Jefferson Academy Kool-Aid

[Anonymous]

Surprised to learn tonite that Jefferson is on track to be the next Alice Deal for All! because there are 26 kids in the waitlist for a school enrolled at only half-capacity and won't be modernized before 2019. Yippee!

[Anonymous]

Where did you learn this?

[Anonymous]

Brent PTA Meeting - So you ridicule parents who are working hard to ensure a strong middle option for your child(re)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Brent PTA Meeting - So you ridicule parents who are working hard to ensure a strong middle option for your child(re)?

What are Brent parents doing exactly at Jefferson? Truly curious, new poster.

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

How did Brent 4th graders fare in the MS lottery? Do lots have sibling preference?

[Anonymous]

Not a great week for the Brent community. Many 4th graders without older siblings at charters didn't land a spot at the public middle schools parents applied them to - Washington Latin, BASIS, Stuart Hobson, Hardy, 2 Rivers, Creative Minds, Inspired Teaching etc. It sounds like two dozen of the 60 currently have no DC public option other than Jefferson Academy. Some will get off wait lists by the start of school. Some won't. Brent's 5th grade of 18 will be larger in the fall as a result. No telling how big just yet.

[Anonymous]

Well of course not Hardy - bc they are 4th graders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well of course not Hardy - bc they are 4th graders.

SH, DCI, 2R, CM, IT are all also 6th+. So, really the PP should have indicated that parents only applied to Latin & Basis, the only MS for which they would be eligible. I sympathize with the dilemma, but exaggerating unnecessarily doesn't help make the point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well of course not Hardy - bc they are 4th graders.

SH, DCI, 2R, CM, IT are all also 6th+. So, really the PP should have indicated that parents only applied to Latin & Basis, the only MS for which they would be eligible. I sympathize with the dilemma, but exaggerating unnecessarily doesn't help make the point.

2R, CM, and ITS are all PK3-8 so fair game for 4th-5th graders in the lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not a great week for the Brent community. Many 4th graders without older siblings at charters didn't land a spot at the public middle schools parents applied them to - Washington Latin, BASIS, Stuart Hobson, Hardy, 2 Rivers, Creative Minds, Inspired Teaching etc. It sounds like two dozen of the 60 currently have no DC public option other than Jefferson Academy. Some will get off wait lists by the start of school. Some won't. Brent's 5th grade of 18 will be larger in the fall as a result. No telling how big just yet.

Do you know how many sibs there were? It sounds like more than 1/2 the 4th graders landed somewhere public for 5th (other than Brent) - whereas at SWS, it sounds like around 25% landed a public 5th grade spot (other than SWS).

Anyone know what happened at Maury?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well of course not Hardy - bc they are 4th graders.

SH, DCI, 2R, CM, IT are all also 6th+. So, really the PP should have indicated that parents only applied to Latin & Basis, the only MS for which they would be eligible. I sympathize with the dilemma, but exaggerating unnecessarily doesn't help make the point.

Nor does bad information. This is yet another reason why a common entry for MS across charters and DCPS would be helpful

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well of course not Hardy - bc they are 4th graders.

SH, DCI, 2R, CM, IT are all also 6th+. So, really the PP should have indicated that parents only applied to Latin & Basis, the only MS for which they would be eligible. I sympathize with the dilemma, but exaggerating unnecessarily doesn't help make the point.

Not just W Latin and Basis. No admissions this year at St. Peter or CHDS. I heard that a couple of kids who did get into W Latin or Basis, or have relatively low lottery numbers (but are moving backward) have tentatively committed to returning to Brent next year. If you didn't have sibling preference the lottery results were very bleak, and there's no reason to think that this situation will change next year or beyond. As for Jefferson, the idea that a handful of parents are going to overcome the mindset of Henderson and Central Office, no to mntikner that dimwitted do-nothing, David Grosso, is mildly amusing. This same bunch has no issue throwing municipal largesse at Ellington and other boondoggles with absolutely no accountability. Where are the hearings on the empty Taj Mahal high schools? Take a look at Murch. I would rather see Brent parents fighting for the $4 million in modernization funds stripped from our school three years ago so that younger kids have a bright, inviting space big enough for dedicated world language, art, science and music rooms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well of course not Hardy - bc they are 4th graders.

Some of the 5th grade Brent families tried for Hardy and Hobson and failed by a long shot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well of course not Hardy - bc they are 4th graders.

SH, DCI, 2R, CM, IT are all also 6th+. So, really the PP should have indicated that parents only applied to Latin & Basis, the only MS for which they would be eligible. I sympathize with the dilemma, but exaggerating unnecessarily doesn't help make the point.

Some 4th graders were shut out of all public choices as were some 5th graders. Point is the "dilemma" is not restricted to 4th grade families. Brent has been counting on WL and BASIS as their middle schools for four or five years. The door is closing for many faster than anticipated.