoa! which school is there?
fwiw our DCPS does not have this vibe...