Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, I'm hoping this thread won't derail into the same Cap Hill middle school drama. Anyone whose kids are at Jefferson right now?

I'm not opposed to sending DS to Jefferson, actually, but he only wants to go if his friends are going, and I'm worried they'll pull out at last minute if they get a spot at Latin or wherever.

We're not there now (current 5th grader at feeder school to Jefferson) but are strongly considering it for next year. We know a handful of UMC IB families who are there now and very happy with it for 6th.

Thank you!

Anonymous wrote:OK, I'm hoping this thread won't derail into the same Cap Hill middle school drama. Anyone whose kids are at Jefferson right now?

I'm not opposed to sending DS to Jefferson, actually, but he only wants to go if his friends are going, and I'm worried they'll pull out at last minute if they get a spot at Latin or wherever.

We're not there now (current 5th grader at feeder school to Jefferson) but are strongly considering it for next year. We know a handful of UMC IB families who are there now and very happy with it for 6th.

Anonymous wrote:Not reasonable to blame UMC parents with children in DCPS elementary programs for voting with their feet to charters, the burbs and privates for MS in view of the fact that DCPS has made 2 catastrophic decisions about its MS programs over the years:

Decision #1: DCPS leaders have fought both academic tracking and test-in MS programs tooth and nail. They currently allow a few MS schools to offer at-grade level classes for math and maybe ELA, that's it.
Decision #2: DCPS has let its only MS program that draws most of its in-boundary families--Deal--to become terribly overcrowded. This year, Deal has more than 600 more students than the facility was built for.

It's much too easy to point the finger at parents who run from DCPS after 4th or 5th grade, calling them racist, elitist etc.

If any one of the 3 DCPS Capitol Hill middle schools offered a full menu of bona fide honors classes--in science, social studies, math and ELA--from 6th-8th grade, we'd be there in a minute. None does, so we hope for Latin or BASIS.

Very true, and black UMC parents often "run' away the fasted because our kids are even more threatened in such environments vs white/Asian kids.

Anonymous wrote:OK, I'm hoping this thread won't derail into the same Cap Hill middle school drama. Anyone whose kids are at Jefferson right now?

I'm not opposed to sending DS to Jefferson, actually, but he only wants to go if his friends are going, and I'm worried they'll pull out at last minute if they get a spot at Latin or wherever.

They totally will and you need to be mentally prepared.

OK, I'm hoping this thread won't derail into the same Cap Hill middle school drama. Anyone whose kids are at Jefferson right now?

I'm not opposed to sending DS to Jefferson, actually, but he only wants to go if his friends are going, and I'm worried they'll pull out at last minute if they get a spot at Latin or wherever.

All true.

Not reasonable to blame UMC parents with children in DCPS elementary programs for voting with their feet to charters, the burbs and privates for MS in view of the fact that DCPS has made 2 catastrophic decisions about its MS programs over the years:

Decision #1: DCPS leaders have fought both academic tracking and test-in MS programs tooth and nail. They currently allow a few MS schools to offer at-grade level classes for math and maybe ELA, that's it.
Decision #2: DCPS has let its only MS program that draws most of its in-boundary families--Deal--to become terribly overcrowded. This year, Deal has more than 600 more students than the facility was built for.

It's much too easy to point the finger at parents who run from DCPS after 4th or 5th grade, calling them racist, elitist etc.

If any one of the 3 DCPS Capitol Hill middle schools offered a full menu of bona fide honors classes--in science, social studies, math and ELA--from 6th-8th grade, we'd be there in a minute. None does, so we hope for Latin or BASIS.

Anonymous wrote:i think jefferson is really improving with 4 solid feeder schools and more and more in-bound kids attending but people (especially at brent where jefferson has long been regarded as a no) dont see it (or the full potential there) yet

I think for a long time parents at Brent have had decent alternatives that weren't that hard to make happen. But MS charters are getting harder and harder to get into as more parents stay in DC past elementary. Tuition at privates gets more onerous every year. Even moving to the suburbs starts to look less appealing because close-in suburbs around DC are getting pricier and if you own a row house on the Hill, moving to Fairfax or Bethesda for the schools is not the obvious option for some that it might have been 10 years ago.

So as these options close, I do think you'll see more families giving Jefferson a try. It's the same thing you've seen with public elementaries on the Hill.

The one thing that does not seem to sway people to send their white kids to these overwhelmingly black schools? The Rosa Parks and MLK quotes on their yard signs

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How has Jefferson Academy been this year? DS says he wants to go. (He's in fourth now.) I'm trying to convince him to play lottery for charters.

(Not the OP.)

It's very hard to say. Most of the Brent parents at Jefferson have boosted for the MS for years. They lobbied for the big renovation etc. They're hardly going to admit to disappointment or major challenges.

We didn't enroll for 6th grade because we couldn't get definite answers from admins about honors classes. They wouldn't tell us if any existed, or would be created for SY 2021-2022.

My 4th grader also says he wants to go, because some of his friends say they're going. I have no idea who's really going, but I know that I want definite honors classes in a Title 1 school. I'm going to reserve judgement until Jefferson open houses during SY 2022-2023. No definite honors classes for both English and math from 6th-8th and we're not going no matter how the lottery shakes out next month. We'd prefer to move or go private if necessary.

The kids will save us... (hopefully)

Anonymous wrote:If you go back a decade, you can find posts where multiple posters says absolutely horrific (and some blatantly racist/offensive/untrue) things about Ludlow Taylor which was allegedly almost entirely black after preK. Most of those predictions that the school would never see a significant number of inbound families turned out to be wildly untrue. While different because its an elementary school, I see some basic, very high-level parallels to the situation with Jefferson today.

It really is different with an elementary school. Parents are much, much fussier about middle school and there's no free preschool equivalent to draw people in. But things can change, and sometimes they change faster than you might think.

Sincerely,
A parent who totally underestimated Langley 5 years ago.

If you go back a decade, you can find posts where multiple posters says absolutely horrific (and some blatantly racist/offensive/untrue) things about Ludlow Taylor which was allegedly almost entirely black after preK. Most of those predictions that the school would never see a significant number of inbound families turned out to be wildly untrue. While different because its an elementary school, I see some basic, very high-level parallels to the situation with Jefferson today.

It might be obvious but since no one has mentioned it: It depends on your child. My children are at Basis and both are doing fine but it's definitely a better fit for one.

Anonymous wrote:How has Jefferson Academy been this year? DS says he wants to go. (He's in fourth now.) I'm trying to convince him to play lottery for charters.

(Not the OP.)

It's very hard to say. Most of the Brent parents at Jefferson have boosted for the MS for years. They lobbied for the big renovation etc. They're hardly going to admit to disappointment or major challenges.

We didn't enroll for 6th grade because we couldn't get definite answers from admins about honors classes. They wouldn't tell us if any existed, or would be created for SY 2021-2022.

My 4th grader also says he wants to go, because some of his friends say they're going. I have no idea who's really going, but I know that I want definite honors classes in a Title 1 school. I'm going to reserve judgement until Jefferson open houses during SY 2022-2023. No definite honors classes for both English and math from 6th-8th and we're not going no matter how the lottery shakes out next month. We'd prefer to move or go private if necessary.

i think jefferson is really improving with 4 solid feeder schools and more and more in-bound kids attending but people (especially at brent where jefferson has long been regarded as a no) dont see it (or the full potential there) yet

Latin 1 does offer buses