recent experiences at takoma park elementary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most other area elementary schools are K-5 and have similar enrollment to TPES which only serves K-2.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:My understanding is there are 9 classes of 25+ kids per class. I’m trying to wrap my head around how things function as a school that big! Is it easy for kids to make friends? Does the staff know the kids names? Are lunch/recess overwhelming? It might work great(?), but I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it all!

Like clockwork!

The size of the school is no big deal. In fact, I feel it's more of a benefit.

It’s no big deal that kids get shuffled into new classes where they only know 1-2 kids every year? That the lunchroom is chaotic since there are so many kids? That there are only a few adults supervising a large number of students at recess? I’m willing to believe that there are benefits to a larger school for older grades when there could be more specialized course offerings, for example. Here I am not seeing a benefit. I would love to hear more.

You do realize it's pretty much the same at every single school. Like if you have fewer classes per grade, you would probably just create great bands to do lunch and recess together. So you would still have about the same number of kids at lunch and recess at the same time

Except these ‘bands’ change every year. PP, there are some very big downsides to being in large elementary schools and not really an upside. My kids had 240 in their grade at TPES and Piney Branch. If I’d had a chance to send them to a smaller school I would have. Ironically we moved here for the schools but I didn’t realize just how big they were. My kid suffered for it as they didn’t start in K and were used to a very close school community. I doubt the principal ever knew who either of mine were, for example.

There are about 600 kids at Takoma elementary and 600 kids at piney Branch. I realize it might be different from where you are from, but in this area that's pretty much the norm. I don't think there's a lot of elementary schools that have fewer than 400 kids unless it's a very special program

The way it works is that you pull students from two different neighborhoods to create one primary and one intermediate school. If they were k to 5 schools they would still be 600 kids in each of them

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My understanding is there are 9 classes of 25+ kids per class. I’m trying to wrap my head around how things function as a school that big! Is it easy for kids to make friends? Does the staff know the kids names? Are lunch/recess overwhelming? It might work great(?), but I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it all!

Like clockwork!

The size of the school is no big deal. In fact, I feel it's more of a benefit.

It’s no big deal that kids get shuffled into new classes where they only know 1-2 kids every year? That the lunchroom is chaotic since there are so many kids? That there are only a few adults supervising a large number of students at recess? I’m willing to believe that there are benefits to a larger school for older grades when there could be more specialized course offerings, for example. Here I am not seeing a benefit. I would love to hear more.

You do realize it's pretty much the same at every single school. Like if you have fewer classes per grade, you would probably just create great bands to do lunch and recess together. So you would still have about the same number of kids at lunch and recess at the same time

Except these ‘bands’ change every year. PP, there are some very big downsides to being in large elementary schools and not really an upside. My kids had 240 in their grade at TPES and Piney Branch. If I’d had a chance to send them to a smaller school I would have. Ironically we moved here for the schools but I didn’t realize just how big they were. My kid suffered for it as they didn’t start in K and were used to a very close school community. I doubt the principal ever knew who either of mine were, for example.

There are about 600 kids at Takoma elementary and 600 kids at piney Branch. I realize it might be different from where you are from, but in this area that's pretty much the norm. I don't think there's a lot of elementary schools that have fewer than 400 kids unless it's a very special program

I can tell you where I am, it’s Takoma park, and it’s not the norm in Montgomery county. That’s 1200 kids in a K-5 elementary school. That’s huge and much bigger than most other schools. I guess you don’t realize that each school houses only three grades (K-2 and 3-5).

Actually no. My kid also goes to a split school (pine crest) so we totally understand how it's pulling from two different neighborhoods. I've never really been clear why MCPS only did this with like five or six different schools and every other school is k to 5 school. I have a theory about it being some kind of social engineering because it definitely creates more economic and ethnic diversity

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve often heard it touted as a pro that the schools are divided into k-2 and 3-5. What are the pros of this model?

I think it's just easier for schools to only focus on three grades at a time vs 6. A lot of times the programming and focus in an elementary school is on the upper grades because those are the kids being tested and often a lot of the activities are centered around kids and 3-5th

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My understanding is there are 9 classes of 25+ kids per class. I’m trying to wrap my head around how things function as a school that big! Is it easy for kids to make friends? Does the staff know the kids names? Are lunch/recess overwhelming? It might work great(?), but I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it all!

Like clockwork!

