Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School within a school is amazing amazing if you want a warm little place with no focus on academics. Parents who drink the kool-aid are happy. I found the bizarre focus on social justice issues and alarmingly weak academics to be a nonstarter for me. We switched to MV8. Rough uphill battle with spanish for a little while but my oldest is in dci now. Grateful not to be stuck with Eliot Hine as a middle school with is a nonstarter for our academically focused family. If you want majority white classroom with almost no focus on academics you found your school.

We have close friends and ludlow and they don’t recommend based on upper grades.

Are they actually in upper grades or afraid of the demographic change? Because the demographics do change as more kids lottery in, but the teaching in the upper grades is the best in the school. The 3rd grade team is especially amazing. This is a widely held view in th school.

+1, I don't get that comment. We have a kid in upper grades at L-T and are very happy with both academics and EC opportunities.

There is angst among *parents* in the upper grades over MS and HS. But that's true at any Hill elementary. There is no easy or obvious MS/HS path on the Hill if you value academics. There are options, but it's complicated. That's the case at L-T, Brent, Maury, Payne, SWS, CHML, Two Rivers, you name it. But I do think parents at elementaries that feed to S-H tend to be a smidge less stressed (but only a smidge, it's still not most parents' dream school and it doesn't solve the HS issue).

Ludlow has a 5th grade with a lot of academic high performers this year and AFAIK they're all headed for SH except 1 interviewing for privates. It's totally possible I'm not privy to every kid's plans, but I certainly get the sense that many/most families are comfortable giving SH a try.

Yeah that’s what everyone told us about except they all enrolled in charters or moved.

There are no charters worth moving to post-5th unless you happen to luck into DCI or have a very specific type of child (ITDS). Ludlow has had an increasing trend of kids staying for 5th (partially just a result of the lottery getting harder for sure) and of kids from 5th heading to SH. I think the trend would have accelerated faster if not for Latin Cooper opening and the year where kids could get into it for 6th. In the current jobs and interest rate climate, I think a much smaller chunk of families is positioned to move or pay for private than even a few years ago.

Lots of people left DC this year. I bet there will be 6th grade spots for Latin. Latin >>>>> any dcps middle sorry.

You are very wrong about Latin being likely to have many 6th grade spots. If you mean there might be 1-3 for the whole city, well, sure…

Did not mean that as a knock on Latin. I just anecdotally know many people that are moving from dc there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School within a school is amazing amazing if you want a warm little place with no focus on academics. Parents who drink the kool-aid are happy. I found the bizarre focus on social justice issues and alarmingly weak academics to be a nonstarter for me. We switched to MV8. Rough uphill battle with spanish for a little while but my oldest is in dci now. Grateful not to be stuck with Eliot Hine as a middle school with is a nonstarter for our academically focused family. If you want majority white classroom with almost no focus on academics you found your school.

We have close friends and ludlow and they don’t recommend based on upper grades.

Are they actually in upper grades or afraid of the demographic change? Because the demographics do change as more kids lottery in, but the teaching in the upper grades is the best in the school. The 3rd grade team is especially amazing. This is a widely held view in th school.

+1, I don't get that comment. We have a kid in upper grades at L-T and are very happy with both academics and EC opportunities.

There is angst among *parents* in the upper grades over MS and HS. But that's true at any Hill elementary. There is no easy or obvious MS/HS path on the Hill if you value academics. There are options, but it's complicated. That's the case at L-T, Brent, Maury, Payne, SWS, CHML, Two Rivers, you name it. But I do think parents at elementaries that feed to S-H tend to be a smidge less stressed (but only a smidge, it's still not most parents' dream school and it doesn't solve the HS issue).

Ludlow has a 5th grade with a lot of academic high performers this year and AFAIK they're all headed for SH except 1 interviewing for privates. It's totally possible I'm not privy to every kid's plans, but I certainly get the sense that many/most families are comfortable giving SH a try.

Yeah that’s what everyone told us about except they all enrolled in charters or moved.

