Waverly Elementary in HoCo

[Anonymous]

We are moving up to HoCo from the District next year and will be zoned to Waverly. I know it is highly regarded, but are there any current parents here who can give me a good overview of the school? We'll be starting in K.

I'm quite nervous about this big lifestyle change, our DC is currently in a small private preschool if at all relevant, so just trying to learn as much as I can. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

You will like living there.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think Hoco will be fully back in Fall 2021 but I hope I’m wrong. Our board is extremely dysfunctional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think Hoco will be fully back in Fall 2021 but I hope I’m wrong. Our board is extremely dysfunctional.

Thanks, anything about the school itself from in-person experiences?

[Anonymous]

The school is fine, no concerns. It's a great area to live in and very family friendly.

Don't listen to the previous poster. Howard County is divided due to redistricting that occured last year, moving kids to various other schools. It was necessary to balance population size and overcrowding. It caused a great upheaval. The board members who supported it were literally vilfied online, it continues today. New board members were elected this past Nov who were not the darlings of this group, so now they all are being vilified, now mostly because this general group wants the schools to open. It's turned into a "Open HoCo" agenda.

Just ignore the noise as most of us have. They are loud, obnoxious, and embarrassing as anyone can imagine, but there's nothing ever useful offered, and it's really a very small segment of people.

That being said, this pandemic has been hard on everyone, and isn't likely to bring out the best in various people, but you should know it has brought out the very best in most. There's been amazing outreach to everyone, with several grassroot groups developed to make sure there's resources ( food, clothes) for everyone. One group in particular, Columbia Community Care, is 7k members strong. Anyone would be very impressed, there's so much comraderie.There are many other groups, and parents have joined together to support the current DL program until such time everyone is back in buildings. It's all tough, but there are very, very strong communities here.

Howard County is a great place to live, the schools are great, the neighborhoods are great, and most of the people, too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The school is fine, no concerns. It's a great area to live in and very family friendly.

Don't listen to the previous poster. Howard County is divided due to redistricting that occured last year, moving kids to various other schools. It was necessary to balance population size and overcrowding. It caused a great upheaval. The board members who supported it were literally vilfied online, it continues today. New board members were elected this past Nov who were not the darlings of this group, so now they all are being vilified, now mostly because this general group wants the schools to open. It's turned into a "Open HoCo" agenda.

Just ignore the noise as most of us have. They are loud, obnoxious, and embarrassing as anyone can imagine, but there's nothing ever useful offered, and it's really a very small segment of people.

That being said, this pandemic has been hard on everyone, and isn't likely to bring out the best in various people, but you should know it has brought out the very best in most. There's been amazing outreach to everyone, with several grassroot groups developed to make sure there's resources ( food, clothes) for everyone. One group in particular, Columbia Community Care, is 7k members strong. Anyone would be very impressed, there's so much comraderie.There are many other groups, and parents have joined together to support the current DL program until such time everyone is back in buildings. It's all tough, but there are very, very strong communities here.

Howard County is a great place to live, the schools are great, the neighborhoods are great, and most of the people, too!

Thanks! I actually know Columbia/Ellicott City pretty well as a general rule, I grew up there—though different area than we’re moving too. Largely moving to be closer to family. We are excited for the move, but will miss DC. Of course, I’ll likely get my fill coming in a few days a week.

Appreciate the insight in the school debate! It seems ugly, and given that small and extreme voices can dominate school-related debates in the best of times, certainly understand how the pandemic would bring even more stresses.

Good to know about the volunteer group! I’m pretty involved in volunteering/community service down here so definitely will want to look for opportunities to do so once settled!

Thanks again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The school is fine, no concerns. It's a great area to live in and very family friendly.

Don't listen to the previous poster. Howard County is divided due to redistricting that occured last year, moving kids to various other schools. It was necessary to balance population size and overcrowding. It caused a great upheaval. The board members who supported it were literally vilfied online, it continues today. New board members were elected this past Nov who were not the darlings of this group, so now they all are being vilified, now mostly because this general group wants the schools to open. It's turned into a "Open HoCo" agenda.

Just ignore the noise as most of us have. They are loud, obnoxious, and embarrassing as anyone can imagine, but there's nothing ever useful offered, and it's really a very small segment of people.

That being said, this pandemic has been hard on everyone, and isn't likely to bring out the best in various people, but you should know it has brought out the very best in most. There's been amazing outreach to everyone, with several grassroot groups developed to make sure there's resources ( food, clothes) for everyone. One group in particular, Columbia Community Care, is 7k members strong. Anyone would be very impressed, there's so much comraderie.There are many other groups, and parents have joined together to support the current DL program until such time everyone is back in buildings. It's all tough, but there are very, very strong communities here.

Howard County is a great place to live, the schools are great, the neighborhoods are great, and most of the people, too!

Redistricting would have been fine if the school board had limited it to fixing overcrowding. HCPS has done it many times before without a huge issue.

The problem was that this particular BOE made a show of prioritizing equity, and they moved an extra three or four thousand students than they probably had to if it was just to fix overcrowding.

Only a few high school pyramids would have been effected if it was only about overcrowding. Instead, just about every high school pyramid was impacted due to the daisy chaining and student swapping you need for equity. I think at least one school had over 50% turnover.

