Best Cap Hill elementary to middle?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Untrue, every DCPS elementary doesn't offer 5 specials. Our former DCPS offered 3, and one more theoretically.

Brent is the only ES EotP with a designated science instructor. SWS has the best art offerings by a long shot, great if you can crack their lottery. Ludlow has the best playground, and good playground management. Maury seems to do a far better job teaching spelling, grammar and punctuation than other programs. Tyler offers the only in-boundary immersion program. There are a number of good by-right choices for elementary on the Hill these days.

Maury has a designated science instructor. But, this is a stupid line of argument. The most important things at a school are great teachers empowered to teach well. You'll find those at all kinds of schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SWS has weekly art, PE, French, music and library. It also has an amazing Foodprints program.

OP, there are a number of great schools. Personally, while I think the middle school feed matters, it’s really hard to know what your needs will be for middle school, or what options will exist down the line.

We are inbound for S-H, but have enrolled our child in a Charter for middle school.

I think the one Brent poster thinks that all Hill schools apart from Brent and Maury are “drill and kill.” Brent PP probably has no idea that Watkins, followed by Stuart-Hobson were the first to have school gardens and master gardeners working with the kids. Footprints also started at Watkins before Jen and her crew for the grants to expand. Watkins has the first teaching kitchen- from before the renovation.

Other schools have had initiatives for specials too. A little history is in order.

[Anonymous]

A little history is indeed in order. Been on the Hill since the 90s. Over the years, have watched more than 3/4 of the kids I know who attended Peabody leave the Cluster by 4th grade at Watkins.

By contrast, the SWS, Brent and Maury students I've known in the last decade have mostly stayed until 4th grade. The 5th grade drop-off is still an issue at all these schools, with so many families taking 5th grade spots at Wash Latin or BASIS.

[Anonymous]

If it's an option to move twice, I'd rent in Maury district and then buy in SH, and my kids would go to Maury and then have SH as their boundary middle school (assuming the boundaries don't change).

We are at Brent and it's fine, but the black kids at our school are clearly a minority, and that's a shame. If I am completely honest, sometimes I'm embarrassed to tell people where my kids go. Maury is more diverse, from what I gather, and they have some spectacular teachers. But again, it's so hard to predict when kids are still young, because schools change quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SWS has weekly art, PE, French, music and library. It also has an amazing Foodprints program.

OP, there are a number of great schools. Personally, while I think the middle school feed matters, it’s really hard to know what your needs will be for middle school, or what options will exist down the line.

We are inbound for S-H, but have enrolled our child in a Charter for middle school.

I think the one Brent poster thinks that all Hill schools apart from Brent and Maury are “drill and kill.” Brent PP probably has no idea that Watkins, followed by Stuart-Hobson were the first to have school gardens and master gardeners working with the kids. Footprints also started at Watkins before Jen and her crew for the grants to expand. Watkins has the first teaching kitchen- from before the renovation.

Other schools have had initiatives for specials too. A little history is in order.

All terrific, but I don't think most Hill parents choose gardens, kitchens and other nice extras over strong school leadership and demographics they find appealing. Perhaps they should, but they don't.

Maury had a kick-ass head for a decade. Brent had one a decade back and finally has another. SWS has had strong, steady leadership since Peabody days. Ludlow finally has a principle adored by IB parents. Watkins never seems to get a head most IB families believe in. Really a shame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give us a break. Brent students don't score as high on PARCC as schools in Upper NW mainly because those schools got a 25-year head start in serving UMC communities. Brent does darn well for an EotP school that went from having fewer than 200 students, almost all low SES, to having almost 500 students and being overwhelmingly high SES in a little over a decade. Also, Brent offers 5 specials - most DCPS programs offer 3 or 4. Good.

Hmmm ok, then why don’t Brent kids score as high as Inspired Teaching kids? Haven’t they only been open for like 6-7 years???? Stop with the excuses, your $400k pta funds haven’t helped enough with pull outs. OP, choose Maury. They are a 5 star school (94% grade). Brent is 4 star (65%). 30 point difference is HUGE! Maury serves a more diverse population as well.

