Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The frustrating thing about SH is that it really is as simple as DCPS offering tracked classes in science and social studies too and they’d triple their IB buy-in. I am at a feeder where most parents want to send their kids to SH, which is mere blocks from where most of us live. Increasingly, people are sending their kids, so I’m hopeful the numbers game will be self-fulfilling eventually (as it has been at our feeder and many other ESes in the area).

I don’t think any DCPS MS has tracked science and social studies.

Or very good appealing tracked English. Honors English at SH looks like minimally acceptable grade level English. The only real challenge in DCPS middle schools is for math. We just don't have very good public middle schools here as compared to the burbs, with or without charter lottery luck.

“Honors” math at SH is grade level math. It’s not advanced.

This. Compare that to Basis or DCI where kids can be in classes 2 grade levels higher in math.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The frustrating thing about SH is that it really is as simple as DCPS offering tracked classes in science and social studies too and they’d triple their IB buy-in. I am at a feeder where most parents want to send their kids to SH, which is mere blocks from where most of us live. Increasingly, people are sending their kids, so I’m hopeful the numbers game will be self-fulfilling eventually (as it has been at our feeder and many other ESes in the area).

I don’t think any DCPS MS has tracked science and social studies.

Or very good appealing tracked English. Honors English at SH looks like minimally acceptable grade level English. The only real challenge in DCPS middle schools is for math. We just don't have very good public middle schools here as compared to the burbs, with or without charter lottery luck.

“Honors” math at SH is grade level math. It’s not advanced.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The frustrating thing about SH is that it really is as simple as DCPS offering tracked classes in science and social studies too and they’d triple their IB buy-in. I am at a feeder where most parents want to send their kids to SH, which is mere blocks from where most of us live. Increasingly, people are sending their kids, so I’m hopeful the numbers game will be self-fulfilling eventually (as it has been at our feeder and many other ESes in the area).

I don’t think any DCPS MS has tracked science and social studies.

Or very good appealing tracked English. Honors English at SH looks like minimally acceptable grade level English. The only real challenge in DCPS middle schools is for math. We just don't have very good public middle schools here as compared to the burbs, with or without charter lottery luck.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what you're really saying is that you can only count on McKinley Tech. Walls is a total crack shoot with bad odds. Banneker isn't much better and is weak on STEM (doesn't teach AP Chem or Bio every year or teach BC Calc at all). McKinley Tech isn't very diverse or high-performing. Pass.

The good news is you can take YOUR kid where you feel is best.
I'm not sure of the objective here. You sound a little upset at your inability to convince others that their choices are best for their kids.
Kids represent their families. The folks in Arlington can afford to live in Arlington. They can afford Arlington because they are college-educated with advanced degrees that allow them to earn a high salary. That high education is reflected in their households and as a result, their children fare well in school. Arlington schools can offer more advanced courses because most of the student population has the skills to succeed in those advanced classes ( read the previous sentence about well-educated households). In DC, kids come from all over with many coming from households without parents or parents with minimal education. This places the load on the schools to advance them. So schools that can take kids from the bottom to the top are the real heroes. Arlington schools and the like are maintaining the status quo. I am impressed with GROWTH.

No thanks. I don’t care about growth with the bottom of the barrel moving a small incremental pace up.

I care about my high performing kid being with a majority of high performing kids so that the teacher can actually teach advanced programming.

BTW look at the scores of middle and high school kids in very poor performing schools. The numbers actually decline in proficiency, not increase. Doesn’t support how DCPS improves outcomes.

Stop blabbing about your “high performing kid.” nobody cares. You don’t want a DCPS MS, fine!

You might not since your kid is not high performing but others do.

BTW, I don’t see you refuting anything above which is the reality of the situation in DCPS MS. So no surprises many families seek the more popular charters which does have a critical group of high performers.

