Quince Orchard high school - recent experiences

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s funny how around here, people think QO’s having a highly successful football program with enthusiastic supporters is a bad thing. I grew up in Ohio, so to me, enthusiastic community support for your local football program is the norm.

We don’t think it’s a bad thing.

We think it’s bad that the school neglects everything except for football.

Exactly. Zero value seems to be placed on academics or useful academic clubs like at other schools.

Also, it's fishy that all these good football players show up after not attending any neighborhood ES or MS. It's not a local football team. it's verging on cheating.

Recruiting is not allowed in public school. If only 1 school has poor characters doing it then no other school has a chance to win. That's not on the verge. That's cheating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s funny how around here, people think QO’s having a highly successful football program with enthusiastic supporters is a bad thing. I grew up in Ohio, so to me, enthusiastic community support for your local football program is the norm.

We don’t think it’s a bad thing.

We think it’s bad that the school neglects everything except for football.

Exactly. Zero value seems to be placed on academics or useful academic clubs like at other schools.

Also, it's fishy that all these good football players show up after not attending any neighborhood ES or MS. It's not a local football team. it's verging on cheating.

Recruiting is not allowed in public school. If only 1 school has poor characters doing it then no other school has a chance to win. That's not on the verge. That's cheating.

Just a small coincidence that QO has played in the state championship football game almost every year for the last 4-5 years.

It's not a bad school. it's a decent school with just an odd football cheating scheme going on. Seems most families happy to look the other way since everyone loves winning right?

[Anonymous]

It’s an ok school. And yes the focus on sports is an issue in so far as academics suffer. So much of the school energy revolves around sports and supporting the teams that there is little left for supporting academic achievement. The kids really do enjoy going to football games, and that in itself is not an issue. I just wish as much attention was paid to organizing academic/scholastic extracurricular as athletics. The Principal is leaving so it is possible that more focus will be given to academics in the future.

[Anonymous]

My children (2) go here. The teachers are great but don't make up for the rest of the problems in the school. Op I would have made the sacrifice to go to private school if I had the perspective of today. We hope things turn around after the principal leaves but rather doubt it. The culture of the school is rather bad.

[Anonymous]

OP here. My kid is not into Sports and is also not a nerd, average student who would find AP classes difficult. How bad would it be for my kid? Are the Honors and regular classes filled with kids who don't care about going to college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My kid is not into Sports and is also not a nerd, average student who would find AP classes difficult. How bad would it be for my kid? Are the Honors and regular classes filled with kids who don't care about going to college?

If you can afford it your child may be better off at private but with the change in leadership hard to know. QO pushes kids who should not take APs into APs (it looks better for the school on paper that way) so my guess is your child ends up in more APs than you expect. Lots of the kids in honors as well as APs do care about college and are great kids. The issue is disorganization/lack of academic support from the top down not ‘bad’ kids. And plenty of the teachers are really good! QO is not a terrible school it is just not as good as it should be based on its feeder schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My children (2) go here. The teachers are great but don't make up for the rest of the problems in the school. Op I would have made the sacrifice to go to private school if I had the perspective of today. We hope things turn around after the principal leaves but rather doubt it. The culture of the school is rather bad.

Your reply prompted me to look at the schools' 2023-2024 student climate survey results for QO: https://sharedaccountability.mcpsmd.org/SurveyResults/content.php?survey=2024CLIMATE&l=2&type=Student&sch=125

40% of QOHS students disagree that "At my school, the behavior of other students helps my learning"

20.6% of QOHS students disagree that "The energy of my school is positive"

20% of QOHS students disagree that "When my teachers ask “how are you doing?” I often feel that my teachers are really interested in my answer."

22.6% of QOHS students disagree that "This school teaches students about ways to get along with others."

29.7% of QOHS students disagree that "Most of the time, my teachers teach without being interrupted by students who misbehave."

16.6% of QOHS students disagree that "School administrators treat students fairly."

Does that match with what you mean when you say the culture of the school is rather bad?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My kid is not into Sports and is also not a nerd, average student who would find AP classes difficult. How bad would it be for my kid? Are the Honors and regular classes filled with kids who don't care about going to college?

If you can afford it your child may be better off at private but with the change in leadership hard to know. QO pushes kids who should not take APs into APs (it looks better for the school on paper that way) so my guess is your child ends up in more APs than you expect. Lots of the kids in honors as well as APs do care about college and are great kids. The issue is disorganization/lack of academic support from the top down not ‘bad’ kids. And plenty of the teachers are really good! QO is not a terrible school it is just not as good as it should be based on its feeder schools.

The feeder schools aren’t that great.

I simply don’t understand why people in neighborhoods like Kentlands/Lakelands put up with such mediocre schools like LPMS and QOHS. Usually people who pay a premium for their homes don’t put up with that crap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My kid is not into Sports and is also not a nerd, average student who would find AP classes difficult. How bad would it be for my kid? Are the Honors and regular classes filled with kids who don't care about going to college?

If you can afford it your child may be better off at private but with the change in leadership hard to know. QO pushes kids who should not take APs into APs (it looks better for the school on paper that way) so my guess is your child ends up in more APs than you expect. Lots of the kids in honors as well as APs do care about college and are great kids. The issue is disorganization/lack of academic support from the top down not ‘bad’ kids. And plenty of the teachers are really good! QO is not a terrible school it is just not as good as it should be based on its feeder schools.