People, stop with the drama and pettiness. IST scores well because most the kids are from UMC families just like Brent. But ITS does not do any tracking while at Brent I know they do with math.

Yes, the point is Brent should be doing better. They are a mediocre school who’s population is not performing the same as their counterparts across the city. It should be concerning, especially since Brent doesn’t have a back up plan for middle and High like wotp and are predominantly relying on Basis and SWW (of which you need to pass parcc). As it stands, only 3/4 of its UMC white students would even be even be eligible to apply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Untrue, every DCPS elementary doesn't offer 5 specials. Our former DCPS offered 3, and one more theoretically.

Brent is the only ES EotP with a designated science instructor. SWS has the best art offerings by a long shot, great if you can crack their lottery. Ludlow has the best playground, and good playground management. Maury seems to do a far better job teaching spelling, grammar and punctuation than other programs. Tyler offers the only in-boundary immersion program. There are a number of good by-right choices for elementary on the Hill these days.

Maury has a designated science instructor. But, this is a stupid line of argument. The most important things at a school are great teachers empowered to teach well. You'll find those at all kinds of schools.

There are a few EOTP schools that have science instructors. PP must be using talking points she got from the PTA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give us a break. Brent students don't score as high on PARCC as schools in Upper NW mainly because those schools got a 25-year head start in serving UMC communities. Brent does darn well for an EotP school that went from having fewer than 200 students, almost all low SES, to having almost 500 students and being overwhelmingly high SES in a little over a decade. Also, Brent offers 5 specials - most DCPS programs offer 3 or 4. Good.

Hmmm ok, then why don’t Brent kids score as high as Inspired Teaching kids? Haven’t they only been open for like 6-7 years???? Stop with the excuses, your $400k pta funds haven’t helped enough with pull outs. OP, choose Maury. They are a 5 star school (94% grade). Brent is 4 star (65%). 30 point difference is HUGE! Maury serves a more diverse population as well.

People, stop with the drama and pettiness. IST scores well because most the kids are from UMC families just like Brent. But ITS does not do any tracking while at Brent I know they do with math.

Yes, the point is Brent should be doing better. They are a mediocre school who’s population is not performing the same as their counterparts across the city. It should be concerning, especially since Brent doesn’t have a back up plan for middle and High like wotp and are predominantly relying on Basis and SWW (of which you need to pass parcc). As it stands, only 3/4 of its UMC white students would even be even be eligible to apply.

What? Mediocre? I don't think so. My kid has been at Brent since PK3 - now about to age out and head to charter school next year. Granted, I don't know the other Hill schools so I can't compare. But Brent has really been an excellent experience. Really thoughtful and caring teachers all the way through. Specials have, for the most part, been great (art and foreign language have been the exceptions - mediocre art experience and haphazard language instruction given switch from Chinese to Spanish and apparent inability to keep a Spanish teacher). Nice and smart peer group. Engaged parents. My kid scored 5/high 4 on PARCC as did friends, so I don't really know which kids are not scoring 4s or 5s . . . admittedly, I would be curious to know if there is an explanation for 3s or lower (e.g., special needs, etc.). In any event, and as a PP pointed out above, after taking a look at the ELA PARCC I was VERY unimpressed. Poorly written trick questions. No question OP, you would be happy at Brent (and I'm sure happy at Maury or whatever too). Middle school is a problem but charter schools seem to pick up the slack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give us a break. Brent students don't score as high on PARCC as schools in Upper NW mainly because those schools got a 25-year head start in serving UMC communities. Brent does darn well for an EotP school that went from having fewer than 200 students, almost all low SES, to having almost 500 students and being overwhelmingly high SES in a little over a decade. Also, Brent offers 5 specials - most DCPS programs offer 3 or 4. Good.

Hmmm ok, then why don’t Brent kids score as high as Inspired Teaching kids? Haven’t they only been open for like 6-7 years???? Stop with the excuses, your $400k pta funds haven’t helped enough with pull outs. OP, choose Maury. They are a 5 star school (94% grade). Brent is 4 star (65%). 30 point difference is HUGE! Maury serves a more diverse population as well.

