Experience with Macfarland?

[Anonymous]

Based on waitlist numbers, we will likely be at Macfarland for middle school. I don’t plan to move, so please don’t suggest this. Just curious if anyone here actually attends. What is your experience with the school?

[Anonymous]

There was just a thread on this topic. https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1122943.page#24680852

[Anonymous]

I replied on other thread and there are other parents who may read DCUM re: this. Positive overall!

[Anonymous]

My kid attends and will be there next year. If you are at a feeder school, it will likely be like the middle school version of your ES experience. Middle school is a difficult time of life, and students and teachers in general there need a lot more help than they are getting (and all over DC public schools!); but the teachers are generally pretty good, the principal who is new this year is trying hard and is responsive, and the curriculum and expectations are not great but good enough.

[Anonymous]

PP, is your kid on grade level or above? Are most of the peers the same. What I have heard is that most kids are way below grade level and smart kids are bored or doing busy work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, is your kid on grade level or above? Are most of the peers the same. What I have heard is that most kids are way below grade level and smart kids are bored or doing busy work.

You can look at the PARCC data. Most of the kids are way below grade level. You can look at the algebra numbers and and see that, even when there is tracking, it's only separating out the extremely behind kids from everyone else. In the absence of anyone with extremely specific things to say about teachers providing an extraordinary amount of in-class differentiation, you should assume that if your kid is above grade level, meeting their academic needs is not going to be something the school has the ability to do.

[Anonymous]

Previous poster with kid attending. Kid went in above grade level is still very above grade level. Kid isn’t bored. Kid perhaps not as academically challenged as they might be elsewhere (but they are in dual language classes as a non-native speaker so they are challenged in that way). Some teachers make an effort to differentiate.

Kid is being challenged non-academically by being in a majority POC environment with students of very varying proficiencies and abilities. They are not the only academically advanced kid.

There are some team sports after school (competitive and club). There are some after school clubs. Kid has made new friend at MacFarland. Arabic is offered to all students, and intro Spanish to students who who are not in dual language classes (DL students take a more advance SLA). They go on field trips, etc.

Some kids may be bored there, but my kid is not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP, is your kid on grade level or above? Are most of the peers the same. What I have heard is that most kids are way below grade level and smart kids are bored or doing busy work.

You can look at the PARCC data. Most of the kids are way below grade level. You can look at the algebra numbers and and see that, even when there is tracking, it's only separating out the extremely behind kids from everyone else. In the absence of anyone with extremely specific things to say about teachers providing an extraordinary amount of in-class differentiation, you should assume that if your kid is above grade level, meeting their academic needs is not going to be something the school has the ability to do.

+1. The numbers are just abysmal. Less than 4% kids at grade level or above in math. My assumption is at least 1/2 of that 4% if not all is just on grade level.

So if PP’s kid is really above grade level, I doubt he is getting any teaching from the teacher. Class is being taught at the level of all the other kids and that is way below grade level. His kid also does not have a critical number of peers at his level.

Whether your kid is bored or not PP is up to you but the reality is when everyone but 1 or 2 kids are way below grade level, that is where the class is being taught and there is where the pressure on the teachers are is to get all these kids to improve.

[Anonymous]

my kid there is way above grade level and having a good time. Likes teachers and classes.

DCUM conventional wisdom is just gonna be what it's gonna be. People don't come here to learn, they come here for (self-)reinforcement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:my kid there is way above grade level and having a good time. Likes teachers and classes.

DCUM conventional wisdom is just gonna be what it's gonna be. People don't come here to learn, they come here for (self-)reinforcement.

I mean, good for your kid. But I think it’s also important to know you are an extreme minority. Most people for good reasons seek out settings where they are not extreme outliers. And I’m not talking about race - I’m talking about academic need. Basically you likely have very specific personal/family/kid quirks that are far from generalizable for most DCUM parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:my kid there is way above grade level and having a good time. Likes teachers and classes.

DCUM conventional wisdom is just gonna be what it's gonna be. People don't come here to learn, they come here for (self-)reinforcement.

I mean, good for your kid. But I think it’s also important to know you are an extreme minority. Most people for good reasons seek out settings where they are not extreme outliers. And I’m not talking about race - I’m talking about academic need. Basically you likely have very specific personal/family/kid quirks that are far from generalizable for most DCUM parents.

You know neither the PP or most DCUM parents… why do you feel that you can speak for/about them??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:my kid there is way above grade level and having a good time. Likes teachers and classes.

DCUM conventional wisdom is just gonna be what it's gonna be. People don't come here to learn, they come here for (self-)reinforcement.

