Are you happy with Thoreau?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do the kids going to Madison from TMS seem to be well prepared for the writing and work load?

I think you are over-estimating how prepared one needs to be for honors classes at Madison. Seriously. My child was in honors at TMS. She is prepared just fine for honors classes at Madison. It's not some wildly advanced curriculum. Yes, it is high school, but the teachers understand that they are teaching 14 and 15 yr olds.... so they teach them what they expect them to do/know in class. There isn't some secret magic that the AAP kids get (at TMS or LJ) that dooms the non-AAP kids from getting A's in honors classes at Madison. If your kid wants to get good grades at Madison, he or she will put in the effort to do what the teacher asks, and will get good grades. This whole idea that some middle schools prepare you for Madison (or any FCPS high school) and some do not, is just silly.

Totally disagree with this. First, if a middle school has more homework, requires planning ahead and budgeting time, makes kids work for their grades, graders harder, has higher expectations, or teachers a higher level curriculum, that has to - and does - help in high school. My friend is a teacher at Madison and said she can tell which ones went to LJ and which went to Thoreau. She said, by far, the Thoreau students were not used to more rigorous grading and expectations, their writing was inferior and they complained more about the amount of work. Yes, a kid who cares about his grade, will do so regardless of the school, but that doesn’t negate the fact that one middle school can better prepare you for high school than another.

—former teacher

How long ago did you have this conversation and did it account for fact that LJ kids at Madison were all AAP, and Thoreau students at Madison were mostly non AAP kids? That's changed now.

She’s mentioned it multiple times over the years. The last time she mentioned it was about a month and a half ago.

So this is one person's opinion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do the kids going to Madison from TMS seem to be well prepared for the writing and work load?

I think you are over-estimating how prepared one needs to be for honors classes at Madison. Seriously. My child was in honors at TMS. She is prepared just fine for honors classes at Madison. It's not some wildly advanced curriculum. Yes, it is high school, but the teachers understand that they are teaching 14 and 15 yr olds.... so they teach them what they expect them to do/know in class. There isn't some secret magic that the AAP kids get (at TMS or LJ) that dooms the non-AAP kids from getting A's in honors classes at Madison. If your kid wants to get good grades at Madison, he or she will put in the effort to do what the teacher asks, and will get good grades. This whole idea that some middle schools prepare you for Madison (or any FCPS high school) and some do not, is just silly.

Totally disagree with this. First, if a middle school has more homework, requires planning ahead and budgeting time, makes kids work for their grades, graders harder, has higher expectations, or teachers a higher level curriculum, that has to - and does - help in high school. My friend is a teacher at Madison and said she can tell which ones went to LJ and which went to Thoreau. She said, by far, the Thoreau students were not used to more rigorous grading and expectations, their writing was inferior and they complained more about the amount of work. Yes, a kid who cares about his grade, will do so regardless of the school, but that doesn’t negate the fact that one middle school can better prepare you for high school than another.

—former teacher

How long ago did you have this conversation and did it account for fact that LJ kids at Madison were all AAP, and Thoreau students at Madison were mostly non AAP kids? That's changed now.

She’s mentioned it multiple times over the years. The last time she mentioned it was about a month and a half ago.

So this is one person's opinion?

Look, you clearly have a problem hearing this. I’m just sharing what I know. She said that she’s heard it from other teachers as well. I’m not going back and asking her how many Madison teachers have told her that. I’m just throwing it out there because people seem to believe that TH prepares kids as well as LJ and, at least in the minds of some Madison teachers, that’s not so.

[Anonymous]

LJ also sends 15-20 kids to TJ each year, many of whom end up as some of the higher performing TJ students. Also, the list of NMSF from the Vienna area always includes a high percentage of LJ alums. Year after year, LJ AAP produces students who are extremely well-prepared for the rigors of high school work.

[Anonymous]

Madison teacher. There are three schools that feed into Madison. Thoreau, LJ, and Kilmer. Does LJ stand out? among all three or does Thoreau stand out among all three as being different preparation?

[Anonymous]

My DD is a junior at Madison, attended MS at LJ. It is clear that her classmates from LJ take a more rigorous corse load than the typical Thoreau kid. But, that is largely a result of the LJ kids being 100% AAP. On average, AAP kids are better students than general educations students.

As such, the average LJ student will perform better at Madison than the average Thoreau student. What is not clear is how AAP students from Thoreau do compared to those from LJ. I know a few and they are doing comparably well.

Thoreau has a much stronger music program than LJ though.

[Anonymous]

We are thus far happy with Thoreau - it is definitely the best fit for DC. Academically, DC would have thrived academically at LJ as well but the school within a school and losing many friends in HS would not be a good match. I am not aware of any Thoreau families wanting to move or having moved their kids to LJ meanwhile I know a few families that moved their kids from LJ to Thoreau for 8th grade (who always had the option of LJ/Thoreau so this is not as a result of rezoning).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are thus far happy with Thoreau - it is definitely the best fit for DC. Academically, DC would have thrived academically at LJ as well but the school within a school and losing many friends in HS would not be a good match. I am not aware of any Thoreau families wanting to move or having moved their kids to LJ meanwhile I know a few families that moved their kids from LJ to Thoreau for 8th grade (who always had the option of LJ/Thoreau so this is not as a result of rezoning).

Translate, pls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LJ also sends 15-20 kids to TJ each year, many of whom end up as some of the higher performing TJ students. Also, the list of NMSF from the Vienna area always includes a high percentage of LJ alums. Year after year, LJ AAP produces students who are extremely well-prepared for the rigors of high school work.

Not that impressive, when you consider the number of kids from Kilmer and Longfellow (much less Carson) going to TJ.

