Reply to Right middle school for artsy and sensitive kid

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP I don't know what the answer is for you but did want to tell you that we are also on the Hill with a very similar kid in 3rd grade (IB for Stuart-Hobson and currently attending an S-H feeder) and can share our thinking based on perhaps a bit more familiarity with DC schools and neighborhood dynamics because we've lived her for 20+ years and have had a kid in DCPS since PK3:

- We actually like Eliot Hine as a potential option for our kid. A lot of people on the Hill prefer S-H in part because it is larger -- this allows them to somewhat track in math and there are lots and lots of clubs and after school activities. While that is appealing to us as well we also worry about our kid in a larger school environment and we don't know if she'll be able to take advantage of those features. Eliot Hine has about 150 fewer kids and much more of a small school feel. So we currently rank it a bit higher than S-H as an option. We've visited and know families with kids there or who will go there next year (now in 5th and not headed to Latin or BASIS).

- We will lottery for Latin for 5th and do think it could be a decent fit. The bus from the Hill is pretty convenient and I understand the kids really do form a community in part becasue of that commute they do together there. Love the HS option from Latin and also like the IB program there which I think would be appealing to our kid who loves reading and writing  and likes to process information by writing about it (as much as you can guess at what kind of high school student your 8 year old will be).

- We will not lottery for BASIS. Just does not seem like a good fit for our kid or family.

- We've looked a lot at ITDS and have actually received an offer there at one point but turned it down due to commute. ITDS is really appealing for kids like ours because it's small and very nurturing (the admin and all the teachers know all the kids by name and the school is pretty intimate). They also do emphasize arts programming a lot (including dance which is an interest for my kid). So with ITDS our main concerns are commute (no way for her to walk or bike there in middle) and also perhaps a worry that it's *too* small and might not stretch our kid enough to prepare her for high school. Especially since there is no way to know where she will wind up in high school from ITDS -- it's application schools or moving since we don't view private or Eastern as real options.

All of which is to say: Eliot Hine may actually be the happy medium for our similar kid even though we will absolutely be looking at and considering S-H and Latin and ITDS (and moving). We own our home and have been on the Hill forever so moving feels like a bigger deal for us (but may be inevitable for HS).

Not sure if that sways you any direction or another but might inform your choices. You certainly aren't alone on the Hill in thinking through this and also not alone in having a sensitive and artsy kid and wanting a middle school that will work well for them.[/quote]

ITDS parent here and you are 100% right. My 6th grader is already feeling like socially it's small.[/quote]

OP here - thank you both for sharing these insights, which are tremendously helpful and appreciated. The gut check re BASIS is also very helpful. I guess with everything being quite a long shot I keep thinking we should be ranking every school possible, but I keep thinking BASIS sounds wonderful for many kids but just not for ours (…and then second guessing myself). Sounds like we will visit the Latins and ITDS this year and try our hand at the lottery, and if we lose out (which I realize is very likely), we will do a *lot* of visiting next year, including E-H and some close-in options that the PPs have kindly mentioned.[/quote]

We did ITDS and it got small socially, but my kid ended up with four friends he still keeps in touch with in HS and also enjoyed participating in the musicals and art class, so, you know, pluses and minuses.  Also, he is enjoying a bigger high school.[/quote]

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