Jefferson Academy Kool-Aid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Frankly, I am more curious about the impressions that parents of older students in 4th or 5th grade had of the open house.

Parents of small children can be dangerous because they really have no idea unless they are in the education field of how to evaluate a secondary school. And they have absolutely no skin in the game. Cheerful optimism from them can be dangerous because it maintains the status quo and doesn't fire bold action or change. Mostly they are thinking "well, it's fine for those kids". But when their own kid gets close enough to actually Go there it doesn't happen. Justifications abound.

Oh, the parents of young children absolutely have skin in the game. Their time horizon is just 3-4 years rather than 1-2 years. And for them, the highly desirable charters may not even be a dim possibility. There is definite skin in the game.

[Anonymous]

When I attended the open house, like other PPs, I saw and observed many good things...dedicated teachers, warm environment, plenty of natural light, decent bathrooms, etc. etc. But I also heard a group of students outside the building cheerfully shouting obscenities in the presence of blaze parents ("Hey, Mama") who couldn't have been out of their 20s. Moreover, I heard little to convince me that DD, who attends JHU CTY math and immersion language camps in the summer, would find appropriate challenge through differentiated learning. If I had reason to believe that scores of high SES kids were heading to Jefferson for 6th grade in two or three years, I'd continue to keep an open mind. Can't see DCPS hiring teachers for honors classes without backsides in the seats, or at least the pipeline.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gosh - maybe Kaya Henderson and Grosso were right that it is a solid option???

I don't want to be mean to 19:21, but the thing is that you will find a lot of warm, caring, hardworking teachers working in DCPS. And when your kids are little, everyone is good.

Where things fall apart is when the kids get older and some of them see reading/studying as not cool and they use "MF" in every sentence (with no regard with whether or not there are adults around) and the girls like to fight and classrooms are disrupted regularly by a few out of control kids -- that is when you have to decide to keep your child, who has up until now liked school, in that environment. Add on the fact that the classes aren't that interesting to your child. The school culture is one more of culture than academics.

Not saying that this is what is going on at Jefferson, but it is going on in other Ward 6 middle schools. The culture of medium-low expectations on behavior and academics is what wears and wears on you. And then you worry if your child will even have enough education under their belt to be able to do well in high school and college . . .

Why don't you just say Stuart-Hobson? There are only 2 other middle schools in Ward 6, and no one on DCUM sends their kids to E-H.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I attended the open house, like other PPs, I saw and observed many good things...dedicated teachers, warm environment, plenty of natural light, decent bathrooms, etc. etc. But I also heard a group of students outside the building cheerfully shouting obscenities in the presence of blaze parents ("Hey, Mama") who couldn't have been out of their 20s. Moreover, I heard little to convince me that DD, who attends JHU CTY math and immersion language camps in the summer, would find appropriate challenge through differentiated learning. If I had reason to believe that scores of high SES kids were heading to Jefferson for 6th grade in two or three years, I'd continue to keep an open mind. Can't see DCPS hiring teachers for honors classes without backsides in the seats, or at least the pipeline.

12:02: They did say that they had some small classes (dozen or so kids). If you got these sorts of numbers of advanced (not just proficient) kids in each grade at the school, what was your takeaway about the prospects for your kid? I'm genuinely interested. And what other middle schools have you toured and can you compare what you heard last night to those? Certainly BASIS would offer more prospects for advanced classes. But other DC public schools?

[Anonymous]

12:02: They did say that they had some small classes (dozen or so kids). If you got these sorts of numbers of advanced (not just proficient) kids in each grade at the school, what was your takeaway about the prospects for your kid? I'm genuinely interested. And what other middle schools have you toured and can you compare what you heard last night to those? Certainly BASIS would offer more prospects for advanced classes. But other DC public schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I attended the open house, like other PPs, I saw and observed many good things...dedicated teachers, warm environment, plenty of natural light, decent bathrooms, etc. etc. But I also heard a group of students outside the building cheerfully shouting obscenities in the presence of blaze parents ("Hey, Mama") who couldn't have been out of their 20s. Moreover, I heard little to convince me that DD, who attends JHU CTY math and immersion language camps in the summer, would find appropriate challenge through differentiated learning. If I had reason to believe that scores of high SES kids were heading to Jefferson for 6th grade in two or three years, I'd continue to keep an open mind. Can't see DCPS hiring teachers for honors classes without backsides in the seats, or at least the pipeline.


