Jefferson Academy Kool-Aid

[Anonymous]

It was a skillful PR job AND a real turnaround. My question is how could parents turn around Jefferson in a city without gifted and talented programs, and with serious political problems with any arrangement that smacks of racial segregation (academic tracking)? At the Jefferson open house yesterday, I didn't come away with a clear view of how the achievement gap would be managed. It didn't sound like advanced students coming into Jefferson front Brent would be placed in appropriately challenging classes in every academic subject.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was a skillful PR job AND a real turnaround. My question is how could parents turn around Jefferson in a city without gifted and talented programs, and with serious political problems with any arrangement that smacks of racial segregation (academic tracking)? At the Jefferson open house yesterday, I didn't come away with a clear view of how the achievement gap would be managed. It didn't sound like advanced students coming into Jefferson front Brent would be placed in appropriately challenging classes in every academic subject.

How many students at Brent, as a percentage of population, are truly advanced in every subject.

The Brent boundary isn't a hotspot of giftedness. The vast majority are not CTY or Feynmann types.

[Anonymous]

I don't think the Brent boundary is a hot spot of giftedness, but there are a lot of kids who would be in middle school honors classes in Fairfax County ( one they were in 7th grade). My kids both read above grade level, one a full grade above grade level, an that is pretty normal at Brent. My neighbors' son went from Brent to Latin, and found 5th grade pretty easy (although with much more homework than Brent).

[Anonymous]

It's not about being gifted. The problem
Is that the majority of Jefferson kids are below to way below grade level. So even a Brent kid at grade level isn't going to be challenged in that environment.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:They're trying hard to move a 30 million dollar plus renovation, planned for 2021 by DCPS and Bowser, up by a few years, and to build relationships with admins and the Jefferson parent organization. All fine, it's the feeder problem that seems unworkable in under a decade. Not nearly enough strong students in the pipeline from Tyler heading to Jefferson, and none in-boundary from Brent. Also no 5th grade at Van Ness for another five years. If Brent, Maury and SWS fed to the same DCPS middle school, we'd have another Deal soon. But nobody much lobbied for that several years back, and DCPS wasn't amenable anyway.

No one is amenable to that because picking those three schools out of the hat doesn't make any sense.

If you look at the feeders for Hardy it's all relatively affluent neighborhoods. It hasn't taken off because it's probably too affluent for public schools. That's slowly changing as more students from feeders are staying. Key, Mann, Stoddert, Hyde-Addison, Eaton -- that's a pretty impressive group of feeders and not a whole lot of FARMS in that lot. It's OK for NW but not the Hill. When Hardy turns DCPS is going to see a MS even more affluent and less diverse than Deal

but everyone knows the Hill can't have nice things . . . those are reserved for Wards 2 and 3 and to a lesser extent 4.

Throwing Ward 4 in there must be a joke...we have been last in line for just about every renovation round.

and yet Shepherd retained the illogical Deal feed, not to mention Crestwood even though Eaton was a far more logical choice. and let us not forget Lafayette. I did say "to an extent", not a full one

name one Ward 6 school that's benefitted as much as the western side of Ward 4 which continues to bask in the glow of Ward 3.

This is ignorant! Have you seen the individual test scores of Lafayette and Shepherd! How are they basking in the glow of ward 3?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not about being gifted. The problem
Is that the majority of Jefferson kids are below to way below grade level. So even a Brent kid at grade level isn't going to be challenged in that environment.

Yes, exactly. Jefferson admins have been saying they would create above-grade-level classes if a cohort of above grade-level-students were enrolled for sixth grade, but who knows what that means. It doesn't sound like a promise to hang your hat on.

[Anonymous]

Why not? Does the Jefferson administration have a history of broken promises? Do they seem disinterested in helping students fufill their potential?

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It's not about being gifted. The problem
Is that the majority of Jefferson kids are below to way below grade level. So even a Brent kid at grade level isn't going to be challenged in that environment.[/quote]

Yes, exactly. Jefferson admins have been saying they would create above-grade-level classes if a cohort of above grade-level-students were enrolled for sixth grade, but who knows what that means. It doesn't sound like a promise to hang your hat on.


