MacArthur

[Anonymous]

Regarding the facility being small, there is a facility plan that includes building out an entirely different floor for the school by next year—building is planned to keep up with the school’s expansion and is already underway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, few fights. Some parents expect the sun, the moon and the stars of this new school. Not us. School clearly has real potential with an overwhelmingly high SES student body, many good teachers and course offerings designed to mirror J-R's.

The key to the new school’s success will be to maintain an overwhelmingly high SES student body. Maybe that’s not politically palatable to say but it is basically true.

Wow, it’s not often that you see explicitly pro-segregations posts on DCUM. PP would have been right at home in the Jim Crow south of my childhood.

Give us a break. The most virulent pro-segregationists in the system are those who support DCPS in failing to provide suitable academic challenge in schools all the way up. Without above-grade-level offerings at the middle school level outside math in a few schools, and non-tracked social studies and science classes in all DCPS middle schools, most high SES families EotP run to high-SES/white dominated charters and privates offering greater academic challenge. The policy leaves low SES minority students to cluster in DCPS programs, with no high SES bridge to DCPS high school EotP. Misguided honors-for-all at J-R in the last five or six years has driven out high SES families, too. Parents support high SES student bodies at the ES, MS and HS level not because they're racist overall but because DCPS has brought segregation on itself.

There is zero evidence that the “ honors for all” thing has caused enrollment changes at JR.

Writing the sentence “DCPS has brought segregation on itself” should make any sane person engage in some serious introspection.

You also seem confused about the mission of public schools and what families of all backgrounds seek from them. The idea that public schools’ success depends on their success at attracting rich kids or that minority families deepest desire is to be around rich people is bizarre. Minority families want safe schools where their kids are appropriately challenged, just like non-minority families.

Your instinct to center yourself in others’ stories and to think that people like you are some kind of precious commodity that public schools should cater to is gross and misguided.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, few fights. Some parents expect the sun, the moon and the stars of this new school. Not us. School clearly has real potential with an overwhelmingly high SES student body, many good teachers and course offerings designed to mirror J-R's.

The key to the new school’s success will be to maintain an overwhelmingly high SES student body. Maybe that’s not politically palatable to say but it is basically true.

Wow, it’s not often that you see explicitly pro-segregations posts on DCUM. PP would have been right at home in the Jim Crow south of my childhood.

I’m curious why you think high SES= segregation? Unless you mean class segregation only.

While there are certainly many rich Black families in DC, among DCPS students, race and income are so correlated that they are pretty good proxies for one another.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, few fights. Some parents expect the sun, the moon and the stars of this new school. Not us. School clearly has real potential with an overwhelmingly high SES student body, many good teachers and course offerings designed to mirror J-R's.

The key to the new school’s success will be to maintain an overwhelmingly high SES student body. Maybe that’s not politically palatable to say but it is basically true.

Wow, it’s not often that you see explicitly pro-segregations posts on DCUM. PP would have been right at home in the Jim Crow south of my childhood.

I’m curious why you think high SES= segregation? Unless you mean class segregation only.

While there are certainly many rich Black families in DC, among DCPS students, race and income are so correlated that they are pretty good proxies for one another.

dp: See post above about high SES families fleeing DCPS. You disputed the pp's premise and then went on in the next message to confirm it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, few fights. Some parents expect the sun, the moon and the stars of this new school. Not us. School clearly has real potential with an overwhelmingly high SES student body, many good teachers and course offerings designed to mirror J-R's.

The key to the new school’s success will be to maintain an overwhelmingly high SES student body. Maybe that’s not politically palatable to say but it is basically true.

Wow, it’s not often that you see explicitly pro-segregations posts on DCUM. PP would have been right at home in the Jim Crow south of my childhood.

Give us a break. The most virulent pro-segregationists in the system are those who support DCPS in failing to provide suitable academic challenge in schools all the way up. Without above-grade-level offerings at the middle school level outside math in a few schools, and non-tracked social studies and science classes in all DCPS middle schools, most high SES families EotP run to high-SES/white dominated charters and privates offering greater academic challenge. The policy leaves low SES minority students to cluster in DCPS programs, with no high SES bridge to DCPS high school EotP. Misguided honors-for-all at J-R in the last five or six years has driven out high SES families, too. Parents support high SES student bodies at the ES, MS and HS level not because they're racist overall but because DCPS has brought segregation on itself.

