Brook land Middle made A LOT of mistakes and therefore there is no neighborhood investment in the school. Nobody I know in Brookland Middle is willing to send their kids there. So, did DCPS learn from this to ensure the same mistakes would not be repeated at McFarland? I am concerned that the focus at McFarland has been on dual language, which leaves those of us not at those feeder out in the cold. I have complained about this here and elsewhere and get little response. So, my non-dual language kids will not go - we are in 16th Street Heights and I will send the oldest to Deal next year and then pray that I get the youngest into some other middle school via the lottery.

I am hopeful. I think DCPS did a good job selected leadership that is invested in the public education system in Ward 4.

Anonymous wrote:No the behavior isn’t the same outside of every middle school. The PAARC scores are an embarrassment. And the feeders lose the best students at 5th grade so they will continue to be weak. Much like brookland, this may be at least 15-20 years before it’s a solid performer. We are at a feeder and no way am I sending my kid there.

I’m not saying that the academics are strong but deriding a school due to student behavior outside of the school is dumb. I’ve taught in Title I schools, suburban schools, and elite private schools and the behavior of students after dismissal is uniformly awful.

Christopher, can you find out if there is any real academic remediation plan and report back? I would really love to hear that the answer is yes.

No the behavior isn’t the same outside of every middle school. The PAARC scores are an embarrassment. And the feeders lose the best students at 5th grade so they will continue to be weak. Much like brookland, this may be at least 15-20 years before it’s a solid performer. We are at a feeder and no way am I sending my kid there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dang, anecdotal non-evidence is replacing anecdotal evidence as the DCUM stock in trade!!!

Is there any other kind of assessment of behavior? There is suspension data but that tells more about the school's policies than about how the kids behave. I live nearby, I have for years, the kids are mostly fine but some of them are rowdy, fighting, shoving, calling each other unspeakable names, and now God help us, riding around on electric scooters. I wouldn't send my own children to a school where they had to be around that kind of behavior.

That same behavior happens daily at Deal and Latin.

It happens outside EVERY middle school!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP - it looks to me like you are conflating the day we have on PARCC with information you don’t have about student behavior.

I live nearby, so...

How do you know those kids attend MacFarland?

Got to admit, I trust Sanders over you on MacFarland student behavior, anonymous church lady neighbor.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dang, anecdotal non-evidence is replacing anecdotal evidence as the DCUM stock in trade!!!

Is there any other kind of assessment of behavior? There is suspension data but that tells more about the school's policies than about how the kids behave. I live nearby, I have for years, the kids are mostly fine but some of them are rowdy, fighting, shoving, calling each other unspeakable names, and now God help us, riding around on electric scooters. I wouldn't send my own children to a school where they had to be around that kind of behavior.

OMG, not electric scooters!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dang, anecdotal non-evidence is replacing anecdotal evidence as the DCUM stock in trade!!!

Is there any other kind of assessment of behavior? There is suspension data but that tells more about the school's policies than about how the kids behave. I live nearby, I have for years, the kids are mostly fine but some of them are rowdy, fighting, shoving, calling each other unspeakable names, and now God help us, riding around on electric scooters. I wouldn't send my own children to a school where they had to be around that kind of behavior.

That same behavior happens daily at Deal and Latin.