Reply to Diversity of schools - can this work both ways? Am I being unreasonable?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]yes, so I am PP with MS kid:

socially - transition was more gradual than abrupt. MS child is socially very adaptable, moreso than us, child's parents. [b]Finds many ways to engage with many kids.

This kid is super proud of friends and school. Does not want to change schools for anything.[/b] Kind of has a chip on shoulder about the big schools like Deal and all they've got; I don't want to encourage that, but [b]if my kid lines up with the underdogs for the rest of their life, I'd probably be pretty proud.[/b]

School does not seem to be a big challenge, but there are some accelerated cohorts. [b]The kids are friendly, belying many stereotypes.[/b] Trouble of course is that it doesn't show up on objective testing.

Challenges include knowing [b]whether there is better that can be extracted out of our kid educationally and whether that matters.[/b] This kid could of course be put in some kind of pressure cooker to get a "better educational experience" but that's kind of counterfactual. What I'd like is for teachers to push everyone to do more.

Other challenges include not having sports program I'd want my kid to have or extracurriculars that seem to be as enriching.

My hope is that going through this MS and its particular program with an integrated student body will make the school better at reaching everybody who's in the school's pattern and pushing them to succeed as well as good for my kid in terms of socializing them into a world that's not Bethesda and the Ivy League. I think that the school-related "rigor" efforts and support come through engagement with school leadership and teachers, so some of that depends on specific individuals rather than the system in my opinion.  I think DCPS has a lot of teachers and administrators who care a lot, but it's hard to expect them to give 110% to every student all the time. I can understand why caring about students who could fall from being net positives in society to net negatives first, as a matter of triage, is logical. That said, I think part of how you reach these kids is expecting greater things from them than society has expected to date.

I'd just say as our MS kid goes through MS, it seems like kid is on top of grades and tests very well so is very likely to move to a selective HS instead of neighborhood HS.

So if I was to suggest what things might be like for others joining the so-called underperforming MS: socially, adaptable kids can do fine! Academically, parent engagement seems pretty valuable, and can help all students win against a public service bureaucracy, extracurricularly, it can be a little rough. But, again, I value placing my kids into an integrated cohort across race and class very highly, probably more highly than placing them in an academically rigorous cohort, believing that our children are likely to be academically successful as well as well-suited to a future better than ours.

So - clearly living in a way that's not so congruent with that of the DCUM norm. Optimistic and engaged.
[/quote]

DP, also with MS kid at one of these schools. Above comments are mostly spot-on with our experience, especially the bold parts. Social adjustment was a bit more abrupt--going from an ES where you've known the same kids for 7-8 years and suddenly lots of new kids from other schools who are having their own struggles adapting led to some social stress at the beginning. The school was super helpful--even focusing on cooperative games for the first month of PE to keep kids from different schools from sticking in those groups. All is well--kid loves the school and friends old and new.

We are happy with the sports offered, and the culture, community, and communication at the school. Kid's sense of personal responsibility has grown tremendously, and they are also very on top of grades, so I also expect a selective HS. [/quote]

It’s easy to be on top of grades when majority is so low performing.  It’s all relative to your peer group.  If your kid was placed in a high performing group, your kid may just be on the average side and in the middle.  Ask the parents who move from poorly performing EOTP schools to WOTP.

Also things get much more real if your kid gets into a selective high school into a higher level playing field.  High probability your kid is going to to come in less prepared and likely struggle with the higher academics.  This has been shown again and again and why colleges have summer academic programs for kids from low performing schools or offer remedial programs/tutoring support for freshman’s.  If you look at the stats, much higher percentage of these kids drop out and never get a degree.[/quote]

I actually think it's something else. I think parents who *really* excelled in school, like were in the top 1 percent on various tests, national merit scholar finalists etc, and have kids like that, are more comfortable taking a chance on these schools. We are at a title 1 elementary and I see that... The parents who were Rhodes scholars stayed bc they know their kids will be fine. Those who went to big state schools and are UMC and successful but not at the 1 percent level often left.[/quote]

No, not generally the case.[/quote]

Well, I actually parent at one of these schools and see it. Chat with the parents who stayed and it eventually comes out that they were exceptional at school: our one EOTP title 1 elementary we literally had Rhodes scholars, Harvard grads, MIT grads, multiple valedictorians, CTYers. Parents who were in the top 1 percent when they were students. I think there is a relationship there... They are less worried about their kids sinking to an average.[/quote]
This is just not true. The number of Rhodes scholars or Ivy League educated parents sending their kids to Title 1 schools is negligible, at most. [/quote]

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