I mean, good for your kid. But I think it’s also important to know you are an extreme minority. Most people for good reasons seek out settings where they are not extreme outliers. And I’m not talking about race - I’m talking about academic need. Basically you likely have very specific personal/family/kid quirks that are far from generalizable for most DCUM parents.

You know neither the PP or most DCUM parents… why do you feel that you can speak for/about them??

I can look at the numbers at MacFarland and pretty clearly conclude that most DCUM parents’ choice to send their kid there would be very counter-cultural for our socio-economic class (again NOT race). If you’re a counter-cultural family, cool, go for it. But there’s always the ONE parent who insists “my kid is THRIVING at [x terrible school] and you need to take that with a giant grain of salt because it likely will not be acceptable to most of us. (And as it pertains to MS, do ask them where they plan to send Jr to HS. It’s not Dunbar. Usually they plan to go private or assume Walls admission.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:my kid there is way above grade level and having a good time. Likes teachers and classes.

DCUM conventional wisdom is just gonna be what it's gonna be. People don't come here to learn, they come here for (self-)reinforcement.

I mean, good for your kid. But I think it’s also important to know you are an extreme minority. Most people for good reasons seek out settings where they are not extreme outliers. And I’m not talking about race - I’m talking about academic need. Basically you likely have very specific personal/family/kid quirks that are far from generalizable for most DCUM parents.

You know neither the PP or most DCUM parents… why do you feel that you can speak for/about them??

I can look at the numbers at MacFarland and pretty clearly conclude that most DCUM parents’ choice to send their kid there would be very counter-cultural for our socio-economic class (again NOT race). If you’re a counter-cultural family, cool, go for it. But there’s always the ONE parent who insists “my kid is THRIVING at [x terrible school] and you need to take that with a giant grain of salt because it likely will not be acceptable to most of us. (And as it pertains to MS, do ask them where they plan to send Jr to HS. It’s not Dunbar. Usually they plan to go private or assume Walls admission.)

\]

I love that this thread is literally called "experience at MacFarland", a parent shared their experience, and then a person who does not have family there told them that their experience was wrong.
Took less than 1 page for this to reach peak DCUM

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:my kid there is way above grade level and having a good time. Likes teachers and classes.

DCUM conventional wisdom is just gonna be what it's gonna be. People don't come here to learn, they come here for (self-)reinforcement.

I mean, good for your kid. But I think it’s also important to know you are an extreme minority. Most people for good reasons seek out settings where they are not extreme outliers. And I’m not talking about race - I’m talking about academic need. Basically you likely have very specific personal/family/kid quirks that are far from generalizable for most DCUM parents.

You know neither the PP or most DCUM parents… why do you feel that you can speak for/about them??

I can look at the numbers at MacFarland and pretty clearly conclude that most DCUM parents’ choice to send their kid there would be very counter-cultural for our socio-economic class (again NOT race). If you’re a counter-cultural family, cool, go for it. But there’s always the ONE parent who insists “my kid is THRIVING at [x terrible school] and you need to take that with a giant grain of salt because it likely will not be acceptable to most of us. (And as it pertains to MS, do ask them where they plan to send Jr to HS. It’s not Dunbar. Usually they plan to go private or assume Walls admission.)

yes - why do you feel the need to post when you do not have experience at McFarland??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:my kid there is way above grade level and having a good time. Likes teachers and classes.

DCUM conventional wisdom is just gonna be what it's gonna be. People don't come here to learn, they come here for (self-)reinforcement.

I mean, good for your kid. But I think it’s also important to know you are an extreme minority. Most people for good reasons seek out settings where they are not extreme outliers. And I’m not talking about race - I’m talking about academic need. Basically you likely have very specific personal/family/kid quirks that are far from generalizable for most DCUM parents.

You know neither the PP or most DCUM parents… why do you feel that you can speak for/about them??

I can look at the numbers at MacFarland and pretty clearly conclude that most DCUM parents’ choice to send their kid there would be very counter-cultural for our socio-economic class (again NOT race). If you’re a counter-cultural family, cool, go for it. But there’s always the ONE parent who insists “my kid is THRIVING at [x terrible school] and you need to take that with a giant grain of salt because it likely will not be acceptable to most of us. (And as it pertains to MS, do ask them where they plan to send Jr to HS. It’s not Dunbar. Usually they plan to go private or assume Walls admission.)

\]

I love that this thread is literally called "experience at MacFarland", a parent shared their experience, and then a person who does not have family there told them that their experience was wrong.
Took less than 1 page for this to reach peak DCUM

my post is how to interpret people’s representation about their experience. very valid.