Placeholder Middle Schools?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I would prefer Jefferson to Eliot hine and it takes oob kids. Close to l'enfant plaza metro too.

So the consensus seems to be Jefferson, SH, then EH? Eliot Hine has the IB program, does it matter?

Jefferson and SH, six of one, half dozen of the other.

Eliot-Hine only seems to work for die-hard Maury families who've worked together to support their by-right MS for years. IB Middle Years Curriculum can only do so much for a school jammed with low SES kids who struggle academically and whose head never seems to last more than one or two school years.

Jefferson has better leadership and discipline than SH but, for some reason, no definite at-grade level classes outside math. SH offers honors math and English.

Jefferson only has around 20 high SES/white kids in all grades while SH has about 60 if that matters to you. Neither school has more than a handful of Asian students, with zero in some grade cohorts, if that matters to you. We could go to Jefferson from Brent or SH from a house IB for the Capitol Cluster Schools but passed on both after attending in-person open houses.

If it works for the die-hard Maury families, why wouldn't it work for others with a similar profile? Do SWS kids end up there too or where do they go? 9% white can't be all Maury kids, can it?

Well, I think part of what makes it work is that those families and kids all know each other well, and that's part of the appeal. It wouldn't be as attractive for someone whose kid would not already have good friends there.

But it wouldn’t work for our high-SES black family. Being white offers you sort of “protection” that out kids won’t enjoy. So it will be moving or private middle school for us thank you very much. Resentful…but grateful to have exist options others don’t…I guess.

You are not alone. There is a deep privilege in white families having the ability to risk sub-par educational environments in hopes they will “make it better” in the three years their student is there. Not judging, but would be good if they acknowledged this dynamic.

They don’t understand that it is quite racist to assume brown kids will have the experience that their white kids will.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would prefer Jefferson to Eliot hine and it takes oob kids. Close to l'enfant plaza metro too.

So the consensus seems to be Jefferson, SH, then EH? Eliot Hine has the IB program, does it matter?

Jefferson and SH, six of one, half dozen of the other.

Eliot-Hine only seems to work for die-hard Maury families who've worked together to support their by-right MS for years. IB Middle Years Curriculum can only do so much for a school jammed with low SES kids who struggle academically and whose head never seems to last more than one or two school years.

Jefferson has better leadership and discipline than SH but, for some reason, no definite at-grade level classes outside math. SH offers honors math and English.

Jefferson only has around 20 high SES/white kids in all grades while SH has about 60 if that matters to you. Neither school has more than a handful of Asian students, with zero in some grade cohorts, if that matters to you. We could go to Jefferson from Brent or SH from a house IB for the Capitol Cluster Schools but passed on both after attending in-person open houses.

If it works for the die-hard Maury families, why wouldn't it work for others with a similar profile? Do SWS kids end up there too or where do they go? 9% white can't be all Maury kids, can it?

Well, I think part of what makes it work is that those families and kids all know each other well, and that's part of the appeal. It wouldn't be as attractive for someone whose kid would not already have good friends there.

But it wouldn’t work for our high-SES black family. Being white offers you sort of “protection” that out kids won’t enjoy. So it will be moving or private middle school for us thank you very much. Resentful…but grateful to have exist options others don’t…I guess.

You are not alone. There is a deep privilege in white families having the ability to risk sub-par educational environments in hopes they will “make it better” in the three years their student is there. Not judging, but would be good if they acknowledged this dynamic.

They don’t understand that it is quite racist to assume brown kids will have the experience that their white kids will.

Self centered? Sure. Racist? Not so much. "Quite racist"? Not by a bloody long shot. Good job diminishing the severity, impact and frequency of truly vile and racist behavior by conflating it with people who see the world through their own prism and experience. It is NOT racist for people of another race to fail to first and frequently consider how the world looks through your lens. Self centered and provincial perhaps, but not racist.

People like you make it harder for people fighting actual racist behaviors and impact to make our case. Stop "helping".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:both plus protection from low expectations.

Yeah - it’s just a tricky dynamic trying to negotiate being a high-SES/ performing black kid outlier in a sea low-SES but same race peers. It’s survivable, but I wouldn’t subject my kid to that if I had better options.

I just took issue with someone who called it "quite racist" for white folks to not understand the world through a black lens. I think PP's concern about lowered expectations for high performing, UMC POC illustrates the problem with calling racist white folks failing to see the world through POC's lens. There is no one lens. When you at once complain that (1) white folks need to see the world through the lens of POC and (2) indict people for seeing all POC the same way, you create a construct that causes well meaning people to throw their hands up and say "Eff it". Then you lose allies you need when the real racist and discriminatory stuff happens.

[Anonymous]

We're at Jefferson this year for 6th and have been very impressed. The school has recently shared that they will be adding a faster track (and slower track, as needed) for all academic classes next year which we're excited about. My kid is very happy and has gotten involved in multiple sports and clubs and gets to school independently every day since multiple bus lines go right to the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would prefer Jefferson to Eliot hine and it takes oob kids. Close to l'enfant plaza metro too.

So the consensus seems to be Jefferson, SH, then EH? Eliot Hine has the IB program, does it matter?

Jefferson and SH, six of one, half dozen of the other.

Eliot-Hine only seems to work for die-hard Maury families who've worked together to support their by-right MS for years. IB Middle Years Curriculum can only do so much for a school jammed with low SES kids who struggle academically and whose head never seems to last more than one or two school years.

Jefferson has better leadership and discipline than SH but, for some reason, no definite at-grade level classes outside math. SH offers honors math and English.

Jefferson only has around 20 high SES/white kids in all grades while SH has about 60 if that matters to you. Neither school has more than a handful of Asian students, with zero in some grade cohorts, if that matters to you. We could go to Jefferson from Brent or SH from a house IB for the Capitol Cluster Schools but passed on both after attending in-person open houses.

If it works for the die-hard Maury families, why wouldn't it work for others with a similar profile? Do SWS kids end up there too or where do they go? 9% white can't be all Maury kids, can it?

Well, I think part of what makes it work is that those families and kids all know each other well, and that's part of the appeal. It wouldn't be as attractive for someone whose kid would not already have good friends there.

But it wouldn’t work for our high-SES black family. Being white offers you sort of “protection” that out kids won’t enjoy. So it will be moving or private middle school for us thank you very much. Resentful…but grateful to have exist options others don’t…I guess.

Would not work for our Latino family either, regardless of the aggressive tactics of some Eliot Hine boosters.

Interesting. We are latinos, but our children are racially pretty caucasian and I don't think teachers would have lower expectations of them in a school like EH.