Jefferson Middle School Academy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With all of the new housing construction going up in Southwest, and with Van Ness and Brent feeding into Jefferson, how likely will it be that Jefferson Middle School will be an attractive Middle School option for Middle and Upper-Middle class families in the next few years?

OP, I take it your kids are still young but if not, you actually don't need to wait. If you take a closer look at Jefferson, you'll see that Jefferson could be an excellent option, certainly compared to Stuart-Hobson and in some ways also ahead of Hardy. Sure, in absolute terms, the test scores aren't impressive (though better than you may think) but that's a matter of who comes in, and from what school. Jefferson draws from a huge range of feeder schools (at the open house I went to I think I heard something like two dozen different ones), some very good, some not so good. Add to that a segment of students who may not have a lot of support outside of school. Now, if you look at the year-to-year growth in test scores (what the school system likes to call the "value added"), you'll see that Jefferson works wonders with kids significantly behind, especially in math. Imagine what the school could do with kids who are ahead instead. (We for one are taking the gamble to find out.) You can also find proof in that potential by looking at students Jefferson places into test-in high schools.

Forgive me for being a bit of a cheerleader here (wouldn't mind a few more kids to join by DC's class...). Jefferson is holding one last open house this Wednesday, June 7, 6-7 pm. I know there is a waitlist but imagine it will move still.

the propblem is that the kids from the best feeders, or high Income families do NOT choose Jefferson. The school has abysmal scores and even the principal admits a significant come in several years behind. Sorry, that is not turning around in any time under 15 years. Im guessing Brent is sending less than 10 students to Jefferson?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. You're right PP, but a new mayor could indeed change this calculus. If either Racine or Gray displaces Bowser, either might be persuaded to demand that DCPS offers honors classes at middle schools like Jefferson that are 2/3 empty where in-boundary percentages are low but feeder elementary schools are thriving (Jefferson Academy's building can accommodate three times as many students as it serves). This fix is obvious and gentrifiers vote. In that case, the sky would be the limit at JA. I don't expect a new mayor to be elected, or to demand this, but I wouldn't rule it out either. The Old Guard of the Dem machine in this city remembers the Jefferson honors program. A mayor of that ilk might be more amenable to moving to recreate it as a school within a school program than we think. Antwan Wilson is already making changes up the DCPS chain. The ground is being laid for greater change. In the meantime, I'm with the PPs who see more Brent families heading to Hardy than to JA.

There are simply not enough gentrifiers to make a significant difference to someone running city-wide (city-wide council is different because you can vote for more than one candidate). And not all gentrifiers prioritize schools when voting.

Yes, the city council is the right place to start if voters are concerned about DCPS lack of interest in offering honors courses for capable students. Get rid of Grosso, for example, who doesn't care about re-directing some of DCPS policy towards high performance. In all of the gentrifying Wards, replacing insufferable representatives could be done. The Mayor's office would come next. But, weirdly, why in the world can't the Mayor and DCPS get behind encouraging BOTH lower performing AND proficient students? Isn't the purpose of government to serve everybody? Watching the history of DCPS for decades, it really looks like they want grade-level performing kids to attend somewhere else, while they deal solely on the intractable problem of getting low-income kids to perform at grade level (which still seems unsolvable).

OK, sure, parents have been saying this sort of thing for years. But where are the ed reform minded voters organizing to oust Grosso and other bleeding heart representatives who can't seem to connect the dots between high SES families staying in DCPS in Ward 6 in large numbers and poor kids accruing the benefit. All Cap Hill parents seem to do about by-right middle schools is bicker over feeders, pretend that the Cluster model hasn't outlived its usefulness, and try to persuade DCPS to sink tens of millions into buildings that are mostly empty (and seem very likely to remain so indefinitely).

Grosso's seat seems safe to me in the face of broad-based inaction at the grassroots. I understand why parents don't bother to fight back electorally--it's tough to stay in DC with kids past ES if you can't afford privates and aren't OK with BASIS' brand of math-focused learning and weak physical plant--but I don't quite get why Ward 6 parents have been so darn passive in the face of clearly defined political threats. Look on some of the Arlington, MoCo and Frfx threads in the fall - parents there seem to organize like mad to vote out pols who don't care about directing policy towards high performance. We need to learn from our near neighbors on that score.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With all of the new housing construction going up in Southwest, and with Van Ness and Brent feeding into Jefferson, how likely will it be that Jefferson Middle School will be an attractive Middle School option for Middle and Upper-Middle class families in the next few years?

