Middle Schools for Cap Hill

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. "not very diverse" - that the classic "nice white parents" attitude (https://www.southwestjournal.com/voices/letters-to-the-editor/2020/09/nice-white-parents/#:~:text=In%20the%20podcast%2C%20they%20call,white%20students%20in%20a%20school)
2. "leads nowhere for high school" - its not clear to me that Latin or Basis are all that exceptional of high schools; there are quite a few (public and private) high school options in DC that are not just Eastern (or even Walls)

What about the nice Asian parents? At the most recent JA open house, when I asked a senior administrator how many Asian students were enrolled. I was told that there were 4. Then I was told, correction, there were 3, possibly 2.

Which appealing public HS options do Hill families have? McKinley Tech? They let in many poorly prepared kids. Eastern, Dunbar? Disasters. If you don't go for BASIS or one of the Latins, can't afford a private school and your kid strikes out at Walls (an increasingly likely outcome), what then? We know that Hill students have lost access to Wilson, and that the new HS Hardy will feed into may or may not materialize.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. "not very diverse" - that the classic "nice white parents" attitude (https://www.southwestjournal.com/voices/letters-to-the-editor/2020/09/nice-white-parents/#:~:text=In%20the%20podcast%2C%20they%20call,white%20students%20in%20a%20school)
2. "leads nowhere for high school" - its not clear to me that Latin or Basis are all that exceptional of high schools; there are quite a few (public and private) high school options in DC that are not just Eastern (or even Walls)

Compared to...what? If the academics, college graduation and matriculation lists don't impress you then, ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, so why isn't Jefferson a lot more popular with UMC in-boundary families and families with children in the several feeder elementary schools? Mainly a question of poor public relations?

At a Jefferson open house I attended this spring, admins were more than a little cagey about what sort of "honors classes" were offered and how students tested into these classes. I couldn't get a straight answer out of them, couldn't make sense of how the placement system worked. By contrast, at Stuart Hobson, I was told exactly how students were evaluated for/admitted to honors English and math classes. I was also told that there weren't any honors science or social studies classes, or any planned.

Brent parents considering Jefferson Academy have complained about this issue repeatedly on DCUM in the last several years. Brent parents who send their children to JA invariably respond with assurances that appropriate rigor is ensured across the board, never mind what the test-in-to-honors-classes-system might be (if there is indeed a system). Needless to say, UMC buy-in at JA from Brent, Tyler and Van Ness remains low and has a desperate feel (as in, we're all for JA, never mind the fact that we were shut out of BASIS and Latin, lack access to Hobson, and can't handle the commute to DCI).

We're IB for Jefferson and toured/had a shadow day last Friday with our current 5th grader. The school is currently on track to have 100 out of their 120 6th grade slots go to IB kids coming from all of their feeders. We were told about the advanced placement classes in their subjects and how students are evaluated for that track. We were also told that 6th grade teachers speak with all of the IB 5th grade teachers to get a feel for each IB student who will be attending. We got into a charger that went though HS but are choosing JA over it due to these personalized factors for our student. My kid had a great experience during the shadow and is excited to go next year.

I am the parent of a current student at Jefferson. And I can attest that, at least from my perspective, the school does a very good job of placing kids with similar aptitudes in the same core classes together. In addition, there is an advanced track for math (with certain sixth-graders placed in seventh-grade math and so on), as well as an advanced writing class that some kids take on top of their regular ELA class.

In light of all of this differentiation, the overall PARCC scores of the school are largely irrelevant to the experience of an individual kid. If your kid is a high performer, he or she is going to be in classes with the other high performers and not with those who need additional help. And the stats cited several posts back indicate that upper-income kids at Jefferson have outcomes that are on par with those of their peers at richer schools.

My advice is that you ignore the posts of those who have no experience with school but nonetheless feel qualified to opine on it ("Look at me -- I know how to look up PARCC scores!"). My guess is that these are folks who chose a different path -- which of course is totally fine -- but who can't seem to just move on and accept the fact there are people who chose Jefferson and are happy there.

What counts as a "core" class? Science and social studies? Or just math/english?

There is no tracking for anything other than math or English.

That is not correct, not from our experience anyway.

All kids at Jefferson are assigned to a cohort (“homeroom”) to take the same core classes (math, ELA, science, and social studies) together. So high performers at the school take all of these classes together. The exception is that some take math a grade level above their assigned grade (e.g., some sixth graders take seventh-grade math), in which case they are not with their regular cohort for math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, so why isn't Jefferson a lot more popular with UMC in-boundary families and families with children in the several feeder elementary schools? Mainly a question of poor public relations?

