Any feedback on Macarthur?

[Anonymous]

Title I school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No kids at the school but FYI, below posted by a parent with kid there on nextdoor.

Important Notice to Parents Considering Enrollment at MacArthur High School. This school is also about to be re-name next school to John Thompson Jr. High. So don’t get fooled. It’s still the same school with the same administration.

Do not enroll your child at MacArthur High School.
This school has had multiple safety incidents, including robberies and assaults on students near and around the campus. Many students who attend this school have been targeted while traveling to and from school, particularly at nearby bus stops and metro stations where groups of students gather unsupervised. There is little to no consistent protection or police presence for students in these areas.

Beyond the serious safety concerns, there are major issues with how the school is managed and operated:
• The school appears to be over-enrolled, prioritizing numbers and funding rather than the safety and well-being of its students.
• Many students do not receive lockers or school ID cards, leading to disorganization and inequitable treatment.
• Students are being placed into AP and advanced classes without proper assessment or transcript review, which creates confusion and academic strain.
• The registration and enrollment process has been handled carelessly, with numerous documentation errors and missing information.
• The administration has repeatedly failed to address or correct safety incidents, and in some cases, has appeared to cover up serious events rather than take accountability.

As a parent, my own child has endured multiple physical assaults by upperclassmen at this school, with no real action taken by administrators to ensure his protection. This environment has proven to be unsafe, unstructured, and lacking transparency.

👉 This is not a safe school to send your children to. Please choose another school option for your child’s safety and well-being.

Until DCPS takes meaningful steps to improve safety, accountability, and oversight, MacArthur High School should not be considered a safe or responsible choice for any student.

This person sounds unhinged. Lots of claims, zero evidence

Sorry but no parent is going to ID themselves and post above if it was not true what happened to her child.

It’s probably true that her kid is struggling, but the list of complaints is hysterical and without evidence. Sort of speaks to where some of the kid’s issues may come from…

As a parent with a kid in a T1 DCPS MS - everything the parent wrote sounds totally believable, not hysterical at all. The reaction to it is a bit escalated but the facts square with our experience to a t. My kid is pretty tough and resilient and I am used to DCPS DCPS-ing, so most of it doesn’t bother me. The ONE thing that does bother me is putting unprepared kids into APs. Unless you have a naturally brilliant and studious kid, that one is a killer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:parent to a Junior here. The school is great. It is a public school, which means you are going to have a variety of abilities present. My son plays sports, does student government, clubs and the like. He's never felt unsafe. Took 3 APs Sophomore year, 5s on two of them. The teachers are great, responsive, and care about students. I have no doubt that things happen and that no place is perfect, but we have been happy with our choice.

But do they mix the abilities in the AP classes resulting in the class being taught to the lowest ability and the rest being left to fend for themselves? This is what we are experiencing in MS and our ability to accept it is quickly wearing thin.

[Anonymous]

Parent of a freshman here, whose other child graduated from J-R in the spring, so i do have bit of expertise here, and will address a couple of the issue raise above. J-R was more chaotic with more fights. It did not affect most kids--plenty take their AP classes and do well and can ignore the chaos and are better and more resilient for it. J-R was overenrolled. Macarthur is not. J-R also lets kids place themselves into AP classes. I was skeptical but it really is the way to do things in an urban public school.

The Macarthur admin is responsive and for the most part, the teachers are helpful and engaging. I have found it comparable to J-R in that regard so far.

I have found the worst part about Macarthur is the people in the neighborhood--they treat the kids like criminals. At a crowded bus stop, neighbors have yelled at kids to stop acting like animals and to stand on the sidewalk. Teenagers waiting for a bus will horse around no matter where they are. The drop off is a nightmare, but the neighbors are going to have to work with the school to figure this out--the school is only going to get bigger and more established with older kids who will be driving and having more independence and a foothold there. Right now, the racism/NIMBYism is a really bad look.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parent of a freshman here, whose other child graduated from J-R in the spring, so i do have bit of expertise here, and will address a couple of the issue raise above. J-R was more chaotic with more fights. It did not affect most kids--plenty take their AP classes and do well and can ignore the chaos and are better and more resilient for it. J-R was overenrolled. Macarthur is not. J-R also lets kids place themselves into AP classes. I was skeptical but it really is the way to do things in an urban public school.

The Macarthur admin is responsive and for the most part, the teachers are helpful and engaging. I have found it comparable to J-R in that regard so far.

I have found the worst part about Macarthur is the people in the neighborhood--they treat the kids like criminals. At a crowded bus stop, neighbors have yelled at kids to stop acting like animals and to stand on the sidewalk. Teenagers waiting for a bus will horse around no matter where they are. The drop off is a nightmare, but the neighbors are going to have to work with the school to figure this out--the school is only going to get bigger and more established with older kids who will be driving and having more independence and a foothold there. Right now, the racism/NIMBYism is a really bad look.

