What do you think of Janney?

[Anonymous]

Personally, I chose a great school that fit with my family's personal goals/values without being swayed by the masses.

Both Janney in NW and Brent on the Hill have booster families who will speak ad nauseum about how it really is THE only school to go to if you want to do right by your children.

We love the Oyster community we are part of- and the close knit neighborhood feel- but have a great number of friends at Ross, Stoddert, And Eaton who are quite happy. Same goes for IT.

Guess what we all have in common? Wanting the best for our own DC. And then working hard to provide for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Personally, I chose a great school that fit with my family's personal goals/values without being swayed by the masses.

Both Janney in NW and Brent on the Hill have booster families who will speak ad nauseum about how it really is THE only school to go to if you want to do right by your children.

We love the Oyster community we are part of- and the close knit neighborhood feel- but have a great number of friends at Ross, Stoddert, And Eaton who are quite happy. Same goes for IT.

Guess what we all have in common? Wanting the best for our own DC. And then working hard to provide for it.

Seriously, EVERY great school will have booster families that will tell you it is the best - that's not unique to Janney or Brent.

[Anonymous]

Hearst parent here. I hate when these threads turn this way. Hearst is great and the parents are really friendly. Today we spent the day with 10 Janney families at a party. They were incredibly nice and seem happy with their school. They didn't bash other schools or try to convince me they are superior. They were just nice.

All of the schools around Janney are really solid. Each one will have different strengths but if you figure out what your priorities are, I'm sure you will find the right match.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hearst parent here. I hate when these threads turn this way. Hearst is great and the parents are really friendly. Today we spent the day with 10 Janney families at a party. They were incredibly nice and seem happy with their school. They didn't bash other schools or try to convince me they are superior. They were just nice.

All of the schools around Janney are really solid. Each one will have different strengths but if you figure out what your priorities are, I'm sure you will find the right match.

Good luck!

They had nothing to prove that wasn't obvious.

[Anonymous]

I think there are two main reasons why people overpay for a house in
AU Park. It is not necessarily that they think that Janney is better than Stoddert, Murch, Mann, etc.
Rather it is that Janney feeds into Deal and also that there is a very convenient metro stop in the neighborhood.
For many parents working downtown, it is convenient to drop the kid off at school and then walk right to the metro.
Same on the way back. AU Park also has a suburban feel, almost like an extension of Bethesda, which is appealing to many folks.
By the way, I have a 3rd grader at Janney and his classes have always ranged from 19-22 since Kindergarten. I would caution people not to assume that large is equivalent to overcrowded classes.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:What are your experiences there? I have heard from multiple people that it's the best public (by far) in DC. Do you agree? I am debating a move at the moment.

Definitely not one of the best bay far. It's definitely top 5 in my opinion. Test scores wise it's top 5 but not #1. The thing it has going for it over other schools that score higher is that it feeds to Deal. If you compare subgroups, Hearst does better and also feeds to Deal but smaller and more diverse community. It's a great school. Personally, I wouldn't choose it if I had the choice. It's a little too crowded and not as diverse as I'd like.

Not "diverse" ???

Janney is very diverse. There are all types and many languages spoken there.

White, black, European, Indian, Asian, Hispanic ,and mixed race kids, how much more diverse do you want it ???

Pp you quoted. I said "not as diverse as I'd like it" note the "I".
As an AA parent, I would prefer my kid not be an only. Yes, it's selfish opinion but that's why I said it was for me.
I didn't say one negative thing about the school. I think it's a great school. I would prefer Hearst or Eaton who apparently do better in testing and have a diverse student body. People keep saying "well what about DCPS that is 90% black", I'm not talking about those schools, I'm comparing to other WOTP schools. I wouldn't want my kid at a 90% black school either.

Viewing "diversity" solely in black and white terms is very one-dimensional, sort of a 1970s view of the concept. Moreover, while African-Americans may now be below 50% of DC's population, they are by far still the largest group, so seeing AAs as being the diversity in DC is misplaced.

The PP is correct about Janney's diversity from a broad, 21st century meaning of the term. The only aspect where Janney is less diverse is on income. But that's harder to achieve in the US which (like DC) has a strong tradition of local, even neighborhood schools.

I'm so sick of people saying that a family from India and Spain is diverse. No. Sorry. It's a valid point to say you don't want your kid to be the only kid with dark brown skin in his class. Stop saying it's an old fashion way of looking at things. A white kid from Spain that speaks Spanish is great when being able to offer worldly diversity and cultural diversity, but that kid is not going to have the same plight as a black kid would when dealing with the issues that we deal with on a day to day basis. That white looking kid that speaks Spanish is not going to have to worry about being stereotyped by his teachers, parents of friends, neighbors or cops.

