Anonymous wrote:The top kids are not held back. The students who don't want to pursue the IB diploma program take the career track.

How can you argue that the top kids aren't held back at DCI when, apparently, none of the seniors has earned an IBD score in the high 30s or 40s?

DCI students aren't encouraged to double up on AP exams by counselors. This sucks because it's normal for American IBD students to take that path. What this means is that DCI students generally aren't earning high AP scores either.

You don't think that there are DCI students who could earn top scores on IBD?

Whenever anybody posts about the problem of few or no native speakers in the most advanced DCI language classes, another poster shouts troll! How is this constructive when the problem is depressing DCI's Diploma exam language scores?

No question that scores would be even lower if a bunch of UMC parents weren't paying for immersion experiences outside the program. We know DCI families who pay for 2-week Concordia Language Village camps which cost $2,600. Families have even started teaming up to drive kids out to MN for the sessions.

I'm not a YY troll and I disagree. My daughter has been bored at DCI, particularly in math in 7th grade (in top math section). We're not sure if we will be back for 8th grade and we definitely won't be back for HS.

The top kids are not held back. The students who don't want to pursue the IB diploma program take the career track.

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Anonymous wrote:I am a DCI parent with a child in middle school. My kid's PARCC scores for last year were 5s (and were 4s in elementary) so I feel like my kid is learning. The IB diploma program is, by all accounts, very difficult and many students opt not to take it (they can do a career track diploma program). I think it was very hard for kids in the pandemic (and their teachers) so I think the results over the next few years will be very telling. But unlike WIS, DCI has a very diverse set of kids from all backgrounds so it isn't fair to compare them to one another.

It isn't fair to keep the top kids at DCI back either. It's not uncommon for strong students to be bored in the program. Kids hardly get any home work in middle school, even in 7th and 8th grades. Ambition is not DCI's strong suit. Happy talk is. It's not uncommon for families of top students on the French and Chinese tracks to supplement on weekends (in heritage programs with actual native speakers). Some DCI parents pay for pricey summer immersion camps because the language instruction isn't that great outside Spanish. Families of the best students often don't stay for HS. The results over the next few years will be entirely predictable, vs. very telling. DCI's average IB points will climb into the low 30s over time. Meanwhile, the best suburban programs post average scores in the high 30s, even the low 40s.

Oh it's the Yu Ying troll now at DCI!!! 1. No kid is ever bored in the IB program. It's hard as hell and very intense. You are so wrong about the supplemental instruction--no one does that at DCI. Can't you just crawl back under your rock in the suburbs and leave DC schools alone????

Our kids are at OA and we have friends with kids at DCI. Both are great schools. It’s true OA has fewer extracurriculars.

Anonymous wrote:I am a DCI parent with a child in middle school. My kid's PARCC scores for last year were 5s (and were 4s in elementary) so I feel like my kid is learning. The IB diploma program is, by all accounts, very difficult and many students opt not to take it (they can do a career track diploma program). I think it was very hard for kids in the pandemic (and their teachers) so I think the results over the next few years will be very telling. But unlike WIS, DCI has a very diverse set of kids from all backgrounds so it isn't fair to compare them to one another.

It isn't fair to keep the top kids at DCI back either. It's not uncommon for strong students to be bored in the program. Kids hardly get any home work in middle school, even in 7th and 8th grades. Ambition is not DCI's strong suit. Happy talk is. It's not uncommon for families of top students on the French and Chinese tracks to supplement on weekends (in heritage programs with actual native speakers). Some DCI parents pay for pricey summer immersion camps because the language instruction isn't that great outside Spanish. Families of the best students often don't stay for HS. The results over the next few years will be entirely predictable, vs. very telling. DCI's average IB points will climb into the low 30s over time. Meanwhile, the best suburban programs post average scores in the high 30s, even the low 40s.

I am a DCI parent with a child in middle school. My kid's PARCC scores for last year were 5s (and were 4s in elementary) so I feel like my kid is learning. The IB diploma program is, by all accounts, very difficult and many students opt not to take it (they can do a career track diploma program). I think it was very hard for kids in the pandemic (and their teachers) so I think the results over the next few years will be very telling. But unlike WIS, DCI has a very diverse set of kids from all backgrounds so it isn't fair to compare them to one another.

Do current DCI parents feel that the school is trying to move in the direction of more rigor and higher IB scores? Is that a part of their mission? I know it’s still a fairly new school but what goals are they setting for themselves? How transparent are they with their IB average scores to date?

THIS. No denying all of the above.

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Anonymous wrote:Wilson is much better than DCI high school. They’d already have had 8-11 years of immersion, no need to prioritize immersion in high school over academics.

Are you serious? Immersion (partial) must be prioritized in HS or kids are denied the higher level lit courses. Never mind the fact that DCI is an IB World School and Jackson Reed (it's not Wilson anymore) is....well, not much.

Sure, IB for all. I’d rather have real AP than mediocre IB light. Go on the MCPS forum. If you’re not working your butt off at IB, it’s not being done right.

You don’t seem to know much about DCI. The IB diploma track is basically a school within a school similar to MCPS. But we are talking DC here and compared to AP for all at JR where you have 30 plus kids in a class with no academic qualifying standards, the IB diploma is the better option for the top students.

No, but I did IB many moons ago and I have never heard of any kid at DCI working the amount you need to do well in a rigorous IB program. If there are a handful of self motivated kids that put that work in to go above and beyond the school expectations, that’s great for them but not sufficient for my family. AP scores at JR show that kids are learning the material well, even if the classes are bigger than ideal. I’d rather that than watered down expectations and underperformance for most.

