Langley

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Bloomingdale resident about to enter the lottery, this has been one of the most helpful DCUM threads ever for me, so thank you!!

I have an update to the question: of the four schools we're discussing, would your ranking change for older grades? For example, I am well aware of how great Langley has been doing in the ECE area. It's my zoned school and probably my current first choice. But if your goal is to stay through 5th grade, would you opt elsewhere?

TIA!

The tricky thing with this question (which we are asking ourselves too!) is there are so many unknowns!! Seaton is better in the upper grades now, that we know. But I suspect that in 5 years' time, Langley may be as good as Seaton. I also hear that Seaton may undergo some renovation, which would make it less appealing, and McKinley may improve over the next 7 years, which would make Langley more appealing (as the PP said). Sigh. I think our plan is to try out Langley, and stick as long as it works for us, and hope that is through 5th grade. And once we get there, if that hope was misplaced, count on the fact that at least for now, it looks like we can lottery to the charters or other DCPS around here.

Yeah it's hard, it feels like predicting the future. I know we probably COULD lottery out easily in the upper grades but I hate putting DD in a school knowing there's a good chance that in 2nd grade we're going to randomly yank her out of it, you know? I wonder if we could avoid a lot of future heartache by prioritizing this now.

It's honestly impossible for me to imagine staying EOTP for middle school but that is 8+ years in the future so I guess anything could happen! At this point I'm just hoping we can stick around through 5th grade without schools pushing us out. I really like our house and neighborhood and want to do whatever we can to make it work for us as long as possible.

Here is the thing, though. Any school other than a very top choice is a school you might leave. And your top choice may change over time. We are at ITS and find it good, but would still leave for certain schools. And it is hard to know now, as the parent of a child who is 2 or 3, how things will go. Schools can change for the better or for the worse, or a charter can move locations. What you think fits your child and your child's interests now might turn out not to fit. I know people who are unhappy with upper elementary or middle grades at just about every HRCS. So I totally see why someone might have trepidations about Langley given the test scores, but the idea that you will never switch may be unrealistic. The bar for schools in DC is overall pretty low, and a school can still have a long waitlist even with serious shortcomings.

Also, changing schools midyear was a little tough on my kids but I would not really describe it as "heartache". If you stay in your house you can still maintain neighborhood friendships. We went with our IB (Seaton) prior to ITS anf it was not a big deal to switch, after the first month or so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Bloomingdale resident about to enter the lottery, this has been one of the most helpful DCUM threads ever for me, so thank you!!

I have an update to the question: of the four schools we're discussing, would your ranking change for older grades? For example, I am well aware of how great Langley has been doing in the ECE area. It's my zoned school and probably my current first choice. But if your goal is to stay through 5th grade, would you opt elsewhere?

TIA!

The tricky thing with this question (which we are asking ourselves too!) is there are so many unknowns!! Seaton is better in the upper grades now, that we know. But I suspect that in 5 years' time, Langley may be as good as Seaton. I also hear that Seaton may undergo some renovation, which would make it less appealing, and McKinley may improve over the next 7 years, which would make Langley more appealing (as the PP said). Sigh. I think our plan is to try out Langley, and stick as long as it works for us, and hope that is through 5th grade. And once we get there, if that hope was misplaced, count on the fact that at least for now, it looks like we can lottery to the charters or other DCPS around here.

Yeah it's hard, it feels like predicting the future. I know we probably COULD lottery out easily in the upper grades but I hate putting DD in a school knowing there's a good chance that in 2nd grade we're going to randomly yank her out of it, you know? I wonder if we could avoid a lot of future heartache by prioritizing this now.

It's honestly impossible for me to imagine staying EOTP for middle school but that is 8+ years in the future so I guess anything could happen! At this point I'm just hoping we can stick around through 5th grade without schools pushing us out. I really like our house and neighborhood and want to do whatever we can to make it work for us as long as possible.

