Whose happy with Jackson Reed this year. Considering new Macarthur school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why doesn't anybody ever talk about combining public and private school options? Our kid, a top student, went through four years at JR, didn't graduate, then did a prep/gap year at a parochial boarding school abroad. Didn't want her in private school before the older teenage years, and couldn't afford more than a year of private. She applied to an Ivy from the private early decision, was admitted and enrolled. Our path to a highly competitive college was unusual, but hardly super rare. We know a Latin family that did the same thing en route to an Ivy.

Um maybe because most normal families do not have the option of a "parochial boarding school abroad."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there’s an interesting game-theoretical element to the JR-MacArthur decision. If you are inbounds for Deal, you have rights to JR and a lottery preference at MacArthur. So you can lottery and try MacArthur for 9th. If you’re not happy with it, you have the right to switch to JR at any time. I think there’s pretty widespread agreement that 9th is the weakest year at JR, so if you live in Deal and are intrigued by MacArthur, it’s actually a pretty low-risk proposition.

Im not sure a teenager would be totally on board with this scenario. Leaving your friends for a crapshoot is not something done lightly.

I agree this is the sticking point. But sometimes most of your friends are leaving for privates and/or application schools. Some kids lottery with their friends and decide as a group. Some kids are tired of the sheer size of Deal, but don’t have the grades for Walls (or are rejected based on the interview). There are hundreds of 8th graders living in bounds for Deal; taking a chance on MacArthur may be a good option (or fallback option) for some of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Can private school parents please stop hijacking this conversation? Thanks.

I'm PP and I'm a public school parent. Several orher posters here have a child in both systems.

this thread is about JR vs McArthur

It was a public school parent who first introduced private schools into this thread by claiming the kids are "bubble wrapped and hand held".
There are tons of us with kids in both systems and I feel the need to speak up when comments are made that simply aren't true (like that one).

Ok sure, you need to speak up and defend private school to a bunch of parents trying to decide between their public school options. Good for you, warrior.

Whatever. I'm a 15+ year DCPS parent and a private school parent. I'll continue to speak up when I see people spouting out about things they know nothing about.

It's deeply antisocial to disrupt a conversation between public school parents (who likely cannot afford private) because you want to crow about how great your private is. If these things were just one-time comments that would be fine, but you hijak the whole thread. Start your own thread with your own topic about how private schools are so unfairly maligned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can private school parents please stop hijacking this conversation? Thanks.

I'm PP and I'm a public school parent. Several orher posters here have a child in both systems.

this thread is about JR vs McArthur

It was a public school parent who first introduced private schools into this thread by claiming the kids are "bubble wrapped and hand held".
There are tons of us with kids in both systems and I feel the need to speak up when comments are made that simply aren't true (like that one).

Ok sure, you need to speak up and defend private school to a bunch of parents trying to decide between their public school options. Good for you, warrior.

Whatever. I'm a 15+ year DCPS parent and a private school parent. I'll continue to speak up when I see people spouting out about things they know nothing about.

It's deeply antisocial to disrupt a conversation between public school parents (who likely cannot afford private) because you want to crow about how great your private is. If these things were just one-time comments that would be fine, but you hijak the whole thread. Start your own thread with your own topic about how private schools are so unfairly maligned.

I didn't hijack any the thread at all--I commented twice. I'm not the poster(s) maligning DCPS grade inflation or AP results or GPAs.
I find it so funny how people on DCPS always assume that they're having a 2-person conversation. For all we know there were 30 people on this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can private school parents please stop hijacking this conversation? Thanks.

I'm PP and I'm a public school parent. Several orher posters here have a child in both systems.

this thread is about JR vs McArthur

It was a public school parent who first introduced private schools into this thread by claiming the kids are "bubble wrapped and hand held".
There are tons of us with kids in both systems and I feel the need to speak up when comments are made that simply aren't true (like that one).

