Middle middle class & lower middle class: What Middle Schools do we end up in?

[Anonymous]

HHI currently just over $100k with only one parent working. When we have two incomes we may go private for middle school, assuming we can get in of course! MCPS is also an option but I don't really want to move. Our kids are only 4 and 6 so anything could happen in the next few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$170k, 1 kid. We went private for MS, may stay private but prefer public HS. DC has more good HS options than MS.

Since this is anonymous, may I ask you 2 questions (ballpark answers obviously are fine, don't have to be exact):

1. About how much is your total annual school costs (tuition, books, before/after care if you use it) for private middle school?

2. About how much is your mortgage or rent?

Our HHI is less than yours, we have 1 kid, and I'm trying to get a ballpark (even though I know there are a million other variables) to how your situation compares to ours. I would have assumed we could never afford private MS (we can barely afford aftercare at our current charter!) but I honestly haven't looked at the tuitions, so I really don't know.

How did you afford daycare? I think you can find a decent private equivalent to the cost of daycare (average $15k for daycare being used).

We just moved to DC at the end of last summer. In the city we moved from, DC was at one of the best daycare's in the city, placed in PS-3 at 2 yrs old, hours 6:30am-6:30pm, and that cost us $170/month with no subsidy. That's how we afforded it!

Oops, that should be $170/WEEK... I wish it had been $170/month! But still, that was great for the quality and time period it covered.

And also... that was in a city with a MUCH lower cost of living all around. We did get raises when we moved to DC, but not even CLOSE to aligning with how much our general cost of living increased. For perspective: Our rent here for a tiny 2 BR/2BA is almost THREE TIMES our mortgage on a 5 BR/# BA that was right downtown in our previous city. So not only was daycare significantly cheaper, our COL was much lower, so all around that $15K or so for private would do us in most likely.

[Anonymous]

To much emphasis on numbers in this forum. Why do you limit your families potential in life based on HHI, Ward1,2,3..., and whatever else you guys go back and forth about. Everyone has a different situation and you can't compare yourself to others. Live the best life YOU can. If you want to send your kids to a top tier private school and you don't have the money--there maybe ways of doing it. If you want to take your kids on a vacation to Europe, France, NYC--there are ways to do it. Think outside the box. You have to make those decisions based on your situation alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HHI 350k with 3 kids. Currently at in OOB at WOP solid elementary. Plan to finish there and considering Deal, Latin, Hardy or Howard Math & Science. Zoned for Francis Stevens/Walls for junior high and am watching to see how that drama plays out. Will definitely consider it if there is the Walls takeover. I am open to privates but can only afford them if kids get a scholarship.

I keep hearing really good things about HU's STEM MS, but I cannot seem to find their curriculum on the website. Can you direct me to a link. TIA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HHI of about 85K, moved to MCPS from a "sought after" charter. Now that I see the quality difference, I regret not having made the jump earlier.

That's a really interesting statement. Would you mind sharing which charter? We're seriously wondering what not getting into something we really want this year (DC entering PK-4) means for what we do for K, and moving to MoCo is the most likely solution we'd try although we'd really like to try to stay in DC.

Which school did you leave, and what specific differences do you notice in the school you left and the one you're in now? Thank you!

I'm not willing to name the school we left, I think it would identify me and my child.

I'm happy to talk about what we like better.

1) Math -- despite the fact that he had good grades, and his teacher in DC assured me he was doing great, my child was clearly behind the kids in the lowest track entering MCPS. MCPS responded to this by swinging into action, his teacher met with him during home room and afterschool, they met with me to show me his tests and exactly what skills he was missing so I could work on them at home. They offered us choices like an afterschool class, a summer class, an opportunity to take a double period of math. He's now jumped a track, and will go to HS in the middle of the pack. I can't help wondering where he'd be had he had that kind of support from the beginning.

