Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, I'm hoping this thread won't derail into the same Cap Hill middle school drama. Anyone whose kids are at Jefferson right now?

I’m a current parent of a student at Jefferson who came from Brent. My observations so far:

- There is definitely advanced math, with a small set of sixth graders in seventh grade math, and so on.

- For the rest of the core classes (ELA, science, etc.), it appears that higher performing kids are placed in the same cohort together.

Happy to try to answer any specific questions.

Can anyone say how the advanced Spanish classes are going at Jefferson (geared towards Tyler Spanish immersion students) and what percent of Tyler kids immersion and not immersion went to Jefferson this year?

The classes are not advanced in Tyler so doubtful.

So you have no idea?

Not PP but if the feeder school kids are weak, why would you think the Spanish classes at Jefferson would be rigorous, especially since it’s a poorly performing school overall where overwhelming majority of kids can’t even master English?

On what basis are you claiming that Jefferson is “poorly performing.” Are you looking at total PARCC data and nothing else?

On a demographic-adjusted basis, Jefferson actually seems to perform well. And white kids there did extremely well on the latest PARCC, with passage rates exceeding those of white kids at Deal.

In the USNR rankings, Jefferson is the top-ranked public or charter middle school in Ward 6.

Sometimes it takes looking beyond one set of numbers and asking good questions, like PP’s question about Spanish.

Jefferson is 95% nonwhite.

Yet you conclude that Jefferson "seems to perform well" because the handful of white kids there did "extremely well" on the PARCC test a couple of years ago?

That seems both racist and illogical to me.

In fact, Jefferson's PARCC scores are abysmal, even compared to the rest of DCPS (which are horrible):

https://www.dcschoolreportcard.org/schools/1-0433/star-step-3?framework=ms&disaggregation=all_students&lang=en

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, I'm hoping this thread won't derail into the same Cap Hill middle school drama. Anyone whose kids are at Jefferson right now?

I’m a current parent of a student at Jefferson who came from Brent. My observations so far:

- There is definitely advanced math, with a small set of sixth graders in seventh grade math, and so on.

- For the rest of the core classes (ELA, science, etc.), it appears that higher performing kids are placed in the same cohort together.

Happy to try to answer any specific questions.

Can anyone say how the advanced Spanish classes are going at Jefferson (geared towards Tyler Spanish immersion students) and what percent of Tyler kids immersion and not immersion went to Jefferson this year?

The classes are not advanced in Tyler so doubtful.

So you have no idea?

Not PP but if the feeder school kids are weak, why would you think the Spanish classes at Jefferson would be rigorous, especially since it’s a poorly performing school overall where overwhelming majority of kids can’t even master English?

On what basis are you claiming that Jefferson is “poorly performing.” Are you looking at total PARCC data and nothing else?

On a demographic-adjusted basis, Jefferson actually seems to perform well. And white kids there did extremely well on the latest PARCC, with passage rates exceeding those of white kids at Deal.

In the USNR rankings, Jefferson is the top-ranked public or charter middle school in Ward 6.

Sometimes it takes looking beyond one set of numbers and asking good questions, like PP’s question about Spanish.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I’d known that School Without Walls was going to drop its admissions exam and PARCC score requirements I’d have taken a BASIS or DCI spot 2 years ago rather than going with a DCPS middle school. With Walls admissions now essentially a lottery for any 8th grader with at least a B average we might wind up moving for high school. That’s too much to put on my kid. He knows how high the stakes are. We just can’t afford private school without a lot of financial aid.

So wrong….
For Walls you need a B to APPLY, but last year (most likely this year too) they only interviewed the top 500 (based on calculated gpa) kids which means most kids that get an interview don’t have more than 1 B on their transcript. Your GPA and interview give you a composite score and then you are ranked. The top ~150 get in, the next 100 are waitlisted and the last 250 are not accepted. The randomness of the “lottery” is used for tiebreakers. Hope this helps.

Mom with 2 kids at Walls and an upcoming middle schooler

Anonymous wrote:If I’d known that School Without Walls was going to drop its admissions exam and PARCC score requirements I’d have taken a BASIS or DCI spot 2 years ago rather than going with a DCPS middle school. With Walls admissions now essentially a lottery for any 8th grader with at least a B average we might wind up moving for high school. That’s too much to put on my kid. He knows how high the stakes are. We just can’t afford private school without a lot of financial aid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, I'm hoping this thread won't derail into the same Cap Hill middle school drama. Anyone whose kids are at Jefferson right now?

I’m a current parent of a student at Jefferson who came from Brent. My observations so far:

- There is definitely advanced math, with a small set of sixth graders in seventh grade math, and so on.

- For the rest of the core classes (ELA, science, etc.), it appears that higher performing kids are placed in the same cohort together.

Happy to try to answer any specific questions.

Can anyone say how the advanced Spanish classes are going at Jefferson (geared towards Tyler Spanish immersion students) and what percent of Tyler kids immersion and not immersion went to Jefferson this year?

The classes are not advanced in Tyler so doubtful.

So you have no idea?

Not PP but if the feeder school kids are weak, why would you think the Spanish classes at Jefferson would be rigorous, especially since it’s a poorly performing school overall where overwhelming majority of kids can’t even master English?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, I'm hoping this thread won't derail into the same Cap Hill middle school drama. Anyone whose kids are at Jefferson right now?

I’m a current parent of a student at Jefferson who came from Brent. My observations so far:

- There is definitely advanced math, with a small set of sixth graders in seventh grade math, and so on.

- For the rest of the core classes (ELA, science, etc.), it appears that higher performing kids are placed in the same cohort together.

