Switching schools at 5th grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd recommend learning more about Jefferson before writing it off.

I came here to say this too. Especially if your kid is happy at ES, two transitions in two years is a lot. We are heading there next year, and I’ve talked to a lot of parents that are really happy there. I’ve also talked to several families that initially saw Jefferson as a nonstarter until they visited and talked with staff, and many of them attended or will be attending next year.

Don't fall this sort of whitewashing BS, OP. The truth is that there hasn't been a year when "many" UMC Brent grads (read a dozen+) went to Jefferson since pre-Covid. I know this because my kids' time at Brent extended from 2014 to 2024. We know several families where older sibs attended Jefferson during the pandemic yet younger sibs are at SH now. Jefferson has a nice building and faculty and staff talk the talk about supporting advanced learners but there isn't much to inspire.

The inconvenient truth is that hardly anybody bothers with Jefferson when they have access to SH and some of the UMC Brent families who start at Jefferson bail before 8th grade year after year.

+1 to THIS. Consider what sort of kid you have carefully before rushing to any of the 3 DCPS Ward 6 middle schools.

While I think it would be great if more Brent families attended, there are kids other than the UMC Brent grads who attend and thrive at Jefferson. Those families, who represent current 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, were the ones who informed my family's decision (not kids who attended during the pandemic 5 years ago). I get that different families are going to make different choices, my main point was to agree with the person who recommended learning more before writing it off completely because I've seen people (not all UMC and not all white, but all kind, smart kids) change their mind after doing so.

FWIW, there are Brent alums who graduated from Jefferson last year and who are now freshmen at SWW, Banneker and McKinley.

While the number of kids who go from Brent to Jefferson may be small, those who do seem to have a very high success rate in getting into selective high schools.

Yes, we were part of this Brent cohort from PreS3-5th grade. These kids were self-starters, book worms and good students all along and, from what we hear, they had OK experiences at Jefferson. But if your UMC kid needs a push in middle school, Jefferson isn't the place to head. Few will care, but, last time I checked, Jefferson was 0% Asian. If your family is Asian and you don't have access to BASIS or one of the Latins and can't afford a private, SH has some Asians these days.

[Anonymous]

Consider what sort of student your kid is before rushing to any of the DCPS middle schools in Ward 6.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd recommend learning more about Jefferson before writing it off.

I came here to say this too. Especially if your kid is happy at ES, two transitions in two years is a lot. We are heading there next year, and I’ve talked to a lot of parents that are really happy there. I’ve also talked to several families that initially saw Jefferson as a nonstarter until they visited and talked with staff, and many of them attended or will be attending next year.

Don't fall this sort of whitewashing BS, OP. The truth is that there hasn't been a year when "many" UMC Brent grads (read a dozen+) went to Jefferson since pre-Covid. I know this because my kids' time at Brent extended from 2014 to 2024. We know several families where older sibs attended Jefferson during the pandemic yet younger sibs are at SH now. Jefferson has a nice building and faculty and staff talk the talk about supporting advanced learners but there isn't much to inspire.

The inconvenient truth is that hardly anybody bothers with Jefferson when they have access to SH and some of the UMC Brent families who start at Jefferson bail before 8th grade year after year.

While I think it would be great if more Brent families attended, there are kids other than the UMC Brent grads who attend and thrive at Jefferson. Those families, who represent current 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, were the ones who informed my family's decision (not kids who attended during the pandemic 5 years ago). I get that different families are going to make different choices, my main point was to agree with the person who recommended learning more before writing it off completely because I've seen people (not all UMC and not all white, but all kind, smart kids) change their mind after doing so.

FWIW, there are Brent alums who graduated from Jefferson last year and who are now freshmen at SWW, Banneker and McKinley.

While the number of kids who go from Brent to Jefferson may be small, those who do seem to have a very high success rate in getting into selective high schools.

Yes, we were part of this Brent cohort from PreS3-5th grade. These kids were self-starters, book worms and good students all along and, from what we hear, they had OK experiences at Jefferson. But if your UMC kid needs a push in middle school, Jefferson isn't the place to head. Few will care, but, last time I checked, Jefferson was 0% Asian. If your family is Asian and you don't have access to BASIS or one of the Latins and can't afford a private, SH has some Asians these days.

Not to let published data and facts get in the way, but NO! SH <1%, Jefferson 1%. I mean, both negligible but still quite literally the opposite of what you wrote.

Never change, DCUM. Never change.

[Anonymous]

im not a huge fan of the dcum argument that the number of asian students is a significant indicator of public school quality or lack thereof. but stuart hobson does currently have a handful of asian students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd recommend learning more about Jefferson before writing it off.

