Experience with Macfarland?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an idea who 17:32 is and can’t believe they are still at MacFarland; our kids attended elementary school together until we left after 3rd grade. Their child is really bright and I’m surprised they are sticking it out for whatever reason.

hint: it’s called “grandma is paying for private high school and college, so we aren’t worried about MS.”

If that’s the reason then I think there are very compelling arguments for putting your child in an environment like MacFarland before they go to a private school bubble. You can supplement at home for a few years.

Who wants to supplement all subjects for 3 years in addition to trying to fit in sports and extracurriculars? There is only so much time in the day.

Lastly, how many kids are going to buy into that? A full day of wasted school and then coming home to a few hours of more work?

I feel sorry for OP’s kid because of some abstract values he holds to send his kid there. His kid is not only not meeting his full potential academically but is missing out on all the extras like OP said with clubs, sports, etc…

[Anonymous]

This is one of the most pathetic threads that I've seen in a long time. I'd wonder how Jeff would defend this one next time a study comes out against DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an idea who 17:32 is and can’t believe they are still at MacFarland; our kids attended elementary school together until we left after 3rd grade. Their child is really bright and I’m surprised they are sticking it out for whatever reason.

hint: it’s called “grandma is paying for private high school and college, so we aren’t worried about MS.”

If that’s the reason then I think there are very compelling arguments for putting your child in an environment like MacFarland before they go to a private school bubble. You can supplement at home for a few years.

Who wants to supplement all subjects for 3 years in addition to trying to fit in sports and extracurriculars? There is only so much time in the day.

Lastly, how many kids are going to buy into that? A full day of wasted school and then coming home to a few hours of more work?

I feel sorry for OP’s kid because of some abstract values he holds to send his kid there. His kid is not only not meeting his full potential academically but is missing out on all the extras like OP said with clubs, sports, etc…

DP. Since these schools have no homework there’s plenty of time to supplement. Also using the IB school often means a much shorter commute. We were considering MCPS with a long bus ride … instead DS will just have a 10 min walk. I wish the school was better but I’m not worried about the time spent in tutoring. Especially since 1:1 tutoring is so effective, you don’t have to spend that much time on it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is one of the most pathetic threads that I've seen in a long time. I'd wonder how Jeff would defend this one next time a study comes out against DCUM.

What’s pathetic is the fact that DCPS middle schools regularly have 50- 75% of kid’s unable to come anywhere close to meeting literacy and math benchmarks. If you think this is a race issue think again. The wealthy/professional black parents at our ES are the first to jump ship to privates or charter MS. they are definitely NOT sending their kids to a school with only 8 kids who can pass PARCC math in their grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is one of the most pathetic threads that I've seen in a long time. I'd wonder how Jeff would defend this one next time a study comes out against DCUM.

What’s pathetic is the fact that DCPS middle schools regularly have 50- 75% of kid’s unable to come anywhere close to meeting literacy and math benchmarks. If you think this is a race issue think again. The wealthy/professional black parents at our ES are the first to jump ship to privates or charter MS. they are definitely NOT sending their kids to a school with only 8 kids who can pass PARCC math in their grade.

Also LOL at the “study” that will come out. I so believe those Brookings dudes are sending their kids to their non-Deal IB MS. Sure they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is one of the most pathetic threads that I've seen in a long time. I'd wonder how Jeff would defend this one next time a study comes out against DCUM.

What’s pathetic is the fact that DCPS middle schools regularly have 50- 75% of kid’s unable to come anywhere close to meeting literacy and math benchmarks. If you think this is a race issue think again. The wealthy/professional black parents at our ES are the first to jump ship to privates or charter MS. they are definitely NOT sending their kids to a school with only 8 kids who can pass PARCC math in their grade.

I wonder what would make those numbers go up? Could it possibly be more families of proficient students sending their kids to that MS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is one of the most pathetic threads that I've seen in a long time. I'd wonder how Jeff would defend this one next time a study comes out against DCUM.

What’s pathetic is the fact that DCPS middle schools regularly have 50- 75% of kid’s unable to come anywhere close to meeting literacy and math benchmarks. If you think this is a race issue think again. The wealthy/professional black parents at our ES are the first to jump ship to privates or charter MS. they are definitely NOT sending their kids to a school with only 8 kids who can pass PARCC math in their grade.

I wonder what would make those numbers go up? Could it possibly be more families of proficient students sending their kids to that MS?

Golly gosh, what an original idea that nobody's ever brought up before. People don't want to sacrifice their kid's education and quality of life on the hope that DCPS will some day open its eyes and start consistently providing on- and above-grade level content. DCPS has made it crystal clear that they're unwilling to do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is one of the most pathetic threads that I've seen in a long time. I'd wonder how Jeff would defend this one next time a study comes out against DCUM.

