Anonymous wrote:Deal's entire student body isn't advanced. How are they handling the differentiated work amongst students?

BADLY, but shhhh it's a secret : (

Anonymous wrote:Thank you very much for sharing this information. I remain very concerned about the lack of a real vision - let alone any concrete plans - for those of us who are are not in the dual-language feeders. I have friends in other cities who have shared with me their own experience of being zoned for a school that focused first - and it seemed foremost - on the dual language program and they had to fight tooth and nail to get equal resources and decent programming for the non-dual language program. They are/were understandably outraged. I really hope this is not the road we are on. I am already confused by the language being used: "dual language program" and "neighborhood school." This seems to imply that the dual language program is not part of the neighborhood school. I really think the language that DCPS uses to describe the school will have a big impact on family buy-in so such communications should not be considered unimportant. We are grandfathered into Deal for now but our family is wishing very much for a fantastic non-dual language program at MacFarland.

This is where the rubber meets the road; everything you say is exactly right.

Thirds. Same situation. I'd like to get the feeling from DCPS that they are even interested in people in our situation.

I do think that starting the dual language program one grade at a time should give DCPS some time to get things running right.

Anonymous wrote:Thank you very much for sharing this information. I remain very concerned about the lack of a real vision - let alone any concrete plans - for those of us who are are not in the dual-language feeders. I have friends in other cities who have shared with me their own experience of being zoned for a school that focused first - and it seemed foremost - on the dual language program and they had to fight tooth and nail to get equal resources and decent programming for the non-dual language program. They are/were understandably outraged. I really hope this is not the road we are on. I am already confused by the language being used: "dual language program" and "neighborhood school." This seems to imply that the dual language program is not part of the neighborhood school. I really think the language that DCPS uses to describe the school will have a big impact on family buy-in so such communications should not be considered unimportant. We are grandfathered into Deal for now but our family is wishing very much for a fantastic non-dual language program at MacFarland.

Us too.

Anonymous wrote:Thank you very much for sharing this information. I remain very concerned about the lack of a real vision - let alone any concrete plans - for those of us who are are not in the dual-language feeders. I have friends in other cities who have shared with me their own experience of being zoned for a school that focused first - and it seemed foremost - on the dual language program and they had to fight tooth and nail to get equal resources and decent programming for the non-dual language program. They are/were understandably outraged. I really hope this is not the road we are on. I am already confused by the language being used: "dual language program" and "neighborhood school." This seems to imply that the dual language program is not part of the neighborhood school. I really think the language that DCPS uses to describe the school will have a big impact on family buy-in so such communications should not be considered unimportant. We are grandfathered into Deal for now but our family is wishing very much for a fantastic non-dual language program at MacFarland.

Well-said!

Thank you very much for sharing this information. I remain very concerned about the lack of a real vision - let alone any concrete plans - for those of us who are are not in the dual-language feeders. I have friends in other cities who have shared with me their own experience of being zoned for a school that focused first - and it seemed foremost - on the dual language program and they had to fight tooth and nail to get equal resources and decent programming for the non-dual language program. They are/were understandably outraged. I really hope this is not the road we are on. I am already confused by the language being used: "dual language program" and "neighborhood school." This seems to imply that the dual language program is not part of the neighborhood school. I really think the language that DCPS uses to describe the school will have a big impact on family buy-in so such communications should not be considered unimportant. We are grandfathered into Deal for now but our family is wishing very much for a fantastic non-dual language program at MacFarland.

Hello all,

Here is my quick-take on this week’s MacFarland Middle School Community Cabinet meeting which took place this past Tuesday.

• There will be a community meeting on Tuesday, November 3rd from 5:30 to 7:30pm in the Powell Elementary School atrium to discuss the 6th grade dual language program at MacFarland Middle School, opening next year.

• The school logo and colors are nearly finalized. These were chosen by groups of students at the feeder schools. See a low-res scan here:

• The school is likely to be named, “MacFarland” permanently. On top of the planning staff’s general reluctance to go down the path of changing the name, they do need to begin marketing the dual-language program very shortly.

Outside of those discrete items, most of the meeting was taken up by a lengthy “vision” conversation. I’ll post the notes when they are published next week, but here are the major responses and requests (from the cabinet members) that I remember:

Question: What is your vision for MacFarland MS?

