Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have been very happy at Brent and our kids have loved the combined 4/5 experience. They do a great job of supporting advanced kids and as a previous poster referenced - the data suggests that the academic results have been better across every demographic. Talk to the school and actual parents at the school. Yes, parents supplement. EVERY WHERE. Our friends at private schools are all using tutors and proving enrichment just as our friends in DCPS are…

Did you have a 5th grader in that class? Because you would be the only person I’ve ever met who love it, if so. And if you really do, you know that’s true given the class chat. Like I literally can’t imagine who you could be. This year’s 5th graders literally read the same novel 2 years in a row! Think that just maybe they may be an afterthought?

Yes, the set up works fine for advanced 4th graders leaving at the end of the year.

Yes, we have had two fifth graders at Brent - one before upper school and one after it was implemented. The upper school experience has been far superior to our experience that predates it - but I appreciate that every child has unique needs and there are a range of experiences. For the OP - it may be helpful for us all to speak to our own experiences rather than generalizing about all students.

DP. My child had a great 5th grade experience. Their confidence grew and they grew closer with their classmates. They did not read the same books as last year but they were in a different cohort than the prior year so I can’t speak to someone’s experience with having the same teaching cohort two years in a row. They continued to excel in math. We did start supplementing with a writing tutor. Overall I would still prefer a separate 5th grade class but, at least for us, it was a positive experience. My bet is after modernization they will go back to a separate 5th grade class.

Anonymous wrote:We have been very happy at Brent and our kids have loved the combined 4/5 experience. They do a great job of supporting advanced kids and as a previous poster referenced - the data suggests that the academic results have been better across every demographic. Talk to the school and actual parents at the school. Yes, parents supplement. EVERY WHERE. Our friends at private schools are all using tutors and proving enrichment just as our friends in DCPS are…

Did you have a 5th grader in that class? Because you would be the only person I’ve ever met who love it, if so. And if you really do, you know that’s true given the class chat. Like I literally can’t imagine who you could be. This year’s 5th graders literally read the same novel 2 years in a row! Think that just maybe they may be an afterthought?

Yes, the set up works fine for advanced 4th graders leaving at the end of the year.

We have been very happy at Brent and our kids have loved the combined 4/5 experience. They do a great job of supporting advanced kids and as a previous poster referenced - the data suggests that the academic results have been better across every demographic. Talk to the school and actual parents at the school. Yes, parents supplement. EVERY WHERE. Our friends at private schools are all using tutors and proving enrichment just as our friends in DCPS are…

Anonymous wrote:Yes, would love to connect!

For SW Hyde connection —
fjord-4-spires@icloud.com

Yes, would love to connect!

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone done the commute to Hyde? How is it coming from SW?

I commute from SW to Hyde. I take Maine to Independence to Rock Creek to Whitehurst, right onto M and then up 33rd. Traffic flows surprisingly well most days due to the reversible lanes on Rock Creek. Return home is either basically the same way reversed (Wisconsin to K then back around the Kennedy Center to Indepdendce to Maine), or sometimes (especially evenings) the GPS has you go over Key Bridge, VA 110 to 395 back into SW.

It’s 20 min each way in the morning (earliest you can drop off is 8:10 because they don’t have before care). I easily get back home, park, and walk to SW office by 8:45-9:00 am each day.

Evening can vary a lot by the time leave - if you are leaving SW before 4pm it’s 20-25 min there and 30-35 min home. If you wait til 5pm it’s 30-40 min there and 45+ min home. Much more subject to gridlock from things like IMF meetings, protests, motorcades, or accidents.

I thought I’d hate the commute but it hasn’t been bad and actually enjoy the one on one time on the way there and my solo 20 minutes of podcasts and drinking my coffee on the way back. Next year there will be at least four SW families with kids at Hyde and some of us are talking about carpooling. I can send a burner email to connect if you’re interested!

Has anyone done the commute to Hyde? How is it coming from SW?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It would be better if Brent just gave up on offering 5th grade and sent the handful of 5th graders who don't leave to Payne or Van Ness or something. Just admit you can't keep students and let them have a real 5th grade year. Or admit enough 5th graders in the lottery to have a real 5th grade class...except they're afraid to do that because they don't think they can teach the kids enough in a year to maintain high CAPE scores.

DCPS hasn't pressured them to fill 5th because the school is overfilled. Post-renovation, my guess would be that DCPS will force them to fill a 5th grade class with -- horror of horrors -- lottery students.

I still don't get not just having one fifth grade class? If there are roughly 24 5th graders this doesn't seem unworkable. Even two classes split evenly. But 75 percent of a class being 4th graders and a handful of 5th graders seems difficult on everyone.

Anonymous wrote:It would be better if Brent just gave up on offering 5th grade and sent the handful of 5th graders who don't leave to Payne or Van Ness or something. Just admit you can't keep students and let them have a real 5th grade year. Or admit enough 5th graders in the lottery to have a real 5th grade class...except they're afraid to do that because they don't think they can teach the kids enough in a year to maintain high CAPE scores.

DCPS hasn't pressured them to fill 5th because the school is overfilled. Post-renovation, my guess would be that DCPS will force them to fill a 5th grade class with -- horror of horrors -- lottery students.

Anonymous wrote:If a Brent student does not lottery into a charter for 5th grade -- the students are likely going to a DCPS middle school via lottery (not Jefferson), private, or move from the Hill for 6th grade, if they stayed at Brent.

The academic model at Brent is in which 6 ish 5th graders (24 students/4 classes) are placed in a classroom with 18 ish 4th grades. This model was an absolute nightmare socially and academically for my child. Although a strong student, my child didn't learn critical math steps traditionally taught at 5th grade or expand their writing skills (they literally read the same books as in 4th grade). Many parents will say "oh but the 4th graders are so smart" but at the end of the day, the curricula is not taught at a 5th grade level.

The Principal will present all sorts of statistics validating their model, but it's a bunch of BS and all of the parents know it.

100%. If your 5th grader is on grade level, you should leave Brent. If your 5th grader is above grade level, you've been planning to leave for awhile. With the renovation factored on top of that? They might not even have 4 5th graders per class next year. It's basically just 4th grade again and a complete nightmare.

Brent keeps enough 5th graders for a small 5th grade class, they just aren't offering one. It's a terrible mistake, but admins are tin-eared. We got in under the wire in the last full 5th grade class, phew.

It would be better if Brent just gave up on offering 5th grade and sent the handful of 5th graders who don't leave to Payne or Van Ness or something. Just admit you can't keep students and let them have a real 5th grade year. Or admit enough 5th graders in the lottery to have a real 5th grade class...except they're afraid to do that because they don't think they can teach the kids enough in a year to maintain high CAPE scores.

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Yes, but I find it odd that they combine it. What if your fifth graders is advanced. And they are out with fourth graders?

If you student is advanced, hello to supplementing. Most students in this category, that I know, are doing extra work at home via tutors, education programs, or parents.