Anonymous
Post 05/06/2013 13:30     Subject: Re:Luther Jackson Middle school safety/advice?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:LJ is much smaller AAP Center with 333 students vs. Kilmer 570 students vs. Longfellow 694 students. Their TJ acceptance rate is on par with Frost MS when Frost has more students 375. This is 2011-212 statistics from FCPS school profile. Last year LJ had 20 students accepted to TJ, and 18 students in previous year. The school is doing very well indeed!


More Frost MS AAP Center students opt not to apply to TJ as their high school is Woodson.


As opposed to Langley, McLean, Madison and Marshall? All are similar to Woodson. Plus, the Frost folks are closer to TJ, so I would have expected more to apply as TJ is closer to them.
Anonymous
Post 05/06/2013 13:09     Subject: Re:Luther Jackson Middle school safety/advice?
Anonymous wrote:LJ is much smaller AAP Center with 333 students vs. Kilmer 570 students vs. Longfellow 694 students. Their TJ acceptance rate is on par with Frost MS when Frost has more students 375. This is 2011-212 statistics from FCPS school profile. Last year LJ had 20 students accepted to TJ, and 18 students in previous year. The school is doing very well indeed!


More Frost MS AAP Center students opt not to apply to TJ as their high school is Woodson.
Anonymous
Post 05/06/2013 13:03     Subject: Re:Luther Jackson Middle school safety/advice?
LJ is much smaller AAP Center with 333 students vs. Kilmer 570 students vs. Longfellow 694 students. Their TJ acceptance rate is on par with Frost MS when Frost has more students 375. This is 2011-212 statistics from FCPS school profile. Last year LJ had 20 students accepted to TJ, and 18 students in previous year. The school is doing very well indeed!
Anonymous
Post 05/06/2013 13:02     Subject: Luther Jackson Middle school safety/advice?
Anonymous wrote: People will pay more attention to the fact that the percentage of LJ applicants to TJ who were semifinalists is considerably lower, as well as the lower number of admitted students from Jackson (15 vs. 38 at Kilmer and 55 at Longfellow).


They might. Or we could all forget about TJ being the sole standard of intelligence and a successful middle school, as it is a math and science specialty school, not just the next step of AAP.

Or we could look at percentages of the entire Level IV population admitted to TJ. For the Class of 2016, Kilmer and Longfellow were higher than Jackson. For 2015 and 2014, Jackson and Longfellow were higher than Kilmer. (The demographics aren't posted yet for this school year.)

Or I could stop playing with statistics and go do some real work.

The bottom line is, if your child needs AAP, you'll go to Jackson. The kid won't be beset by gangs or any other violence, crime, or riff-raff-ness from either the TJ-bound kids or the FARMs kids or the ESL kids, and we should keep in mind that good children can and do fit all those categories simultaneously.
Anonymous
Post 05/06/2013 12:15     Subject: Luther Jackson Middle school safety/advice?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote: If LJ had a year when as many students got into TJ as from Kilmer, much of the grousing about LJ would stop.


Out of curiosity, I just ran some statistics. The percentage of semifinalists who were admitted to TJ for the class of 2017 was higher at Luther Jackson than it was at either Kilmer or Longfellow.


People will pay more attention to the fact that the percentage of LJ applicants to TJ who were semifinalists is considerably lower, as well as the lower number of admitted students from Jackson (15 vs. 38 at Kilmer and 55 at Longfellow).
Anonymous
Post 05/06/2013 12:03     Subject: Luther Jackson Middle school safety/advice?
Anonymous wrote: If LJ had a year when as many students got into TJ as from Kilmer, much of the grousing about LJ would stop.


Out of curiosity, I just ran some statistics. The percentage of semifinalists who were admitted to TJ for the class of 2017 was higher at Luther Jackson than it was at either Kilmer or Longfellow.
Anonymous
Post 05/06/2013 10:09     Subject: Luther Jackson Middle school safety/advice?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:PP: and the reason why most people in Vienna prefer Thoreau over LJ is location. Not racial issues. We would rather our kids go to a school in Vienna. Why? because we live in Vienna.


I have no doubt that LJ is a good school. I also have no doubt that it will take my DD 25 min or more each way to get to LJ.


It is interesting because those same location issues are present in the Cooper/Longfellow debate about adding an AAP center at Cooper and many of the Cooper parents are fighting to keep their kids at Longfellow.


And at Kilmer as well. The difference is that the AAP programs at Longfellow and Kilmer are older and have been top feeders to TJ, particularly Longfellow. If LJ had a year when as many students got into TJ as from Kilmer, much of the grousing about LJ would stop. Since that hasn't happened yet, the advocates for opening an AAP center at Thoreau have tended to stay busy.

Which is fine, if they are OK with smaller AAP programs at virtually every middle school. I just wish that some of them wouldn't think it helps their case to complain about non-existent gangs at LJ or make it sound like the LJ cafeteria sits in the middle of an interstate.
Anonymous
Post 05/06/2013 09:58     Subject: Luther Jackson Middle school safety/advice?
Anonymous wrote:PP: and the reason why most people in Vienna prefer Thoreau over LJ is location. Not racial issues. We would rather our kids go to a school in Vienna. Why? because we live in Vienna.


I have no doubt that LJ is a good school. I also have no doubt that it will take my DD 25 min or more each way to get to LJ.