OP, I take it your kids are still young but if not, you actually don't need to wait. If you take a closer look at Jefferson, you'll see that Jefferson could be an excellent option, certainly compared to Stuart-Hobson and in some ways also ahead of Hardy. Sure, in absolute terms, the test scores aren't impressive (though better than you may think) but that's a matter of who comes in, and from what school. Jefferson draws from a huge range of feeder schools (at the open house I went to I think I heard something like two dozen different ones), some very good, some not so good. Add to that a segment of students who may not have a lot of support outside of school. Now, if you look at the year-to-year growth in test scores (what the school system likes to call the "value added"), you'll see that Jefferson works wonders with kids significantly behind, especially in math. Imagine what the school could do with kids who are ahead instead. (We for one are taking the gamble to find out.) You can also find proof in that potential by looking at students Jefferson places into test-in high schools.

Forgive me for being a bit of a cheerleader here (wouldn't mind a few more kids to join by DC's class...). Jefferson is holding one last open house this Wednesday, June 7, 6-7 pm. I know there is a waitlist but imagine it will move still.

the propblem is that the kids from the best feeders, or high Income families do NOT choose Jefferson. The school has abysmal scores and even the principal admits a significant come in several years behind. Sorry, that is not turning around in any time under 15 years. Im guessing Brent is sending less than 10 students to Jefferson?

10 every year? More like 1 or 2.

Yes, there's a giant K class entering the Brent pipeline in the fall, with nearly 75 kids enrolled. But why should we think in terms of numbers driving a push to Jefferson six years from now? Many of the K families own IB homes that have appreciated like mad in recent years. If they strike out at Latin, BASIS and Hardy, and possibly DCI, SH, IT, CMI, Center City, Two Rivers etc., they can afford to buy in the Deal district, refinance to help afford privates, or clear out to lovely suburban homes. They can relocate comfortably in a heartbeat before they'll jump to JA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With all of the new housing construction going up in Southwest, and with Van Ness and Brent feeding into Jefferson, how likely will it be that Jefferson Middle School will be an attractive Middle School option for Middle and Upper-Middle class families in the next few years?

OP, I take it your kids are still young but if not, you actually don't need to wait. If you take a closer look at Jefferson, you'll see that Jefferson could be an excellent option, certainly compared to Stuart-Hobson and in some ways also ahead of Hardy. Sure, in absolute terms, the test scores aren't impressive (though better than you may think) but that's a matter of who comes in, and from what school. Jefferson draws from a huge range of feeder schools (at the open house I went to I think I heard something like two dozen different ones), some very good, some not so good. Add to that a segment of students who may not have a lot of support outside of school. Now, if you look at the year-to-year growth in test scores (what the school system likes to call the "value added"), you'll see that Jefferson works wonders with kids significantly behind, especially in math. Imagine what the school could do with kids who are ahead instead. (We for one are taking the gamble to find out.) You can also find proof in that potential by looking at students Jefferson places into test-in high schools.

Forgive me for being a bit of a cheerleader here (wouldn't mind a few more kids to join by DC's class...). Jefferson is holding one last open house this Wednesday, June 7, 6-7 pm. I know there is a waitlist but imagine it will move still.

the propblem is that the kids from the best feeders, or high Income families do NOT choose Jefferson. The school has abysmal scores and even the principal admits a significant come in several years behind. Sorry, that is not turning around in any time under 15 years. Im guessing Brent is sending less than 10 students to Jefferson?

10 every year? More like 1 or 2.

Yes, there's a giant K class entering the Brent pipeline in the fall, with nearly 75 kids enrolled. But why should we think in terms of numbers driving a push to Jefferson six years from now? Many of the K families own IB homes that have appreciated like mad in recent years. If they strike out at Latin, BASIS and Hardy, and possibly DCI, SH, IT, CMI, Center City, Two Rivers etc., they can afford to buy in the Deal district, refinance to help afford privates, or clear out to lovely suburban homes. They can relocate comfortably in a heartbeat before they'll jump to JA.