Anonymous wrote:The frustrating thing about SH is that it really is as simple as DCPS offering tracked classes in science and social studies too and they’d triple their IB buy-in. I am at a feeder where most parents want to send their kids to SH, which is mere blocks from where most of us live. Increasingly, people are sending their kids, so I’m hopeful the numbers game will be self-fulfilling eventually (as it has been at our feeder and many other ESes in the area).

I don’t think any DCPS MS has tracked science and social studies.

The frustrating thing about SH is that it really is as simple as DCPS offering tracked classes in science and social studies too and they’d triple their IB buy-in. I am at a feeder where most parents want to send their kids to SH, which is mere blocks from where most of us live. Increasingly, people are sending their kids, so I’m hopeful the numbers game will be self-fulfilling eventually (as it has been at our feeder and many other ESes in the area).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what you're really saying is that you can only count on McKinley Tech. Walls is a total crack shoot with bad odds. Banneker isn't much better and is weak on STEM (doesn't teach AP Chem or Bio every year or teach BC Calc at all). McKinley Tech isn't very diverse or high-performing. Pass.

The good news is you can take YOUR kid where you feel is best.
I'm not sure of the objective here. You sound a little upset at your inability to convince others that their choices are best for their kids.
Kids represent their families. The folks in Arlington can afford to live in Arlington. They can afford Arlington because they are college-educated with advanced degrees that allow them to earn a high salary. That high education is reflected in their households and as a result, their children fare well in school. Arlington schools can offer more advanced courses because most of the student population has the skills to succeed in those advanced classes ( read the previous sentence about well-educated households). In DC, kids come from all over with many coming from households without parents or parents with minimal education. This places the load on the schools to advance them. So schools that can take kids from the bottom to the top are the real heroes. Arlington schools and the like are maintaining the status quo. I am impressed with GROWTH.

No thanks. I don’t care about growth with the bottom of the barrel moving a small incremental pace up.

I care about my high performing kid being with a majority of high performing kids so that the teacher can actually teach advanced programming.

BTW look at the scores of middle and high school kids in very poor performing schools. The numbers actually decline in proficiency, not increase. Doesn’t support how DCPS improves outcomes.

Stop blabbing about your “high performing kid.” nobody cares. You don’t want a DCPS MS, fine!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what you're really saying is that you can only count on McKinley Tech. Walls is a total crack shoot with bad odds. Banneker isn't much better and is weak on STEM (doesn't teach AP Chem or Bio every year or teach BC Calc at all). McKinley Tech isn't very diverse or high-performing. Pass.

The good news is you can take YOUR kid where you feel is best.
I'm not sure of the objective here. You sound a little upset at your inability to convince others that their choices are best for their kids.
Kids represent their families. The folks in Arlington can afford to live in Arlington. They can afford Arlington because they are college-educated with advanced degrees that allow them to earn a high salary. That high education is reflected in their households and as a result, their children fare well in school. Arlington schools can offer more advanced courses because most of the student population has the skills to succeed in those advanced classes ( read the previous sentence about well-educated households). In DC, kids come from all over with many coming from households without parents or parents with minimal education. This places the load on the schools to advance them. So schools that can take kids from the bottom to the top are the real heroes. Arlington schools and the like are maintaining the status quo. I am impressed with GROWTH.

No thanks. I don’t care about growth with the bottom of the barrel moving a small incremental pace up.

I care about my high performing kid being with a majority of high performing kids so that the teacher can actually teach advanced programming.

BTW look at the scores of middle and high school kids in very poor performing schools. The numbers actually decline in proficiency, not increase. Doesn’t support how DCPS improves outcomes.

Anonymous wrote:So what you're really saying is that you can only count on McKinley Tech. Walls is a total crack shoot with bad odds. Banneker isn't much better and is weak on STEM (doesn't teach AP Chem or Bio every year or teach BC Calc at all). McKinley Tech isn't very diverse or high-performing. Pass.

