Middle school options

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your only criteria is safety (real and perceived) for a sensitive, timid girl, how would you rank these middle schools?

I’m thinking about vaping or bullying in bathrooms, videotaped fights, afterschool chaos at bus stops and grocery stores, etc

Latin. Hands down.

Latin is literally a lottery.

The question had nothing to do with it being a lottery. I would suggest Latin has the least vaping or bullying in bathrooms, videotaped fights, afterschool chaos at bus stops and grocery stores, etc.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks all for the input. Seems like I’m hearing get out of DC and do middle school elsewhere 🫠

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks all for the input. Seems like I’m hearing get out of DC and do middle school elsewhere 🫠

More like ... don't move for MS unless it also has a guaranteed HS feed you'd be OK with. If you're already in DC:

1) wait to move until you have 5th or 6th grade lottery results. If you get into DCI, BASIS, Latin, or Deal feeder, then move anywhere within the city you want where school commute is still workable for your kid

2) wait to move until you have 9th grade lottery results for application schools. Lots of good MS options you can lottery into in the meanwhile, but most don't have good HS feed

3) move now, either to Deal boundary or outside DC

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We did SH and are now at Banneker. No regrets. But I know folks have real issues with SH.

No regrets because your kid got into Banneker!

Pretty much everyone from the DCUM kids crew at SH this year got into Walls, Banneker or Duke. Most got their first choice of those. The minority who didn’t seemed to share a 7th grade English teacher, so choose wisely.

No, this is not true based on data given.

If you assume Walls is 5 kids for the <10, and count Banneker and Duke, that is only 26% of the class go into application high school.

This is based on the assumption that you even want your kid to go to all 3 schools which is a very, very small number of families if any.

If you just look at Walls and Banneker for kids from SH, it’s about only 14%. Again based on the assumption that families want both schools which some don’t. These numbers are not good.

Data is from SY24-25. Presumably this person is talking about SY25-26 admissions.

And you think 1 year is going to make any significant difference and it still won’t be less than 10 kids to Walls out of about 150 kids?

Best case scenario with 9 kids, that is 6%. Worst case with 2 it’s like 1%

I think you're not doing an appropriate comparison and therefore have no standing to say whether or not PP's anecdote is accurate.

It's probably not that different year to year, but many people are fine with an outcome other than Walls.

I think admissions are getting more competitive every year, not less. Moving to a MS on the assumption that your kid will get into Walls is not very smart.

If the only acceptable outcome is Walls, then sure. I don't think that's the conversation here.

Banneker isn’t a lock either. Duke is very particular and McKinley isn’t for everyone.

Not an application school but DCI does offer some spots for 9th but not many. You can list them also for high school. But going in this late, your kid won’t be in the highest track in lots of subjects and unlikely to get the IB diploma because of the language test.

Plenty of kids in schools outside of DCI speak better Spanish than the kids at DCI. The language test isn’t a problem for them.

It is not just speaking is what you don’t understand. Are they able to read and comprehend novels and books of literature. Are they able to write whole papers in spanish at a high school level.

If not, then no matter if they do speak spanish, they are not going to pass the IB language test which is much harder than the AP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks all for the input. Seems like I’m hearing get out of DC and do middle school elsewhere 🫠

Yes, if you are moving for middle school to high school track, then burbs is the best option. The magnets and test in high schools in MCPS is also head and shoulders so much better than what we have here as our “magnet” with Walls.

I say this as a DC parent.

[Anonymous]

Just to be clear: Is there a place that officially reports out which DCPS middle schools the incoming class at the selective high schools came from? I didn't think there was. But I am surprised someone from the local press or some parent hasn't FOIA'ed that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just to be clear: Is there a place that officially reports out which DCPS middle schools the incoming class at the selective high schools came from? I didn't think there was. But I am surprised someone from the local press or some parent hasn't FOIA'ed that.

No need to FOIA, it’s right here. https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1325427.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just to be clear: Is there a place that officially reports out which DCPS middle schools the incoming class at the selective high schools came from? I didn't think there was. But I am surprised someone from the local press or some parent hasn't FOIA'ed that.

