Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We lotteried into ITS for 5th and 6th grades (this year). On the fence about taking a spot, but it can't be all that hard to lottery in if we did so two years in a row (with Inspired Teaching as our highest-ranked choice).

Some people leave during those years, others are eager to come in, for various reasons. A small middle school is not everyone's cup of tea but many people love it.

I'm the original OP again. i think realizing that we could probably get a spot at ITS for middle school made the elementary school deicision easier, too.

Anonymous wrote:We lotteried into ITS for 5th and 6th grades (this year). On the fence about taking a spot, but it can't be all that hard to lottery in if we did so two years in a row (with Inspired Teaching as our highest-ranked choice).

Some people leave during those years, others are eager to come in, for various reasons. A small middle school is not everyone's cup of tea but many people love it.

We lotteried into ITS for 5th and 6th grades (this year). On the fence about taking a spot, but it can't be all that hard to lottery in if we did so two years in a row (with Inspired Teaching as our highest-ranked choice).

It isn't that hard to get into ITS for upper grades. I think you can have your mathcake at Seaton for a while and eat ITS middle school too.

Anonymous wrote:Reopening this older thread in the hopes that some of the posters (or new ones) can give updates on how ITS and Seaton have done for their kids, especially those who were hoping for a bit of challenge and smalller ratios. We are facing a similar scenario this year, and I know this year (and last) have been ... unusual, but still trying to evaluate these schools in the hopes that next year will be open and back to normal. So if anyone has updated experiences to share I’d love to hear them! TIA!!

I'm the original OP. We stayed at Seaton and it was immediately clear that it was a great decision. Zero regrets. He is in 1st grade now and his teachers have continued to challenge him -- last assessments he was working at a almost 3rd grade level in both Math and Literacy, and his teachers keep pushing the edge. We have even been impressed with what they have done virtually -- small groups, individualized math work for each student, a book club with the librarian for the top readers, a 1:1 reading tutor of all kids who are above or below grade level. He kept learning a lot this year.

As of this week, both my kids (I also have a 3 year old) are back in the building for 4.5 days a week.

Beyond the nice feeling of being at our neighborhood school and walking/biking every day, I do feel a made the right choice academically.

Middle School is still an open question. we decided to conquer that when we get there.

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Anonymous wrote:If this is for lowe elementary or you care about math, Seaton. If 4th grade or older, ITS.

Because Seaton is a rockstar at math, or because ITS isn’t?

Seaton has great MGP scores and differentiates well, according to my friend whose kids go there. ITS does not differentiate math much at all in lower elementary, to my surprise and disappointment.

Anonymous wrote:I know nothing about Seaton but ITS has been pretty slow to reopen. I was looking enviously at DCPS kids all spring. Even now we get just one day a week.

Well, they say they’re planning to reopen 5 days a week in the fall, just like DCPS. How that happens at any school, who knows?

I don’t think much has changed, honestly. I’d say the middle school at ITS is definitely more solid than it was even a few years ago.

Anonymous wrote:Reopening this older thread in the hopes that some of the posters (or new ones) can give updates on how ITS and Seaton have done for their kids, especially those who were hoping for a bit of challenge and smalller ratios. We are facing a similar scenario this year, and I know this year (and last) have been ... unusual, but still trying to evaluate these schools in the hopes that next year will be open and back to normal. So if anyone has updated experiences to share I’d love to hear them! TIA!!

Where do you live?

Anonymous wrote:If this is for lowe elementary or you care about math, Seaton. If 4th grade or older, ITS.

Because Seaton is a rockstar at math, or because ITS isn’t?

If this is for lowe elementary or you care about math, Seaton. If 4th grade or older, ITS.

I know nothing about Seaton but ITS has been pretty slow to reopen. I was looking enviously at DCPS kids all spring. Even now we get just one day a week.

Reopening this older thread in the hopes that some of the posters (or new ones) can give updates on how ITS and Seaton have done for their kids, especially those who were hoping for a bit of challenge and smalller ratios. We are facing a similar scenario this year, and I know this year (and last) have been ... unusual, but still trying to evaluate these schools in the hopes that next year will be open and back to normal. So if anyone has updated experiences to share I’d love to hear them! TIA!!