[Anonymous]

Looking at the TJ admission statistics reported in another thread for the class admitted during the last cycle, it looks like there were actually 23 students admitted from LJ, which was fourth in the county in a percentage basis, behind only Longfellow, Carson, and Kilmer, and ahead of Rocky Run and all of the others. I'd say LJ more than holds its own as a small AAP program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looking at the TJ admission statistics reported in another thread for the class admitted during the last cycle, it looks like there were actually 23 students admitted from LJ, which was fourth in the county in a percentage basis, behind only Longfellow, Carson, and Kilmer, and ahead of Rocky Run and all of the others. I'd say LJ more than holds its own as a small AAP program.

It will be an even smaller AAP program as more kids pick Thoreau. TJ really isn’t a priority in those areas, especially for kids zoned to Madison.

[Anonymous]

I know plenty of Madison-zoned families with students currently at TJ (including my own) and many others with middle school students at LJ that plan to apply to TJ. Your blanket statement simply isn't accurate.

[Anonymous]

How much homework do the Thoreau kids have?

- number of tests and quizzzes per quarter for algebra? Nightly algebra homework?

- how often are a writing or other English assignment due?

- Any writing assignments in classes other than English?

In a typical week, do you think your child has a lot of school work assignments and deadlines?

[Anonymous]

The level of obsession in this thread is telling. Any objective person coming into the county and looking at Thoreau would be impressed. But, because people have a choice, and many of those think TJ is an option, they look at TMS with suspicion. Asking how many tests and quizzes? How many books? How many writing assignments? Unclench! Let your children do their schoolwork without making charts and powerpoints of their assignments for show!

Even two kids in AAP at TMS (and probably at LJ) will have different reports in their number of assignments/books/quizzes/etc. I just chatted with another mom a few days ago. We both have AAP kids at TMS...guess what...they had different requirements during the first quarter! They have different English teachers. Maybe they choose the sequence of reading certain books or doing certain assignments.

Your child is not a baby anymore. You don't need to chart their every poop and nap. Kids at both schools learn what they need to learn. And then they go to HS and learn what they need to learn there.

Go to each school. Make your choice. Frankly, we don't need anymore kids at TMS. So, go to LJ, whatever floats your boat. LJ will put on more of a show to dazzle you. They need more smart kids. TMS will be more laid back and tell you that LJ is a good school too. They aren't trying to sell TMS. If you sleep better at night knowing your child is at LJ with the "center," then do that. But drop the insanity that TMS isn't a good middle school. Madison HS's reputation for the past X decades has been built by the kids who went to TMS. In the past, roughly 50 kids per grade went to LJ. Assuming none went to TJ, that leaves 400+ kids in each Madison grade who went to Thoreau (and a few from Kilmer). Of course not all 400+ are geniuses, but TMS kids have alwsys been the backbone of Madison...and that's how it got it's excellent reputation. If you need more than that....please, just go to LJ and be happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do the kids going to Madison from TMS seem to be well prepared for the writing and work load?

I think you are over-estimating how prepared one needs to be for honors classes at Madison. Seriously. My child was in honors at TMS. She is prepared just fine for honors classes at Madison. It's not some wildly advanced curriculum. Yes, it is high school, but the teachers understand that they are teaching 14 and 15 yr olds.... so they teach them what they expect them to do/know in class. There isn't some secret magic that the AAP kids get (at TMS or LJ) that dooms the non-AAP kids from getting A's in honors classes at Madison. If your kid wants to get good grades at Madison, he or she will put in the effort to do what the teacher asks, and will get good grades. This whole idea that some middle schools prepare you for Madison (or any FCPS high school) and some do not, is just silly.

Totally disagree with this. First, if a middle school has more homework, requires planning ahead and budgeting time, makes kids work for their grades, graders harder, has higher expectations, or teachers a higher level curriculum, that has to - and does - help in high school. My friend is a teacher at Madison and said she can tell which ones went to LJ and which went to Thoreau. She said, by far, the Thoreau students were not used to more rigorous grading and expectations, their writing was inferior and they complained more about the amount of work. Yes, a kid who cares about his grade, will do so regardless of the school, but that doesn’t negate the fact that one middle school can better prepare you for high school than another.

—former teacher

How long ago did you have this conversation and did it account for fact that LJ kids at Madison were all AAP, and Thoreau students at Madison were mostly non AAP kids? That's changed now.

She’s mentioned it multiple times over the years. The last time she mentioned it was about a month and a half ago.

So this is one person's opinion?

Look, you clearly have a problem hearing this. I’m just sharing what I know. She said that she’s heard it from other teachers as well. I’m not going back and asking her how many Madison teachers have told her that. I’m just throwing it out there because people seem to believe that TH prepares kids as well as LJ and, at least in the minds of some Madison teachers, that’s not so.

It’s hard to hear because you’re the only one posting that LJ kids are better prepared than Thoreau kids at Madison. And you post the same story every time a Thoreau post comes up, and you’ve done this for years. No one else seems to have heard this but you, and you say it with a lot of conviction despite it being a years old conversation you had with one teacher. And you don’t qualify the fact that LJ is all AAP, and Thoreau is overwhelmingly not AAP., so the cohorts are completely different.

[Anonymous]

I am not the only one who has posted things about lj v th on this thread. I knew someone was going to think that. I have nothing against th at all though I don’t think it’s carrying Madison. I think they are both fine schools. I’m just sharing what I know, without being defensive. Try it sometime.

I can also see someone getting info about the amount of homework, tests, etc., in general. Not related to the school’s overall education but to see what you’re signing up for. It’s not about micromanaging. It’s about whether you want that for your child in 6th. You need to stop seeing anger again th in every post.