Tell me about Shrevewood

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were in the Marshall pyramid but not Shrevewood and my impression was that there was more grumpiness at Shrevewood than at some of the Marshall feeders but people were generally happy. The grumpiness seemed to relate to the following:

* People didn't like one of the prior principals (not the current one, who seems well-liked).

* People were angry that the AAP kids from Shrevewood attending an AAP center got shuffled from Haycock to Lemon Road.

* People were upset that FCPS was slow to deal with the pre-Covid overcrowding when some areas that feed into Shrevewood are closer to Stenwood.

* There have been grumblings about the relative size of the Gen Ed and LLIV classes at various times.

* People know the boundaries are going to get adjusted in a few years when Karl Frisch's silly Dunn Loring school opens (though this is more of an issue for Stenwood and Freedom Hill than Shrevewood).

Maybe I missed something but those were the main things I heard. The neighborhoods that feed into Shrevewood like Falls Hill are very nice and there's good access to the W&OD trail (just avoid the areas right under the power lines).

I have a child at Shrevewood who has been there since 2016. There was a new principal two years ago and he is an improvement over his predecessor. The transfer from Haycock to Lemon Road as the AAP center happened years ago, so that is not an issue. Some families that live near Gallows Rd may eventually be zoned for Stenwood but I think that is a few years away (not sure where the house is you're looking at). There was a disparity in class sizes between AAP (level IV) and GE but the new clustering model has remedied that. Some AAP parents are mixed on the new clustering model; as our DC is in the final year it is not really an issue for us. GE parents love that their child is getting exposed to AAP education models (albeit at a slower pace).

[Anonymous]

We’ve had a great experience with Shrevewood so far. 3/3 on excellent teachers.

One of the big complaints pre-COVID was that Shrevewood was one of the most overcrowded ESs. There is still lingering resentment that the School Board didn’t step up to help, and when they did (Dunn Loring) it was more of an aspirational thing than an immediate fix. However, Shrevewood had a ton of change due to COVID and is still down over 10% I think. Part of that is due to the neighborhoods around the school becoming more popular (read: wealthier people) that can afford private. They just put up a $2m/house development next to the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP- Did you buy the house?!

I hope this thread did not discourage OP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP- Did you buy the house?!

I hope this thread did not discourage OP!

Most of the replies have been positive, but I guess it only takes one to dissuade...

Honestly, any ES that is asked about is going to get at least one negative review.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP- Did you buy the house?!

I hope this thread did not discourage OP!

We did not, but not because of this thread!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP- Did you buy the house?!

I hope this thread did not discourage OP!

We did not, but not because of this thread!

Now I’m curious which one it was! The inventory levels suck right now.

[Anonymous]

It is overcrowded just like many other schools. But it is a great school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids moved into the Shrevewood district after they aged out of elementary school, so I don’t have direct experience. I do know that many of our neighbors send their elementary aged kids to other schools.

This could have been a covid thing.

There is a really popular Catholic school within walking distance of Shrevewood, I think that is probably what PP is talking about. There are a lot of families in our neighborhood that go there including several that switched their kids there during the pandemic because they wanted their kids in person and then never switched back.

OP - if you have a smart kid, they'll do fine. If you have an average or below average kid, they will be ignored. I hear it's the same at all FCPS schools.

I think the Catholic school you're mentioning is St. James, which is actually not a very good, especially for students with learning disabilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids moved into the Shrevewood district after they aged out of elementary school, so I don’t have direct experience. I do know that many of our neighbors send their elementary aged kids to other schools.

This could have been a covid thing.

There is a really popular Catholic school within walking distance of Shrevewood, I think that is probably what PP is talking about. There are a lot of families in our neighborhood that go there including several that switched their kids there during the pandemic because they wanted their kids in person and then never switched back.

OP - if you have a smart kid, they'll do fine. If you have an average or below average kid, they will be ignored. I hear it's the same at all FCPS schools.

I think the Catholic school you're mentioning is St. James, which is actually not a very good, especially for students with learning disabilities.

Do you have a child with SLD that attended St James?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids moved into the Shrevewood district after they aged out of elementary school, so I don’t have direct experience. I do know that many of our neighbors send their elementary aged kids to other schools.

This could have been a covid thing.

There is a really popular Catholic school within walking distance of Shrevewood, I think that is probably what PP is talking about. There are a lot of families in our neighborhood that go there including several that switched their kids there during the pandemic because they wanted their kids in person and then never switched back.

OP - if you have a smart kid, they'll do fine. If you have an average or below average kid, they will be ignored. I hear it's the same at all FCPS schools.

I think the Catholic school you're mentioning is St. James, which is actually not a very good, especially for students with learning disabilities.

It's very popular - half of our neighbors send their kids there! No idea if any of them have learning disabilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids moved into the Shrevewood district after they aged out of elementary school, so I don’t have direct experience. I do know that many of our neighbors send their elementary aged kids to other schools.

This could have been a covid thing.

There is a really popular Catholic school within walking distance of Shrevewood, I think that is probably what PP is talking about. There are a lot of families in our neighborhood that go there including several that switched their kids there during the pandemic because they wanted their kids in person and then never switched back.

OP - if you have a smart kid, they'll do fine. If you have an average or below average kid, they will be ignored. I hear it's the same at all FCPS schools.

I think the Catholic school you're mentioning is St. James, which is actually not a very good, especially for students with learning disabilities.

