Your experiences at Janney

[Anonymous]

I have a question for current Janney K parents.

Am I correct that Janney is closed to OOB students for K for the upcoming lottery, and that it was also closed this year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But they are currently remodeling Hearst with no plans to make it larger. I would bet 1 million dollars that the Janney boundaries are never changed to shift kids to Hearst. It's been "talked" about for years but will never happen.
Janney will continue to expand and expand until it reaches a point where parents start to withdraw and use private and/or move to Mont Co. because it's too big.

But the school has a large OOB population. You don't need to expand the physical size of the school to take in additional IB families. OOB families would slowly displaced over time. Yes I realize that this displacement is a separate issue. The point is that the physical space is not the constraint, other considerations are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a question for current Janney K parents.

Am I correct that Janney is closed to OOB students for K for the upcoming lottery, and that it was also closed this year?

It is officially closed. But come August/September if they don't fill with inboundary kids they will give those spaces to out-of-boundary kids.
They do it this way since many people continually move into AU Park to go to Janney and there is no way of predicting how many will 6 months out when the lottery is held. They don't want to accept XX number of out-of-bounds kids in March and then have 30 new K kids move into the neighborhood between March and August.

2 years ago I don't think there were any K spots. Last year they filled a few in late Aug/early Sept.

[Anonymous]

Janney parent here. As to the OP's question -- Janney is a wonderful school and your child would have no trouble making friends if she switched over. The teachers are devoted and hard working. By and large the parents are very satisfied with the school and the community. They have support for kids at all levels, great before and after school enrichment and care programs, an engaged parent community. No place is perfect and everyone based on their individual needs might tell you about something that hasn't worked for them or could be improved. Generally there are ways to voice those concerns and get assistance in resolving them.

As to all the questions about the size of the school and expansion - while the school has grown dramatically, the number of classes per class year is a little misleading. While it is accurate that there are more classes in the lower grades then higher grades that is in part b/c there are fewer students and more OOB students in the lower grades. In other words, two years ago there were 4 K classes of about 24-25 students each and few if any OOB students. Now there are 5 K classes of about 18-20 students and including more OOB students. The classrooms that are being added now were envisioned by the original construction plan but there wasn't money to complete the complete project at once. There may have been some hope that it wouldn't be required but it is and that isn't a problem b/c it was anticipated. The school has enough space for the expected number of students with current boundaries. The school definitely is not closed to OOB children, it took a number of new ones in K this year and no doubt will next year too. There is no need to rezone it.

[Anonymous]

Thanks PP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a question for current Janney K parents.

Am I correct that Janney is closed to OOB students for K for the upcoming lottery, and that it was also closed this year?

It is officially closed. But come August/September if they don't fill with inboundary kids they will give those spaces to out-of-boundary kids.
They do it this way since many people continually move into AU Park to go to Janney and there is no way of predicting how many will 6 months out when the lottery is held. They don't want to accept XX number of out-of-bounds kids in March and then have 30 new K kids move into the neighborhood between March and August.

2 years ago I don't think there were any K spots. Last year they filled a few in late Aug/early Sept.

Given the number of IB families on the WL, I would be shocked if they went down far enough to get to OOB families.

[Anonymous]

IB kids are never on a wait list for grades K-5. They are in due to the fact that they are IB, just like every other public school.

PK is different, by lottery, with limited spots, and those will likely go to IB families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:According to the most recent Principal presentation last week the plans next year are for 3-PK, 5-K, 5-1st, 5-2nd, 4-3rd, 4-4th and 4-5th. Projections for enrollment next year are 670-680.

My kids started in later grades after private. In first grade the year my child started there were 10 other new kids. In 3rd there were fewer new kids, but still a number of them. There have been new kids added every year we have been there. Some from private, so who move into the area. We have been very happy with the curriculum, the teachers and the accessibility of the staff and administration. The kids were welcomed in by other students, even my rather "energetic" son. I switched because I wanted the kids to be part of the neighborhood school. I felt they were really missing out on being part of the community we lived in (we are IB) and it has made a huge difference in their personalities, confidence and play. When I toured Janney originally I noticed the new building, but also that most of the curriculum they were teaching was exactly the same as what my kids were getting in private. Same math curriculum, same writing curriculum, same reading assessments, same music and art exposure. Even the same artist happened to be performing at an assembly that we had just had at the private school the week before. When I added it up it seemed like a logical choice and in hindsight, one of the best ones I have made for my kids.

As for Deal, over 90 percent of the kids from Janney, Lafayette, Murch, etc are going there.

Wow PP: sounds like you got taken for a ride at your private school...

[Anonymous]

I do not know the source of this 6 kindergarten rumor. Last year was a large k class, this year slightly smaller and they added 1 child to a couple of classrooms to bring it up to 20 per class. There was a large waiting list for pre k last year and they expect a large incoming k class next year so likely no oob spots this fall. The principal does try to make OOB space available if the school has it.

My understanding from what the principal said at the PTA meeting last week is that the demographic experts, based on census data, do not see the recent growth trend continuing, it should level off. This is because of the generational shift that happened in housing (older people without children moving out and young families buying those properties) is over. Because of the large number of families now here, it will be a more normal transition.

The classes tend to hover around 20 kids for the lower grades and 25 for the upper, which is how you can go from 5 to 4.

Also, my understanding is that by the time they broke ground on the renovation it was foreseeable that they would need additional space, but not that the addition was in the original plan and they did not build it because they ran out of money. Never heard that one before and I have attended a number of discussions with the principal where this came up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to the most recent Principal presentation last week the plans next year are for 3-PK, 5-K, 5-1st, 5-2nd, 4-3rd, 4-4th and 4-5th. Projections for enrollment next year are 670-680.

My kids started in later grades after private. In first grade the year my child started there were 10 other new kids. In 3rd there were fewer new kids, but still a number of them. There have been new kids added every year we have been there. Some from private, so who move into the area. We have been very happy with the curriculum, the teachers and the accessibility of the staff and administration. The kids were welcomed in by other students, even my rather "energetic" son. I switched because I wanted the kids to be part of the neighborhood school. I felt they were really missing out on being part of the community we lived in (we are IB) and it has made a huge difference in their personalities, confidence and play. When I toured Janney originally I noticed the new building, but also that most of the curriculum they were teaching was exactly the same as what my kids were getting in private. Same math curriculum, same writing curriculum, same reading assessments, same music and art exposure. Even the same artist happened to be performing at an assembly that we had just had at the private school the week before. When I added it up it seemed like a logical choice and in hindsight, one of the best ones I have made for my kids.

As for Deal, over 90 percent of the kids from Janney, Lafayette, Murch, etc are going there.

Wow PP: sounds like you got taken for a ride at your private school...

NOt PP, but do you mind sharing which Private you used to be at? We are currently at Norwood for K and are considering just going to Janney instead, due to finances, but would love to hear which school you are at to get a comparison in the curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Does Janney have Junior Great Books or anything else for an advanced student ? William and Mary curriculum? We are used to these in Montgomery County.

[Anonymous]

^^Does MOCO still do those with curriculum 2.0? very curious.

[Anonymous]

I toured Janney this week. It is true that they take some out of boundary children at K level, but last year every single one of them had a sibling preference. While populations are going to fluctuate from year, I don't have my hopes up that they will be taking any non-sibling out-of-bound kids in the lottery this year.