I came here to say this too. Especially if your kid is happy at ES, two transitions in two years is a lot. We are heading there next year, and I’ve talked to a lot of parents that are really happy there. I’ve also talked to several families that initially saw Jefferson as a nonstarter until they visited and talked with staff, and many of them attended or will be attending next year.

Don't fall this sort of whitewashing BS, OP. The truth is that there hasn't been a year when "many" UMC Brent grads (read a dozen+) went to Jefferson since pre-Covid. I know this because my kids' time at Brent extended from 2014 to 2024. We know several families where older sibs attended Jefferson during the pandemic yet younger sibs are at SH now. Jefferson has a nice building and faculty and staff talk the talk about supporting advanced learners but there isn't much to inspire.

The inconvenient truth is that hardly anybody bothers with Jefferson when they have access to SH and some of the UMC Brent families who start at Jefferson bail before 8th grade year after year.

While I think it would be great if more Brent families attended, there are kids other than the UMC Brent grads who attend and thrive at Jefferson. Those families, who represent current 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, were the ones who informed my family's decision (not kids who attended during the pandemic 5 years ago). I get that different families are going to make different choices, my main point was to agree with the person who recommended learning more before writing it off completely because I've seen people (not all UMC and not all white, but all kind, smart kids) change their mind after doing so.

FWIW, there are Brent alums who graduated from Jefferson last year and who are now freshmen at SWW, Banneker and McKinley.

While the number of kids who go from Brent to Jefferson may be small, those who do seem to have a very high success rate in getting into selective high schools.

Yes, we were part of this Brent cohort from PreS3-5th grade. These kids were self-starters, book worms and good students all along and, from what we hear, they had OK experiences at Jefferson. But if your UMC kid needs a push in middle school, Jefferson isn't the place to head. Few will care, but, last time I checked, Jefferson was 0% Asian. If your family is Asian and you don't have access to BASIS or one of the Latins and can't afford a private, SH has some Asians these days.

Not to let published data and facts get in the way, but NO! SH <1%, Jefferson 1%. I mean, both negligible but still quite literally the opposite of what you wrote.

Never change, DCUM. Never change.

Oh come on. Different poster calling you out for arguing that 1% or less than 1% Asian is sufficient in the Ward 6 middle schools. Brent is more than 5% Asian these days. You're nuts, woke and nuts. DCUM. Never change.

Hint: Asian parents amalgamate in the DMV where schools are good. Arguing otherwise is both futile and absurd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:im not a huge fan of the dcum argument that the number of asian students is a significant indicator of public school quality or lack thereof. but stuart hobson does currently have a handful of asian students.

My guess would be that a lot of these kids identify as multi-racial. Ludlow's official stats said 2% Asian last year, but 9% of kids identified as Asian on an internal survey on which they were allowed to check multiple boxes. My guess is that those kids are reporting as multi-racial on the DCPS forms. Interestingly, the AA% was only 2% higher than the official statistic. It made me think that AA kids who are multiracial tended to identify as AA and Asian kids who are multiracial tend to identify as multiracial, so that may make some statistics look different than one might expect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd recommend learning more about Jefferson before writing it off.

I came here to say this too. Especially if your kid is happy at ES, two transitions in two years is a lot. We are heading there next year, and I’ve talked to a lot of parents that are really happy there. I’ve also talked to several families that initially saw Jefferson as a nonstarter until they visited and talked with staff, and many of them attended or will be attending next year.

Don't fall this sort of whitewashing BS, OP. The truth is that there hasn't been a year when "many" UMC Brent grads (read a dozen+) went to Jefferson since pre-Covid. I know this because my kids' time at Brent extended from 2014 to 2024. We know several families where older sibs attended Jefferson during the pandemic yet younger sibs are at SH now. Jefferson has a nice building and faculty and staff talk the talk about supporting advanced learners but there isn't much to inspire.

The inconvenient truth is that hardly anybody bothers with Jefferson when they have access to SH and some of the UMC Brent families who start at Jefferson bail before 8th grade year after year.

While I think it would be great if more Brent families attended, there are kids other than the UMC Brent grads who attend and thrive at Jefferson. Those families, who represent current 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, were the ones who informed my family's decision (not kids who attended during the pandemic 5 years ago). I get that different families are going to make different choices, my main point was to agree with the person who recommended learning more before writing it off completely because I've seen people (not all UMC and not all white, but all kind, smart kids) change their mind after doing so.

FWIW, there are Brent alums who graduated from Jefferson last year and who are now freshmen at SWW, Banneker and McKinley.

While the number of kids who go from Brent to Jefferson may be small, those who do seem to have a very high success rate in getting into selective high schools.