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Anonymous wrote:Seaton is a 3 star (out of 5) school that doesn’t even score as high as Bunker Hill. Boosters don’t take any time off huh.

Or maybe the star system is statistically dubious and not a reloable indicator of quality for early elementary.

Nope. The star report system measures everything same way. What measure do you not ageee with? Growth? PARCC scores adjusted for demographics? Retention? What exactly? Please be specific.

Many schools have such a small testing population (because not all kids take the PARCC and the scores are only reported for kids who start the school year near the beginning) that one or two kids can swing the numbers considerably from year to year. Reporting only one year of data also makes it less meaningful.

Gentrifying schools like Seaton are demographically different in different grade levels and the performance of younger cohorts are probably well above the performance of upper elementary at Seaton.

Seaton takes OOB preschoolers who didn't get into their IB preschool (such as Ross) and that pulls down the retention stats because those kids leave for K at the latest. But I don't think it really reflects negatively on Seaton. It's unfortunate that DCPS wants to expand preschool capacity yet penalizes schools in this metric for offering OOB children a seat.

Seaton has 170 more kids than BH. They have about same at risk. The only difference I see between the schools is that Seaton is only 35% black and BH is 80%. I suspect that is the reason you have so many people saying “go Seaton” and never “go Bunker Hill”, but I’ll go sip my tea.

If you would like to sing the praises of Bunker Hill please feel free to start your own thread.

White people gonna white people.

Look, I am happy for Bunker Hill that it did well! That is an impressive showing, especially for a school that lacks a desirable middle school. But for people living IB for Seaton, which is to say I live on 8th NW, Bunker Hill just isn't a commute I'm going to take on for a school that doesn't have foreign language or an appealing middle school. I would be surprised if the lower elementary cohort performance is that different between Seaton and Bunker Hill, and I am willing to wait and see how Seaton changes academically. I like that Seaton is a little bigger, and I love that we walking to Seaton. So I wish you and Bunker Hill well, but really, I don't see that it would be an upgrade for a lower elementary child to justify the commute.

Sorry. I want to be clear. I was referring to families that pass BH and choose to lottery for Seaton because it’s the next “hot” thing even though every measure shows it’s a mediocre school. If it’s your IB school, more power to you.

Thanks PP.. What is it that you like so much about Bunker Hill, aside from the scores? Because the scores don't count things like facility, outdoor space, special programming, overall feel, etc.

Tbh I think Seaton's enviable bus and metro proximity is a huge part of the appeal. That and the ability (for now) to get in as an OOB PK3.

There are people that live across the street from BH and still lottery for 3 star schools so metro access isn’t a draw. Same for Burroughs that scores WAY higher than Seaton. But I get it, black kids are scary.

I'm really hesitant to get into a race-based discussion, but I want to explain Seaton's diversity and why it is exceptional and may be appealing (Seaton was noted as the most diverse DCPS elementary school https://public.tableau.com/profile/chelsea.coffin2421?fbclid=IwAR0fzuoOwP6VBhHxayuwl75y30nvQqCxPpD7ScL-5XJCDK7zmf97z79rQ88#!/vizhome/div_main_fig_7/raceethdivschoolsdash). I think a lot of people like being at a no-majority-race (neither white nor black) school. In the upper grades, the population is evenly balanced between AA, Latino and East Asian students. In the lower grades, white and multiracial kids are folded into that mix. In my sons preK 3 class, there were basically 3 AA kids, 3 Asian kids, 3 Latino kids, and 3 white kids with some mix of mixed race kids in there. it is amazing for the kids to be in that environment -- I can see how liberating for them all when pretty much all the races are represented. It's a big positive for us. So it has less to do with what the above poster stated, and more that there is something sort of exceptional going on at Seaton, diversity-wise.

I also love that at Seaton Diversity doesn't just mean "Latino" or "Asian." I am constantly amazed that my First Grader understands which friends are from Honduras, or Mexico, or Guatemala, and that each of those places has a distinct culture. My child understands that learning more than one language is really hard, and that some classmates may struggle due to that challenge- but that we should be proud of them for working so hard. My child understands that friends from China have similar, but also different challenges. They are taught Black Lives Matter and celebrate things like Autism Awareness Week. Seaton kids are taught to explore, understand, and celebrate diversity- all diversity. And they are challenged to think about (and talk about) difficult topics related to diversity (things I certainly didn't think about growing up in a suburban bubble).