Happy to try to answer any specific questions.

Can anyone say how the advanced Spanish classes are going at Jefferson (geared towards Tyler Spanish immersion students) and what percent of Tyler kids immersion and not immersion went to Jefferson this year?

The classes are not advanced in Tyler so doubtful.

So you have no idea?

Not PP but if the feeder school kids are weak, why would you think the Spanish classes at Jefferson would be rigorous, especially since it’s a poorly performing school overall where overwhelming majority of kids can’t even master English?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, I'm hoping this thread won't derail into the same Cap Hill middle school drama. Anyone whose kids are at Jefferson right now?

I’m a current parent of a student at Jefferson who came from Brent. My observations so far:

- There is definitely advanced math, with a small set of sixth graders in seventh grade math, and so on.

- For the rest of the core classes (ELA, science, etc.), it appears that higher performing kids are placed in the same cohort together.

Happy to try to answer any specific questions.

Can anyone say how the advanced Spanish classes are going at Jefferson (geared towards Tyler Spanish immersion students) and what percent of Tyler kids immersion and not immersion went to Jefferson this year?

The classes are not advanced in Tyler so doubtful.

So you have no idea?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, I'm hoping this thread won't derail into the same Cap Hill middle school drama. Anyone whose kids are at Jefferson right now?

I’m a current parent of a student at Jefferson who came from Brent. My observations so far:

- There is definitely advanced math, with a small set of sixth graders in seventh grade math, and so on.

- For the rest of the core classes (ELA, science, etc.), it appears that higher performing kids are placed in the same cohort together.

Happy to try to answer any specific questions.

Can anyone say how the advanced Spanish classes are going at Jefferson (geared towards Tyler Spanish immersion students) and what percent of Tyler kids immersion and not immersion went to Jefferson this year?

The classes are not advanced in Tyler so doubtful.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:here is my (lottery aside) problem with the charter school options: washington latin seems truly lovely but its really just too far for my particular capitol hill family's particular willingness to commute. i personally don't really like basis. i think the best solution is not buses to charter schools - its honors classes at the capitol hill middle schools so the high-achieving students that now exist at pretty much all of the capitol hill area elementary schools start to opt in.

Can gently suggest that your commuting worries might be overblown? We are a Cap Hill family who have commuted
to various Latin campuses for a decade now. The bus from Eastern Market is an expense and kind of crazy at times, but you will only need a year or two before your kid with be delighted to take the metro with all their friends and feel competent and grown up. It is a gift to give your kids the confidence to navigate their own way to school.

It is a 45-minute commute each way on public transit which gets wearying. But after all the years, no one in our family regrets it. The pain is worth the gain.

An hour and a half round trip commute???

Hard pass.

The issue is that people move to the Hill precisely for walkability and the neighborhood feel. Yes there are people who are willing to commute across town for schools, as there always have been. It used to be that the wealthy people on the Hill sent their kids to privates in NW and they'd do that commute starting in elementary. But the cohort of people who have kids starting middle school around now have become used to being able to walk to school, to knowing their classmates families and bumping into them at the farmer's market or soccer practice on the weekend. It's really hard to make that adjustment to committing to a couple years of busing or driving and then having their kid take a long metro commute daily. This is why Basis is somewhat inexplicably popular on the Hill (given that Hill families lean a bit more crunchy and Basis is not at all crunchy) and why a Latin campus closer to the Hill would be an instant draw for Hill families. Like to the point that it will undermine the stated goal of that Latin campus, which is to provide more opportunities to underserved families east of the river and in Ward 5.

Apparently, you think that Hill families are all vegan, Birkenstock-wearing PETA members sitting around the fire pit singing Kumbaya.

Actually, many of us are just normal DC folk who want to send our kids to the best school we can without enduring a horrendous commute, and do the research instead of listening to blowhards on DCUM.

And right now that means Brent/Maury/etc. to Basis DC.

Do you even live in the Hill?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, I'm hoping this thread won't derail into the same Cap Hill middle school drama. Anyone whose kids are at Jefferson right now?

I’m a current parent of a student at Jefferson who came from Brent. My observations so far:

- There is definitely advanced math, with a small set of sixth graders in seventh grade math, and so on.

- For the rest of the core classes (ELA, science, etc.), it appears that higher performing kids are placed in the same cohort together.

Happy to try to answer any specific questions.

Can anyone say how the advanced Spanish classes are going at Jefferson (geared towards Tyler Spanish immersion students) and what percent of Tyler kids immersion and not immersion went to Jefferson this year?

Anonymous wrote:yeah and some of us on the Hill actually really dont want our child to have a 1.5 hour round trip commute for school. But then again we are renting and can't afford to buy so probably will have to give up the Hill sometimes soon...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:here is my (lottery aside) problem with the charter school options: washington latin seems truly lovely but its really just too far for my particular capitol hill family's particular willingness to commute. i personally don't really like basis. i think the best solution is not buses to charter schools - its honors classes at the capitol hill middle schools so the high-achieving students that now exist at pretty much all of the capitol hill area elementary schools start to opt in.

Can gently suggest that your commuting worries might be overblown? We are a Cap Hill family who have commuted
to various Latin campuses for a decade now. The bus from Eastern Market is an expense and kind of crazy at times, but you will only need a year or two before your kid with be delighted to take the metro with all their friends and feel competent and grown up. It is a gift to give your kids the confidence to navigate their own way to school.

It is a 45-minute commute each way on public transit which gets wearying. But after all the years, no one in our family regrets it. The pain is worth the gain.