The size of the school is no big deal. In fact, I feel it's more of a benefit.

It’s no big deal that kids get shuffled into new classes where they only know 1-2 kids every year? That the lunchroom is chaotic since there are so many kids? That there are only a few adults supervising a large number of students at recess? I’m willing to believe that there are benefits to a larger school for older grades when there could be more specialized course offerings, for example. Here I am not seeing a benefit. I would love to hear more.

You do realize it's pretty much the same at every single school. Like if you have fewer classes per grade, you would probably just create great bands to do lunch and recess together. So you would still have about the same number of kids at lunch and recess at the same time

Except these ‘bands’ change every year. PP, there are some very big downsides to being in large elementary schools and not really an upside. My kids had 240 in their grade at TPES and Piney Branch. If I’d had a chance to send them to a smaller school I would have. Ironically we moved here for the schools but I didn’t realize just how big they were. My kid suffered for it as they didn’t start in K and were used to a very close school community. I doubt the principal ever knew who either of mine were, for example.

There are about 600 kids at Takoma elementary and 600 kids at piney Branch. I realize it might be different from where you are from, but in this area that's pretty much the norm. I don't think there's a lot of elementary schools that have fewer than 400 kids unless it's a very special program

I can tell you where I am, it’s Takoma park, and it’s not the norm in Montgomery county. That’s 1200 kids in a K-5 elementary school. That’s huge and much bigger than most other schools. I guess you don’t realize that each school houses only three grades (K-2 and 3-5).

Actually no. My kid also goes to a split school (pine crest) so we totally understand how it's pulling from two different neighborhoods. I've never really been clear why MCPS only did this with like five or six different schools and every other school is k to 5 school. I have a theory about it being some kind of social engineering because it definitely creates more economic and ethnic diversity

I’m not sure what you mean by “actually no” as you don’t seem to be disagreeing with anything I said, however, TPES and PBES do not draw from two different neighborhoods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PBES splits the grade in two so that lunch and recess are smaller. TPES doesn’t do that, so when the grade is 230 vs 160, it’s just a lot more hectic.

All but one of the grades at TPES were below 200 last year, according to the at a glance.

Nevertheless, I have to disagree with the PP's assessment. It was so well run that my kids hardly noticed.
Just imagine lunch at Blair with 3000+ kids. These judgments are relative.

I sent three kids through these schools and felt they were well-run and organized.

The scale was more of a benefit than a liability since this allowed for many extras like math acceleration or additional STEM units.

Like the PP, my kids also preferred the TPES model since they could visit with friends during lunch and recess.

It’s just a shame that it becomes so difficult to develop a school wide sense of community this way. A PP asked about the benefits of sitting the sculls and I struggle to come up with any. Anyone? One big downside is that having younger children In the school can help temper the behavior of the older kids, and the absence of little ones at PBES shows in the behavior of the older ones.

It's not a problem. Consider how schools like BCC or Churchill, with 2000 students, do this. Although I don't live in TKPK, my impression is there is already a strong sense of community there.

Similarly, having older kids with younger ones seems to cause more problems. Separating them by age, just like separating MS and HS kids, seems to work well.

Not according to PBES teachers who see the benefit of having younger kids around.

Also I live in TKPK and the community sucks. It’s surprisingly unwelcoming and very difficult to get to know others. Folks keep to themselves.

The teachers and administrators I've discussed this with claimed grouping students by age was much healthier for everyone and that's why they do it.

And I totally have to say, I couldn't disagree more with anyone saying Takoma Park wasn't welcoming when my family and I moved into town. We connected mostly through our kids' school. Seriously, people were so chill and friendly—parents, teachers, neighbors—all of them. We dove into school events and random chats, and the vibe was warm and inclusive. Takoma Park has this awesome community spirit that made us feel right at home.

Very sadly not my experience at all. Perhaps the pandemic was the reason everyone is so insular. Polar opposite from our friendly DC neighborhood. So disappointing.

I think both PPs are right, or at least speaking from their own experience. TkPk can be amazingly welcoming and inclusive, or it can feel clubbish and snobby. I've experienced both, and the defining factor was how folks perceived my race (ambiguous) and marital status (which changed during the time I lived there).