Here is the thing, though. Any school other than a very top choice is a school you might leave. And your top choice may change over time. We are at ITS and find it good, but would still leave for certain schools. And it is hard to know now, as the parent of a child who is 2 or 3, how things will go. Schools can change for the better or for the worse, or a charter can move locations. What you think fits your child and your child's interests now might turn out not to fit. I know people who are unhappy with upper elementary or middle grades at just about every HRCS. So I totally see why someone might have trepidations about Langley given the test scores, but the idea that you will never switch may be unrealistic. The bar for schools in DC is overall pretty low, and a school can still have a long waitlist even with serious shortcomings.

Also, changing schools midyear was a little tough on my kids but I would not really describe it as "heartache". If you stay in your house you can still maintain neighborhood friendships. We went with our IB (Seaton) prior to ITS anf it was not a big deal to switch, after the first month or so.

This is helpful, thanks. Total newbie question.... what does ITS and HRCS stand for?
How old were your kids when you switched them?

Thank you for sharing your experience! All of my friends' kids are my own kids' age so I don't feel like I have anyone with real experience in the school system to talk to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Bloomingdale resident about to enter the lottery, this has been one of the most helpful DCUM threads ever for me, so thank you!!

I have an update to the question: of the four schools we're discussing, would your ranking change for older grades? For example, I am well aware of how great Langley has been doing in the ECE area. It's my zoned school and probably my current first choice. But if your goal is to stay through 5th grade, would you opt elsewhere?

TIA!

The tricky thing with this question (which we are asking ourselves too!) is there are so many unknowns!! Seaton is better in the upper grades now, that we know. But I suspect that in 5 years' time, Langley may be as good as Seaton. I also hear that Seaton may undergo some renovation, which would make it less appealing, and McKinley may improve over the next 7 years, which would make Langley more appealing (as the PP said). Sigh. I think our plan is to try out Langley, and stick as long as it works for us, and hope that is through 5th grade. And once we get there, if that hope was misplaced, count on the fact that at least for now, it looks like we can lottery to the charters or other DCPS around here.

Yeah it's hard, it feels like predicting the future. I know we probably COULD lottery out easily in the upper grades but I hate putting DD in a school knowing there's a good chance that in 2nd grade we're going to randomly yank her out of it, you know? I wonder if we could avoid a lot of future heartache by prioritizing this now.

It's honestly impossible for me to imagine staying EOTP for middle school but that is 8+ years in the future so I guess anything could happen! At this point I'm just hoping we can stick around through 5th grade without schools pushing us out. I really like our house and neighborhood and want to do whatever we can to make it work for us as long as possible.

Here is the thing, though. Any school other than a very top choice is a school you might leave. And your top choice may change over time. We are at ITS and find it good, but would still leave for certain schools. And it is hard to know now, as the parent of a child who is 2 or 3, how things will go. Schools can change for the better or for the worse, or a charter can move locations. What you think fits your child and your child's interests now might turn out not to fit. I know people who are unhappy with upper elementary or middle grades at just about every HRCS. So I totally see why someone might have trepidations about Langley given the test scores, but the idea that you will never switch may be unrealistic. The bar for schools in DC is overall pretty low, and a school can still have a long waitlist even with serious shortcomings.

Also, changing schools midyear was a little tough on my kids but I would not really describe it as "heartache". If you stay in your house you can still maintain neighborhood friendships. We went with our IB (Seaton) prior to ITS anf it was not a big deal to switch, after the first month or so.

This is helpful, thanks. Total newbie question.... what does ITS and HRCS stand for?
How old were your kids when you switched them?

Thank you for sharing your experience! All of my friends' kids are my own kids' age so I don't feel like I have anyone with real experience in the school system to talk to.

Highly Regarded Charter School (or High Resources Charter School meaning that the school just has more money because of more high-income parents)
Inspired Teaching School
K and 2nd a few years ago. ITS takes a lot of kids in K so that pulled in my 2nd grader.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. So, imagine you were walking distance to Langley, Cleveland, Garrison, and Seaton. How would you rank those schools?

i would say

1. Seaton
2. Garrison
3. Cleveland
4. Langley

with the caveat that this person should actually rank their IB school the highest and go there -- there are huge benefits to attending your IB. All of these schools are pretty good now and will be great in a couple years.

