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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Supplementing can be essential for kids who would have been generally average/on target if they hadn't gone up to 18 months without normal school during the pandemic, as in most DC public schools. That's what happened to my Brent 2nd grader when the lockdowns started. Later on, Brent pretended that most of the kids in her cohort had kept up on math via virtual instruction. Mine given 4s in math in the upper grades although, unbeknownst to us, she has still behind due to Covid learning loss, and not just a tad. Mathnasium blew Brent's cover eventually, and caught our kid up in math, teaching her more than two years worth in one. I'm sure things are much more normal now at Brent where math instruction goes, but we've stuck with Mathnasium just the same.  I'd do commercials for them.  Don't expect Brent to teach your kid much in the way of spelling, grammar or punctuation either - they gloss over writing concepts, provide little drill, maintain low ELA standards.  It's a friendly, happy, fun school for the kids but we've really had to play catch up academically in middle school and hear similar stories from Brent pals. My kids have no special needs. [/quote]

Unless you have been at Brent post-covid, commentary on spelling, grammar, punctuation and reading instruction is outdated. They've revamped how they are teaching (presumably in response to earlier complaints) and it's greatly improved. I've been blown away by the new K & 1st reading and writing curriculums as compared to that for my older child. My understanding is that based on how successful the new strategies have been at the younger ages, they are gradually being introduced into the curriculums for the olders as well. Changes seem to be the result of a combo of a response to gaps in learning from COVID & general complaints of[b] ill preparedness for middle school [b]from alumni/their parents.[/b][/b][/quote]

Just wait until your 5th grader is repeating 4th grade material unnecessarily. Nothing prepares kids for middle school better than having them sit through a year of 4th grade again. [/quote]

I won't have a 5th grader at Brent nor would I have. We had a backup plan. Expecting to be happy with 5th grade at Brent is asking for disappointment - it is what it is, and wasn't great before the 4th/5th combo either. 4th has never been super strong either to be honest. Regardless, I'm still impressed with the improvements in the K - 3 reading and writing curriculum.[/quote]

So easy to say, such a judgmental statement.  Fact is, 5th grade at Brent IS the back-up plan for most families, which makes sense.  [b]You're really going to move your kid just for 5th to a cohort with entirely new kids, then do it all over again for 6th at a different school if you were shut out of Latins and BASIS after 4th? [/b] Maybe, especially now that 5th grade at Brent hardly exists, but not necessarily.  [/quote]

This. No easy answers if you've been at Brent for years and your kid doesn't get into Latin or BASIS, or if you have plans to move on to a DCPS or private MS that starts in 6th. I wish there was much more pressure on Norah to improve the 5th grade experience. She claims it's wonderful. It's not.[/quote]

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