Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI is a zoo compared to BASIS and Wash Latin.

Not sure I’d call it a zoo, but DCI is so much bigger than the others you mention. I am also surprised you have first-hand experience with all 3.

And unlike Latin and BASIS, DCI isn't at full capacity yet - and won’t be until the largest group of middle schools are in 12th grade. They (like Latin and BASIS) have a good percentage teachers who leave after a year or two, and they also have to hire more each year in all grades because of the growth. It would be shocking if there were classroom management issues here and there.

Give us a break. Nobody's got direct experience with all three. But I made a point of touring the middle schools while classes were in session last year, before making an enrollment decision.

Only at DCI did I see kids running around screaming, slamming doors, and pushing and shoving in hallways between classes everywhere I went in the building. I saw 8th grade kids throwing backpacks at another another in a classroom with a teacher presiding. She shouted at the offenders but failed to stop the mayhem. No thanks.

Anonymous wrote:DCI is a zoo compared to BASIS and Wash Latin.

Not sure I’d call it a zoo, but DCI is so much bigger than the others you mention. I am also surprised you have first-hand experience with all 3.

And unlike Latin and BASIS, DCI isn't at full capacity yet - and won’t be until the largest group of middle schools are in 12th grade. They (like Latin and BASIS) have a good percentage teachers who leave after a year or two, and they also have to hire more each year in all grades because of the growth. It would be shocking if there were classroom management issues here and there.

DCI is a zoo compared to BASIS and Wash Latin.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wish I could be as flip as you. We're at YY with mixed feelings about returning for 5th for the 5th because my kid's closest friends of many years won't be back. These kids aren't "mediocre white kids," as you claim. They're strong students, a mix of Asian, white and biracial. They excel at ELA, math and Mandarin but they're leaving. We're told that they're leaving for BASIS, Washington Latin and MoCo. I admit that we weren't prepared for the exodus. If DCI's future is as bright as one PP after another claims, why are they leaving? You tell me.

Not surprised. YY doesn’t offer a strong Mandarin immersion program so the language is not a top priority for families. It’s we know there are no native speakers in the class or admin.

I can tell you, that is not happening at our spanish immersion charter. Strong students going to DCI.

I agree. If the Mandarin immersion program were strong at YY, native speakers raising their kids bilingual would enroll there, and at DCI, like with the Spanish immersion programs. I'm not buying that there aren't native speakers of Chinese in DC who could get lottery spots at YY and DCI.

But I don't think this is the whole story. YY parents must prefer other programs over DCI for a variety of reasons.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wish I could be as flip as you. We're at YY with mixed feelings about returning for 5th for the 5th because my kid's closest friends of many years won't be back. These kids aren't "mediocre white kids," as you claim. They're strong students, a mix of Asian, white and biracial. They excel at ELA, math and Mandarin but they're leaving. We're told that they're leaving for BASIS, Washington Latin and MoCo. I admit that we weren't prepared for the exodus. If DCI's future is as bright as one PP after another claims, why are they leaving? You tell me.

Why don't you ask them?

Not the poster you're responding to, but I can tell you that departing YY parents are not likely to broadcast why they're leaving. They don't want to offend those who are staying. They're not going to tell you that they aren't happy with academics or weak language instruction.

Sure, you can claim that these parents are racist and classist if it makes you feel good. But the fact is that YY hardly has any at-risk students. The real problem is that DCI isn't set up to support sufficient rigor. The school is too chaotic and the focus is on helping high needs students work at grade level. DCI is also a Spanish-centric program, which the YY and Stokes parents don't appreciate.

Anonymous wrote:Wish I could be as flip as you. We're at YY with mixed feelings about returning for 5th for the 5th because my kid's closest friends of many years won't be back. These kids aren't "mediocre white kids," as you claim. They're strong students, a mix of Asian, white and biracial. They excel at ELA, math and Mandarin but they're leaving. We're told that they're leaving for BASIS, Washington Latin and MoCo. I admit that we weren't prepared for the exodus. If DCI's future is as bright as one PP after another claims, why are they leaving? You tell me.

Not surprised. YY doesn’t offer a strong Mandarin immersion program so the language is not a top priority for families. It’s we know there are no native speakers in the class or admin.

I can tell you, that is not happening at our spanish immersion charter. Strong students going to DCI.

Racism and classism.

