What's the right PG path?

[Anonymous]

We started in public and moved to a Catholic k-8 in elementary. Our eldest declined a spot at ERHS to go to DeMatha.

If you want to maximize ur options for high school, my advice would be to make sure kids are maintaining A/high B grades in middle school, have extracurriculars (doesn’t have to be a lot but shd be consistent, eg, band, sports, etc), and that they prepare as much as possible for the HSPT and PSAT9.

You can get into ERHS with average grades if your PSAT9 scores are above average.

If you score high on the HSPT, there are a lot of scholarships available from Catholic high schools even for non-Catholics.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I've had two kids go through UPES and are now at College Park Academy - that would be my recommended path. My kids had great experiences at UPES and like College Park Academy (as much as middle school kids like school).

My oldest just turned out a spot at ERHS to attend DeMatha, which we weren't seriously considering until he got a large scholarship.

My youngest is at UPES now and she'll stay there until middle school. We'll hope for a CPA spot for her.

[Anonymous]

The path is: Goddard/French/Spanish/TAG then Roosevelt. All the specialty schools have their own middle school and it is worth it for that alone. UP elementary is supposed to be fine but then you're stuck for middle school. Avoid Hyattsville Middle and Northwestern. Some of Hyattsville Middle's class sizes this year are 50 to 70 kids! The new building was poorly constructed and has all sorts of problems already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
My daughter was at a neighborhood daycare from ages 1-3, and has been at UMD's Center For Young Children for 3K and 4k (it will take her through kindergarten). And then...I'm panicking. Our zoned elementary school is University Park, which I've both heard can be great and also potentially rocky. If she tests into Glenarden Woods, that seems like the right academic choice, but also means that she would be have been in four different schools by third grade. That seems like a lot! Our other options would be just keeping her at UP, or trying Friends Community, which goes all the way to eighth grade. If you're in PG County, I'd love to hear what you did/are doing and how you felt about it.

You'd be surprised by how many TAG-identified students remain at UPES instead of going to Glenarden Woods, so I think that says something about people valuing UPES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My daughter was at a neighborhood daycare from ages 1-3, and has been at UMD's Center For Young Children for 3K and 4k (it will take her through kindergarten). And then...I'm panicking. Our zoned elementary school is University Park, which I've both heard can be great and also potentially rocky. If she tests into Glenarden Woods, that seems like the right academic choice, but also means that she would be have been in four different schools by third grade. That seems like a lot! Our other options would be just keeping her at UP, or trying Friends Community, which goes all the way to eighth grade. If you're in PG County, I'd love to hear what you did/are doing and how you felt about it.

You'd be surprised by how many TAG-identified students remain at UPES instead of going to Glenarden Woods, so I think that says something about people valuing UPES.

This is a solid point. One option is to go to UPES and stay through 4th grade and then apply to GWES for 5th. We did something similar for our kid this past year so that he had a guaranteed spot for Middle School.
As far as switching schools, if you go the UPES to TAG route, there will be neighborhood friends at the new school. My kid had more neighborhood friends at the TAG school than at our local school.

[Anonymous]

I think there are several pathways to ERHS, if that's even your goal. There are a lot of kids at HMS who are very happy there.

A third of my kid's friends are staying at College Park Academy for high school.

[Anonymous]

There are plenty of other good high school programs beyond ERHS.
Your kid isn't even in pre-K yet so keep your mind open to all possibilities.
When my kids were that age, I presumed that they would all go to ERHS and although they all got in, 2 of them chose different specialty programs that better suited their interests.
Most posters who claim that X school is bad, has never stepped foot on the campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are plenty of other good high school programs beyond ERHS.
Your kid isn't even in pre-K yet so keep your mind open to all possibilities.
When my kids were that age, I presumed that they would all go to ERHS and although they all got in, 2 of them chose different specialty programs that better suited their interests.
Most posters who claim that X school is bad, has never stepped foot on the campus.

What other good high school programs are you referring to? We're trying to figure out our path and aren't zoned for ERHS.

[Anonymous]

Academy of the Health Sciences and Teacher Academy
Oxon Hill SCTech
Flowers 3D
Parkdale IB
Northwestern VPA
Lots of folks say good things about the PLTW programs but I don’t know much about them
Bowie HS also has an honors program but it is only open to kids in zone.

[Anonymous]

Oh and Duvaal.

[Anonymous]

Take it one kid at a time, one year at a time. You have a good local elementary school available to you - that's the right next step.
From there, when it's time to think about the TAG program, you'll have soooo much more info about both your kid and the school options.