MacArthur

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s going to be mostly wealthy families who do club sports in high school, for those who do sports. There will be some sports but it’s not going to be a huge focal point. Friends will hang out in the neighborhood because it’s a neighborhoods school and will eventually function like Hardy or Deal. Community will come from the feeders.

It will not be wealthy families who do club sports. They're going private.

Yep, this to a tee.

Not even alot of just UMC families, let alone wealthy, if MA is a title 1 school. There is a significant cohort of very poor families. Nothing wrong with being poor but it presents with a lot more challenges and sports and AP is not the top priority for leadership.

If you don’t believe above, then you have not been paying attention to the trend in DCPS.

The unfortunate part is that they could have created a school that was attractive to families of all socioeconomic tiers, like JR, but Macarthur will not attract kids who can afford to pay for or test into a different school option. I assume people in the affected neighborhoods will target Walls, Latin, other charters, and privates. No one in my neighborhood is planning on Macarthur.

You could not be more wrong. We certainly can pay for private and we are IB for Jackson Reed too. But we’ve picked MacArthur. Go visit MacArthur before you put it down. Engaged and committed teachers, a dynamic principle, and a very nice building. If you want a public high school where your kid will be seen and known, and can get involved in starting up clubs and leading, then MacArthur is a great choice.

Sorry but you are an outlier. Majority of kids and families in this group are not choosing MA.

If you want seen and heard and easily start up and lead any club, go to DCI which BTW also has an extensive curriculum offerings and sports. There is a cohort of families WOTP who send their kids there. These things are not mutually exclusive of one or the other.

These negative posts are so odd. First of all, seems like PP has never been to Macarthur and doesn’t have a kid there.Second, poster purports to speak for the phantom “majority” of people in this group and elsewhere. Finally, DCI is NOT new where you can be a founder and has a very specific feeder pattern and curriculum that make the school not a real option for most people. (DCI also has a similar demo to Macarthur so if the goal is to get away from a substantial number of Black and brown kids as I suspect is the case for some of you then DCI isn’t the move). I’ve also had friends who pulled their kids OUT of DCI because of the chaos and questionable academics—esp the Yu Ying families. Same with Latin’s HS in terms of getting in for HS. It is also NOT new with opportunities for leadership etc. the way Mac has. And Walls? Who here can plan on attending Walls with their limited admissions. PP stop grasping at straws just to put down a school you clearly know nothing about! We are pleased with the school. The Title I status by the way means the school will receive even more funding and support and be well staffed (see JR’s teacher CUTS under new budget) and smart parents know how to make that work for their kids. Also the Title I status won’t last forever so these added resources are just what the school needs in the early years so that admin aren’t spread thin while establishing a new school.

We are OOB and kid has an hour commute, using two buses, so transport certainly hasn’t been a picnic. However teachers and admin are excellent caliber. Kid is challenged and learning. Kids start clubs based on interests and there’s great support all around. Yes there are some rough and tacky kids with issues at home or in their respective communities and there have been fights. The admin has dealt with all of this quite well and if your kid isn’t in it, they aren’t in it. I’m told there are fights at JR and rough kids there too. If Walls is an option for you, go there (I say this ever having toured or visited Walls and without having anyone close to me with kids there). But otherwise I’d say Macarthur is the way to go if you can get in. Also the closed campus means less room for mischief unlike the open campus/roam free at lunch situation at JR. Macarthur is a small school where all teachers know your kid and it is great.

And for those of you coming from private DCPS has a TON of opportunities as far as colleges and extracurricular activities. Again smart parents know how to make this work for their kids and get a leg up in college admissions.

You sound like a hypocrite because you have never been to DCI and obviously don't have a kid there. Just because DCI is not new does not mean that a kid can’t be a founder of a club or start a club. They absolutely can and the school encourages and welcomes new clubs. The school is also large enough that new clubs can also draw in enough kids to not only participate but also help run it. Families can get in on the French or Chinese track. I will grant you it is much harder to get in then MA but not impossible.

