demoralized in MCPS

[Anonymous]

People on this board are into drama, are privileged and love to whine. They paint an unrealistic picture. The county is fairly remarkable by any objective measure.

[Anonymous]

Disagree: my ES student has to vacate her classroom (sometimes several times per week) because of a violent student. This has been going in all year. Want to guess how many parenta in that classroom will request that Larlo NOT be in their chikd's classroom ever again?

My MS child had a shelter in place followed by a lockdown last week, because of threat to self harm, followed by a 7th grader making a joke about a gun that wasn't so funny.

BTW, my children have been in overcrowded schools since kindergarten, and will remain so through high school.

This is not normal, and not condusive to learning!,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a new poster who also works in an elementary school in Germantown. I had a few special friends in my class when I started teaching five years ago but it was basic behavior issues - calling out, talking back, work refusal, etc. All things that were easily worked out with the student. Each year the behavior has continued to escalate. The majority of my kids are wonderful but I have some that curse me out, talk back constantly, throw furniture, hit other students, etc. I've tried behavior contracts, bringing parents in for meetings (they won't come) and consulted with our counselor and administration. Nothing changes and it's my kids who suffer. They think this is normal behavior - which it isn't.

Subtly encourage your students to tell their parents and hopefully the parents will raise hell and get the kids reassigned. Have you thought about writing the school board and ccing Elrich and strategy BoE every time something happens? I know it is exhausting, but I think teachers should do that — or strike. These issues came up at my kids’ “top” schools and sadly we put both in private. Now we can barely afford college!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Teacher here and I'll say what nobody else wants to say. There's been an increase in housing vouchers in Germantown. There were many students at the school I worked at who had multiple families under one roof. In some cases, the parent(s) are doing the best that they can and working multiple jobs. Unfortunately, screens become the child's guardian. In other cases, parents are affiliated with gangs and/or on drugs. They're too busy partying to take an active role in their children's academics. I've had parents tell their students that they won't answer any school calls so don't worry about any infractions. I grew up in a house where I would have been terrified for my parents to be called, let alone asked to come in for a meeting. Nothing phases them and I was getting close to burning out. I'm glad I left.

Housing vouchers?

This kind: http://www.hocmc.org/extra/11-housing-choice-voucher-holders.html ?

And you know that a family has a housing voucher because...?

NP here who is also a teacher. It doesn't take a genius to figure that one out.

OK. So, how do you know?

DP

This is not hard to learn/know/figure out. Do you work in a school? Teachers/admin/paras are all pretty aware of this kind of thing. This and residency fraud, but that's a different issue.

I work in a school. There’s no way for a teacher or para to find out if a family is on Section 8 except reading a completed federal housing impact forms kids turn in rather than the family mailing. Not every family would make that error and others won’t complete the form anyway so your snooping would miss most Section 8 users. And why would you as an educator read their form anyway? There’s no academic benefit to gleaning that info.

Simple. Every time my son complained about an out-of-control kid, I looked up the family’s address and found they lived in an apartment building that took Section 8 vouchers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm calling troll on the person who claims to have taught in MCPS - in the NCC and DCC no less - and doesn't know that in high FARMS schools everyone has access to free breakfast.

That is, you would not "look at the cafeteria in the morning" to understand a school's FARMS rate (which is actually published) because a school with a FARMS rate of over about 35% would just flat out serve breakfast to everyone.

Stop with the BS troll calling. I’ve been called a troll before for posting real stuff that was shocking. It is horrible not to be believed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Disagree: my ES student has to vacate her classroom (sometimes several times per week) because of a violent student. This has been going in all year. Want to guess how many parenta in that classroom will request that Larlo NOT be in their chikd's classroom ever again?

My MS child had a shelter in place followed by a lockdown last week, because of threat to self harm, followed by a 7th grader making a joke about a gun that wasn't so funny.

BTW, my children have been in overcrowded schools since kindergarten, and will remain so through high school.