The feeder schools aren’t that great.

I simply don’t understand why people in neighborhoods like Kentlands/Lakelands put up with such mediocre schools like LPMS and QOHS. Usually people who pay a premium for their homes don’t put up with that crap.

I think some of the issue is that parents buy into the QO athletic powerhouse pride. Parents who might otherwise be trying to improve the school are busy raising money for athletics and marching band. And the current QO Principal is charismatic and well liked by parents with kids in band or sports. The school is not bad enough yet. But looking at QO with its 3 stars in the new report card while nearby North West has 4 might rise some eyes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My kid is not into Sports and is also not a nerd, average student who would find AP classes difficult. How bad would it be for my kid? Are the Honors and regular classes filled with kids who don't care about going to college?

If you can afford it your child may be better off at private but with the change in leadership hard to know. QO pushes kids who should not take APs into APs (it looks better for the school on paper that way) so my guess is your child ends up in more APs than you expect. Lots of the kids in honors as well as APs do care about college and are great kids. The issue is disorganization/lack of academic support from the top down not ‘bad’ kids. And plenty of the teachers are really good! QO is not a terrible school it is just not as good as it should be based on its feeder schools.

The feeder schools aren’t that great.

I simply don’t understand why people in neighborhoods like Kentlands/Lakelands put up with such mediocre schools like LPMS and QOHS. Usually people who pay a premium for their homes don’t put up with that crap.

They are not putting up with that crap. They are at private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My kid is not into Sports and is also not a nerd, average student who would find AP classes difficult. How bad would it be for my kid? Are the Honors and regular classes filled with kids who don't care about going to college?

If you can afford it your child may be better off at private but with the change in leadership hard to know. QO pushes kids who should not take APs into APs (it looks better for the school on paper that way) so my guess is your child ends up in more APs than you expect. Lots of the kids in honors as well as APs do care about college and are great kids. The issue is disorganization/lack of academic support from the top down not ‘bad’ kids. And plenty of the teachers are really good! QO is not a terrible school it is just not as good as it should be based on its feeder schools.

The feeder schools aren’t that great.

I simply don’t understand why people in neighborhoods like Kentlands/Lakelands put up with such mediocre schools like LPMS and QOHS. Usually people who pay a premium for their homes don’t put up with that crap.

I think some of the issue is that parents buy into the QO athletic powerhouse pride. Parents who might otherwise be trying to improve the school are busy raising money for athletics and marching band. And the current QO Principal is charismatic and well liked by parents with kids in band or sports. The school is not bad enough yet. But looking at QO with its 3 stars in the new report card while nearby North West has 4 might rise some eyes.

I mean, even 4-star Northwest High School has these jarring, alarming blemishes on its reputation:

https://www.fox5dc.com/news/parents-confront-northwest-high-school-officials-over-delayed-notification-students-gun-arrest

https://www.fox5dc.com/news/family-northwest-high-student-files-suit-claims-school-ignored-bullying-before-teens-death

MCPS high schools are not in a good place across the board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My kid is not into Sports and is also not a nerd, average student who would find AP classes difficult. How bad would it be for my kid? Are the Honors and regular classes filled with kids who don't care about going to college?

If you can afford it your child may be better off at private but with the change in leadership hard to know. QO pushes kids who should not take APs into APs (it looks better for the school on paper that way) so my guess is your child ends up in more APs than you expect. Lots of the kids in honors as well as APs do care about college and are great kids. The issue is disorganization/lack of academic support from the top down not ‘bad’ kids. And plenty of the teachers are really good! QO is not a terrible school it is just not as good as it should be based on its feeder schools.

The feeder schools aren’t that great.

I simply don’t understand why people in neighborhoods like Kentlands/Lakelands put up with such mediocre schools like LPMS and QOHS. Usually people who pay a premium for their homes don’t put up with that crap.

They are not putting up with that crap. They are at private schools.

We certainly are, and my sense is at least 25% of the families in the neighborhood made the same decision.

- Lakelands resident

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s funny how around here, people think QO’s having a highly successful football program with enthusiastic supporters is a bad thing. I grew up in Ohio, so to me, enthusiastic community support for your local football program is the norm.

They were blessed with a few stand out players locally and it's now turned into the same situation as the Fairfax football scandal.
And it's hard to take seriously calling it a great experience. All the kids know what's going on and that's not the morals people in the area bring their kids up to value.

Wonder if Jeff Sullivan, CO director of athletics is looking into this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is there now. I would describe the experience as mixed. It's a big school with a mix of kids. There are mostly good teachers and pockets of very dedicated students. Also pockets of kids struggling and getting in trouble.

There is way too much emphasis on football and sports in general. This starts with the current principal who is leaving this week. Unclear if things will change.

College admissions are likely same as any comparable area HS. Counselors are overworked and don't have time to individually help each kid.

School lacks many academic clubs because this is not a focus over sports. A motivated kid could attempt to start these on their own.

No

[Anonymous]

It went downhill because of that principal. Hope the new one will reprioritize academics.