What’s pathetic is the fact that DCPS middle schools regularly have 50- 75% of kid’s unable to come anywhere close to meeting literacy and math benchmarks. If you think this is a race issue think again. The wealthy/professional black parents at our ES are the first to jump ship to privates or charter MS. they are definitely NOT sending their kids to a school with only 8 kids who can pass PARCC math in their grade.

I wonder what would make those numbers go up? Could it possibly be more families of proficient students sending their kids to that MS?

Not sure what you’re trying to imply here. There are not enough UMC kids in DC to change the numbers that way. What I actually would like is for DCPS to focus on actually teaching kids the basics. So far they seem to be able to manage that for K-1 more or less, but it falls off after that. And I would also like to see honors/accelerated classes for all the kids who are even just grade level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have an idea who 17:32 is and can’t believe they are still at MacFarland; our kids attended elementary school together until we left after 3rd grade. Their child is really bright and I’m surprised they are sticking it out for whatever reason.

I'd like to congratulate this poster for the extreme absurdity. MacFarland has 7 feeder elementary schools (arguably 9 if you count all dual language programs). Over 600 students attend. It's the second largest middle school in DCPS. You know who that poster is, right, lol.

Also, all the posters who keep asking "but your plan for HS is test-in or private, right?!?!" like it's an indictment on their choice for middle school, again, lol. Maybe it is and maybe it isn't, but posters whose kids currently attend MacFarland can still respond with their families' lived experiences and be helpful to OP.

Multiple people with kids currently attending have responded. They've overall said things are ok, but not without challenges. It seems pretty similar to other public option in DC for middle school, which seems like what OP was asking.

Other potentially useful info: the principal is new this SY. He came from Hardy. There are rumors that he is recruiting staff from Hardy to move to MacFarland next year. He is not perfect, but communicative and very engaged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an idea who 17:32 is and can’t believe they are still at MacFarland; our kids attended elementary school together until we left after 3rd grade. Their child is really bright and I’m surprised they are sticking it out for whatever reason.

I'd like to congratulate this poster for the extreme absurdity. MacFarland has 7 feeder elementary schools (arguably 9 if you count all dual language programs). Over 600 students attend. It's the second largest middle school in DCPS. You know who that poster is, right, lol.

Also, all the posters who keep asking "but your plan for HS is test-in or private, right?!?!" like it's an indictment on their choice for middle school, again, lol. Maybe it is and maybe it isn't, but posters whose kids currently attend MacFarland can still respond with their families' lived experiences and be helpful to OP.

Multiple people with kids currently attending have responded. They've overall said things are ok, but not without challenges. It seems pretty similar to other public option in DC for middle school, which seems like what OP was asking.

Other potentially useful info: the principal is new this SY. He came from Hardy. There are rumors that he is recruiting staff from Hardy to move to MacFarland next year. He is not perfect, but communicative and very engaged.

given that there are fewer than 10 kids passing PARCC per grade, it’s not all that hard to guess.

[Anonymous]

“ Also, all the posters who keep asking "but your plan for HS is test-in or private, right?!?!" like it's an indictment on their choice for middle school, again, lol. Maybe it is and maybe it isn't, but posters whose kids currently attend MacFarland can still respond with their families' lived experiences and be helpful to OP.”

Yes their experience can be helpful. But the additional information about HS plans is very important. For those of us who need to rely on public schools, our assessments may be very different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“ Also, all the posters who keep asking "but your plan for HS is test-in or private, right?!?!" like it's an indictment on their choice for middle school, again, lol. Maybe it is and maybe it isn't, but posters whose kids currently attend MacFarland can still respond with their families' lived experiences and be helpful to OP.”

Yes their experience can be helpful. But the additional information about HS plans is very important. For those of us who need to rely on public schools, our assessments may be very different.

How is someone else’s future plan for high school even remotely relevant to your decision about middle school? If that other person (who you presumably don’t even know) said they were planning to send their kid to Roosevelt for high school, would that make you like McFarland more?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an idea who 17:32 is and can’t believe they are still at MacFarland; our kids attended elementary school together until we left after 3rd grade. Their child is really bright and I’m surprised they are sticking it out for whatever reason.

I'd like to congratulate this poster for the extreme absurdity. MacFarland has 7 feeder elementary schools (arguably 9 if you count all dual language programs). Over 600 students attend. It's the second largest middle school in DCPS. You know who that poster is, right, lol.

Also, all the posters who keep asking "but your plan for HS is test-in or private, right?!?!" like it's an indictment on their choice for middle school, again, lol. Maybe it is and maybe it isn't, but posters whose kids currently attend MacFarland can still respond with their families' lived experiences and be helpful to OP.

Multiple people with kids currently attending have responded. They've overall said things are ok, but not without challenges. It seems pretty similar to other public option in DC for middle school, which seems like what OP was asking.

Other potentially useful info: the principal is new this SY. He came from Hardy. There are rumors that he is recruiting staff from Hardy to move to MacFarland next year. He is not perfect, but communicative and very engaged.

Nope, multiple people from the school has not responded. It’s 1 person. The other person who responded said 2nd hand info from daughters friend that the school was chaotic and dangerous.

