recent experiences at takoma park elementary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many kindergarten classes are there? My understanding is the classes aren’t allowed to have aides. Is there a lot of parent involvement in the classroom?

What do you mean they aren’t allowed to have aides? MCPS won’t allow it? That makes no sense. Like any MCPS, there will be paras split across the classes.

I assume PP meant the parents aren’t allowed to fund aides for their kids’ classroom, which is apparently a practice in some DC schools

This is correct. The equity brigade didn't like how much learning was happening in some schools so they passed some policies to put a stop to it. They would rather you buy a Porsche you don't need than spend money on your kid's school because equity.

Again with the misplaced "equity"? If you want to pay for teachers yourself, there are a bunch of private schools eagerly waiting for your check.

[Anonymous]

Besides the large classroom size, can anyone please share additional recent experiences? Are kids learning, are they challenged academically, do they enjoy school, are there behavior issues that impede learning? (Not OP).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is 26 kids in kindergarten the “default/regular” size in MCPS? Anecdotally, I’ve mentioned this to friends with kids at a few different MCPS elementary schools and they were all aghast at that number.

26 is the maximum. If they have enough kids enroll to bring one class to 27, they will make another class, and all the classes will go down in size. Even with 7-8 classes/grade in my school, we have never had more than 23.

[Anonymous]

Better to ask neighbors or on a local FB group. You will get more responses that way.

[Anonymous]

Thank you! This is very helpful and explains why most of my friends with kids at “big schools” have class sizes around 23 max.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is 26 kids in kindergarten the “default/regular” size in MCPS? Anecdotally, I’ve mentioned this to friends with kids at a few different MCPS elementary schools and they were all aghast at that number.

26 is the maximum. If they have enough kids enroll to bring one class to 27, they will make another class, and all the classes will go down in size. Even with 7-8 classes/grade in my school, we have never had more than 23.

[Anonymous]

We are moving to Takoma Park in a few weeks. How can I join a neighborhood listserve? (Not OP).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many kindergarten classes are there? My understanding is the classes aren’t allowed to have aides. Is there a lot of parent involvement in the classroom?

What do you mean they aren’t allowed to have aides? MCPS won’t allow it? That makes no sense. Like any MCPS, there will be paras split across the classes.

I assume PP meant the parents aren’t allowed to fund aides for their kids’ classroom, which is apparently a practice in some DC schools

This is correct. The equity brigade didn't like how much learning was happening in some schools so they passed some policies to put a stop to it. They would rather you buy a Porsche you don't need than spend money on your kid's school because equity.

Again with the misplaced "equity"? If you want to pay for teachers yourself, there are a bunch of private schools eagerly waiting for your check.

Buy why wouldn't you want a PTA to be able to fund additional teachers is people want to pay for that out of their own pocket?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many kindergarten classes are there? My understanding is the classes aren’t allowed to have aides. Is there a lot of parent involvement in the classroom?

What do you mean they aren’t allowed to have aides? MCPS won’t allow it? That makes no sense. Like any MCPS, there will be paras split across the classes.

I assume PP meant the parents aren’t allowed to fund aides for their kids’ classroom, which is apparently a practice in some DC schools

This is correct. The equity brigade didn't like how much learning was happening in some schools so they passed some policies to put a stop to it. They would rather you buy a Porsche you don't need than spend money on your kid's school because equity.

Again with the misplaced "equity"? If you want to pay for teachers yourself, there are a bunch of private schools eagerly waiting for your check.

Buy why wouldn't you want a PTA to be able to fund additional teachers is people want to pay for that out of their own pocket?

Because it is against the law in Maryland. I don't know what else to say except that projecting some sort of "woke" agenda onto something that has been the law for ages seems like a waste of time and energy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are moving to Takoma Park in a few weeks. How can I join a neighborhood listserve? (Not OP).

