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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Can we get back on track and not be distracted by ONE poster's comments on the clothes of some kids?

I live near OHS, but my kids are zoned for Madison.  We have gone to OHS for various events and one of my kids is in an Oakton pyramid elementary school.  I was very impressed with the kids at OHS for the events we attended.  I also like that it has diversity in a good way.  The big negatives (on Oakton HS) for us when we were looking for a house 2 yrs ago  was that it is very overcrowded (like 500 kids over capacity -- hence the renovation/addition), and the zone is very wide (i.e. we were looking at houses in Franklin Farm that we liked, but didn't want to be 20 min. away from the HS... didn't want to have to drive on 66 to get there, etc.).  We ended up buying very close to OHS, so if we were zoned for it, we'd be happy with the community, the distance (walkable), the quality of education, the diversity, etc.  BUT, right now and in the coming few years, the overcrowding would be a big negative -- deal-breaker negative.

We also rejected a house or two that was close by and IN OHS zone not because of OHS, but because of the middle school being Jackson.  That was a dealbreaker for us.  Starting next year, the middle school will be Thoreau.  But, that wouldn't have worked for our timing/needs as one of my kids is finishing 8th grade this year... so we needed the middle school to be not-Jackson for the past two years in order to buy a house in that zone.

Anyway -- what I've seen of OHS has been very good and I wouldn't mind being there except for the over crowding and construction issues.[/quote]
Why is Jackson a deal breaker?
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At the time we were looking (2 yrs ago), part of our reason for moving was that we wanted to get a good school for our child who was not in AAP.  (Our other child had been in AAP and compared to our base elem. school, it was more challenging.  Our base elem was pretty lackadaisical -- which is not the case for every non-AAP school... but it was for us.)  Knowing that our rising middle schooler would not be in AAP, we wanted to be sure that whatever zone we picked, that the non-AAP side of things was strong.  We looked at Rocky Run but we were literally over-run in the curriculum night by AAP parents and kids.  Like, literally, almost trampled... and in the gen ed discussion... poof!... the herd that nearly trampled us disappeared!  Turns out they all went to the AAP discussion (which was separate from the discussion for non-AAP kids).   The attendance gap was pretty stark.  Anyway -- back to your question about Jackson -- we did not actually go to Jackson, so our "deal-breaker" on Jackson was based on the stats.  At that time I think it was about 45% FARMS.  We knew that it was an AAP center.  We extrapolated that if the whole school was 45% farms -- and we know that the proportion of FARMS in AAP is much lower -- then that meant that the "needy" category of kids in the non-AAP part of the school surely was a lot more than 45%.... and since we were giving up a pyramid where the MS/HS were already 30-something% FARMS, we couldn't see how that would be getting our non-AAP kid a better situation.  We don't know for sure what the atmosphere is like there, but we have heard enough about the crowding in the past two years and the inability to get into classes that we are certain we made the right move for our older child who would have been there for the worst of the crowding -- and in gen. ed.   I have recently heard that there are about 50 kids who are rising 8th graders (in gen ed) who are fed up enough with it currently that they are willing to switch to Thoreau for just 8th grade.  I'm not trying to start a war on this thread about LJ vs. TMS.  But, the fact is, some portion of the "grandfathered" class -- the kids who are in the 7th grade year -- who could stay at LJ for next year -- are voting with their feet and saying they do not want to stay there for next year.  You can make of that what you will.

We were looking at sending a kid into MS who needed a good challenging, caring school after having a lack-luster elementary program, and we weren't going to put DC in a school where perhaps 60% of DC's classmates were facing the challenges of poverty and learning English.  Naturally, the school is going to have to devote additional resources toward those kids; and my kid, who comes from a non-needy/English-speaking family, would be assumed to be fine.  Part of our reason for moving (within county) was to get a good school for the non-AAP kid.   If my kid was in elementary or HS, I might not have been as bright-line about LJ.  But, with a kid coming into a new school -- knowing no one, and needing a good MS, Jackson didn't make the cut.

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