Experience with Macfarland?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Math and history.

Why do you care what choices other parents are making? It’s fear mongering.

+1

It’s “fear mongering” to want to know about the curriculum?

This kind of attempts to silence/shame reasonable questions is exactly why parents don’t take a chance on a school.

Parents don’t take chances on a school because of the fear mongering going on in the conversation above.

Not because parents who actually have students at said school say it’s fine. Like, totally fine.

Also, the principal at MacFarland is the most accessible DCPS leader I have ever dealt with. He would be delighted to answer any questions any parent has.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people on here so invested in tearing down a public school they know nothing about. I’m very confused.

My kid’s Spanish is improving by leaps and bounds at MacFarland which is our #1 goal. Kid is in accelerated classes and loves their teachers.

And we’re thinking McKinley for HS but I do love your broad speculation.

What are the accelerated classes at Macfarland? It’s not tearing the school down to want to ensure your kid gets appropriate instruction.

+1. The facts are the facts with the poor PARCC scores that is a valid concern. I would not call that tearing the school down. But to say that a school offers accelerated classes when kids can’t even work on grade level is misleading. Posters are rightly questioning that.

It’s pretty obvious to me that there are lots of families posting here with kids in DCPS bilingual schools that feed to McFarland and are pretty defensive and angry about any negative comments at all. I would argue you should also be questioning the above if you are considering McFarland.

Asking hard questions and for accountability is not tearing a school down.

[Anonymous]

Are you sure, because the comments from actual MacFarland parents don't seem particularly defensive or angry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people on here so invested in tearing down a public school they know nothing about. I’m very confused.

My kid’s Spanish is improving by leaps and bounds at MacFarland which is our #1 goal. Kid is in accelerated classes and loves their teachers.

And we’re thinking McKinley for HS but I do love your broad speculation.

What are the accelerated classes at Macfarland? It’s not tearing the school down to want to ensure your kid gets appropriate instruction.

+1. The facts are the facts with the poor PARCC scores that is a valid concern. I would not call that tearing the school down. But to say that a school offers accelerated classes when kids can’t even work on grade level is misleading. Posters are rightly questioning that.

It’s pretty obvious to me that there are lots of families posting here with kids in DCPS bilingual schools that feed to McFarland and are pretty defensive and angry about any negative comments at all. I would argue you should also be questioning the above if you are considering McFarland.

Asking hard questions and for accountability is not tearing a school down.

Well you aren't really asking hard questions. You're asking questions that could be most accurately and objectively answered by someone at MacFarland. No anger here, just trying to help you out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure, because the comments from actual MacFarland parents don't seem particularly defensive or angry.

Agreed. Also, I have a lot of critiques about the school. I’m not going to gaslight you and say it’s perfect.

I will say I know a lot of smart, hardworking kids there who are doing very well. Their teachers are teaching them and they are learning. There are students who are struggling in and out of school. Those are my claims.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Math and history.

Why do you care what choices other parents are making? It’s fear mongering.

+1

It’s “fear mongering” to want to know about the curriculum?

This kind of attempts to silence/shame reasonable questions is exactly why parents don’t take a chance on a school.

Parents don’t take chances on a school because of the fear mongering going on in the conversation above.

Not because parents who actually have students at said school say it’s fine. Like, totally fine.

Also, the principal at MacFarland is the most accessible DCPS leader I have ever dealt with. He would be delighted to answer any questions any parent has.

Look, why do insist on calling it “fearmongering” to ask about curriculum and instruction? I’m ready to send my kid to a DCPS middle school, but definitely not ready to be told to STFU if I care abou academics. Which is the clear impression I get from you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Math and history.

Why do you care what choices other parents are making? It’s fear mongering.

+1

It’s “fear mongering” to want to know about the curriculum?

This kind of attempts to silence/shame reasonable questions is exactly why parents don’t take a chance on a school.

Lol, going full censorship. You could also just, call the school?

Sure, I would call the school. But it’s not like this stuff should be hidden. That makes zero sense.

You're right. It makes much more sense to take the word of an anonymous person who may or may not have a child at a particular school.

Why do you have a problem with people talking openly about advanced classes? My kid is going to a different MS and it’s helpful to know what other MS offer, so we can get it too. This is one way to start gathering information.

