Latin, Two Rivers or ITS for Middle?

[Anonymous]

Hi, we are moving to middle school soon and although we have been to open houses for all 3 of these schools, I see positives each and am unsure of how to rank them.

I'm absolutely interested in solid, advanced academics, but prefer an environment where students are actively learning and not sitting in their desks most of the day. A well rounded and welcoming social environment and a strong arts program is important as well. We are in Capitol Hill so Two Rivers (4th) would be the most convenient but my main focus is education and all of these schools are fine commute wise.

Thanks in advance for any insight!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi, we are moving to middle school soon and although we have been to open houses for all 3 of these schools, I see positives each and am unsure of how to rank them.

I'm absolutely interested in solid, advanced academics, but prefer an environment where students are actively learning and not sitting in their desks most of the day. A well rounded and welcoming social environment and a strong arts program is important as well. We are in Capitol Hill so Two Rivers (4th) would be the most convenient but my main focus is education and all of these schools are fine commute wise.

Thanks in advance for any insight!

Have a backup plan.

[Anonymous]

Any would work given your criteria. Latin is going to be the most traditional of the three, but also has the largest cohort of students. The others are quite small at the MS level so have fewer extracurriculars, team sports.

Whats your backup plan if you don't' get into any of them? You need one, because Latin is a long-shot (so popular) and the others are small and thus few seats available.

[Anonymous]

What grade OP? 5th or 6th?

[Anonymous]

I would rank Latin, 2R, ITS.

This is based on the High School path that Latin provides.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi, we are moving to middle school soon and although we have been to open houses for all 3 of these schools, I see positives each and am unsure of how to rank them.

I'm absolutely interested in solid, advanced academics, but prefer an environment where students are actively learning and not sitting in their desks most of the day. A well rounded and welcoming social environment and a strong arts program is important as well. We are in Capitol Hill so Two Rivers (4th) would be the most convenient but my main focus is education and all of these schools are fine commute wise.

Thanks in advance for any insight!

Have a backup plan.

Yes, I agree. Stuart Hobson is our IB which would would be ok, and I'm hoping that the other back-up plan doesn't end up being the burbs.

[Anonymous]

OP again.Next year will be 4th grade but if I feel like TR or ITS would be best, we will go ahead and lottery for those this year to give us an additional shot. I only want to move once, though so if Latin ends up on the top, we will wait a year and go for broke.

My feelings for each of the schools are...

Latin: The most options, I like the advanced placement classes (which I'm thinking the other schools don't have, and frankly I'm not positive my child would be in them, but the option is important.) The arts and sports are a big plus and of course the HS option.

TR: The middle school open house was very organized and they seem to have things down pat. I also liked what the students had to say about their social dynamic and inclusion model. This is comforting to me given that Latin is very large and I'm not sure if they focus on social issues as much.

ITS: I have the least amount of information about their middle school and its the newest. I did like the MS teachers at the open house a lot and I also just feel like this school would be a good fit for us. The project based learning is a big plus here as well. Academically it seems on par with TR but they are so new, so there are a lot of open ends. It also seems much more 'little kid' than the very 'big kid' school feel that Latin has. I am honestly unsure which is better for a 5th-8 grader.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again.Next year will be 4th grade but if I feel like TR or ITS would be best, we will go ahead and lottery for those this year to give us an additional shot. I only want to move once, though so if Latin ends up on the top, we will wait a year and go for broke.

My feelings for each of the schools are...

Latin: The most options, I like the advanced placement classes (which I'm thinking the other schools don't have, and frankly I'm not positive my child would be in them, but the option is important.) The arts and sports are a big plus and of course the HS option.

TR: The middle school open house was very organized and they seem to have things down pat. I also liked what the students had to say about their social dynamic and inclusion model. This is comforting to me given that Latin is very large and I'm not sure if they focus on social issues as much.

ITS: I have the least amount of information about their middle school and its the newest. I did like the MS teachers at the open house a lot and I also just feel like this school would be a good fit for us. The project based learning is a big plus here as well. Academically it seems on par with TR but they are so new, so there are a lot of open ends. It also seems much more 'little kid' than the very 'big kid' school feel that Latin has. I am honestly unsure which is better for a 5th-8 grader.

What do you mean by advanced placement classes, with respect to middle school? Because WL doesn't put students in "AP" until high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again.Next year will be 4th grade but if I feel like TR or ITS would be best, we will go ahead and lottery for those this year to give us an additional shot. I only want to move once, though so if Latin ends up on the top, we will wait a year and go for broke.

My feelings for each of the schools are...

Latin: The most options, I like the advanced placement classes (which I'm thinking the other schools don't have, and frankly I'm not positive my child would be in them, but the option is important.) The arts and sports are a big plus and of course the HS option.

TR: The middle school open house was very organized and they seem to have things down pat. I also liked what the students had to say about their social dynamic and inclusion model. This is comforting to me given that Latin is very large and I'm not sure if they focus on social issues as much.

ITS: I have the least amount of information about their middle school and its the newest. I did like the MS teachers at the open house a lot and I also just feel like this school would be a good fit for us. The project based learning is a big plus here as well. Academically it seems on par with TR but they are so new, so there are a lot of open ends. It also seems much more 'little kid' than the very 'big kid' school feel that Latin has. I am honestly unsure which is better for a 5th-8 grader.

What do you mean by advanced placement classes, with respect to middle school? Because WL doesn't put students in "AP" until high school.

