I went to Eastern-- AMA

[Anonymous]

Can you elaborate on the violence you mentioned?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds a bit like the boys and girls were in separate friend groups. At DC's CES in 5th they are already mixing up. If it's true that the boys were really close and in a friend group why do you think they were apart from the girls?

In my CES, girls and boys mixed too. There really was no difference. I think we just got older and grew up, I don't really know why boys and girls were so separated. There was one really close group of girls that was kind of close with boys. I never thought much about it because I was happy with my friends.

Anonymous wrote:Can you elaborate on the violence you mentioned?

Wrestling in gym classes, fighting each other, punching each other in the hallways (both joking and for real), cursing in the hallways, screaming, running, chasing people, a few times people loudly played music, some kissing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A former Eastern magnet student is exactly the type of high schooler who would offer an AMA!

—a current Eastern magnet teacher

So now we have students and magnet teachers on DC Moms.

There are at least three magnet teachers who post on this site. I know because I’m one. I can make a guess about one of the others being a colleague at my school. The other seems to be at a different school.

Sure Jan

Who's Jan?

I guess Jan is a parent that someone thinks is posing as a magnet student and a magnet teacher.

Really?

[Anonymous]

Magnet teachers, what do you think about the level of fights/violence/disruption? Is it different from other schools where you have taught?

[Anonymous]

OP, what do you think of Eastern athletics? Are magnet students even involved in sports at school?

[Anonymous]

I hope I am wrong but it doesn't seem like a student is authoring this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope I am wrong but it doesn't seem like a student is authoring this thread.

What makes you think that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope I am wrong but it doesn't seem like a student is authoring this thread.

The voice sounds pretty similar to my Eastern kid and her classmates. Articulate, a bit dry, and fairly candid. (At least in the posts that are clearly OP's responses to specific questions.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you elaborate on the violence you mentioned?

I have had two kids in Eastern. It is so overcrowded that the narrow hallways and stairwells are so packed that kids get shoved and jostled. My first DD who went through Eastern literally fell and got stepped on by a crowd of kids coming out of the lunchroom. That was in part an administration problem because there were too few lunch periods. Lunch is the worst time; the supervision is entirely inadequate. Last year, my first DD's group at lunch had kids at another table winging milk cartons, pencils, etc. at them. No one got seriously hurt but the lunch supervisors and administration really did not address the situation adequately at the time.

My older DD started eating in the media center, and my younger DD goes there for lunch as well. Both loved/love the program, and wouldn't have changed their decisions to attend the program, but the overly-crowded facilities and the inadequate staffing/supervision really can cause problems. I think the current principal is much better than the previous one (Casey Crouse of Damascus scandal infamy) and has taken steps to ameliorate the situation, but there's only so much that he can do in light of a crowded and outdated building, inadequate staff resources, and the revisions to the disciplinary policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope I am wrong but it doesn't seem like a student is authoring this thread.

The voice sounds pretty similar to my Eastern kid and her classmates. Articulate, a bit dry, and fairly candid. (At least in the posts that are clearly OP's responses to specific questions.)

I agree. (Eastern parent).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you elaborate on the violence you mentioned?

I have had two kids in Eastern. It is so overcrowded that the narrow hallways and stairwells are so packed that kids get shoved and jostled. My first DD who went through Eastern literally fell and got stepped on by a crowd of kids coming out of the lunchroom. That was in part an administration problem because there were too few lunch periods. Lunch is the worst time; the supervision is entirely inadequate. Last year, my first DD's group at lunch had kids at another table winging milk cartons, pencils, etc. at them. No one got seriously hurt but the lunch supervisors and administration really did not address the situation adequately at the time.

My older DD started eating in the media center, and my younger DD goes there for lunch as well. Both loved/love the program, and wouldn't have changed their decisions to attend the program, but the overly-crowded facilities and the inadequate staffing/supervision really can cause problems. I think the current principal is much better than the previous one (Casey Crouse of Damascus scandal infamy) and has taken steps to ameliorate the situation, but there's only so much that he can do in light of a crowded and outdated building, inadequate staff resources, and the revisions to the disciplinary policy.

This sounds about right to me. My kid has been much happier since discovering some alternatives to the lunch room, and teachers have been generous about offering kids classroom space when they can. I don't have experience with the previous principal, but my impression was that it's been an improvement, at least.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you elaborate on the violence you mentioned?

I have had two kids in Eastern. It is so overcrowded that the narrow hallways and stairwells are so packed that kids get shoved and jostled. My first DD who went through Eastern literally fell and got stepped on by a crowd of kids coming out of the lunchroom. That was in part an administration problem because there were too few lunch periods. Lunch is the worst time; the supervision is entirely inadequate. Last year, my first DD's group at lunch had kids at another table winging milk cartons, pencils, etc. at them. No one got seriously hurt but the lunch supervisors and administration really did not address the situation adequately at the time.

My older DD started eating in the media center, and my younger DD goes there for lunch as well. Both loved/love the program, and wouldn't have changed their decisions to attend the program, but the overly-crowded facilities and the inadequate staffing/supervision really can cause problems. I think the current principal is much better than the previous one (Casey Crouse of Damascus scandal infamy) and has taken steps to ameliorate the situation, but there's only so much that he can do in light of a crowded and outdated building, inadequate staff resources, and the revisions to the disciplinary policy.

This sounds about right to me. My kid has been much happier since discovering some alternatives to the lunch room, and teachers have been generous about offering kids classroom space when they can. I don't have experience with the previous principal, but my impression was that it's been an improvement, at least.

I agree with all of this and also have a kid at Eastern. I am overall impressed with almost all of the teachers (magnet and non-magnet - in fact, the teacher who has opened up her classroom to a group of kids at lunch that includes my child is an algebra teacher). Eastern's building is old and crowded, but the teachers and administrators really care about the kids and seem to be doing the best they can under the circumstances. The magnet program is great and my kid has been overall very happy (which is much more than I can say about my own middle school experience!)

[Anonymous]

If you were in a CES you are not a freshman. My current freshman was in an HGC. Whoever is responding knows Eastern but isn’t a student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Magnet teachers, what do you think about the level of fights/violence/disruption? Is it different from other schools where you have taught?

I’ve personally seen just two fights and heard about only a few others. Maybe they are happening in the boys’ locker room or other spaces I don’t need to go near. There’s a couple mean girl cliques among the non-magnet population. Definitely a lot of bullying, but when I’ve witnessed it, it was almost all in-group rather than cross-group. There are two magnet students that fought each other last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you were in a CES you are not a freshman. My current freshman was in an HGC. Whoever is responding knows Eastern but isn’t a student.

Oh, stop being so cynical. The name was changed and now even kids who went through the program when it *was* called an HGC now call it a CES. Case in point, my 9th grader.