Yes, it can feel very welcoming if folks perceived you as the "right" kind of resident, which means white or white-adjacent and with the disposable income to buy into the Takoma Park institutions. That means having one SAH parent or full-time nanny so your child goes to The Purple School, then time and resources to send your child to days off at The Little Loft, then again time and resources to sign up for Takoma Soccer and either Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts Pack 33. It means having a single family home to invite folks to Porch Fest, and volunteering at the PTA.

If you check all of those boxes, it's amazing. If you fall short, it can feel very lonely.

Agree. I want savvy enough to know that I need to sign my kids up for all those activities and volunteer in the right way so I was excluded. I’d wrongly thought that there would be opportunities to meet other families through the schools. So very wrong. Parents seem very cliquey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most other area elementary schools are K-5 and have similar enrollment to TPES which only serves K-2.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My understanding is there are 9 classes of 25+ kids per class. I’m trying to wrap my head around how things function as a school that big! Is it easy for kids to make friends? Does the staff know the kids names? Are lunch/recess overwhelming? It might work great(?), but I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it all!

Like clockwork!

The size of the school is no big deal. In fact, I feel it's more of a benefit.

It’s no big deal that kids get shuffled into new classes where they only know 1-2 kids every year? That the lunchroom is chaotic since there are so many kids? That there are only a few adults supervising a large number of students at recess? I’m willing to believe that there are benefits to a larger school for older grades when there could be more specialized course offerings, for example. Here I am not seeing a benefit. I would love to hear more.

You do realize it's pretty much the same at every single school. Like if you have fewer classes per grade, you would probably just create great bands to do lunch and recess together. So you would still have about the same number of kids at lunch and recess at the same time

Except these ‘bands’ change every year. PP, there are some very big downsides to being in large elementary schools and not really an upside. My kids had 240 in their grade at TPES and Piney Branch. If I’d had a chance to send them to a smaller school I would have. Ironically we moved here for the schools but I didn’t realize just how big they were. My kid suffered for it as they didn’t start in K and were used to a very close school community. I doubt the principal ever knew who either of mine were, for example.

There are about 600 kids at Takoma elementary and 600 kids at piney Branch. I realize it might be different from where you are from, but in this area that's pretty much the norm. I don't think there's a lot of elementary schools that have fewer than 400 kids unless it's a very special program

The way it works is that you pull students from two different neighborhoods to create one primary and one intermediate school. If they were k to 5 schools they would still be 600 kids in each of them

But splitting into K-2 and 3-5 works so much better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PBES splits the grade in two so that lunch and recess are smaller. TPES doesn’t do that, so when the grade is 230 vs 160, it’s just a lot more hectic.

All but one of the grades at TPES were below 200 last year, according to the at a glance.

Nevertheless, I have to disagree with the PP's assessment. It was so well run that my kids hardly noticed.
Just imagine lunch at Blair with 3000+ kids. These judgments are relative.

I sent three kids through these schools and felt they were well-run and organized.

The scale was more of a benefit than a liability since this allowed for many extras like math acceleration or additional STEM units.

Like the PP, my kids also preferred the TPES model since they could visit with friends during lunch and recess.

It’s just a shame that it becomes so difficult to develop a school wide sense of community this way. A PP asked about the benefits of sitting the sculls and I struggle to come up with any. Anyone? One big downside is that having younger children In the school can help temper the behavior of the older kids, and the absence of little ones at PBES shows in the behavior of the older ones.

It's not a problem. Consider how schools like BCC or Churchill, with 2000 students, do this. Although I don't live in TKPK, my impression is there is already a strong sense of community there.

Similarly, having older kids with younger ones seems to cause more problems. Separating them by age, just like separating MS and HS kids, seems to work well.

Not according to PBES teachers who see the benefit of having younger kids around.

Also I live in TKPK and the community sucks. It’s surprisingly unwelcoming and very difficult to get to know others. Folks keep to themselves.

The teachers and administrators I've discussed this with claimed grouping students by age was much healthier for everyone and that's why they do it.

And I totally have to say, I couldn't disagree more with anyone saying Takoma Park wasn't welcoming when my family and I moved into town. We connected mostly through our kids' school. Seriously, people were so chill and friendly—parents, teachers, neighbors—all of them. We dove into school events and random chats, and the vibe was warm and inclusive. Takoma Park has this awesome community spirit that made us feel right at home.

Very sadly not my experience at all. Perhaps the pandemic was the reason everyone is so insular. Polar opposite from our friendly DC neighborhood. So disappointing.