At a Jefferson open house I attended this spring, admins were more than a little cagey about what sort of "honors classes" were offered and how students tested into these classes. I couldn't get a straight answer out of them, couldn't make sense of how the placement system worked. By contrast, at Stuart Hobson, I was told exactly how students were evaluated for/admitted to honors English and math classes. I was also told that there weren't any honors science or social studies classes, or any planned.

Brent parents considering Jefferson Academy have complained about this issue repeatedly on DCUM in the last several years. Brent parents who send their children to JA invariably respond with assurances that appropriate rigor is ensured across the board, never mind what the test-in-to-honors-classes-system might be (if there is indeed a system). Needless to say, UMC buy-in at JA from Brent, Tyler and Van Ness remains low and has a desperate feel (as in, we're all for JA, never mind the fact that we were shut out of BASIS and Latin, lack access to Hobson, and can't handle the commute to DCI).

We're IB for Jefferson and toured/had a shadow day last Friday with our current 5th grader. The school is currently on track to have 100 out of their 120 6th grade slots go to IB kids coming from all of their feeders. We were told about the advanced placement classes in their subjects and how students are evaluated for that track. We were also told that 6th grade teachers speak with all of the IB 5th grade teachers to get a feel for each IB student who will be attending. We got into a charger that went though HS but are choosing JA over it due to these personalized factors for our student. My kid had a great experience during the shadow and is excited to go next year.

I am the parent of a current student at Jefferson. And I can attest that, at least from my perspective, the school does a very good job of placing kids with similar aptitudes in the same core classes together. In addition, there is an advanced track for math (with certain sixth-graders placed in seventh-grade math and so on), as well as an advanced writing class that some kids take on top of their regular ELA class.

In light of all of this differentiation, the overall PARCC scores of the school are largely irrelevant to the experience of an individual kid. If your kid is a high performer, he or she is going to be in classes with the other high performers and not with those who need additional help. And the stats cited several posts back indicate that upper-income kids at Jefferson have outcomes that are on par with those of their peers at richer schools.

My advice is that you ignore the posts of those who have no experience with school but nonetheless feel qualified to opine on it ("Look at me -- I know how to look up PARCC scores!"). My guess is that these are folks who chose a different path -- which of course is totally fine -- but who can't seem to just move on and accept the fact there are people who chose Jefferson and are happy there.

What counts as a "core" class? Science and social studies? Or just math/english?

There is no tracking for anything other than math or English.

That is not correct, not from our experience anyway.

All kids at Jefferson are assigned to a cohort (“homeroom”) to take the same core classes (math, ELA, science, and social studies) together. So high performers at the school take all of these classes together. The exception is that some take math a grade level above their assigned grade (e.g., some sixth graders take seventh-grade math), in which case they are not with their regular cohort for math.

To the extent there is tracking by cohort, it is unofficial, unexplained and unappealable. You could get lucky and your kid could get in the "good" homeroom (which also has a bunch of kids that are definitely not advanced), but you could also get unlucky and your kid could get assigned to a different homeroom and, since the school will tell you that the assignment is random, you have no recourse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, so why isn't Jefferson a lot more popular with UMC in-boundary families and families with children in the several feeder elementary schools? Mainly a question of poor public relations?

At a Jefferson open house I attended this spring, admins were more than a little cagey about what sort of "honors classes" were offered and how students tested into these classes. I couldn't get a straight answer out of them, couldn't make sense of how the placement system worked. By contrast, at Stuart Hobson, I was told exactly how students were evaluated for/admitted to honors English and math classes. I was also told that there weren't any honors science or social studies classes, or any planned.

Brent parents considering Jefferson Academy have complained about this issue repeatedly on DCUM in the last several years. Brent parents who send their children to JA invariably respond with assurances that appropriate rigor is ensured across the board, never mind what the test-in-to-honors-classes-system might be (if there is indeed a system). Needless to say, UMC buy-in at JA from Brent, Tyler and Van Ness remains low and has a desperate feel (as in, we're all for JA, never mind the fact that we were shut out of BASIS and Latin, lack access to Hobson, and can't handle the commute to DCI).

We're IB for Jefferson and toured/had a shadow day last Friday with our current 5th grader. The school is currently on track to have 100 out of their 120 6th grade slots go to IB kids coming from all of their feeders. We were told about the advanced placement classes in their subjects and how students are evaluated for that track. We were also told that 6th grade teachers speak with all of the IB 5th grade teachers to get a feel for each IB student who will be attending. We got into a charger that went though HS but are choosing JA over it due to these personalized factors for our student. My kid had a great experience during the shadow and is excited to go next year.