There is zero evidence that the “ honors for all” thing has caused enrollment changes at JR.

Writing the sentence “DCPS has brought segregation on itself” should make any sane person engage in some serious introspection.

You also seem confused about the mission of public schools and what families of all backgrounds seek from them. The idea that public schools’ success depends on their success at attracting rich kids or that minority families deepest desire is to be around rich people is bizarre. Minority families want safe schools where their kids are appropriately challenged, just like non-minority families.

Your instinct to center yourself in others’ stories and to think that people like you are some kind of precious commodity that public schools should cater to is gross and misguided.

Muddle-headed post above does a fine job explaining why many high SES parents are quietly cheering MacArthur's emerging demographics. High school success depends on bona fide MS and HS rigor and happy atmospheres at school. DCPS prioritizes neither for DC's highest-achieving students, who are disproportionately high SES and white or Asian. Centering on myself seems reasonable given than I'm a POC who attended NYC test-in magnet schools from age 5 to 18, followed by an Ivy on a Pell Grant. I was thrilled to have a chance to attend highly diverse magnets, both racially and socioeconomically. What's "gross" is the way DCPS aggressively shortchanges its most capable low SES minority students. Doubt this? Ask any low SES minority parent with children in DCPS who graduated from any high diverse urban magnet high school in this country what's gross about the system. Let me guess, you've never been low SES. Please lecture somebody else about what's misguided.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, few fights. Some parents expect the sun, the moon and the stars of this new school. Not us. School clearly has real potential with an overwhelmingly high SES student body, many good teachers and course offerings designed to mirror J-R's.

The key to the new school’s success will be to maintain an overwhelmingly high SES student body. Maybe that’s not politically palatable to say but it is basically true.

Wow, it’s not often that you see explicitly pro-segregations posts on DCUM. PP would have been right at home in the Jim Crow south of my childhood.

Give us a break. The most virulent pro-segregationists in the system are those who support DCPS in failing to provide suitable academic challenge in schools all the way up. Without above-grade-level offerings at the middle school level outside math in a few schools, and non-tracked social studies and science classes in all DCPS middle schools, most high SES families EotP run to high-SES/white dominated charters and privates offering greater academic challenge. The policy leaves low SES minority students to cluster in DCPS programs, with no high SES bridge to DCPS high school EotP. Misguided honors-for-all at J-R in the last five or six years has driven out high SES families, too. Parents support high SES student bodies at the ES, MS and HS level not because they're racist overall but because DCPS has brought segregation on itself.

There is zero evidence that the “ honors for all” thing has caused enrollment changes at JR.

Writing the sentence “DCPS has brought segregation on itself” should make any sane person engage in some serious introspection.

You also seem confused about the mission of public schools and what families of all backgrounds seek from them. The idea that public schools’ success depends on their success at attracting rich kids or that minority families deepest desire is to be around rich people is bizarre. Minority families want safe schools where their kids are appropriately challenged, just like non-minority families.

Your instinct to center yourself in others’ stories and to think that people like you are some kind of precious commodity that public schools should cater to is gross and misguided.

Muddle-headed post above does a fine job explaining why many high SES parents are quietly cheering MacArthur's emerging demographics. High school success depends on bona fide MS and HS rigor and happy atmospheres at school. DCPS prioritizes neither for DC's highest-achieving students, who are disproportionately high SES and white or Asian. Centering on myself seems reasonable given than I'm a POC who attended NYC test-in magnet schools from age 5 to 18, followed by an Ivy on a Pell Grant. I was thrilled to have a chance to attend highly diverse magnets, both racially and socioeconomically. What's "gross" is the way DCPS aggressively shortchanges its most capable low SES minority students. Doubt this? Ask any low SES minority parent with children in DCPS who graduated from any high diverse urban magnet high school in this country what's gross about the system. Let me guess, you've never been low SES. Please lecture somebody else about what's misguided.

Spare me your well practiced, self congratulatory rags to riches story.

My parents were the first generation of my family who weren’t subsistence farmers, and despite their best efforts, we had occasional food insecurity, particularly when my dad was deployed and making enlisted pay. It’s not a contest, but I’ll note that where I grew up in the rural south, there wasn’t (and still isn’t) anything resembling a magnet school - just crumbling buildings attended by poor children with teachers doing their best.