It's very popular - half of our neighbors send their kids there! No idea if any of them have learning disabilities.

This is true in our neighborhood, too. We know a family that was only sending their kid for the year (covid) and now said they’ll stay through 8th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids moved into the Shrevewood district after they aged out of elementary school, so I don’t have direct experience. I do know that many of our neighbors send their elementary aged kids to other schools.

This could have been a covid thing.

There is a really popular Catholic school within walking distance of Shrevewood, I think that is probably what PP is talking about. There are a lot of families in our neighborhood that go there including several that switched their kids there during the pandemic because they wanted their kids in person and then never switched back.

OP - if you have a smart kid, they'll do fine. If you have an average or below average kid, they will be ignored. I hear it's the same at all FCPS schools.

I think the Catholic school you're mentioning is St. James, which is actually not a very good, especially for students with learning disabilities.

It's very popular - half of our neighbors send their kids there! No idea if any of them have learning disabilities.

This is true in our neighborhood, too. We know a family that was only sending their kid for the year (covid) and now said they’ll stay through 8th.

+1. St. James is single-handedly the reason that Shrevewood is no longer overcrowded, post-Covid. The second and third grades are noticeably smaller than the others -these were the ones that started K during the peak of Covid.

Back to real estate, a house zoned to Shrevewood down the block from me flew off the market this weekend. I know the offers started at $100,000 over asking price!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids moved into the Shrevewood district after they aged out of elementary school, so I don’t have direct experience. I do know that many of our neighbors send their elementary aged kids to other schools.

This could have been a covid thing.

There is a really popular Catholic school within walking distance of Shrevewood, I think that is probably what PP is talking about. There are a lot of families in our neighborhood that go there including several that switched their kids there during the pandemic because they wanted their kids in person and then never switched back.

OP - if you have a smart kid, they'll do fine. If you have an average or below average kid, they will be ignored. I hear it's the same at all FCPS schools.

I think the Catholic school you're mentioning is St. James, which is actually not a very good, especially for students with learning disabilities.

It's very popular - half of our neighbors send their kids there! No idea if any of them have learning disabilities.

This is true in our neighborhood, too. We know a family that was only sending their kid for the year (covid) and now said they’ll stay through 8th.

I would imagine it's the same neighborhood! I'm serious when I say half. Our neighbors on either side plus across the street. Two of those three started sending their kids during Covid and have no intention of sending them back to public. Shrevewood has been really hit or miss for my family, but I do love that a lot of the teachers live in the surrounding neighborhoods, I think that says a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids moved into the Shrevewood district after they aged out of elementary school, so I don’t have direct experience. I do know that many of our neighbors send their elementary aged kids to other schools.

This could have been a covid thing.

There is a really popular Catholic school within walking distance of Shrevewood, I think that is probably what PP is talking about. There are a lot of families in our neighborhood that go there including several that switched their kids there during the pandemic because they wanted their kids in person and then never switched back.

OP - if you have a smart kid, they'll do fine. If you have an average or below average kid, they will be ignored. I hear it's the same at all FCPS schools.

I think the Catholic school you're mentioning is St. James, which is actually not a very good, especially for students with learning disabilities.

Do you have a child with SLD that attended St James?

Yea, both my kids attended St. James. Our younger kid was diagnosed with dyslexia and the school said they couldn't support him, but they wanted to keep the older child. We decided to move both kids to Shrevewood and we had tremendous support from the principal at the time and all my kid's teachers. This was about ten years ago and my kid's are both thriving at Marshall now, so some things may have chanced at St. James. But we still attend mass weekly there and by the look of it, the school has gone downhill since my kids have left. About half of my younger son's classmates at St. James actually went on to go to Shrevewood/FC schools instead, and he started seeing them at CCD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids moved into the Shrevewood district after they aged out of elementary school, so I don’t have direct experience. I do know that many of our neighbors send their elementary aged kids to other schools.

This could have been a covid thing.

There is a really popular Catholic school within walking distance of Shrevewood, I think that is probably what PP is talking about. There are a lot of families in our neighborhood that go there including several that switched their kids there during the pandemic because they wanted their kids in person and then never switched back.

OP - if you have a smart kid, they'll do fine. If you have an average or below average kid, they will be ignored. I hear it's the same at all FCPS schools.

I think the Catholic school you're mentioning is St. James, which is actually not a very good, especially for students with learning disabilities.

Do you have a child with SLD that attended St James?

Yea, both my kids attended St. James. Our younger kid was diagnosed with dyslexia and the school said they couldn't support him, but they wanted to keep the older child. We decided to move both kids to Shrevewood and we had tremendous support from the principal at the time and all my kid's teachers. This was about ten years ago and my kid's are both thriving at Marshall now, so some things may have chanced at St. James. But we still attend mass weekly there and by the look of it, the school has gone downhill since my kids have left. About half of my younger son's classmates at St. James actually went on to go to Shrevewood/FC schools instead, and he started seeing them at CCD.

Unfortunately this has always been the case - I attended in the 1990s and saw friends siblings leave because of it. That’s the unfortunate reality of parochial schools - the resources ($$) aren’t there to support most kids with special needs. It’s not a problem unique to SJS and yes, most kids with special needs are better served at their local public school. I’m glad your kids are doing well but I disagree that SJS has gone downhill - the school was shrinking and covid enrollment has really brought it back to life (as other posters on here attest to - enrollment is still way up even after covid - parents have decided to stay).