I am the parent of a current student at Jefferson. And I can attest that, at least from my perspective, the school does a very good job of placing kids with similar aptitudes in the same core classes together. In addition, there is an advanced track for math (with certain sixth-graders placed in seventh-grade math and so on), as well as an advanced writing class that some kids take on top of their regular ELA class.

In light of all of this differentiation, the overall PARCC scores of the school are largely irrelevant to the experience of an individual kid. If your kid is a high performer, he or she is going to be in classes with the other high performers and not with those who need additional help. And the stats cited several posts back indicate that upper-income kids at Jefferson have outcomes that are on par with those of their peers at richer schools.

My advice is that you ignore the posts of those who have no experience with school but nonetheless feel qualified to opine on it ("Look at me -- I know how to look up PARCC scores!"). My guess is that these are folks who chose a different path -- which of course is totally fine -- but who can't seem to just move on and accept the fact there are people who chose Jefferson and are happy there.

What counts as a "core" class? Science and social studies? Or just math/english?

There is no tracking for anything other than math or English.

That is not correct, not from our experience anyway.

All kids at Jefferson are assigned to a cohort (“homeroom”) to take the same core classes (math, ELA, science, and social studies) together. So high performers at the school take all of these classes together. The exception is that some take math a grade level above their assigned grade (e.g., some sixth graders take seventh-grade math), in which case they are not with their regular cohort for math.

To the extent there is tracking by cohort, it is unofficial, unexplained and unappealable. You could get lucky and your kid could get in the "good" homeroom (which also has a bunch of kids that are definitely not advanced), but you could also get unlucky and your kid could get assigned to a different homeroom and, since the school will tell you that the assignment is random, you have no recourse.

Who told you the assignment is “random”? Or are you just pulling that out of nowhere?

What exactly do you want? Do you want a single test to determine placement?

I would prefer a range of factors, both objective and subjective, including test scores, reports from prior teachers, etc. That seems to be how it works. You simply can’t quantify all of this if you want it to be effective. Even college admissions aren’t based on numbers alone.

- current Jefferson parent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, so why isn't Jefferson a lot more popular with UMC in-boundary families and families with children in the several feeder elementary schools? Mainly a question of poor public relations?

At a Jefferson open house I attended this spring, admins were more than a little cagey about what sort of "honors classes" were offered and how students tested into these classes. I couldn't get a straight answer out of them, couldn't make sense of how the placement system worked. By contrast, at Stuart Hobson, I was told exactly how students were evaluated for/admitted to honors English and math classes. I was also told that there weren't any honors science or social studies classes, or any planned.

Brent parents considering Jefferson Academy have complained about this issue repeatedly on DCUM in the last several years. Brent parents who send their children to JA invariably respond with assurances that appropriate rigor is ensured across the board, never mind what the test-in-to-honors-classes-system might be (if there is indeed a system). Needless to say, UMC buy-in at JA from Brent, Tyler and Van Ness remains low and has a desperate feel (as in, we're all for JA, never mind the fact that we were shut out of BASIS and Latin, lack access to Hobson, and can't handle the commute to DCI).

We're IB for Jefferson and toured/had a shadow day last Friday with our current 5th grader. The school is currently on track to have 100 out of their 120 6th grade slots go to IB kids coming from all of their feeders. We were told about the advanced placement classes in their subjects and how students are evaluated for that track. We were also told that 6th grade teachers speak with all of the IB 5th grade teachers to get a feel for each IB student who will be attending. We got into a charger that went though HS but are choosing JA over it due to these personalized factors for our student. My kid had a great experience during the shadow and is excited to go next year.

I am the parent of a current student at Jefferson. And I can attest that, at least from my perspective, the school does a very good job of placing kids with similar aptitudes in the same core classes together. In addition, there is an advanced track for math (with certain sixth-graders placed in seventh-grade math and so on), as well as an advanced writing class that some kids take on top of their regular ELA class.

In light of all of this differentiation, the overall PARCC scores of the school are largely irrelevant to the experience of an individual kid. If your kid is a high performer, he or she is going to be in classes with the other high performers and not with those who need additional help. And the stats cited several posts back indicate that upper-income kids at Jefferson have outcomes that are on par with those of their peers at richer schools.

My advice is that you ignore the posts of those who have no experience with school but nonetheless feel qualified to opine on it ("Look at me -- I know how to look up PARCC scores!"). My guess is that these are folks who chose a different path -- which of course is totally fine -- but who can't seem to just move on and accept the fact there are people who chose Jefferson and are happy there.

What counts as a "core" class? Science and social studies? Or just math/english?

There is no tracking for anything other than math or English.

That is not correct, not from our experience anyway.

