Neelsville Middle School
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Anonymous
| We are thinking of buying a home in Clarksburg but have heard concerning things about Neelsville Middle School, which is the newly zoned middle school. Everything from fights to poor academics. How much of a dealbreaker would this be for you? The new building is supposed to be ready in a few years. Will the quality improve then or will it just be a nicer building? How about Seneca Valley as the HS? Thanks for the advise! |
Anonymous
| I am okay with almost every school in the CPI ty- but that one is a no. The building is truly falling apart. |
Anonymous
| I interviewed for a position there five years ago. MCPS interviews pretty much all use the same questions. As a result, if you do 2+ interviews the same transfer season, you know what to expect and you only tailor your responses a tiny bit. From the first question, it was apparent that something was very different. The questions were all about dealing with disengaged or defiant students. By the fifth question, I felt like I didn’t want to find out what inspired the emphasis on problem students. When I left the interview, I immediately wrote an email to the team withdrawing my application. I interviewed a different MS 20 min later and took that job. |
Anonymous
You have heard these concerning things FROM WHOM? My advice for you is: talk to real people (i.e., in real life) who have recent, first-hand experience with the schools. Don't ask on DCUM, don't ask on NextDoor, don't ask people who are only purveying rumors and gossip. |
Anonymous
| From parents who have kids there. However, everyone has different experiences, so a broader perspective is welcomed instead of what has been shared by only a few people. |
Anonymous
I have direct experience with Neelsville as my kid goes there now. We got rezoned in 2020 and were upset as my child was attending Rocky Hill MS; and Neelsville didn't have a great rep. The truth- fights are not as common as what people are telling you. These are coming from people with no direct experience NOW. The security there told a parent that there used to be a bunch of fights there but after the rezoning, the number of fights have gone down drastically- only a few since the beginning of the school year which is normal for any middle school. I have also volunteered at the school and can say a large majority of the kids are well-behaved. My kid hasn't even seen one single fight except for one stupid one that ended up on Social Media. Second, the teachers are AMAZING and the principal, Ms. Parcan is wonderful. My kid is in advanced math and is doing fabulous. Seneca Valley has been on the news because of a couple of recent lockdowns that happened resulting from things around the neighborhood but we are optimistic. It's a brand new state-of-the-art building and if my kid chooses to, she can get an IB Diploma there. From what I heard, the principal who has been there for many years is well known and loved in the community; and the teachers are constantly saying how much they love it there. |
Anonymous
No dog in this fight -- in a different cluster -- but this is good to hear!! I do wish the building were improved, though. |
Anonymous
| My daughter is a 7th grader at Neelsville. Our 3 older children went to Rocky Hill - a school we loved. Neelsville is WONDERFUL. The administrators, counselors, teachers are amazing. Everyone is highly invested in the success of our students. Please do not believe everything you hear, most of it probably from people who don’t have students there.. We are so proud to be a part of the Neelsville community and grateful our daughter is being educated and nurtured there. Most important of all - our daughter is super happy there. As for the building - my daughter says it’s fine. She has no problem being in it everyday. None of her friends complain about it either. And it will be gone soon enough anyway. We have a 10th grader at Seneca Valley. We have been very happy with that school too. The fighting in recent weeks has been very upsetting - the school is on top of it and handling it as well as we could hope. The administration and staff at Seneca are great. Communication is frequent and transparent. The Seneca Valley PTSA is active and involved. Neelsville and Seneca are schools you will be proud to be a part of. |
Anonymous
You should message the Neelsville PTA. I'm sure one of them with firsthand knowledge can give you more information on what you are looking for: https://www.facebook.com/neelsvillePTSA |
Anonymous
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We are zoned for NMS. One of my kids went to NMS and loved it there many years ago. Dolly McCain was the principal and she was phenomenal.
I think all schools in MCPS are pretty decent but the parents have to be very clued about what their chidren are entitled to. My kids are in magnet programs and even there you have to be on your toes. Only in HS it does not matter because the academics oriented kids self-select into harder classes and disruptive elements bow out of these classes. ES and MS are horrible in MCPS and need a lot of parental involvement if you care about equity in opportunity. |
Anonymous
| The new building is coming in 2024 so for the kids still in Elementary School who are zoned there, even better. The current building isn't horrible although it is old and it would be nice to have wider stairwells and more bathrooms. The majority of kids aren't complaining. I agree with the parent that parents need to be involved, and that's at any school. Volunteering is a great way to see what's going on at the school and I think most parents who do that would be pleasantly surprised with what they see at Neelsville. There are some staffing issues but that's an issue with all schools right now. |
Anonymous
| I dont like NMS I think that Rocky Hill Middle School is waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy better and everybody should go there |