Primary Day, Norwood, Green Acres

[Anonymous]

"With respect to atmosphere, PDS is extremely homogenous. Both racially and socio-economically (and politically, come to think of it) My sense was that those were factors that actually drew people to the school. OTOH, my neighborhood looks and acts like my neighborhood. I like that."

PP here: Meant to say my neighborhood SCHOOL looks and acts like my neighborhood. I like that.

[Anonymous]

Primary Day focuses on reading and the basics. It is a phonics based program and your child will come out of PD a very strong reader. It is only a PK-2nd grade school so the specials are ok. They focus on small performances each week at school assemblies which parents are invited to. Each grade also does a grade performance with the 2nd grade French program the culmination.

It is a very traditional school and while there is not heavy support, if your child needs some extra help with reading your math, they will pull them in to a small group for extra work.

Going there for first grade will mean you will have to apply out for 2nd grade. Many PD graduates go on to Holton or Landon with a small minority each year going to Sidwell.

My child came out a great reader with excellent reading comprehension abilities.

Yes some of the teachers have been there a long time and with PD it is their way or the highway.

Norwood will allow you to go till 8th grade till needing to go elsewhere. They have good academics and a strong music program.

Green acres is the other end of the spectrum. You really cannot compare them as their educational philosophies are completely different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi 11:37- could you comment more on MC vs. PD- what was your 2nd grader doing in mc vs the one who went to pd? Do the specials at PD make a difference compared to less specials in MC? We are Bradley Hills ES, and I am really struggling on what to do... thank you.

When my DC started K in MCPS, there were several noticeable differences that made me cringe that I had wasted so much money on PDS. First, as I noted above, the differentiation. For example, her MCPS K teacher noticed immediately that she could read and therefore gave her access to a special shelf of books for her to read while other kids were being taught the alphabet. All kids were ultimately grouped into Math and Reading groups based on ability while at PDS my older DC in PDS was struggling with boredom but wasn't given anything different to do because "it was outside the curriculum."

Second, I loved the quality difference in the facilities. The facilities at our MCPS school are just far and away better -- PDS has no gym, ours has a spectacular one; PDS has no cafeteria, ours had a great one where the kids could socialize at lunch (without a prayer first!); PDS has no Health Room, our has a staffed Health Room with beds, closet for individual needs (my DC requires equipment in case of a medical episode and it is kept onsite in the closet), bathroom, safe room, refrigerator and telephone for the kids to use; PDS has no counselor, ours has a counselor with her own spacious office with a couch and a table for lunch bunches to resolve issues among students as well as offering in-classroom character building lessons; PDS's director was inaccessible, our principal is available via phone, email, at drop-off and pick-up and for lunch bunches with the students themselves if they just want to hang with her; PDS has a dearth of musical instruments (though a wonderful music teacher while we were there) while our school has 2 music rooms and tons of instruments; PDS has no extracurricular activities run at the school, ours has all kinds of academic and sports programs run right at the school as well a huge theater production for upperclass students. I could go on and on, but you get my point.

As to the weekly number of specials themselves, I don't feel like my DC lost anything other than public speaking opportunities. At PDS, art and music were geared toward putting on weekly "Beako" assemblies on Friday morning. Each class does a presentation every other week (though over the years I noted that they are the same ones every year over and over again and I just wanted to put a needle in my eye after a while). These assemblies gave the kids a ton of experience public speaking that is not present in our MCPS school. All other specials are the same amount, generally, and again, in better facilities with better trained teachers and a lot more supplies.

With respect to academics, the fluidity available at our MCPS school has made sure that my DC is never bored with the work. Kids are accelerated when they have shown that they can do the work and I know that there are children who get support when they are not advancing at the same pace as the rest of the class including ESOL support, handwriting support, math support, and reading support. At PDS, families are told to get a tutor to resolve issues spotted by teachers.

With respect to atmosphere, PDS is extremely homogenous. Both racially and socio-economically (and politically, come to think of it) My sense was that those were factors that actually drew people to the school. OTOH, my neighborhood looks and acts like my neighborhood. I like that.

The redshirting at PDS is notorious (search the boards and you will see). My DC's class there had several 7 year-olds in K (boys and girls) while at the same time having 5 year olds. Think about that for a minute in terms of what grade a girl might be in when she gets her first period or when a boy is hitting puberty with an age spread of 20 months in a class. Or what grade they will be in when they can get a driver's license and starting high school. (I'm sure I will get flamed for pointing all this out, but I think PDS in particular errs on the side of holding kids back solely to boost academic achievement for outplacement purposes. Just IMHO).

PDS seems impresses at first, especially since there is nothing else to compare it to if your other children at home are younger and haven't started elem. yet. But I now think of it as a complete waste of time and money. Its smallness and old-fashioned charm drew me in (the nervous mom sending her child to school for the first time). But after just a few weeks with DC#2 in K at MCPS, I realized how I had given in to fears and wished I sent DC#1 to MCPS as well.