Then they raised transportation costs by over a million to accommodate the extra bussing. This is while the school district is running a deficit and can’t find enough money to build new schools and fix current ones.

In the end, I don’t think either side was happy. The pro equity crowd wanted more rebalancing, and the fix overcrowding crowd was unhappy with all the disruption and added costs to the budget due to equity considerations.

[Anonymous]

That said, Waverly is a good school, and the Howard County School district as a whole isn’t bad.

However, the school system is becoming overcrowded, especially on the East side, and there hasn’t been enough construction to accommodate it.

Be prepared for redistricting in the future.

I would try to get within walking distance of the school if you want to minimize your chance of getting redistricted.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, I really appreciate these responses. As I mentioned, grew up in the area and was redistricted myself three times before high school. I’ve generally found that to be a way of life in both HoCo and MoCo, which I personally consider to be the counties with the best school systems in the state, though many other counties (especially Frederick) have lovely schools as well.

So while very aware that is a possibility, would love any first-hand experiences with the elementary school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That said, Waverly is a good school, and the Howard County School district as a whole isn’t bad.

However, the school system is becoming overcrowded, especially on the East side, and there hasn’t been enough construction to accommodate it.

Be prepared for redistricting in the future.

I would try to get within walking distance of the school if you want to minimize your chance of getting redistricted.

Unfortunately, living within walking distance of a school no longer applies. The last redistricting moved walkers to bus riders. This was disastrous because poor families who do not own a car have no way of getting their children to school in case their miss the school bus. This creates unnecessary truancy. Also, these same students can not participate in after school programs because there is no transportation to take them home. If they miss the school bus at the end of the school day, then they oftentimes have to walk home alone by themselves on roads that do not have sidewalks. The proponents of equity of hurting their very students that we are trying to serve.

Living near a particular school in Howard County no longer grants you the privilege of attending the school within your community. I will no longer advise families to choose a particular school. If you relocate here, then come with the open mind that there is a possibility that your child's "neighborhood school" will in fact be changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That said, Waverly is a good school, and the Howard County School district as a whole isn’t bad.

However, the school system is becoming overcrowded, especially on the East side, and there hasn’t been enough construction to accommodate it.

Be prepared for redistricting in the future.

I would try to get within walking distance of the school if you want to minimize your chance of getting redistricted.

Unfortunately, living within walking distance of a school no longer applies. The last redistricting moved walkers to bus riders. This was disastrous because poor families who do not own a car have no way of getting their children to school in case their miss the school bus. This creates unnecessary truancy. Also, these same students can not participate in after school programs because there is no transportation to take them home. If they miss the school bus at the end of the school day, then they oftentimes have to walk home alone by themselves on roads that do not have sidewalks. The proponents of equity of hurting their very students that we are trying to serve.

Living near a particular school in Howard County no longer grants you the privilege of attending the school within your community. I will no longer advise families to choose a particular school. If you relocate here, then come with the open mind that there is a possibility that your child's "neighborhood school" will in fact be changed.

Thanks! Like I said above, I am from the area and was redistricted several times myself as a child, so certainly know that is a possibility. Does anyone have any insights into the school itself?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That said, Waverly is a good school, and the Howard County School district as a whole isn’t bad.

However, the school system is becoming overcrowded, especially on the East side, and there hasn’t been enough construction to accommodate it.

Be prepared for redistricting in the future.

I would try to get within walking distance of the school if you want to minimize your chance of getting redistricted.

Unfortunately, living within walking distance of a school no longer applies. The last redistricting moved walkers to bus riders. This was disastrous because poor families who do not own a car have no way of getting their children to school in case their miss the school bus. This creates unnecessary truancy. Also, these same students can not participate in after school programs because there is no transportation to take them home. If they miss the school bus at the end of the school day, then they oftentimes have to walk home alone by themselves on roads that do not have sidewalks. The proponents of equity of hurting their very students that we are trying to serve.

Living near a particular school in Howard County no longer grants you the privilege of attending the school within your community. I will no longer advise families to choose a particular school. If you relocate here, then come with the open mind that there is a possibility that your child's "neighborhood school" will in fact be changed.

These "walking" and "bus" scenarios are just weak rhetoric for something common and inevitable. All counties have to redistrict to accommodate growth. Very few people ever get to go to a school a few blocks away. This was just stupid. Millions of students take buses to school. Don't miss the bus- that's life.

[Anonymous]

NP--anyone in here with kids in this school?

[Anonymous]

Waverly is a great school. I highly recommend it. The communities zoned to Waverly have highly educated and involved parents from many diverse backgrounds. Honestly, you can't go wrong with any of the schools in Ellicott City. Here is Waverly's homepage. http://waves.hcpss.org/ Feel free to reach out to the counselor and PTA if you have specific questions about the school.

OP, I am excited that you made the decision to return home. Ellicott City is definitely a gem and a wonderful place to raise a family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Waverly is a great school. I highly recommend it. The communities zoned to Waverly have highly educated and involved parents from many diverse backgrounds. Honestly, you can't go wrong with any of the schools in Ellicott City. Here is Waverly's homepage. http://waves.hcpss.org/ Feel free to reach out to the counselor and PTA if you have specific questions about the school.

OP, I am excited that you made the decision to return home. Ellicott City is definitely a gem and a wonderful place to raise a family.

Thank you!! This is such a nice note.