All kids at Jefferson are assigned to a cohort (“homeroom”) to take the same core classes (math, ELA, science, and social studies) together. So high performers at the school take all of these classes together. The exception is that some take math a grade level above their assigned grade (e.g., some sixth graders take seventh-grade math), in which case they are not with their regular cohort for math.

To the extent there is tracking by cohort, it is unofficial, unexplained and unappealable. You could get lucky and your kid could get in the "good" homeroom (which also has a bunch of kids that are definitely not advanced), but you could also get unlucky and your kid could get assigned to a different homeroom and, since the school will tell you that the assignment is random, you have no recourse.

This! I've been to a couple JA open houses in the last year. I couldn't get a straight answer from admins about how the ability grouping system works at either open house, and nobody was willing (able?) to tell me what, if any, recourse would be available to me if I were unhappy with a homeroom placement. I asked half a dozen specific questions about homeroom placements:

*If my child would be given subject tests before or at the start of 6th grade to evaluate their skills in the 4 core subjects before a homeroom placement was made.
*If there were placement tests, would a curriculum outline and study materials for each subject tested be made available to me and my child over the summer, to help him prepare for the evaluations.
*If my child tested high on ELA and social studies and average on math and science (probable), how would that effect their homeroom placement.
*How much 5th grade grades would count in making a homeroom placement. I asked how 4s in 5th grade ELA and social studies every quarter, but 3s in math and science, would impact a 6th grade placement.
*When I was told that the placement team would talk to my child's 5th grade classroom teacher before making a placement, I asked why.
*How much 2022 PARCC scores would count in making a homeroom placement.
*Are any of the 6th grade homerooms reserved for students who work above grade level in all core subjects (GT homerooms). Are any of the homerooms significantly larger or smaller than others.

The only answer I got in response to all of my questions was to tune of "Trust us. We know what we're doing. We place students appropriately. Our in-boundary families love our placement system." There seems to be zero transparency in the process. The arrangement is not only unofficial, it's ad hoc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Latin 1
BASIS
Latin 2
SH
Hardy

That’s all we are ranking.

doesn't look like hardy will ever take an lottery student from here going forward. why not just put deal on the list then?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, so why isn't Jefferson a lot more popular with UMC in-boundary families and families with children in the several feeder elementary schools? Mainly a question of poor public relations?

At a Jefferson open house I attended this spring, admins were more than a little cagey about what sort of "honors classes" were offered and how students tested into these classes. I couldn't get a straight answer out of them, couldn't make sense of how the placement system worked. By contrast, at Stuart Hobson, I was told exactly how students were evaluated for/admitted to honors English and math classes. I was also told that there weren't any honors science or social studies classes, or any planned.

Brent parents considering Jefferson Academy have complained about this issue repeatedly on DCUM in the last several years. Brent parents who send their children to JA invariably respond with assurances that appropriate rigor is ensured across the board, never mind what the test-in-to-honors-classes-system might be (if there is indeed a system). Needless to say, UMC buy-in at JA from Brent, Tyler and Van Ness remains low and has a desperate feel (as in, we're all for JA, never mind the fact that we were shut out of BASIS and Latin, lack access to Hobson, and can't handle the commute to DCI).

We're IB for Jefferson and toured/had a shadow day last Friday with our current 5th grader. The school is currently on track to have 100 out of their 120 6th grade slots go to IB kids coming from all of their feeders. We were told about the advanced placement classes in their subjects and how students are evaluated for that track. We were also told that 6th grade teachers speak with all of the IB 5th grade teachers to get a feel for each IB student who will be attending. We got into a charger that went though HS but are choosing JA over it due to these personalized factors for our student. My kid had a great experience during the shadow and is excited to go next year.

I am the parent of a current student at Jefferson. And I can attest that, at least from my perspective, the school does a very good job of placing kids with similar aptitudes in the same core classes together. In addition, there is an advanced track for math (with certain sixth-graders placed in seventh-grade math and so on), as well as an advanced writing class that some kids take on top of their regular ELA class.

In light of all of this differentiation, the overall PARCC scores of the school are largely irrelevant to the experience of an individual kid. If your kid is a high performer, he or she is going to be in classes with the other high performers and not with those who need additional help. And the stats cited several posts back indicate that upper-income kids at Jefferson have outcomes that are on par with those of their peers at richer schools.

My advice is that you ignore the posts of those who have no experience with school but nonetheless feel qualified to opine on it ("Look at me -- I know how to look up PARCC scores!"). My guess is that these are folks who chose a different path -- which of course is totally fine -- but who can't seem to just move on and accept the fact there are people who chose Jefferson and are happy there.

What counts as a "core" class? Science and social studies? Or just math/english?

There is no tracking for anything other than math or English.

That is not correct, not from our experience anyway.