Secondly, DCI is not similar to MA demographics. DCI is not a title 1 school, they have significantly less at risk kids. DCI is also not majority black.

The data speaks for itself. Wealthy families are not choosing MA and why there is such a large OOB at risk group putting MA in title 1 status. You are delusional if you think lots of wealthy families who can afford private are choosing a new high school which is not only title 1 but very far away, with an unproven track record with limited academics, sports, and club offerings.

Lastly, yes you get some more money for title 1 but it is very far from enough of what you need with resources to support all the at risk kids.

Why are you here? Pathetic. Meanwhile those of us who in this year of our lord 2024 don’t have a racial litmus test for schools would like to hear more from parents with kids actually enrolled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh wow this has gotten out of control here. Title 1 doesn’t necessarily mean bad. I have spoken to parents (white, financially stable) with kids there and they love it. I have visited and seen how engaged and friendly teachers and admin are. If you don’t want to send your kids there fine, but don’t bash the school on hearsay and vague fears about people with less money.

This happens on every thread about any DCPS school other than the JKLMs and maybe Walls and Latin. I can only surmise that it’s a handful of extremely aggreived parents who believe they are entitled to a homogeneously rich, UMC school without too many black kids. Despite living in DC.

Now, I am not one to make accusations of racism based on where people choose to enroll their kids. Lord knows I am not enrolling my child in our IB HS. But we are at a T1 MS and it is totally fine, better than I hoped in many ways, and seemingly better run and safer than Deal and Hardy, based on what I read here (which I know requires a grain of salt).

But this incessant bashing of schools where posters don’t even have kids, and the unvarnished view that a majority black school must be “bad,” it just super toxic and insecure. I always feel like this kind of behavior is a psychological defense mechanism. Since the poster has presumably sacrificed something and feels aggreived at the lack of what they consider to be a “good” school, this seems to be a form of triangulation where they need to get others on their side. Since a “good” school is an overwhelming focus of their parenting anxiety, evidence that a “bad” school is actually fine is deeply threatening to their self-image as a parent fighting for their kid.

[Anonymous]

We also had a great experience at our T1 ES and MS. We had extremely well-trained teachers and extra resources, and our kids took full advantage.

[Anonymous]

The data speaks for itself. Wealthy families are not choosing MA and why there is such a large OOB at risk group putting MA in title 1 status.

This is the statement I find most ludicrous. The "data" is still just the first and only round of choice, made before the school opened, by kids who had long-anticipated going to J-R.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh wow this has gotten out of control here. Title 1 doesn’t necessarily mean bad. I have spoken to parents (white, financially stable) with kids there and they love it. I have visited and seen how engaged and friendly teachers and admin are. If you don’t want to send your kids there fine, but don’t bash the school on hearsay and vague fears about people with less money.

This happens on every thread about any DCPS school other than the JKLMs and maybe Walls and Latin. I can only surmise that it’s a handful of extremely aggreived parents who believe they are entitled to a homogeneously rich, UMC school without too many black kids. Despite living in DC.

Now, I am not one to make accusations of racism based on where people choose to enroll their kids. Lord knows I am not enrolling my child in our IB HS. But we are at a T1 MS and it is totally fine, better than I hoped in many ways, and seemingly better run and safer than Deal and Hardy, based on what I read here (which I know requires a grain of salt).

But this incessant bashing of schools where posters don’t even have kids, and the unvarnished view that a majority black school must be “bad,” it just super toxic and insecure. I always feel like this kind of behavior is a psychological defense mechanism. Since the poster has presumably sacrificed something and feels aggreived at the lack of what they consider to be a “good” school, this seems to be a form of triangulation where they need to get others on their side. Since a “good” school is an overwhelming focus of their parenting anxiety, evidence that a “bad” school is actually fine is deeply threatening to their self-image as a parent fighting for their kid.

+1

[Anonymous]

Congrats to the MA community on having reached the “I’ve never set foot inside the school so I’ll post my fantasies about how bad I imagine it to be based on my own insecurities” phase of DCUM commentary.