Agree 100% with this. Langley is our IB, which means Garrison is farther than we wanted to travel (not being green line commuters), and we really do appreciate being walkable and having so many classmates in the neighborhood. It has been great. So here's how I would rank if I were doing PK3 over again. Note that this list is without regard to the availability of aftercare and before-care, which may affect your decision. I am assuming this is for PK3. If it's for an upper grade it might be different.

1) Cleveland Spanish, but there's little point if you're OOB.
2) Langley because I'm a fan of SEL and I love the building.
3) Seaton, which is also a very nice school and we have friends there with kids in 1st and 2nd. Test scores are better than Langley's, but no SEL.
4) Garrison, which is a little less impressive than Seaton.
5) Cleveland English.

Seaton does have SEL. They piloted it last year in one ECE classroom and it's being scaled this year across the early grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. So, imagine you were walking distance to Langley, Cleveland, Garrison, and Seaton. How would you rank those schools?

i would say

1. Seaton
2. Garrison
3. Cleveland
4. Langley

with the caveat that this person should actually rank their IB school the highest and go there -- there are huge benefits to attending your IB. All of these schools are pretty good now and will be great in a couple years.

Agree 100% with this. Langley is our IB, which means Garrison is farther than we wanted to travel (not being green line commuters), and we really do appreciate being walkable and having so many classmates in the neighborhood. It has been great. So here's how I would rank if I were doing PK3 over again. Note that this list is without regard to the availability of aftercare and before-care, which may affect your decision. I am assuming this is for PK3. If it's for an upper grade it might be different.

1) Cleveland Spanish, but there's little point if you're OOB.
2) Langley because I'm a fan of SEL and I love the building.
3) Seaton, which is also a very nice school and we have friends there with kids in 1st and 2nd. Test scores are better than Langley's, but no SEL.
4) Garrison, which is a little less impressive than Seaton.
5) Cleveland English.

Seaton does have SEL. They piloted it last year in one ECE classroom and it's being scaled this year across the early grades.

What program?

Langley is in its second year of Conscious Discipline schoolwide. It is a three-year implementation. I really like it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Langley is in its second year of Conscious Discipline schoolwide. It is a three-year implementation. I really like it!

I thought it was in the 3rd year now?

Also, Garrison is in its first year too (I think), so it's good all these schools will have SEL programs!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. So, imagine you were walking distance to Langley, Cleveland, Garrison, and Seaton. How would you rank those schools?

i would say

1. Seaton
2. Garrison
3. Cleveland
4. Langley

with the caveat that this person should actually rank their IB school the highest and go there -- there are huge benefits to attending your IB. All of these schools are pretty good now and will be great in a couple years.

Agree 100% with this. Langley is our IB, which means Garrison is farther than we wanted to travel (not being green line commuters), and we really do appreciate being walkable and having so many classmates in the neighborhood. It has been great. So here's how I would rank if I were doing PK3 over again. Note that this list is without regard to the availability of aftercare and before-care, which may affect your decision. I am assuming this is for PK3. If it's for an upper grade it might be different.

1) Cleveland Spanish, but there's little point if you're OOB.
2) Langley because I'm a fan of SEL and I love the building.
3) Seaton, which is also a very nice school and we have friends there with kids in 1st and 2nd. Test scores are better than Langley's, but no SEL.
4) Garrison, which is a little less impressive than Seaton.
5) Cleveland English.

Seaton does have SEL. They piloted it last year in one ECE classroom and it's being scaled this year across the early grades.

What program?

Langley is in its second year of Conscious Discipline schoolwide. It is a three-year implementation. I really like it!

I believe that it is Second-Step.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. So, imagine you were walking distance to Langley, Cleveland, Garrison, and Seaton. How would you rank those schools?

i would say

1. Seaton
2. Garrison
3. Cleveland
4. Langley

with the caveat that this person should actually rank their IB school the highest and go there -- there are huge benefits to attending your IB. All of these schools are pretty good now and will be great in a couple years.

Agree 100% with this. Langley is our IB, which means Garrison is farther than we wanted to travel (not being green line commuters), and we really do appreciate being walkable and having so many classmates in the neighborhood. It has been great. So here's how I would rank if I were doing PK3 over again. Note that this list is without regard to the availability of aftercare and before-care, which may affect your decision. I am assuming this is for PK3. If it's for an upper grade it might be different.

