Does anyone send the children to Jefferson-Houston in Alexandria?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

A lot of the resources for lower SES students that people are posting about are for older kids. What about universal pre-K or more summer or academic support programs for kids in elementary? My son is in K at an ACPS school and I volunteer in his school regularly. At the end of the year, there were kids who could not read the most basic 3 letter words who are moving on to 1st grade. Of course, there are also lower SES kids who are academically on track, but for the lower SES kids who are not, it is a genuinely worrisome situation.


One issue they face in the early years right now is that many of those K students are ESL students who speak only spanish at home. this is a problem because they first have to learn some basic spoken English to communicate and then they actually have to learn the rules of phonics and reading. They can't rely on parents because the parents might speak conversational English but might not be able to read it or pronounce it correctly. So, it's not a question of more kids going to Pre-K. That would help but only help marginally.

English is the first language of the children in my son's class that I am worried about.

Yes. YES. Yes, access to pre k would definitely help these kids, English and non-native English speakers.

[Anonymous]

It seems the biggest issue for ACPS is their inability to create and implement a shared vision from the very top to the very bottom. There is a great deal of cronyism, bullying and non-supportive measures from the leaders. There is a culture of mistrust and fear that is paralyzing the system. There is too much rewarding of those who undermine their colleagues to protect ineffective leadership. What does this mean for the students? Students are taught in a negative, toxic environment. Veteran Teachers who try to advocate or use innovative techniques find their careers being destroyed. New teachers are overwhelmed and under-trained so they leave or are pushed out. The big salaries only benefit those in leadership, who are more insulated, since classroom teachers are often expected to carry the costs of the limited time and resources provided. This is especially a problem for ELL and Special Education students who need more highly trained specialistsand a more therapeutic setting - and their specialists need more support. So the policy of throwing these students into general education so you pay for fewer teachers means the average kids lose support.Teachers are blamed and told to pick up even more slack- even though they have already given up so much time and money to save a pretty wealthy district that is mismanaged. When ACPS decides to do more than just check off boxes to say they did something to address their problems things will get better - not just at JH but throughout the system.
Yes you can have children who are successful in ACPS - but generally if they have special learning needs (GT, SpEd, ELL) or are emotionally needy - ACPS schools may not provide them with what they need to reach their full potential.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

A lot of the resources for lower SES students that people are posting about are for older kids. What about universal pre-K or more summer or academic support programs for kids in elementary? My son is in K at an ACPS school and I volunteer in his school regularly. At the end of the year, there were kids who could not read the most basic 3 letter words who are moving on to 1st grade. Of course, there are also lower SES kids who are academically on track, but for the lower SES kids who are not, it is a genuinely worrisome situation.


One issue they face in the early years right now is that many of those K students are ESL students who speak only spanish at home. this is a problem because they first have to learn some basic spoken English to communicate and then they actually have to learn the rules of phonics and reading. They can't rely on parents because the parents might speak conversational English but might not be able to read it or pronounce it correctly. So, it's not a question of more kids going to Pre-K. That would help but only help marginally.

English is the first language of the children in my son's class that I am worried about.

Yes. YES. Yes, access to pre k would definitely help these kids, English and non-native English speakers.

No.NO. NO, access to pre K makes a marginal difference that generally disappears by 3rd grade.
This is has been studied and this why I no longer support head start.

The support is needed in 1st -3rd.

[Anonymous]

Neither the current City Council or the current School Board seem to really care about the overall mess or how bad the schools are in Alexandria, which has been quite evident for a very long time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Neither the current City Council or the current School Board seem to really care about the overall mess or how bad the schools are in Alexandria, which has been quite evident for a very long time.

Odd, isn't it? With all this development and push to urbanize, you'd fixing the school system would be a high priority. I wonder if Council and School Board feels newcomers will just go private? Granted, it isn't p.c. talk about the quality of your public education, but to act on it is. I think it's time to maybe ditch elected board members and go with salaried professional educators and staff. Probably not allowed to by city charter, but for decades good meaning people get elected but ACPS largely remains at the bottom. We're talking 14,500 students too, not hundreds of thousands like Fairfax and Montgomery counties. ACPS Admin salaries are right up there too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Neither the current City Council or the current School Board seem to really care about the overall mess or how bad the schools are in Alexandria, which has been quite evident for a very long time.