Ok, what about the larger 5th grade class? I would assume that means something for JA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. You're right PP, but a new mayor could indeed change this calculus. If either Racine or Gray displaces Bowser, either might be persuaded to demand that DCPS offers honors classes at middle schools like Jefferson that are 2/3 empty where in-boundary percentages are low but feeder elementary schools are thriving (Jefferson Academy's building can accommodate three times as many students as it serves). This fix is obvious and gentrifiers vote. In that case, the sky would be the limit at JA. I don't expect a new mayor to be elected, or to demand this, but I wouldn't rule it out either. The Old Guard of the Dem machine in this city remembers the Jefferson honors program. A mayor of that ilk might be more amenable to moving to recreate it as a school within a school program than we think. Antwan Wilson is already making changes up the DCPS chain. The ground is being laid for greater change. In the meantime, I'm with the PPs who see more Brent families heading to Hardy than to JA.

There are simply not enough gentrifiers to make a significant difference to someone running city-wide (city-wide council is different because you can vote for more than one candidate). And not all gentrifiers prioritize schools when voting.

Yes, the city council is the right place to start if voters are concerned about DCPS lack of interest in offering honors courses for capable students. Get rid of Grosso, for example, who doesn't care about re-directing some of DCPS policy towards high performance. In all of the gentrifying Wards, replacing insufferable representatives could be done. The Mayor's office would come next. But, weirdly, why in the world can't the Mayor and DCPS get behind encouraging BOTH lower performing AND proficient students? Isn't the purpose of government to serve everybody? Watching the history of DCPS for decades, it really looks like they want grade-level performing kids to attend somewhere else, while they deal solely on the intractable problem of getting low-income kids to perform at grade level (which still seems unsolvable).

OK, sure, parents have been saying this sort of thing for years. But where are the ed reform minded voters organizing to oust Grosso and other bleeding heart representatives who can't seem to connect the dots between high SES families staying in DCPS in Ward 6 in large numbers and poor kids accruing the benefit. All Cap Hill parents seem to do about by-right middle schools is bicker over feeders, pretend that the Cluster model hasn't outlived its usefulness, and try to persuade DCPS to sink tens of millions into buildings that are mostly empty (and seem very likely to remain so indefinitely).

Grosso's seat seems safe to me in the face of broad-based inaction at the grassroots. I understand why parents don't bother to fight back electorally--it's tough to stay in DC with kids past ES if you can't afford privates and aren't OK with BASIS' brand of math-focused learning and weak physical plant--but I don't quite get why Ward 6 parents have been so darn passive in the face of clearly defined political threats. Look on some of the Arlington, MoCo and Frfx threads in the fall - parents there seem to organize like mad to vote out pols who don't care about directing policy towards high performance. We need to learn from our near neighbors on that score.

Which Ward 6 buildings are empty? That's inane. Eliot Hine and Jefferson are under-enrolled and and the city hasn't spent on dime on the two combined

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. You're right PP, but a new mayor could indeed change this calculus. If either Racine or Gray displaces Bowser, either might be persuaded to demand that DCPS offers honors classes at middle schools like Jefferson that are 2/3 empty where in-boundary percentages are low but feeder elementary schools are thriving (Jefferson Academy's building can accommodate three times as many students as it serves). This fix is obvious and gentrifiers vote. In that case, the sky would be the limit at JA. I don't expect a new mayor to be elected, or to demand this, but I wouldn't rule it out either. The Old Guard of the Dem machine in this city remembers the Jefferson honors program. A mayor of that ilk might be more amenable to moving to recreate it as a school within a school program than we think. Antwan Wilson is already making changes up the DCPS chain. The ground is being laid for greater change. In the meantime, I'm with the PPs who see more Brent families heading to Hardy than to JA.

There are simply not enough gentrifiers to make a significant difference to someone running city-wide (city-wide council is different because you can vote for more than one candidate). And not all gentrifiers prioritize schools when voting.

The blunt calculus is that higher SES residents need to have children and start researching the schools to really get a grip on the problems inherent to DCPS.

The good news is that they are flocking to the city in their procreating years. Let's hope they bring their education with them.

Also, the city is becoming more and more expensive, which pushes out the poor (and their influence in the classroom, for better or worse).

