Is Jackson Reed really that bad?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s a range of kids who go to J-R. Your kid will get a much more realistic view of the world than they would at Churchill or Whitman. They will be very prepared for college and exist outside a bubble.

Perhaps. But which college?

Same college they would have gone to from literally any school, public or private. The high school does not influence the college choices as much as people on here seem to think. That kid going to Harvard or MIT will get there from anywhere because it isn't what happened in high school that got them there in the first place.

It's not a matter of getting in; the post I was referring to stated that these kids are "very prepared" for college. There is a big difference in excelling at Harvard or MIT, versus excelling at State U.

I am not convinced that students who have such weak instruction in writing and languages will excel at top schools, at least initially. They will almost certainly be behind kids from other schools, who have had writing skills drilled into them. I am seeing that now with my college freshman who went to a local private. He has been told by more than one teacher this year that they can "tell he went to a good high school," simply because his writing skills are better than they often see.

Do you have a child at JR? Have you ever? If not, I’m not sure how your speculation about how well-prepared JR kids are for college is helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And the students are not all getting 5s on APs. Far from it.

At what school are all the kids getting 5s on APs? The point is that there are plenty of classes that are challenging, many of which are in the social sciences and so have a decent amount of writing.

I would also emphasize the extracurricular opportunities that are academic in nature and that have a strong writing component--the Beacon, mock trial, and debate. Is this the same as mandatory writing requirements that you would get in a private school? No. But they are pretty intensive and the feedback kids get (from faculty advisors and their peers) is excellent.

The PP was referring to the JR kids getting accepted to the Top10 schools...not the general JR population.

Again, 60% of JR students on average score 3 or higher.

Of the JR kids taking AP classes/tests

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And the students are not all getting 5s on APs. Far from it.

At what school are all the kids getting 5s on APs? The point is that there are plenty of classes that are challenging, many of which are in the social sciences and so have a decent amount of writing.

I would also emphasize the extracurricular opportunities that are academic in nature and that have a strong writing component--the Beacon, mock trial, and debate. Is this the same as mandatory writing requirements that you would get in a private school? No. But they are pretty intensive and the feedback kids get (from faculty advisors and their peers) is excellent.

The PP was referring to the JR kids getting accepted to the Top10 schools...not the general JR population.

Again, 60% of JR students on average score 3 or higher.

It is a small minority of JR students getting into the top 10 schools.
Why is this thread focusing on the top 5% of students. The top group of kids (maybe the top 30 students by GPA) would be fine anywhere.
What is JR like for the kid who is not able to handle a course load of 10+ APs. What options do they have. From what I have heard the non AP courses are fairly low level. It would be nice if the honors classes were actually honors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And the students are not all getting 5s on APs. Far from it.

At what school are all the kids getting 5s on APs? The point is that there are plenty of classes that are challenging, many of which are in the social sciences and so have a decent amount of writing.

I would also emphasize the extracurricular opportunities that are academic in nature and that have a strong writing component--the Beacon, mock trial, and debate. Is this the same as mandatory writing requirements that you would get in a private school? No. But they are pretty intensive and the feedback kids get (from faculty advisors and their peers) is excellent.

The PP was referring to the JR kids getting accepted to the Top10 schools...not the general JR population.

Again, 60% of JR students on average score 3 or higher.

It is a small minority of JR students getting into the top 10 schools.
Why is this thread focusing on the top 5% of students. The top group of kids (maybe the top 30 students by GPA) would be fine anywhere.
What is JR like for the kid who is not able to handle a course load of 10+ APs. What options do they have. From what I have heard the non AP courses are fairly low level. It would be nice if the honors classes were actually honors

AP classes are honors classes. I am not familiar with schools that have separate AP and honor classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And the students are not all getting 5s on APs. Far from it.

At what school are all the kids getting 5s on APs? The point is that there are plenty of classes that are challenging, many of which are in the social sciences and so have a decent amount of writing.

I would also emphasize the extracurricular opportunities that are academic in nature and that have a strong writing component--the Beacon, mock trial, and debate. Is this the same as mandatory writing requirements that you would get in a private school? No. But they are pretty intensive and the feedback kids get (from faculty advisors and their peers) is excellent.

The PP was referring to the JR kids getting accepted to the Top10 schools...not the general JR population.

Again, 60% of JR students on average score 3 or higher.

It is a small minority of JR students getting into the top 10 schools.
Why is this thread focusing on the top 5% of students. The top group of kids (maybe the top 30 students by GPA) would be fine anywhere.
What is JR like for the kid who is not able to handle a course load of 10+ APs. What options do they have. From what I have heard the non AP courses are fairly low level. It would be nice if the honors classes were actually honors

AP classes are honors classes. I am not familiar with schools that have separate AP and honor classes.