People, stop with the drama and pettiness. IST scores well because most the kids are from UMC families just like Brent. But ITS does not do any tracking while at Brent I know they do with math.

Yes, the point is Brent should be doing better. They are a mediocre school who’s population is not performing the same as their counterparts across the city. It should be concerning, especially since Brent doesn’t have a back up plan for middle and High like wotp and are predominantly relying on Basis and SWW (of which you need to pass parcc). As it stands, only 3/4 of its UMC white students would even be even be eligible to apply.

You're right, but then Brent's K classes are 100% in-boundary, or close. The market isn't responding to the mediocrity. Bummer, I know.

You don't need to submit PARCC scores to apply to SWW. Applicants applying from private schools haven't taken the PARCC. Any applicant can submit PSAT or SAT scores instead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give us a break. Brent students don't score as high on PARCC as schools in Upper NW mainly because those schools got a 25-year head start in serving UMC communities. Brent does darn well for an EotP school that went from having fewer than 200 students, almost all low SES, to having almost 500 students and being overwhelmingly high SES in a little over a decade. Also, Brent offers 5 specials - most DCPS programs offer 3 or 4. Good.

Hmmm ok, then why don’t Brent kids score as high as Inspired Teaching kids? Haven’t they only been open for like 6-7 years???? Stop with the excuses, your $400k pta funds haven’t helped enough with pull outs. OP, choose Maury. They are a 5 star school (94% grade). Brent is 4 star (65%). 30 point difference is HUGE! Maury serves a more diverse population as well.

People, stop with the drama and pettiness. IST scores well because most the kids are from UMC families just like Brent. But ITS does not do any tracking while at Brent I know they do with math.

Yes, the point is Brent should be doing better. They are a mediocre school who’s population is not performing the same as their counterparts across the city. It should be concerning, especially since Brent doesn’t have a back up plan for middle and High like wotp and are predominantly relying on Basis and SWW (of which you need to pass parcc). As it stands, only 3/4 of its UMC white students would even be even be eligible to apply.

You're right, but then Brent's K classes are 100% in-boundary, or close. The market isn't responding to the mediocrity. Bummer, I know.

You don't need to submit PARCC scores to apply to SWW. Applicants applying from private schools haven't taken the PARCC. Any applicant can submit PSAT or SAT scores instead.

If you are at a DCPS school (and possibly DCPCS too) my school dc has your PARCC scores, there is no submitting them. Also, if your kids cannot score a 4 on the PARCC I think they Re going to have trouble passing the entrance exam. I say this to say check before you rely on an anonymous internet poster to say that PARCC doesn’t matter for SWW (or other application schools).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give us a break. Brent students don't score as high on PARCC as schools in Upper NW mainly because those schools got a 25-year head start in serving UMC communities. Brent does darn well for an EotP school that went from having fewer than 200 students, almost all low SES, to having almost 500 students and being overwhelmingly high SES in a little over a decade. Also, Brent offers 5 specials - most DCPS programs offer 3 or 4. Good.

Hmmm ok, then why don’t Brent kids score as high as Inspired Teaching kids? Haven’t they only been open for like 6-7 years???? Stop with the excuses, your $400k pta funds haven’t helped enough with pull outs. OP, choose Maury. They are a 5 star school (94% grade). Brent is 4 star (65%). 30 point difference is HUGE! Maury serves a more diverse population as well.

People, stop with the drama and pettiness. IST scores well because most the kids are from UMC families just like Brent. But ITS does not do any tracking while at Brent I know they do with math.

Yes, the point is Brent should be doing better. They are a mediocre school who’s population is not performing the same as their counterparts across the city. It should be concerning, especially since Brent doesn’t have a back up plan for middle and High like wotp and are predominantly relying on Basis and SWW (of which you need to pass parcc). As it stands, only 3/4 of its UMC white students would even be even be eligible to apply.

You're right, but then Brent's K classes are 100% in-boundary, or close. The market isn't responding to the mediocrity. Bummer, I know.

You don't need to submit PARCC scores to apply to SWW. Applicants applying from private schools haven't taken the PARCC. Any applicant can submit PSAT or SAT scores instead.

