What do you think of Janney?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do the K and first grade classes at least have co-teachers at Hearst? Then I would be okay with those class sizes.

Yes both K and 1st have dedicated co teachers at Hearst this year. 2 adults in each classroom at both grade levels

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Janney does not have "two teachers per class." Janney has the DCPS-standard one teacher per class. there are also paraprofessional aides in most classes who help the teachers."

Not true. In most grades/classes, the second teacher is a teacher with a four-year teaching degree. Often, they are first or second year teachers. But they are not, generally, "paraprofessionals" with only two-year degrees. There are still a few of those left, but that is mostly the old model of how pre-K and K were handled years ago.

DCPS doesn't allow actual certified teacher::pupil ratio to dip to 11::1 in K and up in non-Title I schools including Janney. PTA funds cannot buy additional accredited, credentialed teachers to bring down ratios.

So, still no. They are not teachers in the way that the actual teacher is a teacher, even if they have now completed college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Janney was the place to be in the 90s and 00s. But like every other commodity you don't want to be the one to buy at the top. The real estate prices in AU Park on a square foot basis are ridiculous for the old, small houses you get. And, the school is at a tipping point with overcrowding. The smart money is now buying in Murch/Hearst zones since the schools have higher test scores than Janney, but generally lower cost per foot (but not for long). And, you have the Deal feeder path.

Part of that is not because of Janney but because of Metro and shopping proximity, and that won't change as an advantage for much of AU Park real estate, even if Janney were to fall behind other schools in terms of desirability.

Aren't SV and CC already obviously more desirable? SV is more attractive and CC/DC has proximity to upper Connecticut Ave.

sometimes I think the people who post this have never looked at a map or left Logan Circle. A large part of CCDC is on the metro and has equal proximity to Wisconsin and Conn. Ave commerce. Sexy one-word restaurants offering craft ice cubes? No. But <10 minute walk / 1.5 minute drive from absolutely any need you could name.

That attribute is true of some, not all, of AU Park, too. Pretty SV not so much

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do the K and first grade classes at least have co-teachers at Hearst? Then I would be okay with those class sizes.

Yes both K and 1st have dedicated co teachers at Hearst this year. 2 adults in each classroom at both grade levels

okay, that sounds good. what will they do once the class size of 27 gets to second and third grade? do they have math or English subject matter teachers that do pull outs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Janney was the place to be in the 90s and 00s. But like every other commodity you don't want to be the one to buy at the top. The real estate prices in AU Park on a square foot basis are ridiculous for the old, small houses you get. And, the school is at a tipping point with overcrowding. The smart money is now buying in Murch/Hearst zones since the schools have higher test scores than Janney, but generally lower cost per foot (but not for long). And, you have the Deal feeder path.

Part of that is not because of Janney but because of Metro and shopping proximity, and that won't change as an advantage for much of AU Park real estate, even if Janney were to fall behind other schools in terms of desirability.

Aren't SV and CC already obviously more desirable? SV is more attractive and CC/DC has proximity to upper Connecticut Ave.

sometimes I think the people who post this have never looked at a map or left Logan Circle. A large part of CCDC is on the metro and has equal proximity to Wisconsin and Conn. Ave commerce. Sexy one-word restaurants offering craft ice cubes? No. But <10 minute walk / 1.5 minute drive from absolutely any need you could name.

That attribute is true of some, not all, of AU Park, too. Pretty SV not so much

to add to this, logan circle is a 10-12 minute uber ride from where i live, so those that say they could never move into upper NW DC because it is not cool enough for them must neither use metro or travel much because living several miles from restaurants instead of across the street is not a hardship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there are two main reasons why people overpay for a house in
AU Park. It is not necessarily that they think that Janney is better than Stoddert, Murch, Mann, etc.
Rather it is that Janney feeds into Deal and also that there is a very convenient metro stop in the neighborhood.
For many parents working downtown, it is convenient to drop the kid off at school and then walk right to the metro.
Same on the way back. AU Park also has a suburban feel, almost like an extension of Bethesda, which is appealing to many folks.
By the way, I have a 3rd grader at Janney and his classes have always ranged from 19-22 since Kindergarten. I would caution people not to assume that large is equivalent to overcrowded classes.

And the K classes at Hearst this year have 24 per class. Hearst parents -- stop promoting Hearst on DCUM or the class sizes will soon approach 30 like in some Janney classes! Keep your satisfaction to yourself and keep Hearst small!

OMG- can these Hearst posters stop with the "let's keep our precious school a secret from everyone?" I swear this is on every one of these threads.

Hearst likely will get larger, fast. As neighborhood enrollment climbs, the logical thing for DCPS to do will be to ratchet back OOB student seats. But DCPS is unlikely to do that, or at least it is unlikely to do it much, because there are settled expectations and excess demand for places in schools west of Rock Creek Park. Hearst is one of the few schools that has reliably had a lot of OOB places and it will be politically unpopular for the mayor and chancellor to change that too much.