As the parent of a Wilson grad, I can say that you seem to have attracted many of the same lunatics who wrote some truly strange fiction about Wilson, inventing slang terms, attitudes, cultural characteristics, incidents and even facts about the layout and facilities of the school that existed only in their imaginations.

Maybe this means MA will truly be great, since the same people who so recently used to frantically clutch their pearls about Wilson now seem to hold it up as the obvious good choice compared to MA.

[Anonymous]

I have heard good things

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s going to be mostly wealthy families who do club sports in high school, for those who do sports. There will be some sports but it’s not going to be a huge focal point. Friends will hang out in the neighborhood because it’s a neighborhoods school and will eventually function like Hardy or Deal. Community will come from the feeders.

It will not be wealthy families who do club sports. They're going private.

Yep, this to a tee.

Not even alot of just UMC families, let alone wealthy, if MA is a title 1 school. There is a significant cohort of very poor families. Nothing wrong with being poor but it presents with a lot more challenges and sports and AP is not the top priority for leadership.

If you don’t believe above, then you have not been paying attention to the trend in DCPS.

The unfortunate part is that they could have created a school that was attractive to families of all socioeconomic tiers, like JR, but Macarthur will not attract kids who can afford to pay for or test into a different school option. I assume people in the affected neighborhoods will target Walls, Latin, other charters, and privates. No one in my neighborhood is planning on Macarthur.

You could not be more wrong. We certainly can pay for private and we are IB for Jackson Reed too. But we’ve picked MacArthur. Go visit MacArthur before you put it down. Engaged and committed teachers, a dynamic principle, and a very nice building. If you want a public high school where your kid will be seen and known, and can get involved in starting up clubs and leading, then MacArthur is a great choice.

Sorry but you are an outlier. Majority of kids and families in this group are not choosing MA.

If you want seen and heard and easily start up and lead any club, go to DCI which BTW also has an extensive curriculum offerings and sports. There is a cohort of families WOTP who send their kids there. These things are not mutually exclusive of one or the other.

These negative posts are so odd. First of all, seems like PP has never been to Macarthur and doesn’t have a kid there.Second, poster purports to speak for the phantom “majority” of people in this group and elsewhere. Finally, DCI is NOT new where you can be a founder and has a very specific feeder pattern and curriculum that make the school not a real option for most people. (DCI also has a similar demo to Macarthur so if the goal is to get away from a substantial number of Black and brown kids as I suspect is the case for some of you then DCI isn’t the move). I’ve also had friends who pulled their kids OUT of DCI because of the chaos and questionable academics—esp the Yu Ying families. Same with Latin’s HS in terms of getting in for HS. It is also NOT new with opportunities for leadership etc. the way Mac has. And Walls? Who here can plan on attending Walls with their limited admissions. PP stop grasping at straws just to put down a school you clearly know nothing about! We are pleased with the school. The Title I status by the way means the school will receive even more funding and support and be well staffed (see JR’s teacher CUTS under new budget) and smart parents know how to make that work for their kids. Also the Title I status won’t last forever so these added resources are just what the school needs in the early years so that admin aren’t spread thin while establishing a new school.

We are OOB and kid has an hour commute, using two buses, so transport certainly hasn’t been a picnic. However teachers and admin are excellent caliber. Kid is challenged and learning. Kids start clubs based on interests and there’s great support all around. Yes there are some rough and tacky kids with issues at home or in their respective communities and there have been fights. The admin has dealt with all of this quite well and if your kid isn’t in it, they aren’t in it. I’m told there are fights at JR and rough kids there too. If Walls is an option for you, go there (I say this ever having toured or visited Walls and without having anyone close to me with kids there). But otherwise I’d say Macarthur is the way to go if you can get in. Also the closed campus means less room for mischief unlike the open campus/roam free at lunch situation at JR. Macarthur is a small school where all teachers know your kid and it is great.

And for those of you coming from private DCPS has a TON of opportunities as far as colleges and extracurricular activities. Again smart parents know how to make this work for their kids and get a leg up in college admissions.

thanks for an actually informative post! we are at a T1 MS and Macarthur is definitely on our list. I am a bit worried about socializing though - how does your DS maintain friendship while commuting?

