Title 1 elementary schools

[Anonymous]

What are the "best" title 1 elementary schools in MCPS? I have one kid with SNs and and one "gifted" kid.

[Anonymous]

The truth is that Title I elementary schools often have wonderful teachers. The stats are low for reasons out of the control of the teachers. I will say that a gifted kid may not get as much out of a title I school. I work in one that has a high level of children of immigrants, and the school is lovely, but gifted kids can get bored because the teachers don’t have the time to differentiate for them because they are, understandably, busy helping the very neediest in their class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The truth is that Title I elementary schools often have wonderful teachers. The stats are low for reasons out of the control of the teachers. I will say that a gifted kid may not get as much out of a title I school. I work in one that has a high level of children of immigrants, and the school is lovely, but gifted kids can get bored because the teachers don’t have the time to differentiate for them because they are, understandably, busy helping the very neediest in their class.


I agree 100%. If you swapped the teachers at my Title 1 school with teachers from the wealthy Blue Ribbon school, our test scores would plummet and those teachers would quit. I didn’t bring my son to my school because the focus isn’t on the high fliers.

[Anonymous]

Are you intentionally asking because you’re going to move? Or just curious?
My kid went to Burtonsville ES a few years ago when it was a focus school. I believe the designation moved to title 1 after Covid but not sure.
k-2 has 13 -14 kids in her class which was awesome and she had enthusiastic and caring teachers who were great. I also liked the admin and Principal. She made good friends there. We left because of Covid and switched to private but while there we were happy and DD did well

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you intentionally asking because you’re going to move? Or just curious?
My kid went to Burtonsville ES a few years ago when it was a focus school. I believe the designation moved to title 1 after Covid but not sure.
k-2 has 13 -14 kids in her class which was awesome and she had enthusiastic and caring teachers who were great. I also liked the admin and Principal. She made good friends there. We left because of Covid and switched to private but while there we were happy and DD did well

We’re moving to the area. Seems like one of the “more desirable” elementary schools would be a better fit for my gifted kid, and the title 1s might be better for my kid who needs special education resources. Trying to figure out if there is a title 1 that would be good for both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you intentionally asking because you’re going to move? Or just curious?
My kid went to Burtonsville ES a few years ago when it was a focus school. I believe the designation moved to title 1 after Covid but not sure.
k-2 has 13 -14 kids in her class which was awesome and she had enthusiastic and caring teachers who were great. I also liked the admin and Principal. She made good friends there. We left because of Covid and switched to private but while there we were happy and DD did well

We’re moving to the area. Seems like one of the “more desirable” elementary schools would be a better fit for my gifted kid, and the title 1s might be better for my kid who needs special education resources. Trying to figure out if there is a title 1 that would be good for both.

I would not assume that a Title I school is necessarily better for your kid with learning differences. A specific school might be, if they had a strong reputation and an experienced administrator who is good at squeezing additional resources out of MCPS, but just being a Title I school isn't going to make things better for your individual kid.

My experience as a parent and staff in both Focus and Title I schools is that the level of need is incredible. Kids are coming in with a cornucopia of challenges. Psychological challenges include generational poverty, adverse childhood events, and sometimes having witnessed violence. Learning challenges include a lack of preschool education (particularly post-covid) and undiagnosed learning disabilities. Kids are often arriving in kindergarten with no preschool, no early intervention, and no diagnosis even when there are clear needs. School resources in the K-2 years are focused heavily on identifying kids who don't have IEPs/504s but need them, to set those kids up for success later. So even while there are more special education resources allocated to those schools, those resources aren't going to be as available to your kid as you might think.

What's your budget and commute? We might be able to help you brainstorm some options that will split the difference, with smaller class sizes and a lower level of overall need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you intentionally asking because you’re going to move? Or just curious?
My kid went to Burtonsville ES a few years ago when it was a focus school. I believe the designation moved to title 1 after Covid but not sure.
k-2 has 13 -14 kids in her class which was awesome and she had enthusiastic and caring teachers who were great. I also liked the admin and Principal. She made good friends there. We left because of Covid and switched to private but while there we were happy and DD did well

We’re moving to the area. Seems like one of the “more desirable” elementary schools would be a better fit for my gifted kid, and the title 1s might be better for my kid who needs special education resources. Trying to figure out if there is a title 1 that would be good for both.

