I don't want to supplement at home

[Anonymous]

We live on the hill and attend a sought-after charter. The "curriculum" (and I use that term loosely) is far from rigorous and it doesn't seem like the administration is interested in challenging students to perform above grade level. It has surprised me that so many parents seem happy and some kids seem to be achieving academically despite this, and recently it has started to become clear many parents are supplementing at home. For many reasons, that is not a model that is going to work for our family. So if you have a kid who is most probably capable of being an "advanced learner" but is not getting those challenges at school, but supplementing at home isn't an option, where can we go? Or is dcps off the table? We really want to stay in the city but don't see a school that has only 50-60% of its white students at grade level (and very very few above) an option. Please no judgment for not wanting to supplement. Our reasons are many and varied.

[Anonymous]

I think you are expecting too much from dcps. It sounds like you want benefits of school +supplementing without effort of supplementing. You may be looking at a move out of dc, higher cost of real estate to get into sought after public schools or pay for private.

[Anonymous]

How old is your child? I am far from a tiger mom, but I'd definitely have an issue if my child were not learning the basics to the best of her ability by 2nd grade. Math, reading and writing need to be in place to be able to progress. It sounds like that school is not for you.

[Anonymous]

Private school or move to suburbs and hope your child gets into AAP or a HGC.

[Anonymous]

We are in a highly sought after immersion charter school and have been paying for a weekly math tutor since 1st grade. They are learning another language at school but the math is not rigorous, frankly the English isn't rigorous either but we just push a lot of reading time.

[Anonymous]

I also concur you are expecting too much from DCPS. Your kid will probably be fine in the end but you sort of have to accept it for what it is or you will be miserable. What, exactly, are they not teaching that you were hoping to see? Maybe a chat with the teacher....it sounds to me, however, that you are unhappy with the whole system, not just this one teacher or grade.

[Anonymous]

If you are as determined to stay in a DC public school as you are not to supplement at home, it sounds like you should enroll your child in a by-right neighborhood school in Upper NW, Brent, Maury or Watkins (where the white kids score higher than at Brent or Maury). Of course this would mean buying or renting in-boundary, with no guarantee of a remotely acceptable middle school awaiting if you stay on the Hill. If you want for Watkins and stayed in the Cluster, you'd find that Stuart-Hobson's "honors" classes are taught at grade level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Private school or move to suburbs and hope your child gets into AAP or a HGC.

+1 Even in the highly rated suburban ones, you simply can't expect that much from public schools. I've been supplementing at home since K. My DC is attending an HGC, but we had to manage the four years before that was an option. I live in a community where lots of kids go to Kumon and have tutors. We didn't have the money for tutors, but we used apps and workbooks. Not a big deal.

[Anonymous]

At the 'best' MCPS schools (Westland, Bethesda Elementary etc) the number of elementary school students scoring proficient of advanced on PARCC is about the same at Brent, Janney, Key, Lafayette, Stoddert.

[Anonymous]

My dear OP, this has always been a problem in the US. It is one of the developed countries with the least rigorous K-12 curriculum (no textbooks, poorly trained teachers, no respect for the teaching profession). Grad schools, on the other hand, are the best in the world.

Education begins at home. You have to talk to your children about current events, show them you love to learn, love to find out about things, love to read. The math curriculum is one to 3 years behind other countries, which is why some parents have their child do Kumon or other math activities.

Because there is strong interest in American universities both from American and international students, and because the globalized economy might send your kids to the other side of the world for their jobs, it is important to be able to stay competitive compared to other countries.

[Anonymous]

Honestly my friends who feel this way pay for private.

I know people who have changed jobs in order to afford it. I am not sure suburban publics would be better.

[Anonymous]

We saw a similar issue at our old school, lotteried to a WOTP school and found the pace and curriculum more challenging. HTH

[Anonymous]

Is it that you don't have time to supplement or you don't want to hire somebody else to do it either?

[Anonymous]

I love living in the city so I hate to say this. However, if your school is greater than 25% FARMS, you really need to supplement at home in order to prevent those students from being a drain on your own child's education.

I know that's not pretty, but it's true. There are just so many poor students in DC and they need so much remediation that they get prioritized. If you can't find a way to avoid their influence (which is a force of numbers) then you have to find a way to mitigate it.

Wealthier schools help: private, certain DCPS, certain HRCs, suburbs. As long as you can keep their influence below 25% (preferably below 20%) then your child can be a positive influence on them, instead of them being a negative influence on your child.

[Anonymous]

reading is the only supplement you need. If you know language - it's rhythms and moves - you'll do just fine. You can always get caught up in math, but vocabulary ect just takes lots and lots of reading. You have to encounter a new word three times before you know it and can use it.