This is hilarious. So you are basing your claims on what you did 20 years ago, you don’t have a kid at DCI, and you claim to know so so many kids at DCI and how hard they are working.

Sorry to tell you but no the AP scores at JR are not good when over 45% of the kids are getting 2 or lower this past spring and the overwhelming rest of the kids are getting 3’s. The few that are getting 5’s are doing exactly what you say above and that is supplementing and studying extra outside of AP classes. It’s obvious when you have AP for all and almost 1/2 the kids are not even getting a minimum score of 3 that it’s not being taught at an advance enough level.

You can make any claim you want on an anonymous board but data doesn’t lie.

I know kids at DCI, MCPS IB programs, WIS, and JR. The bottom line is that if you have a very top, self-motivated child, you should do your best to get them out of the DC public school system. There is just so much more rigor in the suburbs and private schools. It is what it is. But if you’re happy with the level of rigor at DCI or JR for your children, then that’s just fine too. Not all kids need or should be put in such competitive environments. It worked well for me 25 years ago, but I also saw peers burn out and be fried by the time they made it to college. “Good enough” is probably enough for most kids, but it is a shame that it’s all there is for all kids in the DC public school system. And it does a disservice to try to argue that DCI is anything more than good enough, when it doesn’t take much to see that there are so many better options available if you can pay for it or move.

DCI has only had 3 graduating classes and two of them were in the pandemic. So I don't think we know much of what the school is capable of achieving for its students. But we know that kids can take multiple languages in HS and that few schools allow that.

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Anonymous wrote:Wilson is much better than DCI high school. They’d already have had 8-11 years of immersion, no need to prioritize immersion in high school over academics.

Are you serious? Immersion (partial) must be prioritized in HS or kids are denied the higher level lit courses. Never mind the fact that DCI is an IB World School and Jackson Reed (it's not Wilson anymore) is....well, not much.

Sure, IB for all. I’d rather have real AP than mediocre IB light. Go on the MCPS forum. If you’re not working your butt off at IB, it’s not being done right.

You don’t seem to know much about DCI. The IB diploma track is basically a school within a school similar to MCPS. But we are talking DC here and compared to AP for all at JR where you have 30 plus kids in a class with no academic qualifying standards, the IB diploma is the better option for the top students.

No, but I did IB many moons ago and I have never heard of any kid at DCI working the amount you need to do well in a rigorous IB program. If there are a handful of self motivated kids that put that work in to go above and beyond the school expectations, that’s great for them but not sufficient for my family. AP scores at JR show that kids are learning the material well, even if the classes are bigger than ideal. I’d rather that than watered down expectations and underperformance for most.

This is hilarious. So you are basing your claims on what you did 20 years ago, you don’t have a kid at DCI, and you claim to know so so many kids at DCI and how hard they are working.

Sorry to tell you but no the AP scores at JR are not good when over 45% of the kids are getting 2 or lower this past spring and the overwhelming rest of the kids are getting 3’s. The few that are getting 5’s are doing exactly what you say above and that is supplementing and studying extra outside of AP classes. It’s obvious when you have AP for all and almost 1/2 the kids are not even getting a minimum score of 3 that it’s not being taught at an advance enough level.

You can make any claim you want on an anonymous board but data doesn’t lie.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wilson is much better than DCI high school. They’d already have had 8-11 years of immersion, no need to prioritize immersion in high school over academics.

Are you serious? Immersion (partial) must be prioritized in HS or kids are denied the higher level lit courses. Never mind the fact that DCI is an IB World School and Jackson Reed (it's not Wilson anymore) is....well, not much.

Sure, IB for all. I’d rather have real AP than mediocre IB light. Go on the MCPS forum. If you’re not working your butt off at IB, it’s not being done right.

You don’t seem to know much about DCI. The IB diploma track is basically a school within a school similar to MCPS. But we are talking DC here and compared to AP for all at JR where you have 30 plus kids in a class with no academic qualifying standards, the IB diploma is the better option for the top students.

No, but I did IB many moons ago and I have never heard of any kid at DCI working the amount you need to do well in a rigorous IB program. If there are a handful of self motivated kids that put that work in to go above and beyond the school expectations, that’s great for them but not sufficient for my family. AP scores at JR show that kids are learning the material well, even if the classes are bigger than ideal. I’d rather that than watered down expectations and underperformance for most.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wilson is much better than DCI high school. They’d already have had 8-11 years of immersion, no need to prioritize immersion in high school over academics.

Are you serious? Immersion (partial) must be prioritized in HS or kids are denied the higher level lit courses. Never mind the fact that DCI is an IB World School and Jackson Reed (it's not Wilson anymore) is....well, not much.

Sure, IB for all. I’d rather have real AP than mediocre IB light. Go on the MCPS forum. If you’re not working your butt off at IB, it’s not being done right.

You don’t seem to know much about DCI. The IB diploma track is basically a school within a school similar to MCPS. But we are talking DC here and compared to AP for all at JR where you have 30 plus kids in a class with no academic qualifying standards, the IB diploma is the better option for the top students.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wilson is much better than DCI high school. They’d already have had 8-11 years of immersion, no need to prioritize immersion in high school over academics.

Are you serious? Immersion (partial) must be prioritized in HS or kids are denied the higher level lit courses. Never mind the fact that DCI is an IB World School and Jackson Reed (it's not Wilson anymore) is....well, not much.

Sure, IB for all. I’d rather have real AP than mediocre IB light. Go on the MCPS forum. If you’re not working your butt off at IB, it’s not being done right.