Edscape pathways but it won't give an exact number if it's under 10.

https://edscape.dc.gov/page/student-enrollment-pathways

For example, this year's SWW freshman class:

45 from Deal
24 not previously in DCPS or DCPCS
16 from Hardy
11 from Oyster-Adams
10 from John Francis
Less than 10 each from BASIS, Capitol Hill Montessori, Center City - Brightwood, Center City - Capitol Hill, Creative Minds International, DC Prep - Anacostia, District of Columbia International School, E.L. Haynes, Eliot-Hine, Howard University, Ingenuity Prep, Inspired Teaching, Jefferson, KIPP DC - WILL Academy, MacFarland, Stuart-Hobson, Sojourner Truth, Washington Global, Latin - Cooper, Latin

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just to be clear: Is there a place that officially reports out which DCPS middle schools the incoming class at the selective high schools came from? I didn't think there was. But I am surprised someone from the local press or some parent hasn't FOIA'ed that.

No need to FOIA, it’s right here. https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1325427.page

Thank you kindly, PP! I have been wondering this for awhile.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We did SH and are now at Banneker. No regrets. But I know folks have real issues with SH.

No regrets because your kid got into Banneker!

Pretty much everyone from the DCUM kids crew at SH this year got into Walls, Banneker or Duke. Most got their first choice of those. The minority who didn’t seemed to share a 7th grade English teacher, so choose wisely.

You don’t actually know that. And definitely not the story at EH.

We do have last year's data.

144 SH 8th graders. 85 4+ on ELA CAPE, 56 took Algebra I (rough proxy for kids likely to apply to application schools). 19 to McKinley, 18 to Duke, 15 to Banneker, n<10 to Walls. 21 not in audit.

111 EH 8th graders. 43 4+ on ELA CAPE, 46 took Algebra I or Geometry (math number might include some 7th graders). 10 to Banneker. n<10 each to Walls, Duke, McKinley. 13 not in audit.

If n<10 on the higher end, overall admissions seem roughly in line with what you would expect. But definitely not a guarantee.

What? No then , not everyone got into Walls, Banneker, or Duke.

Walls is less than 10%. And you cannot assume it is close to 10.

Dukes academics is weak and the only kids that go there are in the arts, music.

McKinley is not a consideration for many families.

Terrible advice to move to SH or EH IN for middle school.

I am the PP and I standby what I said: in the current class, basically all of the kids who have DCUM type parents got into application schools or privates. Looking at the numbers from the year before, roughly the same number of kids got into an application schools as took Algebra I (not any particular score, just *took*). DCUM kids *take* Algebra I. This is not even asking for a 4, just taking the class! That's not even counting the not in audit kids, at least half of whom left for solid privates/Catholics. In the end, there are 10-15 more kids going to good schools than kids who took Algebra I. That works for me. YMMV.

Well no, you’re totally wrong.

- EH parent on DCUM.

I am confused by this reply. What do you think is “totally wrong” as a self-confessed parent at a different school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did SH and are now at Banneker. No regrets. But I know folks have real issues with SH.

No regrets because your kid got into Banneker!

Pretty much everyone from the DCUM kids crew at SH this year got into Walls, Banneker or Duke. Most got their first choice of those. The minority who didn’t seemed to share a 7th grade English teacher, so choose wisely.

No, this is not true based on data given.

If you assume Walls is 5 kids for the <10, and count Banneker and Duke, that is only 26% of the class go into application high school.

This is based on the assumption that you even want your kid to go to all 3 schools which is a very, very small number of families if any.

If you just look at Walls and Banneker for kids from SH, it’s about only 14%. Again based on the assumption that families want both schools which some don’t. These numbers are not good.

Data is from SY24-25. Presumably this person is talking about SY25-26 admissions.

And you think 1 year is going to make any significant difference and it still won’t be less than 10 kids to Walls out of about 150 kids?

Best case scenario with 9 kids, that is 6%. Worst case with 2 it’s like 1%

I think you're not doing an appropriate comparison and therefore have no standing to say whether or not PP's anecdote is accurate.

It's probably not that different year to year, but many people are fine with an outcome other than Walls.

I think admissions are getting more competitive every year, not less. Moving to a MS on the assumption that your kid will get into Walls is not very smart.

If the only acceptable outcome is Walls, then sure. I don't think that's the conversation here.

Banneker isn’t a lock either. Duke is very particular and McKinley isn’t for everyone.

Not an application school but DCI does offer some spots for 9th but not many. You can list them also for high school. But going in this late, your kid won’t be in the highest track in lots of subjects and unlikely to get the IB diploma because of the language test.

