We have a 7th grader there now. And I’ll admit that I was a bit apprehensive. But 6th grade was fantastic. She was in a pod with teachers who had been teaching together for 10+ years. Her math class was the reason she liked 6th grade as it was the first time the pacing and challenge were a good fit.

The lunchroom (in beforetimes) is huge. And I’m not surprised to hear of some discipline issues. But we haven’t experienced the impact described.

Anonymous wrote:What did the parent say?

Just that there are discipline issues that seriously impact learning. But have heard other good things about the school. Even though it seems renovation won’t happen anytime soon.

My kids ( now in 10th/12th) both went there. They had a good experience overall. Academically, both were on the top math track and did well, we had no issue with the math dept, and both kids particularly liked the geometry teacher. I liked that they seemed to do a lot of writing as part of the IB requirements and had to do a big 8th grade project. Both kids did music (one band, one chorus) and enjoyed that experience. It was good socially, didn't seem to be much bullying since DD asked me why teen HS movies always have bullies since that doesn't really happen in real life. DD went in with a couple BFFs who still are but they expanded their circle. DS made a lot of new friends and completely shifted his main friend group.

The only negatives we experienced...DS hated his 6th grade English teacher and we heard from several other parents that people had issues with her. Both my kids took French and they do very badly at teaching the foundations, esp grammar, so needed tutors to catch up for French 3 in HS. My DDs 6th grade TA was absolutely useless when she was struggling to figure out some issues at the start of MS but fortunately her counselor was wonderful and stepped in to help. And, the building looks like a prison, has hardly any windows.

I’ve heard some bad things about the math dept.

What did the parent say?

Please share some feedback about Jefferson MS in Arlington. Seems both ok academically and diverse but a parent with a kid there recently raised some questions. Of course, just one opinion, so trying to see if I could get more feedback here.