I hope this helps.

Many private schools, not just PD have a June 1st cutoff. As far as having 2 year ahead in school. The most we ever saw was a 15 months difference between the oldest and youngest in the class. I have never seen a 2 year difference in kids in any class including the school we are at now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:12:21 if you hate it so much, name the school. Otherwise you sound like a fake.

some people just want to stay anon. don't you think that the school can figure out who is writing based on the details given?

[Anonymous]

Thank you for sharing your experiences with me. I went against my better judgement in applying PDS and based on your past experiences with the school it is exactly what I predicted it would be.

[Anonymous]

If you have not already done so, I would encourage you to look at Norwood. We toured it and found it incredibly impressive, more so than some of the other more popular privates in DC. They seem to do a great job a differentiating skill levels in both reading and math. They rival, if not exceed, any school with regard to the facilities, technology and the specials offered. All the Norwood grads we know personally ended up at St. Albans. If accepted in March, there is a very good chance we will send our child there (the only drawback for us would be the commute as they only offer bus services in the mornings, but we like the school enough that we'd be willing to make the drive).

I know nothing about PD or Green Acres. I personally wouldn't bother sending my child to a school that ended in 2nd grade unless we started in Nursery. If academics alone are your main concern, you will probably do fine in MCPS. If you want a academics plus a smaller, nurturing environment, more differentiation and extra-cirriculars, I think Norwood would be a great choice.

[Anonymous]

PP - glad to hear you liked Norwood - we are happy there. FYI, I think maybe the families that have Landon/Holton Arms as their preferred schools might find Primary Day's grade 2 as the highest grade, a perfect fit.

[Anonymous]

To the poster who thinks Green Acres is a joke could you please share why is it that you think so? we liked the school and the LS director seemed very knowledgeable but if you have a better informed opinion please share.

[Anonymous]

I knew families at green acres and they love the school. One is now an adult and a successful doctor.

Also keep in mind class size in public schools are really big. PE is once a week and if the weather is less than conducive the kids are stuck in the classroom and for some reason stick two classes in one classroom.

[Anonymous]

OP, I have yet to see a private school in MC that has the same level of academics as the public schools. However, you will not find a public school system in all of the US that will entertain your child like Norwood or Green Acres.
You choose.
But don't cry when the public school kids in the neighborhood can run circles around yours academically, because yours will be able to sing (not dance), paint, sculpt, climb walls and ropes. Oh, and don't forget, yours will be able to think creatively and see more to each problem, and so on. They will be tomorrow's leaders.

[Anonymous]

If your idea of strong academics is learning certain things to perform well on a test, then public school is a great choice. If your idea of strong academics is developing a well-rounded, creative thinker, then private school is worth every penny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your idea of strong academics is learning certain things to perform well on a test, then public school is a great choice. If your idea of strong academics is developing a well-rounded, creative thinker, then private school is worth every penny.

please. I fully understand that these schools want to believe that they are nurturing creativity, but someone show me the evidence. yes, the kids smile a lot, they are happy, but what evidence do we have that they are more creative? and what are they losing in this process of developing creative minds...if you can really develop that...if these schools are really doing that. you takes your chances.
I am not against creativity, but someone needs to show that it can be nurtured, and that these schools are indeed nurturing it and that they have to compromise academics in the process of nurturing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your idea of strong academics is learning certain things to perform well on a test, then public school is a great choice. If your idea of strong academics is developing a well-rounded, creative thinker, then private school is worth every penny.

please. I fully understand that these schools want to believe that they are nurturing creativity, but someone show me the evidence. yes, the kids smile a lot, they are happy, but what evidence do we have that they are more creative? and what are they losing in this process of developing creative minds...if you can really develop that...if these schools are really doing that. you takes your chances.
I am not against creativity, but someone needs to show that it can be nurtured, and that these schools are indeed nurturing it and that they have to compromise academics in the process of nurturing it.

Exactly. It seems unlikely that creativity is nurtured by slack academics. Rigorous curricula encourage creative problem-solving.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps you should show some evidence that public schools are stronger academically. I see lots of evidence suggesting otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Primary Day has strong academics, almost as good as MCPS, however, many kids red-shirted, so you can't easily measure the outcomes.
Norwood is not quite as good as MCPS, but many parents will supplement. Little red-shirting.
Green Acres is like summer camp all year.

Beg to disagree. Sent DS to K at PD then to MCPS. PD way more rigorous than our MCPS elementary. Was presented with the same material over again in 1st grade. By 2nd grade he started to see new material. He was used to coasting through so 3rd grade was a bit of a wake up call for him. If he had stayed at PD he would have continued to have been challenged. Sadly for our younger DD, MCPS was even worse by the time she got there, what with NCLB and all.