Rosemary Hills

[Anonymous]

I keep hearing that RHES is "big." Does this mean the actual class sizes are big? Any other feedback related to the school is helpful. I have a rising K girl.

[Anonymous]

It has 530 students overall, which is medium-sized for MCPS elementaries. Class sizes are the same as other schools. But there are about seven classes per grade, kindergarten through 2nd only.

[Anonymous]

2nd grade parent here.

RHES is a large school compared to some of the more exurban MCPS schools, in that there are seven classes per grade and a special autism program, but class sizes are completely normal for MoCo (22-25 kids per class in my experience) and the school itself has plenty of room to accommodate those classrooms. (No portables or overcrowding.) They have Kids After Hours as their before/after care contractor, and do offer some after school extracurricular activities (which are hit or miss).

It is a delightful school... as PP mentioned, it's just K-2, so the events, activities, and staff are geared towards a younger age and they do a GREAT job.

What is your 3-5 school, OP? RHES splits into two 3-5 schools depending on where you live - Chevy Chase ES and North Chevy Chase ES. Both are great - NCC is smaller (3-4 classes per grade) because CCES has the BCC cluster CES program (which adds another 3 classrooms for 4th and 5th grade).

[Anonymous]

Thank you!! OP here- 3-5 school is CCES. This is helpful.

What would you say is the average individual class size for K- is it less than 22-25? Trying to make a decision between a small private that is $$ with okay acaedemics but class size of 16.

[Anonymous]

13:42 PP again.

We are also CCES (fab!!!!). My current second grader went to RHES for K and had 21 kids in her class. She is pretty social, so has definitely benefited from a larger school and having a new mix of kids in class each year. My older child went to a very small school for K (two classes, each with 15-17 kids). I really saw no difference than their education, but there is a huge difference in the social experience (which I think is pretty key for K…) - my shy older child liked the small class and individual attention from her teacher, but struggled socially because there wasn’t a diversity of kids to play with many of the kids had already paired up from pre-K. In that way, we had a better experience at RHES but you know you’re kid best and can best determine how they’ll thrive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you!! OP here- 3-5 school is CCES. This is helpful.

What would you say is the average individual class size for K- is it less than 22-25? Trying to make a decision between a small private that is $$ with okay acaedemics but class size of 16.

We are in K this year at RHES. Our class has 21. Other K classes are about that number too.

Not sure about 1st and 2nd.

[Anonymous]

I have zero complaints about Rosemary Hills' size.

My oldest had issues there, and my youngest is thriving there. I will give some grace because of Covid.

We feed into CCES.

Just be 'engaged' and 'active,' and your little one will be fine. The real gem is CCES; that school is exceptionally well run. The teachers are on point. They caught things that Rosemary Hills skipped. I had zero issues with class size. You can get them to pull your student for extra work if you are engaged. Also, get a tutor (cheaper than private)

[Anonymous]

When our oldest when to RH, it was 9 kindergarten classes, and then 10 the following year, and yes, that was chaotic. 700+ students. They redrew lines and added an addition since then. Younger kids were fine. So some of the horror stories might be from those earlier days--awhile ago, but that oldest DC is still in MCPS, so not THAT long ago.

One thing to keep in mind about what PP poster said: students meld together at RH, then split into two different schools for Grades 3-5, and come together again in Grade 6, along with kids from Rock Creek Forest. This really can disrupt some RH friendships at a vulnerable age--DS and DD were split from friends and by the time they were conjoined again at Silver Creek MS, one had moved away and the other one had just moved... on. It'd be nicer if kids started in a smaller school and moved bigger, not the other way around.

[Anonymous]

OP here- thank you. We have no doubts about CCES. We are just trying to decide if we want to keep DC in a private until then. She LOVES teachers and adults but struggles a bit socially (tends to play on her own while little groups have formed in current PK class) so hard to tell if smaller or larger is better.

[Anonymous]

Rosemary Hills is such a sweet, amazing school. I liked CCES, but I liked RHES even better. The only complaints anyone ever has were about the old principal who retired (she was a competent administrator but not warm and fuzzy and didn’t develop personal relationships with students or families), and that recess and lunch are a bit loud (it didn’t bother my kids but it made me crazy when I volunteered). The teachers are so fantastic and the parents are very involved. It’s a wonderful community. As for class sizes, it depends on enrollment. They basically take the total number of kids and divide. The max is 25, but it’s often fewer just depending on the math. So for instance, if you have 100 kids and 4 teachers, you have 25 per class. But if you have 84 kids, you have smaller classes. If enrollment dropped to 75, you’d have 3 classes of 25. Get it? When my kids were there, we had 25 in K and it was fine. There are lots of paraeducators and support staff floating in and out, and also parent volunteers.

[Anonymous]

RHES feels big because there are so many classes per grade and the kids don’t get much time to connect before they split off into two different schools. It’s a very different experience from K-5 schools and if I were to do it all again, I’d move to a K-5 school or go private for elementary. I think sending your daughter to private for K-2 and CCES for 3-5 would be even more jarring for her than doing RHES and then CCES.

I also don’t think the size of an individual classroom matters so much for making friends, it’s more about whether your kid gels with the kids in their class, and that’s all random. One year my daughter’s class was small (about 20 kids?) but mostly boys (maybe 2/3 or more) that she did not really gel with.

[Anonymous]

We loved RH— the parent community is very supportive and the teachers are great. For us classes tended to be on the larger size but the teachers made it work. Also they mix the classes up every year so your kid may or may not have the same kids in class from one year to the next, which may be a pro or con for your kid (our kid thrived).

[Anonymous]

RHES has a totally different feel under the new principal. More warm & nurturing.

[Anonymous]

OP here- are the teachers able to provide individualized attention and identify if there are any needs? Do PTC feel like accurate assessments of your kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here- are the teachers able to provide individualized attention and identify if there are any needs? Do PTC feel like accurate assessments of your kids?

Yes. And there is a large staff of additional specialists and aides, so there are often 2 adults in the classroom and students are pulled out into small groups for enrichment or extra help as needed.