Capitol Hill families - If you moved to NW or burbs for school, do you have any regrets?
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Anonymous
Here's the problem. The highest-performing public middle schools in this area feature widespread academic tracking. Students have access to a finely tuned "accelerated curriculum." A strong student in MoCo, Fairfax or Arlington can do highly accelerated work in certain subjects, moderately accelerated work in others, and at-grade level work in their weakest subjects, at least by 8th grade. What happens in DC is that MS students are lumped together in the same classes through 8th grade, other than for math, and for languages at DCI. So kids who don't belong in 7th grade algebra at BASIS (around half the students) must take it, while kids who are ready for advanced work in other subjects can't pursue it at school. In a nutshell, lack of appropriate academic tracking is the main reason Hill families leave for suburban schools and private schools. The parents who stay often pay for tutors, academic enrichment programs or coach their kids to fill in gaps. We know BASIS families who pay for English and language tutors and camps because their kids aren't challenged in these subjects at school. Contrary to popular belief, the BASIS and Latin curricula aren't accelerated across the board. I teach at a suburban MS offering four levels of English and math by 8th grade and several levels of social studies, language and science. In a nutshell, the double whammy of lack of appropriate academic tracking and very limited school choice (but an abundance of "school chance") drives DC families out, including many in the J-R pyramid. You can bicker all you want about where Capitol Hill's boundaries fall without changing the fact that all of us EotP are impacted. |
Anonymous
| Do Deal and Hardy track or are things better because they have more students at grade level? |
Anonymous
“Most” Payne and “many” Miner… Probably the ones who live on or at least near Capitol Hill, or perhaps the ones sucked by real estate agents. It’s not defining the problem (which Ward 5 has as well) away to say that almost a mile from the Capitol Hill historic district does not equal Capitol Hill. Geographically Chinatown is closer to the Hill than 24th & Benning, that doesn’t make it Capitol Hill. Also, when there’s a big discussion on whether people on the Hill could afford to sell their houses and move to Arlington, there’s obviously a huge difference in the answer for folks with houses in the Historic District ($1 million minimum with a few exceptions) and folks living out in an area where the average house seems to be $600K way on the other side of the Starburst. Defining everyone into Capitol Hill actually masks that people have very different options. |
Anonymous
Yes, much better, with far more students working at grade level in Upper NW than EotP, but not great. The quality of teaching at Deal is said to vary even more than that at the Ward 6 middle schools. No DCPS middle school tracks formally outside math and for grade-level English at Hardy, Stuart Hobson and possibly Jefferson Academy (no clear answers on tracking from JA). |
Anonymous
Let’s see. You teach at a suburban middle school yet you are somehow an expert on Basis. In fact, your “analysis” is way off. -The curriculum at Basis is advanced across the board, not just in math. Just take a course catalogue. -There is plenty of flexibility in taking courses (even though Basis is a lot smaller than many suburban schools), especially starting in high school. Some students take Calc BC in 10th grade; some never take it at all. Some students take an AP class in 8th grade; some don’t. All students start taking AP classes in 9th grade; some end up taking 6 AP classes but others take 10-15. After the first few years, there is effectively tracking at Basis. -Lots of parents at Big 3 private schools supplement with tutors and camps. Just read the posts on the private school board. That says nothing about the curriculum. -Basis is a great option for a lot of families, including those on the Hill, who didn’t want to flee to the suburbs. If you don’t want your kid to be challenged, don’t send him or her to Basis. |
Anonymous
Hate to tell you this but you just typed 237 words when you could have just said, "I agree." Because that's what you did. What you said is that the math at BASIS is too advanced for a lot of kids and there is no alternative for kids who hang in by a thread. You said parents opt to continue because it is better than their alternative. That's, as PP to whom you responded said, a choice available to parents. |
Anonymous
Newsflash, the list of people who care about the "historic district" designation includes the following: -Septuagenarian and and octogenarian real estate agents who wear knits and ill fitting ankle length dresses -Desperate people like you who want a cache that doesn't exist For most families looking to buy homes for families the historic restrictions are a net negative. You seem sad and desperate. I'd also bet you $5k that you do not have and have not had school age kids at home for several years. |
Anonymous
Ok then, be sure to include an asterisk on your post: “This applies to those zoned for Jefferson and EH and SH who have at least $1.5 mil in home equity.” |
Anonymous
Yes, we get it, loud and clear. You don't want to include any black families in your Capitol Hill definition. |
Anonymous
This. Different background, similar idea. I did not grow up in poverty - just solidly middle class. My parents worked in K12 education and knew what to look for when it comes to school quality beyond test scores and demographics. I went to Title I schools from elementary on up. I was always one of the wealthiest kids - even with teacher parents - had a more stable home life than many of my classmates and was in the minority as a white kid. My parents did not supplement other than encouraging me to read anything I wanted and then discussing it with me. All of my public schools did offer gifted classes, which I took in some subjects, not all. I graduated with lots of AP credits, made friends with fellow nerds from all backgrounds, got a master's, make a good living in a competitive field. My sibling went to the same schools and is now a doctor, with a degree from a top med school. But more importantly, as adults, we both have a better understanding of the world and people who aren't like us than most kids who grew up white and middle class. It's served us well professionally and even better personally. I want the same for my kid and it's made me much more open minded about schools than many folks who post on DCUM, which I guess can be a low bar. Knowing things change or don't turn out like you expect, I've got a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, Plan D, mostly not requiring lottery luck. We may end up a bad commute if Plan A or B doesn't work, but I think we have found or will find a path that will allow my kid to graduate well prepared for whatever comes next. |
Anonymous
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Let’s see. You teach at a suburban middle school yet you are somehow an expert on Basis. In fact, your “analysis” is way off.
