Help me understand the new BCC middle school

[Anonymous]

That's being talked about, nothing definitive yet. There is definitely a little piece that used to go the Bethesda ES that now/will soon go to Bradley Hills ES (and Pyle/Whitman.) That was part of the decision that will send all the East Bethesda kids to BE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS sets school boundaries (i.e., school assignments) based on walkability above all else. They pay lip service to a commitment to socio-economic and racial diversity in all schools, but since this cluster is hugely divided on both counts (mainly along Connecticut Ave rather than Wisconsin), any school on the eastern side of the cluster will have a much higher minority population (i.e., ESOL burden) and a much less wealth (i.e., kids who can't afford tutors, outside music lessons, less financial contributions to school activities, etc).

If MCPS values walkability above all else, how did they end up with the current Westland boundaries? Westland isn't even inside it's own boundaries. I have a friend who lives in an apartment building which borders Westland, literally shares a border. She's zoned for Pyle/Whitman.

[Anonymous]

If MCPS values walkability above all else, how did they end up with the current Westland boundaries? Westland isn't even inside it's own boundaries. I have a friend who lives in an apartment building which borders Westland, literally shares a border. She's zoned for Pyle/Whitman.

Good question PP. I don't know the answer, but the fact that the current middle school is basically in another HS district always seemed weird to me. Plus it means lots of kids have to leave the house before dawn to get there. One of the many reasons why I'm thrilled they're going to build a new middle school for this cluster and one that will be in a less heavily trafficked area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:" Plus Westland has the Middle Years Programme - a precursor to BCC's IB program. The new school will not.

is this correct? Has a decision been made on whether or not to have the IB Middle Years Programme at the new middle school? It seems crazy that they would split up our kids to give them less programming at a new school only to have them meet up again in high school where half had access and the other half didn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:" Plus Westland has the Middle Years Programme - a precursor to BCC's IB program. The new school will not.

is this correct? Has a decision been made on whether or not to have the IB Middle Years Programme at the new middle school? It seems crazy that they would split up our kids to give them less programming at a new school only to have them meet up again in high school where half had access and the other half didn't.

the school doesn't exist yet I can't imagine anyone has made this decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's being talked about, nothing definitive yet. There is definitely a little piece that used to go the Bethesda ES that now/will soon go to Bradley Hills ES (and Pyle/Whitman.) That was part of the decision that will send all the East Bethesda kids to BE.

Although that group was already zoned for Pyle Whitman so it's only the ES that's changing.

[Anonymous]

1. Will all BCC kids east of Wisconsin be zoned for the new middle school? What about CC west of Wisconsin like Somerset and Kenwood? Will the site iteslf affect who is zoned for it?

Our PTA MCPS school board rep told us it was not a certainty that our kids would be attending the new middle school. (we are east of Wisconsin, CC near Kensington). The boundaries have not been determined but the boundary could be as restrictive to not extend much further than Kensington, East West Highway could possibly be a cut off boundary. Right now it is all conjecture but if you are extremely pro or con you'd better pay attention to the school board meetings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP above is correct. The hysterics about the new middle school being a substantially poorer school are just ridiculous and smack of a really nasty strain of classism, at a minimum.

Half of RCF is immersion and those kids are by no means poor. The other half is about 40 kids per grade, and of those a higher proportion are lower income than in other schools, but really, you are talking about maybe 15 kids per grade, out of a class of probably 200 kids. How those 15 kids could possibly have a negative effect on other kids is beyond me. And the fact that they won't get "private tutors" etc. as a PP stated just blows my mind.

Just for the record, many of us who are not in the 1% manage to get our kids music lessons and tutors if they need them.

Really, sometimes MoCo is just disgusting.

Are you surprised? Half of the subjects covered on this forum have questions and answers that have hidden agendas concerning their snowflakes going to school with the unwashed from the other side of Rock Creek.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP above is correct. The hysterics about the new middle school being a substantially poorer school are just ridiculous and smack of a really nasty strain of classism, at a minimum.

Half of RCF is immersion and those kids are by no means poor. The other half is about 40 kids per grade, and of those a higher proportion are lower income than in other schools, but really, you are talking about maybe 15 kids per grade, out of a class of probably 200 kids. How those 15 kids could possibly have a negative effect on other kids is beyond me. And the fact that they won't get "private tutors" etc. as a PP stated just blows my mind.

Just for the record, many of us who are not in the 1% manage to get our kids music lessons and tutors if they need them.

Really, sometimes MoCo is just disgusting.

If you're so liberal, why didn't you pick the side of E-W Hwy that feeds into the DCC?

You're not fooling everyone.