Reply to Middle School Crystal Ball - Look forward to 2015/16 School year

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Reply to "Middle School Crystal Ball - Look forward to 2015/16 School year"

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[quote=Anonymous]I am just now wading into the middle school pool as my DC is in 4th this year.  The DC "school dance" is insane.  However, what I have found is that that does not mean that there aren't good schools here and that your child can't get a solid education.  In DC, I have witnessed great schools (seriously) and great teachers who are challenged by the fact that they have to serve a large number of kids who come from varied income levels, environments and who have a wide range of learning ability.  That's why the test scores are so up and down because every class, every year at most schools are like a cracker jack box--you just don't know what you're going to get.  The schools in DC who have the most homogeneous populations (eg. WOP), don't have this issue and their test scores and school environment are subsequently more constant.

All of us here want our kid to get the best educational experience possible (hopefully without coming out of pocket).  So, we look at the scores and student demographics (ie. race & class--some because they want diversity and others because they don't), and we try to figure out which school best fits our vision. Then we all place our chips on the same 5-10 schools only to roll "snake eyes" on every one.

I fully understand those of you who have already jumped for privates. Unless you land at one of the great schools (and achieving this often means being open to yanking your kid out of their current school late Sept/Oct),  the DC "school dance" can make your head explode.

That being said, DC is changing and doing so very quickly, so I am acutally optimistic about my daughter's choices over the next few years.  While DC's public/charter system continues to frustrate most of us, it also continues to improve and the range of viable options continue to expand.  2015/16 WILL be better than this year, in the same way that things today are much better than they were in the 2009/10 school year.

Since DC is a big city, there will always be educational challenges (as there are in most major metros) because it has to serve a wide range of cultures and classes. Test scores will invariably struggle against our surburban counterparts because of this.   But that doesn't mean that we won't and don't have great schools.  Many schools are still evolving but you can see more good stuff coming.  My middle school crystal ball looks pretty good right now.[/quote]

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