Ok sure, you need to speak up and defend private school to a bunch of parents trying to decide between their public school options. Good for you, warrior.

Whatever. I'm a 15+ year DCPS parent and a private school parent. I'll continue to speak up when I see people spouting out about things they know nothing about.

Are you the poster who says that parents who have/had kids in both are a “very small community”?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why doesn't anybody ever talk about combining public and private school options? Our kid, a top student, went through four years at JR, didn't graduate, then did a prep/gap year at a parochial boarding school abroad. Didn't want her in private school before the older teenage years, and couldn't afford more than a year of private. She applied to an Ivy from the private early decision, was admitted and enrolled. Our path to a highly competitive college was unusual, but hardly super rare. We know a Latin family that did the same thing en route to an Ivy.

Um maybe because most normal families do not have the option of a "parochial boarding school abroad."

NP. Who said anything about most families. I could afford one year of private at the end, possibly boarding school, and like this idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can private school parents please stop hijacking this conversation? Thanks.

I'm PP and I'm a public school parent. Several orher posters here have a child in both systems.

this thread is about JR vs McArthur

It was a public school parent who first introduced private schools into this thread by claiming the kids are "bubble wrapped and hand held".
There are tons of us with kids in both systems and I feel the need to speak up when comments are made that simply aren't true (like that one).

Ok sure, you need to speak up and defend private school to a bunch of parents trying to decide between their public school options. Good for you, warrior.

Whatever. I'm a 15+ year DCPS parent and a private school parent. I'll continue to speak up when I see people spouting out about things they know nothing about.

It's deeply antisocial to disrupt a conversation between public school parents (who likely cannot afford private) because you want to crow about how great your private is. If these things were just one-time comments that would be fine, but you hijak the whole thread. Start your own thread with your own topic about how private schools are so unfairly maligned.

I didn't hijack any the thread at all--I commented twice. I'm not the poster(s) maligning DCPS grade inflation or AP results or GPAs.
I find it so funny how people on DCPS always assume that they're having a 2-person conversation. For all we know there were 30 people on this thread.

Private school parents in general start from the proposition that they are better than you - actually had a GDS parent say that to us. So, not uncommon for them to continue to remind you of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe it. Top privates care about results vs. equity.

Oh right, I’m sure they let the kids sink or swim when it comes to college admissions.

Probably not an issue because of the the clear high expectations.

Not a "F" = 63%, no work "WS" = 50%, "tardy" is actually 5 minutes after the tardy bell, and any missing assignment must be allowed to be completed at any time with an 8% max deduction.

yup. My kid goes to a "big3" private that starts at 8am. If you walk into the kid's ELA class a minute late on a day that an assignment is due, it is dropped by 5%.
8:01 arrival? That 90% is now an 85%. It took my kid one paper to start arriving to school by 7:50 (to allow a buffer zone for whatever might come up).

But the earlier point was that you’re paying for what you want to be a leg up for a kid at a big three and then get upset that any kids at JR get into good colleges or believe they shouldn’t because they’ve had what your view as an inferior education and throw around claims that kids at JR aren’t prepared for college (with “prepared” being what the big three has sold parents as “the best”) when you really don’t know but you want to feel that your “superior” (bought and paid for) experience essential means your kids are the only ones worthy of select colleges.

Let’s be truthful here. The kids at JR now getting into top colleges, parents have been supplementing a lot most of the way thru DCPS from middle school and up.

The Deal/JR great days are gone. It’s gone downhill since the honors for all. Many families with top students are abandoning ship much earlier or who would not in the past.

We have two strong students at JR. What counts as supplementing? The only thing we’ve done is gotten a tutor when a kid has struggled with a subject (math), which has happened maybe twice in the last six years. I assume people in private school do the same.

But if you mean we have to teach our kids things they aren’t learning in school, we’ve never done that. And I don’t think I know anyone who does? Most of the parents at JR seem pretty hands off.

