2023-2024 Current K - 1 Bethesda Parents
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Anonymous
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Hello, Our family is moving to Bethesda from the SF Bay Area and I would love to know if any current PS parents are willing to share their K-1 experience at BES. We toured 3 schools recently and it was such a breath of fresh air compared to what we see here, Seven Locks, Bethesda ES, and Wyngate all seemed to have really thoughtful admins and were very honest about areas they want to improve. Hoping to pick this thread back up re: overcrowding to see if any current K - 1 Bethesda ES parents can share how they have navigated the overcrowding. We toured with 3 other families and we all felt that the PTA at Bethesda ES did a great job with the tour, but we couldn’t fully grasp how well our kids would do or what kind of teacher support was available for the overcrowding. The ratio is listed as 14:1 on Great Schools but I am not sure if that is correct for BES. Seven Locks seemed to have a smaller ratio with 16 kids in K on average we were told. Sharing this in case it is helpful for any other families in a similar situation currently touring. Also our son is a rising 1st and very stem focused, we saw maker labs at Seven Locks and Wyngate but maybe missed this at BES. Is there a strong stem component at all of the schools? Thanks |
Anonymous
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The ratio of 14:1 and 16:1 is misleading: none of those schools are title 1 or focus, so it'll likely be twenty-something per class, just depends on entollment.
The ratio includes all adults, from the ESOL teachers to the secretaries, not the classroom to student ratio. And, all those schools are excellent - you can't go wrong with any of them |
Anonymous
| You and three other families got a tour from the PTA?? At a time that was not K orientation |
Anonymous
Anonymous
Yes! I was really impressed. I believe quite a few of the schools run tours through the PTA. I called the main office and emailed and was told that BE runs a monthly tour, I think Somerset does this too through the PTA. Wyngate has a new principal and he gave my husband and I a tour and the AP at Seven Locks did as well. It was quick, efficient and thoughtful. |
Anonymous
Yes! I was really impressed. I believe quite a few of the schools run tours through the PTA. I called the main office and emailed and was told that BE runs a monthly tour, I think Somerset does this too through the PTA. Wyngate has a new principal and he gave my husband and I a tour and the AP at Seven Locks did as well. It was quick, efficient and thoughtful. |
Anonymous
Thank you! |
Anonymous
| PTA running a tour? Sounds unlikely at most ES. The schools can give a tour after school ends or on a day off, if that's what you are talking about, OP. |
Anonymous
Did you consider Somerset? Sounds like a great fit especially if you are concerned about crowding. |
Anonymous
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This review was just posted on BES Great schools, so I was curious if this is district wide? Seems very strange for a teacher to share a review like this about non consent.
April 24, 2024 “Bethesda Elementary was once a stellar school of learning, however, since the inception of the current administration (in the front office) it has plummeted on all academic levels. If your child does not conform to the one-style teaching/learning model, your child will be placed in remedial/special ed classes without your knowledge or consent. The administration office is more of a Payton place than an environment of acceptance of active and committed parental engagement... there is a low tolerance for questioning the status quo. The administration is very slow to respond to bullying and other behavioral issues, as a result children suffer.” https://www.greatschools.org/maryland/bethesda/862-Bethesda-Elementary-School/ |
Anonymous
I found out via the PTA website for the schools as well. We took the tours during the school day, not after school. BES has a monthly tour at 9am ran by the PTA president who was really lovely. Wyngate and SLES ran the tough via admin and it was also during the school day not after school. Again, I was really impressed they did this. It doesn’t exist in the Bay Area. I know no school/district is perfect, but we have been really excited about moving to a place like this. 
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Anonymous
| From OP: Thanks for the links. They have some great insight, but some of the previous links about this subject do not have current K-1 parents. I’m hoping to hear from parents who are currently at these schools in the lower grades since that will give us the best snapshot. During the tour we were not able to chat with teachers (totally fair), so hoping parents can fill in the gaps about class size for this cohort, teachers, stem etc. Thanks |
Anonymous
| If you got a tour, didn't you see class sizes? You may not know exact number but didn't you see if classes were over crowded? That's why you saying you got a tour during a time in the school day is questionable and that too by a PTA. That should not be happening while students are present in the building. |
Anonymous
If OP goes to the School Profiles site, they can see the average class sizes (as opposed to student teacher ratios), though these can vary a lot by year. For 2022-23, the average K class size was 22.5 at BES https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiZWJmMzk4MTItMjZjZS00OGYxLTlhYTAtNDM5ODFiMWI1MjhjIiwidCI6ImRkZjc1NWU5LWJjZDYtNGE1ZS1hNDcyLTdjMzc4YTc4YzZjNyIsImMiOjF9 |