MCPS for kids not in magnet or GT programs

[Anonymous]

Oh, you mean the Rock Creek spanish immersion program? Yes, you might be right about that. But the kids from that program feed into Westland and then BCC, no matter where their home school is. It's one reason the lottery for that school is so difficult - lots of downcounty families are going for the BCC prize at the end of it all, including, presumably, this particular poster. So unless she throws herself on her sword and sends her kids to Northwood or whatever instead of BCC or the Blair magnet, it still seems unlikely her kids will go to a silver spring high school.

I wonder if she's the poster who worked herself into a hissy fit over the preference given to Takoma kids for the TPMS magnet, and then refused to believe that her daughter who got in from out of boundary benefited from a gender preference. Here's a tip for her: if you are going to work yourself into a self-righteous fury, be sure you're standing on firm ground yourself!

[Anonymous]

OP here - you guys are proving my fears about MCPS - it is all a game to get your child into one or another specialized programs. It seems a good general education is not available.

Our home middle school is NOT generally thought to be a good one - so I guess I'll keep my son where he is in a K- 8 private school. I'm sometimes fairly underimpressed by what we get for the hefty tuition payment we make, but at least he is getting smaller classes and a focus on a broad well rounded general education.

[Anonymous]

NP here - We are in the Whitman district (and at Whitman now) and I think that you can get a good education without GT/magnet programs. That's one of the appeals of Whitman to me - there aren't schools within a school (other than the special ed group, which is distinct) and everyone has the same opportunities to take challenging classes without having been labeled in 3rd grade.

[Anonymous]

"Is there a middle ground in MoCo, where a child can succeed and be challenged academically and yet go to school with a bigger range of kids? I lot of people I know say yes. Many, many well educated professionals in my neighborhood of Silver Spring send their kids to local schools and are very happy and feel their kids are getting a good education. "

Can the poster elaborate on which specific elem/middle/HS in Silver Spring? I am looking to buy a home in Montgomery Co as a single mom to a non-white child. Just can't afford the most expensive clusters so looking for that middle ground. Other suggestions welcome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Is there a middle ground in MoCo, where a child can succeed and be challenged academically and yet go to school with a bigger range of kids? I lot of people I know say yes. Many, many well educated professionals in my neighborhood of Silver Spring send their kids to local schools and are very happy and feel their kids are getting a good education. "

Can the poster elaborate on which specific elem/middle/HS in Silver Spring? I am looking to buy a home in Montgomery Co as a single mom to a non-white child. Just can't afford the most expensive clusters so looking for that middle ground. Other suggestions welcome.

Forest Knolls or Highland View Elementary (NOT the same thing as Highland Elementary), Silver Spring International Middle School. Both feed into Northwood which get slammed on DCUM a lot. But frankly, it has only been re-opend for about 5 years, so we are reserving judgement because our DCs are still in early elementary school.

[Anonymous]

SSIMS gets great reviews from the parents I know -- probably 12 or 12 different families that I know fairly well who like it a lot. My kid isn't in MS yet so I don't know more than that or have personal experience, but we will find out next year!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - you guys are proving my fears about MCPS - it is all a game to get your child into one or another specialized programs. It seems a good general education is not available.

Our home middle school is NOT generally thought to be a good one - so I guess I'll keep my son where he is in a K- 8 private school. I'm sometimes fairly underimpressed by what we get for the hefty tuition payment we make, but at least he is getting smaller classes and a focus on a broad well rounded general education.

I actually don't think that this is true of MCPS in general, but here in the eastern part of MoCo, I do think it's often true. DH and I spend a lot of time and energy strategizing to get our kids into this or that magnet program, because in our view this affords them a better education. My sister, who lives in Bethesda, doesn't have to do this.

It annoys me because the point of a county-based school system is to share the wealth/spread the resources. But, it is what it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - you guys are proving my fears about MCPS - it is all a game to get your child into one or another specialized programs. It seems a good general education is not available.

Our home middle school is NOT generally thought to be a good one - so I guess I'll keep my son where he is in a K- 8 private school. I'm sometimes fairly underimpressed by what we get for the hefty tuition payment we make, but at least he is getting smaller classes and a focus on a broad well rounded general education.

I actually don't think that this is true of MCPS in general, but here in the eastern part of MoCo, I do think it's often true. DH and I spend a lot of time and energy strategizing to get our kids into this or that magnet program, because in our view this affords them a better education. My sister, who lives in Bethesda, doesn't have to do this.

It annoys me because the point of a county-based school system is to share the wealth/spread the resources. But, it is what it is.

I'm not following. Greater government resources are put into east county schools because that's where the Title I and Focus schools are found. So there's more Federal and local money flowing there. However, it may not be possible to make them equivalent to west county schools where the average HHI is higher and the PTAs are richer. It's just too much to make up for.

