Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a "GS rating"?

Great Schools.

I've been critical of J-H here, but even I know that Web site is worthless.

(I'm sure 10:46 was just pretending to be ignorant.)

The stars rating is worthless, as are the subjective reviews.

But the number ratings? Those are, as I'm sure you know, based on that school's average SOL test scores. You can argue the importance of SOL test scores, but to dismiss them as "worthless" is exaggerating -- I mean, 80% of the posts here are about AAC and other test scores.

Anonymous wrote: The true final straw was when someone asked a general question about, "What do you think we could do for ACPS to attract those children that are otherwise headed to private school?" The Superintendent's reply was something along the lines of: "Private schools are a great option for some people, and I don't intend to try to compete for those students." I got my answer.

I can afford to send my child to private school, and she is very happy there. However, it makes me angry that ACPS is failing those students who don't have parents who have the savvy or wherewithal to get their kids moved to a better performing school (if you do that, you have to navigate a complex application process, as well as provide transportation to the out of boundary school yourself). I don't think concentrating underprivileged kids into a few schools is good for THEM, and I can't believe that ACPS has gotten away with a blatantly illegal segregated system as long as it has.

Another J-H critic here:

It sounds like we arrived at similar conclusions, and I had heard Morton Sherman articulate this position as well. He takes the "universal" part of "universal education" very seriously and very literally. One aspect of that is the school district has no interest in cultivating an achievement culture but instead has a strategy that caters to the least common denominator, which trickles down to the classrooms. Mix in a tendency to propose flavor-of-the-day gimmicks without seeking community buy-in rather than truly innovate, and a City Mayor who has been quoted as saying parents in ACPS who put their children in private schools are racist and you get a clearer picture of the vibe is in ACPS. My own view is the school district *should* be trying to compete with those private schools to retain its better students because their presence in the classrooms would likely have a broader positive effect on their peers. But instead, they've written them off, but still cannot find the panacea for their poverty problem. And that, in a nutshell, is the organizational and institutional failure of ACPS. It won't improve until there is a new board, a new superintendent, and a new outlook.

I am a pp here who has posted some negative things about J-H (but no profanity). Yes, I do not send my child to J-H, and I really do not believe it was because I was ignorant of what was going on a the school. A couple of years before my child was due to go to Kindergarten, I signed up for the J-H listserve, and began tracking news about the school. I did see a small group of parents who were dedicated to making the school better. At one point, they had several principals come and go in fairly short order, but then Patricia Graves came and seemed to be willing to stay and work on improving the school. The parent group started talking about trying to shift to the IB program, and I thought that maybe the school was worth a serious look. However, over time, it became pretty clear that the ACPS administration was willing to do anything it took to improve the school as long as it didn't involve spending money or redrawing attendance lines (which is what it would really take to make things better there). I saw the parents posting about how they had to hound the school system about making basic repairs to the building and playground (while other schools got brand-new playground equipment).

The final straw was when I went to a "town meeting" with the Superintendent at J-H. I decided to just go and watch and see what the J-H parents said to the Superintendent about plans for the school. At the end of the meeting, I was shocked. Here we were, at a school that was not accredited and was failing by every measurable standard, and not one parent asked anything about the school. There were questions about many other elementary schools, overall district funding, IP classes at the high school, etc. There was even a discussion about overcrowding at some elementary schools, and the Superintendent made an offhand reference about J-H being under enrolled, and there was absolutely no discussion about why that might be. At one point, there was a sort of informal hand-raising to indicate what schools were represented in the audience, and it was clear that there were very few J-H parents there. At the time, there had been a running thread about the J-H parents aborted attempts to get the Superintendent to meet with them. He apparently kept scheduling and canceling. One would think that this would be an excellent opportunity to ask some questions, or just make a show of interest. Instead, very few could even be bothered to show up. The true final straw was when someone asked a general question about, "What do you think we could do for ACPS to attract those children that are otherwise headed to private school?" The Superintendent's reply was something along the lines of: "Private schools are a great option for some people, and I don't intend to try to compete for those students." I got my answer.

I can afford to send my child to private school, and she is very happy there. However, it makes me angry that ACPS is failing those students who don't have parents who have the savvy or wherewithal to get their kids moved to a better performing school (if you do that, you have to navigate a complex application process, as well as provide transportation to the out of boundary school yourself). I don't think concentrating underprivileged kids into a few schools is good for THEM, and I can't believe that ACPS has gotten away with a blatantly illegal segregated system as long as it has.

Anonymous wrote:What is a "GS rating"?

Great Schools.

I've been critical of J-H here, but even I know that Web site is worthless.

What is a "GS rating"?

To earn a GS rating of "1" (yes "1"), someone, somewhere at J-H has to be full of fail.

The language is not good. We live right by the school, and I walk by the playground during school hours. I am sure the school has good teachers, and some nice families. However, many of the kids there appear to have very difficult lives and home situations that the school can't fix.

