Is Janney for every child?

[Anonymous]

We are moving to IB for Janney. We are currently at a much smaller school that is not as high performing. My DS needs a little more attention in the classroom to stay focused. He is able to be successful in his current school because of a combination of smaller (than Janney) class size and a model where there are 2 teachers for each classroom.

I am wondering if anyone has a child with similar learning needs who can comment on the strengths and weaknesses of Janney. My child will be entering 2nd grade.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Janney is a top-performing school. Of course they have the resources and ability to meet any child's needs and will welcome your child!! no worries.

[Anonymous]

Why are you moving? Is there any ability for your child to stay where he is? Janney is great, but you described your child as thriving where he is now. Sometimes within DCPS there is this discretion if it works for the child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are you moving? Is there any ability for your child to stay where he is? Janney is great, but you described your child as thriving where he is now. Sometimes within DCPS there is this discretion if it works for the child.

We have ability to stay at our current school. I am trying to weigh the trade-off between commute / Janney community and a known entity for my child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are moving to IB for Janney. We are currently at a much smaller school that is not as high performing. My DS needs a little more attention in the classroom to stay focused. He is able to be successful in his current school because of a combination of smaller (than Janney) class size and a model where there are 2 teachers for each classroom.

I am wondering if anyone has a child with similar learning needs who can comment on the strengths and weaknesses of Janney. My child will be entering 2nd grade.

Thanks.

we were IB for an elementary school, where our child stated pre-K. child had some attention issues, and they have been address very well by the school (including placing child in classes of about 20, 21 kids, giving one on one instructions or letting child work in small group, and since last year with IEP additional help. child went through some difficult times but is now thriving and we think that the help child got at school was a critical factor in child's success. in K we moved IB for a JKLM school (not Janney), but we chose to leave the child in the original school. our new IB school would be less than 2 blocks away, while original school is 15-20 minutes on foot (we drive or take bus). we were concerned by higher class size at new IB school and leaving a good situation for sometime we were not sure could work. we are very happy we did it. look carefully at the class size at Janney, in 2nd grade and later, and how many teachers and aides are in class. Based on what friends who have kids there tell me, Janney is a great school and run very well. however, success is also linked to the demographics of the school. if your kid ends up in a class with 28 or 30 kids, it may not be an ideal situation even at a goo school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
we were IB for an elementary school, where our child stated pre-K. child had some attention issues, and they have been address very well by the school (including placing child in classes of about 20, 21 kids, giving one on one instructions or letting child work in small group, and since last year with IEP additional help. child went through some difficult times but is now thriving and we think that the help child got at school was a critical factor in child's success. in K we moved IB for a JKLM school (not Janney), but we chose to leave the child in the original school. our new IB school would be less than 2 blocks away, while original school is 15-20 minutes on foot (we drive or take bus). we were concerned by higher class size at new IB school and leaving a good situation for sometime we were not sure could work. we are very happy we did it. look carefully at the class size at Janney, in 2nd grade and later, and how many teachers and aides are in class. Based on what friends who have kids there tell me, Janney is a great school and run very well. however, success is also linked to the demographics of the school. if your kid ends up in a class with 28 or 30 kids, it may not be an ideal situation even at a goo school

Thank you for this thoughtful response. This is exactly what I was concerned about. Right now my child is not on an IEP but we are watching closely to see if attention issues are things that he grows out of or if it is something more.

I will go talk to the Principal at Janney and see if I can visit a 2nd and 3rd grade class to see what it feels like. I was told a few years ago to find a child that behaves like my DS and observe the interactions in the classroom.

[Anonymous]

Janney's current first grades have 25/26 kids per class (I have the school directory open in front of me). Janney has one teacher per class in second grade. Four classes of kids in first grade this year (second-graders-to-be).

So there will be 26-28 kids and 1 teacher in second grade next year at Janney. They have no physical space to bump to a 5th second grade next year so classes will enlarge to 26-28 when a few new students move into the neighborhood (as they always do).

They do have an inclusion team but they follow kids from a distance--they're not a presence in the classroom.

[Anonymous]

Janney is a good school but as pp mentioned in large part bc of students SES.

[Anonymous]

I would be cautious OP. Dr Wood, head of inclusion, is an acquired taste. I have had a couple of negative experiences with her. Classes are larger and can be very overwhelming as a student gets higher in grades levels.

[Anonymous]

OP, you might cross-post this to the Special Needs forum and see if you can get more detail. I am not at Janney, but I knew someone who is and was very happy there. That was 2 years ago in 1st grade. I don't know how much she'd attribute to the school or Sp Ed coordinator or classroom teacher, so I can't provide any more specifics; only that she felt it was a good experience for her DC.

[Anonymous]

If you think it is a good fit make sure you have a back up plan that you like. Teachers can handle one high maintenance kid but more is too much and decisions will be made about moving one kid out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you might cross-post this to the Special Needs forum and see if you can get more detail. I am not at Janney, but I knew someone who is and was very happy there. That was 2 years ago in 1st grade. I don't know how much she'd attribute to the school or Sp Ed coordinator or classroom teacher, so I can't provide any more specifics; only that she felt it was a good experience for her DC.

thanks for this tip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you think it is a good fit make sure you have a back up plan that you like. Teachers can handle one high maintenance kid but more is too much and decisions will be made about moving one kid out.

I'm not sure what you're basing this on. If the child has an IEP, teachers can't just decide to move him or her because of "high maintenance." Public schools are for everyone. If the student needs more attention than the classroom teacher or Sp Ed teacher can provide, then a responsible school will recognize that and add a one-on-one aide to the IEP.

[Anonymous]

Uh, really? DCPS doesn't automatically give out one on one aides, my child was denied one, even though the teacher wanted it.

[Anonymous]

"Janney's current first grades have 25/26 kids per class (I have the school directory open in front of me)."

Not true- there are 23 in my child's class, for one. I expect the 2nd grade class to be at 24.