Plenty of kids in schools outside of DCI speak better Spanish than the kids at DCI. The language test isn’t a problem for them.

It is not just speaking is what you don’t understand. Are they able to read and comprehend novels and books of literature. Are they able to write whole papers in spanish at a high school level.

If not, then no matter if they do speak spanish, they are not going to pass the IB language test which is much harder than the AP.

You seriously think only kids at DCI can read and understand literature in Spanish as well as write papers in Spanish at a high school level? Of course there are kids outside of DCI that can do this and at a higher level than most DCI kids. These are children of Embassy staff and the World Bank. Kids of parents that were university professors in Latin America. You think their kids can’t write a high school paper in Spanish? Please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did SH and are now at Banneker. No regrets. But I know folks have real issues with SH.

No regrets because your kid got into Banneker!

Pretty much everyone from the DCUM kids crew at SH this year got into Walls, Banneker or Duke. Most got their first choice of those. The minority who didn’t seemed to share a 7th grade English teacher, so choose wisely.

No, this is not true based on data given.

If you assume Walls is 5 kids for the <10, and count Banneker and Duke, that is only 26% of the class go into application high school.

This is based on the assumption that you even want your kid to go to all 3 schools which is a very, very small number of families if any.

If you just look at Walls and Banneker for kids from SH, it’s about only 14%. Again based on the assumption that families want both schools which some don’t. These numbers are not good.

Data is from SY24-25. Presumably this person is talking about SY25-26 admissions.

And you think 1 year is going to make any significant difference and it still won’t be less than 10 kids to Walls out of about 150 kids?

Best case scenario with 9 kids, that is 6%. Worst case with 2 it’s like 1%

I think you're not doing an appropriate comparison and therefore have no standing to say whether or not PP's anecdote is accurate.

It's probably not that different year to year, but many people are fine with an outcome other than Walls.

I think admissions are getting more competitive every year, not less. Moving to a MS on the assumption that your kid will get into Walls is not very smart.

If the only acceptable outcome is Walls, then sure. I don't think that's the conversation here.

Banneker isn’t a lock either. Duke is very particular and McKinley isn’t for everyone.

Not an application school but DCI does offer some spots for 9th but not many. You can list them also for high school. But going in this late, your kid won’t be in the highest track in lots of subjects and unlikely to get the IB diploma because of the language test.

Plenty of kids in schools outside of DCI speak better Spanish than the kids at DCI. The language test isn’t a problem for them.

It is not just speaking is what you don’t understand. Are they able to read and comprehend novels and books of literature. Are they able to write whole papers in spanish at a high school level.

If not, then no matter if they do speak spanish, they are not going to pass the IB language test which is much harder than the AP.

You seriously think only kids at DCI can read and understand literature in Spanish as well as write papers in Spanish at a high school level? Of course there are kids outside of DCI that can do this and at a higher level than most DCI kids. These are children of Embassy staff and the World Bank. Kids of parents that were university professors in Latin America. You think their kids can’t write a high school paper in Spanish? Please.

New poster here. You’re being ridiculous.

Of course there are kids outside of DCI whose Spanish language skills beyond speaking are at least as good or better than a typical Spanish track DCI kid. It’s a big town with lots of kids with lots of different strengths and experiences.

But cmon, be serious and stop fighting just for the sake of fighting. Take out the native speakers and no, there’s probably not a whole lot of middle school kids who are as advanced in Spanish as your typical DCI Spanish track kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did SH and are now at Banneker. No regrets. But I know folks have real issues with SH.

No regrets because your kid got into Banneker!

Pretty much everyone from the DCUM kids crew at SH this year got into Walls, Banneker or Duke. Most got their first choice of those. The minority who didn’t seemed to share a 7th grade English teacher, so choose wisely.

No, this is not true based on data given.

If you assume Walls is 5 kids for the <10, and count Banneker and Duke, that is only 26% of the class go into application high school.

This is based on the assumption that you even want your kid to go to all 3 schools which is a very, very small number of families if any.

If you just look at Walls and Banneker for kids from SH, it’s about only 14%. Again based on the assumption that families want both schools which some don’t. These numbers are not good.

Data is from SY24-25. Presumably this person is talking about SY25-26 admissions.

And you think 1 year is going to make any significant difference and it still won’t be less than 10 kids to Walls out of about 150 kids?

