Ranking assistance - Cap Hill/Brookland area

[Anonymous]

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

You can see here who goes to Latin and there are some DCI feeders.

This is pretty out of date data by now. But it basically shows, unsurprisingly given the lottery, that half the city sends <10 students to Latin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its also really useful to talk to people who have gone the good but not necessarily great neighborhood middle school route.

agree but be careful. I heard raves about Stuart and Eliot only to find later that the parents were lottering every year, looking at private schools and trying to move. People love to justify their choices.

This. This. This.

You should be talking to not only parents who are there but more so parents who leave. They will tell all. The ones who leave are much more informative than the ones who don’t because they don’t have other options and want more buy in from families.

We have good friends whose 8th grader has been extremely happy at SH (and they've been happy with the school as well). Still, they lottery each and every year for Latin and hoped their younger sibling would get in and pull them in. Why? High school. They are currently crossing all of their fingers for Walls and Banneker and would much rather be in a less tenuous position.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't be surprised if YY parents are splitting for Latin. The language has always been more of an after thought there and few native speaking families.

Nope. You can see from the waitlist how many kids went tracked to DCI for each school with seats they had. They all went to DCI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its also really useful to talk to people who have gone the good but not necessarily great neighborhood middle school route.

agree but be careful. I heard raves about Stuart and Eliot only to find later that the parents were lottering every year, looking at private schools and trying to move. People love to justify their choices.

This. This. This.

You should be talking to not only parents who are there but more so parents who leave. They will tell all. The ones who leave are much more informative than the ones who don’t because they don’t have other options and want more buy in from families.

We have good friends whose 8th grader has been extremely happy at SH (and they've been happy with the school as well). Still, they lottery each and every year for Latin and hoped their younger sibling would get in and pull them in. Why? High school. They are currently crossing all of their fingers for Walls and Banneker and would much rather be in a less tenuous position.

Sorry but I don’t believe for a second that if they had gotten a seat at Latin for 5th, they wouldn’t have taken it. They did not have options so went with SH and continue to lottery each year.

Now if you said they got into Latin and declined, that would be a different scenario.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Here is the bottom line if you have a high performing kid, it is Basis and DCI.

Average kid Latin

If your kid doesn’t get into the above, move to MD or VA. I would pick VA for state school benefit for college.

No good options for middle school other than above EOTP.

Don’t waste your time on settling for a poor middle school only to have to settle for another poor high school or move in high school which is worst.

Totally disagree with this. High performing kids definitely fit in at Latin. ITDS definitely has high-performers -- maybe not as many as some other middle schools because it's small -- and a really good track record of 8th graders getting into Banneker and Walls. I'm sure some Hill parents have something to say as well.

+1. The smartest kids at our DCI feeder went to Basis and Latin. We also know some super high performing kids at ITDS.

When was this? Because from our feeder all the smart kids went to DCI

One family with average kid did go to Latin because he needed more hand holding and smaller class but they are planning on sending younger kid to DCI.

I also call BS on the PP saying the “smart” kids went to Latin and basis. The only kids who ended up at Latin, Basis, or Deal were those who struggled with the target language or were burnt out with our charter administration. I’m not saying those kids are less intelligent but certainly would not describe them as the “smart” kids. DCI has been a great experience for us.

+1. I’m the PP and same at my feeder. Kids left because they just struggled with the language which of course affected core subjects.

I don’t blame them. I would pull my kid out too if they were struggling with math and ELA especially ELA where kids get 50% less teaching time.

Immersion isn’t for everyone and that’s OK. But it’s great for kids whom things coming easy in other subjects and who picks up languages easily.

We are a native Spanish speaking family that chose Latin over DCI. My kid scored 5s on Cape and advanced on Spanish MAP. I have seen this comment a few times here that kids that choose Latin over DCI are failing at the target language and that isn’t always the case. The screen usage at DCI is unappealing to us. Our neighbors kids go there and play video games during class. Some families want a different experience for their kids. That doesn’t mean they are immersion flunkies.

[Anonymous]

They presumably entered the 5th grade lottery for Latin, did not get in, and then went to SH. That is the story for a lot of kids at SH and in 5th grade this year at its feeders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't be surprised if YY parents are splitting for Latin. The language has always been more of an after thought there and few native speaking families.

Nope. You can see from the waitlist how many kids went tracked to DCI for each school with seats they had. They all went to DCI.

Can you really see if they actually attended DCI? What if someone's ranking was 1) Latin 2) DCI, then they got into Latin off the waitlist?

[Anonymous]

Latin starts in 5th. DCI starts in 6th. Some families at DCI feeders lottery for 5th grade at Latin. Most don’t get a spot. Some do and then deliberate over whether to take it or to stay for DCI. The kids who leave are going to vary pretty substantially in academic ability along the same lines as students attending other schools who enroll at Latin do.

[Anonymous]

Well, in the data that's on EdScape now I see 11 students from LAMB went to 5th at Latin 2nd. Also Stokes and MVP sent one or more. I also see a 7th grader and an 8th grader moved from DCI to Latin 2nd.

Cooper had 5th graders from DCB, Stokes, LAMB, and YY. Also 6th graders from MV8 and LAMB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:School within a school is amazing amazing if you want a warm little place with no focus on academics. Parents who drink the kool-aid are happy. I found the bizarre focus on social justice issues and alarmingly weak academics to be a nonstarter for me. We switched to MV8. Rough uphill battle with spanish for a little while but my oldest is in dci now. Grateful not to be stuck with Eliot Hine as a middle school with is a nonstarter for our academically focused family. If you want majority white classroom with almost no focus on academics you found your school.

