Westland MS - Feedback

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My oldest went to NBMS (before, during and after their large addition, and had the previous Principal as well as the current one), and we really liked the school. The current Principal is lovely and caring but definitely scatterbrained, which I can't complain about because we are also an ADHD family. My oldest had a resource class and extended time accommodations and most of his teachers were aware of them and very kind and attentive in general. Two of his resource teachers and his 8th grade English teacher really went above and beyond, but nearly all his teachers had a solidly "good" baseline.

My youngest is at Westland, and so far, I've been annoyed several times. First, they didn't seem to understand the need for outdoor lunches for those who wanted them. Parents had to insist. That was before Omicron variants became so prevalent that social distancing is practically useless. Then, they didn't want to place my child in an advanced math class, despite the fact that she came from a CES and qualified for it with an ad hoc test. I got the impression, talking to other parents, that the BCC cluster tries to dissuade families from taking accelerated classes, more so than other clusters. Maybe they don't want to bus 8th graders to high school in the morning because the downtown ride gets tricky in rush hour? Maybe they're worried about academic pressure in a way the WJ and WW clusters are not? Who knows. All I got from the school was hemming and hawing, and I felt the math director really wasn't up for the job. At NBMS, they were ready to bus my kid to the high school for advanced classes, no problem. They welcomed the notion that children sought academic challenge.

I come from schools that taught a classical education, with heavy emphasis on reading classical literature, and obviously most schools in the US aren't like that. Reading lists here are full of the most ridiculously-written, low-quality contemporary novels for the most part, designed to appeal to the reluctant reader. Westland, being an IB school (middle years programme), has assigned Rick by Alex Gino as their discussion book, and on another thread, this gender-inclusive book got some people upset. I don't care one way or another, I just wish they included some more challenging books. In general, and until you get to high school and AP or IB level classes, I have found with my oldest that MCPS has a pretty disappointing level of English (reading, writing, literature selection). However the STEM offerings are consistently good (I'm a scientist, BTW).

All in all, all this area's schools are good schools. I complained in this post, but I am aware that MCPS is one of the best large public school districts in the country, and that is particularly true of the Bethesda area.

Your complaints are more MCPS based than school based. I'm impressed you kids got books to read. We've had two a year in MS. Its appalling.

[Anonymous]

OP here - yes, planning on staying for HS, but again, same dilemma. BCC/ Whitman/ WJ? All good I am being told.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My oldest went to NBMS (before, during and after their large addition, and had the previous Principal as well as the current one), and we really liked the school. The current Principal is lovely and caring but definitely scatterbrained, which I can't complain about because we are also an ADHD family. My oldest had a resource class and extended time accommodations and most of his teachers were aware of them and very kind and attentive in general. Two of his resource teachers and his 8th grade English teacher really went above and beyond, but nearly all his teachers had a solidly "good" baseline.

My youngest is at Westland, and so far, I've been annoyed several times. First, they didn't seem to understand the need for outdoor lunches for those who wanted them. Parents had to insist. That was before Omicron variants became so prevalent that social distancing is practically useless. Then, they didn't want to place my child in an advanced math class, despite the fact that she came from a CES and qualified for it with an ad hoc test. I got the impression, talking to other parents, that the BCC cluster tries to dissuade families from taking accelerated classes, more so than other clusters. Maybe they don't want to bus 8th graders to high school in the morning because the downtown ride gets tricky in rush hour? Maybe they're worried about academic pressure in a way the WJ and WW clusters are not? Who knows. All I got from the school was hemming and hawing, and I felt the math director really wasn't up for the job. At NBMS, they were ready to bus my kid to the high school for advanced classes, no problem. They welcomed the notion that children sought academic challenge.

I come from schools that taught a classical education, with heavy emphasis on reading classical literature, and obviously most schools in the US aren't like that. Reading lists here are full of the most ridiculously-written, low-quality contemporary novels for the most part, designed to appeal to the reluctant reader. Westland, being an IB school (middle years programme), has assigned Rick by Alex Gino as their discussion book, and on another thread, this gender-inclusive book got some people upset. I don't care one way or another, I just wish they included some more challenging books. In general, and until you get to high school and AP or IB level classes, I have found with my oldest that MCPS has a pretty disappointing level of English (reading, writing, literature selection). However the STEM offerings are consistently good (I'm a scientist, BTW).

