PG school options?

[Anonymous]

When you are considering privates of that caliber I am wondering why even ask about the public schools. Those schools provide a completely different experience than you would get in even a highly ranked public school.

[Anonymous]

Not sure if Chavez zoned PP is actually OP, but it sounds like that poster just wants to know more about whether that particular public would be an ok option. Just because PP was hoping for financial aid at an expensive private doesn't mean they can't stomach public at all, maybe they just wanted to explore options. Like I said, I have a DC at one of those privates. We have another in the neighborhood public. Different kids need different things at different ages. Sounds like PP has young kid(s) and is trying to figure out what is available and make an educated decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am ok with us moving to PG But I would love to know where I should be looking

It sounds crass to put it this way, but the safest course educationally speaking is to follow the gentrification.

The Post had a front page article last summer about the influx of white families to PG (according to recent Census data), and the authors pinpointed the Hyattsville area. The white households are primarily upper-middle class and there are also highly educated AA and Asian families moving to places like Arts District Hyattsville. This is having a very positive effect on Hyattsville Elementary.

University Park, just north of Hyattsville, has long had a stable and affluent population, which results in University Park Elementary being a stellar performer, even by MOCO standards.

And if for whatever reason you end up not happy in the local PS, there are excellent private options in St. Jerome Academy and Friends Community School, and DeMatha and Seton high schools are also close by. St. Jerome in particular is a bargain among private schools and has a substantial non-Catholic enrollment.

No. You do not need to "follow the gentrification." There are plenty of majority AA areas in PG that are very affluent and nice. I'm not even black and I found this post a little bit offensive, like you need to follow the white people to find a livable place. No wonder PG has such a stigma, if this is the way people think.

I think that is why PG has the stigma. You would be amazed at the things people said to me when I told them I bought a house in PG. Frankly, I've been shocked at how racist people are. And I'm talking about progressive types! I'm progressive/liberal, and so most of my friends are, and the things they have said are, frankly, disgusting. It's actually been the worst part of moving to PG. I love my neighborhood. I love my neighbors. But the PG-shaming and not-so-subtle racism that I've experienced from what I thought were open-minded, progressive, non-racist friends has made me sick in the stomach at times. Beyond that, I've had white professionals say out and out racist things when I told them I moved to PG. Needless to say, I won't be spending my money on their services again. But it bothers me that people think it's okay to say the things they've said! And I would add, that the professionals who have said horrible things, I suspect, don't even know much about PG.

ITA! People either cringe or give me a blank stare when I say I live in PG. It makes me feel very awkward.

[Anonymous]

Thanks 12:43 for summing it up. I am the Chavez-zoned poster and not the OP.

I am looking at all private and public options to keep my house right now but no luck so far. There are publics in the area that do offer great programs that are on par with the privates and in some cases better.

12:43, I wonder if I know you.

[Anonymous]

We looked at some of the Catholics, but we are not Catholic and quite frankly disagree with some of the things I know we'd encounter- so those were out for us. We love Friends Community School- but it is pricey for two kids. We are going to try Hyattsville Elementary. We are looking into moving further out for better schools- but we run into the location / commute problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am ok with us moving to PG But I would love to know where I should be looking

It sounds crass to put it this way, but the safest course educationally speaking is to follow the gentrification.

The Post had a front page article last summer about the influx of white families to PG (according to recent Census data), and the authors pinpointed the Hyattsville area. The white households are primarily upper-middle class and there are also highly educated AA and Asian families moving to places like Arts District Hyattsville. This is having a very positive effect on Hyattsville Elementary.

University Park, just north of Hyattsville, has long had a stable and affluent population, which results in University Park Elementary being a stellar performer, even by MOCO standards.

And if for whatever reason you end up not happy in the local PS, there are excellent private options in St. Jerome Academy and Friends Community School, and DeMatha and Seton high schools are also close by. St. Jerome in particular is a bargain among private schools and has a substantial non-Catholic enrollment.

No. You do not need to "follow the gentrification." There are plenty of majority AA areas in PG that are very affluent and nice. I'm not even black and I found this post a little bit offensive, like you need to follow the white people to find a livable place. No wonder PG has such a stigma, if this is the way people think.

I think that is why PG has the stigma. You would be amazed at the things people said to me when I told them I bought a house in PG. Frankly, I've been shocked at how racist people are. And I'm talking about progressive types! I'm progressive/liberal, and so most of my friends are, and the things they have said are, frankly, disgusting. It's actually been the worst part of moving to PG. I love my neighborhood. I love my neighbors. But the PG-shaming and not-so-subtle racism that I've experienced from what I thought were open-minded, progressive, non-racist friends has made me sick in the stomach at times. Beyond that, I've had white professionals say out and out racist things when I told them I moved to PG. Needless to say, I won't be spending my money on their services again. But it bothers me that people think it's okay to say the things they've said! And I would add, that the professionals who have said horrible things, I suspect, don't even know much about PG.