So, why then is the false information about "gangs" perpetuated? One earlier poster was concerned about her DC being in with the "riff-raff." By the way, those who live in Vienna but don't want to send their kids to LJ b/c they want to send them "in their neighborhood" CSN send them to Thoreau. They CSN just opt out of AAP. It's not like there is a preponderance of "gifted" children in the Thoreau cluster. FCPS has to do what it can to serve the needs of the 140,000 students in the system, not just a select few.
Anonymous
Post 05/06/2013 09:43     Subject: Luther Jackson Middle school safety/advice?
Kilmer is much closer to my house than jackson. I do not have a kid in middle school yet. My dd will go where her friends go. If they all go to jackson, she will go there. I really do not see the big deal.

It does not matter in the long run. TJ vs madison will not have any long term impact. It will not change the college, and will not change her proffesion.

I am sick of this whining
Anonymous
Post 05/06/2013 09:36     Subject: Luther Jackson Middle school safety/advice?
Anonymous wrote:PP: and the reason why most people in Vienna prefer Thoreau over LJ is location. Not racial issues. We would rather our kids go to a school in Vienna. Why? because we live in Vienna.

I have no doubt that LJ is a good school. I also have no doubt that it will take my DD 25 min or more each way to get to LJ.


Let's stick to facts, here. First, it is not accurate that most people in Vienna prefer Thoreau. The only relevant group here is the parents and students in AAP. Those of us who have sent our children to Luther Jackson are very happy with it, and we comprise about about half the relevant group, maybe more.

Second, the location objection is an oft-repeated canard that does not gain veracity through the re-telling. How do I know this? Because nobody complained about Kilmer's being too far, and Kilmer is just as far as Jackson. In fact, some of you sent your older children to Kilmer but then declined to send your younger children to Jackson. At our bus stop, the Thoreau morning bus departs slightly after the Jackson bus; in the afternoon, it drops off at the same time.

Also with respect to the distance: going to school outside one's own neighborhood is inherent in the center concept. AAP centers are designed for, work best for, and are truly necessary for a statistical minority of children who do not fit in their neighborhood schools and need a different environment in order to learn best. Because they are a small minority, by definition, in order to be taught with enough others like themselves to make up a reasonable class size, they must all travel outside their immediate geographical area. This trade-off may not be worth it to some families, but for those who truly need a center, it is invaluable.
Anonymous
Post 05/06/2013 09:29     Subject: Re:Luther Jackson Middle school safety/advice?
I agree. I want my DS to have a MS experience that is different from LJ. It is a family choice. I did not want to transport my DS far away from the neighborhood just to attend the AAP program. He has other interests. Choice.
Anonymous
Post 05/06/2013 09:18     Subject: Re:Luther Jackson Middle school safety/advice?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I suspect most people bad-mouthing LJ are people in Vienna who want an AAP center at Thoreau and don't want to send their kids to LJ.


You hit the nail on the head. That's the only reason I can see for some parents continuing to perpetuate myths about Jackson.

They always claim that it's about "keeping Vienna kids in Vienna" and the length of the trip to Jackson, but ...I live in Vienna and it takes me about 12 minutes to drive my child to Jackson, yes, even with the Gallows Road traffic. I guess the person complaining about a 25-minute commute must live far on the other side of Vienna and is figuring bus times, not driving times....but the reality is, those coveted slots at TJ mean a MUCH longer commute every day for four years. Will that poster bring up the length of the commute to school if he or she wants his or her kids at TJ?.....


Not everyone wants thier kids at TJ. I am happy with DD walking to Madison
Anonymous
Post 05/06/2013 09:10     Subject: Luther Jackson Middle school safety/advice?
Anonymous wrote:PP: and the reason why most people in Vienna prefer Thoreau over LJ is location. Not racial issues. We would rather our kids go to a school in Vienna. Why? because we live in Vienna.


I have no doubt that LJ is a good school. I also have no doubt that it will take my DD 25 min or more each way to get to LJ.


It is interesting because those same location issues are present in the Cooper/Longfellow debate about adding an AAP center at Cooper and many of the Cooper parents are fighting to keep their kids at Longfellow.
Anonymous
Post 05/06/2013 08:55     Subject: Re:Luther Jackson Middle school safety/advice?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I suspect most people bad-mouthing LJ are people in Vienna who want an AAP center at Thoreau and don't want to send their kids to LJ.


You hit the nail on the head. That's the only reason I can see for some parents continuing to perpetuate myths about Jackson.

They always claim that it's about "keeping Vienna kids in Vienna" and the length of the trip to Jackson, but ...I live in Vienna and it takes me about 12 minutes to drive my child to Jackson, yes, even with the Gallows Road traffic. I guess the person complaining about a 25-minute commute must live far on the other side of Vienna and is figuring bus times, not driving times....but the reality is, those coveted slots at TJ mean a MUCH longer commute every day for four years. Will that poster bring up the length of the commute to school if he or she wants his or her kids at TJ?.....



For some people, it is an issue.
Anonymous
Post 05/06/2013 08:48     Subject: Re:Luther Jackson Middle school safety/advice?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I suspect most people bad-mouthing LJ are people in Vienna who want an AAP center at Thoreau and don't want to send their kids to LJ.


You hit the nail on the head. That's the only reason I can see for some parents continuing to perpetuate myths about Jackson.

They always claim that it's about "keeping Vienna kids in Vienna" and the length of the trip to Jackson, but ...I live in Vienna and it takes me about 12 minutes to drive my child to Jackson, yes, even with the Gallows Road traffic. I guess the person complaining about a 25-minute commute must live far on the other side of Vienna and is figuring bus times, not driving times....but the reality is, those coveted slots at TJ mean a MUCH longer commute every day for four years. Will that poster bring up the length of the commute to school if he or she wants his or her kids at TJ?.....