If your kid does CTY, she scored in the 95th percentile of kids who are several grades ahead of her. It is hard for me to fault Jefferson for not offering a full set of courses for this population. There is something of a chicken vs. egg situation here for any school: if they have a few kids who need this level of challenge, they'll offer it, but not until they have a few kids at that level. If your kid is the only kid in the school who is that good in a particular subject, the best you can hope for is some enrichment assignments, online coursework, and maybe getting to take classes at a high school. That's not a uniquely Jefferson issue, though--other than BASIS, what DC schools offer math at a level that would challenge your child? And even if they do so in 6th grade (when she could take 8th grade math) what is their plan for when she's in 8th grade and needs 10th grade work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I attended the open house, like other PPs, I saw and observed many good things...dedicated teachers, warm environment, plenty of natural light, decent bathrooms, etc. etc. But I also heard a group of students outside the building cheerfully shouting obscenities in the presence of blaze parents ("Hey, Mama") who couldn't have been out of their 20s. Moreover, I heard little to convince me that DD, who attends JHU CTY math and immersion language camps in the summer, would find appropriate challenge through differentiated learning. If I had reason to believe that scores of high SES kids were heading to Jefferson for 6th grade in two or three years, I'd continue to keep an open mind. Can't see DCPS hiring teachers for honors classes without backsides in the seats, or at least the pipeline.

were the parents blazed or blasé? This will help me know whether Jefferson is a good fit for my family.

And is "Mama" an obscenity? I hear lots of kids calling their mother that (if your kid does immersion in a Romance language, that's probably how she's referring to you!).

Also, I have teenage stepkids. If I'd given birth to them, I would have been a teen mom [barely]. My age doesn't mean I don't care about education or that my kids are dumb. Plus maybe the parents just look good for their ages. Black don't crack, you know.

[Anonymous]

Whatever. I identified mothers of students by listening to kids in school uniform address them as "mama." The gaggle of mamas seemed just fine with one shouted obscenity after another, par for the course. Over the years, I've seen the scene played outside various DCPS schools (sad to say, including SH). It occurs to me that my kid already does more than enough cussing.

Sure, DD attends CTY camps, but you know what, she's hardly the most advanced kid in any subject in her class, let alone her grade. My strong impression is that Brent is not short on "advanced" kids (er, ordinary students with parents with a couple of high powered graduate degrees each). To me, this is the crux of the problem where the Jefferson development trajectory goes, absent above-grade level classes across the board, preferably of the test-in type.

We've toured Deal, BASIS and Latin and they seemed worlds apart from Jefferson (5th grade algebra anybody? 5th grade Latin? 6th grade Mandarin?). I had issues with each (too big, too claustrophobic, too much Latin) that I felt I could live with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whatever. I identified mothers of students by listening to kids in school uniform address them as "mama." The gaggle of mamas seemed just fine with one shouted obscenity after another, par for the course. Over the years, I've seen the scene played outside various DCPS schools (sad to say, including SH). It occurs to me that my kid already does more than enough cussing.

Sure, DD attends CTY camps, but you know what, she's hardly the most advanced kid in any subject in her class, let alone her grade. My strong impression is that Brent is not short on "advanced" kids (er, ordinary students with parents with a couple of high powered graduate degrees each). To me, this is the crux of the problem where the Jefferson development trajectory goes, absent above-grade level classes across the board, preferably of the test-in type.

We've toured Deal, BASIS and Latin and they seemed worlds apart from Jefferson (5th grade algebra anybody? 5th grade Latin? 6th grade Mandarin?). I had issues with each (too big, too claustrophobic, too much Latin) that I felt I could live with.

Then you should be boosting for Jefferson so more families go there and then you will have less competition at Basis and Latin in the lottery, or competing to buy that house IB for Deal.

