Luther Jackson Middle school safety/advice?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is what it is because the school board and BOS segregates their schools and neigborhoods. They don't have to. They could both balance demographics better if they wanted to. Instead they look the other way. Why should TMS have gotten a LLIV program when the whole purpose of having the AAP program at Jackson was to boost up the school? I'm sure that's why they put the center program there to begin with. Now they've redistricted some of the more wealthy population out of LJ and have allowed the wealthier school to basically have their own center program. It goes against the whole reason for the center programs at disadvantaged schools to begin with.

The whole purpose of having an aap program at Jackson was to boost up the school? What? Then where would the Thoreau aap kids have gone originally when there was no Thoreau option? You think they did it to boost up LJ but not really to help the aap kids??? You’re making stuff up.

No... they have just been using the AAP kids (from anywhere in the AAP catchment area) to mask what would otherwise be a low-performing school --- at least according to the PP. You know -- to keep up appearances and housing values. Put the AAP center in a school and make it look like it's pretty good. Problem is that the kids who aren't in the center don't get much out of that inflated reputation. Their classes/classmates are pretty much the same as they would be without the center.

Good news for PP and anyone else with a child zoned for Jackson... the disciplinary stats are likely to improve. With more space per child (they were SEVERELY over-crowded these past 3+ years), there is a good chance that there will be fewer run-ins and a little more calm in the facility. Even if the rate of behavior problems remained the same , the actual number of incidents would decline because there will be 300 fewer kids in Jackson.

But -- to PP's point about whether the rezoning was the right decision or not -- that doesn't have anything to do with what it is like at Jackson middle school right now. You can't point to something that hasn't been implemented to explain why people are leaving or why the PP said that most of the discipline problems are in the non-AAP part. Whatever has been happening at Jackson has been WITH the kids you wanted to keep at LJ. (the 1/2 OES/all MWES/1/8 MRES).

You seem to be suggesting that placing the AAP center and districting part of Oakton to LJ years ago was a cynical decision by FCPS. One could say it was enlightened and reflected the practical reality that people look at the overall demographics of a school when making decisions about where to live or send their kids to school.

By putting LLIV at Thoreau and moving the Oakton kids at LJ to Thoreau, FCPS is (1) gambling that because LJ is designated as a "center," and Thoreau is not, a lot of parents of AAP kids with Thoreau now as their base school will continue to send their kids there and/or (2) indifferent as to the effect on LJ, as long as they can say they reduced the overcrowding there.

Perhaps you are right, and the number of disciplinary infractions at LJ will go down, if becomes a calmer environment. And, of course, some of the offenders will now go to Thoreau. The other effects on LJ and the surrounding communities will take more time to reveal themselves.

Re: the first bolded portion of your post -- I'm not saying that. That's what the PP was saying. (i.e. --- "at least according to PP.") PP seems to think that the AAP center was put at LJ BECAUSE FCPS wanted to make it look better. IF that is true, then the "true" LJ (the non-AAP part) -- was being camoflauged by having all those AAP kids there to make it look better.

Regarding the second bolded part: Yes, you are correct. FCPS facilities specifically said their analysis of the impact assumed that there would be no change in the AAP numbers. I am curious to see what the impact will be. I suspect that it will probably stay pretty much the same (at least for the first year or two). Historically, 2 out of 3 Madison-based AAP kids chose TMS over LJMS (not surprising that they would want to stay within pyramid and make friends that they can keep for HS). So there already is a presumption toward TMS for Madison kids.

The MWES AAP kids seem to be in the habit of thinking LJ is the obvious next step (even if the base school kids from MWES are zoned for TMS), and everything I've heard suggests that most are choosing LJMS for next year. They don't think of the base school kids as their classmates, so most are not motivated to keep those ties. Those choosing LJ see it as the way to stay with their AAP friends for another two years, and then many hope to go to TJ. So setting up the HS friendships is a secondary priority (since they aren't committed to going to OHS). The PP who always posts about how TMS's AAP program is going to swell while LJMS's AAP is going to crash is just guessing based on assuming the worst and labeling it "racism." It will take several years to sort out -- as MWES gets in the habit of thinking TMS, and as TMS's local AAP becomes more established. No one knows for sure. But, based on what I know about next year, I think LJ's AAP population is going to be pretty much the same.