My DC hangs out with friends during lunch, there is texting, of course, after hours. The friends go
over to each others’ homes and hang out as well. Parents drop off or kids take bus. They have also taken the bus from school to Tenleytown and hang out there. And they’ve gone to Georgetown and hung out. Unlike MS you have to be ready to have the kids be much more independent in terms of taking the bus and navigating the city with their peers, or be committed to driving them around. For instance just last week DC called and asked if they could take the bus to Tenley with friends after school to hang out. I’ve seen extremes of this. For instance after a late night party at our house (by late night I mean 9 pm) in the fall I was shocked at the fact that some kids took the metro/bus home to wherever. I certainly wouldn’t have my kid out after dark on public transportation but clearly those kids had no problem and were used to it. I drove a couple home, some parents came to pickup as well.

So it is a combo of kids taking the bus and parents facilitating transport. I hear talk of kids driving soon, although at this point I am not keen on DC jumping in the car with other kid’s unsupervised.

There’s also socialization on the sports teams and clubs.

[Anonymous]

PP, I realized I sound judgmental about kids taking public transport at night. I have to work on that!

[Anonymous]

What happened to the new buses that the city wanted to put for the kids of Spring Valley and AU to make more time for the students to get to school without taking many buses and not exposing them to pleasure and drugs? What a shame that no one put them in agencies to this is Many people with adult mental health problems on these buses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What happened to the new buses that the city wanted to put for the kids of Spring Valley and AU to make more time for the students to get to school without taking many buses and not exposing them to pleasure and drugs? What a shame that no one put them in agencies to this is Many people with adult mental health problems on these buses.

Plus an hour commute each way on the bus (2 hours RT) is not sustainable or feasible for some kids with or without other commitments.

[Anonymous]

Persistent discipline problems at MacArthur when it's been open for less than a year? Wow. I don't think that's possible. To me, persistent would have to last longer than one year to truly be persistent.

[Anonymous]

I just visited the school recently and administrators were very friendly, classes looked organized and focused, and the kids I met were polite and well spoken. No one was wandering the halls, and I didn't see any of these rumored "problems".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s going to be mostly wealthy families who do club sports in high school, for those who do sports. There will be some sports but it’s not going to be a huge focal point. Friends will hang out in the neighborhood because it’s a neighborhoods school and will eventually function like Hardy or Deal. Community will come from the feeders.

It will not be wealthy families who do club sports. They're going private.

Yep, this to a tee.

Not even alot of just UMC families, let alone wealthy, if MA is a title 1 school. There is a significant cohort of very poor families. Nothing wrong with being poor but it presents with a lot more challenges and sports and AP is not the top priority for leadership.

If you don’t believe above, then you have not been paying attention to the trend in DCPS.

The unfortunate part is that they could have created a school that was attractive to families of all socioeconomic tiers, like JR, but Macarthur will not attract kids who can afford to pay for or test into a different school option. I assume people in the affected neighborhoods will target Walls, Latin, other charters, and privates. No one in my neighborhood is planning on Macarthur.

You could not be more wrong. We certainly can pay for private and we are IB for Jackson Reed too. But we’ve picked MacArthur. Go visit MacArthur before you put it down. Engaged and committed teachers, a dynamic principle, and a very nice building. If you want a public high school where your kid will be seen and known, and can get involved in starting up clubs and leading, then MacArthur is a great choice.

Sorry but you are an outlier. Majority of kids and families in this group are not choosing MA.

If you want seen and heard and easily start up and lead any club, go to DCI which BTW also has an extensive curriculum offerings and sports. There is a cohort of families WOTP who send their kids there. These things are not mutually exclusive of one or the other.