[Anonymous]

No, no, no. The Brent CTY parent will just send DD to Sidwell, or NCS, who will both be waiting for her with open arms and a scholarship, of course. I think they have engraved a seat for her already.

[Anonymous]

Those school are worlds apart from Jefferson right now (and potentially forever). I think the question is whether Jefferson can get to Stuart-Hobson status in the next few years. Middle class Capitol Hill families who have sent their kids there have seemed pretty happy.

[Anonymous]

Right, boatloads of happy middle-class Cap Hill families at Hobson, the neighborhood middle school that's 40% FARMs, 80% OOB, 15% white, and 0% Asian (just like the Hill, right?).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Right, boatloads of happy middle-class Cap Hill families at Hobson, the neighborhood middle school that's 40% FARMs, 80% OOB, 15% white, and 0% Asian (just like the Hill, right?).

It's just like the middle-SES Hill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Frankly, I am more curious about the impressions that parents of older students in 4th or 5th grade had of the open house.

Parents of small children can be dangerous because they really have no idea unless they are in the education field of how to evaluate a secondary school. And they have absolutely no skin in the game. Cheerful optimism from them can be dangerous because it maintains the status quo and doesn't fire bold action or change. Mostly they are thinking "well, it's fine for those kids". But when their own kid gets close enough to actually Go there it doesn't happen. Justifications abound.

Oh, the parents of young children absolutely have skin in the game. Their time horizon is just 3-4 years rather than 1-2 years. And for them, the highly desirable charters may not even be a dim possibility. There is definite skin in the game.

Agreed. Our kid will be in prek at Amidon (and most likely will stay for elementary) and guess where his middle school will be - Jefferson (gasp, it's not just Hill parents that feed to Jefferson). There's a bunch of middle class families in SWDC who are making the effort to send their kids to Amidon and want to see their neighborhood ES and MS succeed. We want our kids to go to the local schools and not have to be schlepped all over town to go to school. Jefferson will be the next focus and believe me, in 2-3 years time, I'm sure us prek/k parents at Amidon will be thinking about middle school and how we can feed into a good neighborhood school.

Also, with the construction going on at the Wharf, and all around SW, it is bound to bring in some families (not too many since they are mostly building studios and 1 bedrooms) but there's opportunities to have your voice heard at DCPS and let them know we want better options at Jefferson for our kids and the families that continue to grow (and stay) in the local neighborhoods.

The PARCC is a joke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Frankly, I am more curious about the impressions that parents of older students in 4th or 5th grade had of the open house.

Parents of small children can be dangerous because they really have no idea unless they are in the education field of how to evaluate a secondary school. And they have absolutely no skin in the game. Cheerful optimism from them can be dangerous because it maintains the status quo and doesn't fire bold action or change. Mostly they are thinking "well, it's fine for those kids". But when their own kid gets close enough to actually Go there it doesn't happen. Justifications abound.

Oh, the parents of young children absolutely have skin in the game. Their time horizon is just 3-4 years rather than 1-2 years. And for them, the highly desirable charters may not even be a dim possibility. There is definite skin in the game.

Agreed. Our kid will be in prek at Amidon (and most likely will stay for elementary) and guess where his middle school will be - Jefferson (gasp, it's not just Hill parents that feed to Jefferson). There's a bunch of middle class families in SWDC who are making the effort to send their kids to Amidon and want to see their neighborhood ES and MS succeed. We want our kids to go to the local schools and not have to be schlepped all over town to go to school. Jefferson will be the next focus and believe me, in 2-3 years time, I'm sure us prek/k parents at Amidon will be thinking about middle school and how we can feed into a good neighborhood school.

Also, with the construction going on at the Wharf, and all around SW, it is bound to bring in some families (not too many since they are mostly building studios and 1 bedrooms) but there's opportunities to have your voice heard at DCPS and let them know we want better options at Jefferson for our kids and the families that continue to grow (and stay) in the local neighborhoods.

The PARCC is a joke.

So... you presently have zero personal experience with DCPS, much less knowledge of what it takes to improve a school, or the proven intestinal fortitude to have withstood the slow drain of students with each passing year.

You'll have to patient and wait until you know whereof you speak before anyone takes you seriously, sweetie.