I am PP. This post was about ITDS middle School. I want to know from an actual parent why it is “best to skip middle school”. The post that I commented on was a parent of kids that were there prek-8th. I am considering this as a middle school option. |
It’s really this one person policing the MV posts. Any time anyone says anything positive about the school they come out swinging. Honestly, my kids are at a much beloved on DCUMD bilingual charter and I find my experience pretty mediocre and some years pretty bed. So take DCUMD with a grain of salt and talk to real parents at a school. |
Exhibit A why PP should talk to parents at the school and not anonymous people with no experience at the school. I have kids at MV and we have had a great experience but you will call me a booster. |
+1. Are you sure you entered your child's lottery info correctly? Sibling should get in easily at BASIS. |
+1. If you are telling the truth, your sibling status isn't correctly reflected. My kid has a much better WL number than you without any preference. |
We live very near there and know many people who have gone to MV over the years ... I'm older enough to remember when everyone was wild about it, and then deeply disappointed, and then fled to other schools, and then there were the protests and "regime change." (We are not there). Families who have kids who span a long time say that things at MV on P Street have gotten better. I don't hear the boosterism of 7 years ago, but people saying things like "it's good enough" and then being happy about DCI. |
My son went all the way through the middle school. I found it to be a very good school. The teaching was good. The advising was in a transition period during our son's 8th grade year, but we're hoping that aspect has solidified. We are planning on sending our daughter as we had a good experience with sending our son to the middle school. |
I agree. Yes, the elementary school is stronger than the middle school-- it has existed for longer, and elementary grades are generally easier to deal with. The middle school is great in some ways, solid in others, and it's a solid option that rising 5th and 6th graders stand a decent chance of actually getting into. I'm puzzled why anyone would say it's "not what it once was". Unless you're a true believer from the start of it 10+ years ago, I think the middle school is as good or better than it ever has been. |
Agreed, but I would say that TR4's reputation as already starting to suffer when we were doing the PK lottery back in 2018. We ranked our IB (L-T), SWS, CHML, ITDS, Lee Brookland, Tyler (now Chisolm), and Stokes Brookland all above TR4 even though it's a lot closer than many of those options. I remember touring it and thinking it felt kind of like the Appletree campuses -- a nurturing ECE program that would be a good safety if you didn't get into a school you liked more. I do not remember people being particularly enthusiastic about TRY or the middle school at that time. I think people were always kind of skeptical of the location of that campus, and it's honestly not that convenient for people on the Hill. For us, ITDS is a shorter car commute and a school like Lee or Stokes in Brookland only slightly further. No one was choosing TR over those options for the middle school. And I think S-H was already gaining purchase as a viable option for some families at that time. I don't think TR has been considered highly desirable for anything past K since Maury and L-T became more in-demand IB schools. So like almost a decade ago. And it's only gone downhill from there. |
Back in the years of extreme PK3 waitlists, it did have over 350 kids waitlisted. I'm remembering my DD's number in 2016. But yeah, downhill since then. Clearly they really struggled to manage the expansion. And that's too bad because I think the insight of wanting to create a larger middle school that offered more, by having two elementaries, wasn't wrong. It's just a really hard thing to actually do. |
Unfortunately, Latin Cooper ate ITDS middle school alive. Their students even flood the Edgewood field this year post school to hang out. |
That was a thing in the initial years of Cooper, but a short term impact. Now that it's harder to get into Cooper, it's having much less impact. My kid didn't get into either Latin so stayed at ITDS and it has been a fine experience. It's fine if Cooper kids come by ITDS, they're seeing their friends and picking up siblings. Not a |
Not a bad thing or a problem in any way. You make it seem like some khaki-clad horde is descending like a flash mob and it's really just a handful. Will be less next year when Cooper is farther away. |
Maybe op is wait listed for 6th grade? |
Did not say its a problem-- I am glad kids are having fun and hanging with their friends and that the smart ice cream truck has cornered the market. Move up the street will definitely have some impact |