All in all, all this area's schools are good schools. I complained in this post, but I am aware that MCPS is one of the best large public school districts in the country, and that is particularly true of the Bethesda area.

Your complaints are more MCPS based than school based. I'm impressed you kids got books to read. We've had two a year in MS. Its appalling.

We are at a different MS, and agree that it’s appalling. (I’m reading this thread because I always wonder how much of it is our specific cluster versus MCPS wide).

My kid just finished MS and only read 3 books during that entire time. Hopefully HS is better?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My oldest went to NBMS (before, during and after their large addition, and had the previous Principal as well as the current one), and we really liked the school. The current Principal is lovely and caring but definitely scatterbrained, which I can't complain about because we are also an ADHD family. My oldest had a resource class and extended time accommodations and most of his teachers were aware of them and very kind and attentive in general. Two of his resource teachers and his 8th grade English teacher really went above and beyond, but nearly all his teachers had a solidly "good" baseline.

My youngest is at Westland, and so far, I've been annoyed several times. First, they didn't seem to understand the need for outdoor lunches for those who wanted them. Parents had to insist. That was before Omicron variants became so prevalent that social distancing is practically useless. Then, they didn't want to place my child in an advanced math class, despite the fact that she came from a CES and qualified for it with an ad hoc test. I got the impression, talking to other parents, that the BCC cluster tries to dissuade families from taking accelerated classes, more so than other clusters. Maybe they don't want to bus 8th graders to high school in the morning because the downtown ride gets tricky in rush hour? Maybe they're worried about academic pressure in a way the WJ and WW clusters are not? Who knows. All I got from the school was hemming and hawing, and I felt the math director really wasn't up for the job. At NBMS, they were ready to bus my kid to the high school for advanced classes, no problem. They welcomed the notion that children sought academic challenge.

I come from schools that taught a classical education, with heavy emphasis on reading classical literature, and obviously most schools in the US aren't like that. Reading lists here are full of the most ridiculously-written, low-quality contemporary novels for the most part, designed to appeal to the reluctant reader. Westland, being an IB school (middle years programme), has assigned Rick by Alex Gino as their discussion book, and on another thread, this gender-inclusive book got some people upset. I don't care one way or another, I just wish they included some more challenging books. In general, and until you get to high school and AP or IB level classes, I have found with my oldest that MCPS has a pretty disappointing level of English (reading, writing, literature selection). However the STEM offerings are consistently good (I'm a scientist, BTW).

All in all, all this area's schools are good schools. I complained in this post, but I am aware that MCPS is one of the best large public school districts in the country, and that is particularly true of the Bethesda area.

Your complaints are more MCPS based than school based. I'm impressed you kids got books to read. We've had two a year in MS. Its appalling.

PP you replied to. Yes, I agree. I gave my kids my own list of books to read every year of elementary/middle school. By high school they had their preferences and went with it. I think a few English teachers in MCPS do try to present more challenging texts to students, but it's hard to go against the tide.

OP, as for high schools: Basically they're all good schools, but BCC has fewer AP offerings, since it also has the IB courses. WJ and WW have a ton of APs. My kid who went to NBMS is now at WJ, and we love the teachers (administration and counselors can be hit or miss, probably because it's so overcrowded they're completely swamped). My kid at Westland hasn't yet sampled BCC, but her friends' older siblings are there, and they seem to be doing well too. WW is whiter and richer. WJ is more diverse ethnically and economically, but some kids still show up in Teslas. I'd say BCC is the most diverse, being in the downtown. Over the many years we've lived here and the people we know from all three clusters, as well as my own experience detailed in my first post, I've accumulated the impression that the BCC cluster isn't as academically strong, perhaps in a deliberate bid to keep anxiety low. But plenty of kids there still manage to build a very ambitious class schedule for themselves. Woodward HS is being built for 2025(?), north of WJ, and will relieve the overcrowding there, and perhaps lead to a slight shift in boundaries for all the area.