All kids at Jefferson are assigned to a cohort (“homeroom”) to take the same core classes (math, ELA, science, and social studies) together. So high performers at the school take all of these classes together. The exception is that some take math a grade level above their assigned grade (e.g., some sixth graders take seventh-grade math), in which case they are not with their regular cohort for math.

To the extent there is tracking by cohort, it is unofficial, unexplained and unappealable. You could get lucky and your kid could get in the "good" homeroom (which also has a bunch of kids that are definitely not advanced), but you could also get unlucky and your kid could get assigned to a different homeroom and, since the school will tell you that the assignment is random, you have no recourse.

This! I've been to a couple JA open houses in the last year. I couldn't get a straight answer from admins about how the ability grouping system works at either open house, and nobody was willing (able?) to tell me what, if any, recourse would be available to me if I were unhappy with a homeroom placement. I asked half a dozen specific questions about homeroom placements:

*If my child would be given subject tests before or at the start of 6th grade to evaluate their skills in the 4 core subjects before a homeroom placement was made.
*If there were placement tests, would a curriculum outline and study materials for each subject tested be made available to me and my child over the summer, to help him prepare for the evaluations.
*If my child tested high on ELA and social studies and average on math and science (probable), how would that effect their homeroom placement.
*How much 5th grade grades would count in making a homeroom placement. I asked how 4s in 5th grade ELA and social studies every quarter, but 3s in math and science, would impact a 6th grade placement.
*When I was told that the placement team would talk to my child's 5th grade classroom teacher before making a placement, I asked why.
*How much 2022 PARCC scores would count in making a homeroom placement.
*Are any of the 6th grade homerooms reserved for students who work above grade level in all core subjects (GT homerooms). Are any of the homerooms significantly larger or smaller than others.

The only answer I got in response to all of my questions was to tune of "Trust us. We know what we're doing. We place students appropriately. Our in-boundary families love our placement system." There seems to be zero transparency in the process. The arrangement is not only unofficial, it's ad hoc.

. Oh great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, so why isn't Jefferson a lot more popular with UMC in-boundary families and families with children in the several feeder elementary schools? Mainly a question of poor public relations?

At a Jefferson open house I attended this spring, admins were more than a little cagey about what sort of "honors classes" were offered and how students tested into these classes. I couldn't get a straight answer out of them, couldn't make sense of how the placement system worked. By contrast, at Stuart Hobson, I was told exactly how students were evaluated for/admitted to honors English and math classes. I was also told that there weren't any honors science or social studies classes, or any planned.

Brent parents considering Jefferson Academy have complained about this issue repeatedly on DCUM in the last several years. Brent parents who send their children to JA invariably respond with assurances that appropriate rigor is ensured across the board, never mind what the test-in-to-honors-classes-system might be (if there is indeed a system). Needless to say, UMC buy-in at JA from Brent, Tyler and Van Ness remains low and has a desperate feel (as in, we're all for JA, never mind the fact that we were shut out of BASIS and Latin, lack access to Hobson, and can't handle the commute to DCI).

We're IB for Jefferson and toured/had a shadow day last Friday with our current 5th grader. The school is currently on track to have 100 out of their 120 6th grade slots go to IB kids coming from all of their feeders. We were told about the advanced placement classes in their subjects and how students are evaluated for that track. We were also told that 6th grade teachers speak with all of the IB 5th grade teachers to get a feel for each IB student who will be attending. We got into a charger that went though HS but are choosing JA over it due to these personalized factors for our student. My kid had a great experience during the shadow and is excited to go next year.

I am the parent of a current student at Jefferson. And I can attest that, at least from my perspective, the school does a very good job of placing kids with similar aptitudes in the same core classes together. In addition, there is an advanced track for math (with certain sixth-graders placed in seventh-grade math and so on), as well as an advanced writing class that some kids take on top of their regular ELA class.

In light of all of this differentiation, the overall PARCC scores of the school are largely irrelevant to the experience of an individual kid. If your kid is a high performer, he or she is going to be in classes with the other high performers and not with those who need additional help. And the stats cited several posts back indicate that upper-income kids at Jefferson have outcomes that are on par with those of their peers at richer schools.

My advice is that you ignore the posts of those who have no experience with school but nonetheless feel qualified to opine on it ("Look at me -- I know how to look up PARCC scores!"). My guess is that these are folks who chose a different path -- which of course is totally fine -- but who can't seem to just move on and accept the fact there are people who chose Jefferson and are happy there.

What counts as a "core" class? Science and social studies? Or just math/english?

There is no tracking for anything other than math or English.

That is not correct, not from our experience anyway.

