DCI or Deal

[Anonymous]

The Pew Research Center - non-partisan, non-profit org that studies demographic trends among other things - published a calculator in 2018.

31% of people in the DMV are considered upper middle class (or above).

The dividing line between the middle class and upper middle class in DC $190,000.

Nationally, a HHI of $180,000 per year is in the top 10%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Pew Research Center - non-partisan, non-profit org that studies demographic trends among other things - published a calculator in 2018.

31% of people in the DMV are considered upper middle class (or above).

The dividing line between the middle class and upper middle class in DC $190,000.

Nationally, a HHI of $180,000 per year is in the top 10%.

First of all, that's astounding, simply because there are also so many who fall near or below the poverty line. Just look at the school stats: 50% of kids at-risk meaning they qualify for public assistance.

Second, what is above UMC is the question that was raised. Rich? Wealthy? Where do you draw that line in DC? Did Pew investigate? In UNW DC I'm sure that most are well above 190k.

The top 1% nationwide has HHI of $420,00. I'm sure there are quite a few of those in the Deal boundary.

But the 30% UMC is still a lot of money. It's not helpful to anyone to downplay just how vast the income inequality in DC is, and how it plays out in the public schools. Deal contains the elites of the city (those who are not in privates) and very few of the poor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, we are in the same boat. We are at a DCI feeder but in boundary for Deal. We are choosing to try DCI this year, thankfully knowing we can switch to Deal next year if DCI doesn't meet our goals. I know it would be harder on my DD to move in 7th than to just start new in 6th with everyone else. But we are encouraged by the improvements we see in DCI every year and more and more of my DD high performing classmates are going to DCI each year. I have toured both Deal and DCI and both seem to have similar cultures (granted, it was a one hour tour). Except that Deal had less diversity in terms of ethnicity and probably socioeconomic too, and I was more uncomfortable with that than I expected, coming from a feeder with a great diversity of backgrounds (and we are a white family who wants our kids to grow up with much more diversity than we did). I feel thankful to have these 2 options but are not looking back from our decision to go with DCI.

I am very surprised that you think Deal does not have diversity.

I didn't say it doesn't have diversity. I said it has less diversity than I expected and less than I would like. And less than DCI. Given that all the DCI feeders are full of families who are not native to this country, this shouldn't be surprising. As an example, my core group of 5-6 close families from different feeders have at least one parent who was born in a Latin American country.

And if you listened to the open house at Deal, it's just going to get worse for diversity. Deal has seen an increase of in-bound kids to the point that they may not be able to take ANY lottery slots next year, so as more and more rich kids go to public schools in the boundary, we will see Deal have less and less diversity. I don't mean in color of skin, I mean diversity in clads and thought. Unfortunate, IMO.

DCPS is to blame. If you want diversity in urban public middle schools, offer honors humanities classes and test-in programs, period. If you want UMC parents to amalgamate around the one high-performing by-right middle school named Deal, don't offer honors humanities classes or test-in programs. Deal only tracks for math, so unless the school is predominantly UMC (which in DC means more white), for the most part, teachers can't differentiate effectively within classrooms.

Rich kids? Give me a break, this isn't NYC, with a finance industry. Few Deal families are truly rich, many are solidly UMC.

Once again folks, this is all relative. Most of UNW is "rich kids" if you look at nationwide stats. UMC is becoming a euphemism for people who simply don't want to admit they're in the 1%, and yes, they are rich. You're rich! Own it! God this city is so sickening sometimes.

Oh get over yourself. Federal civil servants, no matter how senior, aren't rich unless they have amassed great wealth from income coming from sources other than salary (and few do). You're definitely not in the 1% earning a civil servant's salary, as many many Deal parents do. You may be in the top 10%, but the 1% is ridiculous. Households pulling in less than 250K (almost everybody at Deal) aren't rich in this expensive city, only UMC. Spare us your holier-than-thou BS and histrionic misinformation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, we are in the same boat. We are at a DCI feeder but in boundary for Deal. We are choosing to try DCI this year, thankfully knowing we can switch to Deal next year if DCI doesn't meet our goals. I know it would be harder on my DD to move in 7th than to just start new in 6th with everyone else. But we are encouraged by the improvements we see in DCI every year and more and more of my DD high performing classmates are going to DCI each year. I have toured both Deal and DCI and both seem to have similar cultures (granted, it was a one hour tour). Except that Deal had less diversity in terms of ethnicity and probably socioeconomic too, and I was more uncomfortable with that than I expected, coming from a feeder with a great diversity of backgrounds (and we are a white family who wants our kids to grow up with much more diversity than we did). I feel thankful to have these 2 options but are not looking back from our decision to go with DCI.