I have no problem with it. I just don't know why you would rely on information on a site like this, which clearly skews WOTP or bust rather than talk to the school and get the information from people who are there.

Straw, meet man.

Do you know what a strawman is? I'm curious how I fit that title

“Strawman: 1. an intentionally misrepresented proposition that is set up because it is easier to defeat than an opponent's real argument.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people on here so invested in tearing down a public school they know nothing about. I’m very confused.

My kid’s Spanish is improving by leaps and bounds at MacFarland which is our #1 goal. Kid is in accelerated classes and loves their teachers.

And we’re thinking McKinley for HS but I do love your broad speculation.

What are the accelerated classes at Macfarland? It’s not tearing the school down to want to ensure your kid gets appropriate instruction.

+1. The facts are the facts with the poor PARCC scores that is a valid concern. I would not call that tearing the school down. But to say that a school offers accelerated classes when kids can’t even work on grade level is misleading. Posters are rightly questioning that.

It’s pretty obvious to me that there are lots of families posting here with kids in DCPS bilingual schools that feed to McFarland and are pretty defensive and angry about any negative comments at all. I would argue you should also be questioning the above if you are considering McFarland.

Asking hard questions and for accountability is not tearing a school down.

Agree. But I’ll add - I am actually not even expecting accelerated classes. I really just want to know if they group the grade level kids together. The stats show they have about 40 grade level/near grade level kids in each year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Math and history.

Why do you care what choices other parents are making? It’s fear mongering.

+1

It’s “fear mongering” to want to know about the curriculum?

This kind of attempts to silence/shame reasonable questions is exactly why parents don’t take a chance on a school.

Lol, going full censorship. You could also just, call the school?

Sure, I would call the school. But it’s not like this stuff should be hidden. That makes zero sense.

You're right. It makes much more sense to take the word of an anonymous person who may or may not have a child at a particular school.

Why do you have a problem with people talking openly about advanced classes? My kid is going to a different MS and it’s helpful to know what other MS offer, so we can get it too. This is one way to start gathering information.

I have no problem with it. I just don't know why you would rely on information on a site like this, which clearly skews WOTP or bust rather than talk to the school and get the information from people who are there.

Straw, meet man.

Do you know what a strawman is? I'm curious how I fit that title

“Strawman: 1. an intentionally misrepresented proposition that is set up because it is easier to defeat than an opponent's real argument.”

Okay, how did I do that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people on here so invested in tearing down a public school they know nothing about. I’m very confused.

My kid’s Spanish is improving by leaps and bounds at MacFarland which is our #1 goal. Kid is in accelerated classes and loves their teachers.

And we’re thinking McKinley for HS but I do love your broad speculation.

What are the accelerated classes at Macfarland? It’s not tearing the school down to want to ensure your kid gets appropriate instruction.

+1. The facts are the facts with the poor PARCC scores that is a valid concern. I would not call that tearing the school down. But to say that a school offers accelerated classes when kids can’t even work on grade level is misleading. Posters are rightly questioning that.

It’s pretty obvious to me that there are lots of families posting here with kids in DCPS bilingual schools that feed to McFarland and are pretty defensive and angry about any negative comments at all. I would argue you should also be questioning the above if you are considering McFarland.

Asking hard questions and for accountability is not tearing a school down.

Well you aren't really asking hard questions. You're asking questions that could be most accurately and objectively answered by someone at MacFarland. No anger here, just trying to help you out.

Feel free to move on if you have nothing to contribute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people on here so invested in tearing down a public school they know nothing about. I’m very confused.

My kid’s Spanish is improving by leaps and bounds at MacFarland which is our #1 goal. Kid is in accelerated classes and loves their teachers.

And we’re thinking McKinley for HS but I do love your broad speculation.

What are the accelerated classes at Macfarland? It’s not tearing the school down to want to ensure your kid gets appropriate instruction.

+1. The facts are the facts with the poor PARCC scores that is a valid concern. I would not call that tearing the school down. But to say that a school offers accelerated classes when kids can’t even work on grade level is misleading. Posters are rightly questioning that.

It’s pretty obvious to me that there are lots of families posting here with kids in DCPS bilingual schools that feed to McFarland and are pretty defensive and angry about any negative comments at all. I would argue you should also be questioning the above if you are considering McFarland.