The schools will turn just as the city turns, but it won't happen as fast as the current parents of toddlers hope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. You're right PP, but a new mayor could indeed change this calculus. If either Racine or Gray displaces Bowser, either might be persuaded to demand that DCPS offers honors classes at middle schools like Jefferson that are 2/3 empty where in-boundary percentages are low but feeder elementary schools are thriving (Jefferson Academy's building can accommodate three times as many students as it serves). This fix is obvious and gentrifiers vote. In that case, the sky would be the limit at JA. I don't expect a new mayor to be elected, or to demand this, but I wouldn't rule it out either. The Old Guard of the Dem machine in this city remembers the Jefferson honors program. A mayor of that ilk might be more amenable to moving to recreate it as a school within a school program than we think. Antwan Wilson is already making changes up the DCPS chain. The ground is being laid for greater change. In the meantime, I'm with the PPs who see more Brent families heading to Hardy than to JA.

There are simply not enough gentrifiers to make a significant difference to someone running city-wide (city-wide council is different because you can vote for more than one candidate). And not all gentrifiers prioritize schools when voting.

Yes, the city council is the right place to start if voters are concerned about DCPS lack of interest in offering honors courses for capable students. Get rid of Grosso, for example, who doesn't care about re-directing some of DCPS policy towards high performance. In all of the gentrifying Wards, replacing insufferable representatives could be done. The Mayor's office would come next. But, weirdly, why in the world can't the Mayor and DCPS get behind encouraging BOTH lower performing AND proficient students? Isn't the purpose of government to serve everybody? Watching the history of DCPS for decades, it really looks like they want grade-level performing kids to attend somewhere else, while they deal solely on the intractable problem of getting low-income kids to perform at grade level (which still seems unsolvable).

OK, sure, parents have been saying this sort of thing for years. But where are the ed reform minded voters organizing to oust Grosso and other bleeding heart representatives who can't seem to connect the dots between high SES families staying in DCPS in Ward 6 in large numbers and poor kids accruing the benefit. All Cap Hill parents seem to do about by-right middle schools is bicker over feeders, pretend that the Cluster model hasn't outlived its usefulness, and try to persuade DCPS to sink tens of millions into buildings that are mostly empty (and seem very likely to remain so indefinitely).

Grosso's seat seems safe to me in the face of broad-based inaction at the grassroots. I understand why parents don't bother to fight back electorally--it's tough to stay in DC with kids past ES if you can't afford privates and aren't OK with BASIS' brand of math-focused learning and weak physical plant--but I don't quite get why Ward 6 parents have been so darn passive in the face of clearly defined political threats. Look on some of the Arlington, MoCo and Frfx threads in the fall - parents there seem to organize like mad to vote out pols who don't care about directing policy towards high performance. We need to learn from our near neighbors on that score.

Which Ward 6 buildings are empty? That's inane. Eliot Hine and Jefferson are under-enrolled and and the city hasn't spent on dime on the two combined

Both are slated to be done in the next 3 to 4 years.

[Anonymous]

Not it won't, not unless more parents of little kids think in terms of organizing to elect city council members and mayors willing to fund programs to support high achievement in Ward 6, and elsewhere.

For now, few parents seem to think beyond supporting the running of a particular neighborhood elementary school.

[Anonymous]

Mostly empty. Insane, to be sure.

EH built to accommodate at least 800 students; a little over 200 enrolled. Jefferson Academy built to accommodate at least 800 students; currently enrolling under 300.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. You're right PP, but a new mayor could indeed change this calculus. If either Racine or Gray displaces Bowser, either might be persuaded to demand that DCPS offers honors classes at middle schools like Jefferson that are 2/3 empty where in-boundary percentages are low but feeder elementary schools are thriving (Jefferson Academy's building can accommodate three times as many students as it serves). This fix is obvious and gentrifiers vote. In that case, the sky would be the limit at JA. I don't expect a new mayor to be elected, or to demand this, but I wouldn't rule it out either. The Old Guard of the Dem machine in this city remembers the Jefferson honors program. A mayor of that ilk might be more amenable to moving to recreate it as a school within a school program than we think. Antwan Wilson is already making changes up the DCPS chain. The ground is being laid for greater change. In the meantime, I'm with the PPs who see more Brent families heading to Hardy than to JA.

There are simply not enough gentrifiers to make a significant difference to someone running city-wide (city-wide council is different because you can vote for more than one candidate). And not all gentrifiers prioritize schools when voting.