I am very surprised that you think Deal does not have diversity.

I didn't say it doesn't have diversity. I said it has less diversity than I expected and less than I would like. And less than DCI. Given that all the DCI feeders are full of families who are not native to this country, this shouldn't be surprising. As an example, my core group of 5-6 close families from different feeders have at least one parent who was born in a Latin American country.

And if you listened to the open house at Deal, it's just going to get worse for diversity. Deal has seen an increase of in-bound kids to the point that they may not be able to take ANY lottery slots next year, so as more and more rich kids go to public schools in the boundary, we will see Deal have less and less diversity. I don't mean in color of skin, I mean diversity in clads and thought. Unfortunate, IMO.

DCPS is to blame. If you want diversity in urban public middle schools, offer honors humanities classes and test-in programs, period. If you want UMC parents to amalgamate around the one high-performing by-right middle school named Deal, don't offer honors humanities classes or test-in programs. Deal only tracks for math, so unless the school is predominantly UMC (which in DC means more white), for the most part, teachers can't differentiate effectively within classrooms.

Rich kids? Give me a break, this isn't NYC, with a finance industry. Few Deal families are truly rich, many are solidly UMC.

Once again folks, this is all relative. Most of UNW is "rich kids" if you look at nationwide stats. UMC is becoming a euphemism for people who simply don't want to admit they're in the 1%, and yes, they are rich. You're rich! Own it! God this city is so sickening sometimes.

Oh get over yourself. Federal civil servants, no matter how senior, aren't rich unless they have amassed great wealth from income coming from sources other than salary (and few do). You're definitely not in the 1% earning a civil servant's salary, as many many Deal parents do. You may be in the top 10%, but the 1% is ridiculous. Households pulling in less than 250K (almost everybody at Deal) aren't rich in this expensive city, only UMC. Spare us your holier-than-thou BS and histrionic misinformation.

What's really sickening is when "UMC" people do not recognize their own privilege.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Pew Research Center - non-partisan, non-profit org that studies demographic trends among other things - published a calculator in 2018.

31% of people in the DMV are considered upper middle class (or above).

The dividing line between the middle class and upper middle class in DC $190,000.

Nationally, a HHI of $180,000 per year is in the top 10%.

First of all, that's astounding, simply because there are also so many who fall near or below the poverty line. Just look at the school stats: 50% of kids at-risk meaning they qualify for public assistance.

Second, what is above UMC is the question that was raised. Rich? Wealthy? Where do you draw that line in DC? Did Pew investigate? In UNW DC I'm sure that most are well above 190k.

The top 1% nationwide has HHI of $420,00. I'm sure there are quite a few of those in the Deal boundary.

But the 30% UMC is still a lot of money. It's not helpful to anyone to downplay just how vast the income inequality in DC is, and how it plays out in the public schools. Deal contains the elites of the city (those who are not in privates) and very few of the poor.

I'm just not buying that most in UNW DC earn well above 190K. I'd wager half of the families with school age kids make this cut off, let alone exceed it.

One's finances in UNW tend to hinge on when you bought a house. We got ours during the Barry Administration for 250K and paid off the mortgage recently. Same house now would list for roughly $1.5 million.

The rich don't use DC public schools past elementary. The schools aren't nearly good enough wherever you look.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, we are in the same boat. We are at a DCI feeder but in boundary for Deal. We are choosing to try DCI this year, thankfully knowing we can switch to Deal next year if DCI doesn't meet our goals. I know it would be harder on my DD to move in 7th than to just start new in 6th with everyone else. But we are encouraged by the improvements we see in DCI every year and more and more of my DD high performing classmates are going to DCI each year. I have toured both Deal and DCI and both seem to have similar cultures (granted, it was a one hour tour). Except that Deal had less diversity in terms of ethnicity and probably socioeconomic too, and I was more uncomfortable with that than I expected, coming from a feeder with a great diversity of backgrounds (and we are a white family who wants our kids to grow up with much more diversity than we did). I feel thankful to have these 2 options but are not looking back from our decision to go with DCI.

I am very surprised that you think Deal does not have diversity.

I didn't say it doesn't have diversity. I said it has less diversity than I expected and less than I would like. And less than DCI. Given that all the DCI feeders are full of families who are not native to this country, this shouldn't be surprising. As an example, my core group of 5-6 close families from different feeders have at least one parent who was born in a Latin American country.

