Then 2023 Lottery disappointment thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are really upset at how much we got locked out of any good options for middle school. We don't know what to do.

We’re currently at a MS which is not considered “good” on DCUM but we’re having a fantastic year. My son is it accelerated classes, they’re launching a 3-tier classroom model next year (accelerated work for the top, extra reinforcement for the bottom) in every classroom. Lots of clubs, sports. Be sure to talk to current families of schools you may hear are “not good.”

Which school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry OP, but I gotta ask: your kid is “miserable” in kindergarten and you’re blaming the school? That’s a lot to pin on a school.

Disagree. Lots of bad Ks out there--age-inappropriate expetactions, yelling teachers, kids with scary behaviors, etc.

+1

+1 more
It happens often

OP here and thank you. I don't just "blame the school" but yes -- it has been a rough year because there is very little joy in that classroom, lots of behavioral issues which leads to very strict rules and tons of class "punishments" that just suck all the pleasure out of what should actually not be a horrible chore (learning reading and other useful, basic skills in a classroom of peers). My kid is a happy kid generally but regularly says she hates school and doesn't want to go. She'll come home after school and I'll ask what the best and worst parts of her day were, and she often struggles to come up with a best. Often it's something like "when something bad happened, I didn't get too disappointed like I did last time." It's really hard to hear. She also complains about stuff a lot and while some of it is normal kid complaints where I'm like "that's just how life is" some of them are things that I actually do think are dumb rules that don't make sense. Like they regularly punish the kids by not letting them go out for recess. These kids are 5/6 years old and they are in a classroom all day. They need to run around. It is cutting off your nose to spite your face to use the small amount of free play/outdoor time they are allocated as a tool for punishment. It's just going to result in more bad behavior.

So yeah, I'm not enthusiastic about staying at this school another year. Maybe next year's teacher will be better.

OP, move. Short answer, hard decision. But honestly, that sounds like an awful place for a kid to be in. My middle schooler says some of these same things about her school, and we're switching them to private next year. Knowing what I know now, I would have moved to a good feeder pattern in the elementary school years.

+1
Another family who made the jump early and it was absolute best decision for us. If you have the ability, go for it.

[Anonymous]

We are in private now and just qualified for an IEP in 2nd grade. My son's private is doing alot of intervention and we pay for tutoring as well. I know people who say why pay for private and still have to pay for tutoring. My concern is giving up our private spot and end up in a situation where we forget it. We played the lottery and matched Ludlow Taylor but that would be 2-5 grade, concerned for middle and really thinking about staying private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are really upset at how much we got locked out of any good options for middle school. We don't know what to do.

We’re currently at a MS which is not considered “good” on DCUM but we’re having a fantastic year. My son is it accelerated classes, they’re launching a 3-tier classroom model next year (accelerated work for the top, extra reinforcement for the bottom) in every classroom. Lots of clubs, sports. Be sure to talk to current families of schools you may hear are “not good.”

Is the way the numbers shake out that the accelerated classes/top third are kids who are advanced? Or is that just getting you a grade level class? There just aren't a lot of middle schools where the top third wouldn't encompass a lot of kids who aren't at grade level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in private now and just qualified for an IEP in 2nd grade. My son's private is doing alot of intervention and we pay for tutoring as well. I know people who say why pay for private and still have to pay for tutoring. My concern is giving up our private spot and end up in a situation where we forget it. We played the lottery and matched Ludlow Taylor but that would be 2-5 grade, concerned for middle and really thinking about staying private.

Special education at Ludlow is terrible. If you can afford it, stay private. They didn't have a speech therapist for 3 months while she on maternity leave and no staff for push-in/push-out so the IEP for kids last year was pretty useless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Straight A student at Deal. Waitlisted at privates, waitlisted at walls, number too high to get in. Headed to Jackson Reed and so disappointed. DC is so bored and unchallenged at Deal and I worry it’ll be more of the same at JR. I feel like we failed DC. We are willing to make the financial sacrifice for private but I feel like that whole process was a waste of time and that system is rigged against kids coming from DCPS unless they are a star athlete or have another “hook”.