This is very helpful- thanks so much for sharing! Having joined some of the community calls for MacArthur, I agree 100% re the neighbors. Hopefully they will finally accept that the school is not going anywhere and learn to adapt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:parent to a Junior here. The school is great. It is a public school, which means you are going to have a variety of abilities present. My son plays sports, does student government, clubs and the like. He's never felt unsafe. Took 3 APs Sophomore year, 5s on two of them. The teachers are great, responsive, and care about students. I have no doubt that things happen and that no place is perfect, but we have been happy with our choice.

But do they mix the abilities in the AP classes resulting in the class being taught to the lowest ability and the rest being left to fend for themselves? This is what we are experiencing in MS and our ability to accept it is quickly wearing thin.

AP for all doesn’t help anyone. Class is slowed down and dumb down. It is what it is in DCPS at any school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parent of a freshman here, whose other child graduated from J-R in the spring, so i do have bit of expertise here, and will address a couple of the issue raise above. J-R was more chaotic with more fights. It did not affect most kids--plenty take their AP classes and do well and can ignore the chaos and are better and more resilient for it. J-R was overenrolled. Macarthur is not. J-R also lets kids place themselves into AP classes. I was skeptical but it really is the way to do things in an urban public school.

The Macarthur admin is responsive and for the most part, the teachers are helpful and engaging. I have found it comparable to J-R in that regard so far.

I have found the worst part about Macarthur is the people in the neighborhood--they treat the kids like criminals. At a crowded bus stop, neighbors have yelled at kids to stop acting like animals and to stand on the sidewalk. Teenagers waiting for a bus will horse around no matter where they are. The drop off is a nightmare, but the neighbors are going to have to work with the school to figure this out--the school is only going to get bigger and more established with older kids who will be driving and having more independence and a foothold there. Right now, the racism/NIMBYism is a really bad look.

Does MacArthur had the same self-placed AP policies? How does it make sense for kids to place themselves into an AP without the prerequisites, esp language and math?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent of a freshman here, whose other child graduated from J-R in the spring, so i do have bit of expertise here, and will address a couple of the issue raise above. J-R was more chaotic with more fights. It did not affect most kids--plenty take their AP classes and do well and can ignore the chaos and are better and more resilient for it. J-R was overenrolled. Macarthur is not. J-R also lets kids place themselves into AP classes. I was skeptical but it really is the way to do things in an urban public school.

The Macarthur admin is responsive and for the most part, the teachers are helpful and engaging. I have found it comparable to J-R in that regard so far.

I have found the worst part about Macarthur is the people in the neighborhood--they treat the kids like criminals. At a crowded bus stop, neighbors have yelled at kids to stop acting like animals and to stand on the sidewalk. Teenagers waiting for a bus will horse around no matter where they are. The drop off is a nightmare, but the neighbors are going to have to work with the school to figure this out--the school is only going to get bigger and more established with older kids who will be driving and having more independence and a foothold there. Right now, the racism/NIMBYism is a really bad look.

Does MacArthur had the same self-placed AP policies? How does it make sense for kids to place themselves into an AP without the prerequisites, esp language and math?

There are pre-requisites for language and math classes. Self placement just means that kids don’t ALSO have to be recommended by teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent of a freshman here, whose other child graduated from J-R in the spring, so i do have bit of expertise here, and will address a couple of the issue raise above. J-R was more chaotic with more fights. It did not affect most kids--plenty take their AP classes and do well and can ignore the chaos and are better and more resilient for it. J-R was overenrolled. Macarthur is not. J-R also lets kids place themselves into AP classes. I was skeptical but it really is the way to do things in an urban public school.

The Macarthur admin is responsive and for the most part, the teachers are helpful and engaging. I have found it comparable to J-R in that regard so far.

I have found the worst part about Macarthur is the people in the neighborhood--they treat the kids like criminals. At a crowded bus stop, neighbors have yelled at kids to stop acting like animals and to stand on the sidewalk. Teenagers waiting for a bus will horse around no matter where they are. The drop off is a nightmare, but the neighbors are going to have to work with the school to figure this out--the school is only going to get bigger and more established with older kids who will be driving and having more independence and a foothold there. Right now, the racism/NIMBYism is a really bad look.

Does MacArthur had the same self-placed AP policies? How does it make sense for kids to place themselves into an AP without the prerequisites, esp language and math?

There are pre-requisites for language and math classes. Self placement just means that kids don’t ALSO have to be recommended by teachers.

There are no recommendations from teachers. There are no objective academic criteria needed for entry.
Kids are in these classes who should not be and it drags the classes down.

