Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks for all the feedback. Of course I agree with all the points about the commute to DCB or LAMB being probably untenable. And points taken re: Montessori at LAMB. But as a follow up, what I want to know is - why is DCB, at least (and possibly LAMB) viewed as “better”/ more sought after than MV? What makes it better?

LAMB is a very specific program and a lot of people want Montessori, so the waitlist is long. I don’t think there is much difference between MV and DCB, so not sure why DCB viewed at “better.” Maybe people assume the long waitlist means it is better? We are at DCB and the Spanish instruction is not strong. We are native speakers and work a lot at home. My kid in upper EL has classmates that barely speak Spanish. It is a very nice community and that’s why we stay, but have many friends at MV who are happy and it also seems like a nice community. I would not select DCB/ Lamb over MV from the hill for the commute.

Because MV went through a really difficult time in the past 5 or so years and DCB has been pretty steady.

Also DCB offers a DCI guarantee, MV only has a preference.

DCB is near DCI so it's possible to live really close to both. That's not really possible with MV.

DCB also expanded so the lower grades will not have the DCI guarantee.

Not only lower grades. Current Fourth grades don’t have a guarantee already.

Ok, wow, literally just yesterday had a DCB parent whose kid is younger tell me they chose it for the DCI guarantee. Looks like it's preference now? With 50 spots available.

As a parent of a middle schooler now, yes you definitely need to consider the middle schooler feed when looking at elementary. I did and absolutely no regrets. Middle school comes up real fast.

Here is what you don’t get and that is stats. Yes no guarantee for DCI but if you are in a feeder then that is by far your best chance for not only a good middle school but ALSO high school. Something like 60-70%. It’s probably higher.

Going to our IB middle was a non-starter. So 0 vs 70% is a huge difference.

Basis I think is prob around 40-50% currently.

Latin 20% or whatever.

Point is being at a feeder is your best shot for a decent middle school and that is DCI. Middle school feed was not our top criteria, it was immersion and Spanish but having the middle school feed was definitely a consideration in the rankings

This logic for a current family playing the lottery is totally irrelevant. Assuming 50% sibling preference and most kids trying to continue to DCI, DCB’s current fourth grade class has either a 100% or about a 1/3 chance of DCI without a sibling preference. My oldest is a fourth grader and we’re all lotterying this year. Can’t speak to the other feeders, but it’s a huge difference between those with an older sibling and those without.

The problem is that if your number isn't good enough for a non-sibling spot at DCI, that's because it's a bad number. Lowest third, quartile, or worse. So then what do you do? That's not going to get you in anywhere else desirable.

You lottery the year before for Latin.

+1

1. Lottery for Latin and BASIS in 5th grade
2. lottery for DCI in 6th grade
3. Move// private school

If language is imoortant to you and you have STEM kid, skip 1 and do 2 and then 3 if needed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks for all the feedback. Of course I agree with all the points about the commute to DCB or LAMB being probably untenable. And points taken re: Montessori at LAMB. But as a follow up, what I want to know is - why is DCB, at least (and possibly LAMB) viewed as “better”/ more sought after than MV? What makes it better?

LAMB is a very specific program and a lot of people want Montessori, so the waitlist is long. I don’t think there is much difference between MV and DCB, so not sure why DCB viewed at “better.” Maybe people assume the long waitlist means it is better? We are at DCB and the Spanish instruction is not strong. We are native speakers and work a lot at home. My kid in upper EL has classmates that barely speak Spanish. It is a very nice community and that’s why we stay, but have many friends at MV who are happy and it also seems like a nice community. I would not select DCB/ Lamb over MV from the hill for the commute.

Because MV went through a really difficult time in the past 5 or so years and DCB has been pretty steady.

Also DCB offers a DCI guarantee, MV only has a preference.

DCB is near DCI so it's possible to live really close to both. That's not really possible with MV.

DCB also expanded so the lower grades will not have the DCI guarantee.

Not only lower grades. Current Fourth grades don’t have a guarantee already.

Ok, wow, literally just yesterday had a DCB parent whose kid is younger tell me they chose it for the DCI guarantee. Looks like it's preference now? With 50 spots available.

As a parent of a middle schooler now, yes you definitely need to consider the middle schooler feed when looking at elementary. I did and absolutely no regrets. Middle school comes up real fast.

Here is what you don’t get and that is stats. Yes no guarantee for DCI but if you are in a feeder then that is by far your best chance for not only a good middle school but ALSO high school. Something like 60-70%. It’s probably higher.

Going to our IB middle was a non-starter. So 0 vs 70% is a huge difference.

Basis I think is prob around 40-50% currently.

Latin 20% or whatever.

Point is being at a feeder is your best shot for a decent middle school and that is DCI. Middle school feed was not our top criteria, it was immersion and Spanish but having the middle school feed was definitely a consideration in the rankings

This logic for a current family playing the lottery is totally irrelevant. Assuming 50% sibling preference and most kids trying to continue to DCI, DCB’s current fourth grade class has either a 100% or about a 1/3 chance of DCI without a sibling preference. My oldest is a fourth grader and we’re all lotterying this year. Can’t speak to the other feeders, but it’s a huge difference between those with an older sibling and those without.

The problem is that if your number isn't good enough for a non-sibling spot at DCI, that's because it's a bad number. Lowest third, quartile, or worse. So then what do you do? That's not going to get you in anywhere else desirable.