Thank you for letting me join the pity party.

Same boat. I am Magine there’s a lot of us. Maybe that will make Jackson Reed better. No shade on Jackson Reed but ninth grade is useless. Some kids get on lucky track but it’s a crapshoot and one that I’d hate to put my kid through if there was a better option that we could get into. Obviously there’s not. We are considering moving. And before you comment… I have nephew in JR so do know what is up.

[Anonymous]

To those who are disappointed with J-R, I have one there (who applied for and didn't get in to Walls even with a 4.0 at Deal and in the highest math) and one at Walls. We have been pleasantly surprised...and actually am glad they ended up at J-R (we have been disappointed in Walls for reasons I won't get into here). Here's my advice:
1) a LOT of the trash talk re: J-R was due to last year's 4x4 "block" schedule, where kids only took 4 classes each semester so could end up with ridiculously easy schedules (e.g., 3 electives, 1 core class) for a given semester. That is no longer the case and they are back to a normal schedule where most classes are a year long.
2) The behavior issues that people freak out about were worse last year (first year back after COVID) and are not "random" acts of violence where your kid has to worry about being attacked in the hall way. If they are not looking for trouble, they will not find it.
3) Academics are not hard in 9th grade but do ramp up considerably in 10th (comparable to Walls). There are also academic-oriented extracurricular activities like the newspaper, mock trial, model UN, robotics, etc. that are EXCELLENT. They can get involved with those starting in 9th grade.
4) The teacher vacancies are an issue for sure but they are an issue at Walls as well (and across the nation)...the new principal is on top of it and is doing his best to recruit early.
5) I suggest trying to talk to the new principal (who is excellent) and/or going to the Principal's coffees, which he holds every month. Express your concerns about 9th grade academics, teacher vacancies, etc. He is really good and I think you will be impressed.

[Anonymous]

i am going to guess that the above-referenced better than expected ms is jefferson (dcps in sw)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are really upset at how much we got locked out of any good options for middle school. We don't know what to do.

We’re currently at a MS which is not considered “good” on DCUM but we’re having a fantastic year. My son is it accelerated classes, they’re launching a 3-tier classroom model next year (accelerated work for the top, extra reinforcement for the bottom) in every classroom. Lots of clubs, sports. Be sure to talk to current families of schools you may hear are “not good.”

Is the way the numbers shake out that the accelerated classes/top third are kids who are advanced? Or is that just getting you a grade level class? There just aren't a lot of middle schools where the top third wouldn't encompass a lot of kids who aren't at grade level.

This. You can call any class accelerated but when the overwhelming majority are below grade level, it’s really not taught at an accelerated level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in private now and just qualified for an IEP in 2nd grade. My son's private is doing alot of intervention and we pay for tutoring as well. I know people who say why pay for private and still have to pay for tutoring. My concern is giving up our private spot and end up in a situation where we forget it. We played the lottery and matched Ludlow Taylor but that would be 2-5 grade, concerned for middle and really thinking about staying private.

Special education at Ludlow is terrible. If you can afford it, stay private. They didn't have a speech therapist for 3 months while she on maternity leave and no staff for push-in/push-out so the IEP for kids last year was pretty useless.

This isn’t totally correct. They were definitely short SN staff this year, but they do have 2 resource staff + 2 ELA Coaches/interventionists who operate mostly via pull outs. For kids with actual IEPs other than speech, hours have been met; it’s really kids with 504s / sub IEP needs who have ended up with the short end of the stick because there was a big lag in IEP assessments during the first half of the year.

What is your kid’s IEP for? Happy to share feedback on if that specialist is good and/or if staffing is a challenge there.

