MacFarland MS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you hope NOT to see in MacFarland as a neighborhood middle school?


I don't want to see the school become a collection of separate programs simply existing under one roof. For instance, one group shunted off into remedial classes, another exclusively attending bilingual classes, and another isolated into some sort of magnet or gifted program. Some here would probably think that sounds great, but without something to bind these groups together, there will be endless conflict. Some very creative thinking will need to be done to develop ways to address a variety of needs and desires while at the same time maintaining a unifying foundation.

Thats interesting. I feel like when my neighbors all get together the ONLY thing that might keep them committed are academic tracks in the school. Whether thats right or wrong is a bigger discussion. But hands down, the number one complaint about middle schools in DC is that its not rigorous enough. Parents asked for this at Brookland and didnt get it. McFarland should have a magnet test in in my opinion. I htink this might be the ONE thing that eveyrone seems to agree on. The truth is the gentirfying families are just not going to stay if DCPS keeps believing the lie that kids who are two grades apart academicially can all learn in the same class in 6th grade.

I hear and read this all the time and it always raises the same question for me: what are you going to do if your kid doesn't make the cut for the magnet test in? I'm really dismayed by parents who believe academic success is binary.

[Anonymous]

Can students just be grouped based on their PARCC ( the new DCPS testing system) scores from the previous year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you hope NOT to see in MacFarland as a neighborhood middle school?


I don't want to see the school become a collection of separate programs simply existing under one roof. For instance, one group shunted off into remedial classes, another exclusively attending bilingual classes, and another isolated into some sort of magnet or gifted program. Some here would probably think that sounds great, but without something to bind these groups together, there will be endless conflict. Some very creative thinking will need to be done to develop ways to address a variety of needs and desires while at the same time maintaining a unifying foundation.

Thats interesting. I feel like when my neighbors all get together the ONLY thing that might keep them committed are academic tracks in the school. Whether thats right or wrong is a bigger discussion. But hands down, the number one complaint about middle schools in DC is that its not rigorous enough. Parents asked for this at Brookland and didnt get it. McFarland should have a magnet test in in my opinion. I htink this might be the ONE thing that eveyrone seems to agree on. The truth is the gentirfying families are just not going to stay if DCPS keeps believing the lie that kids who are two grades apart academicially can all learn in the same class in 6th grade.

I hear and read this all the time and it always raises the same question for me: what are you going to do if your kid doesn't make the cut for the magnet test in? I'm really dismayed by parents who believe academic success is binary.

In Fairfax there is an entire culture built around appealing AAP decisions. Check the forum here. We can learn what to do from them

[Anonymous]

Isn't caleXander zoned for deal? Why does he care?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Isn't caleXander zoned for deal? Why does he care?

Because he is not a self-absorbed jerk. He has put a lot of time and effort into improving education EotP and deserves nothing but praise. The fact that his efforts are not for his own direct benefit makes it even more impressive.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't caleXander zoned for deal? Why does he care?

Because he is not a self-absorbed jerk. He has put a lot of time and effort into improving education EotP and deserves nothing but praise. The fact that his efforts are not for his own direct benefit makes it even more impressive.

+1.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't caleXander zoned for deal? Why does he care?

Because he is not a self-absorbed jerk. He has put a lot of time and effort into improving education EotP and deserves nothing but praise. The fact that his efforts are not for his own direct benefit makes it even more impressive.

Well said. That's been my experience with him as well.

If there's anyone out here with doubts, please email him and offer to volunteer with the Saturday academy for a few months. Then tell us what you think.

[calexander]

Anonymous wrote:Isn't caleXander zoned for deal? Why does he care?

Thank you for your concern.

The answer is simple, really. I believe that all of the children in our community deserve a fair shot at a good education.

People that came before me fought battles and shed blood to provide my generation with opportunities; the least I can do is to use the resources and skills that are available to me to help today's children have a similar chance.

That being said, if I put on my darkest, most cynical, political, game theory hat, the parents of Deal/Wilson should make standing up MacFarland/Roosevelt a high priority. Enrollment trends at Deal/Wilson are not sustainable. If we want to maintain that educational quality, we all must work together to relieve the pressure.

This is a solvable problem. DC is the rare jurisdiction that actually has the financial resources to do this, IF we can find a way to meet the needs of the extremely diverse groups that are at play here.

Christopher

[Anonymous]

calexander wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't caleXander zoned for deal? Why does he care?

Thank you for your concern.

The answer is simple, really. I believe that all of the children in our community deserve a fair shot at a good education.

People that came before me fought battles and shed blood to provide my generation with opportunities; the least I can do is to use the resources and skills that are available to me to help today's children have a similar chance.