[Anonymous]

Woodward's opening date has recently been delayed until 2026.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My oldest went to NBMS (before, during and after their large addition, and had the previous Principal as well as the current one), and we really liked the school. The current Principal is lovely and caring but definitely scatterbrained, which I can't complain about because we are also an ADHD family. My oldest had a resource class and extended time accommodations and most of his teachers were aware of them and very kind and attentive in general. Two of his resource teachers and his 8th grade English teacher really went above and beyond, but nearly all his teachers had a solidly "good" baseline.

My youngest is at Westland, and so far, I've been annoyed several times. First, they didn't seem to understand the need for outdoor lunches for those who wanted them. Parents had to insist. That was before Omicron variants became so prevalent that social distancing is practically useless. Then, they didn't want to place my child in an advanced math class, despite the fact that she came from a CES and qualified for it with an ad hoc test. I got the impression, talking to other parents, that the BCC cluster tries to dissuade families from taking accelerated classes, more so than other clusters. Maybe they don't want to bus 8th graders to high school in the morning because the downtown ride gets tricky in rush hour? Maybe they're worried about academic pressure in a way the WJ and WW clusters are not? Who knows. All I got from the school was hemming and hawing, and I felt the math director really wasn't up for the job. At NBMS, they were ready to bus my kid to the high school for advanced classes, no problem. They welcomed the notion that children sought academic challenge.

I come from schools that taught a classical education, with heavy emphasis on reading classical literature, and obviously most schools in the US aren't like that. Reading lists here are full of the most ridiculously-written, low-quality contemporary novels for the most part, designed to appeal to the reluctant reader. Westland, being an IB school (middle years programme), has assigned Rick by Alex Gino as their discussion book, and on another thread, this gender-inclusive book got some people upset. I don't care one way or another, I just wish they included some more challenging books. In general, and until you get to high school and AP or IB level classes, I have found with my oldest that MCPS has a pretty disappointing level of English (reading, writing, literature selection). However the STEM offerings are consistently good (I'm a scientist, BTW).

All in all, all this area's schools are good schools. I complained in this post, but I am aware that MCPS is one of the best large public school districts in the country, and that is particularly true of the Bethesda area.

Your complaints are more MCPS based than school based. I'm impressed you kids got books to read. We've had two a year in MS. Its appalling.

PP you replied to. Yes, I agree. I gave my kids my own list of books to read every year of elementary/middle school. By high school they had their preferences and went with it. I think a few English teachers in MCPS do try to present more challenging texts to students, but it's hard to go against the tide.

OP, as for high schools: Basically they're all good schools, but BCC has fewer AP offerings, since it also has the IB courses. WJ and WW have a ton of APs. My kid who went to NBMS is now at WJ, and we love the teachers (administration and counselors can be hit or miss, probably because it's so overcrowded they're completely swamped). My kid at Westland hasn't yet sampled BCC, but her friends' older siblings are there, and they seem to be doing well too. WW is whiter and richer. WJ is more diverse ethnically and economically, but some kids still show up in Teslas. I'd say BCC is the most diverse, being in the downtown. Over the many years we've lived here and the people we know from all three clusters, as well as my own experience detailed in my first post, I've accumulated the impression that the BCC cluster isn't as academically strong, perhaps in a deliberate bid to keep anxiety low. But plenty of kids there still manage to build a very ambitious class schedule for themselves. Woodward HS is being built for 2025(?), north of WJ, and will relieve the overcrowding there, and perhaps lead to a slight shift in boundaries for all the area.

Thank you PP, useful info.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My oldest went to NBMS (before, during and after their large addition, and had the previous Principal as well as the current one), and we really liked the school. The current Principal is lovely and caring but definitely scatterbrained, which I can't complain about because we are also an ADHD family. My oldest had a resource class and extended time accommodations and most of his teachers were aware of them and very kind and attentive in general. Two of his resource teachers and his 8th grade English teacher really went above and beyond, but nearly all his teachers had a solidly "good" baseline.