Honestly, would you be fine with sending your white kid to a school of all kids with black skin? What if the black kids were from dozens of African countries, Bahamas, Jamaica, Dominican, and Trinidad? That's diverse right? Well guess what, Banneker is filled with various African students as well as Caribbean students and for some reason I don't see any whites applying for it despite its diversity that's not boiled down to black/white. Because they don't see Ethipoian, Nigerian, Trinidad, Jamaican, they see an all black school and they don't want their kid to be an only. Valid reason IMO. Don't contest when the tables are turned.

Honestly, I don't really give a fig about diversity. It's a distant nice to have, but it pales beside academic quality and good school management. I noticed another DCPS elementary that had diversity as number one in its mission statement, and it's like "what are they thinking?" That's worshipping fluff ahead of substance. And as pointed out earlier, the diversity at Wilson is a mixed blessing: groups of rowdy teenagers unleashing f-bombs and invective on passerby in Tenleytown rather than minding their manners and obeying the rules.

You are the exact definition of someone I would not want my kid to go to school with. I pray your kid doesn't have your same thoughts. Btw, if you're worried about academic quality as #1, you should check out Eaton, Hearst, or another school where there's not 30 kids in a class AND your DC's counterparts are doing better.

Are you sure about that? I think it would be great if school choice wasn't a result of ethnicity. When I am choosing a school I hope to choose based on academics, facilities and teachers. Not the color of one's skin. Why is this a bad thing? Why should the color of one's skin be a primary factor in choosing a school? Should it also be considered when choosing everything else in life? We must have the exact right mix of brown people and white people for a school to meet your standards? see how racist that sounds? Stop judging everyone by the color of their skin.

There is a big gap between choosing a school only for diversity and "not giving a fig about diversity." When you don't give a fig about diversity, you tend to raise people like Trump.

OTOH, when you don't give a fig about honesty or integrity, then you raise people like the female candidate who shall not be named and couldn't tell the truth to save her life.

Either way, we all lose when we've lost sight of some fundamental common values.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there are two main reasons why people overpay for a house in
AU Park. It is not necessarily that they think that Janney is better than Stoddert, Murch, Mann, etc.
Rather it is that Janney feeds into Deal and also that there is a very convenient metro stop in the neighborhood.
For many parents working downtown, it is convenient to drop the kid off at school and then walk right to the metro.
Same on the way back. AU Park also has a suburban feel, almost like an extension of Bethesda, which is appealing to many folks.
By the way, I have a 3rd grader at Janney and his classes have always ranged from 19-22 since Kindergarten. I would caution people not to assume that large is equivalent to overcrowded classes.

Why do you say overpay? They are paying market value just like they are any other place. AU Park isn't the most expensive neighborhood

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:What are your experiences there? I have heard from multiple people that it's the best public (by far) in DC. Do you agree? I am debating a move at the moment.

Definitely not one of the best bay far. It's definitely top 5 in my opinion. Test scores wise it's top 5 but not #1. The thing it has going for it over other schools that score higher is that it feeds to Deal. If you compare subgroups, Hearst does better and also feeds to Deal but smaller and more diverse community. It's a great school. Personally, I wouldn't choose it if I had the choice. It's a little too crowded and not as diverse as I'd like.

Not "diverse" ???

Janney is very diverse. There are all types and many languages spoken there.

White, black, European, Indian, Asian, Hispanic ,and mixed race kids, how much more diverse do you want it ???

New PP. Yes, not diverse neither racially or socioeconomically.

Agree. Diverse means a good amount of everything not 75% of one thing and a smattering of others.

Deal, Wilson, and Walls are diverse -- no majority population at any of them. Hearst mirrors the city demographics almost to a kid -- also no majority population. Ross is 51% white, but still diverse. Interesting note, only Murch has someone in every category, no 0% categories (but still 62% white - very international, but still majority white).

Hardy is way diverse, and how many Janney parents would trade their right to send their kids to Deal for Hardy. Come on, raise your hands. We can't see them.

Good point. Hardy also has someone in every category, no 0%s; but, like Ross, it has a majority population (57% black), so it is not as diverse as Deal, Wilson, and Walls. Tiny too! I'd expect more families to be interested if they prefer small schools. It seems like everything people love about Hearst exists at Hardy.

Last I checked, this thread was about Janney. And while Hearst seems to be a nice, up-and-coming school, the fact is that there's no one in the Janney district who would choose Hearst over Janney. And it's certainly the case that no one with a right to go to Deal would give that up for Hardy. The qualitative difference there just can't be overlooked.

If by up and coming you mean superior sub group test scores, then you are correct.

Explain, in plain English.

NP.
White kids performed better on PARCC at Hearst than Janney
Non Low-income students perform better in PARCC at Hearst than Janney.

Hearst is something like only 30% IB. So some white kids from higher income families perform better on PARCC, Big surprise. How do African-American students score at Hearst? Low-income family students? What time and resources do teachers have to spend on remedial attention for those who perform significantly below a number of their classmates? What level do classroom teachers have to teach to, to reach most of the students?

