Rachel Carson ES

[Anonymous]

Tell me more about Rachel Carson! Curious to know about class sizes, recess time, social/emotional curriculum, screens... Thanks in advance for sharing your insights.

[Anonymous]

Bump

[Anonymous]

All MCPS schools have the same curriculum and rules for class size / recess. RCES has a new principal this year (previous one was terrible). It was rather overcrowded when my kids were there but this has improved. It is a large school though on a small plot of land. There is a local CES and an active PTA.

All schools have this "At a Glance" profile. Here is RCES:

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/02159.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All MCPS schools have the same curriculum and rules for class size / recess. RCES has a new principal this year (previous one was terrible). It was rather overcrowded when my kids were there but this has improved. It is a large school though on a small plot of land. There is a local CES and an active PTA.

All schools have this "At a Glance" profile. Here is RCES:

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/02159.pdf

I don’t think the overcrowding has improved all that much. It’s still busting at the seams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All MCPS schools have the same curriculum and rules for class size / recess. RCES has a new principal this year (previous one was terrible). It was rather overcrowded when my kids were there but this has improved. It is a large school though on a small plot of land. There is a local CES and an active PTA.

All schools have this "At a Glance" profile. Here is RCES:

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/02159.pdf

I don’t think the overcrowding has improved all that much. It’s still busting at the seams.

At their peak, there were 1,046 students enrolled. 7 classes for most grades. What does enrollment look like now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All MCPS schools have the same curriculum and rules for class size / recess. RCES has a new principal this year (previous one was terrible). It was rather overcrowded when my kids were there but this has improved. It is a large school though on a small plot of land. There is a local CES and an active PTA.

All schools have this "At a Glance" profile. Here is RCES:

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/02159.pdf

I don’t think the overcrowding has improved all that much. It’s still busting at the seams.

At their peak, there were 1,046 students enrolled. 7 classes for most grades. What does enrollment look like now?

893 as of the 2019-2020 school year. Keep in mind the capacity of the building is about 700. We’re districted to RCES, but like many people we know have decided against sending our kid there.

[Anonymous]

So 3 years ago, enrollment had fallen by 150 students from the peak (an average of about one class per grade) and it’s probably even lower now. They’ve added so many portables and turned the former computer lab into a classroom because everyone has Chromebooks now. I doubt the overcrowding is much of an issue at this point, except when parents are visiting the school.

[Anonymous]

Last year's enrollment was 682.

[Anonymous]

Given that there hasn’t been a decrease in the population districted to RCES, that sort of decrease in enrollment is not good.

On our block in Lakelands, there are three families with kindergarteners. Two of the three are sending our kids to private schools.

[Anonymous]

So, nobody goes there anymore—it’s too crowded.

(I think that was a Yogi Berra line, right?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, nobody goes there anymore—it’s too crowded.

(I think that was a Yogi Berra line, right?)

You really can’t see that a school losing that number of kids in just a few years is a problem?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, nobody goes there anymore—it’s too crowded.

(I think that was a Yogi Berra line, right?)

You really can’t see that a school losing that number of kids in just a few years is a problem?

In fairness, there wasn’t a significant increase in the population zoned for RCES during the time that enrollment surged; it was just that RCES was named a Blue Ribbon School in 2012, and for a few years after that, fewer people in Kentlands and Lakelands chose private elementary schools, and then for several more years, they sent the younger siblings to RCES as well. Eventually, enrollment was out of control, the excellent longtime principal left, the new one couldn’t fill his shoes, and the Blue Ribbon designation wasn’t recent anymore, so the people seeking the best schools are back to choosing private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, nobody goes there anymore—it’s too crowded.

(I think that was a Yogi Berra line, right?)

You really can’t see that a school losing that number of kids in just a few years is a problem?

In fairness, there wasn’t a significant increase in the population zoned for RCES during the time that enrollment surged; it was just that RCES was named a Blue Ribbon School in 2012, and for a few years after that, fewer people in Kentlands and Lakelands chose private elementary schools, and then for several more years, they sent the younger siblings to RCES as well. Eventually, enrollment was out of control, the excellent longtime principal left, the new one couldn’t fill his shoes, and the Blue Ribbon designation wasn’t recent anymore, so the people seeking the best schools are back to choosing private.

Yeah no. I’ve lived in Lakelands for 7 years and can confidently say that I would’ve chosen private for my kid even if RCES had been named a Blue Ribbon school last year. You all always go back to that as though it’s the reason, when it’s just not. I don’t know anyone who has even mentioned it when making a decision about whether to send their kid there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, nobody goes there anymore—it’s too crowded.

(I think that was a Yogi Berra line, right?)

You really can’t see that a school losing that number of kids in just a few years is a problem?

In fairness, there wasn’t a significant increase in the population zoned for RCES during the time that enrollment surged; it was just that RCES was named a Blue Ribbon School in 2012, and for a few years after that, fewer people in Kentlands and Lakelands chose private elementary schools, and then for several more years, they sent the younger siblings to RCES as well. Eventually, enrollment was out of control, the excellent longtime principal left, the new one couldn’t fill his shoes, and the Blue Ribbon designation wasn’t recent anymore, so the people seeking the best schools are back to choosing private.

Yeah no. I’ve lived in Lakelands for 7 years and can confidently say that I would’ve chosen private for my kid even if RCES had been named a Blue Ribbon school last year. You all always go back to that as though it’s the reason, when it’s just not. I don’t know anyone who has even mentioned it when making a decision about whether to send their kid there.

So it’s purely a coincidence that the 3 largest cohorts that ever passed through RCES were the first 3 cohorts to start kindergarten after RCES was named a Blue Ribbon school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, nobody goes there anymore—it’s too crowded.

(I think that was a Yogi Berra line, right?)

You really can’t see that a school losing that number of kids in just a few years is a problem?

In fairness, there wasn’t a significant increase in the population zoned for RCES during the time that enrollment surged; it was just that RCES was named a Blue Ribbon School in 2012, and for a few years after that, fewer people in Kentlands and Lakelands chose private elementary schools, and then for several more years, they sent the younger siblings to RCES as well. Eventually, enrollment was out of control, the excellent longtime principal left, the new one couldn’t fill his shoes, and the Blue Ribbon designation wasn’t recent anymore, so the people seeking the best schools are back to choosing private.

Yeah no. I’ve lived in Lakelands for 7 years and can confidently say that I would’ve chosen private for my kid even if RCES had been named a Blue Ribbon school last year. You all always go back to that as though it’s the reason, when it’s just not. I don’t know anyone who has even mentioned it when making a decision about whether to send their kid there.

So it’s purely a coincidence that the 3 largest cohorts that ever passed through RCES were the first 3 cohorts to start kindergarten after RCES was named a Blue Ribbon school?

I think people were lulled into thinking Blue Ribbon meant something. Turns out it really doesn’t mean all that much. RCES is a big, unwieldy school that has all the problems MCPS has and feeds into a mediocre cluster. It took a few years for people to realize it, but they have. Nearly 700 kids is a big elementary school, regardless of the building‘s capacity. Every parent I’ve talked to with kids there talk about how it’s disappointing.