Best Cap Hill elementary to middle?

[Anonymous]

We are renting and looking at buying. Have a toddler. What is the ideal elementary to middle school trajectory? Looks like Maury, Brent, Watkins are good? Payne? And are there any middle schools I should want to be in zone for, ideally?

[Anonymous]

Brent actually scores lower than schools with similar demographics. For middle path, I’d choose Watkins.

[Anonymous]

Ludlow Taylor to Stuart Hobson without question. (Most elementary schools are good, but most middles have a long way to go.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Brent actually scores lower than schools with similar demographics. For middle path, I’d choose Watkins.

Come on. Brent is head and shoulders above Watkins in terms of the kid's experience. The entire 1st grade at Brent is in-boundary and OOB with older sibs. Brent parents care little about PARCC scores and the kids are not prepped for the test like at almost every other Hill DCPS. Brent has a seriously good fine arts program, paid for by the $400,000 a year PTA. Brent is also the only elementary school on the Hill with a designated science teacher. The Brent principal is terrific, while the Watkins principal seems to care only about "closing the achievement gap." Brent's middle school feeder situation isn't good, and neither is Maury's so if you want a path to Stuart Hobson, go for Watkins. Don't go for Watkins for Watkins.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ludlow Taylor to Stuart Hobson without question. (Most elementary schools are good, but most middles have a long way to go.)

Maybe. We have several friends bailing on LT in the upper grades due to lack of challenge. If your kid is just a toddler, the school's demographics may have changed enough by the upper grades for you to be happy with the experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brent actually scores lower than schools with similar demographics. For middle path, I’d choose Watkins.

Come on. Brent is head and shoulders above Watkins in terms of the kid's experience. The entire 1st grade at Brent is in-boundary and OOB with older sibs. Brent parents care little about PARCC scores and the kids are not prepped for the test like at almost every other Hill DCPS. Brent has a seriously good fine arts program, paid for by the $400,000 a year PTA. Brent is also the only elementary school on the Hill with a designated science teacher. The Brent principal is terrific, while the Watkins principal seems to care only about "closing the achievement gap." Brent's middle school feeder situation isn't good, and neither is Maury's so if you want a path to Stuart Hobson, go for Watkins. Don't go for Watkins for Watkins.

+1. Go to Brent and then play the lottery for middle school, or move since you’re renting. Brent’s location is much better than Maury’s and the school itself is better than Watkins, as PP said.

[Anonymous]

ES to middle, right now would be an elementary that feeds to Stuart Hobson.

In a few years an ES that feeds to Jefferson might be fine. Eliot-Hine has further to go.

Don’t buy assuming the lottery will get you a quality MS alternative unless you are also willing to move if it doesn’t work out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brent actually scores lower than schools with similar demographics. For middle path, I’d choose Watkins.

Come on. Brent is head and shoulders above Watkins in terms of the kid's experience. The entire 1st grade at Brent is in-boundary and OOB with older sibs. Brent parents care little about PARCC scores and the kids are not prepped for the test like at almost every other Hill DCPS. Brent has a seriously good fine arts program, paid for by the $400,000 a year PTA. Brent is also the only elementary school on the Hill with a designated science teacher. The Brent principal is terrific, while the Watkins principal seems to care only about "closing the achievement gap." Brent's middle school feeder situation isn't good, and neither is Maury's so if you want a path to Stuart Hobson, go for Watkins. Don't go for Watkins for Watkins.

It's cute how at schools with lots of rich and/or white kids the parents are like "the experience is so great! there's no test prep so our kids don't score as well as white kids at other schools but it's cool because we have art!" and then they look at other schools where kids like theirs do better and the at-risk/AA/Latino kids do better that also have nice art and science classes and say "it's not an option--my kid needs a cohort of high performers and separate honors classes."

OP, Stuart-Hobson and Jefferson are more alike than different (SH has a principal people like and JA currently has an interim principal; each school will likely change leadership several times before your kid gets there). SH has about 10% white kids and seems to do a better job explaining its differentiated classes, but both schools differentiate and both schools will be in good physical shape when your kid arrives (JA is being renovated now). JA is further away but it's not hard to get to (3 blocks from L'Enfant Plaza metro and several buses) so if you like Brent, don't be scared off by JA. And if you like the Cluster or LT or JOW (which is going through a mess right now because their principal resigned and some older-grade teachers seem awful--but this will likely be well in the rearview mirror before your kid is out of the ECE wing) go for it. Teachers and principals change so much from year to year that you can't really pin your hopes on one school being way better than another. Even the best school has a range of good and bad teachers (or teachers that click better with some students than others). Class sizes and extracurriculars and playgrounds and all that other stuff can change from year to year. Find a house you like that you can afford and read a lot to your kid and take him or her to museums and volunteer in the classroom and do stuff like DC Youth Orchestra and Sports on the Hill and scouting and your kid will be just fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brent actually scores lower than schools with similar demographics. For middle path, I’d choose Watkins.

