Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep. Honestly you probably should. Your attitude has doomed your experience. As someone who has been a parent there for 9 years, I’ve met lots of families who have gone through the school under 4 Principals and more chancellors than I can name. Nothing the school can offer you will make you happy or make you feel like your DC has what they deserve. Do yourself a favor and go elsewhere from the get go.

+1. These parents will never be happy.

I am the unenthused parent. And disagree. I don’t think it’s too much to ask for the kids to finish a book in English and discuss it. I also expect teachers for DC’s classes, not months where they sit in the cafeteria instead of learning because there’s no teacher or sub to fill in. They haven’t learned anything new about how to write since 5th grade. People lament about how 9th grade at JR is a “lost year”. That’s the main source of my concern. We are trying to get excited about the academy of choice and ARE happy with all the extracurricular choices. If 9th grade was rewarding at JR for your DC, please share. That would be helpful. Thank you.

Np here. Some parents at JR get extremely defensive if you criticize anything about the school. I’m not sure why. Perhaps they want to feel like JR is the best school around because of its diversity and because it forces kids to self advocate and be independent. There is a lot of unnecessary chaos at JR and unfortunately it prevents many students from doing their best. I have had 3 kids go through DCPS and I’m so thankful this is my last year.
JR is mediocre at best but it is all we have to work with

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep. Honestly you probably should. Your attitude has doomed your experience. As someone who has been a parent there for 9 years, I’ve met lots of families who have gone through the school under 4 Principals and more chancellors than I can name. Nothing the school can offer you will make you happy or make you feel like your DC has what they deserve. Do yourself a favor and go elsewhere from the get go.

+1. These parents will never be happy.

I am the unenthused parent. And disagree. I don’t think it’s too much to ask for the kids to finish a book in English and discuss it. I also expect teachers for DC’s classes, not months where they sit in the cafeteria instead of learning because there’s no teacher or sub to fill in. They haven’t learned anything new about how to write since 5th grade. People lament about how 9th grade at JR is a “lost year”. That’s the main source of my concern. We are trying to get excited about the academy of choice and ARE happy with all the extracurricular choices. If 9th grade was rewarding at JR for your DC, please share. That would be helpful. Thank you.

My point to you above is you are seeking a bad experience and only absorb information that supports your beliefs. There is plenty of info on DCUM about good experiences at JR. Read them and believe them. JR has an award winning newspaper mentored by DC journalists. Many kids go to top colleges. Many graduates go into writing based careers or major in writing or end up in journalism. The engineering program, biomed and CS programs are extremely rigorous with graduates performing well in national tests and competitions. Every day there is a DCUM post about kids coming into JR in advanced math and taking calc BC in 10th grade. One post even boasted that their kid could handle it in 9th. Most of these kids are coming from Deal and Hardy. In 2022, 723 students sat for AP tests at JR and 63 percent scored 3,4 or 5. Only 22.5% of U.S. public high school graduates in the class of 2021 scored a 3 or higher on a test, nationally. In MoCo, B-CC, which reports number of tests taken rather than number of students sitting for tests, 72.6 % of tests received a 3,4 or 5 with 472 tests getting a 1 or 2. And, don’t discount the 271 JR kids who took the test and got a 1or 2. They still got exposure to advanced learning and sat for a test. They were not streamlined out of honors programs or written off. They also may be poor test takers. My DD took 6 APs her junior year because that was what she wanted to do. She did extracurriculars with high time demands and only cared about doing well on 2 of the AP tests she wanted college credit for, if possible and studied for those and got 5s, her other scores weren’t great, including 2s, but she remained a straight A student and ended up at an Ivy where she has a A- average and is a double major in history and anthropology. You can read data and make the worst assumptions or read data and say damn, those kids are performing well!
Classes without teachers is hard and COVID made it worse nationally. DCPS is a hard place to work and people leave and move on. There was no Env Sci AP teacher, last year they were down a physics teacher for a while, one year they had to wait for a Chinese teacher to be cleared through the system. I am sure there will be some missing next year, but there will also be 200 who are there.

I am just saying know what you are getting into, know there is opportunity for a great experience, and help you kids learn from the bad ones. My DC had a 9th grade English teacher who used to teach conspiracy theories. He was let go the following year. The class became about how to recognize people who may talk a good game but are spewing falsehoods. A great lesson to learn, but they didn’t complete one novel that year either.

JR is far from perfect. But if you go in seeking a bad experience you are more likely to find one. If you go in seeking a good one, your kid will be great. There will something every year they will treasure, and they will do fine in college and beyond.

If you read all this and still say, at Deal we lacked teachers and how can you think that is ok, I refer to my earlier post. If you can, go elsewhere.

