Finding Middle Schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ A lot of that would take a bigger facility, which would certainly be great, but DC real estate is pricey, they'd need to raise millions of dollars.

Yes some of it would take more space, and some would just take them spending more $$ they are given by the city on the school and students, rather than on the upper admin and for profit entity.

Charters get significantly less money per student than DCPS schools do, and as has already been discussed, the one or two charters that have better facilities and resources were only able to get them by borrowing and raising tens of millions of dollars from the private sector, because that "$$ they are given by the city" really doesn't cover it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was writing as a parent of a student who is THERE. Clearly you have misinformation. DCI is IB for ALL. IB is not optional at DCI. Why don't you shut your pie-hole and move to MCPS? BTW, DCI has a lot of kids from Oyster there in its opening year.....that should tell you something.....

This comment bugged me when it was made a couple weeks ago, when this thread was trending. DCI, as planned, is in fact "International Baccalaureate for all" only for the Middle Years Program (grades 6 to 10). The school is planning to make completing IB Diploma Program (grades 11 to 12) requirements optional. Pie-hole mom above, who frequently comes on DCUM ordering those clamoring for world-class public school academics in DC to move to the burbs, has it wrong.

Tell us, pie-hole, how, exactly, does DC benefit when parents of droves of the strongest students continue to vote with their feet for MCPS, Fairfax etc.? In your infinite wisdom, what's good about running subpar IB programs in any jurisdiction? We already have one of those in town, at Banneker, with an IB Diploma pass rate of around 15% (versus 90+% at Richard Montgomery in Bethesda).

Most PPs considering DCI are unlikely to be bothered that the IB Diploma Program will be optional there. I'm bothered knowing that the most successful public IB Diploma Programs nationwide, and internationally, do not make completing Diploma requirements optional. Said requirements include completing CAS (Community, Action and Service) work, an Extended Essay and the Theory of Knowledge class senior year, along with doing decently on 3-4 Higher Level subject tests and 2-3 Standard Level subject tests. Why aim low years in advance of producing a single IB Diploma holder?

An IB World School like DCI only does so well when IB Diploma requirements are made optional, just like a language immersion program can only be so good when it's built on a one-way immersion model (with few native speakers involved). Sorry folks, sorry pie-hole, but these are the inconvenient truths involved.

[Anonymous]

^^ Why would compare Richard Montgomery's IB program to Banneker's. You sound like the poster who is always comparing our high school's to TJ's in VA. Your child most likely would not have been accepted to either program just like the relatively few that are accepted in these programs.

I also don't think droves of DC's strongest students are voting with their feet to go to MCPS or Fairfax - they may be going private. Their non GT/magnet programs are not as great as you seem to think. They are now up to a 90% fail rate on the final exam for students who take Algebra I in 9th grade.

[Anonymous]

FCPS non-magnet is all the other high schools besides TJ and many of them are top notch. And by golly yes people leave DC to move there and mcps.

[Anonymous]

We left DCPS for private for middle school. I wasn't happy with any of the options, and we are IB for probably the best MS in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We left DCPS for private for middle school. I wasn't happy with any of the options, and we are IB for probably the best MS in DC.

yeah but how many people are really happy sending their 6th graders into a group of 1300. If it were Pyle Whitman maybe, but when you have two charters breathing down your neck vis a vis DC CAS scores (Latin and Basis) and the fact that it expands so much more with Wilson (all the kids from Pyle who want to go to Whitman, otherwise you have to move into the district to get in and then all the kids have already been together for years....) I don't really see what Deal offers except tracking, a biggie, but all it would take is more schools doing it for the Deal desire to abate....