Letters of recommendation

[Anonymous]

My child is only in 10th grade but I'm not sure how the letters of recommendation work. He gets new teachers each semester so how well do they really know him?

How does an MCPS student really form a relationship with these teachers when they only see them for a few months?

[Anonymous]

Some teachers will teach your kid more than once. My DS has the same science teacher (for Honors Chem) as he had last year for Honors Bio.

Similarly he had the same French teacher in MS for the duration.

Does your kid not have a similar situation? Or even a favorite subject where all the teachers are going to be impressed?

[Anonymous]

It's tough, OP. Colleges want letters from junior year teachers in academic subjects. No need to pressure your kid, but it's a good reminder at the start of junior year that they'll need to have a teacher or two (for more selective schools) who can vouch for them. Maybe it will encourage them to be more engaged in some of their classes, particularly ones related to a possible major.

[Anonymous]

By 11th grade the kids are more spread out between different classes — not just honors and regular English, for example, but also AP. Also more variety in science, math, history classes. So there are fewer teachers for each and kids more often have the same teacher both semester. My DC had mostly the same teachers both semesters in 11th grade. But also encourage your kid now to learn to speak up and engage with teachers. It will be good practice for next year.