1) Cleveland Spanish, but there's little point if you're OOB.
2) Langley because I'm a fan of SEL and I love the building.
3) Seaton, which is also a very nice school and we have friends there with kids in 1st and 2nd. Test scores are better than Langley's, but no SEL.
4) Garrison, which is a little less impressive than Seaton.
5) Cleveland English.

Seaton does have SEL. They piloted it last year in one ECE classroom and it's being scaled this year across the early grades.

What program?

Langley is in its second year of Conscious Discipline schoolwide. It is a three-year implementation. I really like it!

I believe that it is Second-Step.

Is it for everyone or targeted to certain kids?

Personally I love schoolwide CD so much, it's hard to imagine doing anything else. It has made our next year lottery list a lot shorter because we don't want to give it up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. So, imagine you were walking distance to Langley, Cleveland, Garrison, and Seaton. How would you rank those schools?

i would say

1. Seaton
2. Garrison
3. Cleveland
4. Langley

with the caveat that this person should actually rank their IB school the highest and go there -- there are huge benefits to attending your IB. All of these schools are pretty good now and will be great in a couple years.

Agree 100% with this. Langley is our IB, which means Garrison is farther than we wanted to travel (not being green line commuters), and we really do appreciate being walkable and having so many classmates in the neighborhood. It has been great. So here's how I would rank if I were doing PK3 over again. Note that this list is without regard to the availability of aftercare and before-care, which may affect your decision. I am assuming this is for PK3. If it's for an upper grade it might be different.

1) Cleveland Spanish, but there's little point if you're OOB.
2) Langley because I'm a fan of SEL and I love the building.
3) Seaton, which is also a very nice school and we have friends there with kids in 1st and 2nd. Test scores are better than Langley's, but no SEL.
4) Garrison, which is a little less impressive than Seaton.
5) Cleveland English.

Seaton does have SEL. They piloted it last year in one ECE classroom and it's being scaled this year across the early grades.

What program?

Langley is in its second year of Conscious Discipline schoolwide. It is a three-year implementation. I really like it!

I believe that it is Second-Step.

I wanted to add one additional thing about Seaton. It's the only school of the bunch that has a full-time ECE coach on staff (unless things have changed at the other schools). She's wonderful and works with the ECE teachers on a number of things (including SEL). She's also stepped in as a sub in the PK and K rooms as needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. So, imagine you were walking distance to Langley, Cleveland, Garrison, and Seaton. How would you rank those schools?

i would say

1. Seaton
2. Garrison
3. Cleveland
4. Langley

with the caveat that this person should actually rank their IB school the highest and go there -- there are huge benefits to attending your IB. All of these schools are pretty good now and will be great in a couple years.

Agree 100% with this. Langley is our IB, which means Garrison is farther than we wanted to travel (not being green line commuters), and we really do appreciate being walkable and having so many classmates in the neighborhood. It has been great. So here's how I would rank if I were doing PK3 over again. Note that this list is without regard to the availability of aftercare and before-care, which may affect your decision. I am assuming this is for PK3. If it's for an upper grade it might be different.

1) Cleveland Spanish, but there's little point if you're OOB.
2) Langley because I'm a fan of SEL and I love the building.
3) Seaton, which is also a very nice school and we have friends there with kids in 1st and 2nd. Test scores are better than Langley's, but no SEL.
4) Garrison, which is a little less impressive than Seaton.
5) Cleveland English.

Seaton does have SEL. They piloted it last year in one ECE classroom and it's being scaled this year across the early grades.

What program?

Langley is in its second year of Conscious Discipline schoolwide. It is a three-year implementation. I really like it!

I believe that it is Second-Step.

Is it for everyone or targeted to certain kids?

Personally I love schoolwide CD so much, it's hard to imagine doing anything else. It has made our next year lottery list a lot shorter because we don't want to give it up.

It is being scaled across the school this year.

