Middle Schools for Cap Hill

[Anonymous]

yeah and some of us on the Hill actually really dont want our child to have a 1.5 hour round trip commute for school. But then again we are renting and can't afford to buy so probably will have to give up the Hill sometimes soon...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:here is my (lottery aside) problem with the charter school options: washington latin seems truly lovely but its really just too far for my particular capitol hill family's particular willingness to commute. i personally don't really like basis. i think the best solution is not buses to charter schools - its honors classes at the capitol hill middle schools so the high-achieving students that now exist at pretty much all of the capitol hill area elementary schools start to opt in.

Can gently suggest that your commuting worries might be overblown? We are a Cap Hill family who have commuted
to various Latin campuses for a decade now. The bus from Eastern Market is an expense and kind of crazy at times, but you will only need a year or two before your kid with be delighted to take the metro with all their friends and feel competent and grown up. It is a gift to give your kids the confidence to navigate their own way to school.

It is a 45-minute commute each way on public transit which gets wearying. But after all the years, no one in our family regrets it. The pain is worth the gain.

I wasn’t exclusively talking about middle school, I was talking about elementary school. But I am glad to hear that kids are okay taking the metro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:yeah and some of us on the Hill actually really dont want our child to have a 1.5 hour round trip commute for school. But then again we are renting and can't afford to buy so probably will have to give up the Hill sometimes soon...

If your kid had a dedicated bus it wouldn’t be that long

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, I'm hoping this thread won't derail into the same Cap Hill middle school drama. Anyone whose kids are at Jefferson right now?

I’m a current parent of a student at Jefferson who came from Brent. My observations so far:

- There is definitely advanced math, with a small set of sixth graders in seventh grade math, and so on.

- For the rest of the core classes (ELA, science, etc.), it appears that higher performing kids are placed in the same cohort together.

Happy to try to answer any specific questions.

Can anyone say how the advanced Spanish classes are going at Jefferson (geared towards Tyler Spanish immersion students) and what percent of Tyler kids immersion and not immersion went to Jefferson this year?

The classes are not advanced in Tyler so doubtful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:here is my (lottery aside) problem with the charter school options: washington latin seems truly lovely but its really just too far for my particular capitol hill family's particular willingness to commute. i personally don't really like basis. i think the best solution is not buses to charter schools - its honors classes at the capitol hill middle schools so the high-achieving students that now exist at pretty much all of the capitol hill area elementary schools start to opt in.

Can gently suggest that your commuting worries might be overblown? We are a Cap Hill family who have commuted
to various Latin campuses for a decade now. The bus from Eastern Market is an expense and kind of crazy at times, but you will only need a year or two before your kid with be delighted to take the metro with all their friends and feel competent and grown up. It is a gift to give your kids the confidence to navigate their own way to school.

It is a 45-minute commute each way on public transit which gets wearying. But after all the years, no one in our family regrets it. The pain is worth the gain.

An hour and a half round trip commute???

Hard pass.

The issue is that people move to the Hill precisely for walkability and the neighborhood feel. Yes there are people who are willing to commute across town for schools, as there always have been. It used to be that the wealthy people on the Hill sent their kids to privates in NW and they'd do that commute starting in elementary. But the cohort of people who have kids starting middle school around now have become used to being able to walk to school, to knowing their classmates families and bumping into them at the farmer's market or soccer practice on the weekend. It's really hard to make that adjustment to committing to a couple years of busing or driving and then having their kid take a long metro commute daily. This is why Basis is somewhat inexplicably popular on the Hill (given that Hill families lean a bit more crunchy and Basis is not at all crunchy) and why a Latin campus closer to the Hill would be an instant draw for Hill families. Like to the point that it will undermine the stated goal of that Latin campus, which is to provide more opportunities to underserved families east of the river and in Ward 5.

Apparently, you think that Hill families are all vegan, Birkenstock-wearing PETA members sitting around the fire pit singing Kumbaya.

Actually, many of us are just normal DC folk who want to send our kids to the best school we can without enduring a horrendous commute, and do the research instead of listening to blowhards on DCUM.

And right now that means Brent/Maury/etc. to Basis DC.

Do you even live in the Hill?

Would not be an issue if schools had buses. Or if there was a dedicated bus from the closest metro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, I'm hoping this thread won't derail into the same Cap Hill middle school drama. Anyone whose kids are at Jefferson right now?

I’m a current parent of a student at Jefferson who came from Brent. My observations so far:

- There is definitely advanced math, with a small set of sixth graders in seventh grade math, and so on.

- For the rest of the core classes (ELA, science, etc.), it appears that higher performing kids are placed in the same cohort together.

Happy to try to answer any specific questions.

Can anyone say how the advanced Spanish classes are going at Jefferson (geared towards Tyler Spanish immersion students) and what percent of Tyler kids immersion and not immersion went to Jefferson this year?

The classes are not advanced in Tyler so doubtful.

So you have no idea?

[Anonymous]

People in cities have always commuted for a good education. Buck up. Let your kid develop some grit. It will be ok. This is why we refer to Hill kids as “veal”. So tender and protected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, I'm hoping this thread won't derail into the same Cap Hill middle school drama. Anyone whose kids are at Jefferson right now?