There are no charters worth moving to post-5th unless you happen to luck into DCI or have a very specific type of child (ITDS). Ludlow has had an increasing trend of kids staying for 5th (partially just a result of the lottery getting harder for sure) and of kids from 5th heading to SH. I think the trend would have accelerated faster if not for Latin Cooper opening and the year where kids could get into it for 6th. In the current jobs and interest rate climate, I think a much smaller chunk of families is positioned to move or pay for private than even a few years ago.

Another Ludlow parent here and this tracks with our experience as well. Pretty much all of the families with high performing 5th graders this year tried to lottery for Latin and BASIS. But they didn't get a spot (or in a few cases, didn't get a spot at Latin and ultimately decided BASIS was not a good fit for that particular kid/family), stayed at L-T, and are pretty happy with S-H as their backup. I expect we'll see more families in this same situation each year moving forward, as it's nearly impossible to get into Latin many years (it can depend on how many siblings are entering in 5th) and BASIS is great for some but not others (and is also far from a guaranteed admit). Moving sucks and few people want to buy or sell right now. Some will, but most won't.

People also often start to get more comfy with S-H as their kid enters 5th, because they know kids who are actually there, go see the musical, attend open houses, etc. It becomes a real place and it turns out it's better than they originally thought, with the added benefit of being just up the road.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School within a school is amazing amazing if you want a warm little place with no focus on academics. Parents who drink the kool-aid are happy. I found the bizarre focus on social justice issues and alarmingly weak academics to be a nonstarter for me. We switched to MV8. Rough uphill battle with spanish for a little while but my oldest is in dci now. Grateful not to be stuck with Eliot Hine as a middle school with is a nonstarter for our academically focused family. If you want majority white classroom with almost no focus on academics you found your school.

We have close friends and ludlow and they don’t recommend based on upper grades.

Are they actually in upper grades or afraid of the demographic change? Because the demographics do change as more kids lottery in, but the teaching in the upper grades is the best in the school. The 3rd grade team is especially amazing. This is a widely held view in th school.

+1, I don't get that comment. We have a kid in upper grades at L-T and are very happy with both academics and EC opportunities.

There is angst among *parents* in the upper grades over MS and HS. But that's true at any Hill elementary. There is no easy or obvious MS/HS path on the Hill if you value academics. There are options, but it's complicated. That's the case at L-T, Brent, Maury, Payne, SWS, CHML, Two Rivers, you name it. But I do think parents at elementaries that feed to S-H tend to be a smidge less stressed (but only a smidge, it's still not most parents' dream school and it doesn't solve the HS issue).

Ludlow has a 5th grade with a lot of academic high performers this year and AFAIK they're all headed for SH except 1 interviewing for privates. It's totally possible I'm not privy to every kid's plans, but I certainly get the sense that many/most families are comfortable giving SH a try.

Yeah that’s what everyone told us about except they all enrolled in charters or moved.

There are no charters worth moving to post-5th unless you happen to luck into DCI or have a very specific type of child (ITDS). Ludlow has had an increasing trend of kids staying for 5th (partially just a result of the lottery getting harder for sure) and of kids from 5th heading to SH. I think the trend would have accelerated faster if not for Latin Cooper opening and the year where kids could get into it for 6th. In the current jobs and interest rate climate, I think a much smaller chunk of families is positioned to move or pay for private than even a few years ago.

Lots of people left DC this year. I bet there will be 6th grade spots for Latin. Latin >>>>> any dcps middle sorry.

You are very wrong about Latin being likely to have many 6th grade spots. If you mean there might be 1-3 for the whole city, well, sure…

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School within a school is amazing amazing if you want a warm little place with no focus on academics. Parents who drink the kool-aid are happy. I found the bizarre focus on social justice issues and alarmingly weak academics to be a nonstarter for me. We switched to MV8. Rough uphill battle with spanish for a little while but my oldest is in dci now. Grateful not to be stuck with Eliot Hine as a middle school with is a nonstarter for our academically focused family. If you want majority white classroom with almost no focus on academics you found your school.

We have close friends and ludlow and they don’t recommend based on upper grades.

Are they actually in upper grades or afraid of the demographic change? Because the demographics do change as more kids lottery in, but the teaching in the upper grades is the best in the school. The 3rd grade team is especially amazing. This is a widely held view in th school.

