This. MacArthur is not a new citywide option. Its whole purpose is to absorb students who would otherwise have gone to J-R and fix the overcrowding. (There were a zillion Ward 3 engagement calls on the subject, and the options were a new HS, a new MS, or a 9th grade academy set-up, and they went with the first one.) MacArthur feels like a citywide option right now because it's new and you can lottery in, but that may very well not be the case in a few years once Hardy students can no longer grandfather into J-R. My oldest is upper elementary, so I assume MacArthur will be a non-option by the time it's relevant to us. |
NP. Fine. I'll take the bait. DD is in 8th next year so in next years class applying and we are looking at relocating in either MacArthur or J-R.
Is next year the first when in-bound kids no longer have the choice for J-R and have to go to MacArthur unless they have sib preference? Is the current 10th grade a full class? If not, are they adding to fill that now so 11th grade is a full class next year? Curious on when they'll have enough upper class for full AP offerings. What's the plan for rolling out more sports like basketball, swimming, soccer at J-R? Are those coming next academic year when they'll have 9-11 students or later? Thanks |
I wouldn't be surprised if MacArthur ends up having high absentee rates among OOB kids simply because it is so far from the other side of the city. When school is an hour bus ride away from Ward 6 - and even further from Ward 7 & 8 - those kids who are edge-cases are going to be tempted to just skip school. HS kids show up more frequently when their school is nearby and easy to access. |
It’s going to be a top school. It’s not there yet. It will start to draw full cohorts of graduating Hardy kids next year. Hardy is increasingly a neighborhood school. And a small pool of parents from ES that have high PTO asks are looking at channeling those in the future toward a privately funded bus network. Stay tuned…. |
Macarthur is giving preference to deal/JR families. So its a different situation that usual. |
This seems very likely to happen as soon as Hardy no longer feeds to JR. We're close enough that our kids will probably just bike though. |
+1 Hardy parent |
So all it takes to make a top school is build it in Ward 3? I know that sounds sarcastic but that’s what it sounds like. |
All it takes to build a top school is to fill it with children of parents who value education and who are expected to arrive prepared to learn each day. The rest will take care of itself. Seriously. |
Correct. |
But in DC you just assume this is true for a school because it’s in Ward 3. The school’s been open 6 months, it’s hard to make this claim in a such a short time. But people do. Because it’s in Ward 3. Seriously. |
Seriously, no. If you think the affluence level of the parents magically creates a wonderful pedagogy and calm, organized school … you’re extremely naive. My kid has been enrolled in one of the “best” DCPS schools (full of affluent parents) and is currently enrolled in a DCPS you would run screaming from. The current school is MILES better than the “good” school. |
Geez. It all depends on your definition of "good."
If by "top" school, you mean a school with good test scores, high college matriculation, high daily attendance, etc., then, yes, Macarthur in all likelihood will be a top school. The MS that feeds to Macarthur, and the ESs that feed to Macarthur, have these characteristics. So it's a reasonable expectation that Macarthur will have those characteristics too. |
Which year does Hardy start feeding MA without option for J-R? |
Sounds like Ward 6, not Ward 3. |