Seaton is unique in that it can provide such a salad bowl of diversity to its students/families, both within the student and within the faculty demographics. I wouldn't rule out another school for lacking this diverse environment, but it is absolutely one of the reasons Seaton is a special place (that is not reflected in the Star Ratings).

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Anonymous wrote:Seaton is a 3 star (out of 5) school that doesn’t even score as high as Bunker Hill. Boosters don’t take any time off huh.

Or maybe the star system is statistically dubious and not a reloable indicator of quality for early elementary.

Nope. The star report system measures everything same way. What measure do you not ageee with? Growth? PARCC scores adjusted for demographics? Retention? What exactly? Please be specific.

Many schools have such a small testing population (because not all kids take the PARCC and the scores are only reported for kids who start the school year near the beginning) that one or two kids can swing the numbers considerably from year to year. Reporting only one year of data also makes it less meaningful.

Gentrifying schools like Seaton are demographically different in different grade levels and the performance of younger cohorts are probably well above the performance of upper elementary at Seaton.

Seaton takes OOB preschoolers who didn't get into their IB preschool (such as Ross) and that pulls down the retention stats because those kids leave for K at the latest. But I don't think it really reflects negatively on Seaton. It's unfortunate that DCPS wants to expand preschool capacity yet penalizes schools in this metric for offering OOB children a seat.

Seaton has 170 more kids than BH. They have about same at risk. The only difference I see between the schools is that Seaton is only 35% black and BH is 80%. I suspect that is the reason you have so many people saying “go Seaton” and never “go Bunker Hill”, but I’ll go sip my tea.

If you would like to sing the praises of Bunker Hill please feel free to start your own thread.

White people gonna white people.

Look, I am happy for Bunker Hill that it did well! That is an impressive showing, especially for a school that lacks a desirable middle school. But for people living IB for Seaton, which is to say I live on 8th NW, Bunker Hill just isn't a commute I'm going to take on for a school that doesn't have foreign language or an appealing middle school. I would be surprised if the lower elementary cohort performance is that different between Seaton and Bunker Hill, and I am willing to wait and see how Seaton changes academically. I like that Seaton is a little bigger, and I love that we walking to Seaton. So I wish you and Bunker Hill well, but really, I don't see that it would be an upgrade for a lower elementary child to justify the commute.

Sorry. I want to be clear. I was referring to families that pass BH and choose to lottery for Seaton because it’s the next “hot” thing even though every measure shows it’s a mediocre school. If it’s your IB school, more power to you.

Thanks PP.. What is it that you like so much about Bunker Hill, aside from the scores? Because the scores don't count things like facility, outdoor space, special programming, overall feel, etc.

Tbh I think Seaton's enviable bus and metro proximity is a huge part of the appeal. That and the ability (for now) to get in as an OOB PK3.

There are people that live across the street from BH and still lottery for 3 star schools so metro access isn’t a draw. Same for Burroughs that scores WAY higher than Seaton. But I get it, black kids are scary.

I'm really hesitant to get into a race-based discussion, but I want to explain Seaton's diversity and why it is exceptional and may be appealing (Seaton was noted as the most diverse DCPS elementary school https://public.tableau.com/profile/chelsea.coffin2421?fbclid=IwAR0fzuoOwP6VBhHxayuwl75y30nvQqCxPpD7ScL-5XJCDK7zmf97z79rQ88#!/vizhome/div_main_fig_7/raceethdivschoolsdash). I think a lot of people like being at a no-majority-race (neither white nor black) school. In the upper grades, the population is evenly balanced between AA, Latino and East Asian students. In the lower grades, white and multiracial kids are folded into that mix. In my sons preK 3 class, there were basically 3 AA kids, 3 Asian kids, 3 Latino kids, and 3 white kids with some mix of mixed race kids in there. it is amazing for the kids to be in that environment -- I can see how liberating for them all when pretty much all the races are represented. It's a big positive for us. So it has less to do with what the above poster stated, and more that there is something sort of exceptional going on at Seaton, diversity-wise.