These negative posts are so odd. First of all, seems like PP has never been to Macarthur and doesn’t have a kid there.Second, poster purports to speak for the phantom “majority” of people in this group and elsewhere. Finally, DCI is NOT new where you can be a founder and has a very specific feeder pattern and curriculum that make the school not a real option for most people. (DCI also has a similar demo to Macarthur so if the goal is to get away from a substantial number of Black and brown kids as I suspect is the case for some of you then DCI isn’t the move). I’ve also had friends who pulled their kids OUT of DCI because of the chaos and questionable academics—esp the Yu Ying families. Same with Latin’s HS in terms of getting in for HS. It is also NOT new with opportunities for leadership etc. the way Mac has. And Walls? Who here can plan on attending Walls with their limited admissions. PP stop grasping at straws just to put down a school you clearly know nothing about! We are pleased with the school. The Title I status by the way means the school will receive even more funding and support and be well staffed (see JR’s teacher CUTS under new budget) and smart parents know how to make that work for their kids. Also the Title I status won’t last forever so these added resources are just what the school needs in the early years so that admin aren’t spread thin while establishing a new school.

We are OOB and kid has an hour commute, using two buses, so transport certainly hasn’t been a picnic. However teachers and admin are excellent caliber. Kid is challenged and learning. Kids start clubs based on interests and there’s great support all around. Yes there are some rough and tacky kids with issues at home or in their respective communities and there have been fights. The admin has dealt with all of this quite well and if your kid isn’t in it, they aren’t in it. I’m told there are fights at JR and rough kids there too. If Walls is an option for you, go there (I say this ever having toured or visited Walls and without having anyone close to me with kids there). But otherwise I’d say Macarthur is the way to go if you can get in. Also the closed campus means less room for mischief unlike the open campus/roam free at lunch situation at JR. Macarthur is a small school where all teachers know your kid and it is great.

And for those of you coming from private DCPS has a TON of opportunities as far as colleges and extracurricular activities. Again smart parents know how to make this work for their kids and get a leg up in college admissions.

thanks for an actually informative post! we are at a T1 MS and Macarthur is definitely on our list. I am a bit worried about socializing though - how does your DS maintain friendship while commuting?

My DC hangs out with friends during lunch, there is texting, of course, after hours. The friends go
over to each others’ homes and hang out as well. Parents drop off or kids take bus. They have also taken the bus from school to Tenleytown and hang out there. And they’ve gone to Georgetown and hung out. Unlike MS you have to be ready to have the kids be much more independent in terms of taking the bus and navigating the city with their peers, or be committed to driving them around. For instance just last week DC called and asked if they could take the bus to Tenley with friends after school to hang out. I’ve seen extremes of this. For instance after a late night party at our house (by late night I mean 9 pm) in the fall I was shocked at the fact that some kids took the metro/bus home to wherever. I certainly wouldn’t have my kid out after dark on public transportation but clearly those kids had no problem and were used to it. I drove a couple home, some parents came to pickup as well.

So it is a combo of kids taking the bus and parents facilitating transport. I hear talk of kids driving soon, although at this point I am not keen on DC jumping in the car with other kid’s unsupervised.

There’s also socialization on the sports teams and clubs.

So the bolder refer to high school kids? That’s a bit surprising to me. 16 year olds drive, including after dark, which is orders of magnitude less safe than taking public transportation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s going to be mostly wealthy families who do club sports in high school, for those who do sports. There will be some sports but it’s not going to be a huge focal point. Friends will hang out in the neighborhood because it’s a neighborhoods school and will eventually function like Hardy or Deal. Community will come from the feeders.

It will not be wealthy families who do club sports. They're going private.

Yep, this to a tee.

Not even alot of just UMC families, let alone wealthy, if MA is a title 1 school. There is a significant cohort of very poor families. Nothing wrong with being poor but it presents with a lot more challenges and sports and AP is not the top priority for leadership.

If you don’t believe above, then you have not been paying attention to the trend in DCPS.

The unfortunate part is that they could have created a school that was attractive to families of all socioeconomic tiers, like JR, but Macarthur will not attract kids who can afford to pay for or test into a different school option. I assume people in the affected neighborhoods will target Walls, Latin, other charters, and privates. No one in my neighborhood is planning on Macarthur.