-The curriculum at Basis is advanced across the board, not just in math. Just take a course catalogue. -There is plenty of flexibility in taking courses (even though Basis is a lot smaller than many suburban schools), especially starting in high school. Some students take Calc BC in 10th grade; some never take it at all. Some students take an AP class in 8th grade; some don’t. All students start taking AP classes in 9th grade; some end up taking 6 AP classes but others take 10-15. After the first few years, there is effectively tracking at Basis. -Lots of parents at Big 3 private schools supplement with tutors and camps. Just read the posts on the private school board. That says nothing about the curriculum. -Basis is a great option for a lot of families, including those on the Hill, who didn’t want to flee to the suburbs. If you don’t want your kid to be challenged, don’t send him or her to Basis. *NP. We're on the Hill. We left BASIS for Gonzaga last year and couldn't disagree more with the post 2 posts above. The curriculum at BASIS is "advanced" across the board as compared to which? That of DCPS? My kid needed remedial writing work the summer before 9th grade after studying English with a series of weak, just-out-of-grad-school teachers with weak classroom management skills at BASIS. One of the teachers used to cry in front of the class when the kids got very rowdy. Gonzaga insisted on the writing work. My kid arrived at high school with two years of iffy middle school Spanish instruction (BASIS now teaches languages from only from 8th grade and only at the beginning level), while most of his classmates started studying Spanish in the Upper ES grades at suburban and private schools. He was placed in Spanish 2 while classmates started in Spanish, 3, 4 or 5 (out of 6 levels). My kid needed to repeat both geometry and algebra II at Gonzaga after having failed to master too many concepts, despite having earned As in math throughout his BASIS years. He came in a couple years ahead in science, I'll give BASIS that. He was also behind on standard extra-curriculars, sports, music, debate. In our experience, outside science instruction, BASIS is meh. |
Anonymous
NP. Yes, as compared to other free schools. Sounds like your kid didn't excel in English or languages. That's ok. Weird you blame others for that though. |
Anonymous
You really think the author of this post was asking if folks previously living at 22nd & Benning regretted that they moved to the NW or burbs? Sure. Whatever. We can talk about everyone EOTP having middle school issues... that's absolutely true. That's still not "Capitol Hill," which is what this post was actually asking about. |
Anonymous
| We lived near eastern market and had major angst about moving to nw when our daughter was 1. She is now 10. We lived in Shepherd park, next to rock creek park, have a great community, yard and love it! No regrets. Definitely feels more city than suburbs although different than Capitol Hill. But our needs have changed with kids and we’re closer to what we need. |
Anonymous
NP. That's a straw man. The entire point of this conversation is to discuss school options for people in Capitol Hill elementaries that feed to Eastern, which is viewed by most as a non-starter. EH, SH, and JA are viewed as borderline by some, unacceptable by many (though a major reason they are deemed unacceptable is specifically because they feed to Eastern). So excluding families zoned for Maury, Payne, Tyler, even Van Ness or JO Wilson (neither of which are on the Hill but feed to schools on the Hill) makes little sense. The conversation obviously includes people in Hill East and really anywhere in Ward 6 where the feeder schools might prompt people to move. This isn't about who gets to claim they live on the Hill (no one cares!), it's about how families who move because they are dissatisfied with educational options on the Hill, which are accessed by people outside the strict borders of not only the historic district (which is quite small) but even the broader Capitol Hill area. All these families face similar issues, regardless of whether they live at 4th and East Cap or 9th and I St NE or 4th and L SE. |