Come on. Brent is head and shoulders above Watkins in terms of the kid's experience. The entire 1st grade at Brent is in-boundary and OOB with older sibs. Brent parents care little about PARCC scores and the kids are not prepped for the test like at almost every other Hill DCPS. Brent has a seriously good fine arts program, paid for by the $400,000 a year PTA. Brent is also the only elementary school on the Hill with a designated science teacher. The Brent principal is terrific, while the Watkins principal seems to care only about "closing the achievement gap." Brent's middle school feeder situation isn't good, and neither is Maury's so if you want a path to Stuart Hobson, go for Watkins. Don't go for Watkins for Watkins.

Read: my school is richer and whiter so it’s better. Are you saying schools like Inspired Teaching, Lafayette, Mann etc test prep their kids? All have good arts program and white students perform far better than Brent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ludlow Taylor to Stuart Hobson without question. (Most elementary schools are good, but most middles have a long way to go.)

Maybe. We have several friends bailing on LT in the upper grades due to lack of challenge. If your kid is just a toddler, the school's demographics may have changed enough by the upper grades for you to be happy with the experience.

Interesting...we are IB for LT/SH and my upper ele kid doesn't attend because when he started, LT wasn't what it is now, not by a long shot. We have many neighbors who have kids PS-1st who are there and extremely happy. And we also have many friends who plan on sending their kids to SH next year and are excited about it. We are in a charter that goes through middle so haven't looked as closely as some others may have, but I know SH is getting a lot of positive buzz both for their honors programming and their arts. I suspect LT's upper ele is still largely OOB but that it will change over the next few years and the younger crowd moves up.

Agree with PP that if you can stomach lottery or a move for middle that Brent certainly has the best reputation on the hill. We have friends at Watkins who feel their child is quite behind due to lack of rigor and structure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brent actually scores lower than schools with similar demographics. For middle path, I’d choose Watkins.

Come on. Brent is head and shoulders above Watkins in terms of the kid's experience. The entire 1st grade at Brent is in-boundary and OOB with older sibs. Brent parents care little about PARCC scores and the kids are not prepped for the test like at almost every other Hill DCPS. Brent has a seriously good fine arts program, paid for by the $400,000 a year PTA. Brent is also the only elementary school on the Hill with a designated science teacher. The Brent principal is terrific, while the Watkins principal seems to care only about "closing the achievement gap." Brent's middle school feeder situation isn't good, and neither is Maury's so if you want a path to Stuart Hobson, go for Watkins. Don't go for Watkins for Watkins.

I don't really care to enter into this sniping, but I'll point out that my non-Brent school has an amazing art teacher and a dedicated science teacher. I'll also point out that many of us think that focus on "closing the achievement gap" does not need scare quotes, and is a good and healthy focus for a school in DC. I'll ALSO point out that focus on fundamentals in the early grades and taking things like the learning necessary to do well on PARCC has actually be extremely beneficial for my kid. Perhaps we don't have the privilege to rest on our laurels like Brent thinks it does, but the really focused learning environment has been GREAT for my high SES kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brent actually scores lower than schools with similar demographics. For middle path, I’d choose Watkins.

Come on. Brent is head and shoulders above Watkins in terms of the kid's experience. The entire 1st grade at Brent is in-boundary and OOB with older sibs. Brent parents care little about PARCC scores and the kids are not prepped for the test like at almost every other Hill DCPS. Brent has a seriously good fine arts program, paid for by the $400,000 a year PTA. Brent is also the only elementary school on the Hill with a designated science teacher. The Brent principal is terrific, while the Watkins principal seems to care only about "closing the achievement gap." Brent's middle school feeder situation isn't good, and neither is Maury's so if you want a path to Stuart Hobson, go for Watkins. Don't go for Watkins for Watkins.

It's cute how at schools with lots of rich and/or white kids the parents are like "the experience is so great! there's no test prep so our kids don't score as well as white kids at other schools but it's cool because we have art!" and then they look at other schools where kids like theirs do better and the at-risk/AA/Latino kids do better that also have nice art and science classes and say "it's not an option--my kid needs a cohort of high performers and separate honors classes."

OP, Stuart-Hobson and Jefferson are more alike than different (SH has a principal people like and JA currently has an interim principal; each school will likely change leadership several times before your kid gets there). SH has about 10% white kids and seems to do a better job explaining its differentiated classes, but both schools differentiate and both schools will be in good physical shape when your kid arrives (JA is being renovated now). JA is further away but it's not hard to get to (3 blocks from L'Enfant Plaza metro and several buses) so if you like Brent, don't be scared off by JA. And if you like the Cluster or LT or JOW (which is going through a mess right now because their principal resigned and some older-grade teachers seem awful--but this will likely be well in the rearview mirror before your kid is out of the ECE wing) go for it. Teachers and principals change so much from year to year that you can't really pin your hopes on one school being way better than another. Even the best school has a range of good and bad teachers (or teachers that click better with some students than others). Class sizes and extracurriculars and playgrounds and all that other stuff can change from year to year. Find a house you like that you can afford and read a lot to your kid and take him or her to museums and volunteer in the classroom and do stuff like DC Youth Orchestra and Sports on the Hill and scouting and your kid will be just fine.