You could not be more wrong. We certainly can pay for private and we are IB for Jackson Reed too. But we’ve picked MacArthur. Go visit MacArthur before you put it down. Engaged and committed teachers, a dynamic principle, and a very nice building. If you want a public high school where your kid will be seen and known, and can get involved in starting up clubs and leading, then MacArthur is a great choice.

Sorry but you are an outlier. Majority of kids and families in this group are not choosing MA.

If you want seen and heard and easily start up and lead any club, go to DCI which BTW also has an extensive curriculum offerings and sports. There is a cohort of families WOTP who send their kids there. These things are not mutually exclusive of one or the other.

These negative posts are so odd. First of all, seems like PP has never been to Macarthur and doesn’t have a kid there.Second, poster purports to speak for the phantom “majority” of people in this group and elsewhere. Finally, DCI is NOT new where you can be a founder and has a very specific feeder pattern and curriculum that make the school not a real option for most people. (DCI also has a similar demo to Macarthur so if the goal is to get away from a substantial number of Black and brown kids as I suspect is the case for some of you then DCI isn’t the move). I’ve also had friends who pulled their kids OUT of DCI because of the chaos and questionable academics—esp the Yu Ying families. Same with Latin’s HS in terms of getting in for HS. It is also NOT new with opportunities for leadership etc. the way Mac has. And Walls? Who here can plan on attending Walls with their limited admissions. PP stop grasping at straws just to put down a school you clearly know nothing about! We are pleased with the school. The Title I status by the way means the school will receive even more funding and support and be well staffed (see JR’s teacher CUTS under new budget) and smart parents know how to make that work for their kids. Also the Title I status won’t last forever so these added resources are just what the school needs in the early years so that admin aren’t spread thin while establishing a new school.

We are OOB and kid has an hour commute, using two buses, so transport certainly hasn’t been a picnic. However teachers and admin are excellent caliber. Kid is challenged and learning. Kids start clubs based on interests and there’s great support all around. Yes there are some rough and tacky kids with issues at home or in their respective communities and there have been fights. The admin has dealt with all of this quite well and if your kid isn’t in it, they aren’t in it. I’m told there are fights at JR and rough kids there too. If Walls is an option for you, go there (I say this ever having toured or visited Walls and without having anyone close to me with kids there). But otherwise I’d say Macarthur is the way to go if you can get in. Also the closed campus means less room for mischief unlike the open campus/roam free at lunch situation at JR. Macarthur is a small school where all teachers know your kid and it is great.

And for those of you coming from private DCPS has a TON of opportunities as far as colleges and extracurricular activities. Again smart parents know how to make this work for their kids and get a leg up in college admissions.

thanks for an actually informative post! we are at a T1 MS and Macarthur is definitely on our list. I am a bit worried about socializing though - how does your DS maintain friendship while commuting?

My DC hangs out with friends during lunch, there is texting, of course, after hours. The friends go
over to each others’ homes and hang out as well. Parents drop off or kids take bus. They have also taken the bus from school to Tenleytown and hang out there. And they’ve gone to Georgetown and hung out. Unlike MS you have to be ready to have the kids be much more independent in terms of taking the bus and navigating the city with their peers, or be committed to driving them around. For instance just last week DC called and asked if they could take the bus to Tenley with friends after school to hang out. I’ve seen extremes of this. For instance after a late night party at our house (by late night I mean 9 pm) in the fall I was shocked at the fact that some kids took the metro/bus home to wherever. I certainly wouldn’t have my kid out after dark on public transportation but clearly those kids had no problem and were used to it. I drove a couple home, some parents came to pickup as well.

So it is a combo of kids taking the bus and parents facilitating transport. I hear talk of kids driving soon, although at this point I am not keen on DC jumping in the car with other kid’s unsupervised.

There’s also socialization on the sports teams and clubs.

So the bolder refer to high school kids? That’s a bit surprising to me. 16 year olds drive, including after dark, which is orders of magnitude less safe than taking public transportation.

+1. With all the carjacking in DC, I tell my kid to take the metro instead.