You say you’re a POC, but if you were Black you’d likely know DC’s history of explicitly using so called “gifted and talented” classes to enforce segregation.

I think DCPS is actually doing the best that they can. Again, your calls for segregation and for abandoning any kids who don’t measure up to your standards because they are too dumb or poor are gross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, few fights. Some parents expect the sun, the moon and the stars of this new school. Not us. School clearly has real potential with an overwhelmingly high SES student body, many good teachers and course offerings designed to mirror J-R's.

The key to the new school’s success will be to maintain an overwhelmingly high SES student body. Maybe that’s not politically palatable to say but it is basically true.

Wow, it’s not often that you see explicitly pro-segregations posts on DCUM. PP would have been right at home in the Jim Crow south of my childhood.

I’m curious why you think high SES= segregation? Unless you mean class segregation only.

While there are certainly many rich Black families in DC, among DCPS students, race and income are so correlated that they are pretty good proxies for one another.

dp: See post above about high SES families fleeing DCPS. You disputed the pp's premise and then went on in the next message to confirm it.

This is word salad. What premise do you think was disputed?

PP claimed that success for a public school system in a largely poor city can be measured by the extent to which that system creates a segregated enclave for rich people.

How do you imagine that stating that fact that high SES Black families mostly use private schools proves the premise that creating publicly funded, class segregated schools is the best use of tax dollars in a poor city?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, few fights. Some parents expect the sun, the moon and the stars of this new school. Not us. School clearly has real potential with an overwhelmingly high SES student body, many good teachers and course offerings designed to mirror J-R's.

The key to the new school’s success will be to maintain an overwhelmingly high SES student body. Maybe that’s not politically palatable to say but it is basically true.

Wow, it’s not often that you see explicitly pro-segregations posts on DCUM. PP would have been right at home in the Jim Crow south of my childhood.

I’m curious why you think high SES= segregation? Unless you mean class segregation only.

While there are certainly many rich Black families in DC, among DCPS students, race and income are so correlated that they are pretty good proxies for one another.

dp: See post above about high SES families fleeing DCPS. You disputed the pp's premise and then went on in the next message to confirm it.

This is word salad. What premise do you think was disputed?

PP claimed that success for a public school system in a largely poor city can be measured by the extent to which that system creates a segregated enclave for rich people.

How do you imagine that stating that fact that high SES Black families mostly use private schools proves the premise that creating publicly funded, class segregated schools is the best use of tax dollars in a poor city?

She wasn't talking about the success of the system, she was talking about the success of MacArthur. I think similarly though slightly differently:

If the most of the students are well below grade level, the school will be unsuccessful, like half or more of DCPS high schools. If the majority of students are at or above grade-level, then the school will be successful, meaning successful for almost all students. That's what both logic suggests and research has found.

[Anonymous]

The special education team is amazing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, few fights. Some parents expect the sun, the moon and the stars of this new school. Not us. School clearly has real potential with an overwhelmingly high SES student body, many good teachers and course offerings designed to mirror J-R's.

The key to the new school’s success will be to maintain an overwhelmingly high SES student body. Maybe that’s not politically palatable to say but it is basically true.

Wow, it’s not often that you see explicitly pro-segregations posts on DCUM. PP would have been right at home in the Jim Crow south of my childhood.

Give us a break. The most virulent pro-segregationists in the system are those who support DCPS in failing to provide suitable academic challenge in schools all the way up. Without above-grade-level offerings at the middle school level outside math in a few schools, and non-tracked social studies and science classes in all DCPS middle schools, most high SES families EotP run to high-SES/white dominated charters and privates offering greater academic challenge. The policy leaves low SES minority students to cluster in DCPS programs, with no high SES bridge to DCPS high school EotP. Misguided honors-for-all at J-R in the last five or six years has driven out high SES families, too. Parents support high SES student bodies at the ES, MS and HS level not because they're racist overall but because DCPS has brought segregation on itself.

There is zero evidence that the “ honors for all” thing has caused enrollment changes at JR.

Writing the sentence “DCPS has brought segregation on itself” should make any sane person engage in some serious introspection.

You also seem confused about the mission of public schools and what families of all backgrounds seek from them. The idea that public schools’ success depends on their success at attracting rich kids or that minority families deepest desire is to be around rich people is bizarre. Minority families want safe schools where their kids are appropriately challenged, just like non-minority families.