Nail, head, thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ludlow Taylor to Stuart Hobson without question. (Most elementary schools are good, but most middles have a long way to go.)

Maybe. We have several friends bailing on LT in the upper grades due to lack of challenge. If your kid is just a toddler, the school's demographics may have changed enough by the upper grades for you to be happy with the experience.

Interesting...we are IB for LT/SH and my upper ele kid doesn't attend because when he started, LT wasn't what it is now, not by a long shot. We have many neighbors who have kids PS-1st who are there and extremely happy. And we also have many friends who plan on sending their kids to SH next year and are excited about it. We are in a charter that goes through middle so haven't looked as closely as some others may have, but I know SH is getting a lot of positive buzz both for their honors programming and their arts. I suspect LT's upper ele is still largely OOB but that it will change over the next few years and the younger crowd moves up.

Agree with PP that if you can stomach lottery or a move for middle that Brent certainly has the best reputation on the hill. We have friends at Watkins who feel their child is quite behind due to lack of rigor and structure.

That might have been true 5 - 10 years ago, but not any more. It's a great school, but I don't think anyone would say it's the "best" school anymore. Which can only be a good thing!

If I had the choice to move anywhere on the Hill and my kid was just 3-4, I'd pick the house first and school second, out of any of the good options we are lucky enough to have now, and worry about middle school later. If my kid was older and MS were closer in time I would focus more on middle school and look for something zoned for Stuart Hobson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brent actually scores lower than schools with similar demographics. For middle path, I’d choose Watkins.

Come on. Brent is head and shoulders above Watkins in terms of the kid's experience. The entire 1st grade at Brent is in-boundary and OOB with older sibs. Brent parents care little about PARCC scores and the kids are not prepped for the test like at almost every other Hill DCPS. Brent has a seriously good fine arts program, paid for by the $400,000 a year PTA. Brent is also the only elementary school on the Hill with a designated science teacher. The Brent principal is terrific, while the Watkins principal seems to care only about "closing the achievement gap." Brent's middle school feeder situation isn't good, and neither is Maury's so if you want a path to Stuart Hobson, go for Watkins. Don't go for Watkins for Watkins.

It's cute how at schools with lots of rich and/or white kids the parents are like "the experience is so great! there's no test prep so our kids don't score as well as white kids at other schools but it's cool because we have art!" and then they look at other schools where kids like theirs do better and the at-risk/AA/Latino kids do better that also have nice art and science classes and say "it's not an option--my kid needs a cohort of high performers and separate honors classes."

OP, Stuart-Hobson and Jefferson are more alike than different (SH has a principal people like and JA currently has an interim principal; each school will likely change leadership several times before your kid gets there). SH has about 10% white kids and seems to do a better job explaining its differentiated classes, but both schools differentiate and both schools will be in good physical shape when your kid arrives (JA is being renovated now). JA is further away but it's not hard to get to (3 blocks from L'Enfant Plaza metro and several buses) so if you like Brent, don't be scared off by JA. And if you like the Cluster or LT or JOW (which is going through a mess right now because their principal resigned and some older-grade teachers seem awful--but this will likely be well in the rearview mirror before your kid is out of the ECE wing) go for it. Teachers and principals change so much from year to year that you can't really pin your hopes on one school being way better than another. Even the best school has a range of good and bad teachers (or teachers that click better with some students than others). Class sizes and extracurriculars and playgrounds and all that other stuff can change from year to year. Find a house you like that you can afford and read a lot to your kid and take him or her to museums and volunteer in the classroom and do stuff like DC Youth Orchestra and Sports on the Hill and scouting and your kid will be just fine.

Nail, head, thank you.

^^ sort of. more yes and no. In no particular order

Stuart hasn't had much leadership turnover but ¯\_(?)_/¯ that could happen anywhere I suppose.

Jefferson is underrated and improving but it also serves more at risk students than SH.

SH is stronger in performing arts than other MS options in DC.

A small cohort of Brent families recently made jump to Jefferson but most Brent families do not. Many Brent families bail for charters in 5th or private earlier (it's upper grades take OOB students to fill gap).

LT cohort at SH is somewhat small but likely growing in next 3-4 years. Watkins accounts for 2/3 of the rising 6th grade class.

SH Class sizes are large for both honors and regular track.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ludlow Taylor to Stuart Hobson without question. (Most elementary schools are good, but most middles have a long way to go.)

The delusional ludlow booster strikes again!