It’s obvious you have a false sense of security. Massive grade inflation and everyone gets A’s. Classes are way too easy until you get to AP and even those classes are not too rigorous when over 1/2 the kids at the school can’t even get a 3 on the exam.

Above is not specific to JR. It’s a systemic problem in DCPS.

Do I? According to JR’s class of 2022 profile, only 26 students (5.6%) had an unweighted 4.0. There were 93 AP Scholars, 42 AP Scholars with Honors, and 99 Scholars with Distinction. Seems like these talking points are BS.

All you need is a 3 on a few AP exams to be an AP scholar. It’s not hard at all or really not that impressive. Numbers mean nothing. You need to look at the percentages since JR is so big of a school. The privates are close to high 90’s in kids scoring 3 or above with many, many scoring 4 and 5.

Contrast that to JR where almost 50% of the kids get a 1 or 2 on AP exams. Then the rest of the majority get a 3. The numbers of kids with all 4 or 5’s is very small. And those kids definately supplemented outside of school.

Grades are meaningless if there are retakes and grade inflation. You need to look at standardized test scores and AP scores. The SAT average at JR is really low, think it’s 1050 maybe? Also look at PARCC scores, especially math. This year I think it’s like 18% are on or above grade level with majority of these kids on grade level. There is not many high performing kids at the school relative to the SES level and education of families. This is because most of the top kids have bailed and left the system. You have left the mediocre and below kids.

Let’s be specific since we have data:

58% got a 3 or above on AP exams, meaning 42% got a 1 or 2. I guess you can call that “almost 50%,” but it seems like a stretch.

If there were 99 AP scholars, that means at least 99 kids getting 4 or 5 on multiple exams (since you have to average 3.5 and have gotten 3 or higher on five exams. If you got four 3s and only one 5, you average 3.4, so you’d have to have gotten at least a 4 on a second exam). That’s more than 20% of the class getting 4s and 5s on multiple tests—and that’s just from AP Scholars with Distinction alone. Presumably some portion of the other 135 kids who got at least AP Scholar also scored some 4s/5s.

Again on grade inflation, we have data from JR that shows 30% of the class graduated with an unweighted 3.5 or above. We don’t have that information for the private schools to compare, so we can’t really conclude anything on this point.

As to retakes, they’re a great way to ensure kids actually understand concepts. I have a kid in AP Physics at JR who has been doing well overall but did poorly on one test (along with pretty much the whole class); kid sought help from the teacher, learned the concept, and did well on the retake. That seems like a good thing to me. Also, the max you can end up with after a retake is an 86, according to my kid. So it’s not like a second chance to get a 100.

The top privates all have significant grade deflation. (STA, NCS, Sidwell tier), The next rung down and the Catholic high schools don't really have deflation.
My kid went from Deal to NCS and the rumor at NCS is that there hasn't been a 4.0 grad in 45 years. And this is a school full of kids who were all top of their sending schools.
My own kid never got less than an A at Deal, took algebra 2, 99% PARCC scores each year, and is pretty much a B student at NCS.
STA does a numerical GPA and a family friend with an overall 92% GPA got into HYP in the last couple of years unhooked (not a minority, legacy, athlete, etc). So that puts it in perspective.

It’s amazing to me that private school parents just keep offering anecdotes in response to data, as if they prove something. (And school legends about whether or not someone has ever graduated with a 4.0 are barely anecdotes.) JR publishes complete data, and the private schools don’t. I’m not sure why. But you can’t draw any conclusions without it, and people should stop making assertions that they can’t support.

The assertions are correct, even if the schools don't publish the data. I get being data-driven, but denying reality in absence of perfect data seems a suboptimal way to go through life.

Your vehemence suggests you are strongly invested in the reputation of J-R despite some obvious downsides to DCPS's grading policies (which are, commendably, aimed at maintaining hope for those on the cusp of failing out). Why?

What a weird question. Of course I’m strongly invested in JR’s reputation. My kids go there. I believe in public education, and I care about DCPS and this city.

