Reply to Middle and high school on Capitol Hill

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]In MoCo, "soft" test-in MS options are scattered around the county in ordinary neighborhood schools, e.g. 7th grade algebra and advanced English classes at schools with high low SES populations, to keep high SES parents onboard.  Silver Spring International is a good example.

I get the sense that most Cap Hill high SES parents would be satisfied with BASIS or Wash Latin level academics at a by-right school in a decent facility. They aren't asking for the sun, the moon and the stars on a test in program, just a quality MS program where kids behave featuring appropriate academic rigor for all students.  It's very difficult to convince parents that appropriate rigor awaits at a program where most of the kids don't test proficient and grade-level classes aren't are offered, let alone above-grade level courses.

The drumbeat to move families onto to Jefferson Academy and Eliot-Hine has been driving down PTA attendance at Brent and Maury. Improving these schools has become a focus of PTA work, yet few parents are onboard. The conversation is so awkward that many avoid it to avoid causing offense, or knocking heads with movement leaders.  The thinking is that, once a bunch of parents make the jump in 2018, the good news will come back to Brent and Maury, motivating many others to jump.  I won't be surprised if the opposite proves true.

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At risk of being labeled a booster, I feel like this post is unfair on several levels. [b]Why would a school offer above-level classes when most of the current students are below level? The truth is, we don't know what these schools will do when they get more at or above level kids. 
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Regarding the "boosters" that are ruining these PTA's, I'm not sure what you want? DCPS and the Mayor seem to think test-in schools are a non-starter. If you have a kid currently in elementary school, you don't have time to wait for a new mayor who might have a new viewpoint. So then you're choices are hope for Latin, hope BASIS works for your kids, private (if you have the $$$) or move. What is wrong with pushing for another option?

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This is the sort of dead-ended circuitous reasoning DCPS excels at. I graduated from a MoCo MS and HS in the 1980s where the county set up above-grade-level classes to ATTRACT high SES families BEFORE my peers and I rocked in from high-performing local elementary schools. Yes, honors classes in both schools sat empty, or almost empty, for one school year in a newly renovated building, with teachers doing nothing more than train and plan to teach advanced classes.  The second year, the classes were flooded with above-grade level takers.  The rest is history in MoCo.  
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