I think both PPs are right, or at least speaking from their own experience. TkPk can be amazingly welcoming and inclusive, or it can feel clubbish and snobby. I've experienced both, and the defining factor was how folks perceived my race (ambiguous) and marital status (which changed during the time I lived there).

Yes, it can feel very welcoming if folks perceived you as the "right" kind of resident, which means white or white-adjacent and with the disposable income to buy into the Takoma Park institutions. That means having one SAH parent or full-time nanny so your child goes to The Purple School, then time and resources to send your child to days off at The Little Loft, then again time and resources to sign up for Takoma Soccer and either Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts Pack 33. It means having a single family home to invite folks to Porch Fest, and volunteering at the PTA.

If you check all of those boxes, it's amazing. If you fall short, it can feel very lonely.

Agree. I want savvy enough to know that I need to sign my kids up for all those activities and volunteer in the right way so I was excluded. I’d wrongly thought that there would be opportunities to meet other families through the schools. So very wrong. Parents seem very cliquey.

I've lived in TKPK for over a decade. Kids have gone through these schools and made many friends but never heard of any of these activities. We weren't into that stuff, and it all worked out fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve often heard it touted as a pro that the schools are divided into k-2 and 3-5. What are the pros of this model?

I think it's just easier for schools to only focus on three grades at a time vs 6. A lot of times the programming and focus in an elementary school is on the upper grades because those are the kids being tested and often a lot of the activities are centered around kids and 3-5th

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PBES splits the grade in two so that lunch and recess are smaller. TPES doesn’t do that, so when the grade is 230 vs 160, it’s just a lot more hectic.

All but one of the grades at TPES were below 200 last year, according to the at a glance.

Nevertheless, I have to disagree with the PP's assessment. It was so well run that my kids hardly noticed.
Just imagine lunch at Blair with 3000+ kids. These judgments are relative.

I sent three kids through these schools and felt they were well-run and organized.

The scale was more of a benefit than a liability since this allowed for many extras like math acceleration or additional STEM units.

Like the PP, my kids also preferred the TPES model since they could visit with friends during lunch and recess.

It’s just a shame that it becomes so difficult to develop a school wide sense of community this way. A PP asked about the benefits of sitting the sculls and I struggle to come up with any. Anyone? One big downside is that having younger children In the school can help temper the behavior of the older kids, and the absence of little ones at PBES shows in the behavior of the older ones.

It's not a problem. Consider how schools like BCC or Churchill, with 2000 students, do this. Although I don't live in TKPK, my impression is there is already a strong sense of community there.

Similarly, having older kids with younger ones seems to cause more problems. Separating them by age, just like separating MS and HS kids, seems to work well.

Not according to PBES teachers who see the benefit of having younger kids around.

Also I live in TKPK and the community sucks. It’s surprisingly unwelcoming and very difficult to get to know others. Folks keep to themselves.

The teachers and administrators I've discussed this with claimed grouping students by age was much healthier for everyone and that's why they do it.

And I totally have to say, I couldn't disagree more with anyone saying Takoma Park wasn't welcoming when my family and I moved into town. We connected mostly through our kids' school. Seriously, people were so chill and friendly—parents, teachers, neighbors—all of them. We dove into school events and random chats, and the vibe was warm and inclusive. Takoma Park has this awesome community spirit that made us feel right at home.

Very sadly not my experience at all. Perhaps the pandemic was the reason everyone is so insular. Polar opposite from our friendly DC neighborhood. So disappointing.

The pandemic was hard for a lot of people. I guess we moved to TKPK a few years earlier and had a very positive experience. Still find the community to be amazing and inclusive. Way more welcomng than our previous NW DC neighborhood.

When we lived in DC, we hardly knew anyone near us, but once we moved to Takoma, all that changed. My kids are very connected to the community and their friends too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PBES splits the grade in two so that lunch and recess are smaller. TPES doesn’t do that, so when the grade is 230 vs 160, it’s just a lot more hectic.

All but one of the grades at TPES were below 200 last year, according to the at a glance.

Nevertheless, I have to disagree with the PP's assessment. It was so well run that my kids hardly noticed.
Just imagine lunch at Blair with 3000+ kids. These judgments are relative.

I sent three kids through these schools and felt they were well-run and organized.

The scale was more of a benefit than a liability since this allowed for many extras like math acceleration or additional STEM units.