The 3rd grade teaching team is widely regarded as the best at the school, so that’s a plus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in private now and just qualified for an IEP in 2nd grade. My son's private is doing alot of intervention and we pay for tutoring as well. I know people who say why pay for private and still have to pay for tutoring. My concern is giving up our private spot and end up in a situation where we forget it. We played the lottery and matched Ludlow Taylor but that would be 2-5 grade, concerned for middle and really thinking about staying private.

Special education at Ludlow is terrible. If you can afford it, stay private. They didn't have a speech therapist for 3 months while she on maternity leave and no staff for push-in/push-out so the IEP for kids last year was pretty useless.

This isn’t totally correct. They were definitely short SN staff this year, but they do have 2 resource staff + 2 ELA Coaches/interventionists who operate mostly via pull outs. For kids with actual IEPs other than speech, hours have been met; it’s really kids with 504s / sub IEP needs who have ended up with the short end of the stick because there was a big lag in IEP assessments during the first half of the year.

What is your kid’s IEP for? Happy to share feedback on if that specialist is good and/or if staffing is a challenge there.

The 3rd grade teaching team is widely regarded as the best at the school, so that’s a plus.

Not at L-T, but this is happening a lot around DCPS. I know of 4 different schools in the hill. DCPS is now reimbursing for banked hours if you do private speech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in private now and just qualified for an IEP in 2nd grade. My son's private is doing alot of intervention and we pay for tutoring as well. I know people who say why pay for private and still have to pay for tutoring. My concern is giving up our private spot and end up in a situation where we forget it. We played the lottery and matched Ludlow Taylor but that would be 2-5 grade, concerned for middle and really thinking about staying private.

Special education at Ludlow is terrible. If you can afford it, stay private. They didn't have a speech therapist for 3 months while she on maternity leave and no staff for push-in/push-out so the IEP for kids last year was pretty useless.

This isn’t totally correct. They were definitely short SN staff this year, but they do have 2 resource staff + 2 ELA Coaches/interventionists who operate mostly via pull outs. For kids with actual IEPs other than speech, hours have been met; it’s really kids with 504s / sub IEP needs who have ended up with the short end of the stick because there was a big lag in IEP assessments during the first half of the year.

What is your kid’s IEP for? Happy to share feedback on if that specialist is good and/or if staffing is a challenge there.

The 3rd grade teaching team is widely regarded as the best at the school, so that’s a plus.

Specified learning disability and speech. 2 hours push in and 4 hours pullout for reading and math

[Anonymous]

leveled classes represent an attempt to meet students who are at a range of different abilities at the level where they are at without fully preventing students from moving between the groups. its a huge improvement over simply teaching to the middle. i dont fully understand the its not truly accelerated criticism against grouping the top cohort of kids together in one class in order to be able to provide that class with some additional challenge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:leveled classes represent an attempt to meet students who are at a range of different abilities at the level where they are at without fully preventing students from moving between the groups. its a huge improvement over simply teaching to the middle. i dont fully understand the its not truly accelerated criticism against grouping the top cohort of kids together in one class in order to be able to provide that class with some additional challenge.

It's not a reason not to do it. It just means that the "additional challenge" is actually just work on grade level, which for some kids is a challenge but for others is not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:leveled classes represent an attempt to meet students who are at a range of different abilities at the level where they are at without fully preventing students from moving between the groups. its a huge improvement over simply teaching to the middle. i dont fully understand the its not truly accelerated criticism against grouping the top cohort of kids together in one class in order to be able to provide that class with some additional challenge.

Ok but have you actually looked at the abysmal stats of some of the DCPS middle and high schools??

Take Eastern where in 2019, in math 2% were on grade level or above. This 2% were most likely on grade level. Then Covid hit and numbers got worst which I’m not going to spend time to drill down.

So there is no wide range of abilities. All the kids are below grade level. There is no critical number of kids to have a class even on grade level and if you have a high performing kid forget about it.