Yes, the city council is the right place to start if voters are concerned about DCPS lack of interest in offering honors courses for capable students. Get rid of Grosso, for example, who doesn't care about re-directing some of DCPS policy towards high performance. In all of the gentrifying Wards, replacing insufferable representatives could be done. The Mayor's office would come next. But, weirdly, why in the world can't the Mayor and DCPS get behind encouraging BOTH lower performing AND proficient students? Isn't the purpose of government to serve everybody? Watching the history of DCPS for decades, it really looks like they want grade-level performing kids to attend somewhere else, while they deal solely on the intractable problem of getting low-income kids to perform at grade level (which still seems unsolvable).

OK, sure, parents have been saying this sort of thing for years. But where are the ed reform minded voters organizing to oust Grosso and other bleeding heart representatives who can't seem to connect the dots between high SES families staying in DCPS in Ward 6 in large numbers and poor kids accruing the benefit. All Cap Hill parents seem to do about by-right middle schools is bicker over feeders, pretend that the Cluster model hasn't outlived its usefulness, and try to persuade DCPS to sink tens of millions into buildings that are mostly empty (and seem very likely to remain so indefinitely).

Grosso's seat seems safe to me in the face of broad-based inaction at the grassroots. I understand why parents don't bother to fight back electorally--it's tough to stay in DC with kids past ES if you can't afford privates and aren't OK with BASIS' brand of math-focused learning and weak physical plant--but I don't quite get why Ward 6 parents have been so darn passive in the face of clearly defined political threats. Look on some of the Arlington, MoCo and Frfx threads in the fall - parents there seem to organize like mad to vote out pols who don't care about directing policy towards high performance. We need to learn from our near neighbors on that score.

Which Ward 6 buildings are empty? That's inane. Eliot Hine and Jefferson are under-enrolled and and the city hasn't spent on dime on the two combined

Both are slated to be done in the next 3 to 4 years.

Nobody said that Ward 6 school buildings are empty. The point was made that some of the Ward 6 DCPS middle schools are mostly empty. Some of us don't want megabucks spent on mostly empty schools, not unless DCPS agrees to provide the sort of programming that would almost certainly fill them first. If they were to hire teachers to teach advanced classes ahead of advanced students turning up, parents would come and things would work out. It's a no brainer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. You're right PP, but a new mayor could indeed change this calculus. If either Racine or Gray displaces Bowser, either might be persuaded to demand that DCPS offers honors classes at middle schools like Jefferson that are 2/3 empty where in-boundary percentages are low but feeder elementary schools are thriving (Jefferson Academy's building can accommodate three times as many students as it serves). This fix is obvious and gentrifiers vote. In that case, the sky would be the limit at JA. I don't expect a new mayor to be elected, or to demand this, but I wouldn't rule it out either. The Old Guard of the Dem machine in this city remembers the Jefferson honors program. A mayor of that ilk might be more amenable to moving to recreate it as a school within a school program than we think. Antwan Wilson is already making changes up the DCPS chain. The ground is being laid for greater change. In the meantime, I'm with the PPs who see more Brent families heading to Hardy than to JA.

There are simply not enough gentrifiers to make a significant difference to someone running city-wide (city-wide council is different because you can vote for more than one candidate). And not all gentrifiers prioritize schools when voting.

Yes, the city council is the right place to start if voters are concerned about DCPS lack of interest in offering honors courses for capable students. Get rid of Grosso, for example, who doesn't care about re-directing some of DCPS policy towards high performance. In all of the gentrifying Wards, replacing insufferable representatives could be done. The Mayor's office would come next. But, weirdly, why in the world can't the Mayor and DCPS get behind encouraging BOTH lower performing AND proficient students? Isn't the purpose of government to serve everybody? Watching the history of DCPS for decades, it really looks like they want grade-level performing kids to attend somewhere else, while they deal solely on the intractable problem of getting low-income kids to perform at grade level (which still seems unsolvable).

OK, sure, parents have been saying this sort of thing for years. But where are the ed reform minded voters organizing to oust Grosso and other bleeding heart representatives who can't seem to connect the dots between high SES families staying in DCPS in Ward 6 in large numbers and poor kids accruing the benefit. All Cap Hill parents seem to do about by-right middle schools is bicker over feeders, pretend that the Cluster model hasn't outlived its usefulness, and try to persuade DCPS to sink tens of millions into buildings that are mostly empty (and seem very likely to remain so indefinitely).