+1, I don't get that comment. We have a kid in upper grades at L-T and are very happy with both academics and EC opportunities.

There is angst among *parents* in the upper grades over MS and HS. But that's true at any Hill elementary. There is no easy or obvious MS/HS path on the Hill if you value academics. There are options, but it's complicated. That's the case at L-T, Brent, Maury, Payne, SWS, CHML, Two Rivers, you name it. But I do think parents at elementaries that feed to S-H tend to be a smidge less stressed (but only a smidge, it's still not most parents' dream school and it doesn't solve the HS issue).

Ludlow has a 5th grade with a lot of academic high performers this year and AFAIK they're all headed for SH except 1 interviewing for privates. It's totally possible I'm not privy to every kid's plans, but I certainly get the sense that many/most families are comfortable giving SH a try.

Yeah that’s what everyone told us about except they all enrolled in charters or moved.

There are no charters worth moving to post-5th unless you happen to luck into DCI or have a very specific type of child (ITDS). Ludlow has had an increasing trend of kids staying for 5th (partially just a result of the lottery getting harder for sure) and of kids from 5th heading to SH. I think the trend would have accelerated faster if not for Latin Cooper opening and the year where kids could get into it for 6th. In the current jobs and interest rate climate, I think a much smaller chunk of families is positioned to move or pay for private than even a few years ago.

Lots of people left DC this year. I bet there will be 6th grade spots for Latin. Latin >>>>> any dcps middle sorry.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School within a school is amazing amazing if you want a warm little place with no focus on academics. Parents who drink the kool-aid are happy. I found the bizarre focus on social justice issues and alarmingly weak academics to be a nonstarter for me. We switched to MV8. Rough uphill battle with spanish for a little while but my oldest is in dci now. Grateful not to be stuck with Eliot Hine as a middle school with is a nonstarter for our academically focused family. If you want majority white classroom with almost no focus on academics you found your school.

We have close friends and ludlow and they don’t recommend based on upper grades.

Are they actually in upper grades or afraid of the demographic change? Because the demographics do change as more kids lottery in, but the teaching in the upper grades is the best in the school. The 3rd grade team is especially amazing. This is a widely held view in th school.

+1, I don't get that comment. We have a kid in upper grades at L-T and are very happy with both academics and EC opportunities.

There is angst among *parents* in the upper grades over MS and HS. But that's true at any Hill elementary. There is no easy or obvious MS/HS path on the Hill if you value academics. There are options, but it's complicated. That's the case at L-T, Brent, Maury, Payne, SWS, CHML, Two Rivers, you name it. But I do think parents at elementaries that feed to S-H tend to be a smidge less stressed (but only a smidge, it's still not most parents' dream school and it doesn't solve the HS issue).

Ludlow has a 5th grade with a lot of academic high performers this year and AFAIK they're all headed for SH except 1 interviewing for privates. It's totally possible I'm not privy to every kid's plans, but I certainly get the sense that many/most families are comfortable giving SH a try.

Yeah that’s what everyone told us about except they all enrolled in charters or moved.

There are no charters worth moving to post-5th unless you happen to luck into DCI or have a very specific type of child (ITDS). Ludlow has had an increasing trend of kids staying for 5th (partially just a result of the lottery getting harder for sure) and of kids from 5th heading to SH. I think the trend would have accelerated faster if not for Latin Cooper opening and the year where kids could get into it for 6th. In the current jobs and interest rate climate, I think a much smaller chunk of families is positioned to move or pay for private than even a few years ago.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School within a school is amazing amazing if you want a warm little place with no focus on academics. Parents who drink the kool-aid are happy. I found the bizarre focus on social justice issues and alarmingly weak academics to be a nonstarter for me. We switched to MV8. Rough uphill battle with spanish for a little while but my oldest is in dci now. Grateful not to be stuck with Eliot Hine as a middle school with is a nonstarter for our academically focused family. If you want majority white classroom with almost no focus on academics you found your school.

We have close friends and ludlow and they don’t recommend based on upper grades.

Are they actually in upper grades or afraid of the demographic change? Because the demographics do change as more kids lottery in, but the teaching in the upper grades is the best in the school. The 3rd grade team is especially amazing. This is a widely held view in th school.

