Lots of kids in DC move to a charter in 5th grade.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, move in 5th. We are making the same move for my younger kid who is a rising 7th grader. Wish we had done it sooner. The past elementary middle school where DC went from 4-6 was not good despite a good reputation on this board. Small, mean kids, poor teachers, few extracurriculars. Wish we had not put DC through that.

I initially read this as "small, mean kids" - not that the school was small!

Yes, move in 5th. We are making the same move for my younger kid who is a rising 7th grader. Wish we had done it sooner. The past elementary middle school where DC went from 4-6 was not good despite a good reputation on this board. Small, mean kids, poor teachers, few extracurriculars. Wish we had not put DC through that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would you be moving to a feeder pattern where most kids stay? Or a charter where most kids stay?

I think moving into a Deal feeder or an MCPS elementary school makes sense because then she’d be making the jump to middle school with friends already made.

I think moving to a school where kids scatter after 5th would be hard.

We'd most likely move to a Deal feeder, those are the neighborhoods we tend to like more (and generally can afford, within reason). Our current DCPS is one where every kid scatters so we're basically just getting a jumpstart on that. And I'm wondering if the extra year of 5th grade in the feeder elementary will be beneficial or not.

I think it would be helpful to enter middle school with a cohort of kids she knows. I would move for 5th although I don’t think 6th would be terrible.

We moved our kid in 5th from a charter to our neighborhood elementary that feeds Deal.
It was a hard year. My child struggled socially and academically. If he was a stronger athlete it may not have been so bad.
I learned later on that 5th grade teachers were known for being the weakest at our elementary school.
So much of 5th grade was rah rah reflecting on all of the years from PreK that my child was an outsider and little was done to find a place to make him feel connected.

Would I do it again? We really needed to move for some other reasons.
What would I do differently? The summer leading into 5th I would really try and support your child with connecting with some classmates. The 1st few weeks of school over engage. Invite 2 classmates to a movie and dessert, Go ice skating / bowling anything active support developing friendships.
You want to make sure your daughter has someone to go trick or treating with.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would you be moving to a feeder pattern where most kids stay? Or a charter where most kids stay?

I think moving into a Deal feeder or an MCPS elementary school makes sense because then she’d be making the jump to middle school with friends already made.

I think moving to a school where kids scatter after 5th would be hard.

We'd most likely move to a Deal feeder, those are the neighborhoods we tend to like more (and generally can afford, within reason). Our current DCPS is one where every kid scatters so we're basically just getting a jumpstart on that. And I'm wondering if the extra year of 5th grade in the feeder elementary will be beneficial or not.

I think so, because it would give your kid a chance to make friends, and then enter Deal with a cohort of familiar faces. It's possible the academic experience that the Deal feeder might be better, too.

It depends on whether fifth grade at your elementary is a throw-away year, with half the kids leaving. If so, I'd say just move for 6th.

If lots of kids are leaving, I'd just move this year.

Moved my kid into a charter at 5th grade. She complained, but it was fine.

Anonymous wrote:Would you be moving to a feeder pattern where most kids stay? Or a charter where most kids stay?

I think moving into a Deal feeder or an MCPS elementary school makes sense because then she’d be making the jump to middle school with friends already made.

I think moving to a school where kids scatter after 5th would be hard.

We'd most likely move to a Deal feeder, those are the neighborhoods we tend to like more (and generally can afford, within reason). Our current DCPS is one where every kid scatters so we're basically just getting a jumpstart on that. And I'm wondering if the extra year of 5th grade in the feeder elementary will be beneficial or not.

Would you be moving to a feeder pattern where most kids stay? Or a charter where most kids stay?

I think moving into a Deal feeder or an MCPS elementary school makes sense because then she’d be making the jump to middle school with friends already made.

I think moving to a school where kids scatter after 5th would be hard.

If you can move to afford the IB middle school you want, I'd do it now. You'll give your kid an extra year with those classmates, and when you get to middle you'll be in the neighborhood yourself which makes friendships a bit simpler.

Guess my question is in the title. If we move our kid right before 5th grade, is that going to be really hard for her? She's a pretty outgoing kid, really smart and kind of a teacher's pet type. I am thinking 5th grade gives her a head start on middle school, but would it be better to move her at the start of MS since everything is moving around anyway?

She's about to start 4th and we have some flexibility on when we move. We struck out in the lottery this year but we'll try again next year. If we strike out again though, we are moving to a better IB middle. Trying to decide if we do that next year before 5th, or stay one more year.