And I disagree that the grading policies are problematic; I think retakes make a ton of sense if you actually care about ensuring kids learn the content. I don’t think it’s important that a kid who turns in no work gets a zero. I think leniency on late work is fine. So your “obvious downsides” aren’t downsides to everyone.

But most of all I can’t abide the people who insist on asserting things as if they are fact without any evidence to back it up and then when confronted with evidence that undermines their assertions basically just shrug and say “it’s so because I believe it’s so.” JR has challenges, as all schools do, but the assertions that it’s easy to get all As, that kids don’t perform well on AP tests, that all families with successful students supplement, that kids from JR don’t get into top schools—all made in this thread—simply aren’t true. So, yes, I’m strongly invested in JR’s reputation, but I’m also strongly invested in the truth.

All of that said (and bringing this back to OP’s question), JR is overcrowded, and I am sure it’s overwhelming for some kids. If I had a kid in that situation, I would absolutely consider MacArthur, and I am rooting for its success. More strong public high schools is a good thing!

[Anonymous]

I agree with basically everything above, except that I think all kids with ivy+ aspirations do supplement in terms of academics and/or enrichments. You can do well at JR and go to UVA without supplementing, but for kids without a hook, Ivy admission requires supplementing of some or many varieties.

[Anonymous]

Sooooo... what are the other upsides or downsides of why people are picking JR or MacArthur.

(sorry some private school parents are so invested in thinking they need to ding public schools as being too easy that public kids might get spots that obviously should only go to private school kids. It would be a tragedy if a JR or MacArthur kid got into Harvard and your kid ended up at Tulane due to 'grade inflation'. -- signed public school + 2x Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Ivy grad (oh no, I was so unprepared for college because I didn't have 6 hours of homework every night!))

[Anonymous]

Here is my Q:

Eighth grader is currently IB for JR. Student wants to have some options: apply for SWW and Banneker and try to lottery into MacA.

Would Student need to play the lottery just for MacA? Are the application school completely separate? Or are they also part of the lottery?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is my Q:

Eighth grader is currently IB for JR. Student wants to have some options: apply for SWW and Banneker and try to lottery into MacA.

Would Student need to play the lottery just for MacA? Are the application school completely separate? Or are they also part of the lottery?

MacArthur is not an application school. It is a neighborhood school with boundary rights similar to JR. Deal and Oyster 8th graders get a lottery preference. Hardy students are considered in boundary. So you would just need to add them to your MyschoolDC list after your top choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is my Q:

Eighth grader is currently IB for JR. Student wants to have some options: apply for SWW and Banneker and try to lottery into MacA.

Would Student need to play the lottery just for MacA? Are the application school completely separate? Or are they also part of the lottery?

MacArthur is not an application school. It is a neighborhood school with boundary rights similar to JR. Deal and Oyster 8th graders get a lottery preference. Hardy students are considered in boundary. So you would just need to add them to your MyschoolDC list after your top choices.

So the only school this student would list in the lottery would be MacA if they are out of boundary? No application schools (Banneker, SWW) are listed in the lottery? The applications are separate?

[Anonymous]

Info on boundaries, lottery, potential curriculum (including if they pursue offering IB model), etc.

https://dcps.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dcps/page_content/attachments/2022-06-2%20MacArthur%20Implementation%20and%20FAQ%20Doc.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why doesn't anybody ever talk about combining public and private school options? Our kid, a top student, went through four years at JR, didn't graduate, then did a prep/gap year at a parochial boarding school abroad. Didn't want her in private school before the older teenage years, and couldn't afford more than a year of private. She applied to an Ivy from the private early decision, was admitted and enrolled. Our path to a highly competitive college was unusual, but hardly super rare. We know a Latin family that did the same thing en route to an Ivy.

Um maybe because most normal families do not have the option of a "parochial boarding school abroad."

What was the name of the boarding school?