Like the PP, my kids also preferred the TPES model since they could visit with friends during lunch and recess.

It’s just a shame that it becomes so difficult to develop a school wide sense of community this way. A PP asked about the benefits of sitting the sculls and I struggle to come up with any. Anyone? One big downside is that having younger children In the school can help temper the behavior of the older kids, and the absence of little ones at PBES shows in the behavior of the older ones.

It's not a problem. Consider how schools like BCC or Churchill, with 2000 students, do this. Although I don't live in TKPK, my impression is there is already a strong sense of community there.

Similarly, having older kids with younger ones seems to cause more problems. Separating them by age, just like separating MS and HS kids, seems to work well.

Not according to PBES teachers who see the benefit of having younger kids around.

Also I live in TKPK and the community sucks. It’s surprisingly unwelcoming and very difficult to get to know others. Folks keep to themselves.

The teachers and administrators I've discussed this with claimed grouping students by age was much healthier for everyone and that's why they do it.

And I totally have to say, I couldn't disagree more with anyone saying Takoma Park wasn't welcoming when my family and I moved into town. We connected mostly through our kids' school. Seriously, people were so chill and friendly—parents, teachers, neighbors—all of them. We dove into school events and random chats, and the vibe was warm and inclusive. Takoma Park has this awesome community spirit that made us feel right at home.

Thanks, this helpful!

[Anonymous]

Same!! Our neighbors have been so welcoming. We feel lucky to be here!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PBES splits the grade in two so that lunch and recess are smaller. TPES doesn’t do that, so when the grade is 230 vs 160, it’s just a lot more hectic.

All but one of the grades at TPES were below 200 last year, according to the at a glance.

Nevertheless, I have to disagree with the PP's assessment. It was so well run that my kids hardly noticed.
Just imagine lunch at Blair with 3000+ kids. These judgments are relative.

I sent three kids through these schools and felt they were well-run and organized.

The scale was more of a benefit than a liability since this allowed for many extras like math acceleration or additional STEM units.

Like the PP, my kids also preferred the TPES model since they could visit with friends during lunch and recess.

It’s just a shame that it becomes so difficult to develop a school wide sense of community this way. A PP asked about the benefits of sitting the sculls and I struggle to come up with any. Anyone? One big downside is that having younger children In the school can help temper the behavior of the older kids, and the absence of little ones at PBES shows in the behavior of the older ones.

It's not a problem. Consider how schools like BCC or Churchill, with 2000 students, do this. Although I don't live in TKPK, my impression is there is already a strong sense of community there.

Similarly, having older kids with younger ones seems to cause more problems. Separating them by age, just like separating MS and HS kids, seems to work well.

Not according to PBES teachers who see the benefit of having younger kids around.

Also I live in TKPK and the community sucks. It’s surprisingly unwelcoming and very difficult to get to know others. Folks keep to themselves.

The teachers and administrators I've discussed this with claimed grouping students by age was much healthier for everyone and that's why they do it.

And I totally have to say, I couldn't disagree more with anyone saying Takoma Park wasn't welcoming when my family and I moved into town. We connected mostly through our kids' school. Seriously, people were so chill and friendly—parents, teachers, neighbors—all of them. We dove into school events and random chats, and the vibe was warm and inclusive. Takoma Park has this awesome community spirit that made us feel right at home.

Very sadly not my experience at all. Perhaps the pandemic was the reason everyone is so insular. Polar opposite from our friendly DC neighborhood. So disappointing.

The pandemic was hard for a lot of people. I guess we moved to TKPK a few years earlier and had a very positive experience. Still find the community to be amazing and inclusive. Way more welcomng than our previous NW DC neighborhood.

When we lived in DC, we hardly knew anyone near us, but once we moved to Takoma, all that changed. My kids are very connected to the community and their friends too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My understanding is there are 9 classes of 25+ kids per class. I’m trying to wrap my head around how things function as a school that big! Is it easy for kids to make friends? Does the staff know the kids names? Are lunch/recess overwhelming? It might work great(?), but I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it all!

Like clockwork!

The size of the school is no big deal. In fact, I feel it's more of a benefit.

It’s no big deal that kids get shuffled into new classes where they only know 1-2 kids every year? That the lunchroom is chaotic since there are so many kids? That there are only a few adults supervising a large number of students at recess? I’m willing to believe that there are benefits to a larger school for older grades when there could be more specialized course offerings, for example. Here I am not seeing a benefit. I would love to hear more.