Please, do a racism check on yourself...why do you "imagine" the language is bad.....and I wish your kids well in their quest to survive you as their parent.

The key word is "imagine".... Wow, be a grown- up and make your own decisions instead of what you hear on the playground.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the post, JH parent. I, too, am a JH parent.

Thank, you also, to all of you who have chosen to send your children to other schools. The level of language and profanity I have seen in this thread clearly shows that you would not be comfortable in a school such as JH.

Language here has been a lot tamer than what I imagine is heard in the hallways of J-H.

I wish you well in your quest to survive it.

Thanks for the post, JH parent. I, too, am a JH parent.

Thank, you also, to all of you who have chosen to send your children to other schools. The level of language and profanity I have seen in this thread clearly shows that you would not be comfortable in a school such as JH.

Anonymous wrote:Hi,
I am a parent of a student at Jefferson-Houston. JH is on-track to be the first International Baccaulaureate Primary Years Programme school in ACPS. Getting IB approval is a multi-year process which involves extensive teacher training and proof of implementation. Significant documentation must be submitted to the IBO (Int'l Bacc Organization), and site visits occur from IBO officials before a school can be called an IBO World School. For more information, look at www.ibo.org

I believe that the IB Middle Years Programme at JH is in the process of being approved at the same time as the other middle schools, but please double check with school administration.

If you'd like more information on JH, please consider contacting the school--you can talk with the IB coordinator there for more information on where they are in the process. They will give you a tour as well as contact information for parents who would be happy to talk to you.

There ARE great kids and parents at JH. There is a growing, active PTA, and there are some significant educational reforms underway. We'd love more parent and community support. Unfortunately, however, it is more likely that we find really hateful messages from people in the community (who NEVER actually have children in the school) in online forums that result in parents continually choosing to opt-out. We DO see these messages... But we've learned to ignore them because we know the truth about our kids and teachers. If you don't want to send your child to JH, then don't. There are many valid reasons to make that choice based on the needs of your family. However, if you do decide to stick with us, then we'd love to have you as a part of our team!

Those aren't "hateful" messages you're reading. That's you projecting your own insecurities. Not liking what you see and explaining why to others does not amount to "hateful" behavior. That kind of attitude isn't going help you improve your school, either.

Good luck.

Hi,
I am a parent of a student at Jefferson-Houston. JH is on-track to be the first International Baccaulaureate Primary Years Programme school in ACPS. Getting IB approval is a multi-year process which involves extensive teacher training and proof of implementation. Significant documentation must be submitted to the IBO (Int'l Bacc Organization), and site visits occur from IBO officials before a school can be called an IBO World School. For more information, look at www.ibo.org

I believe that the IB Middle Years Programme at JH is in the process of being approved at the same time as the other middle schools, but please double check with school administration.

If you'd like more information on JH, please consider contacting the school--you can talk with the IB coordinator there for more information on where they are in the process. They will give you a tour as well as contact information for parents who would be happy to talk to you.

There ARE great kids and parents at JH. There is a growing, active PTA, and there are some significant educational reforms underway. We'd love more parent and community support. Unfortunately, however, it is more likely that we find really hateful messages from people in the community (who NEVER actually have children in the school) in online forums that result in parents continually choosing to opt-out. We DO see these messages... But we've learned to ignore them because we know the truth about our kids and teachers. If you don't want to send your child to JH, then don't. There are many valid reasons to make that choice based on the needs of your family. However, if you do decide to stick with us, then we'd love to have you as a part of our team!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because they did tear down some of them, right where the Charles Houston Center went. The number of units was reduced, and moved to other parts of the city. Some were rebuilt under the scenario you spell out.

Actually, this is not true. They increased the density of development so as to be able to include the recreation center and market rate housing, and still not lose public housing units. The refusal to move public housing units to other parts of the city is a sore point with Parker-Gray residents.

Note the "multi-family" dwellings described here:

http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=356875&paper=59&cat=104

Also note that, less than a year after the departure of the last Jefferson-Houston principal the new "CEO" is departing.

Although this article says that 60 public housing units must be replaced "elsewhere in the city," the City Council recently authorized the Housing Authority to buy an apartment building of in Parker Gray that had been previously run by the Baptist Church that will be used as public housing.

http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=348529&paper=59&cat=104

Anonymous wrote:Because they did tear down some of them, right where the Charles Houston Center went. The number of units was reduced, and moved to other parts of the city. Some were rebuilt under the scenario you spell out.

Actually, this is not true. They increased the density of development so as to be able to include the recreation center and market rate housing, and still not lose public housing units. The refusal to move public housing units to other parts of the city is a sore point with Parker-Gray residents.

Note the "multi-family" dwellings described here:

http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=356875&paper=59&cat=104

Also note that, less than a year after the departure of the last Jefferson-Houston principal the new "CEO" is departing.