You lottery the year before for Latin.

+1

1. Lottery for Latin and BASIS in 5th grade
2. lottery for DCI in 6th grade
3. Move// private school

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks for all the feedback. Of course I agree with all the points about the commute to DCB or LAMB being probably untenable. And points taken re: Montessori at LAMB. But as a follow up, what I want to know is - why is DCB, at least (and possibly LAMB) viewed as “better”/ more sought after than MV? What makes it better?

LAMB is a very specific program and a lot of people want Montessori, so the waitlist is long. I don’t think there is much difference between MV and DCB, so not sure why DCB viewed at “better.” Maybe people assume the long waitlist means it is better? We are at DCB and the Spanish instruction is not strong. We are native speakers and work a lot at home. My kid in upper EL has classmates that barely speak Spanish. It is a very nice community and that’s why we stay, but have many friends at MV who are happy and it also seems like a nice community. I would not select DCB/ Lamb over MV from the hill for the commute.

Because MV went through a really difficult time in the past 5 or so years and DCB has been pretty steady.

Also DCB offers a DCI guarantee, MV only has a preference.

DCB is near DCI so it's possible to live really close to both. That's not really possible with MV.

DCB also expanded so the lower grades will not have the DCI guarantee.

Not only lower grades. Current Fourth grades don’t have a guarantee already.

Ok, wow, literally just yesterday had a DCB parent whose kid is younger tell me they chose it for the DCI guarantee. Looks like it's preference now? With 50 spots available.

As a parent of a middle schooler now, yes you definitely need to consider the middle schooler feed when looking at elementary. I did and absolutely no regrets. Middle school comes up real fast.

Here is what you don’t get and that is stats. Yes no guarantee for DCI but if you are in a feeder then that is by far your best chance for not only a good middle school but ALSO high school. Something like 60-70%. It’s probably higher.

Going to our IB middle was a non-starter. So 0 vs 70% is a huge difference.

Basis I think is prob around 40-50% currently.

Latin 20% or whatever.

Point is being at a feeder is your best shot for a decent middle school and that is DCI. Middle school feed was not our top criteria, it was immersion and Spanish but having the middle school feed was definitely a consideration in the rankings

This logic for a current family playing the lottery is totally irrelevant. Assuming 50% sibling preference and most kids trying to continue to DCI, DCB’s current fourth grade class has either a 100% or about a 1/3 chance of DCI without a sibling preference. My oldest is a fourth grader and we’re all lotterying this year. Can’t speak to the other feeders, but it’s a huge difference between those with an older sibling and those without.

The problem is that if your number isn't good enough for a non-sibling spot at DCI, that's because it's a bad number. Lowest third, quartile, or worse. So then what do you do? That's not going to get you in anywhere else desirable.

You lottery the year before for Latin.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks for all the feedback. Of course I agree with all the points about the commute to DCB or LAMB being probably untenable. And points taken re: Montessori at LAMB. But as a follow up, what I want to know is - why is DCB, at least (and possibly LAMB) viewed as “better”/ more sought after than MV? What makes it better?

LAMB is a very specific program and a lot of people want Montessori, so the waitlist is long. I don’t think there is much difference between MV and DCB, so not sure why DCB viewed at “better.” Maybe people assume the long waitlist means it is better? We are at DCB and the Spanish instruction is not strong. We are native speakers and work a lot at home. My kid in upper EL has classmates that barely speak Spanish. It is a very nice community and that’s why we stay, but have many friends at MV who are happy and it also seems like a nice community. I would not select DCB/ Lamb over MV from the hill for the commute.

Because MV went through a really difficult time in the past 5 or so years and DCB has been pretty steady.

Also DCB offers a DCI guarantee, MV only has a preference.

DCB is near DCI so it's possible to live really close to both. That's not really possible with MV.

DCB also expanded so the lower grades will not have the DCI guarantee.

Not only lower grades. Current Fourth grades don’t have a guarantee already.

Ok, wow, literally just yesterday had a DCB parent whose kid is younger tell me they chose it for the DCI guarantee. Looks like it's preference now? With 50 spots available.

As a parent of a middle schooler now, yes you definitely need to consider the middle schooler feed when looking at elementary. I did and absolutely no regrets. Middle school comes up real fast.

Here is what you don’t get and that is stats. Yes no guarantee for DCI but if you are in a feeder then that is by far your best chance for not only a good middle school but ALSO high school. Something like 60-70%. It’s probably higher.

Going to our IB middle was a non-starter. So 0 vs 70% is a huge difference.

Basis I think is prob around 40-50% currently.

Latin 20% or whatever.

Point is being at a feeder is your best shot for a decent middle school and that is DCI. Middle school feed was not our top criteria, it was immersion and Spanish but having the middle school feed was definitely a consideration in the rankings

This logic for a current family playing the lottery is totally irrelevant. Assuming 50% sibling preference and most kids trying to continue to DCI, DCB’s current fourth grade class has either a 100% or about a 1/3 chance of DCI without a sibling preference. My oldest is a fourth grader and we’re all lotterying this year. Can’t speak to the other feeders, but it’s a huge difference between those with an older sibling and those without.

The problem is that if your number isn't good enough for a non-sibling spot at DCI, that's because it's a bad number. Lowest third, quartile, or worse. So then what do you do? That's not going to get you in anywhere else desirable.