Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Uh oh. Don't start talking abut Capital City please. The thread will get shut down.

Why would it get shut down for talking about Cap City?

Because there are Cap City boosters on this site and on others who will slam anyone who says anything less than stellar about the school.

And by the way, Cap City lost their good upper school math teacher to Basis.

I also know for a fact that several current Cap City teachers have been applying for positions elsewhere at no avail. So they are staying, reluctantly.

Anonymous wrote:It's like a lot full of cars. There are Chevys, Jeeps, VWs, Toyotas, Fords and so on - stations wagons, SUVs, sedans, and all different colors. That represents the state of DCPS and DC PCS schools.

Not all the same, and each with its pros and cons, and they are all free and one has a choice on which to pick. If you want a red VW beetle, there's likely already a red VW beetle to pick from, no need to insist on going to a green Jeep with the intent of hammering the corners round and spraypainting it red.

Not every kid is the same, they don't all have the same needs, but at least the variety in the charters helps to start providing provide options to meet some of the otherwise unmet needs.

I dream of the day when chances of getting into a desirable school are good enough that families are able to pass by the schools that they know aren't right for them. Right now, though, at the elementary level we're often offered a choice between the green Jeep that someone else wants, and a 10-mpg clunker. So kids wind up at the green Jeep school, and their parents work like crazy to make it just a tiny bit more like the red Beetle that they wanted. Everybody suffers in this scenario.

It's like a lot full of cars. There are Chevys, Jeeps, VWs, Toyotas, Fords and so on - stations wagons, SUVs, sedans, and all different colors. That represents the state of DCPS and DC PCS schools.

Not all the same, and each with its pros and cons, and they are all free and one has a choice on which to pick. If you want a red VW beetle, there's likely already a red VW beetle to pick from, no need to insist on going to a green Jeep with the intent of hammering the corners round and spraypainting it red.

Not every kid is the same, they don't all have the same needs, but at least the variety in the charters helps to start providing provide options to meet some of the otherwise unmet needs.

Anonymous wrote:Uh oh. Don't start talking abut Capital City please. The thread will get shut down.

Why would it get shut down for talking about Cap City?

Stop pp, you are making too much sense. In a city like ours where kids come from all kinds if families with all kinds of priorities and challenges and needs it is very difficult for one school/model/philosophy/teacher to meet every student. If we have charters and special programs that allow families to find a good fit, there will be more kids getting a better education FOR THEM.

I get it that in this dysfunctional system, that often means kids who of course need and deserve an excellent education are "left" in dysfunctional schools with poor management ( NOT lack of resources, however. DcPs students are funded at a very high level. It's mismanagement that makes the schools poor). However, I see that as a separate problem that requires urgent attention by honest, professional, switched on politicians and education officials.

But it is not Joe parents responsibility to forego the best possible foundation for their kids in the interest of somehow shoring up a failing system. I guarantee that if DCPS put some thought into it and got some cojones, they could put in some innovative programming ala the charters that would get families back.from the charters in no time.

Uh oh. Don't start talking abut Capital City please. The thread will get shut down.

Let's get back to BASIS. I am intrigued by the model. Although, I don't think it would work for my bright child. We're good with something in between the no text book, we'll re-invent the wheel of a charter school and the high stakes testing model BASIS is using.

I am actually rooting for BASIS to succeed because I think there are children (not mine) who can thrive in that environment.

Anonymous wrote:Why can't Two Rivers or Cap City keep their middle class students in middle school? Pls explain.

No brainer - lack of tracking/ability grouping and any sort of admissions criterion beyond lottery luck drives out upper middle-class students, who are a lot more likely to be advanced learners than low-SES, and even lower middle-class, kids. Also true at Stuart Hobson and Hardy.

Differentiated learning within the classroom doesn't work well for advanced kids in the upper ES grades, let alone at the MS level. More middle-class families are staying at all these schools year by year, but not a lot.

This has been discussed extensively in other threads. At Cap City, in the old location, kids who live in bounds for Deal had a choice between a class with the same 25 kids, in 6th grade, or a school with extensive fields, resources, clubs, etc. etc. And most who had the Deal option have taken it.

The dynamics of Cap City will change, maybe quite a bit, too soon to tell, with the new bldg. A real MS with it's own staff, etc. Class size 80 5th graders. That means leaving for 6th at Deal might be less appealing. Might. Also the new location might mean fewer Ward 3 families make the trek.

Why can't Two Rivers or Cap City keep their middle class students in middle school? Pls explain.

Anonymous wrote:Because all this shuffle isn't doing much to make education, overall, in DC better.

BASIS is the flavor of the month. It was Latin a couple of years ago, and Two Rivers before than, and Cap City before that.

The only attractive middle schools are the one's where the FARM populations are below 30% and all of this has done precious little to improve schools for our friends in Ward 7 and Ward 8.

Almost no parent puts a higher priority on "education, overall, in DC" than on their own child's happiness. Why do you suppose that is?

Anonymous wrote:BASIS is the flavor of the month. It was Latin a couple of years ago, and Two Rivers before than, and Cap City before that.

How are these schools considered flavors of the month? All of them are running fine programs with lots of happy students and with parents happy about the education they are being provided?

+1

And DC is really thrilled to be in a squeaky-clean building after her time in run-down and dirty DCPS schools.

My childs first few days have gone well. Lots of getting to know teachers, operating lockers, getting the bus schedule down, the usual. My DD likes the school and teachers so far.

The unique thing is the emphasis on study skills and organization. Her schedule looks nice and balenced; taekwondo 3 days, music/art 3 days spread out with harder classes. Overall pretty organized for a new school or any schools first week.

Because all this shuffle isn't doing much to make education, overall, in DC better.

BASIS is the flavor of the month. It was Latin a couple of years ago, and Two Rivers before than, and Cap City before that.

The only attractive middle schools are the one's where the FARM populations are below 30% and all of this has done precious little to improve schools for our friends in Ward 7 and Ward 8.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was it a Montessori school?

No it was an expeditionary school.

At the risk that those unfamiliar with the Capitol Hill public/charter school divide don't follow, I can't help but be a little amused by parents who make huge detours around their (neighborhood) public schools because they're oh-so-conventional [i.e. with textbooks, worksheets and all], sending their kids off into the cutting edge of new models of learning, only to find themselves emerging at the other end by a desire for the most conventional and back to basics. Well, keep running, always avoiding what may well be a happy medium.

Huh? What's wrong with having optoins? And what's wrong with changing your mind?