Moving to MCPS for 6th grade

[Anonymous]

We are in DC and not happy with our in-bound middle and high school path. We have a strong student but he hasn't been challenged at his current elementary and are hoping he will be academically challenged in middle school. We are considering moving to Bethesda this spring/summer for school and other various reasons. I don't know much about MCPS. I'd greatly appreciate a summary of the schools, the programs, a lay of the land so to speak. Also, does MCPS start tracking in 5th (I think I heard someone talking about that recently)? That is, will starting in 6th be a disadvantage?

Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

It might be hard to get in to the advanced Math pathway. Does he have MAP scores? That could help with placement. Other than that he’s too late for any lottery based programs or being considered for the magnets so it would just be whichever in bound middle school you pick.

[Anonymous]

People here are going to bash MCPS for MS, but we came from DCPS and it is night-and-day better.

Bethesda is big; what parts are you looking at? Several different school options within that. Advice/reviews will probably vary by school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
We are in DC and not happy with our in-bound middle and high school path. We have a strong student but he hasn't been challenged at his current elementary and are hoping he will be academically challenged in middle school. We are considering moving to Bethesda this spring/summer for school and other various reasons. I don't know much about MCPS. I'd greatly appreciate a summary of the schools, the programs, a lay of the land so to speak. Also, does MCPS start tracking in 5th (I think I heard someone talking about that recently)? That is, will starting in 6th be a disadvantage?

Thanks in advance!

MCPS does not track.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
We are in DC and not happy with our in-bound middle and high school path. We have a strong student but he hasn't been challenged at his current elementary and are hoping he will be academically challenged in middle school. We are considering moving to Bethesda this spring/summer for school and other various reasons. I don't know much about MCPS. I'd greatly appreciate a summary of the schools, the programs, a lay of the land so to speak. Also, does MCPS start tracking in 5th (I think I heard someone talking about that recently)? That is, will starting in 6th be a disadvantage?

Thanks in advance!

MCPS does not track.

When you say that what do you mean by “track”? In my understanding of the term, yes they do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
We are in DC and not happy with our in-bound middle and high school path. We have a strong student but he hasn't been challenged at his current elementary and are hoping he will be academically challenged in middle school. We are considering moving to Bethesda this spring/summer for school and other various reasons. I don't know much about MCPS. I'd greatly appreciate a summary of the schools, the programs, a lay of the land so to speak. Also, does MCPS start tracking in 5th (I think I heard someone talking about that recently)? That is, will starting in 6th be a disadvantage?

Thanks in advance!

MCPS does not track.

When you say that what do you mean by “track”? In my understanding of the term, yes they do.

Please explain what you mean when you say "track".

[Anonymous]

OP here, we really don’t know Bethesda well at all. What areas/schools should we look into, considering we can’t do the magnets?

[Anonymous]

MCPS does not track. In fact, kids in advanced social studies classes in middle school are mixed in with kids in regular social studies classes so that the kids "don't know" who's who. The obvious problem is that a teacher can't go at 2 speeds, or assign extra work to the advanced kids without the regular kids knowing. So, as always, we cater to the lowest common denominator and the advanced kids get nothing to challenge them or keep them engaged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
We are in DC and not happy with our in-bound middle and high school path. We have a strong student but he hasn't been challenged at his current elementary and are hoping he will be academically challenged in middle school. We are considering moving to Bethesda this spring/summer for school and other various reasons. I don't know much about MCPS. I'd greatly appreciate a summary of the schools, the programs, a lay of the land so to speak. Also, does MCPS start tracking in 5th (I think I heard someone talking about that recently)? That is, will starting in 6th be a disadvantage?

Thanks in advance!

MCPS does not track.

When you say that what do you mean by “track”? In my understanding of the term, yes they do.

In math, they kind of do but that's the nature of math. In everything else there mostly ins't tracking but at least in HS you can choose appropriate classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, we really don’t know Bethesda well at all. What areas/schools should we look into, considering we can’t do the magnets?

