Anonymous wrote:Stuart Hobson is what is is, with only little tweaks on the horizon.

If your kid is an on-grade-level or advanced learner in 5th grade and you're considering the school for 6th, know that you can make the schol work by pushing teachers for tougher assignments and supplementing a certain amount.

The school enrolls blacks, white and a small number of Latinos, but very few Asians. But that's the same story in every DC public MS but Deal, Hardy, BASIS and Washington Latin.

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Anonymous wrote:Thank goodness for the charter middle schools. The conversation about MS and HS on the Hill has become so loaded that it’s no longer worth having. If you’re fine with Hobson don’t expect the rest of us to appreciate that. We’re not racist, we’re just angry that DCPS doesn’t care about serving most neighbors at what is supposed to be a neighborhood school. The test scores are 29 years behind the demographics of the catchment area.

This. Calling everyone racist because they want the overwhelming majority of kids to be at least on grade level. That’s not even asking for much when the kids who are inbound typically are.

These people use the race card to attack people who question a school’s poor performance. They don’t get it that it just turns away even more the families that they want.

I would like for all kids to be performing at grade level (for their own sake, not to "match the demongraphics" of Ward 6). Meanwhile, I do believe that my kid is smart enough to be able to do well even if he's in the (gasp) top quarter of the school.

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Anonymous wrote:Thank goodness for the charter middle schools. The conversation about MS and HS on the Hill has become so loaded that it’s no longer worth having. If you’re fine with Hobson don’t expect the rest of us to appreciate that. We’re not racist, we’re just angry that DCPS doesn’t care about serving most neighbors at what is supposed to be a neighborhood school. The test scores are 29 years behind the demographics of the catchment area.

This. Calling everyone racist because they want the overwhelming majority of kids to be at least on grade level. That’s not even asking for much when the kids who are inbound typically are.

These people use the race card to attack people who question a school’s poor performance. They don’t get it that it just turns away even more the families that they want.

Anonymous wrote:Thank goodness for the charter middle schools. The conversation about MS and HS on the Hill has become so loaded that it’s no longer worth having. If you’re fine with Hobson don’t expect the rest of us to appreciate that. We’re not racist, we’re just angry that DCPS doesn’t care about serving most neighbors at what is supposed to be a neighborhood school. The test scores are 29 years behind the demographics of the catchment area.

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Anonymous wrote:As other posters have noted, the main problem with SH is that it doesn't necessarily lead to an acceptable public high school.

With BASIS, Washington Latin and DCI, your kid can sail to 12th grade. With Hobson, s/he may crack Walls in 8th grade, or not. Alternatively, Banneker is an option if your kid is black or Latino. Whites and Asians almost never attend Banneker. There's also McKinley Tech, around 3% white and 0% Asian.

SH would obviously improve steadily, possibly dramatically, if it only led to a decent high school. There's no denying this.

Wow, you really want to perpetuate segregation, don't you? It is true that Eastern is not up to par with Wilson. But most kids find a great fit. Several SH kids are also going to Duke Ellington, and have been for the last few years. And on to private HS like Gonzaga and Elizabeth Seton.

Anonymous wrote:As other posters have noted, the main problem with SH is that it doesn't necessarily lead to an acceptable public high school.

With BASIS, Washington Latin and DCI, your kid can sail to 12th grade. With Hobson, s/he may crack Walls in 8th grade, or not. Alternatively, Banneker is an option if your kid is black or Latino. Whites and Asians almost never attend Banneker. There's also McKinley Tech, around 3% white and 0% Asian.

SH would obviously improve steadily, possibly dramatically, if it only led to a decent high school. There's no denying this.

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Anonymous wrote:Do Deal or Hardy do differentiated social studies or science? SH seems to be in line with them on advanced/accelerated math and English tracks.

Differentiation sounds great in theory but reality is it’s not happening in class of 20-25 students. You can really only effectively differentiate in small class sizes. That is why tracking works well in large class sizes because all kids are at similar academic levels.

When you have an overwhelming majority of kids below grade level then the course will be taught at that lowest common denominator. It will be easy for a higher performing kid. That kid will just cruise and do well with no effort. But the kid will not be challenged to reach their full potential. This is how DCPS “narrows” the achievement gap is by bringing the top down instead of supporting the bottom to bring them up.

BTW the honors at SH with math and English is not really advanced. It’s grade level.

I’ll say it again - it’s a uniquely fragile and helicoptery view that your middle schooler needs to be surrounded by only kids like them to thrive in life. Not all families believe that or have those values.

No they just quietly supplement like crazy since the school isn’t meeting their child’s academic needs.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do Deal or Hardy do differentiated social studies or science? SH seems to be in line with them on advanced/accelerated math and English tracks.

Differentiation sounds great in theory but reality is it’s not happening in class of 20-25 students. You can really only effectively differentiate in small class sizes. That is why tracking works well in large class sizes because all kids are at similar academic levels.

When you have an overwhelming majority of kids below grade level then the course will be taught at that lowest common denominator. It will be easy for a higher performing kid. That kid will just cruise and do well with no effort. But the kid will not be challenged to reach their full potential. This is how DCPS “narrows” the achievement gap is by bringing the top down instead of supporting the bottom to bring them up.

BTW the honors at SH with math and English is not really advanced. It’s grade level.

I’ll say it again - it’s a uniquely fragile and helicoptery view that your middle schooler needs to be surrounded by only kids like them to thrive in life. Not all families believe that or have those values.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do Deal or Hardy do differentiated social studies or science? SH seems to be in line with them on advanced/accelerated math and English tracks.

Differentiation sounds great in theory but reality is it’s not happening in class of 20-25 students. You can really only effectively differentiate in small class sizes. That is why tracking works well in large class sizes because all kids are at similar academic levels.

When you have an overwhelming majority of kids below grade level then the course will be taught at that lowest common denominator. It will be easy for a higher performing kid. That kid will just cruise and do well with no effort. But the kid will not be challenged to reach their full potential. This is how DCPS “narrows” the achievement gap is by bringing the top down instead of supporting the bottom to bring them up.

BTW the honors at SH with math and English is not really advanced. It’s grade level.

Anonymous wrote:Do Deal or Hardy do differentiated social studies or science? SH seems to be in line with them on advanced/accelerated math and English tracks.

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Anonymous wrote:Everybody should avoid Stuart Hobson threads because they're old hat from the initial post.

The parents who come here to complain that the school doesn't serve the IB population at all well are invariably called the usual names - racist, elitist, snobs, misinformed about best educational practices etc.

Bowser, Charles Allen and the other city council members are just fine with the way SH runs. Once IB parents figure this out, the great majority have better things to do than bother with the program, which improves, but at a snail's pace.

The crux of the problem with IB enrollment at SH isn't in fact mainly one of weak advertising/PR on the merits of enrolling your children. Neither is the problem rooted in overt racism on the part of the IB community (claims to the contrary by boosters not withstanding).

The real problem is that, objectively speaking, SH's program isn't competitive. It can't compete with half a dozen superior DC public middle schools, let alone the suburban schools and privates IB families routinely leave DCPS for.

My child's cohort is on track to start HS with Algebra II and reads at 12th grade level. Nothing extraordinary compared to many peers. You don't actually know this school