As mentioned upthread, it still is a big sign that when you're comparing subgroups that Janney is being beat by many other schools. Why do you not care about that? Hearst and Eaton pretty well with AA scores as well as non farm. I think Eaton, Stoddert, and Hearst do amongst the best in the city.

How about Janney? How do they do with AA and low income? Oh, that's right, there's not enough of them to know.

NP here. Frankly, as a parent whose kids will likely attend Janney in a few years, those minute difference is recent test scores don't concern me at all. I am confident my kids will be fine at Janney, and they probably would also be fine at Hearst or Stoddert or Eaton. This competition about overall similar test scores is insane, and it's funny to watch how on a thread where barely anyone has touted Janney as the best, there is such a concerted effort to point out that it isn't based on the recent PARCC. This really says more about you all than about Janney.

Your "kids will be fine at Janney" but "probably fine at Hearst or Stoddert or Eaton"? Janney got beat by several schools, but your children would "probably" do well in those schools?!
What do your children need to do well and not just "probably well"? Do they or YOU need the name of the school to be Janney to do well?
This "Janney is the best" has been touted for years for no good reason. People have been saying that there are many good schools in DC. There is no reason for Janney kids to do worse than others, is there? I expected them to be several % points ahead of others to be honest.
There are several good schools in DC and my kids would do well in all of them, not just "probably".
A new acquaintance just told me that they are looking for a house IB for Janney since "it's better than Mann". I'm sure she has seen the scores by now...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:What are your experiences there? I have heard from multiple people that it's the best public (by far) in DC. Do you agree? I am debating a move at the moment.

Definitely not one of the best bay far. It's definitely top 5 in my opinion. Test scores wise it's top 5 but not #1. The thing it has going for it over other schools that score higher is that it feeds to Deal. If you compare subgroups, Hearst does better and also feeds to Deal but smaller and more diverse community. It's a great school. Personally, I wouldn't choose it if I had the choice. It's a little too crowded and not as diverse as I'd like.

Not "diverse" ???

Janney is very diverse. There are all types and many languages spoken there.

White, black, European, Indian, Asian, Hispanic ,and mixed race kids, how much more diverse do you want it ???

New PP. Yes, not diverse neither racially or socioeconomically.

Agree. Diverse means a good amount of everything not 75% of one thing and a smattering of others.

Deal, Wilson, and Walls are diverse -- no majority population at any of them. Hearst mirrors the city demographics almost to a kid -- also no majority population. Ross is 51% white, but still diverse. Interesting note, only Murch has someone in every category, no 0% categories (but still 62% white - very international, but still majority white).

Hardy is way diverse, and how many Janney parents would trade their right to send their kids to Deal for Hardy. Come on, raise your hands. We can't see them.

Good point. Hardy also has someone in every category, no 0%s; but, like Ross, it has a majority population (57% black), so it is not as diverse as Deal, Wilson, and Walls. Tiny too! I'd expect more families to be interested if they prefer small schools. It seems like everything people love about Hearst exists at Hardy.

Last I checked, this thread was about Janney. And while Hearst seems to be a nice, up-and-coming school, the fact is that there's no one in the Janney district who would choose Hearst over Janney. And it's certainly the case that no one with a right to go to Deal would give that up for Hardy. The qualitative difference there just can't be overlooked.

Speak for yourself. We could move IB for Deal in a second, but have absolutely no interest in doing so. I'm very excited for Hardy! I see no reason why my DC shouldn't do well there in 2 years. Don't know much about Deal since it doesn't interest me. Can't stand the location near Wilson nor the size.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:What are your experiences there? I have heard from multiple people that it's the best public (by far) in DC. Do you agree? I am debating a move at the moment.

Definitely not one of the best bay far. It's definitely top 5 in my opinion. Test scores wise it's top 5 but not #1. The thing it has going for it over other schools that score higher is that it feeds to Deal. If you compare subgroups, Hearst does better and also feeds to Deal but smaller and more diverse community. It's a great school. Personally, I wouldn't choose it if I had the choice. It's a little too crowded and not as diverse as I'd like.

Not "diverse" ???

Janney is very diverse. There are all types and many languages spoken there.

White, black, European, Indian, Asian, Hispanic ,and mixed race kids, how much more diverse do you want it ???

New PP. Yes, not diverse neither racially or socioeconomically.

Agree. Diverse means a good amount of everything not 75% of one thing and a smattering of others.

Deal, Wilson, and Walls are diverse -- no majority population at any of them. Hearst mirrors the city demographics almost to a kid -- also no majority population. Ross is 51% white, but still diverse. Interesting note, only Murch has someone in every category, no 0% categories (but still 62% white - very international, but still majority white).