2) Writing -- at his old school in DC they talked so proudly about how the students wrote five paragraph essays in fifth grade. To be clear, they wrote 2, over the course of the year. In MCPS sixth grade my kid wrote all the time. He has writing assignments in every class, and the curriculum is integrated so that the rubrics and expectations are consistent from class to class.

3) Arts -- in MCPS middle school, my child gets an arts class and a PE class 5 days a week. He gets access to afterschool arts programming as well. None of the charters I looked at can compare to that. Looking forward to HS, my kid can choose from so many different arts tracks, and can either take a variety or specialize, taking 4 years of different visual arts or music or theater classes. Again, I don't think there's a charter that offers that. One thing I regret about not moving earlier is that he missed the beginning of instrumental music. Band and orchestra aren't options for kids who didn't start an instrument in elementary school.

4) Parent communication -- At his old school, if I wanted info on how my child was doing, I needed to email, and be ignored, and email again, and wait, and schedule a meeting, and maybe maybe get some info. At his MCPS school, it's all right there on Edline, and if I need help interpreting it I can email the teacher and hear back in 24 business hours. Plus, I get documents laying out the standards, and choices, and the scope and sequence of the curriculum. Even when I begged at the old school, I couldn't get that information.

Best decision I ever made.

We're also considering MCPS. This is compelling.

Yes, but where in MOCO. All MOCO schools are not equal. Just pop over to the Maryland school threads. They debate about the upcounty vs downcounty schools and their results.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Upper-middle and now staying because of DCI

+1 Planning on staying for middle but may move to areas that feed into TJ for 7th grade. Worth a try and they have Mandarin. Planning on applying to boarding schools too for high school. DC gets a say: If he really wants to stay for DCI with his classmates since he was 4 yrs old, that's OK too.

Nothing feeds into TJ, you'll have to test in. TJ admission is way competitive.

[Anonymous]

PP, thanks for taking the time to write out such a detailed list. Really helpful in knowing what to look for. However, I think a few caveats may be in order: It sounds to me like your child went from an elementary school to a middle school environment (schedule by period, Edline make me think so). Besides comparing apples to oranges, that quantum leap may account for a lot of the differences you describe. Lastly, by not naming the school, which I can understand, you're making it sound like this is a matter of DC vs. MoCo, which - seeing our child thrive in a DCPS with all the perks you highlight - it probably isn't. You went from a mediocre (elementary?) school to a good/excellent (middle?) school; that's all. That can be had in DC as well. Maybe you had no other options, but one thing to keep in mind is that many DC charter schools do well because they found ways to attract, if not pick, a significant number of bright students (i.e. economically well of kids from parents with flexible work schedules) and run with that. Surrounded by a high proportion of struggling schools, they can get away with it, not least because parents are blinded into thinking they lucked out, vibe and all, and don't do their homework beyond keeping an occasional eye on test scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HHI of about 85K, moved to MCPS from a "sought after" charter. Now that I see the quality difference, I regret not having made the jump earlier.

That's a really interesting statement. Would you mind sharing which charter? We're seriously wondering what not getting into something we really want this year (DC entering PK-4) means for what we do for K, and moving to MoCo is the most likely solution we'd try although we'd really like to try to stay in DC.

Which school did you leave, and what specific differences do you notice in the school you left and the one you're in now? Thank you!

I'm not willing to name the school we left, I think it would identify me and my child.

I'm happy to talk about what we like better.

1) Math -- despite the fact that he had good grades, and his teacher in DC assured me he was doing great, my child was clearly behind the kids in the lowest track entering MCPS. MCPS responded to this by swinging into action, his teacher met with him during home room and afterschool, they met with me to show me his tests and exactly what skills he was missing so I could work on them at home. They offered us choices like an afterschool class, a summer class, an opportunity to take a double period of math. He's now jumped a track, and will go to HS in the middle of the pack. I can't help wondering where he'd be had he had that kind of support from the beginning.