You do realize it's pretty much the same at every single school. Like if you have fewer classes per grade, you would probably just create great bands to do lunch and recess together. So you would still have about the same number of kids at lunch and recess at the same time

Except these ‘bands’ change every year. PP, there are some very big downsides to being in large elementary schools and not really an upside. My kids had 240 in their grade at TPES and Piney Branch. If I’d had a chance to send them to a smaller school I would have. Ironically we moved here for the schools but I didn’t realize just how big they were. My kid suffered for it as they didn’t start in K and were used to a very close school community. I doubt the principal ever knew who either of mine were, for example.

There are about 600 kids at Takoma elementary and 600 kids at piney Branch. I realize it might be different from where you are from, but in this area that's pretty much the norm. I don't think there's a lot of elementary schools that have fewer than 400 kids unless it's a very special program

I can tell you where I am, it’s Takoma park, and it’s not the norm in Montgomery county. That’s 1200 kids in a K-5 elementary school. That’s huge and much bigger than most other schools. I guess you don’t realize that each school houses only three grades (K-2 and 3-5).

Actually no. My kid also goes to a split school (pine crest) so we totally understand how it's pulling from two different neighborhoods. I've never really been clear why MCPS only did this with like five or six different schools and every other school is k to 5 school. I have a theory about it being some kind of social engineering because it definitely creates more economic and ethnic diversity

I’m not sure what you mean by “actually no” as you don’t seem to be disagreeing with anything I said, however, TPES and PBES do not draw from two different neighborhoods.

Interesting. Most of the other split schools in the area have two different neighborhoods, like New Hampshire/oak view are two different neighborhoods

https://gis.mcpsmd.org/ServiceAreaMaps/NewHampshireEstatesOakViewES.pdf

I am guessing there isn't space to build another elementary school in takoma park

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My understanding is there are 9 classes of 25+ kids per class. I’m trying to wrap my head around how things function as a school that big! Is it easy for kids to make friends? Does the staff know the kids names? Are lunch/recess overwhelming? It might work great(?), but I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it all!

Like clockwork!

The size of the school is no big deal. In fact, I feel it's more of a benefit.

It’s no big deal that kids get shuffled into new classes where they only know 1-2 kids every year? That the lunchroom is chaotic since there are so many kids? That there are only a few adults supervising a large number of students at recess? I’m willing to believe that there are benefits to a larger school for older grades when there could be more specialized course offerings, for example. Here I am not seeing a benefit. I would love to hear more.

You do realize it's pretty much the same at every single school. Like if you have fewer classes per grade, you would probably just create great bands to do lunch and recess together. So you would still have about the same number of kids at lunch and recess at the same time

Except these ‘bands’ change every year. PP, there are some very big downsides to being in large elementary schools and not really an upside. My kids had 240 in their grade at TPES and Piney Branch. If I’d had a chance to send them to a smaller school I would have. Ironically we moved here for the schools but I didn’t realize just how big they were. My kid suffered for it as they didn’t start in K and were used to a very close school community. I doubt the principal ever knew who either of mine were, for example.

There are about 600 kids at Takoma elementary and 600 kids at piney Branch. I realize it might be different from where you are from, but in this area that's pretty much the norm. I don't think there's a lot of elementary schools that have fewer than 400 kids unless it's a very special program

I can tell you where I am, it’s Takoma park, and it’s not the norm in Montgomery county. That’s 1200 kids in a K-5 elementary school. That’s huge and much bigger than most other schools. I guess you don’t realize that each school houses only three grades (K-2 and 3-5).

Actually no. My kid also goes to a split school (pine crest) so we totally understand how it's pulling from two different neighborhoods. I've never really been clear why MCPS only did this with like five or six different schools and every other school is k to 5 school. I have a theory about it being some kind of social engineering because it definitely creates more economic and ethnic diversity

There is no question that this is to create diversity in adjacent neighborhoods that are segregated. That's also why the Rosemary Hills/Chevy Chase/North Chevy Chase combo exists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PBES splits the grade in two so that lunch and recess are smaller. TPES doesn’t do that, so when the grade is 230 vs 160, it’s just a lot more hectic.

All but one of the grades at TPES were below 200 last year, according to the at a glance.

