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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Based on these waitlist numbers for middle high schools (Latin, Basis, Truth, Benneker McKinley), what is the trajectory looking like as far as a solid middle/high school option a few years into the future?  It seems to be looking less and less likely of being able to get into some of these schools when the IB school doesn’t seem like a great option either at this point.  I’m starting to feel slightly anxious about it all even though we’re still 3 years away, but we’ve never done great in the lottery and been generally satisfied with our DCPS IB elementary.[/quote]

You should be making plans to consider potentially moving.  3 years is nothing and going to fly by.  Your chance in 3 years is going to be significantly less than now.

Don’t be in the position that many current families are in now.  Basically there are now only 2 acceptable middle schools if you take out DCI and if your kid doesn’t fit the right characteristics for Basis then it’s down to 1 middle school EOTP[/quote]

I find this comment unhelpful and a little reactionary (also unclear, I can't tell which schools you've decided are acceptable -- are you including Deal and Hardy in this? SH? Viewing Latin and Latin Cooper separately?) but a few thoughts:

I think it's premature to decide what is happening with MS/HS until we watch the waitlists move. I want to see where things shake out, especially with SH, EH, and Inspired Teaching. I do agree that counting on Latin or BASIS as some kind of golden ticket if you hate your IB is a mistake, but that's been true for years. In fact, a major reason you see SH improving steadily is that many Hill families took that approach for years, and were even more encouraged when Latin Cooper opened, struck out, and decided to give SH a shot.

If you are a family at a school that feeds to Eliot-Hine, that news can mean a few things. One, it's a reminder that if Latin/BASIS is your Plan A, you need a really good, strong Plan B that is basically a sure bet. Two, you should not count on being able to get into SH OOB. But three, if you are someone willing to give this a shot, it also likely means that EH will continue to build it's IB percentage and may be on the same or very similar trajectory to SH. That #3 won't matter to many families, but might be enough for a family who loves their elementary school and neighborhood, and thinks they can make it work with a "developing" MS. Especially if they have a solid plan for HS (as Eastern is no one's "solid" high school plan).

Also, if you want SH to be your strong Plan B, JOW has low waitlists in pretty much every grade, is entering a swing space next year so may lose some families because of that (especially in upper grades), and feeds to SH. To me that's almost a no brainer. If your kid is entering 3rd grade or below, they will even get at least a year at the new JOW campus, which will probably be really nice. So if moving is an absolute no for you but you want a solid MS option, I'd be doing a post-lottery add for JOW just to see, and if you get a spot, go tour. Due to the new campus, I would anticipate that this year and next year might be the easiest years to do that and it will get progressively harder after that.

To me, HS is a bigger question than MS. There are still a lot of acceptable MS options IMO, even outside Deal/Hardy/Latin/Basis/DCI. I'd consider any of the 3 Hill middles acceptable, but especially SH which I might even categorize as strong, ITDS for the right kid, and McFarland as well, especially with John Lewis building it's IB buy in and becoming a really well-liked school in Petworth. I'd also not count out CHEC with how Marie Reed is doing lately, SWW@Francis Stevens should absolutely be an option, and I'd even give McKinley a look. One thing a lot of these schools have going for them? Strong feeder elementaries with a lot of families who value neighborhood schools, and small size overall (which makes it easier for a couple good cohorts to really change the look and feel of a school).

I think if you want to stay in DC through MS without moving IB for Deal/Hardy or going private, you actually have a lot of reasonable options and this is likely to expand in future years as some of these schools that have previously been seen as unacceptable continue to get 2nd and 3rd looks from IB and nearby families.

HS remains the issue. I have to imagine some of these feeder HS have to get better eventually if the elementary and MS continue to improve and get more IB buy-in. But if you already have a kid in elementary, I don't know that you can count on any of these HS options outside JR, McKinley, and the application schools, and I agree the results for McKinley and the application schools this year are alarming. Our Plan B for HS is moving, and we're actually making concrete choices to make moving an easier option if/when the time comes because we have no faith that we will have a viable HS option in DC.

My two cents. I'm sure a lot of people disagree with me, but the idea that there is 1 acceptable MS EOTP just struck me as silly so I wanted to weigh in.[/quote]

Overwhelming majority of families are not considering SH, EH, etc..  The 3 CH middles are not acceptable.  You have to be joking. Neither is MacFarland, CHEC or whatever.

You can absolutely lower your standards and deal with poor academics and poorly performing peer groups in addition to behavior issues, bullying, fighting, etc…if you are so desperate to stay where you are.  But many are not.

It’s also wishful thinking to think all these schools are miraculously going to get better all over EOTP.  It’s not.

One thing you are right is that high school is hard.  But it’s a big mistake to get shut out of high school and move then when you could have done it in 5th and given your kid a much better middle school experience academically, socially, extracurriculars, in addition to establishing more friendships easier on then moving in high school. Lastly, your kid will also be much better prepared for high school.

The dirty little secret SH families don’t tell you is how much they are supplementing.  There is no way I’m interested in trying to supplement everything in middle school.   
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