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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Why does the Basis list move so much? Where do those kids go after declining a Basis spot?

If everyone is telling me that Basis is more math and Latin is more humanities, how do the two schools maintain those specializations if the prospective students don't really get a chance to pick between them?

Why is Hardy nowhere on the thread if up until a year ago it was mostly OOB? I get that this year 6th great was almost all IB, but why doesn't anyone try to get in? With all the fear about McFarland, is noone on this forum trying to get into Hardy? [/quote]

Hardy - more IB families are attending, especially from Eaton now that the grandfathering at Deal is a thing of the past. Hardy offers fewer seats in the initial lottery than in the past (~20 vs. ~60 just a couple years ago). They will fill from their waitlist. ANd yes the wait list is pretty long.

BASIS - it's an accelerated curriculum. Students start doing high-school level work in 6th grade (5th is a more standard curriculum). The facilities are not great, and extracurriculars have been limited in the past. That said, there are now inter-scholastic soccer, basketball, flag football, baseball teams, strong dance clubs, debate and a really strong Certamen team. The middle school students produce a musical each year. The homework load is pretty high - at least 60-90 minutes a night/weekend and the high stakes end of the year comprehensive exams can be daunting. It is just not what a lot of families are looking for, or at least not their first choice.

MacFarland is growing, but perhaps not as much with the "gentrifier" crowd.

DCI has taken a couple dozen students (from non-feeders) at 6th each year so some go there.

Slowly Stuart Hobson and Jefferson are becoming more popular with families IB for those schools.

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Actually Stuart Hobson has taken off in the last two years under a new head who has added honors classes, and established a good system for entry to them.   There were no OOB 6th grade spots auctioned off this year.  Five years ago, most of the Cluster MS spots were auctioned off.  [b]Hobson and Jefferson just aren't in the same category[/b].[/quote]

Hobson definitely has more rich and white families, but the test scores are quite similar and JA also differentiates--go talk to the principal about it if you're interested. He's taught at the school and served as AP so he knows it well.

PARCC 4+ ELA: JA 32%, SH 45%
PARCC 4+ Math: JA 18%, SH 22%

PARCC 3+ ELA: JA 61%, SH 71%
PARCC 3+ Math: JA 46%, SH 44% (that's right, JA is higher)

Median Growth Percentile ELA: JA 64, SH 66
MGP Math: JA 44, SH 34

These are not enormous differences, especially considering that JA is 59% at-risk and SH is 29% at-risk. If it's important to you that your kid attends a middle school that's 83% black instead of 93% that's fine, and if you live IB for SH I get why it's more convenient to go there, but Jefferson is doing some great things and the teachers I know there are very good.

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