ITA! People either cringe or give me a blank stare when I say I live in PG. It makes me feel very awkward.

Well, and it feeds the problem.

Frankly, if there was less of a stigma, more people would move to PG. And no, I'm not one who thinks that more white people are the answer, but I do think that if there were more diversity (meaning not one group making up 90 percent of the population) the issue a PP noted about black on white racism would be less of a fear and less of a problem. I think all people benefit from true diversity -- which is a situation where no one group makes up the overwhelming majority and, thus, no one group then gets singled out as the minority.

That said, I think more diversity in other counties would be a good thing, too. And by that I mean more diversity in AA County. When the demographics are 90-some percent of one group to less than 10 percent of another, it sets the stage for bigotry and racism. When there is more of a balance, I think kids, teenagers grow up more tolerant and more able to interact in a variety of groups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We looked at some of the Catholics, but we are not Catholic and quite frankly disagree with some of the things I know we'd encounter- so those were out for us. We love Friends Community School- but it is pricey for two kids. We are going to try Hyattsville Elementary. We are looking into moving further out for better schools- but we run into the location / commute problem.

The location-commute problem is the exact reason PG was the ideal place for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks 12:43 for summing it up. I am the Chavez-zoned poster and not the OP.

I am looking at all private and public options to keep my house right now but no luck so far. There are publics in the area that do offer great programs that are on par with the privates and in some cases better.

12:43, I wonder if I know you.

I was just reading about Chavez. So it is a Spanish immersion school? Or am I reading that wrong.

[Anonymous]

Yes, Chavez is Spanish immersion. The idea of a second language is very attractive to me, it is the other aspects of the school that I am concerned about.

[Anonymous]

Specifically what other aspects? I don't have kids at the school, but I had a friend who taught there and said the class sizes were small. I think the immersion aspect is a huge plus. I think the boundaries for Chavez are kind of weird though so depending on where in the zone you live, kids in your neighborhood but not on your street may be zoned to another school. Not sure that impacts much other than ease of playing with buddies outside of school, but I could see that being a negative.

[Anonymous]

The FARMS rate is very high for the school, there is no onsite aftercare program, and concerned about the overrall peer environment at the school.

The boundaries are very weird for the school and they bypass several other elementary schools.

I love the idea of an immersion classroom but I am concerned about the environment. Classrooms are so much more then test scores and per pupil spending.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The FARMS rate is very high for the school, there is no onsite aftercare program, and concerned about the overrall peer environment at the school.

The boundaries are very weird for the school and they bypass several other elementary schools.

I love the idea of an immersion classroom but I am concerned about the environment. Classrooms are so much more then test scores and per pupil spending.

I think the FARMS rate is very high for most PG schools, because so many people put their kids in private and are totally out of the system. What exactly are you worried about re: the peer environment?

[Anonymous]

Re: peer environment . . . spoke with a former parent at Chavez and a coach of an opposing team and they both expressed the same sentiments about it being a "rough." Of course, I took both comments with a grain of salt, which is way I am doing my own research.

I guess the more reliable reference that I had was from a neighborhood boy that cut my grass for several years. He eventually transferred to MoCo and told me that in the new school the "kids were really focused on learning." While he cut my grass, I would sit and talk with him about things and try to give him a little advice. That one conversation really stuck in my mind, of course, it was the same day that Michael Jackson died too.

[Anonymous]

Since no one is chiming in with personal experience at Chavez, would it maybe be worthwhile to contact a couple of PTO (can't members from the school and ask if you can chat about the school? We didn't really know anyone currently at our neighborhood school either and talking to a couple of PTO members really helped me get a better sense of the school community and strengths/weaknesses of the school so I didn't feel like we were going in so blind.

I agree that FARMS rate is very high for most PG schools, especially if you're comparing to MoCo. But I also think people make a lot of assumptions about high FARMS = ____ negative thing and it really is school dependent. You have some great schools with high FARMS rates and involved parents and active school communities and you have others that are really having problems. I'm not sure what makes the difference, but I think you have to look at the individual school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP @ 9:36 -- gentrification = white people? White people = gentrification?

9:33 is the one that suggested to follow the white families.9:36 was just responding to it.

If you could read, you'd learn that PP suggested to "follow the gentrification". Black families are every bit as much a part of "gentrification" as whites and asians.

Cue the response that "everyone knows exactly what PP 'really meant'"...