If you're in the neighborhood south of Philadelphia, there is a Penn Listserv. I don't know the actual boundary for this.Also, there's a TKPK Facebook group that could provide advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many kindergarten classes are there? My understanding is the classes aren’t allowed to have aides. Is there a lot of parent involvement in the classroom?

What do you mean they aren’t allowed to have aides? MCPS won’t allow it? That makes no sense. Like any MCPS, there will be paras split across the classes.

I assume PP meant the parents aren’t allowed to fund aides for their kids’ classroom, which is apparently a practice in some DC schools

This is correct. The equity brigade didn't like how much learning was happening in some schools so they passed some policies to put a stop to it. They would rather you buy a Porsche you don't need than spend money on your kid's school because equity.

Again with the misplaced "equity"? If you want to pay for teachers yourself, there are a bunch of private schools eagerly waiting for your check.

Buy why wouldn't you want a PTA to be able to fund additional teachers is people want to pay for that out of their own pocket?

Because it is against the law in Maryland. I don't know what else to say except that projecting some sort of "woke" agenda onto something that has been the law for ages seems like a waste of time and energy.

Yeah, public school = publicly funded school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are moving to Takoma Park in a few weeks. How can I join a neighborhood listserve? (Not OP).

There is a Takoma Park Facebook page that should be able to provide you guidance on specific neighborhood listserv information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many kindergarten classes are there? My understanding is the classes aren’t allowed to have aides. Is there a lot of parent involvement in the classroom?

What do you mean they aren’t allowed to have aides? MCPS won’t allow it? That makes no sense. Like any MCPS, there will be paras split across the classes.

I assume PP meant the parents aren’t allowed to fund aides for their kids’ classroom, which is apparently a practice in some DC schools

This is correct. The equity brigade didn't like how much learning was happening in some schools so they passed some policies to put a stop to it. They would rather you buy a Porsche you don't need than spend money on your kid's school because equity.

Again with the misplaced "equity"? If you want to pay for teachers yourself, there are a bunch of private schools eagerly waiting for your check.

Buy why wouldn't you want a PTA to be able to fund additional teachers is people want to pay for that out of their own pocket?

Because it is against the law in Maryland. I don't know what else to say except that projecting some sort of "woke" agenda onto something that has been the law for ages seems like a waste of time and energy.

And the reason for that law? Equity. Progressives can't stand it when anyone does too well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many kindergarten classes are there? My understanding is the classes aren’t allowed to have aides. Is there a lot of parent involvement in the classroom?

What do you mean they aren’t allowed to have aides? MCPS won’t allow it? That makes no sense. Like any MCPS, there will be paras split across the classes.

I assume PP meant the parents aren’t allowed to fund aides for their kids’ classroom, which is apparently a practice in some DC schools

This is correct. The equity brigade didn't like how much learning was happening in some schools so they passed some policies to put a stop to it. They would rather you buy a Porsche you don't need than spend money on your kid's school because equity.

Again with the misplaced "equity"? If you want to pay for teachers yourself, there are a bunch of private schools eagerly waiting for your check.

Buy why wouldn't you want a PTA to be able to fund additional teachers is people want to pay for that out of their own pocket?

Because it is against the law in Maryland. I don't know what else to say except that projecting some sort of "woke" agenda onto something that has been the law for ages seems like a waste of time and energy.

But using "woke" riles people up on both sides!

[Anonymous]

I’m fine with the law that PTA’s can’t fund aides. That said, I’m appalled that MCPS doesn’t budget for aides to assist with these (way too large for early elementary) class sizes. Is there any hope of this ever changing? I’m sure there’s all sorts of loaded history on this topic but I find it so depressing that this isn’t a priority in the county budget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m fine with the law that PTA’s can’t fund aides. That said, I’m appalled that MCPS doesn’t budget for aides to assist with these (way too large for early elementary) class sizes. Is there any hope of this ever changing? I’m sure there’s all sorts of loaded history on this topic but I find it so depressing that this isn’t a priority in the county budget.

So you recognize that there's a big problem and your happy with a law that prevents parents from solving that problem with their own money?