My youngest is at Westland, and so far, I've been annoyed several times. First, they didn't seem to understand the need for outdoor lunches for those who wanted them. Parents had to insist. That was before Omicron variants became so prevalent that social distancing is practically useless. Then, they didn't want to place my child in an advanced math class, despite the fact that she came from a CES and qualified for it with an ad hoc test. I got the impression, talking to other parents, that the BCC cluster tries to dissuade families from taking accelerated classes, more so than other clusters. Maybe they don't want to bus 8th graders to high school in the morning because the downtown ride gets tricky in rush hour? Maybe they're worried about academic pressure in a way the WJ and WW clusters are not? Who knows. All I got from the school was hemming and hawing, and I felt the math director really wasn't up for the job. At NBMS, they were ready to bus my kid to the high school for advanced classes, no problem. They welcomed the notion that children sought academic challenge.

I come from schools that taught a classical education, with heavy emphasis on reading classical literature, and obviously most schools in the US aren't like that. Reading lists here are full of the most ridiculously-written, low-quality contemporary novels for the most part, designed to appeal to the reluctant reader. Westland, being an IB school (middle years programme), has assigned Rick by Alex Gino as their discussion book, and on another thread, this gender-inclusive book got some people upset. I don't care one way or another, I just wish they included some more challenging books. In general, and until you get to high school and AP or IB level classes, I have found with my oldest that MCPS has a pretty disappointing level of English (reading, writing, literature selection). However the STEM offerings are consistently good (I'm a scientist, BTW).

All in all, all this area's schools are good schools. I complained in this post, but I am aware that MCPS is one of the best large public school districts in the country, and that is particularly true of the Bethesda area.

Your complaints are more MCPS based than school based. I'm impressed you kids got books to read. We've had two a year in MS. Its appalling.

That's strange at our DCC MS the kids read a new book almost every month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you staying for high school? I would focus on that rather than middle school. The middle schools you list are all good schools and middle school flies by in 2.9 years.

MS is the weakest link in the MCPS chain.

-parent of now two HSers. So glad to be done with MS. Academics in MS are terrible in general. I wonder if they do this on purpose because kids are going through a tough transition already in MS so why burden them more? IDK.. but MS academics is not great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My oldest went to NBMS (before, during and after their large addition, and had the previous Principal as well as the current one), and we really liked the school. The current Principal is lovely and caring but definitely scatterbrained, which I can't complain about because we are also an ADHD family. My oldest had a resource class and extended time accommodations and most of his teachers were aware of them and very kind and attentive in general. Two of his resource teachers and his 8th grade English teacher really went above and beyond, but nearly all his teachers had a solidly "good" baseline.

My youngest is at Westland, and so far, I've been annoyed several times. First, they didn't seem to understand the need for outdoor lunches for those who wanted them. Parents had to insist. That was before Omicron variants became so prevalent that social distancing is practically useless. Then, they didn't want to place my child in an advanced math class, despite the fact that she came from a CES and qualified for it with an ad hoc test. I got the impression, talking to other parents, that the BCC cluster tries to dissuade families from taking accelerated classes, more so than other clusters. Maybe they don't want to bus 8th graders to high school in the morning because the downtown ride gets tricky in rush hour? Maybe they're worried about academic pressure in a way the WJ and WW clusters are not? Who knows. All I got from the school was hemming and hawing, and I felt the math director really wasn't up for the job. At NBMS, they were ready to bus my kid to the high school for advanced classes, no problem. They welcomed the notion that children sought academic challenge.

I come from schools that taught a classical education, with heavy emphasis on reading classical literature, and obviously most schools in the US aren't like that. Reading lists here are full of the most ridiculously-written, low-quality contemporary novels for the most part, designed to appeal to the reluctant reader. Westland, being an IB school (middle years programme), has assigned Rick by Alex Gino as their discussion book, and on another thread, this gender-inclusive book got some people upset. I don't care one way or another, I just wish they included some more challenging books. In general, and until you get to high school and AP or IB level classes, I have found with my oldest that MCPS has a pretty disappointing level of English (reading, writing, literature selection). However the STEM offerings are consistently good (I'm a scientist, BTW).

