Anonymous wrote:How could we find out more about Silver Spring International Middle School?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Model MacFarland's offerings on those of a highly diverse, and succesful, one in a near suburb. Take Takoma Park MS in Silver Spring, which has nearly 900 students, with a student body that's pretty much an even split between whites, Latinos and Asians, with strong AA representation. The student body is around 30% FARMS. They offer a....

*test-in math/science magnet with a country-wide draw, and a 10% admissions rate out of 5th grade, with preference in admissions given for Takoma Park residents.
*true honors/advanced classes in English, foreign languages and social studies, taught above grade level, for students who meet entrance criteria (students apply to take each honors class; families can appeal rejections to a panel of teachers, parents and admins).
*a full complement of grade-level classes.
*electives like art, wood work and PE where students at various places on the academic spectrum rub shoulders.
*a full complement of remedial classes.
*one of the best orchestral music programs in the country.
*an in-house TV station students run.
*many sports teams

In short, something for everyone in every subject taught and elective offered.

And what would the neighborhood kids who aren't accepted into this magnet program do? I think that sounds great as a citywide program, but you also need something for the neighborhood.

Anonymous wrote:Model MacFarland's offerings on those of a highly diverse, and succesful, one in a near suburb. Take Takoma Park MS in Silver Spring, which has nearly 900 students, with a student body that's pretty much an even split between whites, Latinos and Asians, with strong AA representation. The student body is around 30% FARMS. They offer a....

*test-in math/science magnet with a country-wide draw, and a 10% admissions rate out of 5th grade, with preference in admissions given for Takoma Park residents.
*true honors/advanced classes in English, foreign languages and social studies, taught above grade level, for students who meet entrance criteria (students apply to take each honors class; families can appeal rejections to a panel of teachers, parents and admins).
*a full complement of grade-level classes.
*electives like art, wood work and PE where students at various places on the academic spectrum rub shoulders.
*a full complement of remedial classes.
*one of the best orchestral music programs in the country.
*an in-house TV station students run.
*many sports teams

In short, something for everyone in every subject taught and elective offered.

Anonymous wrote:Model MacFarland's offerings on those of a highly diverse, and succesful, one in a near suburb. Take Takoma Park MS in Silver Spring, which has nearly 900 students, with a student body that's pretty much an even split between whites, Latinos and Asians, with strong AA representation. The student body is around 30% FARMS. They offer a....

*test-in math/science magnet with a country-wide draw, and a 10% admissions rate out of 5th grade, with preference in admissions given for Takoma Park residents.
*true honors/advanced classes in English, foreign languages and social studies, taught above grade level, for students who meet entrance criteria (students apply to take each honors class; families can appeal rejections to a panel of teachers, parents and admins).
*a full complement of grade-level classes.
*electives like art, wood work and PE where students at various places on the academic spectrum rub shoulders.
*a full complement of remedial classes.
*one of the best orchestral music programs in the country.
*an in-house TV station students run.
*many sports teams

In short, something for everyone in every subject taught and elective offered.

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

This is the challenge. Gentrifying families saying that they want their kids to separated into challenging classes will be heard at least two ways: 1) I want my child to have a rigorous academic environment; and 2) I don't want my child to associate with "those people". If you have read the Hardy threads over the years, you will understand this. I would hope that the second interpretation is not generally true, but I've seen enough posts on DCUM to know that it is not totally false.

I absolutely believe that the new middle school needs to have rigorous course offerings that will challenge the brightest kids. Similarly, I believe the school must be able to address the needs of those kids who have fallen behind. Based on my experience, it is impossible to meet both of those goals in a single classroom (though perhaps this is an assumption worth challenging). The question becomes how do you have this type of separation while still maintaining a unified body? I think a situation in which separate groups are constantly worried that another group is getting an advantage not awarded to the others is a recipe for disaster.

I don't have a solution, but I think this issue addressing a variety of constituencies while not creating antagonistic factions is important. Hopefully, someone smarter than me has some good ideas how to address it.

What if we added enrichment support to the largely minority feeder schools? Get the smarter kids from those schools performing at advanced levels such that the composition of the honors track at the middle school was more mixed?

That would weed out the second type of person you listed, and cater to the first.

jsteele wrote:

This is the challenge. Gentrifying families saying that they want their kids to separated into challenging classes will be heard at least two ways: 1) I want my child to have a rigorous academic environment; and 2) I don't want my child to associate with "those people". If you have read the Hardy threads over the years, you will understand this. I would hope that the second interpretation is not generally true, but I've seen enough posts on DCUM to know that it is not totally false.

I absolutely believe that the new middle school needs to have rigorous course offerings that will challenge the brightest kids. Similarly, I believe the school must be able to address the needs of those kids who have fallen behind. Based on my experience, it is impossible to meet both of those goals in a single classroom (though perhaps this is an assumption worth challenging). The question becomes how do you have this type of separation while still maintaining a unified body? I think a situation in which separate groups are constantly worried that another group is getting an advantage not awarded to the others is a recipe for disaster.