Grosso's seat seems safe to me in the face of broad-based inaction at the grassroots. I understand why parents don't bother to fight back electorally--it's tough to stay in DC with kids past ES if you can't afford privates and aren't OK with BASIS' brand of math-focused learning and weak physical plant--but I don't quite get why Ward 6 parents have been so darn passive in the face of clearly defined political threats. Look on some of the Arlington, MoCo and Frfx threads in the fall - parents there seem to organize like mad to vote out pols who don't care about directing policy towards high performance. We need to learn from our near neighbors on that score.

Which Ward 6 buildings are empty? That's inane. Eliot Hine and Jefferson are under-enrolled and and the city hasn't spent on dime on the two combined

Both are slated to be done in the next 3 to 4 years.

Nobody said that Ward 6 school buildings are empty. The point was made that some of the Ward 6 DCPS middle schools are mostly empty. Some of us don't want megabucks spent on mostly empty schools, not unless DCPS agrees to provide the sort of programming that would almost certainly fill them first. If they were to hire teachers to teach advanced classes ahead of advanced students turning up, parents would come and things would work out. It's a no brainer.

bullshit PP didn't

"All Cap Hill parents seem to do about by-right middle schools is bicker over feeders, pretend that the Cluster model hasn't outlived its usefulness, and try to persuade DCPS to sink tens of millions into buildings that are mostly empty (and seem very likely to remain so indefinitely). "

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. You're right PP, but a new mayor could indeed change this calculus. If either Racine or Gray displaces Bowser, either might be persuaded to demand that DCPS offers honors classes at middle schools like Jefferson that are 2/3 empty where in-boundary percentages are low but feeder elementary schools are thriving (Jefferson Academy's building can accommodate three times as many students as it serves). This fix is obvious and gentrifiers vote. In that case, the sky would be the limit at JA. I don't expect a new mayor to be elected, or to demand this, but I wouldn't rule it out either. The Old Guard of the Dem machine in this city remembers the Jefferson honors program. A mayor of that ilk might be more amenable to moving to recreate it as a school within a school program than we think. Antwan Wilson is already making changes up the DCPS chain. The ground is being laid for greater change. In the meantime, I'm with the PPs who see more Brent families heading to Hardy than to JA.

There are simply not enough gentrifiers to make a significant difference to someone running city-wide (city-wide council is different because you can vote for more than one candidate). And not all gentrifiers prioritize schools when voting.

Yes, the city council is the right place to start if voters are concerned about DCPS lack of interest in offering honors courses for capable students. Get rid of Grosso, for example, who doesn't care about re-directing some of DCPS policy towards high performance. In all of the gentrifying Wards, replacing insufferable representatives could be done. The Mayor's office would come next. But, weirdly, why in the world can't the Mayor and DCPS get behind encouraging BOTH lower performing AND proficient students? Isn't the purpose of government to serve everybody? Watching the history of DCPS for decades, it really looks like they want grade-level performing kids to attend somewhere else, while they deal solely on the intractable problem of getting low-income kids to perform at grade level (which still seems unsolvable).

OK, sure, parents have been saying this sort of thing for years. But where are the ed reform minded voters organizing to oust Grosso and other bleeding heart representatives who can't seem to connect the dots between high SES families staying in DCPS in Ward 6 in large numbers and poor kids accruing the benefit. All Cap Hill parents seem to do about by-right middle schools is bicker over feeders, pretend that the Cluster model hasn't outlived its usefulness, and try to persuade DCPS to sink tens of millions into buildings that are mostly empty (and seem very likely to remain so indefinitely).

Grosso's seat seems safe to me in the face of broad-based inaction at the grassroots. I understand why parents don't bother to fight back electorally--it's tough to stay in DC with kids past ES if you can't afford privates and aren't OK with BASIS' brand of math-focused learning and weak physical plant--but I don't quite get why Ward 6 parents have been so darn passive in the face of clearly defined political threats. Look on some of the Arlington, MoCo and Frfx threads in the fall - parents there seem to organize like mad to vote out pols who don't care about directing policy towards high performance. We need to learn from our near neighbors on that score.

Which Ward 6 buildings are empty? That's inane. Eliot Hine and Jefferson are under-enrolled and and the city hasn't spent on dime on the two combined

Both are slated to be done in the next 3 to 4 years.