Nevertheless, I have to disagree with the PP's assessment. It was so well run that my kids hardly noticed.
Just imagine lunch at Blair with 3000+ kids. These judgments are relative.

I sent three kids through these schools and felt they were well-run and organized.

The scale was more of a benefit than a liability since this allowed for many extras like math acceleration or additional STEM units.

Like the PP, my kids also preferred the TPES model since they could visit with friends during lunch and recess.

It’s just a shame that it becomes so difficult to develop a school wide sense of community this way. A PP asked about the benefits of sitting the sculls and I struggle to come up with any. Anyone? One big downside is that having younger children In the school can help temper the behavior of the older kids, and the absence of little ones at PBES shows in the behavior of the older ones.

It's not a problem. Consider how schools like BCC or Churchill, with 2000 students, do this. Although I don't live in TKPK, my impression is there is already a strong sense of community there.

Similarly, having older kids with younger ones seems to cause more problems. Separating them by age, just like separating MS and HS kids, seems to work well.

Not according to PBES teachers who see the benefit of having younger kids around.

Also I live in TKPK and the community sucks. It’s surprisingly unwelcoming and very difficult to get to know others. Folks keep to themselves.

The teachers and administrators I've discussed this with claimed grouping students by age was much healthier for everyone and that's why they do it.

And I totally have to say, I couldn't disagree more with anyone saying Takoma Park wasn't welcoming when my family and I moved into town. We connected mostly through our kids' school. Seriously, people were so chill and friendly—parents, teachers, neighbors—all of them. We dove into school events and random chats, and the vibe was warm and inclusive. Takoma Park has this awesome community spirit that made us feel right at home.

Very sadly not my experience at all. Perhaps the pandemic was the reason everyone is so insular. Polar opposite from our friendly DC neighborhood. So disappointing.

The pandemic was hard for a lot of people. I guess we moved to TKPK a few years earlier and had a very positive experience. Still find the community to be amazing and inclusive. Way more welcomng than our previous NW DC neighborhood.

When we lived in DC, we hardly knew anyone near us, but once we moved to Takoma, all that changed. My kids are very connected to the community and their friends too.

Takoma is DC.

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Anonymous wrote:My understanding is there are 9 classes of 25+ kids per class. I’m trying to wrap my head around how things function as a school that big! Is it easy for kids to make friends? Does the staff know the kids names? Are lunch/recess overwhelming? It might work great(?), but I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it all!

Like clockwork!

The size of the school is no big deal. In fact, I feel it's more of a benefit.

It’s no big deal that kids get shuffled into new classes where they only know 1-2 kids every year? That the lunchroom is chaotic since there are so many kids? That there are only a few adults supervising a large number of students at recess? I’m willing to believe that there are benefits to a larger school for older grades when there could be more specialized course offerings, for example. Here I am not seeing a benefit. I would love to hear more.

You do realize it's pretty much the same at every single school. Like if you have fewer classes per grade, you would probably just create great bands to do lunch and recess together. So you would still have about the same number of kids at lunch and recess at the same time

Except these ‘bands’ change every year. PP, there are some very big downsides to being in large elementary schools and not really an upside. My kids had 240 in their grade at TPES and Piney Branch. If I’d had a chance to send them to a smaller school I would have. Ironically we moved here for the schools but I didn’t realize just how big they were. My kid suffered for it as they didn’t start in K and were used to a very close school community. I doubt the principal ever knew who either of mine were, for example.

There are about 600 kids at Takoma elementary and 600 kids at piney Branch. I realize it might be different from where you are from, but in this area that's pretty much the norm. I don't think there's a lot of elementary schools that have fewer than 400 kids unless it's a very special program

I can tell you where I am, it’s Takoma park, and it’s not the norm in Montgomery county. That’s 1200 kids in a K-5 elementary school. That’s huge and much bigger than most other schools. I guess you don’t realize that each school houses only three grades (K-2 and 3-5).

Actually no. My kid also goes to a split school (pine crest) so we totally understand how it's pulling from two different neighborhoods. I've never really been clear why MCPS only did this with like five or six different schools and every other school is k to 5 school. I have a theory about it being some kind of social engineering because it definitely creates more economic and ethnic diversity

There is no question that this is to create diversity in adjacent neighborhoods that are segregated. That's also why the Rosemary Hills/Chevy Chase/North Chevy Chase combo exists.

Except the two TKPK schools are practically next door to each other and both draw from Takoma park only.