Luther Jackson or Thoreau?

[Anonymous]

Our daughter is in Level IV. We can choose between her base middle school Thoreau or Luther Jackson. Her HS is going to be Madison. How do people decide which one to go to?

[Anonymous]

Sounds like more are choosing Thoreau these days. Really don't even understand why there is a choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like more are choosing Thoreau these days. Really don't even understand why there is a choice.

There won't be in a few years. It will be like Cooper, where the AAP kids just have two more years to go to the more established centers.

[Anonymous]

OP here - sending her to Thoreau would allow her to be with more kids who will go to Madison. I'm assuming AAP at Luther Jackson is "better", but what is the state of AAP at Thoreau? Thoreau is also closer, Luther Jackson is no where near us. Seems like they are both good options, but wondering what others thoughts are.

[Anonymous]

I've been trying to figure out how it is better. I'm thinking the differences really only concerns LA, Science, and Social
Studies since Math operates differently.

Since the curriculum is the same, Is it that there are more projects at Luther?

I've heard excellent things about the the teachers at Thoreau so I don't think it is teacher quality.

Is there any way to figure out how many kids who go to Luther end up at Madison?

[Anonymous]

What I know is the AAP kids from Thoreau have a harder time the first semester at Madison than the AAP kids from LJ. DD when to LJ. The difference is mostly in the homework load: LJ tends to have more homework/more rigorous standards.

There are advantages to Thoreau: Thoreau is in the Madison Pyramid, so the spirit items align with madison; at LJ, they align with Falls Church.

Also, Thoreau has a much better music program than Thoreau.

[Anonymous]

I had heard part of it was that block scheduling was not at Thoreau but was at Luther. Since it is now, what are the differences with homework load?

Is it that Luther kids are assigned longer writing assignments? Does anyone know what the assignment difference is, if any?

[Anonymous]

I'm a parent of a kid who went to Jackson and then Madison. I've posted before in the previous threads on this subject (you can search for them).

What PP says about the Jackson kids' being better prepared for HS is true. I also liked the social milieu at Jackson for my DC - it was a much better fit than Thoreau would have been. This may not be the case for you if your kid is more into sports or cheerleading than academics. Also, it's true that there aren't many kids from Jackson going on to Madison, so the Jackson kids either have to rekindle elementary school friendships or make new ones, which can be hard if most of the Madison kids have moved together from Thoreau and formed their groups. (Ask parents of older kids how many it is these days; in DC's day it was about 10-15 kids/year, if I recall correctly. More than that chose Jackson over Thoreau, but then TJ took a chunk out of those who otherwise would have gone to Madison.)

When my DC was at Jackson, the music program was top-notch and way better than Thoreau's. Since then there has been some turnover at both schools so I don't know where that stands now.

[Anonymous]

How does it compare now? Do you know especially with the current 7th grade who is doing block scheduling at both schools what the differences are?

I don't think it is a fair comparison to look at preparation of kids otherwise since the programs were quite different before.

How many kids at Jackson in the 7th grade go to Madison? Thoreau said there is about 100 aap in 7th?

Anyone know how many center eligible are in 6th and zoned for Thoreau who will go to Madison? I know it is not as large a group as the existing 7th grade.

[Anonymous]

Jacksons music program has never been better than Thoreau's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How does it compare now? Do you know especially with the current 7th grade who is doing block scheduling at both schools what the differences are?

I don't think it is a fair comparison to look at preparation of kids otherwise since the programs were quite different before.

How many kids at Jackson in the 7th grade go to Madison? Thoreau said there is about 100 aap in 7th?

Anyone know how many center eligible are in 6th and zoned for Thoreau who will go to Madison? I know it is not as large a group as the existing 7th grade.

Last year, there were probably 60 kids from Jackson (out of 600 8th graders, but 300 AAP) that went to Madison. I know of a few that are at TJ.
Most of the AAP kids go to Oakton; almost all of the gen ed kids go to FCHS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jacksons music program has never been better than Thoreau's.

The band -- the kids from Thoreau were much better prepared for the rigors of marching band than those from Jackson.

[Anonymous]

For last year, how many center eligible who were at Thoreau went to Madison? Were they as well prepared or are people comparing Non aap kids with aap kids?

I don't understand the comparisons if folks are not comparing AAP only kids who have a block schedule since that is a substantial change this year.

Are there parents in 7th at Luther and Thoreau who could chime in on the content and projects the kids are doing now?


I can't imagine math is that different at either school as algebra is algebra. What are they doing in LA, science and SS?

[Anonymous]

How many aap kids are at Jackson now in 7th that will go to Madison? I think most went to Thoreau. Anyone know?

[Anonymous]

OP, if your kid isn't high achieving academically, stay at Thoreau. End of discussion.