Is APS middle school less rigorous?

[Anonymous]

Academically, the schools are responsible for that. They have my kids for the prime learning hours of the day, I have my own job, and trying to make up for lackluster learning in the evenings after kids are tired and should be doing appropriate social and athletic activities not make up school work.

I want those core hours at school, when student are fresh to be about instruction and engaged learning, then an afternoon with some exercise, family time, meals and wrap up with targeted homework to reinforce what was taught that say in quiet independent contemplation before sleep.

The homework helps student and teacher identify if there were gaps in learning way earlier than waiting till next test, and the break between instruction and homework helps confirm retention.

Even if no homework is assigned, teachers are constantly checking during class to make sure students understand. They do not wait until the next test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Academically, the schools are responsible for that. They have my kids for the prime learning hours of the day, I have my own job, and trying to make up for lackluster learning in the evenings after kids are tired and should be doing appropriate social and athletic activities not make up school work.

I want those core hours at school, when student are fresh to be about instruction and engaged learning, then an afternoon with some exercise, family time, meals and wrap up with targeted homework to reinforce what was taught that say in quiet independent contemplation before sleep.

The homework helps student and teacher identify if there were gaps in learning way earlier than waiting till next test, and the break between instruction and homework helps confirm retention.

Even if no homework is assigned, teachers are constantly checking during class to make sure students understand. They do not wait until the next test.

So on top of instruction, they have time to assess each of the 30 kids within the class day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Academically, the schools are responsible for that. They have my kids for the prime learning hours of the day, I have my own job, and trying to make up for lackluster learning in the evenings after kids are tired and should be doing appropriate social and athletic activities not make up school work.

I want those core hours at school, when student are fresh to be about instruction and engaged learning, then an afternoon with some exercise, family time, meals and wrap up with targeted homework to reinforce what was taught that say in quiet independent contemplation before sleep.

The homework helps student and teacher identify if there were gaps in learning way earlier than waiting till next test, and the break between instruction and homework helps confirm retention.

Even if no homework is assigned, teachers are constantly checking during class to make sure students understand. They do not wait until the next test.

So on top of instruction, they have time to assess each of the 30 kids within the class day?

If they use a self-grading tool like a Canvas quiz a teacher can get near instant information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very very few kids from APS as a whole and any district as a whole getting into Ivys as a percentage this year. Acceptance rates in the single digits. Even with perfect SATs and all As in the most rigorous classes, you are one of many many just like you. In the current climate it is not helpful to use admissions to these schools as a metric of how “good” a high school is. It’s not useful.

+1 Kids get into Ivy-type schools because they are extraordinarily driven + (mostly) some kind of hook. MS-HS you go to has very little to do with creating that profile. More kids do get in from elite privates but that's more because the elite private schools have already done the pre-screening for the hooks like legacy and $$$.

A kid who goes to any APS HS and does well in challenging classes (AP/IB) is going to be prepared for college. Same as any of the surrounding districts.

APS does not prepare you for college the way privates do. It just doesn't. There is almost no focus on writing, grammar, reading books and discussing them in class. It's a real shame. That said, a lot of the amazing admission stats you see from privates are because of legacy admissions/donations and other exceptional hooks. Don't go to private as a ticket to the ivys unless you have a hook. Do go to private for the superior education.

We're Ivy graduates who agree that writing instruction is a weak point of APS MS & HS, and public schools in general in this country. Hence, we've supplemented for English from the get go, with tutors and summer programs. As far as we're concerned, private school just doesn't prepare a kid to cope in the real world the way a good public school does. We love how our children have made a stunningly diverse group of pals in APS, including refugee kids from the Middle East and Afghanistan who perform better on math assessments than our children do. Go in with your eyes open, supplement, but don't baby your children with pampered private school environments as a knee jerk reaction. APS middle school is pretty darn good. We bailed from DCPS after elementary school with no regrets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very very few kids from APS as a whole and any district as a whole getting into Ivys as a percentage this year. Acceptance rates in the single digits. Even with perfect SATs and all As in the most rigorous classes, you are one of many many just like you. In the current climate it is not helpful to use admissions to these schools as a metric of how “good” a high school is. It’s not useful.

