DC or MD for middle school (Alice Deal x Westland)

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone for your replies and insights! To the person who mentioned much worse issues at Westland, could you pls elaborate on what kind of issues?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a kid at Deal and many friends with kids at Westland and, TBH, Westland sounds as if it has many of the same issues as Deal, some better but some of them much, much worse.

Really? Like what?

[Anonymous]

This discussion is making me feel like my Black child would not be welcomed at Westland. What are the social and racial dynamics like at the school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This discussion is making me feel like my Black child would not be welcomed at Westland. What are the social and racial dynamics like at the school?

?? why would you conclude that? I am the PP who visited both. Westland had an atmosphere of calm organization and a clear prioritizing of acadenics. Deal is 3x bigger and chaotic, with endless discussion here about academic issues. If you prioritize your kids academics Westland is a clear choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This discussion is making me feel like my Black child would not be welcomed at Westland. What are the social and racial dynamics like at the school?

?? why would you conclude that? I am the PP who visited both. Westland had an atmosphere of calm organization and a clear prioritizing of acadenics. Deal is 3x bigger and chaotic, with endless discussion here about academic issues. If you prioritize your kids academics Westland is a clear choice.

… oh, if you mean the comments on social justice at Deal: sure, I bet Deal will be more likely to go on and on about equity. Meanwhile they will happily let your black child’s classroom be disruptive and won’t provide them with a challenging curriculum.

[Anonymous]

my older one just graduated from Deal and honestly, it felt like a hot mess too much of the time - for us, teacher related. one 7th grade teacher disappeared for 3 months (which Deal did not communicate it to us) and kid had a substitute teacher who only handed out worksheets for the 3 months. another 7th grade teacher was super checked out, didn't actually grade homework so gave my kid a D on an interim report card (because of ungraded but completed assignments) while simultaneously stating in the same report card "Pleasure to have in class". my repeated attempts to contact this teacher to meet to discuss my kid's non graded assignments and associated D grade went unanswered and i had to get the Asst. Principal involved. said teacher then quit with 6 weeks left of school. my kid's 8th grade math teacher was escorted out of the building/suspended/likely fired this past Spring for handing out a wordsearch with words like "raped", "unclothed", "peed", and "Swastika".

not sure if Westland has these kinds of issues...but Deal sure did. i'm so glad to be done there and no, my younger one is not and will not be attending Deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This discussion is making me feel like my Black child would not be welcomed at Westland. What are the social and racial dynamics like at the school?

?? why would you conclude that? I am the PP who visited both. Westland had an atmosphere of calm organization and a clear prioritizing of acadenics. Deal is 3x bigger and chaotic, with endless discussion here about academic issues. If you prioritize your kids academics Westland is a clear choice.

… oh, if you mean the comments on social justice at Deal: sure, I bet Deal will be more likely to go on and on about equity. Meanwhile they will happily let your black child’s classroom be disruptive and won’t provide them with a challenging curriculum.

MCPS parent, formerly DCPS parent, here. MCPS is just as focused on equity as DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in AU Park and I would pick Bethesda in your situation. Both DCPS and MCPS have gone downhill the last few years but my guess is that MCPS is still doing better than DCPS.
The only thing DCPS has over MCPS is the more sensible HS start times

OP asked for feedback - not guesses

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:my older one just graduated from Deal and honestly, it felt like a hot mess too much of the time - for us, teacher related. one 7th grade teacher disappeared for 3 months (which Deal did not communicate it to us) and kid had a substitute teacher who only handed out worksheets for the 3 months. another 7th grade teacher was super checked out, didn't actually grade homework so gave my kid a D on an interim report card (because of ungraded but completed assignments) while simultaneously stating in the same report card "Pleasure to have in class". my repeated attempts to contact this teacher to meet to discuss my kid's non graded assignments and associated D grade went unanswered and i had to get the Asst. Principal involved. said teacher then quit with 6 weeks left of school. my kid's 8th grade math teacher was escorted out of the building/suspended/likely fired this past Spring for handing out a wordsearch with words like "raped", "unclothed", "peed", and "Swastika".

not sure if Westland has these kinds of issues...but Deal sure did. i'm so glad to be done there and no, my younger one is not and will not be attending Deal.

Good grief. Where's the accountability?! These sound like stories for your city council member, the Mayor's office and the press.

[Anonymous]

There is a fair amount of bullying at Westland, but I suspect it's doing a bit better than Deal. We need a real overhaul at DCPS. That being said, I loved raising my kids in the city, though they graduated a few years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone for your replies and insights! To the person who mentioned much worse issues at Westland, could you pls elaborate on what kind of issues?

The bullying at Westland is much worse than Deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone for your replies and insights! To the person who mentioned much worse issues at Westland, could you pls elaborate on what kind of issues?

The bullying at Westland is much worse than Deal.

This is what I have heard as well. Friends with kids at both schools. Suburban schools tend to be far worse social environments. Academic’s aren’t much better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:my older one just graduated from Deal and honestly, it felt like a hot mess too much of the time - for us, teacher related. one 7th grade teacher disappeared for 3 months (which Deal did not communicate it to us) and kid had a substitute teacher who only handed out worksheets for the 3 months. another 7th grade teacher was super checked out, didn't actually grade homework so gave my kid a D on an interim report card (because of ungraded but completed assignments) while simultaneously stating in the same report card "Pleasure to have in class". my repeated attempts to contact this teacher to meet to discuss my kid's non graded assignments and associated D grade went unanswered and i had to get the Asst. Principal involved. said teacher then quit with 6 weeks left of school. my kid's 8th grade math teacher was escorted out of the building/suspended/likely fired this past Spring for handing out a wordsearch with words like "raped", "unclothed", "peed", and "Swastika".

not sure if Westland has these kinds of issues...but Deal sure did. i'm so glad to be done there and no, my younger one is not and will not be attending Deal.

To be fair, I think his bungling of the administration of a PARCC test was just as likely (if not more likely) a reason that he was fired. DCPS does not mess around when it comes to PARCC and he cost several students at least 30 minutes of testing time. The crossword showed extraordinarily horrible judgment, but I don’t think it was malicious. He probably never looked at the words before handing it out. I didn’t like that the school never communicated with parents that he was gone and that a sub would take over. However, the sub was delightful and was deemed an upgrade in our house.

For the more general question, we had a totally fine experience at Deal. I think you’ll find that it’s variable, family to family and student to student. I’d live where you want to live and assume your kid will probably be fine in either place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone for your replies and insights! To the person who mentioned much worse issues at Westland, could you pls elaborate on what kind of issues?

The bullying at Westland is much worse than Deal.

This is what I have heard as well. Friends with kids at both schools. Suburban schools tend to be far worse social environments. Academic’s aren’t much better.

You may have heard that but it’s not true. There is horrible bullying at Deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone for your replies and insights! To the person who mentioned much worse issues at Westland, could you pls elaborate on what kind of issues?

The bullying at Westland is much worse than Deal.

This is what I have heard as well. Friends with kids at both schools. Suburban schools tend to be far worse social environments. Academic’s aren’t much better.

So You have no experience at any of these schools.