2) Writing -- at his old school in DC they talked so proudly about how the students wrote five paragraph essays in fifth grade. To be clear, they wrote 2, over the course of the year. In MCPS sixth grade my kid wrote all the time. He has writing assignments in every class, and the curriculum is integrated so that the rubrics and expectations are consistent from class to class.

3) Arts -- in MCPS middle school, my child gets an arts class and a PE class 5 days a week. He gets access to afterschool arts programming as well. None of the charters I looked at can compare to that. Looking forward to HS, my kid can choose from so many different arts tracks, and can either take a variety or specialize, taking 4 years of different visual arts or music or theater classes. Again, I don't think there's a charter that offers that. One thing I regret about not moving earlier is that he missed the beginning of instrumental music. Band and orchestra aren't options for kids who didn't start an instrument in elementary school.

4) Parent communication -- At his old school, if I wanted info on how my child was doing, I needed to email, and be ignored, and email again, and wait, and schedule a meeting, and maybe maybe get some info. At his MCPS school, it's all right there on Edline, and if I need help interpreting it I can email the teacher and hear back in 24 business hours. Plus, I get documents laying out the standards, and choices, and the scope and sequence of the curriculum. Even when I begged at the old school, I couldn't get that information.

Best decision I ever made.

Would you be willing to say if it was an immersion charter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To much emphasis on numbers in this forum. Why do you limit your families potential in life based on HHI, Ward1,2,3..., and whatever else you guys go back and forth about. Everyone has a different situation and you can't compare yourself to others. Live the best life YOU can. If you want to send your kids to a top tier private school and you don't have the money--there maybe ways of doing it. If you want to take your kids on a vacation to Europe, France, NYC--there are ways to do it. Think outside the box. You have to make those decisions based on your situation alone.

But that's EXACTLY why I started this thread. I'm at a loss for what the other options are, and sometimes without any clue or knowing where to start (especially if you're new to an area), "thinking outside the box" is challenging without some input.

I agree wholeheartedly with the spirit of your post, but the reality is that some of us need a starting point and basic information, and it's inspiring to know what ideas/paths other people tried. So this whole thread is in part an effort to do exactly what you're saying, but without some sense of the starting point for each post (HHI is the main one), it's impossible to gauge whether I'm in even the same ballpark as some of the other posters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HHI of about 85K, moved to MCPS from a "sought after" charter. Now that I see the quality difference, I regret not having made the jump earlier.

That's a really interesting statement. Would you mind sharing which charter? We're seriously wondering what not getting into something we really want this year (DC entering PK-4) means for what we do for K, and moving to MoCo is the most likely solution we'd try although we'd really like to try to stay in DC.

Which school did you leave, and what specific differences do you notice in the school you left and the one you're in now? Thank you!

I'm not willing to name the school we left, I think it would identify me and my child.

I'm happy to talk about what we like better.

1) Math -- despite the fact that he had good grades, and his teacher in DC assured me he was doing great, my child was clearly behind the kids in the lowest track entering MCPS. MCPS responded to this by swinging into action, his teacher met with him during home room and afterschool, they met with me to show me his tests and exactly what skills he was missing so I could work on them at home. They offered us choices like an afterschool class, a summer class, an opportunity to take a double period of math. He's now jumped a track, and will go to HS in the middle of the pack. I can't help wondering where he'd be had he had that kind of support from the beginning.

2) Writing -- at his old school in DC they talked so proudly about how the students wrote five paragraph essays in fifth grade. To be clear, they wrote 2, over the course of the year. In MCPS sixth grade my kid wrote all the time. He has writing assignments in every class, and the curriculum is integrated so that the rubrics and expectations are consistent from class to class.