Best case scenario with 9 kids, that is 6%. Worst case with 2 it’s like 1%

I think you're not doing an appropriate comparison and therefore have no standing to say whether or not PP's anecdote is accurate.

It's probably not that different year to year, but many people are fine with an outcome other than Walls.

I think admissions are getting more competitive every year, not less. Moving to a MS on the assumption that your kid will get into Walls is not very smart.

If the only acceptable outcome is Walls, then sure. I don't think that's the conversation here.

Banneker isn’t a lock either. Duke is very particular and McKinley isn’t for everyone.

Not an application school but DCI does offer some spots for 9th but not many. You can list them also for high school. But going in this late, your kid won’t be in the highest track in lots of subjects and unlikely to get the IB diploma because of the language test.

Plenty of kids in schools outside of DCI speak better Spanish than the kids at DCI. The language test isn’t a problem for them.

It is not just speaking is what you don’t understand. Are they able to read and comprehend novels and books of literature. Are they able to write whole papers in spanish at a high school level.

If not, then no matter if they do speak spanish, they are not going to pass the IB language test which is much harder than the AP.

You seriously think only kids at DCI can read and understand literature in Spanish as well as write papers in Spanish at a high school level? Of course there are kids outside of DCI that can do this and at a higher level than most DCI kids. These are children of Embassy staff and the World Bank. Kids of parents that were university professors in Latin America. You think their kids can’t write a high school paper in Spanish? Please.

New poster here. You’re being ridiculous.

Of course there are kids outside of DCI whose Spanish language skills beyond speaking are at least as good or better than a typical Spanish track DCI kid. It’s a big town with lots of kids with lots of different strengths and experiences.

But cmon, be serious and stop fighting just for the sake of fighting. Take out the native speakers and no, there’s probably not a whole lot of middle school kids who are as advanced in Spanish as your typical DCI Spanish track kid.

THIS. It’s laughable that PP thinks embassy staff and world bank people are the majority of native speakers in this town. They are not and are such a small percentage.

The overwhelming majority of native speakers in this town are uneducated immigrants who do not read or write at anywhere near a high school level. And their kids sure don’t. I would argue that yes the high performing kids in the IB diploma track are better than even many native speakers in this town.

As to non-natives, no contest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Charters: Basis, Latin (so lottery from anywhere in the city).

DCI is a very well regarded school, but has a few issues at the moment (screens + search DCI petition in this forum) and you’re not likely to get in if you aren’t in one of the feeder schools. I think the issues are a timing question to some extent. My kid is just entering a DCI feeder in PK3 now so I figure theses issues will be solved by the time they are ready for middle (and probably we’ll have a host of brand new ones 🤣).

DCPS: Deal and Hardy (need to live in boundary).

If I were moving for middle, I’d personally move to be in boundary for deal or hardy, or wait until I got lottery results for Latin.

Can you say more about the screens situation? How have teachers and/or parents engaged with this?

I know there are movements in different schools around the city right now, including some DCPS, to curb the reliance on screen-based learning and screen-based activities in general. Don't think I've seen DCI mentioned in those convos so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Charters: Basis, Latin (so lottery from anywhere in the city).

DCI is a very well regarded school, but has a few issues at the moment (screens + search DCI petition in this forum) and you’re not likely to get in if you aren’t in one of the feeder schools. I think the issues are a timing question to some extent. My kid is just entering a DCI feeder in PK3 now so I figure theses issues will be solved by the time they are ready for middle (and probably we’ll have a host of brand new ones 🤣).

DCPS: Deal and Hardy (need to live in boundary).

If I were moving for middle, I’d personally move to be in boundary for deal or hardy, or wait until I got lottery results for Latin.

Can you say more about the screens situation? How have teachers and/or parents engaged with this?

I know there are movements in different schools around the city right now, including some DCPS, to curb the reliance on screen-based learning and screen-based activities in general. Don't think I've seen DCI mentioned in those convos so far.

Not the PP, but I am a DCI parent. While the students do have their own school-issued computers and some classes use primarily screens for doing their work (using Google Docs for assignments, etc.), I actually haven’t found the screen use to be excessive. My child has plenty of classes that almost all work is completed off screens, including for core classes like math and English.

However, my child is just finishing up their first year at DCI (6th grade), so I fully admit that those with more experience may have a more informed view. It could be teacher-dependent, and my child’s electives this year were very hands-on (music, fashion design).