DCI or J-R?

[Anonymous]

It’s AP for all at JR and the AP courses are dumb down and not comprehensive or that rigorous. The classes are very large which also negatively impacts the class.

About 50% of the kids taking the AP test basically fail it with getting a 1 or 2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s AP for all at JR and the AP courses are dumb down and not comprehensive or that rigorous. The classes are very large which also negatively impacts the class.

About 50% of the kids taking the AP test basically fail it with getting a 1 or 2.

There is no AP for all at JR. The former principal tried to push this, but it was rejected by DCPS and never happened.

JR has a 63% AP pass rate which is 2nd highest after Walls (which is expected). That is above the 55% national average.

My kids also have not had any issues getting AP classes in 10th grade. Math and language AP track is straightforward, as well as non-core AP classes like Econ, Psych, Human Geography, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s AP for all at JR and the AP courses are dumb down and not comprehensive or that rigorous. The classes are very large which also negatively impacts the class.

About 50% of the kids taking the AP test basically fail it with getting a 1 or 2.

There is no AP for all at JR. The former principal tried to push this, but it was rejected by DCPS and never happened.

JR has a 63% AP pass rate which is 2nd highest after Walls (which is expected). That is above the 55% national average.

My kids also have not had any issues getting AP classes in 10th grade. Math and language AP track is straightforward, as well as non-core AP classes like Econ, Psych, Human Geography, etc.

It is AP for all. There are absolutely no academic standards needed for kids to take AP courses. Anyone can take AP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s AP for all at JR and the AP courses are dumb down and not comprehensive or that rigorous. The classes are very large which also negatively impacts the class.

About 50% of the kids taking the AP test basically fail it with getting a 1 or 2.

There is no AP for all at JR. The former principal tried to push this, but it was rejected by DCPS and never happened.

JR has a 63% AP pass rate which is 2nd highest after Walls (which is expected). That is above the 55% national average.

My kids also have not had any issues getting AP classes in 10th grade. Math and language AP track is straightforward, as well as non-core AP classes like Econ, Psych, Human Geography, etc.

+1

AP classes are available to all students, but they are opt-in*. So the students who are in those classes want to be there.

*The one exception next year will be pre-calc, which will be offered only at the AP level; this makes sense, as pre-calc curriculum is a bit of a mish-mash, so I understand the argument for going with the AP version for structure/consistency. Will be curious to see if they revert to two levels in subsequent years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s AP for all at JR and the AP courses are dumb down and not comprehensive or that rigorous. The classes are very large which also negatively impacts the class.

About 50% of the kids taking the AP test basically fail it with getting a 1 or 2.

There is no AP for all at JR. The former principal tried to push this, but it was rejected by DCPS and never happened.

JR has a 63% AP pass rate which is 2nd highest after Walls (which is expected). That is above the 55% national average.

My kids also have not had any issues getting AP classes in 10th grade. Math and language AP track is straightforward, as well as non-core AP classes like Econ, Psych, Human Geography, etc.

It is AP for all. There are absolutely no academic standards needed for kids to take AP courses. Anyone can take AP

AP for all means all students take AP classes. That’s not true at JR. Making AP available to any student who wants to take them is a pretty common policy in public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s AP for all at JR and the AP courses are dumb down and not comprehensive or that rigorous. The classes are very large which also negatively impacts the class.

About 50% of the kids taking the AP test basically fail it with getting a 1 or 2.

There is no AP for all at JR. The former principal tried to push this, but it was rejected by DCPS and never happened.

JR has a 63% AP pass rate which is 2nd highest after Walls (which is expected). That is above the 55% national average.

My kids also have not had any issues getting AP classes in 10th grade. Math and language AP track is straightforward, as well as non-core AP classes like Econ, Psych, Human Geography, etc.

It is AP for all. There are absolutely no academic standards needed for kids to take AP courses. Anyone can take AP

That's how 95%+ of all public schools work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s AP for all at JR and the AP courses are dumb down and not comprehensive or that rigorous. The classes are very large which also negatively impacts the class.

About 50% of the kids taking the AP test basically fail it with getting a 1 or 2.

There is no AP for all at JR. The former principal tried to push this, but it was rejected by DCPS and never happened.

JR has a 63% AP pass rate which is 2nd highest after Walls (which is expected). That is above the 55% national average.

My kids also have not had any issues getting AP classes in 10th grade. Math and language AP track is straightforward, as well as non-core AP classes like Econ, Psych, Human Geography, etc.

It is AP for all. There are absolutely no academic standards needed for kids to take AP courses. Anyone can take AP

That's how 95%+ of all public schools work.

It is a tough situation because some kids are not ready for AP classes but somehow end up in them. And it is frowned upon for the teacher to suggest that they move down a level

[Anonymous]

OP here: Part of the attraction of J-R over DCI is broader course options, a larger cohort of really engaged kids (but still a very diverse school) and a longer, stronger track record of great college admissions.

Seems like even with some bureaucratic headaches and big-school chaos that generally is true?

Curious to hear more from the person who knew people who attended both schools, and/or what DCI is like in the upper grades (11th and 12th)

Thanks for all of the responses to date.

[Anonymous]

If you already know that your son isn't enthusiastic about DCI, I might choose JR. The main reason that most choose DCI is because they don't currently have access to JR. That said, most kids in this years 8th grade had the opportunity to opt into schools that fed to JR, but parents didn't feel that it was a strong enough reason to leave elementary schools they were happy with.

[Anonymous]

In case this is helpful, these are the instagram accounts where seniors are posting their college decisions:

https://www.instagram.com/dcidecisions2024/

https://www.instagram.com/jacksonreed2024/

[Anonymous]

Also this is the school profile J-R provides with college applications:

https://jacksonreedhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/2023-24JacksonReedHSprofile9.28.23-1.pdf

It includes a list of where the class of 2023 is attending college.