I’m a current parent of a student at Jefferson who came from Brent. My observations so far:

- There is definitely advanced math, with a small set of sixth graders in seventh grade math, and so on.

- For the rest of the core classes (ELA, science, etc.), it appears that higher performing kids are placed in the same cohort together.

Happy to try to answer any specific questions.

Can anyone say how the advanced Spanish classes are going at Jefferson (geared towards Tyler Spanish immersion students) and what percent of Tyler kids immersion and not immersion went to Jefferson this year?

The classes are not advanced in Tyler so doubtful.

So you have no idea?

Not PP but if the feeder school kids are weak, why would you think the Spanish classes at Jefferson would be rigorous, especially since it’s a poorly performing school overall where overwhelming majority of kids can’t even master English?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, I'm hoping this thread won't derail into the same Cap Hill middle school drama. Anyone whose kids are at Jefferson right now?

I’m a current parent of a student at Jefferson who came from Brent. My observations so far:

- There is definitely advanced math, with a small set of sixth graders in seventh grade math, and so on.

- For the rest of the core classes (ELA, science, etc.), it appears that higher performing kids are placed in the same cohort together.

Happy to try to answer any specific questions.

Can anyone say how the advanced Spanish classes are going at Jefferson (geared towards Tyler Spanish immersion students) and what percent of Tyler kids immersion and not immersion went to Jefferson this year?

The classes are not advanced in Tyler so doubtful.

So you have no idea?

Not PP but if the feeder school kids are weak, why would you think the Spanish classes at Jefferson would be rigorous, especially since it’s a poorly performing school overall where overwhelming majority of kids can’t even master English?

On what basis are you claiming that Jefferson is “poorly performing.” Are you looking at total PARCC data and nothing else?

On a demographic-adjusted basis, Jefferson actually seems to perform well. And white kids there did extremely well on the latest PARCC, with passage rates exceeding those of white kids at Deal.

In the USNR rankings, Jefferson is the top-ranked public or charter middle school in Ward 6.

Sometimes it takes looking beyond one set of numbers and asking good questions, like PP’s question about Spanish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, I'm hoping this thread won't derail into the same Cap Hill middle school drama. Anyone whose kids are at Jefferson right now?

I’m a current parent of a student at Jefferson who came from Brent. My observations so far:

- There is definitely advanced math, with a small set of sixth graders in seventh grade math, and so on.

- For the rest of the core classes (ELA, science, etc.), it appears that higher performing kids are placed in the same cohort together.

Happy to try to answer any specific questions.

Can anyone say how the advanced Spanish classes are going at Jefferson (geared towards Tyler Spanish immersion students) and what percent of Tyler kids immersion and not immersion went to Jefferson this year?

The classes are not advanced in Tyler so doubtful.

So you have no idea?

Not PP but if the feeder school kids are weak, why would you think the Spanish classes at Jefferson would be rigorous, especially since it’s a poorly performing school overall where overwhelming majority of kids can’t even master English?

Ok so Tyler has a Spanish immersion program...and yes the kids in the program probably do not have extremely high levels of Spanish for an immersion program, but they have higher levels than kids who have never taken Spanish. I attended a meeting where the Jefferson principal had talked about the Spanish teacher tailoring classes for the Tyler Spanish immersion students coming to Jefferson and I was asking if anyone knew how that was going. Instead I had two people who have no idea just come on to insult actual people and students in the program/school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I’d known that School Without Walls was going to drop its admissions exam and PARCC score requirements I’d have taken a BASIS or DCI spot 2 years ago rather than going with a DCPS middle school. With Walls admissions now essentially a lottery for any 8th grader with at least a B average we might wind up moving for high school. That’s too much to put on my kid. He knows how high the stakes are. We just can’t afford private school without a lot of financial aid.

So wrong….
For Walls you need a B to APPLY, but last year (most likely this year too) they only interviewed the top 500 (based on calculated gpa) kids which means most kids that get an interview don’t have more than 1 B on their transcript. Your GPA and interview give you a composite score and then you are ranked. The top ~150 get in, the next 100 are waitlisted and the last 250 are not accepted. The randomness of the “lottery” is used for tiebreakers. Hope this helps.

Mom with 2 kids at Walls and an upcoming middle schooler

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I’d known that School Without Walls was going to drop its admissions exam and PARCC score requirements I’d have taken a BASIS or DCI spot 2 years ago rather than going with a DCPS middle school. With Walls admissions now essentially a lottery for any 8th grader with at least a B average we might wind up moving for high school. That’s too much to put on my kid. He knows how high the stakes are. We just can’t afford private school without a lot of financial aid.

So wrong….
For Walls you need a B to APPLY, but last year (most likely this year too) they only interviewed the top 500 (based on calculated gpa) kids which means most kids that get an interview don’t have more than 1 B on their transcript. Your GPA and interview give you a composite score and then you are ranked. The top ~150 get in, the next 100 are waitlisted and the last 250 are not accepted. The randomness of the “lottery” is used for tiebreakers. Hope this helps.