Also, both CD and Second-step are designed for preschool-aged kids, so the curriculum is being tweaked for older grades (or it certainly should be if it's not) I in all schools using any type of SEL curriculum, particularly beyond PK.

[Anonymous]

Here is the thing, though. Any school other than a very top choice is a school you might leave. And your top choice may change over time. We are at ITS and find it good, but would still leave for certain schools. And it is hard to know now, as the parent of a child who is 2 or 3, how things will go. Schools can change for the better or for the worse, or a charter can move locations. What you think fits your child and your child's interests now might turn out not to fit. I know people who are unhappy with upper elementary or middle grades at just about every HRCS. So I totally see why someone might have trepidations about Langley given the test scores, but the idea that you will never switch may be unrealistic. The bar for schools in DC is overall pretty low, and a school can still have a long waitlist even with serious shortcomings.

Also, changing schools midyear was a little tough on my kids but I would not really describe it as "heartache". If you stay in your house you can still maintain neighborhood friendships. We went with our IB (Seaton) prior to ITS anf it was not a big deal to switch, after the first month or so.

Which schools would you consider leaving ITS for? And for what reasons? Just working on my lottery list here

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Here is the thing, though. Any school other than a very top choice is a school you might leave. And your top choice may change over time. We are at ITS and find it good, but would still leave for certain schools. And it is hard to know now, as the parent of a child who is 2 or 3, how things will go. Schools can change for the better or for the worse, or a charter can move locations. What you think fits your child and your child's interests now might turn out not to fit. I know people who are unhappy with upper elementary or middle grades at just about every HRCS. So I totally see why someone might have trepidations about Langley given the test scores, but the idea that you will never switch may be unrealistic. The bar for schools in DC is overall pretty low, and a school can still have a long waitlist even with serious shortcomings.

Also, changing schools midyear was a little tough on my kids but I would not really describe it as "heartache". If you stay in your house you can still maintain neighborhood friendships. We went with our IB (Seaton) prior to ITS anf it was not a big deal to switch, after the first month or so.

Which schools would you consider leaving ITS for? And for what reasons? Just working on my lottery list here

YY, DCB, Stokes. That's it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Here is the thing, though. Any school other than a very top choice is a school you might leave. And your top choice may change over time. We are at ITS and find it good, but would still leave for certain schools. And it is hard to know now, as the parent of a child who is 2 or 3, how things will go. Schools can change for the better or for the worse, or a charter can move locations. What you think fits your child and your child's interests now might turn out not to fit. I know people who are unhappy with upper elementary or middle grades at just about every HRCS. So I totally see why someone might have trepidations about Langley given the test scores, but the idea that you will never switch may be unrealistic. The bar for schools in DC is overall pretty low, and a school can still have a long waitlist even with serious shortcomings.

Also, changing schools midyear was a little tough on my kids but I would not really describe it as "heartache". If you stay in your house you can still maintain neighborhood friendships. We went with our IB (Seaton) prior to ITS anf it was not a big deal to switch, after the first month or so.

Which schools would you consider leaving ITS for? And for what reasons? Just working on my lottery list here

YY, DCB, Stokes. That's it.

Thanks!!

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to reply that Conscious Discipline is for all elementary kids not just PreK. With the right training, you can also adapt it for middle and high school. At Langley, we purchased the Feeling Buddies curriculum for PreK-Grade 5 which used read aloud books to teach children about their feelings and important social emotional skills at the beginning of the year and any time you want to refresh like after breaks. They also sell a kit for parents to use at home. We love it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just wanted to reply that Conscious Discipline is for all elementary kids not just PreK. With the right training, you can also adapt it for middle and high school. At Langley, we purchased the Feeling Buddies curriculum for PreK-Grade 5 which used read aloud books to teach children about their feelings and important social emotional skills at the beginning of the year and any time you want to refresh like after breaks. They also sell a kit for parents to use at home. We love it!

Personally I think the real value of Conscious Discipline is in the elementary grades. A lot of schools emphasize self-regulation and social skills for preschool, but the more advanced interpersonal skills and concepts my child is learning in early elementary are really valuable and at a lot of schools that wouldn't be an explicit part of the curriculum.