Luther Jackson Middle school safety/advice?

[Anonymous]

LJ parent here. We have been happy with the school. My child enjoys the variety of people he interacts with. He has seen two fights, this year. One is boy's restroom and one with girls before getting on the bus. These things can happen anywhere. He feels safe and has enjoyed his experience overall. It seems to have a bad rep because it is a very colorful mix of students. For the size of the population, the school staff does a great job keeping everything running smoothly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LJ parent here. We have been happy with the school. My child enjoys the variety of people he interacts with. He has seen two fights, this year. One is boy's restroom and one with girls before getting on the bus. These things can happen anywhere. He feels safe and has enjoyed his experience overall. It seems to have a bad rep because it is a very colorful mix of students. For the size of the population, the school staff does a great job keeping everything running smoothly.

Thank you for returning the discussion to the original subject after it was hijacked by the eternally recurring topic of "getting into TJ"!

[Anonymous]

How is LJ now?

[Anonymous]

That's a tough to answer question, PP (if you are thinking of next year). There is a boundary adjustment going into effect this fall and that will change both LJ and Thoreau. In 6 mos, people may have a different answer re: "How is LJ now?"

The over crowding that has been happening at LJ for the past several years meant that they had 19 trailers and hallways were designated "one way" hallways b/c they were simply too crowded to navigate when kids were going both ways. The facility, itself, is dilapidated and very old. It might have some charming qualities to it if it had a much smaller population using the same building... but it is bursting at the seams. That's why about 300 kids were supposed to be rezoned. LJ and Thoreau should be more balanced now (numbers wise).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's a tough to answer question, PP (if you are thinking of next year). There is a boundary adjustment going into effect this fall and that will change both LJ and Thoreau. In 6 mos, people may have a different answer re: "How is LJ now?"

The over crowding that has been happening at LJ for the past several years meant that they had 19 trailers and hallways were designated "one way" hallways b/c they were simply too crowded to navigate when kids were going both ways. The facility, itself, is dilapidated and very old. It might have some charming qualities to it if it had a much smaller population using the same building... but it is bursting at the seams. That's why about 300 kids were supposed to be rezoned. LJ and Thoreau should be more balanced now (numbers wise).

If the biggest issue is the overcrowding, then doesn't this solve the biggest issue?

[Anonymous]

"If..." is the operative word. There are essentially two schools at LJ. The AAP kids and the non-AAP kids. The non-AAP kids have a substantial number of free-meals/ESOL kids. That will likely be a larger share of the non-AAP population after the re-zoning. Now, will that matter given that there will be more space for all? Hard to say.

Stay tuned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"If..." is the operative word. There are essentially two schools at LJ. The AAP kids and the non-AAP kids. The non-AAP kids have a substantial number of free-meals/ESOL kids. That will likely be a larger share of the non-AAP population after the re-zoning. Now, will that matter given that there will be more space for all? Hard to say.

Stay tuned.

It’s not “likely” that the non-AAP population at LJ will trend poorer. It’s virtually guaranteed. The only question is how the changes will affect the AAP program, since Thoreau also has LLIV. It will take a few years for this to play out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"If..." is the operative word. There are essentially two schools at LJ. The AAP kids and the non-AAP kids. The non-AAP kids have a substantial number of free-meals/ESOL kids. That will likely be a larger share of the non-AAP population after the re-zoning. Now, will that matter given that there will be more space for all? Hard to say.

Stay tuned.

Sounds like you think the aap kids’ lives improve by this change and the non-aap kids’ lives decline.

[Anonymous]

Very have vs. have nots.

True, the AP students are practically segregated from those students for whom LJ is a base school and yes, base school skews Hispanic, FARMS, ESL program and truthfully, most all of the disciplinary problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"If..." is the operative word. There are essentially two schools at LJ. The AAP kids and the non-AAP kids. The non-AAP kids have a substantial number of free-meals/ESOL kids. That will likely be a larger share of the non-AAP population after the re-zoning. Now, will that matter given that there will be more space for all? Hard to say.

Stay tuned.

Sounds like you think the aap kids’ lives improve by this change and the non-aap kids’ lives decline.

No to the first part. Probably yes to the second part. They all improve by having more space and less crowding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"If..." is the operative word. There are essentially two schools at LJ. The AAP kids and the non-AAP kids. The non-AAP kids have a substantial number of free-meals/ESOL kids. That will likely be a larger share of the non-AAP population after the re-zoning. Now, will that matter given that there will be more space for all? Hard to say.

Stay tuned.

Sounds like you think the aap kids’ lives improve by this change and the non-aap kids’ lives decline.

No to the first part. Probably yes to the second part. They all improve by having more space and less crowding.

Makes no sense. First you say no to the first part - meaning that aap kids’ lives will not improve - but then said all improve by having more space. Huh?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Very have vs. have nots.

True, the AP students are practically segregated from those students for whom LJ is a base school and yes, base school skews Hispanic, FARMS, ESL program and truthfully, most all of the disciplinary problems.

The way they have set up teams makes it that teachers teach all levels. Electives, PE, lunch, etc are together so except for 4 core classes kids are mixed together. This notion that the AAP kids have their own school within the school is not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Very have vs. have nots.

True, the AP students are practically segregated from those students for whom LJ is a base school and yes, base school skews Hispanic, FARMS, ESL program and truthfully, most all of the disciplinary problems.

Do you have A Student there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very have vs. have nots.

True, the AP students are practically segregated from those students for whom LJ is a base school and yes, base school skews Hispanic, FARMS, ESL program and truthfully, most all of the disciplinary problems.

The way they have set up teams makes it that teachers teach all levels. Electives, PE, lunch, etc are together so except for 4 core classes kids are mixed together. This notion that the AAP kids have their own school within the school is not true.

While this is true, some electives are dominated by AAP students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very have vs. have nots.

True, the AP students are practically segregated from those students for whom LJ is a base school and yes, base school skews Hispanic, FARMS, ESL program and truthfully, most all of the disciplinary problems.

The way they have set up teams makes it that teachers teach all levels. Electives, PE, lunch, etc are together so except for 4 core classes kids are mixed together. This notion that the AAP kids have their own school within the school is not true.

While this is true, some electives are dominated by AAP students.

And some aren’t. Give me a break now.