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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This mom of a bright, not-so-rich Brent kid regrets attending a Jefferson open house. Our PTA spin doctors now count me among those seriously interested in the school after learning more, when the opposite is true. I can't see a suitably advanced academic program springing up at Jefferson at all, let alone in the few years we have before middle school. My kid attended a Johns Hopkins CTY camp last summer, finding social studies hard for the first time.

Four fourth graders without siblings are into Latin while two dozen applied. We are an upper grades school community in trouble, folks.[/quote]

Do you really regret going to an open house? I would think you would now feel more informed about your options and whether they are suitable or not suitable for your daughter.

What I don't understand about this situation is why some Brent parents feel that other parents working on behalf of Jefferson is an affront. No one is saying that Jefferson is the right fit for every child or that every kid going through Brent should go to Jefferson. To me, working to improve the by-rights middle school seems like a desirable thing for the community not an insult.[/quote]
It takes people down a futile path.  It wastes time.  It provides political cover for city leadership.  It is tilting at windmills.  it gets in the way of solutions that might work in a timeframe for my kids.[/quote]

My .02 is that there is a tinge of social shaming if you don't buy into the PR campaign designed to promote Jefferson as a something of a diamond in the rough.  I'll commend the Brent parents for their hard work and commitment but all bets are off, and it's effectively every family for themselves when the lottery results are announced and your kid gets one of the few coveted spots at a HRCS.  This is exactly what has been happened for several years.  Despite the best intentions of the Jefferson principal and staff, a school at which 85 percent of kids aren't proficient isn't in the best posture to serve those who are on grade level or above.  And it's hyper-cynical of DCPS to use a few Brent students to chum the waters in the hope that other families might be attracted to Jefferson despite having made virtually no investment in the school itself for decades.  Deal is a different story by virtue of its feeder pattern and location.  Jefferson isn't surrounded by affluent families living in neighborhoods comprised of single family homes, and it never will be.  The new development taking place south of the Freeway simply isn't designed to attract families with older children.  DCPS generally can't be trusted to keep its promises (just look at the Murch fiasco).  There's no vision or sense of urgency and the fact Natalie Gordon was left alone to do the recruiting and heavy lifting while the Chancellor openly scoffs at Brent families during a Council hearing speaks volumes.  [/quote]

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