Anonymous wrote:Wish I could be as flip as you. We're at YY with mixed feelings about returning for 5th for the 5th because my kid's closest friends of many years won't be back. These kids aren't "mediocre white kids," as you claim. They're strong students, a mix of Asian, white and biracial. They excel at ELA, math and Mandarin but they're leaving. We're told that they're leaving for BASIS, Washington Latin and MoCo. I admit that we weren't prepared for the exodus. If DCI's future is as bright as one PP after another claims, why are they leaving? You tell me.

Why don't you ask them?

Wish I could be as flip as you. We're at YY with mixed feelings about returning for 5th for the 5th because my kid's closest friends of many years won't be back. These kids aren't "mediocre white kids," as you claim. They're strong students, a mix of Asian, white and biracial. They excel at ELA, math and Mandarin but they're leaving. We're told that they're leaving for BASIS, Washington Latin and MoCo. I admit that we weren't prepared for the exodus. If DCI's future is as bright as one PP after another claims, why are they leaving? You tell me.

Is it? And who is peeling off? Mediocre white kids? Bye......

You guys didn't get the memo.

This is a booster thread. You come here to pretend that DCI's a great school which can only get that much more wonderful...

Anonymous wrote:Despite what this thread says, I know many middle or upper middle class families at DCI. I knew several who bailed maybe five years ago, but it seems like more are staying now.

Congrats to the grads. They were pioneers! Best of luck to them.

Please, nobody's arguing that they're aren't white or upper middle class families at DCI. Nobody's arguing that more high SES families aren't staying w/every passing year.

What worries me is that the strongest 4th grade students mostly peel off for BASIS or Latin for 5th grade. A year later, many more peel off for Deal, Hardy, private middle schools, the burbs. You can congratulate the grads over and over without changing this depressing reality.

We've taken a hard look at DCI for our rising 6th grader and decided not to enroll. I'm just not not seeing the discipline, rigor, academic tracking, serious partial immersion language program (no native speakers in our track) I'm looking for.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disagree. Case in point: DCPS recently announced that a much-needed new elementary school is Foxhall will be built, for close to $60 million, within the next two or three years. Mary Cheh has lobbied for this development for over a decade, kudos to her and her constituents. UMC education stakeholders are less and less expendable in this City as time goes by. Who knows how the political winds will blow in the future, including where DCI is concerned.

You think they're doing this for Ward 3 families? They're doing this so families outside of the Wilson zone (with the wherewithal to enter the lottery and shlep their kids across the park) still have a chance at OOB seats, and Hardy/Deal/Wilson don't become 75% white.

They should get a Peabody Watkins shuttle

Despite what this thread says, I know many middle or upper middle class families at DCI. I knew several who bailed maybe five years ago, but it seems like more are staying now.

Congrats to the grads. They were pioneers! Best of luck to them.

How quickly the post hijackers go off topic...

DCI MS parent of multiples at DCI here.

The numbers of families considered "at-risk" for economic factors will rise at DCI this year; our family is one of them.

While we have some savings, based on the formula for "at-risk" we qualify, and will be applying to again be counted as such.

I doubt all families that qualify this year will apply for fear of perception/social exclusion; we shall see what the fall brings.

The assumption that "at-risk" equates to uneducated could be disrupted with the emergence of the post CO-VID landscape. The true essence of learning will be exhibited by the students themselves.

I could see the barriers to entry for elite colleges being greater now, given Co-vid. Cost of college and distance may have played a more important factor for selection and enrollment for DCI seniors graduating in a COVID era time.

Disrupt the narrative and assumptions.

While we have a voracious appetite for learning in our home, that does not equate to an HHI for our home. We have a moderate income, (probably considered low by DCUM standards) but we make due. No fancy car, vacations, or pricey gaming equipment....

The poster that mentioned "quiet homeschooling" hit the nail on the head.

While we don't have a nanny, or other paid supports present in our home, we have a culture of learning here that has exponentially increased since quarantine.

We are all navigating the new baseline of socially distanced learning. Call me a booster if you'd like, but DCI kept my kids attention and provided rigor without missing a step in March.

But it truly took a lot of focused commitment on my part to ensure space, monitor productivity, prep cook and clean after three meals a day, and to facilitate home schedules. I doubt that I could have done that with fidelity while simultaneously working a high stress, high income job.

I chose to re-enroll my kids without a second thought. I'm proud of the graduates who will quietly step into the next phase of uncharted territory as freshman at their respective schools.

Graduation is on YouTube, watch for yourselves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGFORp42ayc&t=3244s