My point is every sch

Transplant_1 wrote:To the poster that wrote: "Ok so you did the same thing except by demanding an in-person meeting, and that makes you superior? Also of course failure to provide feedback hurts a child’s ability to succeed. I’m not at all sure what you are trying to say."

You are weird and not constructive.

NP. Pro-tip: You kind of destroy your credibility by calling people names (weird) and then accusing them of not being constructive.

Pro-tip #2: The reason the forum has a quote text button is so that people can easily see the quoted response in context by clicking a button to see then entire context.

Other than that, you totally nailed it!

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Transplant_1 wrote:I find that it's not just with school staff that consider you "over the top" when you ask about academics with an eye towards what's needed for selective colleges. I find many parents are like that as well. Or, they're willing to talk to you one on one, but not with others in group. It's as if as soon as you want to be open about shooting for highly selective colleges, you must be an elistist, or racist, or not "cool and liberal" or an overbearing parent.

yes, I have found this as well (but still just at MS level). the party line is supposed to be “my child will be FINE wherever they go to school!” Meanwhile there are many MC black parents in DC who are keenly interested in academics.

(and FWIW I don’t even aspire to an elite college for my particular kid - I just want him to be challenged and learn. Apparently I am supposed to only have the type of kid who doesn’t need actual teaching and structure to learn.)

There is teaching and structure at JR. There just isn’t much (any) parent hand-holding.

How is it parent hand-holding to provide clear information about AP classes? What it really suggests is that it’s not supposed to be part of JR’s mission to facilitate advanced classes. It’s not about some notion of kids being independent. It’s a clear message that while JR knows it has to continue offering AP classes in some capacity, it is not going to do an iota of work to support them beyond the minimum.

Look, I have kids at the school. They take advanced classes. They are supported. Their teachers are good.

Your perception is that because the administration isn’t focusing on advanced classes in mass meetings that means they don’t care about advanced classes. I can say, as a parent with students there, that that’s categorically not true.

I understand that it’s frustrating not to get exactly the information you want exactly when you want it. I’d recommend sending Principal Brown an email with your questions; I’ve found him to be quite responsive.

If advanced students feel like they are secondary citizens in an academic institution, then it's not being done right. We can know that is how DCPS works and still think it is a regrettable failure of the leadership.

Who said they feel like “secondary citizens”? Not me. Quite the contrary—I said kids in advanced classes are supported and have good teachers. In fact, AP classes have the best teachers, and schedules are arranged to accommodate AP classes, especially in 11th and 12 grades.

You have a narrative, and you want it to be true. It isn’t. I don’t know what else to tell you.

I speak from the experience of my two DCs in DCPS. Their teachers have been fine -- some excellent -- but they have never received the attention of admin, even when it was needed and sought.

I’m wondering if the PSAT debacle at JR from last year would ever happen in MCPS. How did it go this year?

It is very unlikely that debacle would happen in MCPS

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep. Honestly you probably should. Your attitude has doomed your experience. As someone who has been a parent there for 9 years, I’ve met lots of families who have gone through the school under 4 Principals and more chancellors than I can name. Nothing the school can offer you will make you happy or make you feel like your DC has what they deserve. Do yourself a favor and go elsewhere from the get go.

+1. These parents will never be happy.

I am the unenthused parent. And disagree. I don’t think it’s too much to ask for the kids to finish a book in English and discuss it. I also expect teachers for DC’s classes, not months where they sit in the cafeteria instead of learning because there’s no teacher or sub to fill in. They haven’t learned anything new about how to write since 5th grade. People lament about how 9th grade at JR is a “lost year”. That’s the main source of my concern. We are trying to get excited about the academy of choice and ARE happy with all the extracurricular choices. If 9th grade was rewarding at JR for your DC, please share. That would be helpful. Thank you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep. Honestly you probably should. Your attitude has doomed your experience. As someone who has been a parent there for 9 years, I’ve met lots of families who have gone through the school under 4 Principals and more chancellors than I can name. Nothing the school can offer you will make you happy or make you feel like your DC has what they deserve. Do yourself a favor and go elsewhere from the get go.

+1. These parents will never be happy.

dp: How absurd.

Why should anyone be happy if their child is bored at school?! And, yes, DCPS owes unchallenged kids some challenge!

Anonymous wrote:Yep. Honestly you probably should. Your attitude has doomed your experience. As someone who has been a parent there for 9 years, I’ve met lots of families who have gone through the school under 4 Principals and more chancellors than I can name. Nothing the school can offer you will make you happy or make you feel like your DC has what they deserve. Do yourself a favor and go elsewhere from the get go.

+1. These parents will never be happy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have visited DCPS and MCPS schools, and the difference in the public discussion of academics in open houses is striking. MCPS principals will up-front address acceleration. I even heard one say “It is our obligation to give students the challenge they need.” Long discussions of math tracking and selection of classes.