Ah, good to know. And I suppose I mean maybe less AP and more classes divided a bit by academic level, but I wasn't aware they didn't do this until HS. Thats helpful information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again.Next year will be 4th grade but if I feel like TR or ITS would be best, we will go ahead and lottery for those this year to give us an additional shot. I only want to move once, though so if Latin ends up on the top, we will wait a year and go for broke.

My feelings for each of the schools are...

Latin: The most options, I like the advanced placement classes (which I'm thinking the other schools don't have, and frankly I'm not positive my child would be in them, but the option is important.) The arts and sports are a big plus and of course the HS option.

TR: The middle school open house was very organized and they seem to have things down pat. I also liked what the students had to say about their social dynamic and inclusion model. This is comforting to me given that Latin is very large and I'm not sure if they focus on social issues as much.

ITS: I have the least amount of information about their middle school and its the newest. I did like the MS teachers at the open house a lot and I also just feel like this school would be a good fit for us. The project based learning is a big plus here as well. Academically it seems on par with TR but they are so new, so there are a lot of open ends. It also seems much more 'little kid' than the very 'big kid' school feel that Latin has. I am honestly unsure which is better for a 5th-8 grader.

Latin doesn't do any academic "tracking" until high school.

What do you mean by advanced placement classes, with respect to middle school? Because WL doesn't put students in "AP" until high school.

Ah, good to know. And I suppose I mean maybe less AP and more classes divided a bit by academic level, but I wasn't aware they didn't do this until HS. Thats helpful information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again.Next year will be 4th grade but if I feel like TR or ITS would be best, we will go ahead and lottery for those this year to give us an additional shot. I only want to move once, though so if Latin ends up on the top, we will wait a year and go for broke.

My feelings for each of the schools are...

Latin: The most options, I like the advanced placement classes (which I'm thinking the other schools don't have, and frankly I'm not positive my child would be in them, but the option is important.) The arts and sports are a big plus and of course the HS option.

TR: The middle school open house was very organized and they seem to have things down pat. I also liked what the students had to say about their social dynamic and inclusion model. This is comforting to me given that Latin is very large and I'm not sure if they focus on social issues as much.

ITS: I have the least amount of information about their middle school and its the newest. I did like the MS teachers at the open house a lot and I also just feel like this school would be a good fit for us. The project based learning is a big plus here as well. Academically it seems on par with TR but they are so new, so there are a lot of open ends. It also seems much more 'little kid' than the very 'big kid' school feel that Latin has. I am honestly unsure which is better for a 5th-8 grader.

What do you mean by advanced placement classes, with respect to middle school? Because WL doesn't put students in "AP" until high school.

Ah, good to know. And I suppose I mean maybe less AP and more classes divided a bit by academic level, but I wasn't aware they didn't do this until HS. Thats helpful information.

I think they do offer differentiation/acceleration in math now, but not in other subjects.

TR / ITS may do it more informally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again.Next year will be 4th grade but if I feel like TR or ITS would be best, we will go ahead and lottery for those this year to give us an additional shot. I only want to move once, though so if Latin ends up on the top, we will wait a year and go for broke.

My feelings for each of the schools are...

Latin: The most options, I like the advanced placement classes (which I'm thinking the other schools don't have, and frankly I'm not positive my child would be in them, but the option is important.) The arts and sports are a big plus and of course the HS option.

TR: The middle school open house was very organized and they seem to have things down pat. I also liked what the students had to say about their social dynamic and inclusion model. This is comforting to me given that Latin is very large and I'm not sure if they focus on social issues as much.

ITS: I have the least amount of information about their middle school and its the newest. I did like the MS teachers at the open house a lot and I also just feel like this school would be a good fit for us. The project based learning is a big plus here as well. Academically it seems on par with TR but they are so new, so there are a lot of open ends. It also seems much more 'little kid' than the very 'big kid' school feel that Latin has. I am honestly unsure which is better for a 5th-8 grader.

Don't bank on getting into Latin for 5th. How about you stay at your IB elementary school for 4th and then lottery for Latin, ITS and TR for 5th? I agree that you don't want to deal with moving around and if you really like Latin, I'd hold out and try for it along with the others.

[Anonymous]

Latin

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again.Next year will be 4th grade but if I feel like TR or ITS would be best, we will go ahead and lottery for those this year to give us an additional shot. I only want to move once, though so if Latin ends up on the top, we will wait a year and go for broke.

My feelings for each of the schools are...

Latin: The most options, I like the advanced placement classes (which I'm thinking the other schools don't have, and frankly I'm not positive my child would be in them, but the option is important.) The arts and sports are a big plus and of course the HS option.

TR: The middle school open house was very organized and they seem to have things down pat. I also liked what the students had to say about their social dynamic and inclusion model. This is comforting to me given that Latin is very large and I'm not sure if they focus on social issues as much.

ITS: I have the least amount of information about their middle school and its the newest. I did like the MS teachers at the open house a lot and I also just feel like this school would be a good fit for us. The project based learning is a big plus here as well. Academically it seems on par with TR but they are so new, so there are a lot of open ends. It also seems much more 'little kid' than the very 'big kid' school feel that Latin has. I am honestly unsure which is better for a 5th-8 grader.

Watch out, the admins' focus at all three schools is bringing up the academic bottom. You mean advanced placement classes in Latin's HS, or advanced classes at Latin? The only track for acceleration they offer is for math, 7th grade algebra etc. Plenty of SES families still peel off from Latin after MS, or after 9th grade.

[Anonymous]

PP above, where do they generally go to HS if they leave Latin? Private or is it that Walls, etc are considered better? If you take HS out of the mix, does that still make Latin the best of the 3?