The IB parents are tracking this closely and in regular contact with principal. Trust me

These large class sizes are not due to new OOB kids. People are moving to the neighborhood to attend Hearst, and even just a handful of new students each year can affect class size dramatically when you have only two classes per grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there are two main reasons why people overpay for a house in
AU Park. It is not necessarily that they think that Janney is better than Stoddert, Murch, Mann, etc.
Rather it is that Janney feeds into Deal and also that there is a very convenient metro stop in the neighborhood.
For many parents working downtown, it is convenient to drop the kid off at school and then walk right to the metro.
Same on the way back. AU Park also has a suburban feel, almost like an extension of Bethesda, which is appealing to many folks.
By the way, I have a 3rd grader at Janney and his classes have always ranged from 19-22 since Kindergarten. I would caution people not to assume that large is equivalent to overcrowded classes.

And the K classes at Hearst this year have 24 per class. Hearst parents -- stop promoting Hearst on DCUM or the class sizes will soon approach 30 like in some Janney classes! Keep your satisfaction to yourself and keep Hearst small!

OMG- can these Hearst posters stop with the "let's keep our precious school a secret from everyone?" I swear this is on every one of these threads.

Hearst likely will get larger, fast. As neighborhood enrollment climbs, the logical thing for DCPS to do will be to ratchet back OOB student seats. But DCPS is unlikely to do that, or at least it is unlikely to do it much, because there are settled expectations and excess demand for places in schools west of Rock Creek Park. Hearst is one of the few schools that has reliably had a lot of OOB places and it will be politically unpopular for the mayor and chancellor to change that too much.

The IB parents are tracking this closely and in regular contact with principal. Trust me

These large class sizes are not due to new OOB kids. People are moving to the neighborhood to attend Hearst, and even just a handful of new students each year can affect class size dramatically when you have only two classes per grade.

Yes - but once there are 'too many' children are in a grade they usually add another class (see Van Ness which now has 3 PK3 classes because of how many IB students applied via the lottery).

And sometimes in adding those classes there are a few new 'extra' seats that are given to OOB people on the waiting list. This is what's happened at Murch, Eaton and Hearst over the years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there are two main reasons why people overpay for a house in
AU Park. It is not necessarily that they think that Janney is better than Stoddert, Murch, Mann, etc.
Rather it is that Janney feeds into Deal and also that there is a very convenient metro stop in the neighborhood.
For many parents working downtown, it is convenient to drop the kid off at school and then walk right to the metro.
Same on the way back. AU Park also has a suburban feel, almost like an extension of Bethesda, which is appealing to many folks.
By the way, I have a 3rd grader at Janney and his classes have always ranged from 19-22 since Kindergarten. I would caution people not to assume that large is equivalent to overcrowded classes.

And the K classes at Hearst this year have 24 per class. Hearst parents -- stop promoting Hearst on DCUM or the class sizes will soon approach 30 like in some Janney classes! Keep your satisfaction to yourself and keep Hearst small!

OMG- can these Hearst posters stop with the "let's keep our precious school a secret from everyone?" I swear this is on every one of these threads.

Hearst likely will get larger, fast. As neighborhood enrollment climbs, the logical thing for DCPS to do will be to ratchet back OOB student seats. But DCPS is unlikely to do that, or at least it is unlikely to do it much, because there are settled expectations and excess demand for places in schools west of Rock Creek Park. Hearst is one of the few schools that has reliably had a lot of OOB places and it will be politically unpopular for the mayor and chancellor to change that too much.

The IB parents are tracking this closely and in regular contact with principal. Trust me

These large class sizes are not due to new OOB kids. People are moving to the neighborhood to attend Hearst, and even just a handful of new students each year can affect class size dramatically when you have only two classes per grade.

Right. But do DCPS and the admin have the, uh, guts to manage OOB slots down aggressively, as students graduate to middle school? Or will they simply acquiesce to long standing expectations and likely political pressure from EOTP residents that Hearst continue to be substantially available to their neighborhoods?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there are two main reasons why people overpay for a house in
AU Park. It is not necessarily that they think that Janney is better than Stoddert, Murch, Mann, etc.
Rather it is that Janney feeds into Deal and also that there is a very convenient metro stop in the neighborhood.
For many parents working downtown, it is convenient to drop the kid off at school and then walk right to the metro.
Same on the way back. AU Park also has a suburban feel, almost like an extension of Bethesda, which is appealing to many folks.
By the way, I have a 3rd grader at Janney and his classes have always ranged from 19-22 since Kindergarten. I would caution people not to assume that large is equivalent to overcrowded classes.