Your instinct to center yourself in others’ stories and to think that people like you are some kind of precious commodity that public schools should cater to is gross and misguided.

Muddle-headed post above does a fine job explaining why many high SES parents are quietly cheering MacArthur's emerging demographics. High school success depends on bona fide MS and HS rigor and happy atmospheres at school. DCPS prioritizes neither for DC's highest-achieving students, who are disproportionately high SES and white or Asian. Centering on myself seems reasonable given than I'm a POC who attended NYC test-in magnet schools from age 5 to 18, followed by an Ivy on a Pell Grant. I was thrilled to have a chance to attend highly diverse magnets, both racially and socioeconomically. What's "gross" is the way DCPS aggressively shortchanges its most capable low SES minority students. Doubt this? Ask any low SES minority parent with children in DCPS who graduated from any high diverse urban magnet high school in this country what's gross about the system. Let me guess, you've never been low SES. Please lecture somebody else about what's misguided.

Spare me your well practiced, self congratulatory rags to riches story.

My parents were the first generation of my family who weren’t subsistence farmers, and despite their best efforts, we had occasional food insecurity, particularly when my dad was deployed and making enlisted pay. It’s not a contest, but I’ll note that where I grew up in the rural south, there wasn’t (and still isn’t) anything resembling a magnet school - just crumbling buildings attended by poor children with teachers doing their best.

You say you’re a POC, but if you were Black you’d likely know DC’s history of explicitly using so called “gifted and talented” classes to enforce segregation.

I think DCPS is actually doing the best that they can. Again, your calls for segregation and for abandoning any kids who don’t measure up to your standards because they are too dumb or poor are gross.

NP: I just stumbled across this holier-than-thou post from a few months back. Fact is, if you've never attended or taught in a serious urban GT magnet program, you will struggle to understand what a difference urban GT ed tends to make in the lives of the low-income, capable and exceptionally hard-working regardless of race or ethnicity. GT done well in public schools doesn't in fact enforce segregation, with Chicago as our nation's best test case (think Michelle Obama's story). I know this because I'm a POC from an ordinary working-class NYC family who was talented scouted for elementary GT and for participation in Prep for Prep in middle school before attending Brooklyn Tech and a top 10 SLAC. Fact is all of our diverse DC high schools, particularly J-R and Mac Arthur, would absolutely accrue the benefit of far more robust advanced offerings in our DCPS elementary and middle schools. What won't help is the kind of name-calling above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, few fights. Some parents expect the sun, the moon and the stars of this new school. Not us. School clearly has real potential with an overwhelmingly high SES student body, many good teachers and course offerings designed to mirror J-R's.

The key to the new school’s success will be to maintain an overwhelmingly high SES student body. Maybe that’s not politically palatable to say but it is basically true.

Wow, it’s not often that you see explicitly pro-segregations posts on DCUM. PP would have been right at home in the Jim Crow south of my childhood.

Give us a break. The most virulent pro-segregationists in the system are those who support DCPS in failing to provide suitable academic challenge in schools all the way up. Without above-grade-level offerings at the middle school level outside math in a few schools, and non-tracked social studies and science classes in all DCPS middle schools, most high SES families EotP run to high-SES/white dominated charters and privates offering greater academic challenge. The policy leaves low SES minority students to cluster in DCPS programs, with no high SES bridge to DCPS high school EotP. Misguided honors-for-all at J-R in the last five or six years has driven out high SES families, too. Parents support high SES student bodies at the ES, MS and HS level not because they're racist overall but because DCPS has brought segregation on itself.

There is zero evidence that the “ honors for all” thing has caused enrollment changes at JR.

Writing the sentence “DCPS has brought segregation on itself” should make any sane person engage in some serious introspection.

You also seem confused about the mission of public schools and what families of all backgrounds seek from them. The idea that public schools’ success depends on their success at attracting rich kids or that minority families deepest desire is to be around rich people is bizarre. Minority families want safe schools where their kids are appropriately challenged, just like non-minority families.

Your instinct to center yourself in others’ stories and to think that people like you are some kind of precious commodity that public schools should cater to is gross and misguided.