Yes, we were part of this Brent cohort from PreS3-5th grade. These kids were self-starters, book worms and good students all along and, from what we hear, they had OK experiences at Jefferson. But if your UMC kid needs a push in middle school, Jefferson isn't the place to head. Few will care, but, last time I checked, Jefferson was 0% Asian. If your family is Asian and you don't have access to BASIS or one of the Latins and can't afford a private, SH has some Asians these days.

Not to let published data and facts get in the way, but NO! SH <1%, Jefferson 1%. I mean, both negligible but still quite literally the opposite of what you wrote.

Never change, DCUM. Never change.

Oh come on. Different poster calling you out for arguing that 1% or less than 1% Asian is sufficient in the Ward 6 middle schools. Brent is more than 5% Asian these days. You're nuts, woke and nuts. DCUM. Never change.

Hint: Asian parents amalgamate in the DMV where schools are good. Arguing otherwise is both futile and absurd.

Maybe learn to read? I wasn't arguing that 1% is materially different than <1%. In fact the words I actually used were both negligible. I was taking issue with a poster who stated that SH had more asian kids than Jefferson. You're having an argument with no one about something you imagined someone said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd recommend learning more about Jefferson before writing it off.

I came here to say this too. Especially if your kid is happy at ES, two transitions in two years is a lot. We are heading there next year, and I’ve talked to a lot of parents that are really happy there. I’ve also talked to several families that initially saw Jefferson as a nonstarter until they visited and talked with staff, and many of them attended or will be attending next year.

Don't fall this sort of whitewashing BS, OP. The truth is that there hasn't been a year when "many" UMC Brent grads (read a dozen+) went to Jefferson since pre-Covid. I know this because my kids' time at Brent extended from 2014 to 2024. We know several families where older sibs attended Jefferson during the pandemic yet younger sibs are at SH now. Jefferson has a nice building and faculty and staff talk the talk about supporting advanced learners but there isn't much to inspire.

The inconvenient truth is that hardly anybody bothers with Jefferson when they have access to SH and some of the UMC Brent families who start at Jefferson bail before 8th grade year after year.

While I think it would be great if more Brent families attended, there are kids other than the UMC Brent grads who attend and thrive at Jefferson. Those families, who represent current 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, were the ones who informed my family's decision (not kids who attended during the pandemic 5 years ago). I get that different families are going to make different choices, my main point was to agree with the person who recommended learning more before writing it off completely because I've seen people (not all UMC and not all white, but all kind, smart kids) change their mind after doing so.

FWIW, there are Brent alums who graduated from Jefferson last year and who are now freshmen at SWW, Banneker and McKinley.

While the number of kids who go from Brent to Jefferson may be small, those who do seem to have a very high success rate in getting into selective high schools.

Yes, we were part of this Brent cohort from PreS3-5th grade. These kids were self-starters, book worms and good students all along and, from what we hear, they had OK experiences at Jefferson. But if your UMC kid needs a push in middle school, Jefferson isn't the place to head. Few will care, but, last time I checked, Jefferson was 0% Asian. If your family is Asian and you don't have access to BASIS or one of the Latins and can't afford a private, SH has some Asians these days.

Not to let published data and facts get in the way, but NO! SH <1%, Jefferson 1%. I mean, both negligible but still quite literally the opposite of what you wrote.

Never change, DCUM. Never change.

Oh come on. Different poster calling you out for arguing that 1% or less than 1% Asian is sufficient in the Ward 6 middle schools. Brent is more than 5% Asian these days. You're nuts, woke and nuts. DCUM. Never change.

Hint: Asian parents amalgamate in the DMV where schools are good. Arguing otherwise is both futile and absurd.

PP to whom you are replying didn't make this argument.

[Anonymous]

The fact that all 3 DCPS Ward 6 middle schools aren't more than 1% Asian, or at least half-Asian, when there are a bunch of Asian families with pre-teens and teens on the Hill these days doesn't inspire.

We're Asian, our kids went to Brent and we stayed for 5th grade (v. mixed bag).

We looked at Jefferson, SH and EH and didn't enroll or even apply partly because we saw no Asian faces at open houses. If there were indeed Asians in this middle schools, well, we didn't see any, not teachers, students, admins or workers.

Pretty clearly, DCPS isn't interested in attracting Asians past ES. Not that this matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The fact that all 3 DCPS Ward 6 middle schools aren't more than 1% Asian, or at least half-Asian, when there are a bunch of Asian families with pre-teens and teens on the Hill these days doesn't inspire.

We're Asian, our kids went to Brent and we stayed for 5th grade (v. mixed bag).

We looked at Jefferson, SH and EH and didn't enroll or even apply partly because we saw no Asian faces at open houses. If there were indeed Asians in this middle schools, well, we didn't see any, not teachers, students, admins or workers.