That being said, if I put on my darkest, most cynical, political, game theory hat, the parents of Deal/Wilson should make standing up MacFarland/Roosevelt a high priority. Enrollment trends at Deal/Wilson are not sustainable. If we want to maintain that educational quality, we all must work together to relieve the pressure.

This is a solvable problem. DC is the rare jurisdiction that actually has the financial resources to do this, IF we can find a way to meet the needs of the extremely diverse groups that are at play here.

Christopher

+1. The current overcrowding cannot go on forever, and the sooner we develop some viable alternatives, the better.

[Anonymous]

calexander wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't caleXander zoned for deal? Why does he care?

Thank you for your concern.

The answer is simple, really. I believe that all of the children in our community deserve a fair shot at a good education.

People that came before me fought battles and shed blood to provide my generation with opportunities; the least I can do is to use the resources and skills that are available to me to help today's children have a similar chance.

That being said, if I put on my darkest, most cynical, political, game theory hat, the parents of Deal/Wilson should make standing up MacFarland/Roosevelt a high priority. Enrollment trends at Deal/Wilson are not sustainable. If we want to maintain that educational quality, we all must work together to relieve the pressure.

This is a solvable problem. DC is the rare jurisdiction that actually has the financial resources to do this, IF we can find a way to meet the needs of the extremely diverse groups that are at play here.

Christopher

Thank you Christopher! What is your Saturday academy?

[calexander]

Anonymous wrote:

calexander wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't caleXander zoned for deal? Why does he care?

Thank you for your concern.

The answer is simple, really. I believe that all of the children in our community deserve a fair shot at a good education.

People that came before me fought battles and shed blood to provide my generation with opportunities; the least I can do is to use the resources and skills that are available to me to help today's children have a similar chance.

That being said, if I put on my darkest, most cynical, political, game theory hat, the parents of Deal/Wilson should make standing up MacFarland/Roosevelt a high priority. Enrollment trends at Deal/Wilson are not sustainable. If we want to maintain that educational quality, we all must work together to relieve the pressure.

This is a solvable problem. DC is the rare jurisdiction that actually has the financial resources to do this, IF we can find a way to meet the needs of the extremely diverse groups that are at play here.

Christopher

Thank you Christopher! What is your Saturday academy?

www.nwsadc.com

In short, it is an out-of-school-time academic enrichment program for students in the community. This semester, we have kids from twelve (!) different schools doing First Lego League robotics. In the spring, we'll do advance math and Scratch computer programming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can students just be grouped based on their PARCC ( the new DCPS testing system) scores from the previous year?

No, those test are not going to show anything but who has better computer skills.

[Anonymous]

calexander wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

calexander wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't caleXander zoned for deal? Why does he care?

Thank you for your concern.

The answer is simple, really. I believe that all of the children in our community deserve a fair shot at a good education.

People that came before me fought battles and shed blood to provide my generation with opportunities; the least I can do is to use the resources and skills that are available to me to help today's children have a similar chance.

That being said, if I put on my darkest, most cynical, political, game theory hat, the parents of Deal/Wilson should make standing up MacFarland/Roosevelt a high priority. Enrollment trends at Deal/Wilson are not sustainable. If we want to maintain that educational quality, we all must work together to relieve the pressure.

This is a solvable problem. DC is the rare jurisdiction that actually has the financial resources to do this, IF we can find a way to meet the needs of the extremely diverse groups that are at play here.

Christopher

Thank you Christopher! What is your Saturday academy?

www.nwsadc.com

In short, it is an out-of-school-time academic enrichment program for students in the community. This semester, we have kids from twelve (!) different schools doing First Lego League robotics. In the spring, we'll do advance math and Scratch computer programming.

Are students required to live in Ward 4?

[Anonymous]

What do you hope to see in MacFarland as a neighborhood middle school?

As a parent of a preschooler in a Dual Language feeder school, I'd really like the program at MacFarland to take advantage of having kids coming from various schools to group them by ability for some (but probably not all subjects), as a way to increase the rigor of the program. I think it would be possible to have some subjects in Spanish for dual language kids and English for non-DL kids (e.g. science and history), and then regroup them for other subjects (e.g. math and reading (in English)). That way, you use larger pool of students a middle school provides to get all the kids the targeted learning they need at middle school. And the added bonus would be the dual language kids and the non-DL kids would be mixed together for some subjects.

I think that could satisfy some of what parents are looking for in a test in program, without being test in and excluding neighborhood/feeder kids.

[Anonymous]

I would hope to see MacFarland coordinate closely with feeder schools so that the curriculum is well-aligned and students are as prepared as possible. Feedback from MacFarland should help feeder schools address deficits beginning in 2nd or 3rd grade. A smooth transition is in all students' best interest.