This is not normal, and not condusive to learning!,

This!

My oldest is in 5th grade and we have a kid who has a major outburst at least once a month. Runs out of the classroom. Yells at the teacher. Cursed at the teacher. Has thrown a trash can. Has hit another student in front of a teacher. Has thrown a chair. It’s out of control.

Parents are never notified. We hear about it from the kids (multiple kids, and the teachers have corroborated these stories). It is an awful learning environment.

Maybe the PP is living in some utopian neighborhood in MCPS that doesn’t face these challenges. But for the rest of us, this has been reality for our kids. We are at a Focus school, but I have even heard these types of stories from parents in wealthier clusters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm calling troll on the person who claims to have taught in MCPS - in the NCC and DCC no less - and doesn't know that in high FARMS schools everyone has access to free breakfast.

That is, you would not "look at the cafeteria in the morning" to understand a school's FARMS rate (which is actually published) because a school with a FARMS rate of over about 35% would just flat out serve breakfast to everyone.

Stop with the BS troll calling. I’ve been called a troll before for posting real stuff that was shocking. It is horrible not to be believed.

Especially when the PP is incorrect.

Not all high FARMS schools serve breakfast to all kids. Our ES does not.

[Anonymous]

I am the PP who posted about my child having to vacate her ES classroom, and am not at a Focus school (not title 1 either), so am proof this happens at ALL schools, not just focus or title 1. I will say it is likely exacerbated by being an overcrowded school. This seems to put added stress on everyone, students and staff alike.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am the PP who posted about my child having to vacate her ES classroom, and am not at a Focus school (not title 1 either), so am proof this happens at ALL schools, not just focus or title 1. I will say it is likely exacerbated by being an overcrowded school. This seems to put added stress on everyone, students and staff alike.

I agree that the schools being overcrowded is a big problem.

We had portables last year and the kid who ran out of the classroom, basically would just end out immediately outside. The teacher had no choice but to run after him. Leaving 25 other ten-year olds unattended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm calling troll on the person who claims to have taught in MCPS - in the NCC and DCC no less - and doesn't know that in high FARMS schools everyone has access to free breakfast.

That is, you would not "look at the cafeteria in the morning" to understand a school's FARMS rate (which is actually published) because a school with a FARMS rate of over about 35% would just flat out serve breakfast to everyone.

Stop with the BS troll calling. I’ve been called a troll before for posting real stuff that was shocking. It is horrible not to be believed.

I suppose I'm the original troll, or the "OT."

Truth hurts.

My friend's daughter was an ES that piloted free breakfast for all kids. I UNDERSTAND that program very well. That didn't mean, however, that HER daughter, who wasn't categorized as a FARMs' kid, participated. My own children, who aren't FARMs, refused to eat cafeteria food b/c it's awful. So yes, if you don't have to rely on the county paying for crap food then you don't eat in the cafeteria in a high school. Middle and elementary schools work differently. Kids eat together. But you'll see a long line of kids waiting in the cafeteria line at schools with high FARMs rates.

So please don't attack me unless you've shared MY experiences (close to 30 years as an educator) - or UNLESS you've shadowed me every single day I was at a school in the DCC or NEC.

Your ignorance damages the system. Instead of fighting the injustices that hurt the kids who DESERVE a safe environment for learning, you're arguing with me over my experiences in high-FARMs schools.

laughable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm calling troll on the person who claims to have taught in MCPS - in the NCC and DCC no less - and doesn't know that in high FARMS schools everyone has access to free breakfast.

That is, you would not "look at the cafeteria in the morning" to understand a school's FARMS rate (which is actually published) because a school with a FARMS rate of over about 35% would just flat out serve breakfast to everyone.

Stop with the BS troll calling. I’ve been called a troll before for posting real stuff that was shocking. It is horrible not to be believed.

I suppose I'm the original troll, or the "OT."

Truth hurts.