Nobody said that Ward 6 school buildings are empty. The point was made that some of the Ward 6 DCPS middle schools are mostly empty. Some of us don't want megabucks spent on mostly empty schools, not unless DCPS agrees to provide the sort of programming that would almost certainly fill them first. If they were to hire teachers to teach advanced classes ahead of advanced students turning up, parents would come and things would work out. It's a no brainer.

bullshit PP didn't

"All Cap Hill parents seem to do about by-right middle schools is bicker over feeders, pretend that the Cluster model hasn't outlived its usefulness, and try to persuade DCPS to sink tens of millions into buildings that are mostly empty (and seem very likely to remain so indefinitely). "

Eliot Hine has IB accreditation, unlike Latin, Basis, Hardy, Stuart Hobson. That's such a cop out that there is no interest in providing rigor. The school does have woefully deficient facilities but it's totally disingenuous to suggest that EH isn't trying to provide greater rigor in response to community demands. Parent getting beyond talk and actually enrolling is the bigger issue.

[Anonymous]

The EH and JA buildings are indeed mostly empty. They have a couple dozen more students each than they did last year, which DCPS crows about. OK, that's nice.

OP, the answer to your question is no, a resounding no. Six or seven years down the track, maybe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. You're right PP, but a new mayor could indeed change this calculus. If either Racine or Gray displaces Bowser, either might be persuaded to demand that DCPS offers honors classes at middle schools like Jefferson that are 2/3 empty where in-boundary percentages are low but feeder elementary schools are thriving (Jefferson Academy's building can accommodate three times as many students as it serves). This fix is obvious and gentrifiers vote. In that case, the sky would be the limit at JA. I don't expect a new mayor to be elected, or to demand this, but I wouldn't rule it out either. The Old Guard of the Dem machine in this city remembers the Jefferson honors program. A mayor of that ilk might be more amenable to moving to recreate it as a school within a school program than we think. Antwan Wilson is already making changes up the DCPS chain. The ground is being laid for greater change. In the meantime, I'm with the PPs who see more Brent families heading to Hardy than to JA.

There are simply not enough gentrifiers to make a significant difference to someone running city-wide (city-wide council is different because you can vote for more than one candidate). And not all gentrifiers prioritize schools when voting.

Yes, the city council is the right place to start if voters are concerned about DCPS lack of interest in offering honors courses for capable students. Get rid of Grosso, for example, who doesn't care about re-directing some of DCPS policy towards high performance. In all of the gentrifying Wards, replacing insufferable representatives could be done. The Mayor's office would come next. But, weirdly, why in the world can't the Mayor and DCPS get behind encouraging BOTH lower performing AND proficient students? Isn't the purpose of government to serve everybody? Watching the history of DCPS for decades, it really looks like they want grade-level performing kids to attend somewhere else, while they deal solely on the intractable problem of getting low-income kids to perform at grade level (which still seems unsolvable).

OK, sure, parents have been saying this sort of thing for years. But where are the ed reform minded voters organizing to oust Grosso and other bleeding heart representatives who can't seem to connect the dots between high SES families staying in DCPS in Ward 6 in large numbers and poor kids accruing the benefit. All Cap Hill parents seem to do about by-right middle schools is bicker over feeders, pretend that the Cluster model hasn't outlived its usefulness, and try to persuade DCPS to sink tens of millions into buildings that are mostly empty (and seem very likely to remain so indefinitely).

Grosso's seat seems safe to me in the face of broad-based inaction at the grassroots. I understand why parents don't bother to fight back electorally--it's tough to stay in DC with kids past ES if you can't afford privates and aren't OK with BASIS' brand of math-focused learning and weak physical plant--but I don't quite get why Ward 6 parents have been so darn passive in the face of clearly defined political threats. Look on some of the Arlington, MoCo and Frfx threads in the fall - parents there seem to organize like mad to vote out pols who don't care about directing policy towards high performance. We need to learn from our near neighbors on that score.

Which Ward 6 buildings are empty? That's inane. Eliot Hine and Jefferson are under-enrolled and and the city hasn't spent on dime on the two combined

Both are slated to be done in the next 3 to 4 years.

Nobody said that Ward 6 school buildings are empty. The point was made that some of the Ward 6 DCPS middle schools are mostly empty. Some of us don't want megabucks spent on mostly empty schools, not unless DCPS agrees to provide the sort of programming that would almost certainly fill them first. If they were to hire teachers to teach advanced classes ahead of advanced students turning up, parents would come and things would work out. It's a no brainer.

