Anonymous wrote:Yes, it does.

We're going with Hobson partly because the principal is fine with letting us home school our child in a very difficult language one of us speaks (not a Romance language). He won't force instruction in another language on us. We appreciate the flexibility and recognition that we've home schooled the child to an advanced level in the language for his age and just want to be left alone to continue. We won't be the first parents in this situation in our fast-changing neighborhood.

Anonymous wrote:We’re inbound for S-H and presently on the Basis waitlist. Our child is self-motivated and excels academically but is prone to stress and anxiety. Anyone care to opine on the better option?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Planning to move to VA or go private for an International Baccalaureate HS program which teaches our family's language at a level one or two years past AP.

What I find about DC public schools is that the high needs population in the city, in both traditional schools and the charter sector, motivates school leaders up and down the chain to ooze paternalism, e.g. you have to study a language for years in school, or calculus, or whatever, or you won't be able to ace a slew of AP exams. Total BS.

BASIS assumes that kids starting after 6th grade couldn't handle the science and math curriculum, so none can enter. Nonsense. There are more high-powered public middle schools than BASIS in this Metro area and in other US cities, e.g. the one I attended in NYC (Hunter College Middle School).

Talk about "high needs population" and look no further than the NYC magnets that base admission on a single high stakes test and the supporters who fight tooth and nail and the state level to preserve the status quo, no matter how paltry the number of resulting black and hispanic accepted. Historically black and hispanic students are systematically overlooked and never given the necessary support to seek out and secure these opportunities, no matter how academically capable they may be.

Anonymous wrote:I know it's futile to ask for ... but it would be refreshing if the people posting on these threads -- and the ones on other schools -- would be people whose children actually attend, or did attend.

Presumably anyone who is considering enrolling has visited the crappy building and been to an info session, and hopefully had their kid do a shadow day.

The OP, who is probably long gone, was looking for actual feedback on homework in 5th and 6th. No way to know that unless you have been there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Planning to move to VA or go private for an International Baccalaureate HS program which teaches our family's language at a level one or two years past AP.

What I find about DC public schools is that the high needs population in the city, in both traditional schools and the charter sector, motivates school leaders up and down the chain to ooze paternalism, e.g. you have to study a language for years in school, or calculus, or whatever, or you won't be able to ace a slew of AP exams. Total BS.

BASIS assumes that kids starting after 6th grade couldn't handle the science and math curriculum, so none can enter. Nonsense. There are more high-powered public middle schools than BASIS in this Metro area and in other US cities, e.g. the one I attended in NYC (Hunter College Middle School).

Talk about "high needs population" and look no further than the NYC magnets that base admission on a single high stakes test and the supporters who fight tooth and nail and the state level to preserve the status quo, no matter how paltry the number of resulting black and hispanic accepted. Historically black and hispanic students are systematically overlooked and never given the necessary support to seek out and secure these opportunities, no matter how academically capable they may be.

You won't hear this lady of color who grew up in a (housing) project criticize her NYC magnet MS or HS. I wasn't "systematically overlooked" - teachers volunteered to knock themselves out to help me prep for admission tests, and I took advantage of free test prep offered by the City. The necessary support mostly comes in the form of adults turning off the TV and making kids read and do some extra math.

What BASIS DC does is worse than what NYC does. They let kids enroll in an advanced program, decide some students can't cut it once they hit 7th or 8th grade (even if they're working hard), relentlessly stress them out, and in so doing, persuade them to bail.

that's great that it worked for you, but the numbers don't lie. Stuyvesant has 29 black students out of 3300 in freaking NYC.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/22/nyregion/stuyvesant-high-school-black-students.html

This is the money quote from a current student:

“I have so much trouble believing that of all of the top students in New York City who are able to change the world, and are able to perform the best in this really rigorous environment, that only seven of them are black,”

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Planning to move to VA or go private for an International Baccalaureate HS program which teaches our family's language at a level one or two years past AP.

What I find about DC public schools is that the high needs population in the city, in both traditional schools and the charter sector, motivates school leaders up and down the chain to ooze paternalism, e.g. you have to study a language for years in school, or calculus, or whatever, or you won't be able to ace a slew of AP exams. Total BS.

BASIS assumes that kids starting after 6th grade couldn't handle the science and math curriculum, so none can enter. Nonsense. There are more high-powered public middle schools than BASIS in this Metro area and in other US cities, e.g. the one I attended in NYC (Hunter College Middle School).

Talk about "high needs population" and look no further than the NYC magnets that base admission on a single high stakes test and the supporters who fight tooth and nail and the state level to preserve the status quo, no matter how paltry the number of resulting black and hispanic accepted. Historically black and hispanic students are systematically overlooked and never given the necessary support to seek out and secure these opportunities, no matter how academically capable they may be.

You won't hear this lady of color who grew up in a (housing) project criticize her NYC magnet MS or HS. I wasn't "systematically overlooked" - teachers volunteered to knock themselves out to help me prep for admission tests, and I took advantage of free test prep offered by the City. The necessary support mostly comes in the form of adults turning off the TV and making kids read and do some extra math.

What BASIS DC does is worse than what NYC does. They let kids enroll in an advanced program, decide some students can't cut it once they hit 7th or 8th grade (even if they're working hard), relentlessly stress them out, and in so doing, persuade them to bail.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Planning to move to VA or go private for an International Baccalaureate HS program which teaches our family's language at a level one or two years past AP.

What I find about DC public schools is that the high needs population in the city, in both traditional schools and the charter sector, motivates school leaders up and down the chain to ooze paternalism, e.g. you have to study a language for years in school, or calculus, or whatever, or you won't be able to ace a slew of AP exams. Total BS.

BASIS assumes that kids starting after 6th grade couldn't handle the science and math curriculum, so none can enter. Nonsense. There are more high-powered public middle schools than BASIS in this Metro area and in other US cities, e.g. the one I attended in NYC (Hunter College Middle School).

Talk about "high needs population" and look no further than the NYC magnets that base admission on a single high stakes test and the supporters who fight tooth and nail and the state level to preserve the status quo, no matter how paltry the number of resulting black and hispanic accepted. Historically black and hispanic students are systematically overlooked and never given the necessary support to seek out and secure these opportunities, no matter how academically capable they may be.

Anonymous wrote:Planning to move to VA or go private for an International Baccalaureate HS program which teaches our family's language at a level one or two years past AP.

What I find about DC public schools is that the high needs population in the city, in both traditional schools and the charter sector, motivates school leaders up and down the chain to ooze paternalism, e.g. you have to study a language for years in school, or calculus, or whatever, or you won't be able to ace a slew of AP exams. Total BS.

BASIS assumes that kids starting after 6th grade couldn't handle the science and math curriculum, so none can enter. Nonsense. There are more high-powered public middle schools than BASIS in this Metro area and in other US cities, e.g. the one I attended in NYC (Hunter College Middle School).

Anonymous wrote:7th grade is REALLY different than 5th, though.

Anonymous wrote:Planning to move to VA or go private for an International Baccalaureate HS program which teaches our family's language at a level one or two years past AP.

What I find about DC public schools is that the high needs population in the city, in both traditional schools and the charter sector, motivates school leaders up and down the chain to ooze paternalism, e.g. you have to study a language for years in school, or calculus, or whatever, or you won't be able to ace a slew of AP exams. Total BS.

BASIS assumes that kids starting after 6th grade couldn't handle the science and math curriculum, so none can enter. Nonsense. There are more high-powered public middle schools than BASIS in this Metro area and in other US cities, e.g. the one I attended in NYC (Hunter College Middle School).