Muddle-headed post above does a fine job explaining why many high SES parents are quietly cheering MacArthur's emerging demographics. High school success depends on bona fide MS and HS rigor and happy atmospheres at school. DCPS prioritizes neither for DC's highest-achieving students, who are disproportionately high SES and white or Asian. Centering on myself seems reasonable given than I'm a POC who attended NYC test-in magnet schools from age 5 to 18, followed by an Ivy on a Pell Grant. I was thrilled to have a chance to attend highly diverse magnets, both racially and socioeconomically. What's "gross" is the way DCPS aggressively shortchanges its most capable low SES minority students. Doubt this? Ask any low SES minority parent with children in DCPS who graduated from any high diverse urban magnet high school in this country what's gross about the system. Let me guess, you've never been low SES. Please lecture somebody else about what's misguided.

Spare me your well practiced, self congratulatory rags to riches story.

My parents were the first generation of my family who weren’t subsistence farmers, and despite their best efforts, we had occasional food insecurity, particularly when my dad was deployed and making enlisted pay. It’s not a contest, but I’ll note that where I grew up in the rural south, there wasn’t (and still isn’t) anything resembling a magnet school - just crumbling buildings attended by poor children with teachers doing their best.

You say you’re a POC, but if you were Black you’d likely know DC’s history of explicitly using so called “gifted and talented” classes to enforce segregation.

I think DCPS is actually doing the best that they can. Again, your calls for segregation and for abandoning any kids who don’t measure up to your standards because they are too dumb or poor are gross.

NP: I just stumbled across this holier-than-thou post from a few months back. Fact is, if you've never attended or taught in a serious urban GT magnet program, you will struggle to understand what a difference urban GT ed tends to make in the lives of the low-income, capable and exceptionally hard-working regardless of race or ethnicity. GT done well in public schools doesn't in fact enforce segregation, with Chicago as our nation's best test case (think Michelle Obama's story). I know this because I'm a POC from an ordinary working-class NYC family who was talented scouted for elementary GT and for participation in Prep for Prep in middle school before attending Brooklyn Tech and a top 10 SLAC. Fact is all of our diverse DC high schools, particularly J-R and Mac Arthur, would absolutely accrue the benefit of far more robust advanced offerings in our DCPS elementary and middle schools. What won't help is the kind of name-calling above.

Two things can be true.

The research on tracking in Chicago suggests that it’s been great for low income kids.

Other - admittedly older - research indicates that many GT programs are implemented pretty much explicitly as a vehicle for enforcing segregation. Access is via teacher discretion rather than by tests and — when students were independently tested — being in GT classes didn’t correlate to higher scores on standardized tests.

[Anonymous]

NP and DC teacher here. MacArthur seems to have a good rep so far. I’m looking into transferring if they have openings.

[Anonymous]

We attended the in-person Open House a few weeks ago. From a facility perspective, it was originally designed for K-8 so some of the spaces are still scaled for smaller humans. That being said, the school is expanding and upgrading the facilities so it is more appropriately scaled for teens. The classrooms were well-lit, sunny and clean which was a nice contrast to what we saw at SWW. Demographics: we were happy to learn that the current student body is more culturally diverse than we expected considering its neighborhood. Teachers: every teacher we met seemed genuinely enthusiastic and engaged in their disciplines. Curriculum: it was good to see that there are different math paths depending on the level of your student (foundations or accelerated) and there is an option for dual enrollment at grades 11-12. They hope to offer Chinese next year as well as drama as an elective. Sports: growing as well (but I got the feeling that they probably won't be growing as fast at the academic disciplines.) Hope this helps some-

[Anonymous]

Thank you, PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We attended the in-person Open House a few weeks ago. From a facility perspective, it was originally designed for K-8 so some of the spaces are still scaled for smaller humans. That being said, the school is expanding and upgrading the facilities so it is more appropriately scaled for teens. The classrooms were well-lit, sunny and clean which was a nice contrast to what we saw at SWW. Demographics: we were happy to learn that the current student body is more culturally diverse than we expected considering its neighborhood. Teachers: every teacher we met seemed genuinely enthusiastic and engaged in their disciplines. Curriculum: it was good to see that there are different math paths depending on the level of your student (foundations or accelerated) and there is an option for dual enrollment at grades 11-12. They hope to offer Chinese next year as well as drama as an elective. Sports: growing as well (but I got the feeling that they probably won't be growing as fast at the academic disciplines.) Hope this helps some-

OK, but the neighborhood is heavily white (to put it mildly) and the new school is heavily AA (almost two-thirds) so far. That says to me that neighborhood buy-in isn't strong, at least not yet. Happy news?