MacArthur

[Anonymous]

what is the vibe of the school?

Does anyone have kids attending who have any feedback on liking or not at this point?

Is there a breakdown of Hardy vs. non-Hardy kids (asking as a Hardy 8th grade parent whose kids are interested if they will be with same kids or is it really 1/2 from other schools like had been reported from the summer)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go away, OP. Obsessing right out of the gate about whether the students are "OOB" is telling and gross. Just be sure to schedule those private school tours early! Don't wanna miss your spot!

+1

[Anonymous]

I know someone personally who transferred as a 10th grader to MacArthur and is loving it. Was overwhelmed by Jackson reed and thrilled with the more relaxed atmosphere. My kid will be there in ‘25 so I’m keeping fingers crossed they keep it up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No books in the library or no books for classes. Jackson Reed has also had trouble retaining teachers. The school went an entire year without a physics teacher.

The only people who care about # of books in the library are USN&WR and the crazy BASIS person (who also wants computer labs).

Where do you find the time to track, and slam, people who used to post about BASIS not having a library or quiet, pleasant place to read.

I care about the # of books in the library at MacArthur. A lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No books in the library or no books for classes. Jackson Reed has also had trouble retaining teachers. The school went an entire year without a physics teacher.

The only people who care about # of books in the library are USN&WR and the crazy BASIS person (who also wants computer labs).

Where do you find the time to track, and slam, people who used to post about BASIS not having a library or quiet, pleasant place to read.

I care about the # of books in the library at MacArthur. A lot.

Why is this important to you? My kid attended JR for 4 years, and I'm not sure he knows where the library is. Kidding, but seriously - he borrows books from DC public library or buys them on Kindle and did likewise all through high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No books in the library or no books for classes. Jackson Reed has also had trouble retaining teachers. The school went an entire year without a physics teacher.

The only people who care about # of books in the library are USN&WR and the crazy BASIS person (who also wants computer labs).

Where do you find the time to track, and slam, people who used to post about BASIS not having a library or quiet, pleasant place to read.

I care about the # of books in the library at MacArthur. A lot.

Why is this important to you? My kid attended JR for 4 years, and I'm not sure he knows where the library is. Kidding, but seriously - he borrows books from DC public library or buys them on Kindle and did likewise all through high school.

School libraries matter for ES. After that, there's no library class, so it's just for research and book check-out. The public libraries are generally better for both those things.

[Anonymous]

I have a kid there. I’ve heard of a lot of very nice teachers. But some teachers who came from Middle Schools do not understand that they no longer teach at the middle school level. Ive heard a few complaints from a few kids who’ve transferred from other HS that it feels like they’ve been sent back to middle school.

Socially it’s Very cliquish which sucks in such a tiny school. The majority of Hardy kids are in one group.

Kid has mentioned, while laughing, that two of their classes are chaos.There are a couple of students who teachers cannot control. The Principal sent out an email acknowledging reports of classroom environments not conducive to learning so it’s not just my kid saying it. At least he’s aware and says they’re working on it. That seems very proactive. I also appreciate he’s not trying to hide it.

The small size of the school is a bonus in the classroom and may be what some kids need academically but socially it feels very stifling to some kids-mine included. Not having upperclassmen has a real impact on the school feeling.

The location is pretty terrible. My kid has mentioned that the school buses are also out of control. So we are now driving them which makes us very annoyed. At BTSN the Principal acknowledged problems with some of the kids on the bus. He mentioned some weird thing about him following the bus himself to ensure all ran smoothly. I appreciate his commitment but I thought it was not a good sign and it squared with my kids’ reports of chaos on the bus.

Not having a library is not the end of the world but it very much contributes to the feeling that the schools is not ready—that this is a work in progress. My kid loved going to the library at their school last year. It’s sad that people think a high school doesn’t even need a library anymore. Sign of the times I guess.

[Anonymous]

I did not know that the school got a bus. That's great news. What's the route?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No books in the library or no books for classes. Jackson Reed has also had trouble retaining teachers. The school went an entire year without a physics teacher.

The only people who care about # of books in the library are USN&WR and the crazy BASIS person (who also wants computer labs).

Where do you find the time to track, and slam, people who used to post about BASIS not having a library or quiet, pleasant place to read.

I care about the # of books in the library at MacArthur. A lot.

Why is this important to you? My kid attended JR for 4 years, and I'm not sure he knows where the library is. Kidding, but seriously - he borrows books from DC public library or buys them on Kindle and did likewise all through high school.

School libraries matter for ES. After that, there's no library class, so it's just for research and book check-out. The public libraries are generally better for both those things.

It’s nice to have the library as an option for lunch for kids who need a break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid there. I’ve heard of a lot of very nice teachers. But some teachers who came from Middle Schools do not understand that they no longer teach at the middle school level. Ive heard a few complaints from a few kids who’ve transferred from other HS that it feels like they’ve been sent back to middle school.

Socially it’s Very cliquish which sucks in such a tiny school. The majority of Hardy kids are in one group.