Some of this will come down to your preferred lifestyle. Pyle is probably the "best" middle school by the metric of "best" that means highest test scores, fewest kids dealing with poverty, generational trauma, etc. However, much (not all) of the Pyle zone feels exurban and car dependent, which is not teen-friendly.

Silver Creek MS is a new building with a strong administrator who was able to hand-pick their team coming into a new school. It's more diverse than Pyle, as is the high school option.

The other school I'd recommend is North Bethesda MS, which is just a solid choice and a little more affordable and feeds into a very good high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS does not track. In fact, kids in advanced social studies classes in middle school are mixed in with kids in regular social studies classes so that the kids "don't know" who's who. The obvious problem is that a teacher can't go at 2 speeds, or assign extra work to the advanced kids without the regular kids knowing. So, as always, we cater to the lowest common denominator and the advanced kids get nothing to challenge them or keep them engaged.

This is the honors for all things, which makes it regular grade-level English and social studies. It isn't completely useless, but 8th-grade advanced English is much easier than CES used to be before the lottery. The only consolation is in 9th grade you can sign up for AP classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, we really don’t know Bethesda well at all. What areas/schools should we look into, considering we can’t do the magnets?

Areas you can afford, with housing you like, in neighborhoods you like, that work for your transportation needs.

[Anonymous]

MCPS has an accelerated and enriched (used to be called “gifted”) program called Center for Enriched Studies (CES) for 4th and 5th graders, based on 3rd grade performance. It’s a special curriculum for ELA and social studies. Math is not included in CES, but there is an advanced math track, called Compacted Math, in which 3 years of the math curriculum are taught over the course of 4th and 5th grade, preparing students to take advanced math in 6th and Algebra in 7th. You can be in CES without being in Compacted Math and vice versa, but almost all the CES students are in Compacted Math. The one drawback to the advanced math track is that MD requires students to take math every year, so if your child doesn’t love math, be forewarned that they’ll be on track to go beyond calculus.

There are also special enriched and accelerated programs for middle school students, based on 5th grade performance. I think it’s already too late to be considered for admission for next year, but you should check. There is a magnet middle school program for the humanities that includes a cohesive curriculum for English, history and media. Math and science classes are not part of those programs, but students can be on the advanced math track. There is also a magnet middle school program for STEM, that has an advanced curriculum for math, science and computer science. Students in these magnet programs are taking classes with other students in all non-magnet classes. These magnet programs are divided between “upcounty” and down county,” meaning one magnet school for humanities in the close-in suburbs and one in the northern part of the county, and the same for the two STEM magnet schools. For some reason, MCPS has fewer seats in their middle school magnet programs than in the CES programs or the special high school programs, so the middle school years are when the most high performing students get shut out of self contained programs.

Middle school students who aren’t in one of these magnet programs can still be on the advanced math track (AIM in 6th grade for math) or can take enriched history classes (HIGH in 6th grade). These classes are based on past performance.

There are also several special middle school magnet programs that aren’t based on academic performance and are strictly lottery based. They’re the Middle School Magnet Consortium. One school has a program for digital design and development, one has a performing and creative arts program, and one offers aerospace technology and robotics engineering.

MCPS offers a few county-wide magnet programs for high school students, has several schools offering IB, STEM magnets and humanities magnets, and several very specialized programs. All high schools offer AP courses. High school is the level with the most opportunities for differentiation.

If your child has been in any sort of self-contained gifted or accelerated program in DCPS, make sure you contact MCPS’s DCCAP office (Division of Consortia Choice and Application Programs). That can sometimes make a difference in placement if you’re coming in after the application process.

[Anonymous]

Almost all areas of Bethesda are great. Ashburton ES seems to be a pocket of leftist extremism, or at least it was while the old principal was there. Since you're talking about 6th grade, though, that shouldn't be much of a concern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Almost all areas of Bethesda are great. Ashburton ES seems to be a pocket of leftist extremism, or at least it was while the old principal was there. Since you're talking about 6th grade, though, that shouldn't be much of a concern.