JR has separate honors and AP. AP courses are a 1.0 bump, honors courses a 0.5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And the students are not all getting 5s on APs. Far from it.

At what school are all the kids getting 5s on APs? The point is that there are plenty of classes that are challenging, many of which are in the social sciences and so have a decent amount of writing.

I would also emphasize the extracurricular opportunities that are academic in nature and that have a strong writing component--the Beacon, mock trial, and debate. Is this the same as mandatory writing requirements that you would get in a private school? No. But they are pretty intensive and the feedback kids get (from faculty advisors and their peers) is excellent.

The PP was referring to the JR kids getting accepted to the Top10 schools...not the general JR population.

Again, 60% of JR students on average score 3 or higher.

It is a small minority of JR students getting into the top 10 schools.
Why is this thread focusing on the top 5% of students. The top group of kids (maybe the top 30 students by GPA) would be fine anywhere.
What is JR like for the kid who is not able to handle a course load of 10+ APs. What options do they have. From what I have heard the non AP courses are fairly low level. It would be nice if the honors classes were actually honors

Then you heard wrong. I had a top student graduate, who is at a top college, and I have a student there now who is A/B -- probably 70/30. DC loves the classes this year precisely because of the interesting discussion, which DC brings up at dinner. Has 3 APs but really enjoys the 3 electives. The options for college will be in the top 75 colleges based on past students. One of the teachers just started a new policy re cheating this week.

Further, a small number of kids at ANY school get into top-10 schools, which you'd know if you bothered to read the college forum. People on this thread are stupid, SMH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And the students are not all getting 5s on APs. Far from it.

At what school are all the kids getting 5s on APs? The point is that there are plenty of classes that are challenging, many of which are in the social sciences and so have a decent amount of writing.

I would also emphasize the extracurricular opportunities that are academic in nature and that have a strong writing component--the Beacon, mock trial, and debate. Is this the same as mandatory writing requirements that you would get in a private school? No. But they are pretty intensive and the feedback kids get (from faculty advisors and their peers) is excellent.

The PP was referring to the JR kids getting accepted to the Top10 schools...not the general JR population.

Again, 60% of JR students on average score 3 or higher.

It is a small minority of JR students getting into the top 10 schools.
Why is this thread focusing on the top 5% of students. The top group of kids (maybe the top 30 students by GPA) would be fine anywhere.
What is JR like for the kid who is not able to handle a course load of 10+ APs. What options do they have. From what I have heard the non AP courses are fairly low level. It would be nice if the honors classes were actually honors

AP classes are honors classes. I am not familiar with schools that have separate AP and honor classes.

JR has separate honors and AP. AP courses are a 1.0 bump, honors courses a 0.5.

Aren't all courses honors at JR? I thought it was honors for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And the students are not all getting 5s on APs. Far from it.

At what school are all the kids getting 5s on APs? The point is that there are plenty of classes that are challenging, many of which are in the social sciences and so have a decent amount of writing.

I would also emphasize the extracurricular opportunities that are academic in nature and that have a strong writing component--the Beacon, mock trial, and debate. Is this the same as mandatory writing requirements that you would get in a private school? No. But they are pretty intensive and the feedback kids get (from faculty advisors and their peers) is excellent.

The PP was referring to the JR kids getting accepted to the Top10 schools...not the general JR population.
Again, 60% of JR students on average score 3 or higher.

It is a small minority of JR students getting into the top 10 schools.

Honestly, I think JR kids have an easier time getting into top 10 schools because colleges want public school kids now. But, I've seen that they are not as prepared when they get to college. Private school kids write essays all year and research papers once a year starting in 6th grade. It's new when JR kids have to do it in college, but they figure it out eventually.
Why is this thread focusing on the top 5% of students. The top group of kids (maybe the top 30 students by GPA) would be fine anywhere.
What is JR like for the kid who is not able to handle a course load of 10+ APs. What options do they have. From what I have heard the non AP courses are fairly low level. It would be nice if the honors classes were actually honors

Then you heard wrong. I had a top student graduate, who is at a top college, and I have a student there now who is A/B -- probably 70/30. DC loves the classes this year precisely because of the interesting discussion, which DC brings up at dinner. Has 3 APs but really enjoys the 3 electives. The options for college will be in the top 75 colleges based on past students. One of the teachers just started a new policy re cheating this week.