In DCPS, academics seem to be practically a dirty word at open houses. Parents who ask about it get stared at questioningly, as if they just ripped a big fart.

I was just chatting with a friend in Moco schools and was blown away at the support for academic rigor, there are multiple magnet middle schools, her kid is in 5th grade and they tested kids to determine if any were eligible, he was automatically offered a seat at a STEM middle magnet (but they are turning it down), lots of accelerated classes in his elem school to for math and reading.
Why is DC so afraid of this? Perfomative equity. meaning all kids get a mediocre education and honors/AP "for all"

Sad but unfortunately true. They don’t want to challenge the higher achievers and make it difficult as hell to get information, access, and classes.

The goal is to lower the top so they can say the are closing the achievement gap.

I am so tired of these posts that blame poor kids for DCPS not being what you want it to be. I don’t think kids get mediocre honors/AP. You can get a challenging education in DCPS. You must have a grade schooler.

Yep. Honestly you probably should. Your attitude has doomed your experience. As someone who has been a parent there for 9 years, I’ve met lots of families who have gone through the school under 4 Principals and more chancellors than I can name. Nothing the school can offer you will make you happy or make you feel like your DC has what they deserve. Do yourself a favor and go elsewhere from the get go.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have visited DCPS and MCPS schools, and the difference in the public discussion of academics in open houses is striking. MCPS principals will up-front address acceleration. I even heard one say “It is our obligation to give students the challenge they need.” Long discussions of math tracking and selection of classes.

In DCPS, academics seem to be practically a dirty word at open houses. Parents who ask about it get stared at questioningly, as if they just ripped a big fart.

I was just chatting with a friend in Moco schools and was blown away at the support for academic rigor, there are multiple magnet middle schools, her kid is in 5th grade and they tested kids to determine if any were eligible, he was automatically offered a seat at a STEM middle magnet (but they are turning it down), lots of accelerated classes in his elem school to for math and reading.
Why is DC so afraid of this? Perfomative equity. meaning all kids get a mediocre education and honors/AP "for all"

Sad but unfortunately true. They don’t want to challenge the higher achievers and make it difficult as hell to get information, access, and classes.

The goal is to lower the top so they can say the are closing the achievement gap.

This. I am so unenthused about JR and worried about the lack of enrichment in 9th at JR. When asked at this virtual open house this week, they said freshman can pursue an extracurricular to get enrichment, join an academy (through current freshman and sophomores get first dibs so rising freshman are probably on a waitlist), and find a trusted adult to get more suggestions. (And yes DC tried for private and walls and is waitlisted everywhere and no we are not moving). My DC has been so bored at Deal - their class hasn’t finished a single book in English! - I worry about another year of the same.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have visited DCPS and MCPS schools, and the difference in the public discussion of academics in open houses is striking. MCPS principals will up-front address acceleration. I even heard one say “It is our obligation to give students the challenge they need.” Long discussions of math tracking and selection of classes.

In DCPS, academics seem to be practically a dirty word at open houses. Parents who ask about it get stared at questioningly, as if they just ripped a big fart.

I was just chatting with a friend in Moco schools and was blown away at the support for academic rigor, there are multiple magnet middle schools, her kid is in 5th grade and they tested kids to determine if any were eligible, he was automatically offered a seat at a STEM middle magnet (but they are turning it down), lots of accelerated classes in his elem school to for math and reading.
Why is DC so afraid of this? Perfomative equity. meaning all kids get a mediocre education and honors/AP "for all"

Sad but unfortunately true. They don’t want to challenge the higher achievers and make it difficult as hell to get information, access, and classes.

The goal is to lower the top so they can say the are closing the achievement gap.

Transplant_1 wrote:To the poster that wrote: "Ok so you did the same thing except by demanding an in-person meeting, and that makes you superior? Also of course failure to provide feedback hurts a child’s ability to succeed. I’m not at all sure what you are trying to say."

You are weird and not constructive.

me: “I don’t understand what you are saying,”
you: “You are weird and not constructive.”

I'm sure many parts of DCPS and staff and teachers of DCPS are well intentioned and doing their best -- it just seems so under-resourced, and focused / distracted about other issues and not academic excellence and achievement.

To the poster that wrote: "Ok so you did the same thing except by demanding an in-person meeting, and that makes you superior? Also of course failure to provide feedback hurts a child’s ability to succeed. I’m not at all sure what you are trying to say."

You are weird and not constructive.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, and let’s not forget, since dcps made the great decision to eliminate the admissions test at walks, every single point matters for your middle school grades. All of a sudden an A-minus is a big deal. So principals and teachers should not be surprised when both students and parents advocate.

Sorry, how does this apply to JR?

The question is why is JR disorganized about APs. The answer is DCPS is disorganized in general.