Call me crazy but we decided to send our kids public until it isn’t a great fit. I think MS and HS get a lot of complaints here but it’s such a different story when you chat to parents IRL and you experience it first hand. All schools have pros and cons. You won’t have a problem free education for your kids even if you fork out close to $40k a year.

Anonymous wrote:We’re in Key elementary IB for Hardy and Wilson. The only reason I see us not going this route but moving to MD is of we suddenly decide we need a bigger house. But very likely Hardy it is. I don’t see any reasons to move because of schools. They all follow the same curriculum, they all have AP classes and extracurricular activities to choose from.

DCPS and MCPS follow the same curriculum?

We’re in Key elementary IB for Hardy and Wilson. The only reason I see us not going this route but moving to MD is of we suddenly decide we need a bigger house. But very likely Hardy it is. I don’t see any reasons to move because of schools. They all follow the same curriculum, they all have AP classes and extracurricular activities to choose from.

If you have a choice, I would probably move to Arlington or Montgomery County. They have issues too but in general are better run than DCPS. I say this as a parent of multiple kids who are at different stages of DCPS. One has even graduated and is in college now. The chaos and stress DCPS adds to your life just isn’t worth it in my opinion. We will stick it through but if I had a do-over I would move. Also, DCPS has made it clear that they only care about closing the achievement gap and nothing else. They are not capable of serving the needs of different groups of students. That’s just how it is. I find our current chancellor pretty unimpressive as well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the one hand I’ve heard that academically the school has been improving a lot. But then I’ve heard compared to certain MS in Moco and Howard County its still well below where a great MS should be. It’s more of are we settling for the best DCPS has to offer?

This so vague that it's pretty much meaningless. What objective measures is statement this based on? If no objective measures, do the people making these claims have experience at both Deal and MD middle schools?

I'd say that 99.9% of the people on DCUM claiming that one school system is better than another is doing so on speculation and hearsay rather than personal experience.

Anonymous wrote:On the one hand I’ve heard that academically the school has been improving a lot. But then I’ve heard compared to certain MS in Moco and Howard County its still well below where a great MS should be. It’s more of are we settling for the best DCPS has to offer?

This so vague that it's pretty much meaningless. What objective measures is statement this based on? If no objective measures, do the people making these claims have experience at both Deal and MD middle schools?

Anonymous wrote:On the one hand I’ve heard that academically the school has been improving a lot. But then I’ve heard compared to certain MS in Moco and Howard County its still well below where a great MS should be. It’s more of are we settling for the best DCPS has to offer?

I think the same can be said about Deal. It's the best that DC can offer.

On the one hand I’ve heard that academically the school has been improving a lot. But then I’ve heard compared to certain MS in Moco and Howard County its still well below where a great MS should be. It’s more of are we settling for the best DCPS has to offer?

Anonymous wrote:I’m OP, and we are IB for Hardy. I’ve heard such mixed things about that school. I just don’t know if it’s better to completely leave DCPS or try Hardy.

What mixed things do you hear about Hardy?

At our Capitol Hill DCPS, somewhere between half and three-quarters of the 4th graders leave, the great majority for 5th grade at Washington Latin or BASIS. It's not very difficult to crack BASIS for 5th grade. Almost everybody seems to succeed by the start of school, or sometime in Sept or early Oct at the latest.

Same story at two or three other DCPS programs on the Hill. A few parents stay for their in-boundary Hill DCPS middle schools--Eliot-Hine, Stuart Hobsons or Jefferson Academy--but not many.

Anonymous wrote:I don't think that is true anymore. Fewer students leave each year, and for 19-20, only about 600 students left DCPS between 5th and 6th, so that is just barely over 1% of the student population leaving before middle school.

This statistic, if true, is meaningless. Many families leave DCPS between 4th and 5th for sought after charters, including two of my kids.

I’m OP, and we are IB for Hardy. I’ve heard such mixed things about that school. I just don’t know if it’s better to completely leave DCPS or try Hardy.

We have a DC at Inspired Teaching for middle school. Small school with a close community. Great teachers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isnt’t Hardy getting better? Are more people choosing to continue on to that MS and/or Deal?

Hardy is arguably much better than deal due to size, etc.
momentum has shifted.

Hardy might not have as large size classes but no, I would hardly say it’s better than Deal.

Why don't you think it is?

Doesn’t matter. If you aren’t IB or a Hardy feeder, your chances of attending are slim. Since OP asked this question, we can prob assume they aren’t in a Wilson feeder.

And so PP avoids answering the question.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isnt’t Hardy getting better? Are more people choosing to continue on to that MS and/or Deal?

Hardy is arguably much better than deal due to size, etc.
momentum has shifted.

Hardy might not have as large size classes but no, I would hardly say it’s better than Deal.

Why don't you think it is?

Doesn’t matter. If you aren’t IB or a Hardy feeder, your chances of attending are slim. Since OP asked this question, we can prob assume they aren’t in a Wilson feeder.