Mom with 2 kids at Walls and an upcoming middle schooler

Ok but kids from poorly performing schools are getting straight A’s and you think they are performing as well as kids from better performing schools? There is no transparency on the interview criteria and who do you think they are going to pick? Straight A kid from ward 7 or 8 school or a straight A kid from Deal?

The mayor and city has made it clear in the press, etc.. that they want more kids at Walls from under-represented wards and that isn’t going to be ward 3. That was the reason why they eliminated PARCC scores which was a low bar to begin with.

Bottom line is kids from ward 3 are going to have a lower chance of getting in. I predict wards 5, 7, and 8 will be the winning ward. The academic strength of the classes will also be lower.

[Anonymous]

Not PP, but it could very well be that a straight-A kid from a poor ward is smarter and harder-working than a straight-A kid from a rich ward but simply doesn’t have the resources for test-prep tutoring. Also, this is just a guess, but I have a feeling that, as a general matter, parents in rich wards are far more likely to pester teachers to increase their mediocre kids’ grades than are parents in other wards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, I'm hoping this thread won't derail into the same Cap Hill middle school drama. Anyone whose kids are at Jefferson right now?

I’m a current parent of a student at Jefferson who came from Brent. My observations so far:

- There is definitely advanced math, with a small set of sixth graders in seventh grade math, and so on.

- For the rest of the core classes (ELA, science, etc.), it appears that higher performing kids are placed in the same cohort together.

Happy to try to answer any specific questions.

Can anyone say how the advanced Spanish classes are going at Jefferson (geared towards Tyler Spanish immersion students) and what percent of Tyler kids immersion and not immersion went to Jefferson this year?

The classes are not advanced in Tyler so doubtful.

So you have no idea?

Not PP but if the feeder school kids are weak, why would you think the Spanish classes at Jefferson would be rigorous, especially since it’s a poorly performing school overall where overwhelming majority of kids can’t even master English?

On what basis are you claiming that Jefferson is “poorly performing.” Are you looking at total PARCC data and nothing else?

On a demographic-adjusted basis, Jefferson actually seems to perform well. And white kids there did extremely well on the latest PARCC, with passage rates exceeding those of white kids at Deal.

In the USNR rankings, Jefferson is the top-ranked public or charter middle school in Ward 6.

Sometimes it takes looking beyond one set of numbers and asking good questions, like PP’s question about Spanish.

Jefferson is 95% nonwhite.

Yet you conclude that Jefferson "seems to perform well" because the handful of white kids there did "extremely well" on the PARCC test a couple of years ago?

That seems both racist and illogical to me.

In fact, Jefferson's PARCC scores are abysmal, even compared to the rest of DCPS (which are horrible):

https://www.dcschoolreportcard.org/schools/1-0433/star-step-3?framework=ms&disaggregation=all_students&lang=en

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, I'm hoping this thread won't derail into the same Cap Hill middle school drama. Anyone whose kids are at Jefferson right now?

I’m a current parent of a student at Jefferson who came from Brent. My observations so far:

- There is definitely advanced math, with a small set of sixth graders in seventh grade math, and so on.

- For the rest of the core classes (ELA, science, etc.), it appears that higher performing kids are placed in the same cohort together.

Happy to try to answer any specific questions.

Can anyone say how the advanced Spanish classes are going at Jefferson (geared towards Tyler Spanish immersion students) and what percent of Tyler kids immersion and not immersion went to Jefferson this year?

The classes are not advanced in Tyler so doubtful.

So you have no idea?

Not PP but if the feeder school kids are weak, why would you think the Spanish classes at Jefferson would be rigorous, especially since it’s a poorly performing school overall where overwhelming majority of kids can’t even master English?

On what basis are you claiming that Jefferson is “poorly performing.” Are you looking at total PARCC data and nothing else?

On a demographic-adjusted basis, Jefferson actually seems to perform well. And white kids there did extremely well on the latest PARCC, with passage rates exceeding those of white kids at Deal.

In the USNR rankings, Jefferson is the top-ranked public or charter middle school in Ward 6.

Sometimes it takes looking beyond one set of numbers and asking good questions, like PP’s question about Spanish.

Jefferson is 95% nonwhite.

Yet you conclude that Jefferson "seems to perform well" because the handful of white kids there did "extremely well" on the PARCC test a couple of years ago?

That seems both racist and illogical to me.

In fact, Jefferson's PARCC scores are abysmal, even compared to the rest of DCPS (which are horrible):

https://www.dcschoolreportcard.org/schools/1-0433/star-step-3?framework=ms&disaggregation=all_students&lang=en

Sigh. Again, you appear to be looking at total data and nothing else.

Jefferson does well when you consider its demographics, as the UNWR analysis report appears to recognize.

One very strong indicator: The Jefferson PARCC scores tend to be better than those of the elementary schools that send many kids there. This shows that Jefferson is improving the performance of the mostly poor kids who arrive there.

Another indicator: Jefferson has about half as many white kids as Eliot-Hine (percentage wise), yet Jefferson’s PARCC results are substantially better than Eliot-Hine’s.

So it’s clearly not just higher-income white kids who are having good outcomes at Jefferson.