I would not assume that a Title I school is necessarily better for your kid with learning differences. A specific school might be, if they had a strong reputation and an experienced administrator who is good at squeezing additional resources out of MCPS, but just being a Title I school isn't going to make things better for your individual kid.

My experience as a parent and staff in both Focus and Title I schools is that the level of need is incredible. Kids are coming in with a cornucopia of challenges. Psychological challenges include generational poverty, adverse childhood events, and sometimes having witnessed violence. Learning challenges include a lack of preschool education (particularly post-covid) and undiagnosed learning disabilities. Kids are often arriving in kindergarten with no preschool, no early intervention, and no diagnosis even when there are clear needs. School resources in the K-2 years are focused heavily on identifying kids who don't have IEPs/504s but need them, to set those kids up for success later. So even while there are more special education resources allocated to those schools, those resources aren't going to be as available to your kid as you might think.

What's your budget and commute? We might be able to help you brainstorm some options that will split the difference, with smaller class sizes and a lower level of overall need.

We'd prefer to stay below $4k/month in rent, but could go over for the right place. Commute is to Dupont area so close access to a metro is helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you intentionally asking because you’re going to move? Or just curious?
My kid went to Burtonsville ES a few years ago when it was a focus school. I believe the designation moved to title 1 after Covid but not sure.
k-2 has 13 -14 kids in her class which was awesome and she had enthusiastic and caring teachers who were great. I also liked the admin and Principal. She made good friends there. We left because of Covid and switched to private but while there we were happy and DD did well

We’re moving to the area. Seems like one of the “more desirable” elementary schools would be a better fit for my gifted kid, and the title 1s might be better for my kid who needs special education resources. Trying to figure out if there is a title 1 that would be good for both.

I would not assume that a Title I school is necessarily better for your kid with learning differences. A specific school might be, if they had a strong reputation and an experienced administrator who is good at squeezing additional resources out of MCPS, but just being a Title I school isn't going to make things better for your individual kid.

My experience as a parent and staff in both Focus and Title I schools is that the level of need is incredible. Kids are coming in with a cornucopia of challenges. Psychological challenges include generational poverty, adverse childhood events, and sometimes having witnessed violence. Learning challenges include a lack of preschool education (particularly post-covid) and undiagnosed learning disabilities. Kids are often arriving in kindergarten with no preschool, no early intervention, and no diagnosis even when there are clear needs. School resources in the K-2 years are focused heavily on identifying kids who don't have IEPs/504s but need them, to set those kids up for success later. So even while there are more special education resources allocated to those schools, those resources aren't going to be as available to your kid as you might think.

What's your budget and commute? We might be able to help you brainstorm some options that will split the difference, with smaller class sizes and a lower level of overall need.

We'd prefer to stay below $4k/month in rent, but could go over for the right place. Commute is to Dupont area so close access to a metro is helpful.

Two options:

Takoma Park, because it has an in-house CES (gifted) program for 4th and 5th graders plus set-asides in the local middle school magnet. The downside is commute. You'd have to ride the Red Line through downtown to get to Dupont Circle.

Rosemary Hills neighborhood, which like Takoma Park has the K-2 and 3-5 schools separate and allows a focus on each grade level. It's known to be good for kids with learning differences, but also has enough "striver" type families for your gifted kid to have a cohort. Commute would be bus to Red Line, but you'd be on the "right" side of the Red Line to get to Dupont.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you intentionally asking because you’re going to move? Or just curious?
My kid went to Burtonsville ES a few years ago when it was a focus school. I believe the designation moved to title 1 after Covid but not sure.
k-2 has 13 -14 kids in her class which was awesome and she had enthusiastic and caring teachers who were great. I also liked the admin and Principal. She made good friends there. We left because of Covid and switched to private but while there we were happy and DD did well

We’re moving to the area. Seems like one of the “more desirable” elementary schools would be a better fit for my gifted kid, and the title 1s might be better for my kid who needs special education resources. Trying to figure out if there is a title 1 that would be good for both.

There is a middle ground which is schools that are not focus or Title 1 but are fairly diverse and are highly rated by teachers. Flora Singer and Oakland Terrace ESs are two that come to mind. Oakland Terrace has a Spanish immersion program for all students which might offer a good challenge for your gifted child (depending on your child's SN, that program may be good or bad for them). The downsides are these schools don't get extra allocations for smaller class sizes so that's luck of the draw in any given year, and also the middle schools may not be as strong. The upsides are those locations are more affordable, but the level of need in the student body is not as overwhelming as a Title 1 or Focus school and the PTA will be better resourced.