Get back to us after you send your kid to MacFarland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So I'm a PP and my kid is there. Absolutely true that the child can be a noticeable minority (by some lights at least) and this is not a choice all parents make. It was like this in elementary school for us too, so we have some experience here.

Child's experience is very good grades, being helpful to other students regularly. There are, as others are eager to inform, plenty of students who are not succeeding, (though I haven't seen many schools where family background isn't the driving factor in academic achievement). There are probably student body interactions I wouldn't like to see at release time and during school. But they seem to have never affected this child.

Our child has friends. Loves talking about child's teachers and things happening in sports, class, at lunch, field trips, etc., though plenty of time acts like a typical teenager. Isn't looking for change.

Certainly, I have counterfactuals in my mind. It would've been easy for our family to put our kids in private schools and I feel a twinge when I see suburban families talk about their kids in FIRST Robotics, enrichment, and sports teams that are not present at MacFarland or many other DCPS schools. Relatives have shown us the same test scores you talk about and we know there are alternatives.

But it is enough. The child is successful, happy, and not bored. For us, for now, it is enough. I understand the value many of you place on cohorts of succeeding students, strong discipline, developing work ethics, and acceleration opportunities. We have personal values that are countervailing that experience has shown us few share, but I don't want to bring anyone down by bringing them up.

I just say, if it's not off the table for you, come see. Talk to the Principal and staff. Not everyone is going to like what they learn, but I hope more do in the future.

And your HS plan is Walls or private, right?

I would really be concerned that PP’s kid will not be prepared at all for a test in school or private school. The playing field is much much higher than going to a failing middle school and your kid is at the top with no effort because all the other kids are so below grade level.

PP’s kid is going to struggle and will have to either sink or swim.

Why someone would put their kid in a failing school when they have other options is beyond me.

Stop judging, you know nothing about PP’s family.

I can judge all the hell I want. Who are you to tell me not too.

PP is doing his kid a big disservice when he has other options and that’s a fact. What exactly do you know about PP’s family to warrant him having his kid be a social experiment and jeopardizing his kids academic success if he really is above grade level.

Now if his kid is below grade level, well that’s a different story and he will fit right in, at least academically.

This choice is completely up to PP and family, potentially including PP’s kid, and I certainly don’t see why anyone else on this board should worry about it — it’s not harming you if PP sends their kid to a school you think isn’t up to the task, so why would you get so agitated about it?

Not PP, but my parents had a lot of... values, which I guess sort of to their credit they lived out, but I was a lot more negatively affected than they were, and they also would have said I was fine. I absolutely think parents who are going down this statistically route should hear judgement, and so should other ones who are thinking about it. When you're going down the path that most parents in your position spend huge amounts of time and money to avoid, probably you are just wrong, and you should at least understand the alternative perspective. From the happy talk about advanced math classes, I think they genuinely are in denial.

This. BTW, you should look at how DCPS and studies define fine when kids are placed in failing schools. It’s either high school graduation or admission to any college.

That is a really low, low bar. Going to college to many families like ours is the minimum and bottom of the bar, not the top

Not PP, but I’d be happy to look at these studies. Could you please provide links to them?

The evidence I’ve seen shows that upper-income kids at so-called bad DCPS middle schools generally do as well as upper-income kids at so-called good schools. Compare the PARCC data for white kids (a fairly reliable proxy for upper-income in DC) at Deal with those of white kids at other middle schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an idea who 17:32 is and can’t believe they are still at MacFarland; our kids attended elementary school together until we left after 3rd grade. Their child is really bright and I’m surprised they are sticking it out for whatever reason.

hint: it’s called “grandma is paying for private high school and college, so we aren’t worried about MS.”

If that’s the reason then I think there are very compelling arguments for putting your child in an environment like MacFarland before they go to a private school bubble. You can supplement at home for a few years.

Who wants to supplement all subjects for 3 years in addition to trying to fit in sports and extracurriculars? There is only so much time in the day.

Lastly, how many kids are going to buy into that? A full day of wasted school and then coming home to a few hours of more work?

I feel sorry for OP’s kid because of some abstract values he holds to send his kid there. His kid is not only not meeting his full potential academically but is missing out on all the extras like OP said with clubs, sports, etc…

DP. Since these schools have no homework there’s plenty of time to supplement. Also using the IB school often means a much shorter commute. We were considering MCPS with a long bus ride … instead DS will just have a 10 min walk. I wish the school was better but I’m not worried about the time spent in tutoring. Especially since 1:1 tutoring is so effective, you don’t have to spend that much time on it.

So let me see here. You are saying your kid is going to a school like MacFarland which means you are supplementing in all subjects - math, English, science, social studies, and maybe languages.

So unless you are supplementing that every single day, your kid is not getting an equivalent education as someone who goes to a good school and are getting the coursework they need at their level. 1-2 hours a week isn’t cutting it by a long shot. If you think they are then you are in denial.