Further, a small number of kids at ANY school get into top-10 schools, which you'd know if you bothered to read the college forum. People on this thread are stupid, SMH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And the students are not all getting 5s on APs. Far from it.

At what school are all the kids getting 5s on APs? The point is that there are plenty of classes that are challenging, many of which are in the social sciences and so have a decent amount of writing.

I would also emphasize the extracurricular opportunities that are academic in nature and that have a strong writing component--the Beacon, mock trial, and debate. Is this the same as mandatory writing requirements that you would get in a private school? No. But they are pretty intensive and the feedback kids get (from faculty advisors and their peers) is excellent.

The PP was referring to the JR kids getting accepted to the Top10 schools...not the general JR population.

Again, 60% of JR students on average score 3 or higher.

It is a small minority of JR students getting into the top 10 schools.
Why is this thread focusing on the top 5% of students. The top group of kids (maybe the top 30 students by GPA) would be fine anywhere.
What is JR like for the kid who is not able to handle a course load of 10+ APs. What options do they have. From what I have heard the non AP courses are fairly low level. It would be nice if the honors classes were actually honors

From my actual experience of having kids at JR, the AP courses are challenging and interesting.

[Anonymous]

I think JR kids might have an easier time getting into top 10 colleges. But I think private school kids are better prepared -- at least initially -- when they get there due to years of intensive writing preparation. You have to write those 10-15 page research papers in college, and JR does not offer any practice with that.

[Anonymous]

There are a limited number of "honors for all" classes--English and Biology in 9th, English and Chemistry in 10th, maybe a couple more. The English classes are jokes. Biology is not particularly rigorous but Chemistry is.

I'm not sure if there are honors and non-honors math classes before getting to the AP math classes (I believe there are). In any event, the non-AP math honors classes are rigorous.

In addition, there are other honors classes--including many academy classes--that are quite rigorous, including the biomed and engineering classes. These are electives.

[Anonymous]

Drug and weed smell in the entire school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Drug and weed smell in the entire school.

You really are useless.

[Anonymous]

Reading this I have been never been so happy to be paying for a much maligned big 3 private! No teachers in classrooms for months?! Ok with no writing instruction? And whether you want to be truthful about it or not, Tenley is chaos after school. Maybe yeah, it’s kids being kids but I’m not going to that Target after school. And it’s black and white kids fwiw, but it’s also screaming, yelling, running through the stores and streets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - I recommend you spend some time in Tenlytown both before and after school. Talk with the folks who work in the businesses around the school. Or just sit on the bench by the library and observe. It will give you a good feel for the school.

What exactly will you learn about the school from observing how kids behave as soon as they're done with school for the day?

NP here. You learn a lot, insomuch as the behavior of the kids that attend the school. Im in Tenleytown most days around that time, and have been threatened routinely inside of my car, outside of my car, I watch kids smoking weed out in the open, screaming at eachother, running in packs from various police officers posted to keep behavior in check, the stress of the managers at Target over shoplifting, the stress and eye-rolling of the local businesses, kids sneaking in the backdoor of Wawa to get around the timed entry. The general manners of the portion of the student body observed (terrible). The drive-by shooting that took place outside. Its precisely BECAUSE of the observation of students outside of the building that I would never send my kids there, and I'm in the feeder pattern. I don't what we are going to do because we can't afford private, but understanding my own expectations for my kids and their behavior, being surrounded by what I see every day around J-R makes this school a non option. Maybe we move in bounds for MacArthur. There is nothing to do or mess with retail wise so maybe kids will just...go home?

OP, I would encourage you to keep one fact in mind when reading this: this poster does not have children at JR or even seem to know anyone with children at JR. They are assuming all of the kids they are observing are JR kids, and they are extrapolating behavior from a group of kids who may or may not be JR students to a student body of 2200. (And this assumes you take the poster’s assertions about the observed behavior at face value. I mean, “threatened routinely”? Come on.)

Meanwhile, throwing in the shooting is a real dog whistle. The shooting had nothing to do with the school except for proximity. I suspect the poster knows this, since it was widely reported, but they really want you to think JR students were involved.

The only good thing about this post is the poster’s promise not to send their kids to JR. Thank goodness for that.

Ditto. My kid has THE NICEST friend group! All highly motivated kids with terrific parents and lots of potential. They aren’t shoplifting or threatening anyone. But they have learned to navigate that smaller group of troubled students (mostly by ignoring them and realizing their circumstances in life are not ideal so…empathy).

Well, FWIW the troublemakers are bullies and thugs, who routinely get away with messing with other kids.