My friend's daughter was an ES that piloted free breakfast for all kids. I UNDERSTAND that program very well. That didn't mean, however, that HER daughter, who wasn't categorized as a FARMs' kid, participated. My own children, who aren't FARMs, refused to eat cafeteria food b/c it's awful. So yes, if you don't have to rely on the county paying for crap food then you don't eat in the cafeteria in a high school. Middle and elementary schools work differently. Kids eat together. But you'll see a long line of kids waiting in the cafeteria line at schools with high FARMs rates.

So please don't attack me unless you've shared MY experiences (close to 30 years as an educator) - or UNLESS you've shadowed me every single day I was at a school in the DCC or NEC.

Your ignorance damages the system. Instead of fighting the injustices that hurt the kids who DESERVE a safe environment for learning, you're arguing with me over my experiences in high-FARMs schools.

laughable

I agree with you OT. Just because everyone can get a free meal, means that everyone does. My kid tried a lunch in K maybe 2x and the packed a lunch till graduation. I know not everyone can afford that choice..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Simple. Every time my son complained about an out-of-control kid, I looked up the family’s address and found they lived in an apartment building that took Section 8 vouchers.

Complicated answer:

1. Everybody ought to take housing choice vouchers (unless you prefer for users of housing choice vouchers to be concentrated in high-poverty neighborhoods, and the whole point of housing choice vouchers was for this to NOT happen)
2. Living in a building where people use housing choice vouchers does not mean that your family uses a housing choice voucher
3. 7,144 housing choice vouchers IN THE WHOLE COUNTY.

Simpler answer: troll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the PP who posted about my child having to vacate her ES classroom, and am not at a Focus school (not title 1 either), so am proof this happens at ALL schools, not just focus or title 1. I will say it is likely exacerbated by being an overcrowded school. This seems to put added stress on everyone, students and staff alike.

I agree that the schools being overcrowded is a big problem.

We had portables last year and the kid who ran out of the classroom, basically would just end out immediately outside. The teacher had no choice but to run after him. Leaving 25 other ten-year olds unattended.

It shouldn't be necessary to attend TEN-year-olds?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the PP who posted about my child having to vacate her ES classroom, and am not at a Focus school (not title 1 either), so am proof this happens at ALL schools, not just focus or title 1. I will say it is likely exacerbated by being an overcrowded school. This seems to put added stress on everyone, students and staff alike.

I agree that the schools being overcrowded is a big problem.

We had portables last year and the kid who ran out of the classroom, basically would just end out immediately outside. The teacher had no choice but to run after him. Leaving 25 other ten-year olds unattended.

It shouldn't be necessary to attend TEN-year-olds?

When said TEN-year-olds have prior behavior issues, it's not always a good idea to leave them unattended.

Maybe at the W schools, the ten year olds can be left unattended. At my kids' Focus school, we prefer to have teachers or aides somewhere in the vicinity when the kids are at the school.

As demonstrated by the Damascus rape case, maybe it's even necessary for coaches/adults to attend to HS kids. Maybe if an adult had been around, the rapes would not have happened.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the PP who posted about my child having to vacate her ES classroom, and am not at a Focus school (not title 1 either), so am proof this happens at ALL schools, not just focus or title 1. I will say it is likely exacerbated by being an overcrowded school. This seems to put added stress on everyone, students and staff alike.

I agree that the schools being overcrowded is a big problem.

We had portables last year and the kid who ran out of the classroom, basically would just end out immediately outside. The teacher had no choice but to run after him. Leaving 25 other ten-year olds unattended.

It shouldn't be necessary to attend TEN-year-olds?

When said TEN-year-olds have prior behavior issues, it's not always a good idea to leave them unattended.

Maybe at the W schools, the ten year olds can be left unattended. At my kids' Focus school, we prefer to have teachers or aides somewhere in the vicinity when the kids are at the school.

As demonstrated by the Damascus rape case, maybe it's even necessary for coaches/adults to attend to HS kids. Maybe if an adult had been around, the rapes would not have happened.

Do you actually read this board?