Either way do look at the most recent School Climate Survey results. Of course, any given school may change administration and the ratings may go up or down, but IMO it is more helpful information than test scores which I think by themselves say more about the students than the teachers. https://sharedaccountability.mcpsmd.org/SurveyResults/content.php

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are the "best" title 1 elementary schools in MCPS? I have one kid with SNs and and one "gifted" kid.

Your gifted kid is not gifted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you intentionally asking because you’re going to move? Or just curious?
My kid went to Burtonsville ES a few years ago when it was a focus school. I believe the designation moved to title 1 after Covid but not sure.
k-2 has 13 -14 kids in her class which was awesome and she had enthusiastic and caring teachers who were great. I also liked the admin and Principal. She made good friends there. We left because of Covid and switched to private but while there we were happy and DD did well

We’re moving to the area. Seems like one of the “more desirable” elementary schools would be a better fit for my gifted kid, and the title 1s might be better for my kid who needs special education resources. Trying to figure out if there is a title 1 that would be good for both.

There is a middle ground which is schools that are not focus or Title 1 but are fairly diverse and are highly rated by teachers. Flora Singer and Oakland Terrace ESs are two that come to mind. Oakland Terrace has a Spanish immersion program for all students which might offer a good challenge for your gifted child (depending on your child's SN, that program may be good or bad for them). The downsides are these schools don't get extra allocations for smaller class sizes so that's luck of the draw in any given year, and also the middle schools may not be as strong. The upsides are those locations are more affordable, but the level of need in the student body is not as overwhelming as a Title 1 or Focus school and the PTA will be better resourced.

Either way do look at the most recent School Climate Survey results. Of course, any given school may change administration and the ratings may go up or down, but IMO it is more helpful information than test scores which I think by themselves say more about the students than the teachers. https://sharedaccountability.mcpsmd.org/SurveyResults/content.php

Very helpful info, thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you intentionally asking because you’re going to move? Or just curious?
My kid went to Burtonsville ES a few years ago when it was a focus school. I believe the designation moved to title 1 after Covid but not sure.
k-2 has 13 -14 kids in her class which was awesome and she had enthusiastic and caring teachers who were great. I also liked the admin and Principal. She made good friends there. We left because of Covid and switched to private but while there we were happy and DD did well

We’re moving to the area. Seems like one of the “more desirable” elementary schools would be a better fit for my gifted kid, and the title 1s might be better for my kid who needs special education resources. Trying to figure out if there is a title 1 that would be good for both.

There is a middle ground which is schools that are not focus or Title 1 but are fairly diverse and are highly rated by teachers. Flora Singer and Oakland Terrace ESs are two that come to mind. Oakland Terrace has a Spanish immersion program for all students which might offer a good challenge for your gifted child (depending on your child's SN, that program may be good or bad for them). The downsides are these schools don't get extra allocations for smaller class sizes so that's luck of the draw in any given year, and also the middle schools may not be as strong. The upsides are those locations are more affordable, but the level of need in the student body is not as overwhelming as a Title 1 or Focus school and the PTA will be better resourced.

Either way do look at the most recent School Climate Survey results. Of course, any given school may change administration and the ratings may go up or down, but IMO it is more helpful information than test scores which I think by themselves say more about the students than the teachers. https://sharedaccountability.mcpsmd.org/SurveyResults/content.php

Flora Singer is a focus school (i.e. has reduced class sizes, though not as reduced as Title I).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you intentionally asking because you’re going to move? Or just curious?
My kid went to Burtonsville ES a few years ago when it was a focus school. I believe the designation moved to title 1 after Covid but not sure.
k-2 has 13 -14 kids in her class which was awesome and she had enthusiastic and caring teachers who were great. I also liked the admin and Principal. She made good friends there. We left because of Covid and switched to private but while there we were happy and DD did well

We’re moving to the area. Seems like one of the “more desirable” elementary schools would be a better fit for my gifted kid, and the title 1s might be better for my kid who needs special education resources. Trying to figure out if there is a title 1 that would be good for both.