Not sure this is accurate if you do have PARCC scores. OP is planning to send her kid to DCPS middle, so would have them. Not sure how SWW would react to someone at SH, say, opting out of PARCC and asking to submit an alternate test. And even if you asked them about this now, the answer could change over time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give us a break. Brent students don't score as high on PARCC as schools in Upper NW mainly because those schools got a 25-year head start in serving UMC communities. Brent does darn well for an EotP school that went from having fewer than 200 students, almost all low SES, to having almost 500 students and being overwhelmingly high SES in a little over a decade. Also, Brent offers 5 specials - most DCPS programs offer 3 or 4. Good.

Hmmm ok, then why don’t Brent kids score as high as Inspired Teaching kids? Haven’t they only been open for like 6-7 years???? Stop with the excuses, your $400k pta funds haven’t helped enough with pull outs. OP, choose Maury. They are a 5 star school (94% grade). Brent is 4 star (65%). 30 point difference is HUGE! Maury serves a more diverse population as well.

Maury and Brent are both fine. School choice is hardly the only choice parents face on Cap Hill. If the Maury catchment area works better than Brent for your housing situation or commute or whatever, better choice. If you're not thrilled with the academics at your EotP DCPS and see gaps, you can fill them without too much trouble via trips to the NE or SE libraries, Smithsonian museums (just walk down), Kumon math etc. Schlepping to a distant charter isn't the better option, unless you can't live without language immersion.

Depends what you mean by "diverse population." Brent's seeing more ethnic and international diversity all the time. When we started, the school was 0% Asian and 1% ELL. Now it's around 4% for both, because more immigrant and foreign parents enrolling.

WOW 4%!!!!!!

This is the reason why we drive to an immersion charter- because we don’t want our kids to be an only. Also Eliot Home, Jefferson, and Stuart Hobson are embarrassingly bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give us a break. Brent students don't score as high on PARCC as schools in Upper NW mainly because those schools got a 25-year head start in serving UMC communities. Brent does darn well for an EotP school that went from having fewer than 200 students, almost all low SES, to having almost 500 students and being overwhelmingly high SES in a little over a decade. Also, Brent offers 5 specials - most DCPS programs offer 3 or 4. Good.

Hmmm ok, then why don’t Brent kids score as high as Inspired Teaching kids? Haven’t they only been open for like 6-7 years???? Stop with the excuses, your $400k pta funds haven’t helped enough with pull outs. OP, choose Maury. They are a 5 star school (94% grade). Brent is 4 star (65%). 30 point difference is HUGE! Maury serves a more diverse population as well.

Maury and Brent are both fine. School choice is hardly the only choice parents face on Cap Hill. If the Maury catchment area works better than Brent for your housing situation or commute or whatever, better choice. If you're not thrilled with the academics at your EotP DCPS and see gaps, you can fill them without too much trouble via trips to the NE or SE libraries, Smithsonian museums (just walk down), Kumon math etc. Schlepping to a distant charter isn't the better option, unless you can't live without language immersion.

Depends what you mean by "diverse population." Brent's seeing more ethnic and international diversity all the time. When we started, the school was 0% Asian and 1% ELL. Now it's around 4% for both, because more immigrant and foreign parents enrolling.

WOW 4%!!!!!!

This is the reason why we drive to an immersion charter- because we don’t want our kids to be an only. Also Eliot Home, Jefferson, and Stuart Hobson are embarrassingly bad.

This is also why we declined our spots at the overrated SWS.

[Anonymous]

SWS = Super White School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A little history is indeed in order. Been on the Hill since the 90s. Over the years, have watched more than 3/4 of the kids I know who attended Peabody leave the Cluster by 4th grade at Watkins.

By contrast, the SWS, Brent and Maury students I've known in the last decade have mostly stayed until 4th grade. The 5th grade drop-off is still an issue at all these schools, with so many families taking 5th grade spots at Wash Latin or BASIS.

You are wrong on the history. SWS was in Peabody, and fed to Watkins, until 2011. You can't have seen neighbors stay through fourth at SWS over the last decade, because fourth grade did not exist until the last few years. Don't know about Brent, but you've got rose colored glasses on for Maury, too.