Pretty clearly, DCPS isn't interested in attracting Asians past ES. Not that this matters.

What would attracting Asians past ES look like to you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fact that all 3 DCPS Ward 6 middle schools aren't more than 1% Asian, or at least half-Asian, when there are a bunch of Asian families with pre-teens and teens on the Hill these days doesn't inspire.

We're Asian, our kids went to Brent and we stayed for 5th grade (v. mixed bag).

We looked at Jefferson, SH and EH and didn't enroll or even apply partly because we saw no Asian faces at open houses. If there were indeed Asians in this middle schools, well, we didn't see any, not teachers, students, admins or workers.

Pretty clearly, DCPS isn't interested in attracting Asians past ES. Not that this matters.

What would attracting Asians past ES look like to you?

BASIS is doing it -- 7% Asian and 15% multiracial. my kids are half-asian and would be in the "multiracial" category here, and I have somewhat stereotypical Asian standards for education past elementary -- strong math and science work, no aversion to memorization/learning, enrichments like Math Counts and Science Olympiad available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fact that all 3 DCPS Ward 6 middle schools aren't more than 1% Asian, or at least half-Asian, when there are a bunch of Asian families with pre-teens and teens on the Hill these days doesn't inspire.

We're Asian, our kids went to Brent and we stayed for 5th grade (v. mixed bag).

We looked at Jefferson, SH and EH and didn't enroll or even apply partly because we saw no Asian faces at open houses. If there were indeed Asians in this middle schools, well, we didn't see any, not teachers, students, admins or workers.

Pretty clearly, DCPS isn't interested in attracting Asians past ES. Not that this matters.

What would attracting Asians past ES look like to you?

BASIS is doing it -- 7% Asian and 15% multiracial. my kids are half-asian and would be in the "multiracial" category here, and I have somewhat stereotypical Asian standards for education past elementary -- strong math and science work, no aversion to memorization/learning, enrichments like Math Counts and Science Olympiad available.

That's good. We didn't take our BASIS spot for other reasons. Our children mainly excel at music (play wind instruments), art and Chinese (taking AP in 9th grade) and the facility, curriculum and enrichment was clearly a non-starter in these areas, particularly no Chinese before 8th grade and then only at the beginning level.

We didn't get into DCI. We've gone private on fi aid and music scholarships.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fact that all 3 DCPS Ward 6 middle schools aren't more than 1% Asian, or at least half-Asian, when there are a bunch of Asian families with pre-teens and teens on the Hill these days doesn't inspire.

We're Asian, our kids went to Brent and we stayed for 5th grade (v. mixed bag).

We looked at Jefferson, SH and EH and didn't enroll or even apply partly because we saw no Asian faces at open houses. If there were indeed Asians in this middle schools, well, we didn't see any, not teachers, students, admins or workers.

Pretty clearly, DCPS isn't interested in attracting Asians past ES. Not that this matters.

What would attracting Asians past ES look like to you?

BASIS is doing it -- 7% Asian and 15% multiracial. my kids are half-asian and would be in the "multiracial" category here, and I have somewhat stereotypical Asian standards for education past elementary -- strong math and science work, no aversion to memorization/learning, enrichments like Math Counts and Science Olympiad available.

Do all Asian families really just want math and science focus with an emphasis on test prep and academic extracurriculars? That seems so reductive to me.

[Anonymous]

Asian PP above claimed that her middle school age kids are into music, art and a language. Um, maybe not all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fact that all 3 DCPS Ward 6 middle schools aren't more than 1% Asian, or at least half-Asian, when there are a bunch of Asian families with pre-teens and teens on the Hill these days doesn't inspire.

We're Asian, our kids went to Brent and we stayed for 5th grade (v. mixed bag).

We looked at Jefferson, SH and EH and didn't enroll or even apply partly because we saw no Asian faces at open houses. If there were indeed Asians in this middle schools, well, we didn't see any, not teachers, students, admins or workers.

Pretty clearly, DCPS isn't interested in attracting Asians past ES. Not that this matters.

What would attracting Asians past ES look like to you?

BASIS is doing it -- 7% Asian and 15% multiracial. my kids are half-asian and would be in the "multiracial" category here, and I have somewhat stereotypical Asian standards for education past elementary -- strong math and science work, no aversion to memorization/learning, enrichments like Math Counts and Science Olympiad available.

Do all Asian families really just want math and science focus with an emphasis on test prep and academic extracurriculars? That seems so reductive to me.

No they don't *just* want that but they wouldn't sacrifice math and science to be at a school with more enrichments. Unfortunately in DC, most of the public middle schools simply don't have good enough academics.