A diverse school to reflect the extremely diverse community
Positive school culture (leadership)
Rigorous academics
Engage teachers
Child-centered
Cohesive culture of respect
Dynamic program for both the Dual Language program and the neighborhood school
Integration between the dual language program and the neighborhood school
Robust extracurricular activities
What are you going to do to market to non-dual language families?
Teachers who are fully bi-literate
Diverse staff and teachers who are fully bilingual and bi-literate.
Recruitment of native Spanish speaking teachers
Advanced programs without segregation

As a parting gift, several members gave the staff some pushback regarding parent burnout over having to fight downtown too often. An example given was a perceived lack of support by the central office for several beloved Spanish language teachers who were not retained because of visa issues.

Best,

Christopher

Public meeting notice from DCPS Planning:

###

MacFarland Middle School's Dual Language Program is opening in 2016!

Please join us for an informational meeting on Tuesday, November 3rd from 5:30 to 7:30pm in the Powell Elementary School atrium to discuss the 6th grade dual language program at MacFarland Middle School, opening next year.

All students from dual language programs at DCPS elementary schools (Bruce Monroe, Powell, Cleveland, Marie Reed, Bancroft and Tyler) are guaranteed a spot at MacFarland Middle School as long as they apply through the first round of the My School DC lottery.

Questions? Contact DCPS.Planning 'at' dc.gov.

######

I do believe language interpretation will be available at this meeting.

The second cabinet meeting is tonight. If you have any additional comments, please post them by noon today.

Christopher

Middle school science isn't exactly rocket science. I disagree.

Anonymous wrote:http://www.education.com/reference/article/track-not-track-middle-school/

Some middle schools restrict grouping to subjects that are overtly hierarchical in nature. A common configuration of courses involves tracking in math and language arts with heterogeneous grouping in science and social studies. For those adamantly opposed to any kind of tracking, it may be difficult to accept this compromise.

I think science should be tracked before language arts. It is much easier to be fluid and differentiate based on text choice and output required in ELA, but for science -- crap, my DC hasn't learned anything new that he hasn't taught himself. Science class is a waste of time without differentiation.

Anonymous wrote:

calexander wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

calexander wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't caleXander zoned for deal? Why does he care?

Thank you for your concern.

The answer is simple, really. I believe that all of the children in our community deserve a fair shot at a good education.

People that came before me fought battles and shed blood to provide my generation with opportunities; the least I can do is to use the resources and skills that are available to me to help today's children have a similar chance.

That being said, if I put on my darkest, most cynical, political, game theory hat, the parents of Deal/Wilson should make standing up MacFarland/Roosevelt a high priority. Enrollment trends at Deal/Wilson are not sustainable. If we want to maintain that educational quality, we all must work together to relieve the pressure.

This is a solvable problem. DC is the rare jurisdiction that actually has the financial resources to do this, IF we can find a way to meet the needs of the extremely diverse groups that are at play here.

Christopher

Thank you Christopher! What is your Saturday academy?

www.nwsadc.com

In short, it is an out-of-school-time academic enrichment program for students in the community. This semester, we have kids from twelve (!) different schools doing First Lego League robotics. In the spring, we'll do advance math and Scratch computer programming.

Are students required to live in Ward 4?

We had that notion at the beginning, but found it less than practical to enforce. Instead we targeted our promotional effort at the local schools and listservs and it has worked out. We just ask that the students be DC residents.

http://www.education.com/reference/article/track-not-track-middle-school/

Some middle schools restrict grouping to subjects that are overtly hierarchical in nature. A common configuration of courses involves tracking in math and language arts with heterogeneous grouping in science and social studies. For those adamantly opposed to any kind of tracking, it may be difficult to accept this compromise.

I would like to see a really great social work/mental health/behavior team in place. Behavior problems are really off-putting to middle class parents as the behaviors tend to be more extreme in middle school than in elementary school. The school needs to show that they take it seriously and have an effective approach.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can students just be grouped based on their PARCC ( the new DCPS testing system) scores from the previous year?

No, those test are not going to show anything but who has better computer skills.

At Hardy MS, DC-CAS turned out to be a poor measure for placement in the honors classes. Teachers had to make several adjustments at the beginning of the second term. It is just an indicator, but not the definitive measure.