Kid has mentioned, while laughing, that two of their classes are chaos.There are a couple of students who teachers cannot control. The Principal sent out an email acknowledging reports of classroom environments not conducive to learning so it’s not just my kid saying it. At least he’s aware and says they’re working on it. That seems very proactive. I also appreciate he’s not trying to hide it.

The small size of the school is a bonus in the classroom and may be what some kids need academically but socially it feels very stifling to some kids-mine included. Not having upperclassmen has a real impact on the school feeling.

The location is pretty terrible. My kid has mentioned that the school buses are also out of control. So we are now driving them which makes us very annoyed. At BTSN the Principal acknowledged problems with some of the kids on the bus. He mentioned some weird thing about him following the bus himself to ensure all ran smoothly. I appreciate his commitment but I thought it was not a good sign and it squared with my kids’ reports of chaos on the bus.

Not having a library is not the end of the world but it very much contributes to the feeling that the schools is not ready—that this is a work in progress. My kid loved going to the library at their school last year. It’s sad that people think a high school doesn’t even need a library anymore. Sign of the times I guess.

oof, reports of chaos in the classroom and bus aren’t great. it is a good sign the principal is on top of it (even following the bus!) instead of brushing it off. but putting together a intervention team from scratch is difficult. hopefully it’s just a few kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did not know that the school got a bus. That's great news. What's the route?

There’s no bus. The reports of chaos are happening on the D6 Metro bus which gets packed with kids after school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes Dr Moore’s last day is tomorrow.

I’m disappointed that she would resign after the start of the school year. How are they supposed to find a solid replacement once school has already started.

This - teachers jumping to more lucrative opportunities at inconvenient times and leaving their schools stranded - happens far too often in DCPS. It’s a shitty thing for teachers to do, but almost anyone would do it given a strong enough financial incentive. So DCPS needs to bake into their next contracts some sort of financial penalty for teachers leaving in the middle of the school year. WTU can piss off with their objections.

This has to be troll post right?

Are you a parent with a kid has been left without a teacher mid-year? I am. Whether with a stick or a carrot, something needs to be done to give teachers a financial incentive not to jump in the middle of the school year.

I very much am and it sucks. I am not a teacher, but I'm trying to raise a family, pay for college and save for retirement. I manage a large team at work and inevitably young team members get really upset when they give notice. I explain to them that people change jobs and there is never a good time to do it. Be professional, give notice and do what's best for you. If I got a better job offer (either because of commute, money, quality of life, etc.) take it. My family is more important than my job or my shareholders or my team members. Same for teachers. Logic and reason (read: if we don't view the world through the prism of your snowflake) tells us that if a job is open mid-year it won't be open at year end. You are asking teachers to reject career advancement and what's best for them and their family because you think Larla is more important.

I frequently post on DCUM taking issue with WTU and teacher entitlement, but you, PP, are the poster child for why we need to feel sorry for teachers who are viewed as chattel and servants without families or lives or feelings of their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes Dr Moore’s last day is tomorrow.

I’m disappointed that she would resign after the start of the school year. How are they supposed to find a solid replacement once school has already started.

This - teachers jumping to more lucrative opportunities at inconvenient times and leaving their schools stranded - happens far too often in DCPS. It’s a shitty thing for teachers to do, but almost anyone would do it given a strong enough financial incentive. So DCPS needs to bake into their next contracts some sort of financial penalty for teachers leaving in the middle of the school year. WTU can piss off with their objections.

This has to be troll post right?

Are you a parent with a kid has been left without a teacher mid-year? I am. Whether with a stick or a carrot, something needs to be done to give teachers a financial incentive not to jump in the middle of the school year.

I very much am and it sucks. I am not a teacher, but I'm trying to raise a family, pay for college and save for retirement. I manage a large team at work and inevitably young team members get really upset when they give notice. I explain to them that people change jobs and there is never a good time to do it. Be professional, give notice and do what's best for you. If I got a better job offer (either because of commute, money, quality of life, etc.) take it. My family is more important than my job or my shareholders or my team members. Same for teachers. Logic and reason (read: if we don't view the world through the prism of your snowflake) tells us that if a job is open mid-year it won't be open at year end. You are asking teachers to reject career advancement and what's best for them and their family because you think Larla is more important.

I frequently post on DCUM taking issue with WTU and teacher entitlement, but you, PP, are the poster child for why we need to feel sorry for teachers who are viewed as chattel and servants without families or lives or feelings of their own.

This is extreme. I'm not the PP, but I would interpret this as something like 'stay the full year and get a bonus'. Makes sense! The contracts are negotiated between the city and union so no one is treating each other poorly.

What this would require in negotiation I have no idea.

[Anonymous]

I don't even understand why the cranky pp thought the union had anything to do with this.

[Anonymous]

Mac is great. Teachers care and they are offering advanced classes to ALL students, not just some which is not the case in the education system. Is it Walls? No. Is it Duke? No. But neither is Jackson-Reed so chill out! If your kid didn’t get into either Walls or Duke or get picked up by a private high school for being an exceptional athlete then it offers a wonderful neighborhood option.