Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm stunned that Cooper is moving so little, less than 2nd St!

Everyone I know who got a Cooper seat took it, so I'm not surprised. I also know many people who ranked it over 2nd street because they thought they had no shot at 2nd.

Same. And we are in a part of town where Cooper is much more convenient... I think commute matters to them? What are the differences between the schools?

Well, Cooper will be moving to close to 2nd street in a few years, so commute convenience shouldn't really be a factor unless you're planning not to stay after it moves.

It would still be a lot more convenient for me-- it's not that close to 2nd Street.

Cooper is just a lot less built-out than 2nd. They don't have a high school yet, they don't have a lot of sports either. This will naturally improve as the grades progress and they get into their bigger building. I don't think there's the intention of any really major differences compared to 2nd St. The languages offered might be different.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm stunned that Cooper is moving so little, less than 2nd St!

Everyone I know who got a Cooper seat took it, so I'm not surprised. I also know many people who ranked it over 2nd street because they thought they had no shot at 2nd.

Same. And we are in a part of town where Cooper is much more convenient... I think commute matters to them? What are the differences between the schools?

Well, Cooper will be moving to close to 2nd street in a few years, so commute convenience shouldn't really be a factor unless you're planning not to stay after it moves.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:EA at BASIS is going to be a disaster.

You said the quiet part out loud. Why do you assume that kids who are economically disadvantaged are dumb and/or can't apply themselves? Why do you assume they don't have or can't develop executive functioning? Some of these 10 and 11 year old kids have already dealt with more sh*t in their lives than you will ever know and they are still in the game fighting to succeed. EA preferences are designed precisely for this reason; to ensure kids who more than many others need a solid educational footing have access.

You are living in a fantasy world. I have kids at the school and know how much parent involvement is necessary. Come back to me in 2 years and let’s see how many EA kids have made it through 6th grade comps.

DP. I have kids at the school as well and disagree with you. Maybe it’s just your kids who need tons of parental involvement.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:EA at BASIS is going to be a disaster.

That's not really fair. Being disadvantaged doesn't mean you're unintelligent. It also doesn't mean you aren't serious about school.

Success at BASIS depends on being able to pass tests based on cumulative learning - intelligence isn’t enough if the kids are starting out behind & don’t have resources at home to catch up. Personally I think it would be good for BASIS to somewhat soften what I understand is their approach to high-stakes testing. Like, kids can advance with a lower score but have to double up the next year on math or writing. That way you’re keeping the rigor of BASIS but giving kids more chances.

You’re attempting to defend your comment with a faulty understanding about the school’s model. Kids enter BASIS at 5th grade from a variety of backgrounds, from a variety of elementary schools. Some are prepared, some are not. Some have support at home, some do not. Some catch on and do well, some struggle a bit more. One feature of the BASIS model is to help kids be accountable for their own education, so a self-motivated kid from any background could do very well there. There are also supports in place for kids who need extra help, including weekly teacher hours that kids can attend for each subject. The score required for passing the final test starting in Grade 6 isn’t that high, and the handful of kids who don’t pass have a chance to make it up. There’s no reason to assume kids from disadvantaged backgrounds couldn’t be successful at BASIS simply because of their background—and it says a lot about you that you think otherwise.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm stunned that Cooper is moving so little, less than 2nd St!

Everyone I know who got a Cooper seat took it, so I'm not surprised. I also know many people who ranked it over 2nd street because they thought they had no shot at 2nd.

Same. And we are in a part of town where Cooper is much more convenient... I think commute matters to them? What are the differences between the schools?

Anonymous wrote:I'm stunned that Cooper is moving so little, less than 2nd St!

Everyone I know who got a Cooper seat took it, so I'm not surprised. I also know many people who ranked it over 2nd street because they thought they had no shot at 2nd.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Quick glance as a ward 4 parent; Takoma and Whittier not offering one spot so far for PK3 is remarkable.

Shepherd hasn't offered one waitlist spot in any grade.

TBH having been at a school where this was surprisingly true of in a past year, it actually meant that the front office didn't have their sh*t together and nothing more. Looking at historical data, it seems extremely likely that's what's going on in a few of these cases. If a school has enough kids on the WL and enough kids who will take a spot last minute (Shepherd), it doesn't really matter. If not, failure to move the WL soon enough can really screw the school for future years' funding.

I think we are seeing more DCPS schools becoming more and more popular. Shepherd is one thing. Takoma and Whittier is another.

How many rising 9th graders are expected to enroll in MacArthur from Hardy?