All kids at Jefferson are assigned to a cohort (“homeroom”) to take the same core classes (math, ELA, science, and social studies) together. So high performers at the school take all of these classes together. The exception is that some take math a grade level above their assigned grade (e.g., some sixth graders take seventh-grade math), in which case they are not with their regular cohort for math.

To the extent there is tracking by cohort, it is unofficial, unexplained and unappealable. You could get lucky and your kid could get in the "good" homeroom (which also has a bunch of kids that are definitely not advanced), but you could also get unlucky and your kid could get assigned to a different homeroom and, since the school will tell you that the assignment is random, you have no recourse.

This! I've been to a couple JA open houses in the last year. I couldn't get a straight answer from admins about how the ability grouping system works at either open house, and nobody was willing (able?) to tell me what, if any, recourse would be available to me if I were unhappy with a homeroom placement. I asked half a dozen specific questions about homeroom placements:

*If my child would be given subject tests before or at the start of 6th grade to evaluate their skills in the 4 core subjects before a homeroom placement was made.
*If there were placement tests, would a curriculum outline and study materials for each subject tested be made available to me and my child over the summer, to help him prepare for the evaluations.
*If my child tested high on ELA and social studies and average on math and science (probable), how would that effect their homeroom placement.
*How much 5th grade grades would count in making a homeroom placement. I asked how 4s in 5th grade ELA and social studies every quarter, but 3s in math and science, would impact a 6th grade placement.
*When I was told that the placement team would talk to my child's 5th grade classroom teacher before making a placement, I asked why.
*How much 2022 PARCC scores would count in making a homeroom placement.
*Are any of the 6th grade homerooms reserved for students who work above grade level in all core subjects (GT homerooms). Are any of the homerooms significantly larger or smaller than others.

The only answer I got in response to all of my questions was to tune of "Trust us. We know what we're doing. We place students appropriately. Our in-boundary families love our placement system." There seems to be zero transparency in the process. The arrangement is not only unofficial, it's ad hoc.

. Oh great.

You can’t escape it. You can’t outrun it.

[Anonymous]

Ok. Read between the lines. They are doing something with grouping that probably isn’t legal. Or atvthrvberybkeast would be frowned upon by dcps. “Trust me” means stop asking questions and I will put your Brent student with other Brent students. But please stop calling attention to this or making anyone put it in writing.

Personally I would not feel comfortable with this arrangement. But it seems like for the former Brent families who want to keep this arrangement they would be best off keeping their mouths shut. It seems like there is a reason that admin is evasive about how all of this works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok. Read between the lines. They are doing something with grouping that probably isn’t legal. Or atvthrvberybkeast would be frowned upon by dcps. “Trust me” means stop asking questions and I will put your Brent student with other Brent students. But please stop calling attention to this or making anyone put it in writing.

Personally I would not feel comfortable with this arrangement. But it seems like for the former Brent families who want to keep this arrangement they would be best off keeping their mouths shut. It seems like there is a reason that admin is evasive about how all of this works.

So no definitive answer, no transparency and you want families to randomly trust the principal of a poorly performing middle school.

Yea, nope. Stakes are way too high. You do you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, so why isn't Jefferson a lot more popular with UMC in-boundary families and families with children in the several feeder elementary schools? Mainly a question of poor public relations?

At a Jefferson open house I attended this spring, admins were more than a little cagey about what sort of "honors classes" were offered and how students tested into these classes. I couldn't get a straight answer out of them, couldn't make sense of how the placement system worked. By contrast, at Stuart Hobson, I was told exactly how students were evaluated for/admitted to honors English and math classes. I was also told that there weren't any honors science or social studies classes, or any planned.

Brent parents considering Jefferson Academy have complained about this issue repeatedly on DCUM in the last several years. Brent parents who send their children to JA invariably respond with assurances that appropriate rigor is ensured across the board, never mind what the test-in-to-honors-classes-system might be (if there is indeed a system). Needless to say, UMC buy-in at JA from Brent, Tyler and Van Ness remains low and has a desperate feel (as in, we're all for JA, never mind the fact that we were shut out of BASIS and Latin, lack access to Hobson, and can't handle the commute to DCI).

We're IB for Jefferson and toured/had a shadow day last Friday with our current 5th grader. The school is currently on track to have 100 out of their 120 6th grade slots go to IB kids coming from all of their feeders. We were told about the advanced placement classes in their subjects and how students are evaluated for that track. We were also told that 6th grade teachers speak with all of the IB 5th grade teachers to get a feel for each IB student who will be attending. We got into a charger that went though HS but are choosing JA over it due to these personalized factors for our student. My kid had a great experience during the shadow and is excited to go next year.