+1, I don't get that comment. We have a kid in upper grades at L-T and are very happy with both academics and EC opportunities.

There is angst among *parents* in the upper grades over MS and HS. But that's true at any Hill elementary. There is no easy or obvious MS/HS path on the Hill if you value academics. There are options, but it's complicated. That's the case at L-T, Brent, Maury, Payne, SWS, CHML, Two Rivers, you name it. But I do think parents at elementaries that feed to S-H tend to be a smidge less stressed (but only a smidge, it's still not most parents' dream school and it doesn't solve the HS issue).

Ludlow has a 5th grade with a lot of academic high performers this year and AFAIK they're all headed for SH except 1 interviewing for privates. It's totally possible I'm not privy to every kid's plans, but I certainly get the sense that many/most families are comfortable giving SH a try.

Yeah that’s what everyone told us about except they all enrolled in charters or moved.

There are no charters worth moving to post-5th unless you happen to luck into DCI or have a very specific type of child (ITDS). Ludlow has had an increasing trend of kids staying for 5th (partially just a result of the lottery getting harder for sure) and of kids from 5th heading to SH. I think the trend would have accelerated faster if not for Latin Cooper opening and the year where kids could get into it for 6th. In the current jobs and interest rate climate, I think a much smaller chunk of families is positioned to move or pay for private than even a few years ago.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School within a school is amazing amazing if you want a warm little place with no focus on academics. Parents who drink the kool-aid are happy. I found the bizarre focus on social justice issues and alarmingly weak academics to be a nonstarter for me. We switched to MV8. Rough uphill battle with spanish for a little while but my oldest is in dci now. Grateful not to be stuck with Eliot Hine as a middle school with is a nonstarter for our academically focused family. If you want majority white classroom with almost no focus on academics you found your school.

We have close friends and ludlow and they don’t recommend based on upper grades.

Are they actually in upper grades or afraid of the demographic change? Because the demographics do change as more kids lottery in, but the teaching in the upper grades is the best in the school. The 3rd grade team is especially amazing. This is a widely held view in th school.

+1, I don't get that comment. We have a kid in upper grades at L-T and are very happy with both academics and EC opportunities.

There is angst among *parents* in the upper grades over MS and HS. But that's true at any Hill elementary. There is no easy or obvious MS/HS path on the Hill if you value academics. There are options, but it's complicated. That's the case at L-T, Brent, Maury, Payne, SWS, CHML, Two Rivers, you name it. But I do think parents at elementaries that feed to S-H tend to be a smidge less stressed (but only a smidge, it's still not most parents' dream school and it doesn't solve the HS issue).

Ludlow has a 5th grade with a lot of academic high performers this year and AFAIK they're all headed for SH except 1 interviewing for privates. It's totally possible I'm not privy to every kid's plans, but I certainly get the sense that many/most families are comfortable giving SH a try.

Yeah that’s what everyone told us about except they all enrolled in charters or moved.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School within a school is amazing amazing if you want a warm little place with no focus on academics. Parents who drink the kool-aid are happy. I found the bizarre focus on social justice issues and alarmingly weak academics to be a nonstarter for me. We switched to MV8. Rough uphill battle with spanish for a little while but my oldest is in dci now. Grateful not to be stuck with Eliot Hine as a middle school with is a nonstarter for our academically focused family. If you want majority white classroom with almost no focus on academics you found your school.

We have close friends and ludlow and they don’t recommend based on upper grades.

Are they actually in upper grades or afraid of the demographic change? Because the demographics do change as more kids lottery in, but the teaching in the upper grades is the best in the school. The 3rd grade team is especially amazing. This is a widely held view in th school.

+1, I don't get that comment. We have a kid in upper grades at L-T and are very happy with both academics and EC opportunities.

There is angst among *parents* in the upper grades over MS and HS. But that's true at any Hill elementary. There is no easy or obvious MS/HS path on the Hill if you value academics. There are options, but it's complicated. That's the case at L-T, Brent, Maury, Payne, SWS, CHML, Two Rivers, you name it. But I do think parents at elementaries that feed to S-H tend to be a smidge less stressed (but only a smidge, it's still not most parents' dream school and it doesn't solve the HS issue).