[Anonymous]

Lots of us here in East County aren't poor. Some of us have HHIs equivalent to many of yours, and graduate degrees, etc. etc. Our kids go to East County schools, too.

[Anonymous]

It's just a fact that if you look at the list of Title I and Focus schools in MoCo, most of them are in Silver Spring. I don't think anybody is arguing that there aren't plenty of middle class and upper middle class people living in SS and sending their kids to MCPS. However, lots of them are sending their kids to MCPS magnet programs. Lots of others go private. I live in Silver Spring and I'm not poor either and we also use MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's just a fact that if you look at the list of Title I and Focus schools in MoCo, most of them are in Silver Spring. I don't think anybody is arguing that there aren't plenty of middle class and upper middle class people living in SS and sending their kids to MCPS. However, lots of them are sending their kids to MCPS magnet programs. Lots of others go private. I live in Silver Spring and I'm not poor either and we also use MCPS.

Yes, this is us. High household income, lots of graduate degrees, and we send our kids to MCPS. But we send them to the magnets, and we've done private sometimes. I have to agree with the poster who said that lots of upper income families in Silver Spring and Takoma Park spend a lot of time angling for the magnets, or for SSIMS as a fallback.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's just a fact that if you look at the list of Title I and Focus schools in MoCo, most of them are in Silver Spring. I don't think anybody is arguing that there aren't plenty of middle class and upper middle class people living in SS and sending their kids to MCPS. However, lots of them are sending their kids to MCPS magnet programs. Lots of others go private. I live in Silver Spring and I'm not poor either and we also use MCPS.

Yes, this is us. High household income, lots of graduate degrees, and we send our kids to MCPS. But we send them to the magnets, and we've done private sometimes. I have to agree with the poster who said that lots of upper income families in Silver Spring and Takoma Park spend a lot of time angling for the magnets, or for SSIMS as a fallback.

How do people "angle for SSIMS"? It is our home school (or will be when DD gets to MS. I didn't realize there was a way to attend if it is not your home school. How do kids other than those zoned for it get in? Or, are you talking about the continuation of the language immersion magnets?

[Anonymous]

You get into SSIMS if you are continuing language immersion programs, as you say. I know kids from Takoma Park who are attending SSIMS instead of TPMS, because they did spanish or french in ES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - you guys are proving my fears about MCPS - it is all a game to get your child into one or another specialized programs. It seems a good general education is not available.

Our home middle school is NOT generally thought to be a good one - so I guess I'll keep my son where he is in a K- 8 private school. I'm sometimes fairly underimpressed by what we get for the hefty tuition payment we make, but at least he is getting smaller classes and a focus on a broad well rounded general education.

I actually don't think that this is true of MCPS in general, but here in the eastern part of MoCo, I do think it's often true. DH and I spend a lot of time and energy strategizing to get our kids into this or that magnet program, because in our view this affords them a better education. My sister, who lives in Bethesda, doesn't have to do this.

It annoys me because the point of a county-based school system is to share the wealth/spread the resources. But, it is what it is.

I'm not following. Greater government resources are put into east county schools because that's where the Title I and Focus schools are found. So there's more Federal and local money flowing there. However, it may not be possible to make them equivalent to west county schools where the average HHI is higher and the PTAs are richer. It's just too much to make up for.

Maybe I was not accurate in my wording. What I intended to say is that, while yes, more federal money is flowing to the eastern side of MCPS (not so sure about local money?), I don't think that anyone would say that the schools there are better than, or even as good as the ones in the western part of MoCo. We all know that this is about socioeconomic issues, for sure. And we cannot do anything about HHI. We can, however, do something about PTAs (which should be precluded IMO from spending money on the school itself, e.g. the playground or bathrooms - as Carderock ES did awhile back - which further exacerbates the differences), and we could choose to mix up the SES groups (kids ride buses anyway). But, MCPS doesn't do that. And because the system is so enormous, as a taxpayer I feel helpless and voiceless. After having attended a handful of MCPS School Board meetings, where a handful of citizens are allotted a few minutes to speak their pieces, I can say that I have zero confidence that I have any ability to effect any change.

What gets me is that a county-based school system is allegedly about spreading the wealth, and yet, although we all pay the same rate of property tax, the differences from west to east are vast, and as a practical matter there is not a damn thing we here in the east can do about it. After eight years of having kids in MCPS, I can safely say that I would prefer to have local control (as in a town-based system), so that we could consider and effect change for our own kids, and those in our immediate community, in meaningful ways.

[Anonymous]

Very good post, PP.

I also think that west county parents get more response from the BOE -- maybe they are more connected, better able to organize, etc.