And the K classes at Hearst this year have 24 per class. Hearst parents -- stop promoting Hearst on DCUM or the class sizes will soon approach 30 like in some Janney classes! Keep your satisfaction to yourself and keep Hearst small!

OMG- can these Hearst posters stop with the "let's keep our precious school a secret from everyone?" I swear this is on every one of these threads.

Hearst likely will get larger, fast. As neighborhood enrollment climbs, the logical thing for DCPS to do will be to ratchet back OOB student seats. But DCPS is unlikely to do that, or at least it is unlikely to do it much, because there are settled expectations and excess demand for places in schools west of Rock Creek Park. Hearst is one of the few schools that has reliably had a lot of OOB places and it will be politically unpopular for the mayor and chancellor to change that too much.

The IB parents are tracking this closely and in regular contact with principal. Trust me

These large class sizes are not due to new OOB kids. People are moving to the neighborhood to attend Hearst, and even just a handful of new students each year can affect class size dramatically when you have only two classes per grade.

Yes - but once there are 'too many' children are in a grade they usually add another class (see Van Ness which now has 3 PK3 classes because of how many IB students applied via the lottery).

And sometimes in adding those classes there are a few new 'extra' seats that are given to OOB people on the waiting list. This is what's happened at Murch, Eaton and Hearst over the years.

That happens in a lot of places as it absolutely should happen. Would you seriously want the alternative -- 30-32 students/class overcrowding or 15 students/class which waste budget by requiring additional teachers? Or reasonable class size supplemented with OOB students who prioritize the school? The latter is a no-brainier and it would be insane to shun OOB at that cost.

Those classes are not added to appease EOTP residents -- they're added to accommodate the existing IB demand. In some cases there is an additional benefit of much needed diversity.

[Anonymous]

But they should NOT allow OOB to increase a class size above some limit -like 22. Why should a class go up to 27 due to OOB?

It is an entirely different story if you get an additional teacher and classes go down with OOB. Increasing class in order to bring in OOB makes no sense. but then they need to have an extra teacher for every grade to keep the class sizes small every year with that many students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But they should NOT allow OOB to increase a class size above some limit -like 22. Why should a class go up to 27 due to OOB?

It is an entirely different story if you get an additional teacher and classes go down with OOB. Increasing class in order to bring in OOB makes no sense. but then they need to have an extra teacher for every grade to keep the class sizes small every year with that many students.

Let's assume that PK4 only has 24 IB children - requiring 2 PK classes but right on the bubble for a K class size based on DCPS guidelines.

The following year another 6 IB kids register for K, bringing the total to 30 IB students. The principal has to decide whether to offer just 1 K class (with 30 kids) or petition DCPS for 2 teachers so there can be 2 K classes.

DCPS budgeting won't allow a class of just of 15 so they open slots for 10 OOB K children. Its in both the IB and the potential OOB families to have two classes of K because the class sizes are small. It also probably brings some racial and economic diversity to the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there are two main reasons why people overpay for a house in
AU Park. It is not necessarily that they think that Janney is better than Stoddert, Murch, Mann, etc.
Rather it is that Janney feeds into Deal and also that there is a very convenient metro stop in the neighborhood.
For many parents working downtown, it is convenient to drop the kid off at school and then walk right to the metro.
Same on the way back. AU Park also has a suburban feel, almost like an extension of Bethesda, which is appealing to many folks.
By the way, I have a 3rd grader at Janney and his classes have always ranged from 19-22 since Kindergarten. I would caution people not to assume that large is equivalent to overcrowded classes.

And the K classes at Hearst this year have 24 per class. Hearst parents -- stop promoting Hearst on DCUM or the class sizes will soon approach 30 like in some Janney classes! Keep your satisfaction to yourself and keep Hearst small!

OMG- can these Hearst posters stop with the "let's keep our precious school a secret from everyone?" I swear this is on every one of these threads.

Hearst likely will get larger, fast. As neighborhood enrollment climbs, the logical thing for DCPS to do will be to ratchet back OOB student seats. But DCPS is unlikely to do that, or at least it is unlikely to do it much, because there are settled expectations and excess demand for places in schools west of Rock Creek Park. Hearst is one of the few schools that has reliably had a lot of OOB places and it will be politically unpopular for the mayor and chancellor to change that too much.

The IB parents are tracking this closely and in regular contact with principal. Trust me

These large class sizes are not due to new OOB kids. People are moving to the neighborhood to attend Hearst, and even just a handful of new students each year can affect class size dramatically when you have only two classes per grade.

Yes - but once there are 'too many' children are in a grade they usually add another class (see Van Ness which now has 3 PK3 classes because of how many IB students applied via the lottery).

And sometimes in adding those classes there are a few new 'extra' seats that are given to OOB people on the waiting list. This is what's happened at Murch, Eaton and Hearst over the years.