Hardy is way diverse, and how many Janney parents would trade their right to send their kids to Deal for Hardy. Come on, raise your hands. We can't see them.

Good point. Hardy also has someone in every category, no 0%s; but, like Ross, it has a majority population (57% black), so it is not as diverse as Deal, Wilson, and Walls. Tiny too! I'd expect more families to be interested if they prefer small schools. It seems like everything people love about Hearst exists at Hardy.

Last I checked, this thread was about Janney. And while Hearst seems to be a nice, up-and-coming school, the fact is that there's no one in the Janney district who would choose Hearst over Janney. And it's certainly the case that no one with a right to go to Deal would give that up for Hardy. The qualitative difference there just can't be overlooked.

If by up and coming you mean superior sub group test scores, then you are correct.

Explain, in plain English.

NP.
White kids performed better on PARCC at Hearst than Janney
Non Low-income students perform better in PARCC at Hearst than Janney.

Hearst is something like only 30% IB. So some white kids from higher income families perform better on PARCC, Big surprise. How do African-American students score at Hearst? Low-income family students? What time and resources do teachers have to spend on remedial attention for those who perform significantly below a number of their classmates? What level do classroom teachers have to teach to, to reach most of the students?

As mentioned upthread, it still is a big sign that when you're comparing subgroups that Janney is being beat by many other schools. Why do you not care about that? Hearst and Eaton pretty well with AA scores as well as non farm. I think Eaton, Stoddert, and Hearst do amongst the best in the city.

How about Janney? How do they do with AA and low income? Oh, that's right, there's not enough of them to know.

NP here. Frankly, as a parent whose kids will likely attend Janney in a few years, those minute difference is recent test scores don't concern me at all. I am confident my kids will be fine at Janney, and they probably would also be fine at Hearst or Stoddert or Eaton. This competition about overall similar test scores is insane, and it's funny to watch how on a thread where barely anyone has touted Janney as the best, there is such a concerted effort to point out that it isn't based on the recent PARCC. This really says more about you all than about Janney.

Your "kids will be fine at Janney" but "probably fine at Hearst or Stoddert or Eaton"? Janney got beat by several schools, but your children would "probably" do well in those schools?!
What do your children need to do well and not just "probably well"? Do they or YOU need the name of the school to be Janney to do well?
This "Janney is the best" has been touted for years for no good reason. People have been saying that there are many good schools in DC. There is no reason for Janney kids to do worse than others, is there? I expected them to be several % points ahead of others to be honest.
There are several good schools in DC and my kids would do well in all of them, not just "probably".
A new acquaintance just told me that they are looking for a house IB for Janney since "it's better than Mann". I'm sure she has seen the scores by now...

Wow, it takes a special kind of person to read my post as saying that I think my kids' success at Janney is guaranteed or even more likely than at the other schools I named, just based on my use of the word "probably". Obviously, I cannot predict whether they will be successful at any of those schools, but since Janney is our IB, I said "I'm confident", while using "probably" with regard to the schools that are total hypotheticals. I really meant "probably" for all of them.

You sound springloaded to jump on anyone who might possibly tout Janney as better than others, which, just to make it explicit for you, I did not say or imply. As I said, the competition is insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Super school, probably the best elementary in all of DC. So satisfied that we bought in AU Park 10 years ago before prices went really crazy. I think it's not just alphabetical order why the Janney "J" comes first in the sought-after JKLM top tier of schools. Go Jaguars!

You are annoying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Super school, probably the best elementary in all of DC. So satisfied that we bought in AU Park 10 years ago before prices went really crazy. I think it's not just alphabetical order why the Janney "J" comes first in the sought-after JKLM top tier of schools. Go Jaguars!

You are annoying.

This is basically the speech that our realtor gave us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Super school, probably the best elementary in all of DC. So satisfied that we bought in AU Park 10 years ago before prices went really crazy. I think it's not just alphabetical order why the Janney "J" comes first in the sought-after JKLM top tier of schools. Go Jaguars!

You are annoying.

This is basically the speech that our realtor gave us.

Reason number 1001 not to buy a home there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Super school, probably the best elementary in all of DC. So satisfied that we bought in AU Park 10 years ago before prices went really crazy. I think it's not just alphabetical order why the Janney "J" comes first in the sought-after JKLM top tier of schools. Go Jaguars!

You are annoying.

This is basically the speech that our realtor gave us.

I've never met anyone that actually says anything like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Super school, probably the best elementary in all of DC. So satisfied that we bought in AU Park 10 years ago before prices went really crazy. I think it's not just alphabetical order why the Janney "J" comes first in the sought-after JKLM top tier of schools. Go Jaguars!

You are annoying.

This is basically the speech that our realtor gave us.

Maybe I'm naive, but I thought realtors weren't really supposed to discuss schools? At least, our realtor never did (we also bought IB for Deal/Wilson).