Reply to Are you happy with Thoreau?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Do the kids going to Madison from TMS seem to be well prepared for the writing and work load? [/quote]

I think you are over-estimating how prepared one needs to be for honors classes at Madison.  Seriously.  My child was in honors at TMS.  She is prepared just fine for honors classes at Madison.  It's not some wildly advanced curriculum.  Yes, it is high school, but the teachers understand that they are teaching 14 and 15 yr olds.... so they teach them what they expect them to do/know in class.  There isn't some secret magic that the AAP kids get (at TMS or LJ) that dooms the non-AAP kids from getting A's in honors classes at Madison.  If your kid wants to get good grades at Madison, he or she will put in the effort to do what the teacher asks, and will get good grades.  This whole idea that some middle schools prepare you for Madison (or any FCPS high school) and some do not, is just silly.  
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Totally disagree with this. First, if a middle school has more homework, requires planning ahead and budgeting time, makes kids work for their grades, graders harder, has higher expectations, or teachers a higher level curriculum, that has to - and does - help in high school. My friend is a teacher at Madison and said she can tell which ones went to LJ and which went to Thoreau. She said, by far, the Thoreau students were not used to more rigorous grading and expectations, their writing was inferior and they complained more about the amount of work. Yes, a kid who cares about his grade, will do so regardless of the school, but that doesn’t negate the fact that one middle school can better prepare you for high school than another.

—former teacher [/quote]

sorry, don't agree.  My child wasn't even in AAP....still getting A- in honors classes at Madison (and she doesn't work very hard as far as I can see).  Not that it is easy, but they actually do teach kids what they want them to know/do.  85% of the kids at Madison went to TMS... they are doing fine at Madison because they got what they needed at TMS and then Madison provides what they need to to do well there.  If you really believe that the LJ kids at Madison are superior b/c of their different middle school experience, and that has any impact on who succeeds in HS, I have a bridge to sell you in Merrifield.[/quote]

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