All in all, all this area's schools are good schools. I complained in this post, but I am aware that MCPS is one of the best large public school districts in the country, and that is particularly true of the Bethesda area.

Your complaints are more MCPS based than school based. I'm impressed you kids got books to read. We've had two a year in MS. Its appalling.

That's strange at our DCC MS the kids read a new book almost every month.

DP.. but most of the books don't seem all that challenging. I guess they do that to get kids to read the book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My oldest went to NBMS (before, during and after their large addition, and had the previous Principal as well as the current one), and we really liked the school. The current Principal is lovely and caring but definitely scatterbrained, which I can't complain about because we are also an ADHD family. My oldest had a resource class and extended time accommodations and most of his teachers were aware of them and very kind and attentive in general. Two of his resource teachers and his 8th grade English teacher really went above and beyond, but nearly all his teachers had a solidly "good" baseline.

My youngest is at Westland, and so far, I've been annoyed several times. First, they didn't seem to understand the need for outdoor lunches for those who wanted them. Parents had to insist. That was before Omicron variants became so prevalent that social distancing is practically useless. Then, they didn't want to place my child in an advanced math class, despite the fact that she came from a CES and qualified for it with an ad hoc test. I got the impression, talking to other parents, that the BCC cluster tries to dissuade families from taking accelerated classes, more so than other clusters. Maybe they don't want to bus 8th graders to high school in the morning because the downtown ride gets tricky in rush hour? Maybe they're worried about academic pressure in a way the WJ and WW clusters are not? Who knows. All I got from the school was hemming and hawing, and I felt the math director really wasn't up for the job. At NBMS, they were ready to bus my kid to the high school for advanced classes, no problem. They welcomed the notion that children sought academic challenge.

I come from schools that taught a classical education, with heavy emphasis on reading classical literature, and obviously most schools in the US aren't like that. Reading lists here are full of the most ridiculously-written, low-quality contemporary novels for the most part, designed to appeal to the reluctant reader. Westland, being an IB school (middle years programme), has assigned Rick by Alex Gino as their discussion book, and on another thread, this gender-inclusive book got some people upset. I don't care one way or another, I just wish they included some more challenging books. In general, and until you get to high school and AP or IB level classes, I have found with my oldest that MCPS has a pretty disappointing level of English (reading, writing, literature selection). However the STEM offerings are consistently good (I'm a scientist, BTW).

All in all, all this area's schools are good schools. I complained in this post, but I am aware that MCPS is one of the best large public school districts in the country, and that is particularly true of the Bethesda area.

Your complaints are more MCPS based than school based. I'm impressed you kids got books to read. We've had two a year in MS. Its appalling.

That's strange at our DCC MS the kids read a new book almost every month.

"Book". Probably easy-readers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you staying for high school? I would focus on that rather than middle school. The middle schools you list are all good schools and middle school flies by in 2.9 years.

MS is the weakest link in the MCPS chain.

-parent of now two HSers. So glad to be done with MS. Academics in MS are terrible in general. I wonder if they do this on purpose because kids are going through a tough transition already in MS so why burden them more? IDK.. but MS academics is not great.

Those three middle schools she listed are all fine. Indistinguishable. And short lived. There is a much bigger difference among the relevant high schools. Focus on that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My oldest went to NBMS (before, during and after their large addition, and had the previous Principal as well as the current one), and we really liked the school. The current Principal is lovely and caring but definitely scatterbrained, which I can't complain about because we are also an ADHD family. My oldest had a resource class and extended time accommodations and most of his teachers were aware of them and very kind and attentive in general. Two of his resource teachers and his 8th grade English teacher really went above and beyond, but nearly all his teachers had a solidly "good" baseline.

