Anonymous
Post 04/23/2016 21:02     Subject: Re:Jefferson Academy Kool-Aid
Apples and oranges. The achievement gap is obviously much narrow for 3 and 4 year olds, the ages of the first cohort of in-boundary kids to attend Brent around 2002, than for high SES and low SES 6th graders. Also, most of the IB families lived with a 10-minute walk of the school, not so for Jefferson. I don't think it was a skillful PR job back that drew families in as much as a high SES friendly principal and the power of interconnectivity in the neighborhood. The principal was close to retirement and unafraid to make waves, and had a politically powerful spouse who helped her draw in resources to Brent. Many of us got to know families who were trying Brent at Turtle Park, church, dance and swimming classes, CHAW or wherever else around the neighborhood, and were willing to give Brent a try because friends had become advocates. Where are the parallel developments at Jefferson? I see the link between parents of little kids unable to afford private school desperate to stay on the Hill and parents of 11 year-olds desperate to stay on the Hill, but it pretty much ends there for me.

Anonymous
Post 04/23/2016 15:59     Subject: Jefferson Academy Kool-Aid
Anonymous wrote:Excerpt from Brent newsletter:

"Jefferson Academy ... is the 4th highest ranked middle school in the District of Columbia based on last year's PARCC test scores. The staff and principal at Jefferson have a strong record of academic success as shown by the year-over-year improvement in test scores by the students."

Someone has a future in writing advertisements in the field of residential real estate.


Not surprising given that a similar 'sale' took place about 10+ years ago when IB families started attending Brent again . . . . it was a skillful PR job back then as well.
Anonymous
Post 04/23/2016 15:03     Subject: Re:Jefferson Academy Kool-Aid
Anonymous wrote:They're both extremely tough to get into for MS/HS. A friend of mine got a 6th grade spot at Sidwell, there were around 150 applicants for 10 spots. Another friend got a spot at TJ, 13,000+ applicants for 900 spots. You do the math.





Did you do the math?

The math is about the same for the numbers you quoted, if you wanted your post to stand on the "math". There are clearly other important differences, but just didn't want the math to get in the way here, so to speak.

10/150 = 0.0666

900/13,000 = 0.0692
Anonymous
Post 04/23/2016 14:52     Subject: Jefferson Academy Kool-Aid
Anonymous wrote:Excerpt from Brent newsletter:

"Jefferson Academy ... is the 4th highest ranked middle school in the District of Columbia based on last year's PARCC test scores. The staff and principal at Jefferson have a strong record of academic success as shown by the year-over-year improvement in test scores by the students."

Someone has a future in writing advertisements in the field of residential real estate.


I truly do not think Jefferson outscored Latin, Basis, Deal, Hardy and SH. Did it?
Anonymous
Post 04/23/2016 14:12     Subject: Jefferson Academy Kool-Aid
Excerpt from Brent newsletter:

"Jefferson Academy ... is the 4th highest ranked middle school in the District of Columbia based on last year's PARCC test scores. The staff and principal at Jefferson have a strong record of academic success as shown by the year-over-year improvement in test scores by the students."

Someone has a future in writing advertisements in the field of residential real estate.
Anonymous
Post 04/22/2016 14:21     Subject: Re:Jefferson Academy Kool-Aid
They're both extremely tough to get into for MS/HS. A friend of mine got a 6th grade spot at Sidwell, there were around 150 applicants for 10 spots. Another friend got a spot at TJ, 13,000+ applicants for 900 spots. You do the math.



Anonymous
Post 04/22/2016 12:25     Subject: Re:Jefferson Academy Kool-Aid
Anonymous wrote:Not buying it. For what I've observed, DC privates are mainly interested in admitting the strongest and most talented students (at art, music, drama, sports etc.) they can recruit, particularly minorities.


TJ is a tougher admission than Sidwell. It's also heavily skewed towards Asian uber achievers
Anonymous
Post 04/22/2016 11:22     Subject: Re:Jefferson Academy Kool-Aid
Not buying it. For what I've observed, DC privates are mainly interested in admitting the strongest and most talented students (at art, music, drama, sports etc.) they can recruit, particularly minorities.
Anonymous
Post 04/22/2016 09:37     Subject: Re:Jefferson Academy Kool-Aid
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:


the continued hubris of the Hill parents who blithely assume 6th grade admission to Sidwell, Maret & GDS ... adorable!

"Golly, maybe we'll just have to enroll at Sidwell or NCS a couple years earlier. What a shame, because we LOVE Brent!"



It's okay though, since if they don't get into those schools they'll just move to NoVA and their kids will walk right into TJ.


Feel better about your own insecurities and inadequacies?