+1 Kids get into Ivy-type schools because they are extraordinarily driven + (mostly) some kind of hook. MS-HS you go to has very little to do with creating that profile. More kids do get in from elite privates but that's more because the elite private schools have already done the pre-screening for the hooks like legacy and $$$.

A kid who goes to any APS HS and does well in challenging classes (AP/IB) is going to be prepared for college. Same as any of the surrounding districts.

APS does not prepare you for college the way privates do. It just doesn't. There is almost no focus on writing, grammar, reading books and discussing them in class. It's a real shame. That said, a lot of the amazing admission stats you see from privates are because of legacy admissions/donations and other exceptional hooks. Don't go to private as a ticket to the ivys unless you have a hook. Do go to private for the superior education.

We're Ivy graduates who agree that writing instruction is a weak point of APS MS & HS, and public schools in general in this country. Hence, we've supplemented for English from the get go, with tutors and summer programs. As far as we're concerned, private school just doesn't prepare a kid to cope in the real world the way a good public school does. We love how our children have made a stunningly diverse group of pals in APS, including refugee kids from the Middle East and Afghanistan who perform better on math assessments than our children do. Go in with your eyes open, supplement, but don't baby your children with pampered private school environments as a knee jerk reaction. APS middle school is pretty darn good. We bailed from DCPS after elementary school with no regrets.

So funny. I was one of the diverse elements at my college, and once I got into college I really never interacted with “diverse people” again. College selects for academic/ability to pay/etc, and then you enter the professional world and buy an UMC house and are basically in a bubble forever. What exactly are you preparing your children for by hobnobbing with people like me in high school? After public school they will never see them again except when they hire them to work on their home or take care of their kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very very few kids from APS as a whole and any district as a whole getting into Ivys as a percentage this year. Acceptance rates in the single digits. Even with perfect SATs and all As in the most rigorous classes, you are one of many many just like you. In the current climate it is not helpful to use admissions to these schools as a metric of how “good” a high school is. It’s not useful.

+1 Kids get into Ivy-type schools because they are extraordinarily driven + (mostly) some kind of hook. MS-HS you go to has very little to do with creating that profile. More kids do get in from elite privates but that's more because the elite private schools have already done the pre-screening for the hooks like legacy and $$$.

A kid who goes to any APS HS and does well in challenging classes (AP/IB) is going to be prepared for college. Same as any of the surrounding districts.

APS does not prepare you for college the way privates do. It just doesn't. There is almost no focus on writing, grammar, reading books and discussing them in class. It's a real shame. That said, a lot of the amazing admission stats you see from privates are because of legacy admissions/donations and other exceptional hooks. Don't go to private as a ticket to the ivys unless you have a hook. Do go to private for the superior education.

We're Ivy graduates who agree that writing instruction is a weak point of APS MS & HS, and public schools in general in this country. Hence, we've supplemented for English from the get go, with tutors and summer programs. As far as we're concerned, private school just doesn't prepare a kid to cope in the real world the way a good public school does. We love how our children have made a stunningly diverse group of pals in APS, including refugee kids from the Middle East and Afghanistan who perform better on math assessments than our children do. Go in with your eyes open, supplement, but don't baby your children with pampered private school environments as a knee jerk reaction. APS middle school is pretty darn good. We bailed from DCPS after elementary school with no regrets.

Oh your point of reference is DCPS? No wonder you think APS MS is the bees knees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Academically, the schools are responsible for that. They have my kids for the prime learning hours of the day, I have my own job, and trying to make up for lackluster learning in the evenings after kids are tired and should be doing appropriate social and athletic activities not make up school work.

I want those core hours at school, when student are fresh to be about instruction and engaged learning, then an afternoon with some exercise, family time, meals and wrap up with targeted homework to reinforce what was taught that say in quiet independent contemplation before sleep.

The homework helps student and teacher identify if there were gaps in learning way earlier than waiting till next test, and the break between instruction and homework helps confirm retention.