My youngest is at Westland, and so far, I've been annoyed several times. First, they didn't seem to understand the need for outdoor lunches for those who wanted them. Parents had to insist. That was before Omicron variants became so prevalent that social distancing is practically useless. Then, they didn't want to place my child in an advanced math class, despite the fact that she came from a CES and qualified for it with an ad hoc test. I got the impression, talking to other parents, that the BCC cluster tries to dissuade families from taking accelerated classes, more so than other clusters. Maybe they don't want to bus 8th graders to high school in the morning because the downtown ride gets tricky in rush hour? Maybe they're worried about academic pressure in a way the WJ and WW clusters are not? Who knows. All I got from the school was hemming and hawing, and I felt the math director really wasn't up for the job. At NBMS, they were ready to bus my kid to the high school for advanced classes, no problem. They welcomed the notion that children sought academic challenge.

I come from schools that taught a classical education, with heavy emphasis on reading classical literature, and obviously most schools in the US aren't like that. Reading lists here are full of the most ridiculously-written, low-quality contemporary novels for the most part, designed to appeal to the reluctant reader. Westland, being an IB school (middle years programme), has assigned Rick by Alex Gino as their discussion book, and on another thread, this gender-inclusive book got some people upset. I don't care one way or another, I just wish they included some more challenging books. In general, and until you get to high school and AP or IB level classes, I have found with my oldest that MCPS has a pretty disappointing level of English (reading, writing, literature selection). However the STEM offerings are consistently good (I'm a scientist, BTW).

All in all, all this area's schools are good schools. I complained in this post, but I am aware that MCPS is one of the best large public school districts in the country, and that is particularly true of the Bethesda area.

Your complaints are more MCPS based than school based. I'm impressed you kids got books to read. We've had two a year in MS. Its appalling.

That's strange at our DCC MS the kids read a new book almost every month.

"Book". Probably easy-readers.

This. Because there is no differentiation in MS ‘Advanced’ English. Everyone is lumped together in the same terrible English class and the poor teacher is expected to teach a wide range of abilities. Large class sizes mean zero feedback and the lessons have to be appropriate to the kids who read at the lowest level.

MS English is truly terrible in MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My oldest went to NBMS (before, during and after their large addition, and had the previous Principal as well as the current one), and we really liked the school. The current Principal is lovely and caring but definitely scatterbrained, which I can't complain about because we are also an ADHD family. My oldest had a resource class and extended time accommodations and most of his teachers were aware of them and very kind and attentive in general. Two of his resource teachers and his 8th grade English teacher really went above and beyond, but nearly all his teachers had a solidly "good" baseline.

My youngest is at Westland, and so far, I've been annoyed several times. First, they didn't seem to understand the need for outdoor lunches for those who wanted them. Parents had to insist. That was before Omicron variants became so prevalent that social distancing is practically useless. Then, they didn't want to place my child in an advanced math class, despite the fact that she came from a CES and qualified for it with an ad hoc test. I got the impression, talking to other parents, that the BCC cluster tries to dissuade families from taking accelerated classes, more so than other clusters. Maybe they don't want to bus 8th graders to high school in the morning because the downtown ride gets tricky in rush hour? Maybe they're worried about academic pressure in a way the WJ and WW clusters are not? Who knows. All I got from the school was hemming and hawing, and I felt the math director really wasn't up for the job. At NBMS, they were ready to bus my kid to the high school for advanced classes, no problem. They welcomed the notion that children sought academic challenge.

I come from schools that taught a classical education, with heavy emphasis on reading classical literature, and obviously most schools in the US aren't like that. Reading lists here are full of the most ridiculously-written, low-quality contemporary novels for the most part, designed to appeal to the reluctant reader. Westland, being an IB school (middle years programme), has assigned Rick by Alex Gino as their discussion book, and on another thread, this gender-inclusive book got some people upset. I don't care one way or another, I just wish they included some more challenging books. In general, and until you get to high school and AP or IB level classes, I have found with my oldest that MCPS has a pretty disappointing level of English (reading, writing, literature selection). However the STEM offerings are consistently good (I'm a scientist, BTW).