TJ is a tougher admission than Sidwell. You have to know a lot of stuff. Sidwell you need to know some stuff and some people
Anonymous
Post 04/22/2016 09:32     Subject: Re:Jefferson Academy Kool-Aid
Anonymous wrote:


the continued hubris of the Hill parents who blithely assume 6th grade admission to Sidwell, Maret & GDS ... adorable!

"Golly, maybe we'll just have to enroll at Sidwell or NCS a couple years earlier. What a shame, because we LOVE Brent!"



It's okay though, since if they don't get into those schools they'll just move to NoVA and their kids will walk right into TJ.


Feel better about your own insecurities and inadequacies?
Anonymous
Post 04/22/2016 02:11     Subject: Re:Jefferson Academy Kool-Aid



the continued hubris of the Hill parents who blithely assume 6th grade admission to Sidwell, Maret & GDS ... adorable!

"Golly, maybe we'll just have to enroll at Sidwell or NCS a couple years earlier. What a shame, because we LOVE Brent!"



It's okay though, since if they don't get into those schools they'll just move to NoVA and their kids will walk right into TJ.
Anonymous
Post 04/21/2016 21:42     Subject: Re:Jefferson Academy Kool-Aid
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Right, boatloads of happy middle-class Cap Hill families at Hobson, the neighborhood middle school that's 40% FARMs, 80% OOB, 15% white, and 0% Asian (just like the Hill, right?).



It's just like the middle-SES Hill.


The Hill, regardless of SES, is nowhere near 85% non-white in 2016.


20003 alone is about 27K people and < %10 are school aged children. There are more seniors than school aged children. While Hill East is fast gentrifying it's not as whited out as you may think with 3:2 white to black ratio. You still have multi-generational households, plus neighboring boundaries for Payne, Miner and Tyler. It's not all dog parks, yoga and bike lanes (thank god!). Some of us do lament the loss of diversity underway


We need to act now to preserve the open air drug markets and corner stores selling blunts and singles! Life in the Hill isn't the same without the crunch of crack vials under your shoes and junkies defecating in your alley.


none of those things makes me cringe as much as seeing sheeple lined up for the latest [insert choice of cronut, barre, studio, crossfit, doggie daycare]



I can laugh at the man-bun-wearers as much as anyone, but anything is better than crack vials and defecating junkies.


Ugh. Comments like this make me not want to talk to my Hill neighbors. I can't believe that people who are this clueless choose to live in DC and on the Hill in particular. But anyway, just for fun, I'll say: there's more to DC black culture than "crack vials and defecating junkies" and you are a clueless gentrifier.




That chip on your shoulder is distorting your whole world view. The only person who is conflating DC's black culture with "crack vials and defecating junkies" is you. Go back and re-read.

1st PP above: sarcastic reference to the Hill's infamous past
2nd PP above: snarky response regarding gentrifiers
3rd PP above: more snark regarding gentrifiers, but assertion that they're preferable to criminal behavior and unsanitary/unsafe neighborhood
YOU: conflating DC's black culture with the aforementioned crack vials, defecating junkies, and by extension open-air drug markets and corner stores specializing in blunts, singles, and other accessories for the indigent crowd


different PPs genius



I get that genius. Again - re-read the order of the posts. The one bitching about her Hill neighbors is the same one who felt the need to "inform" us that DC's black culture is more than crack vials, defecating junkies, etc.

She wrote it directly in reply to 3 different posters lamenting both gentrifiers and criminal behavior. None of the 3 had anything to say about black culture vis a vis gentrification, drugs, and crime. Only the bitcher did. Only she conflated them.

Genius.



you are incoherent
Anonymous
Post 04/21/2016 17:03     Subject: Jefferson Academy Kool-Aid
Anonymous wrote:-^^^ interesting and not surprising. But what is your point when it comes to Jefferson where very different populations could co-exist with the proper structures in place? Or do you prefer to shrug and wave bye bye to wealthier and/or more academically prepared students as happens now


What would those "proper structures" consist of and how do you propose holding DCPS accountable in terms of implementing, funding and supporting them? How does DCPS replicate Deal programming for all at a school with 300 students?
Anonymous
Post 04/21/2016 16:07     Subject: Jefferson Academy Kool-Aid
I do not have a solution - unfortunately.

I only posted this in response to the Diane Ravitch post -- the problem goes a lot deeper than ed reformers vs traditional school advocates.
Anonymous
Post 04/21/2016 16:04     Subject: Jefferson Academy Kool-Aid
-^^^ interesting and not surprising. But what is your point when it comes to Jefferson where very different populations could co-exist with the proper structures in place? Or do you prefer to shrug and wave bye bye to wealthier and/or more academically prepared students as happens now