Even if no homework is assigned, teachers are constantly checking during class to make sure students understand. They do not wait until the next test.

So on top of instruction, they have time to assess each of the 30 kids within the class day?

If they use a self-grading tool like a Canvas quiz a teacher can get near instant information.

Oh goody more technology. Okay so they can do some kind of math problems (though I don’t think they set up complex math problems you do by hand and then enter answer in canvas, but maybe I’m wrong?), and spelling, but writing, analysis, comprehension is not evaluated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very very few kids from APS as a whole and any district as a whole getting into Ivys as a percentage this year. Acceptance rates in the single digits. Even with perfect SATs and all As in the most rigorous classes, you are one of many many just like you. In the current climate it is not helpful to use admissions to these schools as a metric of how “good” a high school is. It’s not useful.

+1 Kids get into Ivy-type schools because they are extraordinarily driven + (mostly) some kind of hook. MS-HS you go to has very little to do with creating that profile. More kids do get in from elite privates but that's more because the elite private schools have already done the pre-screening for the hooks like legacy and $$$.

A kid who goes to any APS HS and does well in challenging classes (AP/IB) is going to be prepared for college. Same as any of the surrounding districts.

APS does not prepare you for college the way privates do. It just doesn't. There is almost no focus on writing, grammar, reading books and discussing them in class. It's a real shame. That said, a lot of the amazing admission stats you see from privates are because of legacy admissions/donations and other exceptional hooks. Don't go to private as a ticket to the ivys unless you have a hook. Do go to private for the superior education.

We're Ivy graduates who agree that writing instruction is a weak point of APS MS & HS, and public schools in general in this country. Hence, we've supplemented for English from the get go, with tutors and summer programs. As far as we're concerned, private school just doesn't prepare a kid to cope in the real world the way a good public school does. We love how our children have made a stunningly diverse group of pals in APS, including refugee kids from the Middle East and Afghanistan who perform better on math assessments than our children do. Go in with your eyes open, supplement, but don't baby your children with pampered private school environments as a knee jerk reaction. APS middle school is pretty darn good. We bailed from DCPS after elementary school with no regrets.

So funny. I was one of the diverse elements at my college, and once I got into college I really never interacted with “diverse people” again. College selects for academic/ability to pay/etc, and then you enter the professional world and buy an UMC house and are basically in a bubble forever. What exactly are you preparing your children for by hobnobbing with people like me in high school? After public school they will never see them again except when they hire them to work on their home or take care of their kids?

To each his own. Not our experience. We have college friends who attended our alma maters on close to 100% fi aid from overseas. We certainly don't think that APS is the bees knees, but we think it's good enough for the likes of us as long as we stay on top of what's happening in the classroom and supplement on a regular basis here and there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Academically, the schools are responsible for that. They have my kids for the prime learning hours of the day, I have my own job, and trying to make up for lackluster learning in the evenings after kids are tired and should be doing appropriate social and athletic activities not make up school work.

I want those core hours at school, when student are fresh to be about instruction and engaged learning, then an afternoon with some exercise, family time, meals and wrap up with targeted homework to reinforce what was taught that say in quiet independent contemplation before sleep.

The homework helps student and teacher identify if there were gaps in learning way earlier than waiting till next test, and the break between instruction and homework helps confirm retention.

Even if no homework is assigned, teachers are constantly checking during class to make sure students understand. They do not wait until the next test.

So on top of instruction, they have time to assess each of the 30 kids within the class day?

If they use a self-grading tool like a Canvas quiz a teacher can get near instant information.

Oh goody more technology. Okay so they can do some kind of math problems (though I don’t think they set up complex math problems you do by hand and then enter answer in canvas, but maybe I’m wrong?), and spelling, but writing, analysis, comprehension is not evaluated.

They do have you do complicated math problems on your iPad (well DD’s class did anyway, this was intensified algebra). I think DD does usually do them on paper first but there might also be a sort of virtual scratch paper section in the app. Her teacher didn’t require homework, but offered it, and I think DD usually did it at school if she did it.