All in all, all this area's schools are good schools. I complained in this post, but I am aware that MCPS is one of the best large public school districts in the country, and that is particularly true of the Bethesda area.

Your complaints are more MCPS based than school based. I'm impressed you kids got books to read. We've had two a year in MS. Its appalling.

That's strange at our DCC MS the kids read a new book almost every month.

"Book". Probably easy-readers.

This. Because there is no differentiation in MS ‘Advanced’ English. Everyone is lumped together in the same terrible English class and the poor teacher is expected to teach a wide range of abilities. Large class sizes mean zero feedback and the lessons have to be appropriate to the kids who read at the lowest level.

MS English is truly terrible in MCPS.

It’s not the large class size that prevents feedback. Teacher professional development in MCPS actually tells teachers not to give written feedback so students have nothing to argue about in terms of grading. There’s rubric for writing assignments and that is all the teacher is supposed to fill out as a teacher.

[Anonymous]

This thread has turned more into a complaint about the mcps curriculum, as opposed to a discussion about Westland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My oldest went to NBMS (before, during and after their large addition, and had the previous Principal as well as the current one), and we really liked the school. The current Principal is lovely and caring but definitely scatterbrained, which I can't complain about because we are also an ADHD family. My oldest had a resource class and extended time accommodations and most of his teachers were aware of them and very kind and attentive in general. Two of his resource teachers and his 8th grade English teacher really went above and beyond, but nearly all his teachers had a solidly "good" baseline.

My youngest is at Westland, and so far, I've been annoyed several times. First, they didn't seem to understand the need for outdoor lunches for those who wanted them. Parents had to insist. That was before Omicron variants became so prevalent that social distancing is practically useless. Then, they didn't want to place my child in an advanced math class, despite the fact that she came from a CES and qualified for it with an ad hoc test. I got the impression, talking to other parents, that the BCC cluster tries to dissuade families from taking accelerated classes, more so than other clusters. Maybe they don't want to bus 8th graders to high school in the morning because the downtown ride gets tricky in rush hour? Maybe they're worried about academic pressure in a way the WJ and WW clusters are not? Who knows. All I got from the school was hemming and hawing, and I felt the math director really wasn't up for the job. At NBMS, they were ready to bus my kid to the high school for advanced classes, no problem. They welcomed the notion that children sought academic challenge.

I come from schools that taught a classical education, with heavy emphasis on reading classical literature, and obviously most schools in the US aren't like that. Reading lists here are full of the most ridiculously-written, low-quality contemporary novels for the most part, designed to appeal to the reluctant reader. Westland, being an IB school (middle years programme), has assigned Rick by Alex Gino as their discussion book, and on another thread, this gender-inclusive book got some people upset. I don't care one way or another, I just wish they included some more challenging books. In general, and until you get to high school and AP or IB level classes, I have found with my oldest that MCPS has a pretty disappointing level of English (reading, writing, literature selection). However the STEM offerings are consistently good (I'm a scientist, BTW).

All in all, all this area's schools are good schools. I complained in this post, but I am aware that MCPS is one of the best large public school districts in the country, and that is particularly true of the Bethesda area.

Your complaints are more MCPS based than school based. I'm impressed you kids got books to read. We've had two a year in MS. Its appalling.

That's strange at our DCC MS the kids read a new book almost every month.

"Book". Probably easy-readers.

This. Because there is no differentiation in MS ‘Advanced’ English. Everyone is lumped together in the same terrible English class and the poor teacher is expected to teach a wide range of abilities. Large class sizes mean zero feedback and the lessons have to be appropriate to the kids who read at the lowest level.

MS English is truly terrible in MCPS.

It’s not the large class size that prevents feedback. Teacher professional development in MCPS actually tells teachers not to give written feedback so students have nothing to argue about in terms of grading. There’s rubric for writing assignments and that is all the teacher is supposed to fill out as a teacher.

Interesting and pretty reasonable, considering the number of parents who are more than willing to swoop down to argue about their kids' grades. But, there has been no oral feedback either, for my middle schoolers. Why?