Sorry, but this sentiment is a little gross. And DCUM harps on the Janney parents for being exclusionary?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there are two main reasons why people overpay for a house in
AU Park. It is not necessarily that they think that Janney is better than Stoddert, Murch, Mann, etc.
Rather it is that Janney feeds into Deal and also that there is a very convenient metro stop in the neighborhood.
For many parents working downtown, it is convenient to drop the kid off at school and then walk right to the metro.
Same on the way back. AU Park also has a suburban feel, almost like an extension of Bethesda, which is appealing to many folks.
By the way, I have a 3rd grader at Janney and his classes have always ranged from 19-22 since Kindergarten. I would caution people not to assume that large is equivalent to overcrowded classes.

And the K classes at Hearst this year have 24 per class. Hearst parents -- stop promoting Hearst on DCUM or the class sizes will soon approach 30 like in some Janney classes! Keep your satisfaction to yourself and keep Hearst small!

OMG- can these Hearst posters stop with the "let's keep our precious school a secret from everyone?" I swear this is on every one of these threads.

Hearst likely will get larger, fast. As neighborhood enrollment climbs, the logical thing for DCPS to do will be to ratchet back OOB student seats. But DCPS is unlikely to do that, or at least it is unlikely to do it much, because there are settled expectations and excess demand for places in schools west of Rock Creek Park. Hearst is one of the few schools that has reliably had a lot of OOB places and it will be politically unpopular for the mayor and chancellor to change that too much.

The IB parents are tracking this closely and in regular contact with principal. Trust me

These large class sizes are not due to new OOB kids. People are moving to the neighborhood to attend Hearst, and even just a handful of new students each year can affect class size dramatically when you have only two classes per grade.

Yes - but once there are 'too many' children are in a grade they usually add another class (see Van Ness which now has 3 PK3 classes because of how many IB students applied via the lottery).

And sometimes in adding those classes there are a few new 'extra' seats that are given to OOB people on the waiting list. This is what's happened at Murch, Eaton and Hearst over the years.

Sorry, but this sentiment is a little gross. And DCUM harps on the Janney parents for being exclusionary?

And you draw conclusions from one poster (who may or may not be a Janney parent) about Janney parents in general?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there are two main reasons why people overpay for a house in
AU Park. It is not necessarily that they think that Janney is better than Stoddert, Murch, Mann, etc.
Rather it is that Janney feeds into Deal and also that there is a very convenient metro stop in the neighborhood.
For many parents working downtown, it is convenient to drop the kid off at school and then walk right to the metro.
Same on the way back. AU Park also has a suburban feel, almost like an extension of Bethesda, which is appealing to many folks.
By the way, I have a 3rd grader at Janney and his classes have always ranged from 19-22 since Kindergarten. I would caution people not to assume that large is equivalent to overcrowded classes.

And the K classes at Hearst this year have 24 per class. Hearst parents -- stop promoting Hearst on DCUM or the class sizes will soon approach 30 like in some Janney classes! Keep your satisfaction to yourself and keep Hearst small!

OMG- can these Hearst posters stop with the "let's keep our precious school a secret from everyone?" I swear this is on every one of these threads.

Hearst likely will get larger, fast. As neighborhood enrollment climbs, the logical thing for DCPS to do will be to ratchet back OOB student seats. But DCPS is unlikely to do that, or at least it is unlikely to do it much, because there are settled expectations and excess demand for places in schools west of Rock Creek Park. Hearst is one of the few schools that has reliably had a lot of OOB places and it will be politically unpopular for the mayor and chancellor to change that too much.

The IB parents are tracking this closely and in regular contact with principal. Trust me

These large class sizes are not due to new OOB kids. People are moving to the neighborhood to attend Hearst, and even just a handful of new students each year can affect class size dramatically when you have only two classes per grade.

Right. But do DCPS and the admin have the, uh, guts to manage OOB slots down aggressively, as students graduate to middle school? Or will they simply acquiesce to long standing expectations and likely political pressure from EOTP residents that Hearst continue to be substantially available to their neighborhoods?

According to Myschooldc, at least through August, Hearst and Murch took no one off its WL for K and above. OTOH Deal feeders Janney and Lafayette did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Janney does not have "two teachers per class." Janney has the DCPS-standard one teacher per class. there are also paraprofessional aides in most classes who help the teachers."

Not true. In most grades/classes, the second teacher is a teacher with a four-year teaching degree. Often, they are first or second year teachers. But they are not, generally, "paraprofessionals" with only two-year degrees. There are still a few of those left, but that is mostly the old model of how pre-K and K were handled years ago.

DCPS doesn't allow actual certified teacher::pupil ratio to dip to 11::1 in K and up in non-Title I schools including Janney. PTA funds cannot buy additional accredited, credentialed teachers to bring down ratios.

So, still no. They are not teachers in the way that the actual teacher is a teacher, even if they have now completed college.

They are actually certified teachers.