[/quote]

It means they would add an advanced math section if enough students come to fill it. Any teacher who is certified for middle school math is going to be able to teach it - so not that big a stretch.

I probably also means reading an additional book or three during English than the typical class.

[Anonymous]

Great, so they might add a math class, and they might not. What happens when they plan to add the class, whoops, but most of the kids who were supposed to populate it get off various wait lists (BASIS, Washington Latin, Stuart Hobson, private schools) over the summer and don't show up for 6th grade? The class is canceled and your kid takes the same math class they had a year or two earlier? As for English classes, so Jefferson might require your advanced kid to read and extra book or two, while other students in the class are being taught to read at grade level (or one or two years below grade level). Forgive me for being rude, but the arrangement doesn't inspire confidence in this Brent upper grades mom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

the continued hubris of the Hill parents who blithely assume 6th grade admission to Sidwell, Maret & GDS ... adorable!

"Golly, maybe we'll just have to enroll at Sidwell or NCS a couple years earlier. What a shame, because we LOVE Brent!"



It's okay though, since if they don't get into those schools they'll just move to NoVA and their kids will walk right into TJ.

This is actually funny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Great, so they might add a math class, and they might not. What happens when they plan to add the class, whoops, but most of the kids who were supposed to populate it get off various wait lists (BASIS, Washington Latin, Stuart Hobson, private schools) over the summer and don't show up for 6th grade? The class is canceled and your kid takes the same math class they had a year or two earlier? As for English classes, so Jefferson might require your advanced kid to read and extra book or two, while other students in the class are being taught to read at grade level (or one or two years below grade level). Forgive me for being rude, but the arrangement doesn't inspire confidence in this Brent upper grades mom.

You realize that at Latin or Basis they will be in every class with kids not at grade level too - except math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great, so they might add a math class, and they might not. What happens when they plan to add the class, whoops, but most of the kids who were supposed to populate it get off various wait lists (BASIS, Washington Latin, Stuart Hobson, private schools) over the summer and don't show up for 6th grade? The class is canceled and your kid takes the same math class they had a year or two earlier? As for English classes, so Jefferson might require your advanced kid to read and extra book or two, while other students in the class are being taught to read at grade level (or one or two years below grade level). Forgive me for being rude, but the arrangement doesn't inspire confidence in this Brent upper grades mom.

You realize that at Latin or Basis they will be in every class with kids not at grade level too - except math.

You realize that Latin is majority white/high SES, and BASIS is nearly majority white/high SES (and getting more white/high SES with every passing school year).

[Anonymous]

Yes but there are kids below grade level in both places. Not a majority but they are not 'accelerated' across all subjects.

No public middle schools are unless you are in a MontCo HGC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was a skillful PR job AND a real turnaround. My question is how could parents turn around Jefferson in a city without gifted and talented programs, and with serious political problems with any arrangement that smacks of racial segregation (academic tracking)? At the Jefferson open house yesterday, I didn't come away with a clear view of how the achievement gap would be managed. It didn't sound like advanced students coming into Jefferson front Brent would be placed in appropriately challenging classes in every academic subject.

I think it is fair for parents to expect that Jefferson be able to provide challenging classes that are appropriate for their children. What is slightly less fair is to expect that such a program to already exist before the first "advanced" child walks through the door.

Does the school/principal express any flexibility or understanding of the issue. Like, if x number of "advanced" kids show up, we will have this Algebra and that Language Arts class no matter what. If that is the real issue, it doesn't seem like that is the biggest mountain to climb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great, so they might add a math class, and they might not. What happens when they plan to add the class, whoops, but most of the kids who were supposed to populate it get off various wait lists (BASIS, Washington Latin, Stuart Hobson, private schools) over the summer and don't show up for 6th grade? The class is canceled and your kid takes the same math class they had a year or two earlier? As for English classes, so Jefferson might require your advanced kid to read and extra book or two, while other students in the class are being taught to read at grade level (or one or two years below grade level). Forgive me for being rude, but the arrangement doesn't inspire confidence in this Brent upper grades mom.

You realize that at Latin or Basis they will be in every class with kids not at grade level too - except math.

You realize that Latin is majority white/high SES, and BASIS is nearly majority white/high SES (and getting more white/high SES with every passing school year).

Did you know that Deal isn't?