There is a middle ground which is schools that are not focus or Title 1 but are fairly diverse and are highly rated by teachers. Flora Singer and Oakland Terrace ESs are two that come to mind. Oakland Terrace has a Spanish immersion program for all students which might offer a good challenge for your gifted child (depending on your child's SN, that program may be good or bad for them). The downsides are these schools don't get extra allocations for smaller class sizes so that's luck of the draw in any given year, and also the middle schools may not be as strong. The upsides are those locations are more affordable, but the level of need in the student body is not as overwhelming as a Title 1 or Focus school and the PTA will be better resourced.

Either way do look at the most recent School Climate Survey results. Of course, any given school may change administration and the ratings may go up or down, but IMO it is more helpful information than test scores which I think by themselves say more about the students than the teachers. https://sharedaccountability.mcpsmd.org/SurveyResults/content.php

Flora Singer is a focus school (i.e. has reduced class sizes, though not as reduced as Title I).

Flora Singer is not a current Focus School. The current list of Focus and Title 1 schools (for this year) can be found here: https://gis.mcpsmd.org/cipmasterpdfs/CIP25_Chapter3.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you intentionally asking because you’re going to move? Or just curious?
My kid went to Burtonsville ES a few years ago when it was a focus school. I believe the designation moved to title 1 after Covid but not sure.
k-2 has 13 -14 kids in her class which was awesome and she had enthusiastic and caring teachers who were great. I also liked the admin and Principal. She made good friends there. We left because of Covid and switched to private but while there we were happy and DD did well

We’re moving to the area. Seems like one of the “more desirable” elementary schools would be a better fit for my gifted kid, and the title 1s might be better for my kid who needs special education resources. Trying to figure out if there is a title 1 that would be good for both.

There is a middle ground which is schools that are not focus or Title 1 but are fairly diverse and are highly rated by teachers. Flora Singer and Oakland Terrace ESs are two that come to mind. Oakland Terrace has a Spanish immersion program for all students which might offer a good challenge for your gifted child (depending on your child's SN, that program may be good or bad for them). The downsides are these schools don't get extra allocations for smaller class sizes so that's luck of the draw in any given year, and also the middle schools may not be as strong. The upsides are those locations are more affordable, but the level of need in the student body is not as overwhelming as a Title 1 or Focus school and the PTA will be better resourced.

Either way do look at the most recent School Climate Survey results. Of course, any given school may change administration and the ratings may go up or down, but IMO it is more helpful information than test scores which I think by themselves say more about the students than the teachers. https://sharedaccountability.mcpsmd.org/SurveyResults/content.php

Flora Singer is a focus school (i.e. has reduced class sizes, though not as reduced as Title I).

Flora Singer is not a current Focus School. The current list of Focus and Title 1 schools (for this year) can be found here: https://gis.mcpsmd.org/cipmasterpdfs/CIP25_Chapter3.pdf

Oops nevermind, yes it is! ha ha

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you intentionally asking because you’re going to move? Or just curious?
My kid went to Burtonsville ES a few years ago when it was a focus school. I believe the designation moved to title 1 after Covid but not sure.
k-2 has 13 -14 kids in her class which was awesome and she had enthusiastic and caring teachers who were great. I also liked the admin and Principal. She made good friends there. We left because of Covid and switched to private but while there we were happy and DD did well

We’re moving to the area. Seems like one of the “more desirable” elementary schools would be a better fit for my gifted kid, and the title 1s might be better for my kid who needs special education resources. Trying to figure out if there is a title 1 that would be good for both.

There is a middle ground which is schools that are not focus or Title 1 but are fairly diverse and are highly rated by teachers. Flora Singer and Oakland Terrace ESs are two that come to mind. Oakland Terrace has a Spanish immersion program for all students which might offer a good challenge for your gifted child (depending on your child's SN, that program may be good or bad for them). The downsides are these schools don't get extra allocations for smaller class sizes so that's luck of the draw in any given year, and also the middle schools may not be as strong. The upsides are those locations are more affordable, but the level of need in the student body is not as overwhelming as a Title 1 or Focus school and the PTA will be better resourced.

Either way do look at the most recent School Climate Survey results. Of course, any given school may change administration and the ratings may go up or down, but IMO it is more helpful information than test scores which I think by themselves say more about the students than the teachers. https://sharedaccountability.mcpsmd.org/SurveyResults/content.php

Flora Singer is a focus school (i.e. has reduced class sizes, though not as reduced as Title I).

Flora Singer has problems with behavior/classroom management. I would think twice about sending a gifted child there. The risk is that they will be ignored while focus is on higher needs kids.
Of course this is an issue throughout mcps.