This. Yet we still have to flush $200 million down Coolidge HS for 50 high school seniors who can't read at grade level?

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Anonymous wrote:NP. You're right PP, but a new mayor could indeed change this calculus. If either Racine or Gray displaces Bowser, either might be persuaded to demand that DCPS offers honors classes at middle schools like Jefferson that are 2/3 empty where in-boundary percentages are low but feeder elementary schools are thriving (Jefferson Academy's building can accommodate three times as many students as it serves). This fix is obvious and gentrifiers vote. In that case, the sky would be the limit at JA. I don't expect a new mayor to be elected, or to demand this, but I wouldn't rule it out either. The Old Guard of the Dem machine in this city remembers the Jefferson honors program. A mayor of that ilk might be more amenable to moving to recreate it as a school within a school program than we think. Antwan Wilson is already making changes up the DCPS chain. The ground is being laid for greater change. In the meantime, I'm with the PPs who see more Brent families heading to Hardy than to JA.

There are simply not enough gentrifiers to make a significant difference to someone running city-wide (city-wide council is different because you can vote for more than one candidate). And not all gentrifiers prioritize schools when voting.

Yes, the city council is the right place to start if voters are concerned about DCPS lack of interest in offering honors courses for capable students. Get rid of Grosso, for example, who doesn't care about re-directing some of DCPS policy towards high performance. In all of the gentrifying Wards, replacing insufferable representatives could be done. The Mayor's office would come next. But, weirdly, why in the world can't the Mayor and DCPS get behind encouraging BOTH lower performing AND proficient students? Isn't the purpose of government to serve everybody? Watching the history of DCPS for decades, it really looks like they want grade-level performing kids to attend somewhere else, while they deal solely on the intractable problem of getting low-income kids to perform at grade level (which still seems unsolvable).

OK, sure, parents have been saying this sort of thing for years. But where are the ed reform minded voters organizing to oust Grosso and other bleeding heart representatives who can't seem to connect the dots between high SES families staying in DCPS in Ward 6 in large numbers and poor kids accruing the benefit. All Cap Hill parents seem to do about by-right middle schools is bicker over feeders, pretend that the Cluster model hasn't outlived its usefulness, and try to persuade DCPS to sink tens of millions into buildings that are mostly empty (and seem very likely to remain so indefinitely).

Grosso's seat seems safe to me in the face of broad-based inaction at the grassroots. I understand why parents don't bother to fight back electorally--it's tough to stay in DC with kids past ES if you can't afford privates and aren't OK with BASIS' brand of math-focused learning and weak physical plant--but I don't quite get why Ward 6 parents have been so darn passive in the face of clearly defined political threats. Look on some of the Arlington, MoCo and Frfx threads in the fall - parents there seem to organize like mad to vote out pols who don't care about directing policy towards high performance. We need to learn from our near neighbors on that score.

Which Ward 6 buildings are empty? That's inane. Eliot Hine and Jefferson are under-enrolled and and the city hasn't spent on dime on the two combined

Both are slated to be done in the next 3 to 4 years.

Nobody said that Ward 6 school buildings are empty. The point was made that some of the Ward 6 DCPS middle schools are mostly empty. Some of us don't want megabucks spent on mostly empty schools, not unless DCPS agrees to provide the sort of programming that would almost certainly fill them first. If they were to hire teachers to teach advanced classes ahead of advanced students turning up, parents would come and things would work out. It's a no brainer.

bullshit PP didn't

"All Cap Hill parents seem to do about by-right middle schools is bicker over feeders, pretend that the Cluster model hasn't outlived its usefulness, and try to persuade DCPS to sink tens of millions into buildings that are mostly empty (and seem very likely to remain so indefinitely). "

Eliot Hine has IB accreditation, unlike Latin, Basis, Hardy, Stuart Hobson. That's such a cop out that there is no interest in providing rigor. The school does have woefully deficient facilities but it's totally disingenuous to suggest that EH isn't trying to provide greater rigor in response to community demands. Parent getting beyond talk and actually enrolling is the bigger issue.

That's not entirely fair. Hardy and SH have earned their lowly reputations, but both Latin and Basis are dedicated to the AP framework. Schools either do IB or AP. The only public IB MS/HS is DCI. IB is more rigorous, but also more expensive. Latin & Basis both have a good track record with AP.