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Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)
MoCo Elementary schools with good music and chorus programs
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Anonymous
| Does anyone know of, or has had good experience with, a particular MoCo elementary school with good music and chorus programs? If so, please post your experiences. My child is showing an increasing interest to learn music and I wanted to see if any particular school has a good reputation in this area. Thank you! |
Anonymous
|
Two words: Mr. Bowling!
State-award-winning teacher of instrumental music. Inspires students with his love of music and humor. Much-loved by students and parents alike. Divides his time equally between Chevy Chase ES and North Chevy Chase ES. Both my children have had Mr. Bowling for instrumental music; one even took up a second instrument in order to be able to take lessons with Mr. Bowling (her primary instrument is not one taught in MoCo public schools). |
Anonymous
| Barnsley in Rockville |
Anonymous
Mr. Bowling is really great, I agree. Unfortunately, CCES has been forced to cut its choral music program. I think this is a real loss for the school. Parents were not happy. The PTA tried to reincarnate the program as an after school activity, but with competition from so many other established after school activities, it didn't really take root. I don't know if this is an across the board MCPS cut at all elementaries or whether this was "choice" cut (as in cut chorus or something else....) |
Anonymous
| No that must have been school specific..my school still has chorus (in a addition to music) for all 4th and 5th graders. |
Anonymous
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Does anyone know if MCPS has some kind of county-wide or honors chorus for ES?
My son doesn't want to do his ES chorus because you have to miss class for it (don't ask ...  ) but is a good choral singer and likes the challenge of a high level chorus.
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Anonymous
| Starting at about age 8, there's the Children's Chorus of Washington, which is a not-for-profit and operates out of a church near AU. It's fairly pricey, though. The older kids are going to South Africa next week. |
Anonymous
| Yes, thanks, I've sung with the Children's Chorus in a performance with a large adult choir and they were phenomenal. The cost is really prohibitive for me though. |
Anonymous
Really? Can you tell us more? |
Anonymous
| Are you going to move to a new school based on the rep. of their music program? |
Anonymous
| The better bet would be to pick the best school for your child and then have your child join something like the DC Youth Orchestra Program. I wouldn't pick a school for the music curriculum. |
Anonymous
|
Ditto on the DC Youth Orchestra Program. You can do it even if you're Maryland residents.
We did it when DC was in kindergarten - they have Suzuki violin classes and other beginner classes for younger kids. Whereas in MoCo your kid wouldn't start an instrument until 4th grade. DCYOP is pretty cheap, too. A few years ago they were rehearsing and doing lessons right across the Takoma, MD border at a big high school (which didn't have AC, be forewarned). The teachers were young recent music grads, and enthusiastic. At some point, if your kid really progresses, you may want to move to private lessons because the group lessons tended to move at the pace of the slowest, most uninterested kid. But by that time your kid will have a school orchestra in a MoCo public. |
Anonymous
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My DC is in the DCYOP's Juniopr Philharmonic, and it is a super program. My younger DC wants to join now. And we live in MD; living in DC is not a requirement.
I want to add that just last week the DCYOP moved to a new location, the brand-new and *gorgeous* Eastern Senior High School at 1700 E. Capitol Street, NE, in DC. The level of performance in even the Junior Philaharmonic (one step below the Youth Orchestra) is higher than that of both the middle-school and upper-school orchestras at my DC's big-3 private school. The DCYOP places kids in the various levels of orchestra by audition, and promotion is by passing a jury exam. |
Anonymous
We loved DCYOP but had to quit finally when it moved to the new location. Although I understand the brand new school is nice, Eastern is not exactly a central location in the city. (Nor was Coolidge H.S. either.) I had really hoped that DCYOP would find a central downtown location near a metro stop so that all kids in the city could participate. |
Anonymous
The new location is a 35-minute drive each way from my house under ideal conditions, and I wish it weren't so far, but the drive is worth it in my view. I am guessing that your children are younger and there are other options in instrumental-muisc instruction for your children. However, for middle-school and high-school children, programs like the DCYOP (and also the Maryland and northern VA youth orchestras, although these latter two are less inclusive than DCYOP) offer a level of orchestral performance that children will not get in the middle schools and high schools. For this reason we are staying with the DCYOP despite the longer drive. |