We have close friends and ludlow and they don’t recommend based on upper grades.

Are they actually in upper grades or afraid of the demographic change? Because the demographics do change as more kids lottery in, but the teaching in the upper grades is the best in the school. The 3rd grade team is especially amazing. This is a widely held view in th school.

+1, I don't get that comment. We have a kid in upper grades at L-T and are very happy with both academics and EC opportunities.

There is angst among *parents* in the upper grades over MS and HS. But that's true at any Hill elementary. There is no easy or obvious MS/HS path on the Hill if you value academics. There are options, but it's complicated. That's the case at L-T, Brent, Maury, Payne, SWS, CHML, Two Rivers, you name it. But I do think parents at elementaries that feed to S-H tend to be a smidge less stressed (but only a smidge, it's still not most parents' dream school and it doesn't solve the HS issue).

Ludlow has a 5th grade with a lot of academic high performers this year and AFAIK they're all headed for SH except 1 interviewing for privates. It's totally possible I'm not privy to every kid's plans, but I certainly get the sense that many/most families are comfortable giving SH a try.

Yeah that’s what everyone told us about except they all enrolled in charters or moved.

There are no charters worth moving to post-5th unless you happen to luck into DCI or have a very specific type of child (ITDS). Ludlow has had an increasing trend of kids staying for 5th (partially just a result of the lottery getting harder for sure) and of kids from 5th heading to SH. I think the trend would have accelerated faster if not for Latin Cooper opening and the year where kids could get into it for 6th. In the current jobs and interest rate climate, I think a much smaller chunk of families is positioned to move or pay for private than even a few years ago.

I’m curious, what very specific type of child is a fit for ITDS middle school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is the bottom line if you have a high performing kid, it is Basis and DCI.

Average kid Latin

If your kid doesn’t get into the above, move to MD or VA. I would pick VA for state school benefit for college.

No good options for middle school other than above EOTP.

Don’t waste your time on settling for a poor middle school only to have to settle for another poor high school or move in high school which is worst.

And to be clear, we’re talking about your kid’s performance midway through 4th grade, right? 4th grade performance and lottery luck locks you in for the remaining 8 years until HS graduation?

I remember now why I quit reading these threads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School within a school is amazing amazing if you want a warm little place with no focus on academics. Parents who drink the kool-aid are happy. I found the bizarre focus on social justice issues and alarmingly weak academics to be a nonstarter for me. We switched to MV8. Rough uphill battle with spanish for a little while but my oldest is in dci now. Grateful not to be stuck with Eliot Hine as a middle school with is a nonstarter for our academically focused family. If you want majority white classroom with almost no focus on academics you found your school.

We have close friends and ludlow and they don’t recommend based on upper grades.

Are they actually in upper grades or afraid of the demographic change? Because the demographics do change as more kids lottery in, but the teaching in the upper grades is the best in the school. The 3rd grade team is especially amazing. This is a widely held view in th school.

+1, I don't get that comment. We have a kid in upper grades at L-T and are very happy with both academics and EC opportunities.

There is angst among *parents* in the upper grades over MS and HS. But that's true at any Hill elementary. There is no easy or obvious MS/HS path on the Hill if you value academics. There are options, but it's complicated. That's the case at L-T, Brent, Maury, Payne, SWS, CHML, Two Rivers, you name it. But I do think parents at elementaries that feed to S-H tend to be a smidge less stressed (but only a smidge, it's still not most parents' dream school and it doesn't solve the HS issue).

Ludlow has a 5th grade with a lot of academic high performers this year and AFAIK they're all headed for SH except 1 interviewing for privates. It's totally possible I'm not privy to every kid's plans, but I certainly get the sense that many/most families are comfortable giving SH a try.

Yeah that’s what everyone told us about except they all enrolled in charters or moved.

There are no charters worth moving to post-5th unless you happen to luck into DCI or have a very specific type of child (ITDS). Ludlow has had an increasing trend of kids staying for 5th (partially just a result of the lottery getting harder for sure) and of kids from 5th heading to SH. I think the trend would have accelerated faster if not for Latin Cooper opening and the year where kids could get into it for 6th. In the current jobs and interest rate climate, I think a much smaller chunk of families is positioned to move or pay for private than even a few years ago.

I’m curious, what very specific type of child is a fit for ITDS middle school?

On or near grade level, enjoys musical theater, mild special needs but nothing really serious, and doesn't need a school with a lot of high-level sports.

[Anonymous]

ITDS is small with limited extracurricular offerings. It is a pretty good option if you live in that section of the city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ITDS is small with limited extracurricular offerings. It is a pretty good option if you live in that section of the city.

A child whose parents like ITDS better than any of the area middle schools is the kind of child who goes to ITDS. Personally I think it's better than all the DCPS in the area except Stuart-Hobson and maybe EH. Certainly better than Brookland and McKinley Middle and Two Rivers and Howard. TBD on the new Shaw middle. Toss-up with Sojourner Truth, just depends what style you like I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ITDS is small with limited extracurricular offerings. It is a pretty good option if you live in that section of the city.

ITDS is like doing elementary over again. Way too small, limited course offerings and electives. Limited EC and sports. Lots of turnover in the upper grades.

We looked at it and passed.