I am the parent of a current student at Jefferson. And I can attest that, at least from my perspective, the school does a very good job of placing kids with similar aptitudes in the same core classes together. In addition, there is an advanced track for math (with certain sixth-graders placed in seventh-grade math and so on), as well as an advanced writing class that some kids take on top of their regular ELA class.

In light of all of this differentiation, the overall PARCC scores of the school are largely irrelevant to the experience of an individual kid. If your kid is a high performer, he or she is going to be in classes with the other high performers and not with those who need additional help. And the stats cited several posts back indicate that upper-income kids at Jefferson have outcomes that are on par with those of their peers at richer schools.

My advice is that you ignore the posts of those who have no experience with school but nonetheless feel qualified to opine on it ("Look at me -- I know how to look up PARCC scores!"). My guess is that these are folks who chose a different path -- which of course is totally fine -- but who can't seem to just move on and accept the fact there are people who chose Jefferson and are happy there.

What counts as a "core" class? Science and social studies? Or just math/english?

There is no tracking for anything other than math or English.

That is not correct, not from our experience anyway.

All kids at Jefferson are assigned to a cohort (“homeroom”) to take the same core classes (math, ELA, science, and social studies) together. So high performers at the school take all of these classes together. The exception is that some take math a grade level above their assigned grade (e.g., some sixth graders take seventh-grade math), in which case they are not with their regular cohort for math.

To the extent there is tracking by cohort, it is unofficial, unexplained and unappealable. You could get lucky and your kid could get in the "good" homeroom (which also has a bunch of kids that are definitely not advanced), but you could also get unlucky and your kid could get assigned to a different homeroom and, since the school will tell you that the assignment is random, you have no recourse.

This! I've been to a couple JA open houses in the last year. I couldn't get a straight answer from admins about how the ability grouping system works at either open house, and nobody was willing (able?) to tell me what, if any, recourse would be available to me if I were unhappy with a homeroom placement. I asked half a dozen specific questions about homeroom placements:

*If my child would be given subject tests before or at the start of 6th grade to evaluate their skills in the 4 core subjects before a homeroom placement was made.
*If there were placement tests, would a curriculum outline and study materials for each subject tested be made available to me and my child over the summer, to help him prepare for the evaluations.
*If my child tested high on ELA and social studies and average on math and science (probable), how would that effect their homeroom placement.
*How much 5th grade grades would count in making a homeroom placement. I asked how 4s in 5th grade ELA and social studies every quarter, but 3s in math and science, would impact a 6th grade placement.
*When I was told that the placement team would talk to my child's 5th grade classroom teacher before making a placement, I asked why.
*How much 2022 PARCC scores would count in making a homeroom placement.
*Are any of the 6th grade homerooms reserved for students who work above grade level in all core subjects (GT homerooms). Are any of the homerooms significantly larger or smaller than others.

The only answer I got in response to all of my questions was to tune of "Trust us. We know what we're doing. We place students appropriately. Our in-boundary families love our placement system." There seems to be zero transparency in the process. The arrangement is not only unofficial, it's ad hoc.

All very legit and reasonable questions which I’m sure have been asked by families. I doubt you are the first. It’s obvious there is no plan or algorithm based on ability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok. Read between the lines. They are doing something with grouping that probably isn’t legal. Or atvthrvberybkeast would be frowned upon by dcps. “Trust me” means stop asking questions and I will put your Brent student with other Brent students. But please stop calling attention to this or making anyone put it in writing.

Personally I would not feel comfortable with this arrangement. But it seems like for the former Brent families who want to keep this arrangement they would be best off keeping their mouths shut. It seems like there is a reason that admin is evasive about how all of this works.

And this is where everyone would be better off if DCPS would just get out if its own way. Grouping by ability is non-controversially done in middle schools across the country, because it makes sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok. Read between the lines. They are doing something with grouping that probably isn’t legal. Or atvthrvberybkeast would be frowned upon by dcps. “Trust me” means stop asking questions and I will put your Brent student with other Brent students. But please stop calling attention to this or making anyone put it in writing.

Personally I would not feel comfortable with this arrangement. But it seems like for the former Brent families who want to keep this arrangement they would be best off keeping their mouths shut. It seems like there is a reason that admin is evasive about how all of this works.

So you are implying that it’s not approved or legit from DCPS standpoint. If it is even happening which is highly doubtful to begin with, could be pulled and scraped at any notice if central office knew.

Who do you think is the principal’s higher priority - his job or a few demanding parents. We know how the dice rolls and DCPS is taking away what little tracking with honors courses there is just by seeing what is happening at Wilson. Their motto is poorly performing kids will do better in classes with highly performing kids. Full stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, so why isn't Jefferson a lot more popular with UMC in-boundary families and families with children in the several feeder elementary schools? Mainly a question of poor public relations?

