Transferring into MCPS from Private Questions

[Anonymous]

DD is currently enrolled in a private school and has been since PreK-3. She is currently in Grade 2. Our intention was never to keep her private school long term but COVID changed the calculus for us and momentum has kept us there. She is working at least 2 grade levels above where she is in both reading and math but her school is not really providing much by way of enrichment/acceleration. We are strongly considering pulling DD out next year to attend our local well-rated MCPS elementary. To be very clear: I know that enrichment/acceleration will be no better at public school, however without having to pay tuition I'll be able to provide supplemental activities that I currently cannot.

Right now I'm trying to figure out who I need to talk to to start that process -- If anyone has BTDT, can you provide guidance? My main questions right now are if I should contact the principal of the MCPS school? What are the possibilities of them letting DD skip third grade if she can demonstrate mastery (she's a fall birthday but beyond the cutoff so she is on the older side of her grade currently)? What else do I need to consider/do at this point?

TIA

[Anonymous]

No chance unless her private skips her.

[Anonymous]

Get ready for the culture shock she'll experience.

[Anonymous]

Well, to enroll, just go to your ES that you are zoned for. If you don't know, you can check on the MCPS website. Plug in your address, and it will tell you what school.

Then go to the office, and say, "Hello, I'd like to enroll my DD in school next year", and they will tell you what need to do that.

You'll have to ask the Principal about skipping a grade, and your DD will have to test. The Principal may or may not be so open to the idea of her skipping a grade, so it really depends.

If your schools has the Center, as they call it now, your DD may be able to have a more advanced curriculum.

Then there is the magnet MS and HS. IMO, the HS magnet programs are probably the best thing about MCPS. My DC goes to one.

[Anonymous]

You should contact the principal. My recommendation would be to ask that the math instructional specialist and the reading instructional specialist evaluate your child in the spring of this year for proper placement the following year. I ended up going this route for DC3 when they came out of K in Montessori. DC3 age would be 1st grade. Academically DC3 was ready for 2nd grade reading and 3rd grade math. Scheduling option was either reading 1st and float to 3rd for math, or placement in 2nd grade for both (which is what we did). Some of this is because the principal already knew our family. DC1 was very advanced, but we didn't know to apply for HGC (at the time) and so principal was challenged with DC1 grouping in 4th & 5th (DC1 ended up in MS and HS magnets). DC2 was floated a grade level up in math and went to HGC (and on to MS and HS magnets). So skipping DC3 an entire grade wasn't unexpected. DC3 also ended up at HGC (and followed magnet route through HS).

The key is to ask for an evaluation and then work with the principal for an appropriate placement. Don't presume a specific solution is the right solution. However, if your daughter is currently grade 2, the better solution may be to enroll her in grade 3 next year and hope for placement in the CES program for 4th and 5th. Or you could possibly see about transferring into 3rd grade this year in December to get MAP-R and MAP-M testing data in time for screening for next year's 4th grade CES cohort.
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/specialprograms/elementary/highly-gifted-centers.aspx

[Anonymous]

The enrollment process is NBD. Just call the school. My youngest transferred in third grade. She was placed a grade ahead but her private had done that the previous year and she essentially transferred in at her current grade level.

If you think your child should be advanced after she leaves private, I’d call your home school principal shortly after the new year to discuss whether this is a possibility.

[Anonymous]

Ditto what other folks have said. Just call the school and they’ll walk you through it. It’s pretty easy.

We put our son in public this year from private and couldn’t be happier. He’s thriving, being challenged academically, and the school was really great about matching him with the right teacher/class (I emailed the principal with some info about his learning style but didn’t request anyone specifically).

[Anonymous]

Is your daughter an only child or firstborn? My advice is don't skip her. My daughter was always the youngest and it was a challenge socially. It is possible to provide enrichment and you can apply to MCPS magnets. Make sure you have her apply to the Enrichment Center for 4th and 5th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD is currently enrolled in a private school and has been since PreK-3. She is currently in Grade 2. Our intention was never to keep her private school long term but COVID changed the calculus for us and momentum has kept us there. She is working at least 2 grade levels above where she is in both reading and math but her school is not really providing much by way of enrichment/acceleration. We are strongly considering pulling DD out next year to attend our local well-rated MCPS elementary. To be very clear: I know that enrichment/acceleration will be no better at public school, however without having to pay tuition I'll be able to provide supplemental activities that I currently cannot.

Right now I'm trying to figure out who I need to talk to to start that process -- If anyone has BTDT, can you provide guidance? My main questions right now are if I should contact the principal of the MCPS school? What are the possibilities of them letting DD skip third grade if she can demonstrate mastery (she's a fall birthday but beyond the cutoff so she is on the older side of her grade currently)? What else do I need to consider/do at this point?

TIA

Does she go to Feynman? If not, you might want to explore that school.

[Anonymous]

If your DD skips 3rd grade, I’m not sure she could be entered into the lottery for CES. That’s a gifted program which starts in 4th, but the evaluation process is done in 3rd. There’s no guarantee she’ll get in, but I think I’d rather have my kid in a group of academic and age level peers than in a group of older, but less advanced, kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No chance unless her private skips her.

My younger DD was skipped. MCPS told us that they would place her with her “age-appropriate grade” through 5th. So we kept her in private through 5th. They also lost her private school records and never tested her in math so she got a 6th grade math placement that was laughably easy. In the end, it worked out okay. She’s in AP Calc.

[Anonymous]

Two grade levels is pretty standard. No chance they will let her skip. They tried to force us to hold back our kid due to age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two grade levels is pretty standard. No chance they will let her skip. They tried to force us to hold back our kid due to age.

Came to say this. Plus you will want her in 3rd grade to see if she gets into CES. But there are plenty of outside activities you can enroll in to provide further challenge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No chance unless her private skips her.

My younger DD was skipped. MCPS told us that they would place her with her “age-appropriate grade” through 5th. So we kept her in private through 5th. They also lost her private school records and never tested her in math so she got a 6th grade math placement that was laughably easy. In the end, it worked out okay. She’s in AP Calc.

Our MCPS ES started taking kids at grade level in second grade. So if you were skipped a grade before then, you went in at the grade level you were on in your private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two grade levels is pretty standard. No chance they will let her skip. They tried to force us to hold back our kid due to age.

Came to say this. Plus you will want her in 3rd grade to see if she gets into CES. But there are plenty of outside activities you can enroll in to provide further challenge.

I was also coming to say this. If she is in 2nd now, the request to place her into 4th will be a problem for potential CES. They do the testing in 3rd, and it is not a flexible process. Also, CES is now a lottery for high performing students (as are MS magnets), so there is no guarantee that you will win.