They changed chancellors because they do care. They need to stick to some plans, and get the details right and not keep switching to new schemes. That JH appears to be on the mend is a good thing. It will take time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Neither the current City Council or the current School Board seem to really care about the overall mess or how bad the schools are in Alexandria, which has been quite evident for a very long time.

Odd, isn't it? With all this development and push to urbanize, you'd fixing the school system would be a high priority. I wonder if Council and School Board feels newcomers will just go private? Granted, it isn't p.c. talk about the quality of your public education, but to act on it is. I think it's time to maybe ditch elected board members and go with salaried professional educators and staff. Probably not allowed to by city charter, but for decades good meaning people get elected but ACPS largely remains at the bottom. We're talking 14,500 students too, not hundreds of thousands like Fairfax and Montgomery counties. ACPS Admin salaries are right up there too.

Alexandria is not getting new detached SFHs. Most of the new housing is multifamily, and some is high end THs. Most of the people who live there will not have school age kids - some of the residents of new THs in Potomac Yards will likely go private (and might well have even if ACPS were much improved)

[Anonymous]

This is why moved out of alexandria city into FFX county. Alexandria needs to figure out their schools...the same cycle repeats. Couples love it, then have kids and when the kids reach school age, they move or go private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is why moved out of alexandria city into FFX county. Alexandria needs to figure out their schools...the same cycle repeats. Couples love it, then have kids and when the kids reach school age, they move or go private.

Or you know, they don't. We did not. Stayed at MVCS, currently have a middle and high schooler. Not weighing in on Jeff Houston as we didn't attend but you know? Overall we're pretty content with the school district. Perfect? No. Certainly not worth all these histrionics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why moved out of alexandria city into FFX county. Alexandria needs to figure out their schools...the same cycle repeats. Couples love it, then have kids and when the kids reach school age, they move or go private.

Or you know, they don't. We did not. Stayed at MVCS, currently have a middle and high schooler. Not weighing in on Jeff Houston as we didn't attend but you know? Overall we're pretty content with the school district. Perfect? No. Certainly not worth all these histrionics.

I actually spent a lot of time debating this, whether to send my kid to Jeff-Houston. I even toured the school. We were completely fine sending our kid to a school with all sorts of kids, including a good hunk of kids that are needy or had ESL needs. I refused to send them to a school where they would be one of the only children not in the previously mentioned categories.

We moved down to Belle View, which is a mixed/poor performing school in FFX. That said, it's diverse. There are all sorts of kids there and we appreciate the mix of students. So, no. Scores aren't everything.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know where to find out how many kids got admin transfers out of Jeff Houston for the 2016 school year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know where to find out how many kids got admin transfers out of Jeff Houston for the 2016 school year?

The 2016 school year hasn't started yet. The 2015 stats are available on the ACPS website somewhere. I seem to recall there were no K transfers or very few granted this year.

[Anonymous]

We are moving out of old town because we refuse to send our child to a failing school dominated by children with parents that obviously don't value education (affordable housing tenants). My child shouldn't have to be exposed to the implications of losers, such as elected officials, school administration, and the residents who don't value their off-spring's education. I can't afford private school and live in the area so I'm out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know where to find out how many kids got admin transfers out of Jeff Houston for the 2016 school year?

If you look watch the school board meetings from fall 2015, there are exhibits showing transfers and why for the 14-15 school year. The info memo is dated 12/5/14 (the latest data).

It only has each school overall, not by grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Neither the current City Council or the current School Board seem to really care about the overall mess or how bad the schools are in Alexandria, which has been quite evident for a very long time.

Agreed! That's why Alexandrians voted over 50% of School Board out. District B had a 100% change over. There are 9 members of Schools Board and 5 are newly elected. In fact Thurs. night is the Induction meeting of the new School Board members. This is a breath of fresh air and the new members are very dedicated to making changes.