And if you listened to the open house at Deal, it's just going to get worse for diversity. Deal has seen an increase of in-bound kids to the point that they may not be able to take ANY lottery slots next year, so as more and more rich kids go to public schools in the boundary, we will see Deal have less and less diversity. I don't mean in color of skin, I mean diversity in clads and thought. Unfortunate, IMO.

DCPS is to blame. If you want diversity in urban public middle schools, offer honors humanities classes and test-in programs, period. If you want UMC parents to amalgamate around the one high-performing by-right middle school named Deal, don't offer honors humanities classes or test-in programs. Deal only tracks for math, so unless the school is predominantly UMC (which in DC means more white), for the most part, teachers can't differentiate effectively within classrooms.

Rich kids? Give me a break, this isn't NYC, with a finance industry. Few Deal families are truly rich, many are solidly UMC.

Once again folks, this is all relative. Most of UNW is "rich kids" if you look at nationwide stats. UMC is becoming a euphemism for people who simply don't want to admit they're in the 1%, and yes, they are rich. You're rich! Own it! God this city is so sickening sometimes.

Seriously, if I hear another family making over 300K a year whine about how they are not "rich" I am going to lose my mind. You are rich and for you to say that to a single mom making 70K a year and raising a kid, well, you can go pound sand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Pew Research Center - non-partisan, non-profit org that studies demographic trends among other things - published a calculator in 2018.

31% of people in the DMV are considered upper middle class (or above).

The dividing line between the middle class and upper middle class in DC $190,000.

Nationally, a HHI of $180,000 per year is in the top 10%.

First of all, that's astounding, simply because there are also so many who fall near or below the poverty line. Just look at the school stats: 50% of kids at-risk meaning they qualify for public assistance.

Second, what is above UMC is the question that was raised. Rich? Wealthy? Where do you draw that line in DC? Did Pew investigate? In UNW DC I'm sure that most are well above 190k.

The top 1% nationwide has HHI of $420,00. I'm sure there are quite a few of those in the Deal boundary.

But the 30% UMC is still a lot of money. It's not helpful to anyone to downplay just how vast the income inequality in DC is, and how it plays out in the public schools. Deal contains the elites of the city (those who are not in privates) and very few of the poor.

I'm just not buying that most in UNW DC earn well above 190K. I'd wager half of the families with school age kids make this cut off, let alone exceed it.

One's finances in UNW tend to hinge on when you bought a house. We got ours during the Barry Administration for 250K and paid off the mortgage recently. Same house now would list for roughly $1.5 million.

The rich don't use DC public schools past elementary. The schools aren't nearly good enough wherever you look.

We bought a mild fixer upper 15 years ago for under 700K and did a large renovation a couple years ago now, our house is probably with 1.5M. Two federal civil servants with a HHI of 360K. We could not buy our house in our neighborhood today and we cannot afford private school. I think the vast majority of families in UNWvmake over 250K and many families with kids in school make more than us. People who bought long before us could get in with a lower income but most of them have older if not already out of the house kids.

[Anonymous]

From DC Action for CHildren/Annie E Casey foundation. Source: US census data

Between 2011-2015 median household income by ward

1 - $61,196
2 - $189,324
3 - $216,193
4 - $78,599
5 - $60,351
6 - $122,500
7 - $34,562 (down 10% from previous 2006-2010)
8 - $28,979 (down 16.9%)

[Anonymous]

^ Link: $28,979

If by upper NW you mean Wards 2 and 3, and not the parts of NW that are in Ward 4...most are wealthy compared to the rest of the city.

[Anonymous]

https://www.dcactionforchildren.org/sites/default/files/2016WARDSnapshots_FINAL_4_11_17.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Pew Research Center - non-partisan, non-profit org that studies demographic trends among other things - published a calculator in 2018.

31% of people in the DMV are considered upper middle class (or above).

The dividing line between the middle class and upper middle class in DC $190,000.

Nationally, a HHI of $180,000 per year is in the top 10%.

First of all, that's astounding, simply because there are also so many who fall near or below the poverty line. Just look at the school stats: 50% of kids at-risk meaning they qualify for public assistance.

Second, what is above UMC is the question that was raised. Rich? Wealthy? Where do you draw that line in DC? Did Pew investigate? In UNW DC I'm sure that most are well above 190k.

The top 1% nationwide has HHI of $420,00. I'm sure there are quite a few of those in the Deal boundary.

But the 30% UMC is still a lot of money. It's not helpful to anyone to downplay just how vast the income inequality in DC is, and how it plays out in the public schools. Deal contains the elites of the city (those who are not in privates) and very few of the poor.

I'm just not buying that most in UNW DC earn well above 190K. I'd wager half of the families with school age kids make this cut off, let alone exceed it.