Asking hard questions and for accountability is not tearing a school down.

Agree. But I’ll add - I am actually not even expecting accelerated classes. I really just want to know if they group the grade level kids together. The stats show they have about 40 grade level/near grade level kids in each year.

Guess who would be well equipped to answer these questions?

[Anonymous]

I'll go ahead and say it: I don't think any of the posters who have kids at MacFarland are defensive. I think the thing some people are reading as defensiveness are actually anger and sadness. Non-Deal and non-Hardy DCPS middle schools have relative few students of families with various privileges (race, income). That makes our schools more segregated and have fewer resources for students who need them. This thread is pretty illustrative of the way these schools are spoken about in real life and kids, parents, and teachers at these schools are aware of that. These school would feel different and arguably better if more families types tried them out. Those us who are sending our kids to them are sad that our society is the way it is and that the type of people who post here think and speak and fund these schools the way they do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Math and history.

Why do you care what choices other parents are making? It’s fear mongering.

+1

It’s “fear mongering” to want to know about the curriculum?

This kind of attempts to silence/shame reasonable questions is exactly why parents don’t take a chance on a school.

Lol, going full censorship. You could also just, call the school?

Sure, I would call the school. But it’s not like this stuff should be hidden. That makes zero sense.

You're right. It makes much more sense to take the word of an anonymous person who may or may not have a child at a particular school.

Why do you have a problem with people talking openly about advanced classes? My kid is going to a different MS and it’s helpful to know what other MS offer, so we can get it too. This is one way to start gathering information.

I have no problem with it. I just don't know why you would rely on information on a site like this, which clearly skews WOTP or bust rather than talk to the school and get the information from people who are there.

Straw, meet man.

Do you know what a strawman is? I'm curious how I fit that title

“Strawman: 1. an intentionally misrepresented proposition that is set up because it is easier to defeat than an opponent's real argument.”

Okay, how did I do that?

By claiming that all I’m doing is relying on DCUM and creating a false dichotomy between talking to the school and drawing on other sources of information. Nothing in what anyone wrote here precludes also going to the school. You’re trying to discredit posters asking for information about academics by creating the misrepresented proposition that we believe DCUM is the only source of information and that we believe it is an infallible source of information. Great way to distract from the actual discussion! Which is: what kind of challenge/grade-level classes does MacFarland provide?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll go ahead and say it: I don't think any of the posters who have kids at MacFarland are defensive. I think the thing some people are reading as defensiveness are actually anger and sadness. Non-Deal and non-Hardy DCPS middle schools have relative few students of families with various privileges (race, income). That makes our schools more segregated and have fewer resources for students who need them. This thread is pretty illustrative of the way these schools are spoken about in real life and kids, parents, and teachers at these schools are aware of that. These school would feel different and arguably better if more families types tried them out. Those us who are sending our kids to them are sad that our society is the way it is and that the type of people who post here think and speak and fund these schools the way they do.

Oh fss. I literally just enrolled my kid in a school similar to MacFarland and I am “sad” that everyone seems to be ok that 3/4 of the kids fail PARCC and the other 1/4 may or may not have appropriate instruction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people on here so invested in tearing down a public school they know nothing about. I’m very confused.

My kid’s Spanish is improving by leaps and bounds at MacFarland which is our #1 goal. Kid is in accelerated classes and loves their teachers.

And we’re thinking McKinley for HS but I do love your broad speculation.

What are the accelerated classes at Macfarland? It’s not tearing the school down to want to ensure your kid gets appropriate instruction.

+1. The facts are the facts with the poor PARCC scores that is a valid concern. I would not call that tearing the school down. But to say that a school offers accelerated classes when kids can’t even work on grade level is misleading. Posters are rightly questioning that.

It’s pretty obvious to me that there are lots of families posting here with kids in DCPS bilingual schools that feed to McFarland and are pretty defensive and angry about any negative comments at all. I would argue you should also be questioning the above if you are considering McFarland.

Asking hard questions and for accountability is not tearing a school down.

Agree. But I’ll add - I am actually not even expecting accelerated classes. I really just want to know if they group the grade level kids together. The stats show they have about 40 grade level/near grade level kids in each year.

Guess who would be well equipped to answer these questions?

Guess who is desperately trying to silence discussion?