At a Jefferson open house I attended this spring, admins were more than a little cagey about what sort of "honors classes" were offered and how students tested into these classes. I couldn't get a straight answer out of them, couldn't make sense of how the placement system worked. By contrast, at Stuart Hobson, I was told exactly how students were evaluated for/admitted to honors English and math classes. I was also told that there weren't any honors science or social studies classes, or any planned.

Brent parents considering Jefferson Academy have complained about this issue repeatedly on DCUM in the last several years. Brent parents who send their children to JA invariably respond with assurances that appropriate rigor is ensured across the board, never mind what the test-in-to-honors-classes-system might be (if there is indeed a system). Needless to say, UMC buy-in at JA from Brent, Tyler and Van Ness remains low and has a desperate feel (as in, we're all for JA, never mind the fact that we were shut out of BASIS and Latin, lack access to Hobson, and can't handle the commute to DCI).

We're IB for Jefferson and toured/had a shadow day last Friday with our current 5th grader. The school is currently on track to have 100 out of their 120 6th grade slots go to IB kids coming from all of their feeders. We were told about the advanced placement classes in their subjects and how students are evaluated for that track. We were also told that 6th grade teachers speak with all of the IB 5th grade teachers to get a feel for each IB student who will be attending. We got into a charger that went though HS but are choosing JA over it due to these personalized factors for our student. My kid had a great experience during the shadow and is excited to go next year.

I am the parent of a current student at Jefferson. And I can attest that, at least from my perspective, the school does a very good job of placing kids with similar aptitudes in the same core classes together. In addition, there is an advanced track for math (with certain sixth-graders placed in seventh-grade math and so on), as well as an advanced writing class that some kids take on top of their regular ELA class.

In light of all of this differentiation, the overall PARCC scores of the school are largely irrelevant to the experience of an individual kid. If your kid is a high performer, he or she is going to be in classes with the other high performers and not with those who need additional help. And the stats cited several posts back indicate that upper-income kids at Jefferson have outcomes that are on par with those of their peers at richer schools.

My advice is that you ignore the posts of those who have no experience with school but nonetheless feel qualified to opine on it ("Look at me -- I know how to look up PARCC scores!"). My guess is that these are folks who chose a different path -- which of course is totally fine -- but who can't seem to just move on and accept the fact there are people who chose Jefferson and are happy there.

What counts as a "core" class? Science and social studies? Or just math/english?

There is no tracking for anything other than math or English.

That is not correct, not from our experience anyway.

All kids at Jefferson are assigned to a cohort (“homeroom”) to take the same core classes (math, ELA, science, and social studies) together. So high performers at the school take all of these classes together. The exception is that some take math a grade level above their assigned grade (e.g., some sixth graders take seventh-grade math), in which case they are not with their regular cohort for math.

To the extent there is tracking by cohort, it is unofficial, unexplained and unappealable. You could get lucky and your kid could get in the "good" homeroom (which also has a bunch of kids that are definitely not advanced), but you could also get unlucky and your kid could get assigned to a different homeroom and, since the school will tell you that the assignment is random, you have no recourse.

This! I've been to a couple JA open houses in the last year. I couldn't get a straight answer from admins about how the ability grouping system works at either open house, and nobody was willing (able?) to tell me what, if any, recourse would be available to me if I were unhappy with a homeroom placement. I asked half a dozen specific questions about homeroom placements:

*If my child would be given subject tests before or at the start of 6th grade to evaluate their skills in the 4 core subjects before a homeroom placement was made.
*If there were placement tests, would a curriculum outline and study materials for each subject tested be made available to me and my child over the summer, to help him prepare for the evaluations.
*If my child tested high on ELA and social studies and average on math and science (probable), how would that effect their homeroom placement.
*How much 5th grade grades would count in making a homeroom placement. I asked how 4s in 5th grade ELA and social studies every quarter, but 3s in math and science, would impact a 6th grade placement.
*When I was told that the placement team would talk to my child's 5th grade classroom teacher before making a placement, I asked why.
*How much 2022 PARCC scores would count in making a homeroom placement.
*Are any of the 6th grade homerooms reserved for students who work above grade level in all core subjects (GT homerooms). Are any of the homerooms significantly larger or smaller than others.

The only answer I got in response to all of my questions was to tune of "Trust us. We know what we're doing. We place students appropriately. Our in-boundary families love our placement system." There seems to be zero transparency in the process. The arrangement is not only unofficial, it's ad hoc.

Wait. So you were specifically told that the placement team would talk to your child’s fifth-grade teacher before making a placement, and you wanted to know why? Isn’t the answer obvious? Isn’t it a good thing to seek input from a prior teacher?