One's finances in UNW tend to hinge on when you bought a house. We got ours during the Barry Administration for 250K and paid off the mortgage recently. Same house now would list for roughly $1.5 million.

The rich don't use DC public schools past elementary. The schools aren't nearly good enough wherever you look.

We bought a mild fixer upper 15 years ago for under 700K and did a large renovation a couple years ago now, our house is probably with 1.5M. Two federal civil servants with a HHI of 360K. We could not buy our house in our neighborhood today and we cannot afford private school. I think the vast majority of families in UNWvmake over 250K and many families with kids in school make more than us. People who bought long before us could get in with a lower income but most of them have older if not already out of the house kids.

Come on, you could afford private school in DC, maybe just not Sidwell etc. We send two kids to a parochial school in Ward 6 for 30K (total). If you couldn't afford that on 360K, you've got huge budgeting issues or are living ridiculously high.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Pew Research Center - non-partisan, non-profit org that studies demographic trends among other things - published a calculator in 2018.

31% of people in the DMV are considered upper middle class (or above).

The dividing line between the middle class and upper middle class in DC $190,000.

Nationally, a HHI of $180,000 per year is in the top 10%.

First of all, that's astounding, simply because there are also so many who fall near or below the poverty line. Just look at the school stats: 50% of kids at-risk meaning they qualify for public assistance.

Second, what is above UMC is the question that was raised. Rich? Wealthy? Where do you draw that line in DC? Did Pew investigate? In UNW DC I'm sure that most are well above 190k.

The top 1% nationwide has HHI of $420,00. I'm sure there are quite a few of those in the Deal boundary.

But the 30% UMC is still a lot of money. It's not helpful to anyone to downplay just how vast the income inequality in DC is, and how it plays out in the public schools. Deal contains the elites of the city (those who are not in privates) and very few of the poor.

I'm just not buying that most in UNW DC earn well above 190K. I'd wager half of the families with school age kids make this cut off, let alone exceed it.

One's finances in UNW tend to hinge on when you bought a house. We got ours during the Barry Administration for 250K and paid off the mortgage recently. Same house now would list for roughly $1.5 million.

The rich don't use DC public schools past elementary. The schools aren't nearly good enough wherever you look.

We bought a mild fixer upper 15 years ago for under 700K and did a large renovation a couple years ago now, our house is probably with 1.5M. Two federal civil servants with a HHI of 360K. We could not buy our house in our neighborhood today and we cannot afford private school. I think the vast majority of families in UNWvmake over 250K and many families with kids in school make more than us. People who bought long before us could get in with a lower income but most of them have older if not already out of the house kids.

Come on, you could afford private school in DC, maybe just not Sidwell etc. We send two kids to a parochial school in Ward 6 for 30K (total). If you couldn't afford that on 360K, you've got huge budgeting issues or are living ridiculously high.

We bought where we bought so we could send our kids to public school. My point was that lots of UMC families in upper NW send their kids to public school and an income above 250K is not unusual. I think there are many families in our neighborhood that make more but we make about what most two senior fed lawyer families make.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, we are in the same boat. We are at a DCI feeder but in boundary for Deal. We are choosing to try DCI this year, thankfully knowing we can switch to Deal next year if DCI doesn't meet our goals. I know it would be harder on my DD to move in 7th than to just start new in 6th with everyone else. But we are encouraged by the improvements we see in DCI every year and more and more of my DD high performing classmates are going to DCI each year. I have toured both Deal and DCI and both seem to have similar cultures (granted, it was a one hour tour). Except that Deal had less diversity in terms of ethnicity and probably socioeconomic too, and I was more uncomfortable with that than I expected, coming from a feeder with a great diversity of backgrounds (and we are a white family who wants our kids to grow up with much more diversity than we did). I feel thankful to have these 2 options but are not looking back from our decision to go with DCI.

I am very surprised that you think Deal does not have diversity.

I didn't say it doesn't have diversity. I said it has less diversity than I expected and less than I would like. And less than DCI. Given that all the DCI feeders are full of families who are not native to this country, this shouldn't be surprising. As an example, my core group of 5-6 close families from different feeders have at least one parent who was born in a Latin American country.

And if you listened to the open house at Deal, it's just going to get worse for diversity. Deal has seen an increase of in-bound kids to the point that they may not be able to take ANY lottery slots next year, so as more and more rich kids go to public schools in the boundary, we will see Deal have less and less diversity. I don't mean in color of skin, I mean diversity in clads and thought. Unfortunate, IMO.