I hate it, by the way. So much damn screen time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Academically, the schools are responsible for that. They have my kids for the prime learning hours of the day, I have my own job, and trying to make up for lackluster learning in the evenings after kids are tired and should be doing appropriate social and athletic activities not make up school work.

I want those core hours at school, when student are fresh to be about instruction and engaged learning, then an afternoon with some exercise, family time, meals and wrap up with targeted homework to reinforce what was taught that say in quiet independent contemplation before sleep.

The homework helps student and teacher identify if there were gaps in learning way earlier than waiting till next test, and the break between instruction and homework helps confirm retention.

Even if no homework is assigned, teachers are constantly checking during class to make sure students understand. They do not wait until the next test.

So on top of instruction, they have time to assess each of the 30 kids within the class day?

If they use a self-grading tool like a Canvas quiz a teacher can get near instant information.

Oh goody more technology. Okay so they can do some kind of math problems (though I don’t think they set up complex math problems you do by hand and then enter answer in canvas, but maybe I’m wrong?), and spelling, but writing, analysis, comprehension is not evaluated.

I use Canvas quizzes all the time and a second question can be a photograph upload of their work (which I can look at after school for students I know struggle and see why they answered what they answered).

But you have made your feelings clear.

Teachers are damned if they do, damned if they don't.

[Anonymous]

Ppl on DCUM post they way they do because with each press of the submit button they are further working up the courage to sign a $35k check for a K12 education

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. Starting in 2023-24, they will be offering more advanced options for middle school. (So not accelerated content but going deeper on content.)

2. It was not less rigorous than my elementary, which had a no-homework policy. I'm personally in favor of no homework in elementary.

3. Middle school is a tough age. Greatness drops off for sure because...puberty. Kids going through puberty on different timetables under one roof.

As noted by another PP, I think giving some homework in the later grades of elementary is helpful to prepare students for suddenly getting homework in 6 classes in middle school. On the other hand, APS is solving that issue by significantly limiting homework in middle school and subsequently in high school.

So, yeah, "greatness" definitely takes a nose-dive and it has nothing to do with puberty.

Homework is fundamentally inequitable.

Many students don't have stable environments at home to perform homework, no quiet space, no desk, maybe bad internet, or their parents aren't home or speak english so can't help (and you know some parents DO help). On top of that, many are caring for younger children, or working in the family business in the afternoon/evenings.

Because of this, homework has been shown to increase the achievement gap, and thus will be eliminated throughout APS eventually.

What a load of horse crap you’ve been fed! My heart sinks knowing some people in charge have this same ideology. It’s shameful, and it hurts the very children you purport to care about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very very few kids from APS as a whole and any district as a whole getting into Ivys as a percentage this year. Acceptance rates in the single digits. Even with perfect SATs and all As in the most rigorous classes, you are one of many many just like you. In the current climate it is not helpful to use admissions to these schools as a metric of how “good” a high school is. It’s not useful.

+1 Kids get into Ivy-type schools because they are extraordinarily driven + (mostly) some kind of hook. MS-HS you go to has very little to do with creating that profile. More kids do get in from elite privates but that's more because the elite private schools have already done the pre-screening for the hooks like legacy and $$$.

A kid who goes to any APS HS and does well in challenging classes (AP/IB) is going to be prepared for college. Same as any of the surrounding districts.

APS does not prepare you for college the way privates do. It just doesn't. There is almost no focus on writing, grammar, reading books and discussing them in class. It's a real shame. That said, a lot of the amazing admission stats you see from privates are because of legacy admissions/donations and other exceptional hooks. Don't go to private as a ticket to the ivys unless you have a hook. Do go to private for the superior education.

We're Ivy graduates who agree that writing instruction is a weak point of APS MS & HS, and public schools in general in this country. Hence, we've supplemented for English from the get go, with tutors and summer programs. As far as we're concerned, private school just doesn't prepare a kid to cope in the real world the way a good public school does. We love how our children have made a stunningly diverse group of pals in APS, including refugee kids from the Middle East and Afghanistan who perform better on math assessments than our children do. Go in with your eyes open, supplement, but don't baby your children with pampered private school environments as a knee jerk reaction. APS middle school is pretty darn good. We bailed from DCPS after elementary school with no regrets.