The good news is you can take YOUR kid where you feel is best.
I'm not sure of the objective here. You sound a little upset at your inability to convince others that their choices are best for their kids.
Kids represent their families. The folks in Arlington can afford to live in Arlington. They can afford Arlington because they are college-educated with advanced degrees that allow them to earn a high salary. That high education is reflected in their households and as a result, their children fare well in school. Arlington schools can offer more advanced courses because most of the student population has the skills to succeed in those advanced classes ( read the previous sentence about well-educated households). In DC, kids come from all over with many coming from households without parents or parents with minimal education. This places the load on the schools to advance them. So schools that can take kids from the bottom to the top are the real heroes. Arlington schools and the like are maintaining the status quo. I am impressed with GROWTH.

So what you're really saying is that you can only count on McKinley Tech. Walls is a total crack shoot with bad odds. Banneker isn't much better and is weak on STEM (doesn't teach AP Chem or Bio every year or teach BC Calc at all). McKinley Tech isn't very diverse or high-performing. Pass.

Anonymous wrote:OK, great, the kid has thrived. And if he doesn't get into a selective DCPS high school, what are you going to do? Send him to Eastern? To Dunbar? Move to the burbs or Upper NW? Go private to the tune of 30K plus a year? Maybe you should be losing sleep.

As long as you are willing to expand the net, I haven't heard of anyone who hasn't gotten in to one of Banneker, Walls, or McKinley Tech. Perhaps not your preferred option, but kids will get in to one of the three.

OK, great, the kid has thrived. And if he doesn't get into a selective DCPS high school, what are you going to do? Send him to Eastern? To Dunbar? Move to the burbs or Upper NW? Go private to the tune of 30K plus a year? Maybe you should be losing sleep.

Anonymous wrote:In addition to the phenomenal theater program, the debate team is great and has sent kids to national competitions. SHMS students have also represented DC at National History Day. SH academics are not particularly rigorous but totally fine if your kid takes advanced English and math. When we moved to MCPS (for reasons other than SHMS academics), my then 7th grader was able to excel in all the classes, including science.

I totally agree with this. I have a bright kid who isn't particularly motivated to tackle a crushing homework load like they would be asked to do at Basis. My kid also is pretty introverted and unassuming. I had my concerns about SH that he wouldn't be challenged and he would get lost in the crowd. But my kid has thrived. Totally involved in a lot of great extracurricular activities. In advanced English and math, with peers of similar (or superior) academic abilities. The principal and his teachers (most of whom are really good, probably less turnover than a lot of charters I hear about) know him and see him. I can see how much my kid has grown there. I don't lose sleep about him getting into a selective DCPS school.

It's simple. Don't go for SH or any other DCPS middle school if you're not OK with plenty of students who work behind grade being lumped into the same core classes and the students who work ahead. The system is set in stone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, great, but my arts minded child needs strong math, English, social studies and science and it's far from clear that SH offer sufficient rigor to students who work at or above grade level.

Stuart-Hobson DOES challenge kids who are working at or above grade level. Go to an Open House and talk to the staff about how they meet the needs of advanced learners. Seriously, go. You’ll be impressed.

We went and weren't impressed. Yes, SH admins and teachers tell you (halfheartedly) that they meet the needs of advanced learners but why buy it? Because letting yourself be impressed feels good when you're eager to avoid the pain of moving to the burbs or forking out for a private?

If middle students who are working at or above grade level don't need to be in advanced classes to be challenged, why does Arlington, where my sibling's kids attend a public middle school, bother to offer "intensified" 7th and 8th grade classes in all core subjects? That's right, in Arlington, our nearest neighbor, middle school students can take honors English, social studies and science classes in all county public schools, along with the highest math they can place into. This is the story even in N Arlington, which is just as white and UMC as Deal. For that matter, why does BASIS not socially promote after 5th grade?

SH's leadership certainly isn't to blame for this fiasco. DCPS leaders, the Mayor and our city council members are. As long as DC voters are going to accept this BS, it will continue.