DCPS is to blame. If you want diversity in urban public middle schools, offer honors humanities classes and test-in programs, period. If you want UMC parents to amalgamate around the one high-performing by-right middle school named Deal, don't offer honors humanities classes or test-in programs. Deal only tracks for math, so unless the school is predominantly UMC (which in DC means more white), for the most part, teachers can't differentiate effectively within classrooms.

Rich kids? Give me a break, this isn't NYC, with a finance industry. Few Deal families are truly rich, many are solidly UMC.

Once again folks, this is all relative. Most of UNW is "rich kids" if you look at nationwide stats. UMC is becoming a euphemism for people who simply don't want to admit they're in the 1%, and yes, they are rich. You're rich! Own it! God this city is so sickening sometimes.

Oh get over yourself. Federal civil servants, no matter how senior, aren't rich unless they have amassed great wealth from income coming from sources other than salary (and few do). You're definitely not in the 1% earning a civil servant's salary, as many many Deal parents do. You may be in the top 10%, but the 1% is ridiculous. Households pulling in less than 250K (almost everybody at Deal) aren't rich in this expensive city, only UMC. Spare us your holier-than-thou BS and histrionic misinformation.

What's really sickening is when "UMC" people do not recognize their own privilege.

Yes I agree and we are UMC. I’m frankly embarrassed by the poster above in not only their tone but also total lack of awareness. They think that being in what they call the top 10% and not 1% is not considered rich in this city especially when there are so many poor families.

[Anonymous]

I thought this thread was helpful until everyone started bickering about whether people in upper NW are rich or merely UMC. Never change, DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, we are in the same boat. We are at a DCI feeder but in boundary for Deal. We are choosing to try DCI this year, thankfully knowing we can switch to Deal next year if DCI doesn't meet our goals. I know it would be harder on my DD to move in 7th than to just start new in 6th with everyone else. But we are encouraged by the improvements we see in DCI every year and more and more of my DD high performing classmates are going to DCI each year. I have toured both Deal and DCI and both seem to have similar cultures (granted, it was a one hour tour). Except that Deal had less diversity in terms of ethnicity and probably socioeconomic too, and I was more uncomfortable with that than I expected, coming from a feeder with a great diversity of backgrounds (and we are a white family who wants our kids to grow up with much more diversity than we did). I feel thankful to have these 2 options but are not looking back from our decision to go with DCI.

I am very surprised that you think Deal does not have diversity.

I didn't say it doesn't have diversity. I said it has less diversity than I expected and less than I would like. And less than DCI. Given that all the DCI feeders are full of families who are not native to this country, this shouldn't be surprising. As an example, my core group of 5-6 close families from different feeders have at least one parent who was born in a Latin American country.

And if you listened to the open house at Deal, it's just going to get worse for diversity. Deal has seen an increase of in-bound kids to the point that they may not be able to take ANY lottery slots next year, so as more and more rich kids go to public schools in the boundary, we will see Deal have less and less diversity. I don't mean in color of skin, I mean diversity in clads and thought. Unfortunate, IMO.

DCPS is to blame. If you want diversity in urban public middle schools, offer honors humanities classes and test-in programs, period. If you want UMC parents to amalgamate around the one high-performing by-right middle school named Deal, don't offer honors humanities classes or test-in programs. Deal only tracks for math, so unless the school is predominantly UMC (which in DC means more white), for the most part, teachers can't differentiate effectively within classrooms.

Rich kids? Give me a break, this isn't NYC, with a finance industry. Few Deal families are truly rich, many are solidly UMC.

Once again folks, this is all relative. Most of UNW is "rich kids" if you look at nationwide stats. UMC is becoming a euphemism for people who simply don't want to admit they're in the 1%, and yes, they are rich. You're rich! Own it! God this city is so sickening sometimes.

Oh get over yourself. Federal civil servants, no matter how senior, aren't rich unless they have amassed great wealth from income coming from sources other than salary (and few do). You're definitely not in the 1% earning a civil servant's salary, as many many Deal parents do. You may be in the top 10%, but the 1% is ridiculous. Households pulling in less than 250K (almost everybody at Deal) aren't rich in this expensive city, only UMC. Spare us your holier-than-thou BS and histrionic misinformation.

What's really sickening is when "UMC" people do not recognize their own privilege.

Yes I agree and we are UMC. I’m frankly embarrassed by the poster above in not only their tone but also total lack of awareness. They think that being in what they call the top 10% and not 1% is not considered rich in this city especially when there are so many poor families.

It’s also why we will be choosing DCI over Deal where there is not only more diversity of people but also socioeconomic status