So funny. I was one of the diverse elements at my college, and once I got into college I really never interacted with “diverse people” again. College selects for academic/ability to pay/etc, and then you enter the professional world and buy an UMC house and are basically in a bubble forever. What exactly are you preparing your children for by hobnobbing with people like me in high school? After public school they will never see them again except when they hire them to work on their home or take care of their kids?

DP. Even so, exposure and interaction with others during adolescent development is a huge benefit toward instilling more open mindedness, acceptance and understanding of others, and - perhaps most importantly - awareness of others' experiences, situations, challenges, privileges, etc. You don't have to live among all the peoples of the world your whole life to help and contribute to a more just society or to direct efforts and resources to places/people in need. You do need to be aware of the needs, and it helps greatly to understand them. You gain understanding by seeing it up close.

You are also a bit cynical about the prospects of "people like you" who graduate from college just like the others, presumably heading toward jobs in the same fields and companies where they may still cross paths.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very very few kids from APS as a whole and any district as a whole getting into Ivys as a percentage this year. Acceptance rates in the single digits. Even with perfect SATs and all As in the most rigorous classes, you are one of many many just like you. In the current climate it is not helpful to use admissions to these schools as a metric of how “good” a high school is. It’s not useful.

+1 Kids get into Ivy-type schools because they are extraordinarily driven + (mostly) some kind of hook. MS-HS you go to has very little to do with creating that profile. More kids do get in from elite privates but that's more because the elite private schools have already done the pre-screening for the hooks like legacy and $$$.

A kid who goes to any APS HS and does well in challenging classes (AP/IB) is going to be prepared for college. Same as any of the surrounding districts.

APS does not prepare you for college the way privates do. It just doesn't. There is almost no focus on writing, grammar, reading books and discussing them in class. It's a real shame. That said, a lot of the amazing admission stats you see from privates are because of legacy admissions/donations and other exceptional hooks. Don't go to private as a ticket to the ivys unless you have a hook. Do go to private for the superior education.

We're Ivy graduates who agree that writing instruction is a weak point of APS MS & HS, and public schools in general in this country. Hence, we've supplemented for English from the get go, with tutors and summer programs. As far as we're concerned, private school just doesn't prepare a kid to cope in the real world the way a good public school does. We love how our children have made a stunningly diverse group of pals in APS, including refugee kids from the Middle East and Afghanistan who perform better on math assessments than our children do. Go in with your eyes open, supplement, but don't baby your children with pampered private school environments as a knee jerk reaction. APS middle school is pretty darn good. We bailed from DCPS after elementary school with no regrets.

So funny. I was one of the diverse elements at my college, and once I got into college I really never interacted with “diverse people” again. College selects for academic/ability to pay/etc, and then you enter the professional world and buy an UMC house and are basically in a bubble forever. What exactly are you preparing your children for by hobnobbing with people like me in high school? After public school they will never see them again except when they hire them to work on their home or take care of their kids?

To each his own. Not our experience. We have college friends who attended our alma maters on close to 100% fi aid from overseas. We certainly don't think that APS is the bees knees, but we think it's good enough for the likes of us as long as we stay on top of what's happening in the classroom and supplement on a regular basis here and there.

That is so made up. No one comes from overseas and gets financial aid. Keep you story straight.

[Anonymous]

You're wrong. You clearly didn't attend one of the schools below.

My spouse is from Europe, from a low-income family. We met at Harvard. She attended Harvard on more financial aid than I did, and I got almost a full ride.

Harvard, Amherst, MIT, Princeton and Yale have long offered need-blind financial aid to foreign students. Many other schools offer foreigners athletic scholarships and merit-based aid.

https://blog.collegevine.com/schools-that-grant-financial-aid-to-international-students-a-complete-list/