Ludlow has a 5th grade with a lot of academic high performers this year and AFAIK they're all headed for SH except 1 interviewing for privates. It's totally possible I'm not privy to every kid's plans, but I certainly get the sense that many/most families are comfortable giving SH a try.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't really understand the critiques on SWS about academics. They've served both of our kids well, one who typically tests above grade level and one who typically tests below grade level. They've provided interesting material so that our above grade level kid doesn't get bored during class time and have worked on helping our below grade level kid bring up her scores. That's more than I can say about our IB Title 1 (not included on OPs list), who only offered more independent time on devices during class time for both.

I think it works for some kids and not others, same as Montessori or immersion. No school is going to be all things to all kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School within a school is amazing amazing if you want a warm little place with no focus on academics. Parents who drink the kool-aid are happy. I found the bizarre focus on social justice issues and alarmingly weak academics to be a nonstarter for me. We switched to MV8. Rough uphill battle with spanish for a little while but my oldest is in dci now. Grateful not to be stuck with Eliot Hine as a middle school with is a nonstarter for our academically focused family. If you want majority white classroom with almost no focus on academics you found your school.

We have close friends and ludlow and they don’t recommend based on upper grades.

Are they actually in upper grades or afraid of the demographic change? Because the demographics do change as more kids lottery in, but the teaching in the upper grades is the best in the school. The 3rd grade team is especially amazing. This is a widely held view in th school.

+1, I don't get that comment. We have a kid in upper grades at L-T and are very happy with both academics and EC opportunities.

There is angst among *parents* in the upper grades over MS and HS. But that's true at any Hill elementary. There is no easy or obvious MS/HS path on the Hill if you value academics. There are options, but it's complicated. That's the case at L-T, Brent, Maury, Payne, SWS, CHML, Two Rivers, you name it. But I do think parents at elementaries that feed to S-H tend to be a smidge less stressed (but only a smidge, it's still not most parents' dream school and it doesn't solve the HS issue).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School within a school is amazing amazing if you want a warm little place with no focus on academics. Parents who drink the kool-aid are happy. I found the bizarre focus on social justice issues and alarmingly weak academics to be a nonstarter for me. We switched to MV8. Rough uphill battle with spanish for a little while but my oldest is in dci now. Grateful not to be stuck with Eliot Hine as a middle school with is a nonstarter for our academically focused family. If you want majority white classroom with almost no focus on academics you found your school.

We have close friends and ludlow and they don’t recommend based on upper grades.

Are they actually in upper grades or afraid of the demographic change? Because the demographics do change as more kids lottery in, but the teaching in the upper grades is the best in the school. The 3rd grade team is especially amazing. This is a widely held view in th school.

Anonymous wrote:I don't really understand the critiques on SWS about academics. They've served both of our kids well, one who typically tests above grade level and one who typically tests below grade level. They've provided interesting material so that our above grade level kid doesn't get bored during class time and have worked on helping our below grade level kid bring up her scores. That's more than I can say about our IB Title 1 (not included on OPs list), who only offered more independent time on devices during class time for both.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd probably move ITDS up, if it's convenient location-wise to you.

OP Here.. Any reasoning on why? Also the replies here have been SUPER helpful..so thank you again!

Thus far were looking closely at Chisolm, ITS, MV8, YuYing, Barnard, Stokes, SWS, Lamb if we want to make the commute (know alot of families there who rave about it), ludlow, peabody

Because it's a good school and gets you to 8th, with a decent track record of selective high school admissions. If you have more than one kid, it keeps them in one location and on one calendar together, which is so nice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd probably move ITDS up, if it's convenient location-wise to you.

OP Here.. Any reasoning on why? Also the replies here have been SUPER helpful..so thank you again!

Thus far were looking closely at Chisolm, ITS, MV8, YuYing, Barnard, Stokes, SWS, Lamb if we want to make the commute (know alot of families there who rave about it), ludlow, peabody

Anonymous wrote:I'd probably move ITDS up, if it's convenient location-wise to you.