3) Arts -- in MCPS middle school, my child gets an arts class and a PE class 5 days a week. He gets access to afterschool arts programming as well. None of the charters I looked at can compare to that. Looking forward to HS, my kid can choose from so many different arts tracks, and can either take a variety or specialize, taking 4 years of different visual arts or music or theater classes. Again, I don't think there's a charter that offers that. One thing I regret about not moving earlier is that he missed the beginning of instrumental music. Band and orchestra aren't options for kids who didn't start an instrument in elementary school.

4) Parent communication -- At his old school, if I wanted info on how my child was doing, I needed to email, and be ignored, and email again, and wait, and schedule a meeting, and maybe maybe get some info. At his MCPS school, it's all right there on Edline, and if I need help interpreting it I can email the teacher and hear back in 24 business hours. Plus, I get documents laying out the standards, and choices, and the scope and sequence of the curriculum. Even when I begged at the old school, I couldn't get that information.

Best decision I ever made.

We're also considering MCPS. This is compelling.

Yes, but where in MOCO. All MOCO schools are not equal. Just pop over to the Maryland school threads. They debate about the upcounty vs downcounty schools and their results.

Thanks for reminding me that if we ever do consider moving to MoCo, we need to do further research, it isn't just "all MoCo schools are incredible". I knew that but in the back of my mind it's felt like just moving anywhere in MoCo solves the problem. Probably not true.

[Anonymous]

Everything the former DC Charter now MoCo poster describes my kids enjoy at the DCPS (and yes we are OOB). It is not a MoCo vs. DC thing. You have to look at the individual school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HHI 350k with 3 kids. Currently at in OOB at WOP solid elementary. Plan to finish there and considering Deal, Latin, Hardy or Howard Math & Science. Zoned for Francis Stevens/Walls for junior high and am watching to see how that drama plays out. Will definitely consider it if there is the Walls takeover. I am open to privates but can only afford them if kids get a scholarship.

I keep hearing really good things about HU's STEM MS, but I cannot seem to find their curriculum on the website. Can you direct me to a link. TIA

Unfortunately the website does not detail the curriculum but the STEM program is mentioned in other places. I have friends who have a child there and they are extremely happy with Howard Middle. If you're into test scores and you look at how each class is progressing through the grades, they are doing a great job. It's definitely on the table for us and since it's not a favorite of DCUMers, I'm comfortable leaving my kid at our current DCPS through 5th and securing a spot for the 6th grade at Howard.

Right now, even if they take away the option for my kids to feed into Deal from our current OOB school this spring when they announce the "big changes" , I feel pretty good about the other choices available, Howard being one of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HHI $225k, family of 3.5. We currently attend great charter, but live IB for Deal. Plan to stay through High School (Wilson). Even if we get moved out of Deal boundaries, we will be happy with Hardy, Latin, or Basis. No real need to consider moving or private.

What's the half? A large dog?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I can't believe how out of touch people are in terms of income. Median household income in DC is under $62k. (See http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/11000.html )

How in the world is $200k middle middle or lower middle class?!

"median household income" is such a bogus number when you're talking about DCUM, because the people on DCUM don't mirror the makeup of the District. The median household income for white families in dc is almost $100k. http://www.usa.com/washington-dc-income-and-careers.htm

Median Household Income by Races
Washington, DC District of Columbia U.S.
White $96,305, see rank $96,305 $52,480
Black $37,430, see rank $37,430 $33,578
Hispanic $60,798, see rank $60,798 $40,165
Asian $77,098, see rank $77,098 $67,022
American Indian, Alaska Native $113,233, see rank $113,233 $35,062
One Race, Other $51,116, see rank $51,116 $38,230
Two or More Races $70,260, see rank $70,260 $43,597
*Based on 2010 data. View historical median household income by races data.

[Anonymous]

We make $75,000 and live in Ward 5. Currently attend a Ward 3 school elementary and Deal. Not sure about HS, if I can get a second job I am hoping to do a Catholic Private on my side of the city for High School. As one can see on this board the middle is a vanishing concept, it is why so many HHI earneres feel average, that is all that is around them.