I ask because Coolidge wasn't allowed to offer *any* OOB seats this year as a means to control enrollment, so their 9th grade class is limited to only the chunk of Wells kids who enroll (probably about 90 kids) plus any from the neighborhood coming from other middles (not likely many).

It's absurd to me that Coolidge may have only 100 9th graders next year when clearly demand is there to continue having 250-300 students/grade.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what’s it like for a kid with no language background to enter DCI in 8th?

It's fine, from what I've heard.

It's fine, but their language class will be with the lowest-ability kids.

This is like saying that water is wet. Lol. Yes, kids who are the lowest-ability in a language (e.g., kids who enter a school in 8th grade with no language ability when most other students come from immersion programs) will be with the other kids who are lowest-ability in that language, assuming language classes are tracked. Or are we supposed to pretend that if a parent is on DCUM, their presumably UMC child must be highest-ability in all subjects and "lowest-ability" classes are for other people's children?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Quick glance as a ward 4 parent; Takoma and Whittier not offering one spot so far for PK3 is remarkable.

Shepherd hasn't offered one waitlist spot in any grade.

TBH having been at a school where this was surprisingly true of in a past year, it actually meant that the front office didn't have their sh*t together and nothing more. Looking at historical data, it seems extremely likely that's what's going on in a few of these cases. If a school has enough kids on the WL and enough kids who will take a spot last minute (Shepherd), it doesn't really matter. If not, failure to move the WL soon enough can really screw the school for future years' funding.

Since I'm sitting on a low number: fingers crossed that you're right!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:EA at BASIS is going to be a disaster.

You said the quiet part out loud. Why do you assume that kids who are economically disadvantaged are dumb and/or can't apply themselves? Why do you assume they don't have or can't develop executive functioning? Some of these 10 and 11 year old kids have already dealt with more sh*t in their lives than you will ever know and they are still in the game fighting to succeed. EA preferences are designed precisely for this reason; to ensure kids who more than many others need a solid educational footing have access.

You are living in a fantasy world. I have kids at the school and know how much parent involvement is necessary. Come back to me in 2 years and let’s see how many EA kids have made it through 6th grade comps.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Quick glance as a ward 4 parent; Takoma and Whittier not offering one spot so far for PK3 is remarkable.

Shepherd hasn't offered one waitlist spot in any grade.

TBH having been at a school where this was surprisingly true of in a past year, it actually meant that the front office didn't have their sh*t together and nothing more. Looking at historical data, it seems extremely likely that's what's going on in a few of these cases. If a school has enough kids on the WL and enough kids who will take a spot last minute (Shepherd), it doesn't really matter. If not, failure to move the WL soon enough can really screw the school for future years' funding.

It's interesting that Cooper did not fill its 24 EA spots for 5th grade. Only 10 applicants and 7 matches.

I'm really unclear on how the data handles kids who are EA and also a sibling. And can one kid apply both EA and non-EA?

I find the hand wringing over the EA spots at BASIS silly because it's not as though at risk kids were previously barred from the school. It's a straight up lottery and anyone can get in by scoring a spot in the lottery. The purpose of EA is to improve access of low income and at risk families to charter programs but it's not as though it doesn't already exist.

There is self-selection bias at BASIS and that has always been true. It's true for middle and high income families too -- there are plenty of middle and high income families who choose not to lottery for BASIS or rank it below schools they like more. Not everyone likes their approach.

I do not think the advent of EA spots at BASIS will change anything at all. BASIS is not and has never been an application school. This is not an affirmative action program for a competitive and hard-to-get-into program.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:EA at BASIS is going to be a disaster.

Not really. They will take th assessment on the 24th and the school will know who is below grade and hopefully get them tutoring. And by the end of 6th, if they haven't caught up, they won't be able to return. The EA kids who have potential and work hard will be able to stay, and those who fall below grade level won't.

BASIS doesn't do social promotion, and it won't change that just bc they have EA now. So I don't see a long term disaster.

DP. I'd have used different language than PP you are responding to, but am wondering how this will work out. I think we'll find out whether the basis model works to offer some kids from at risk backgrounds (the ones who self selected) an opportunity to thrive. I think the trial has to run to find that answer. I'd imagine everyone here hopes it does, but often change takes more than good intentions. BUT, even if it does work for some of the EA kids it's very likely that the percent of EA kids transferring out will exceed the percentage of non-EA kids (also self selected, but from backgrounds without as many challenges) transferring out. That's a potential challenge for BASIS both from the optic it presents and for a school that doesn't have an onramp after 5th grade.