[Anonymous]

Parents of a MacArthur freshman here. My son loves the school. The staff and the administrators are amazing. My son was recommended to do AP pre-calculus because they reviewed his transcript and he already had algebra two in eighth grade and he has been getting straight A’s in his current algebra two class now I was a little annoyed that they did not view his transcript, but I was happy to see that once they acknowledged that they immediately switched his classes. Yes there have been fights. Yes, some children may be a little rowdy but it’s a public school. I see the same thing Deal and JR. The homecoming dance just happened. It was very successful at this school. I feel like my son would get the real high school experience. I am very pleased with the school and I recommend it to anybody.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents of a MacArthur freshman here. My son loves the school. The staff and the administrators are amazing. My son was recommended to do AP pre-calculus because they reviewed his transcript and he already had algebra two in eighth grade and he has been getting straight A’s in his current algebra two class now I was a little annoyed that they did not view his transcript, but I was happy to see that once they acknowledged that they immediately switched his classes. Yes there have been fights. Yes, some children may be a little rowdy but it’s a public school. I see the same thing Deal and JR. The homecoming dance just happened. It was very successful at this school. I feel like my son would get the real high school experience. I am very pleased with the school and I recommend it to anybody.

Where did he go to middle school that he did algebra II in 8th grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parent of a freshman here, whose other child graduated from J-R in the spring, so i do have bit of expertise here, and will address a couple of the issue raise above. J-R was more chaotic with more fights. It did not affect most kids--plenty take their AP classes and do well and can ignore the chaos and are better and more resilient for it. J-R was overenrolled. Macarthur is not. J-R also lets kids place themselves into AP classes. I was skeptical but it really is the way to do things in an urban public school.

The Macarthur admin is responsive and for the most part, the teachers are helpful and engaging. I have found it comparable to J-R in that regard so far.

I have found the worst part about Macarthur is the people in the neighborhood--they treat the kids like criminals. At a crowded bus stop, neighbors have yelled at kids to stop acting like animals and to stand on the sidewalk. Teenagers waiting for a bus will horse around no matter where they are. The drop off is a nightmare, but the neighbors are going to have to work with the school to figure this out--the school is only going to get bigger and more established with older kids who will be driving and having more independence and a foothold there. Right now, the racism/NIMBYism is a really bad look.

Thank you for this.

I especially appreciate the comparison to J-R. We are an east side family with a kid entering S-H, trying to figure out our high school options, and it's really useful to level set when evaluating schools in DC. You can always find people who will tell you that a school is "terrible" (literally any school) but it's really helpful to find out what they are comparing it to. J-R is considered the best boundary HS in DC, so a parent with experience there saying MacArthur is fairly comparable academically while being less crowded with fewer fights is really valuable. Some people will want to compare it to Gonzaga or GDS or Walls or Banneker -- those schools can all screen applicants and skew towards high-SES families, so of course they are different. As a parent whose boundary HS is Eastern, your analysis is a lot more useful to me!

Anyway, thanks for contributing and glad your kid seems to be having a good experience.

[Anonymous]

I’d advise parents to really pay attention to reports of the weird racism/NIMBYism of the neighbors.

We saw that when my kid was assigned a soccer practice location not far from MacArthur when he was little. We literally had elderly entitled people walk their dogs through the middle of teams of kids actively practicing in coned off practice spaces assigned and permitted by DPR in DPR parks. When asked to move, they got very indignant about how the kids “didn’t have any right to be there.” When shown DPR permits, they still argued. It was bizarre and very troubling.

Those same people come in from their dog walks and post made up nonsense to NextDoor and DCUM about how terrible a school that they know absolutely nothing about is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents of a MacArthur freshman here. My son loves the school. The staff and the administrators are amazing. My son was recommended to do AP pre-calculus because they reviewed his transcript and he already had algebra two in eighth grade and he has been getting straight A’s in his current algebra two class now I was a little annoyed that they did not view his transcript, but I was happy to see that once they acknowledged that they immediately switched his classes. Yes there have been fights. Yes, some children may be a little rowdy but it’s a public school. I see the same thing Deal and JR. The homecoming dance just happened. It was very successful at this school. I feel like my son would get the real high school experience. I am very pleased with the school and I recommend it to anybody.

Where did he go to middle school that he did algebra II in 8th grade?

Either BASIS or Deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents of a MacArthur freshman here. My son loves the school. The staff and the administrators are amazing. My son was recommended to do AP pre-calculus because they reviewed his transcript and he already had algebra two in eighth grade and he has been getting straight A’s in his current algebra two class now I was a little annoyed that they did not view his transcript, but I was happy to see that once they acknowledged that they immediately switched his classes. Yes there have been fights. Yes, some children may be a little rowdy but it’s a public school. I see the same thing Deal and JR. The homecoming dance just happened. It was very successful at this school. I feel like my son would get the real high school experience. I am very pleased with the school and I recommend it to anybody.

Where did he go to middle school that he did algebra II in 8th grade?

Either BASIS or Deal.

DCI also but class is not called Algebra II. It is IB and math courses are integrated. In the highest track, it gets you to AP Calculus by 10th.