I don't have a solution, but I think this issue addressing a variety of constituencies while not creating antagonistic factions is important. Hopefully, someone smarter than me has some good ideas how to address it.

calexander wrote:What do you hope NOT to see in MacFarland as a neighborhood middle school?

jsteele wrote:I don't want to see the school become a collection of separate programs simply existing under one roof. For instance, one group shunted off into remedial classes, another exclusively attending bilingual classes, and another isolated into some sort of magnet or gifted program. Some here would probably think that sounds great, but without something to bind these groups together, there will be endless conflict. Some very creative thinking will need to be done to develop ways to address a variety of needs and desires while at the same time maintaining a unifying foundation.

anonymous wrote:Thats interesting. I feel like when my neighbors all get together the ONLY thing that might keep them committed are academic tracks in the school. Whether thats right or wrong is a bigger discussion. But hands down, the number one complaint about middle schools in DC is that its not rigorous enough. Parents asked for this at Brookland and didnt get it. McFarland should have a magnet test in in my opinion. I htink this might be the ONE thing that eveyrone seems to agree on. The truth is the gentirfying families are just not going to stay if DCPS keeps believing the lie that kids who are two grades apart academicially can all learn in the same class in 6th grade.

jsteele wrote:

calexander wrote:New meeting scheduled for next week. Our homework is to get community feedback on the following questions:

What is essential for DCPS to know about the community surrounding MacFarland Middle School?

Christopher,

I'm sure that you don't need to be told most of what I have to say, but for the record, here it is. The community surrounding MacFarland is diverse and not easily categorized. Simple descriptions such as black/white, rich/poor, native/gentrifier, etc., fall well short of the reality. DCPS will not be trying to manage one group that wants one thing and another group that wants another thing. Rather, DCPS will face many groups with many different goals, some of which will overlap and some of which will conflict.

Obviously, the community has been in a state of transition for a number of years and will continue to be in such a state. However, I think it is an open question as to how long such change will continue. While it would be a mistake to ignore the changes that have occurred in recent years, it might be an equally big mistake to expect that rate of change to continue. On the other hand, the school itself could be a catalyst to various types of change and that is something else to consider.

calexander wrote:
What do you hope to see in MacFarland as a neighborhood middle school?

I personally hope to see a high-performing school with a diverse student body. A school that will rival the best middle schools in DC. I share the concern that has been mentioned in other threads that the school might focus on the bilingual program with the regular program being an afterthought. The programming should be designed in such a way that even if the bilingual component were removed, it would still be a great program. I hope that school will be a high-performing school that includes a bilingual program, not a bilingual middle school that includes an English-only track.

calexander wrote:
What do you hope NOT to see in MacFarland as a neighborhood middle school?

I don't want to see the school become a collection of separate programs simply existing under one roof. For instance, one group shunted off into remedial classes, another exclusively attending bilingual classes, and another isolated into some sort of magnet or gifted program. Some here would probably think that sounds great, but without something to bind these groups together, there will be endless conflict. Some very creative thinking will need to be done to develop ways to address a variety of needs and desires while at the same time maintaining a unifying foundation.

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The tl;dr... it should solve all the really really complicated problems without offending anyone

The questions involved what you hope to see and what you hope not to see. Who says that hope should be realistic?

But, shouldn't the goal be to solve all the really, really complicated problems without offending anyone? That seems a whole lot better than starting out from a position of not trying to solve problems and planning to offend someone.

Anonymous wrote:The tl;dr... it should solve all the really really complicated problems without offending anyone

jsteele wrote:

calexander wrote:New meeting scheduled for next week. Our homework is to get community feedback on the following questions:

What is essential for DCPS to know about the community surrounding MacFarland Middle School?

Christopher,

I'm sure that you don't need to be told most of what I have to say, but for the record, here it is. The community surrounding MacFarland is diverse and not easily categorized. Simple descriptions such as black/white, rich/poor, native/gentrifier, etc., fall well short of the reality. DCPS will not be trying to manage one group that wants one thing and another group that wants another thing. Rather, DCPS will face many groups with many different goals, some of which will overlap and some of which will conflict.

Obviously, the community has been in a state of transition for a number of years and will continue to be in such a state. However, I think it is an open question as to how long such change will continue. While it would be a mistake to ignore the changes that have occurred in recent years, it might be an equally big mistake to expect that rate of change to continue. On the other hand, the school itself could be a catalyst to various types of change and that is something else to consider.

calexander wrote:
What do you hope to see in MacFarland as a neighborhood middle school?

I personally hope to see a high-performing school with a diverse student body. A school that will rival the best middle schools in DC. I share the concern that has been mentioned in other threads that the school might focus on the bilingual program with the regular program being an afterthought. The programming should be designed in such a way that even if the bilingual component were removed, it would still be a great program. I hope that school will be a high-performing school that includes a bilingual program, not a bilingual middle school that includes an English-only track.

calexander wrote:
What do you hope NOT to see in MacFarland as a neighborhood middle school?

I don't want to see the school become a collection of separate programs simply existing under one roof. For instance, one group shunted off into remedial classes, another exclusively attending bilingual classes, and another isolated into some sort of magnet or gifted program. Some here would probably think that sounds great, but without something to bind these groups together, there will be endless conflict. Some very creative thinking will need to be done to develop ways to address a variety of needs and desires while at the same time maintaining a unifying foundation.