Thank you, yes exactly. It's not "black kids are scary" it's real diversity is good and healthy. I don't necessarily think that being the "only" isn't a good thing too - but I don't think all families would choose that or should be made to feel bad if they don't want to choose that.

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Anonymous wrote:Seaton is a 3 star (out of 5) school that doesn’t even score as high as Bunker Hill. Boosters don’t take any time off huh.

Or maybe the star system is statistically dubious and not a reloable indicator of quality for early elementary.

Nope. The star report system measures everything same way. What measure do you not ageee with? Growth? PARCC scores adjusted for demographics? Retention? What exactly? Please be specific.

Many schools have such a small testing population (because not all kids take the PARCC and the scores are only reported for kids who start the school year near the beginning) that one or two kids can swing the numbers considerably from year to year. Reporting only one year of data also makes it less meaningful.

Gentrifying schools like Seaton are demographically different in different grade levels and the performance of younger cohorts are probably well above the performance of upper elementary at Seaton.

Seaton takes OOB preschoolers who didn't get into their IB preschool (such as Ross) and that pulls down the retention stats because those kids leave for K at the latest. But I don't think it really reflects negatively on Seaton. It's unfortunate that DCPS wants to expand preschool capacity yet penalizes schools in this metric for offering OOB children a seat.

Seaton has 170 more kids than BH. They have about same at risk. The only difference I see between the schools is that Seaton is only 35% black and BH is 80%. I suspect that is the reason you have so many people saying “go Seaton” and never “go Bunker Hill”, but I’ll go sip my tea.

If you would like to sing the praises of Bunker Hill please feel free to start your own thread.

White people gonna white people.

Look, I am happy for Bunker Hill that it did well! That is an impressive showing, especially for a school that lacks a desirable middle school. But for people living IB for Seaton, which is to say I live on 8th NW, Bunker Hill just isn't a commute I'm going to take on for a school that doesn't have foreign language or an appealing middle school. I would be surprised if the lower elementary cohort performance is that different between Seaton and Bunker Hill, and I am willing to wait and see how Seaton changes academically. I like that Seaton is a little bigger, and I love that we walking to Seaton. So I wish you and Bunker Hill well, but really, I don't see that it would be an upgrade for a lower elementary child to justify the commute.

Sorry. I want to be clear. I was referring to families that pass BH and choose to lottery for Seaton because it’s the next “hot” thing even though every measure shows it’s a mediocre school. If it’s your IB school, more power to you.

Thanks PP.. What is it that you like so much about Bunker Hill, aside from the scores? Because the scores don't count things like facility, outdoor space, special programming, overall feel, etc.

Tbh I think Seaton's enviable bus and metro proximity is a huge part of the appeal. That and the ability (for now) to get in as an OOB PK3.

There are people that live across the street from BH and still lottery for 3 star schools so metro access isn’t a draw. Same for Burroughs that scores WAY higher than Seaton. But I get it, black kids are scary.

I'm really hesitant to get into a race-based discussion, but I want to explain Seaton's diversity and why it is exceptional and may be appealing (Seaton was noted as the most diverse DCPS elementary school https://public.tableau.com/profile/chelsea.coffin2421?fbclid=IwAR0fzuoOwP6VBhHxayuwl75y30nvQqCxPpD7ScL-5XJCDK7zmf97z79rQ88#!/vizhome/div_main_fig_7/raceethdivschoolsdash). I think a lot of people like being at a no-majority-race (neither white nor black) school. In the upper grades, the population is evenly balanced between AA, Latino and East Asian students. In the lower grades, white and multiracial kids are folded into that mix. In my sons preK 3 class, there were basically 3 AA kids, 3 Asian kids, 3 Latino kids, and 3 white kids with some mix of mixed race kids in there. it is amazing for the kids to be in that environment -- I can see how liberating for them all when pretty much all the races are represented. It's a big positive for us. So it has less to do with what the above poster stated, and more that there is something sort of exceptional going on at Seaton, diversity-wise.