Anonymous wrote:This thread is very eye opening. How can people in DC subject their children to substandard education all the way through high school?

Here is the thing, all this scrabbling over boundaries it is a red herring. These are the things we need to demand for accountability. I am all for boundary changes if and only if real measurable standards are in place that mean kids will be moving into viable effective schools. I in fact think many of us would love not to be trekking across the city and actually care a great deal about all these kids losing in out in the system.

Yes 7 years on, we still don't have a lot of great schools, but I think a lot more of us know what we want to ask for, that in itself is progress.

Personally I am ok with the cluster idea or maybe a modified version where every third or fourth school is an immersion language program and parents could lottery into that one for their cluster. Otherwise they used the neighborhood option. I would also like there to be an public immersion covering several languages for middle and high school.

I would also like very focused summer and after school programs in all title one schools focused on kids that would otherwise qualify as gifted and talented. If these kids are focused on, there maybe a viable option to have test in English and Math. But right now too many kids don't have enough of the supports to pull them up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a really depressing thread -- it sounds like people are asking for the bare minimum here.

Let me guess--you are a ward 3 parent? We are so far below the bare minimum at my school that the bare minimum for you would be fantastic for us.

I am a Ward 3 parent, but my child is not in dcps yet (waiting for WL results). However, asking that a school teach on grade level is pretty fundamental.

Yes, but the reality in wards 1 and 4-8 with the exception of a handful of schools is very different. I can't blame a teacher for teaching to the 75% of kids who aren't at grade level in a class. But I don't want to send my kid, who is not exceptional but is at grade level, there. That is why we are desperately trying to find another school, but unfortunately we had no luck in this year's lottery.

DC schools are an inner-city school system and the scores and proficiencies reflect that.

High test scores, at least 50% white

Anonymous wrote:This thread is very eye opening. How can people in DC subject their children to substandard education all the way through high school?

75% of the kids in public school in DC don't attend their neighborhood school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a really depressing thread -- it sounds like people are asking for the bare minimum here.

Let me guess--you are a ward 3 parent? We are so far below the bare minimum at my school that the bare minimum for you would be fantastic for us.

I am a Ward 3 parent, but my child is not in dcps yet (waiting for WL results). However, asking that a school teach on grade level is pretty fundamental.

Anonymous wrote:This thread is very eye opening. How can people in DC subject their children to substandard education all the way through high school?

Because the vast majority of people have no other choice. Those who do leave--for the burbs, for charters, to OOB schools, or ib for a decent school. The kids in the housing projects down the street from me don't have that choice.

This thread is very eye opening. How can people in DC subject their children to substandard education all the way through high school?

Anonymous wrote:This is a really depressing thread -- it sounds like people are asking for the bare minimum here.

yes, pretty much...I can't face sending my kids to schools which cannot measure up to the lowest reasonable bar

Anonymous wrote:This is a really depressing thread -- it sounds like people are asking for the bare minimum here.

Ditto -- and depressing because after seven years of reform, it doesn't exist. Reform was all about getting the scores up to prove that all it took was energetic young idealistic teachers to "turnaround" the schools. when that foolishness didn't work, there was no plan B -- except ship kids out to charter schools.

Anonymous wrote:This is a really depressing thread -- it sounds like people are asking for the bare minimum here.

Let me guess--you are a ward 3 parent? We are so far below the bare minimum at my school that the bare minimum for you would be fantastic for us.

This is a really depressing thread -- it sounds like people are asking for the bare minimum here.

My kids are now middle and high school ages
For middle school I would have hoped for an actual middle school, not an EC, and tracking for Math and English, as well as subject teachers who specialized in that subject....no history major teaching science, for instance. I'd also have wanted decent building with strong disciplinary measures instituted...even the OOB school was undisciplined and beyond rowdy, imo.
For high school, more of the same...fully functional and stocked labs. At least 15 AP subjects offered, or IB. No nonsense discipline. Teachers who show up and are engaged

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really wanted to give my IB middle school a chance, but I toured it and found:
1. The classes weren't taught at grade level. Sixth grade math was fourth grade math.
2. The environment was prison-like. There was just no life to the school. Kids weren't allowed to visit their lockers during the day. Boys and girls had separate lunches. I can't imagine any kid enjoying school.

I realize that safety is a concern for many, and this school has a pretty good reputation for safety inside the building. I guess that's the tradeoff.

Hardy?

I want to see evidence that ms grades are ready for and can success in advanced classes in hs. That is what I told the hardy principal and unfortunately the school is not there.

And you know this because...

I have a hard time believing that the graduates from Hardy who have experienced the advanced curriculum won't be prepared for success in advanced classes in HS.

Dual language. Period.

Grades = graduates